For Shock, Missing Piece Was Already Here

Originally Published: Jun 30, 2010 7:26 PM CDT

Bobby Lewis
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

TULSA, Oklahoma – Rarely does a team improve by getting rid of its best player. Rarely does it win more games by shipping its star out of town. Rarely do things start to turn around when its top threat is wearing a new uniform.

What did the Shock expect?

One common thread jumps out from the Tulsa Shock’s current nine-game losing streak: Plennette Pierson is gone. The team traded the seven-year WNBA veteran to the New York Liberty on June 14th for Tiffany Jackson. Since then, the Shock has lost six straight games, getting outscored by 68 total points.

“It’s more than just one player that needs to play better,” said head coach Nolan Richardson. “I think we all have to play collectively and continue to play a little bit better each time we play.”

Pierson wasn’t just a good player for Tulsa, she was arguably its best player. In her nine games with the team, Pierson averaged 11.9 points per game. Only Scholanda Robinson (12.3 ppg) scores more. The team had a less-than-stellar 3-6 record with No. 23 in the lineup, but Pierson couldn’t be blamed for all of that.

The evidence is on the stat sheet. The efficiency rate is the mark that shows a player’s ability to contribute on the floor. Pierson’s efficiency rate is +10.77, meaning her team scores nearly 11 points more than the opponent while she’s on the floor. Chante Black (+12.6) is the only Shock player with a higher efficiency rate than Pierson. Alexis Hornbuckle (+10.3), Robinson (+9.6) and Kara Braxton (+9.3), three of the team’s better players, can’t top Pierson’s productivity.

One reason she’s wearing Liberty blue instead of Shock gold, might be her presumably rocky relationship with Nolan Richardson. From the looks of it, Pierson was never really on the same level with her head coach in Tulsa. The two were seen screaming at each other during games and Pierson was pulled from the action on a handful of occasions in favor of lesser players.

In late May, Pierson tweeted "we all trying to learn his system...training camp isn't enuff time to learn this system". The team won two games in a row after her post, but lost the next three before Pierson was sent packing.

After losing to Pierson and the Liberty 92-78 on June 25th, Robinson offered a simple “no” when asked if it was weird seeing her former teammate in a new jersey. The Shock struggled to contain Pierson all night. She scored 11 points in 14 minutes against her former club.

The Shock has lacked punch inside since they sent Pierson on her way. Who will be the one to step up and replace one of the team’s more puzzling moves of the year?

Tulsa will host the Washington Mystics Saturday at 7 p.m.