Tulsa Shock Adjusting to Richardson’s System

Originally Published: Apr 26, 2010 6:46 PM CDT

Kyle Dierking
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

TULSA, Oklahoma – Since being named the Tulsa Shock’s general manager and head coach, Nolan Richardson has said the WNBA would see “40 minutes of hell part II,” a version of his fast paced, up tempo style of play that he ran successfully at Tulsa and Arkansas.

After two days of training camp, Richardson’s buzz word was, “rough” when talking about the Shock’s transition to his scheme.

“The rough part is some of them haven’t been playing and so you’re now playing and you’re playing a tempo that they’re not used to,” said Richardson following the team’s Tuesday morning practice. “That makes it a little rough for the players and the execution of it.”

Richardson expects the transition to extend beyond training camp and tweak some things throughout the regular season.

“I don’t know if anybody in the WNBA will play with the tempo that we’re going to play at and it’s going to take a little time to find out which players who are in much better shape than those who I know aren’t in very good shape,” Richardson said.

Former track and field champion Marion Jones has not only been making the transition to Richardson’s system, but she’s playing basketball competitively for the first time since 1997, when she was a point guard for the University of North Carolina.

“There’s a lot of conditioning, so you’re trying to learn his system, figure out your teammates strengths and weaknesses but at the same time you’re fighting through fatigue and conditioning,” Jones said. “It’s been a challenge, but it’s been extremely fun.”

Shock rookie and former Oklahoma Sooner Amanda Thompson said Richardson’s philosophy is somewhat similar to that of OU Head Coach Sherri Coale, saying that both coaches like to get up and down the floor and excel in the transition game.

“It’s just another level,” Thompson said. “You just have to take your speed to another level and your game IQ to another level. It’s all learning and just adjusting to what everybody does.

“He just pays attention to everything. When there’s a mistake he corrects it. He’ll stop in the middle of practice so you’ll know what to do the next time.”

For now, its player’s adjusting their body to the new version of “40 minutes of hell.”

“Conditioning and strength: there’s no substitution for that. Then the basketball part comes in,” Richardson said.