Success Under Laimbeer Is No Shock

Bill Laimbeer doesn't care how many people across the WNBA like him or his team. He only cares about winning championships.

In the 6 1/2 seasons since he became the head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock, Laimbeer has built his team around that goal. He talks about home-court advantage and conference titles daily. His players flaunt their confidence, daring everyone else to stop them.

"I don't want to say we're hated," Laimbeer said in a phone interview this week. "But if you win, everybody shoots for you. It puts pressure on everybody else to match you and, well, sometimes they do hate you."

The No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, Detroit begins its sixth consecutive postseason appearance tomorrow against Indiana. The Shock (22-12) is favored to win the conference title and perhaps claim its third championship during Laimbeer's tenure.

Detroit closed its regular season on a six-game winning streak and at its efficient, potent best. Four players -- Deanna Nolan, Katie Smith, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Plenette Pierson -- average more than 10 points per game. Rookie Alexis Hornbuckle leads the league in steals and is a key defender off the bench.

Regardless of the season, the Shock always seems to have the right mix. Even when personnel changes, the system remains intact. That has led to a 136-90 record over Laimbeer's tenure, three Eastern Conference titles and two WNBA championships.

"He is the architect in so many ways," said ESPN analyst Nancy Lieberman, who came out of retirement for a short stint with the Shock this season. "How does Bill get Plenette and Taj? You sit back and wonder sometimes, 'How he does it over and over again?' But he's not afraid of that risk/reward and to go out there and lobby for players."

When Cheryl Ford tore her ACL in July, Laimbeer believed it was paramount to the Shock's championship hopes that he acquire a veteran to replace her. So he gave up promising rookie Tasha Humphrey in a package deal to acquire McWilliams-Franklin from the Mystics.

Laimbeer made a similar trade in 2003 when he sent the fifth overall pick to Sacramento -- which used it to draft Kara Lawson -- for veteran Kedra Holland-Corn. The Shock won its first championship that year.

"You pick and choose your spots," Laimbeer said. "Each time we've peeled off pieces we've made sure that we get other pieces back in return. But you have to be confident that you'll be able to find the right pieces. The culture or environment that we have in Detroit, though, attracts players that want to play to win."

While the Shock is seen as a model of success, it is also a regular target for criticism. In July, Detroit and the Los Angeles Sparks engaged in the biggest fight in the league's history. Each team lost five players to suspensions.

The Shock has earned a reputation as the most physical team in the league, a style that reflects Laimbeer's belief that there should not be a difference in the way professional basketball is played, regardless of whether women or men are on the court.

There has been debate within the league about whether the WNBA is perhaps becoming too physical, but Laimbeer sees the transformation simply as a natural progression.

"Professional basketball is professional basketball," Laimbeer said. "How this game is played and how the game will evolve is a lot like the men's league. . . . You create an environment of winning, create an attitude based on winning. But it's not the coach, it's not the GM, it's the peer pressure among the players to keep winning that makes the environment work."