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Coach Bill Laimbeer says the WNBA Eastern Conference finals between his Detroit Shock and the Connecticut Sun is the showdown everyone was looking at when the season started.
Though it wasn't everyone's prediction, it definitely was what Laimbeer envisioned.
"It's a very good rivalry," Laimbeer says. "Everybody knew at the start of the season what this was about. This was going to be about Detroit and Connecticut in the conference finals.
"Let's just throw it up and see who wins."
The Shock host Game 1 tonight (7:30 ET, NBA TV).
After leading Connecticut to the WNBA Finals the last two years, Sun coach Mike Thibault says he is just trying to catch a break. Last year Lindsay Whalen (ankle) was injured in the Finals, and this year the Sun might be without MVP candidate Katie Douglas (foot).
"We've only talked about championships since we've been here. We don't talk about individual teams," Thibault says, adding he has been struggling with Douglas' injury. "I've been having a hard time the last few days trying to put into words how I feel about it. But I know we will show up at 7:30. Tell Detroit we will be there."
The Sun went 11-1 when they lost All-Star Nykesha Sales for 12 games. Thibault says he has no plans to change the Sun's game plan: aggressive defense and up-tempo offense.
"We are more equipped to handle it now. We're more mature, and we're a little deeper," he says. "No one player is going to go out and replace Katie Douglas. We've done it as a group all the way through, and that's the way we're going to have to do it now.
"We're pretty much who we are. It's hard to change your personality, and there's not a lot of reason to change."
Laimbeer says the Shock are peaking at the right time. Katie Smith, who averaged 20.7 points vs. the Sun this year and is in the conference finals for the first time, agrees with him. "This is the best chance I've had in my WNBA career to win a championship," she says. "Connecticut is the gold standard when it comes to winning big games, but coming into the postseason we feel good and that we can play with anybody."
In the West, the top-seeded Los Angeles Sparks are at the defending champion Sacramento Monarchs (10 ET, NBA TV). The Monarchs haven't played since Saturday. The Sparks ousted the Seattle Storm on Tuesday.
Sparks center Lisa Leslie isn't concerned about the short turnaround. "You're talking about being two games away from the championship," she says. "We're ready."
*Go to wnba.usatoday.com for previews, predictions of the WNBA conference finals
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