Report: Shock moving to Tulsa

[kingsnation]

http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/news/story?id=4576647

The WNBA's Detroit Shock are moving to Tulsa, Okla., a team official told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity Monday because he was not authorized to make the announcement.

More..

 

[Kings Faithful]

http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/news/story?id=4576647



More..

Makes sense... Shock goes perfectly with the Thunder.

 

[Purple Reign]

I don't know what to say about this. Two straight years, seven WNBA titles have either folded or moved to Tulsa.

I guess my initial reaction is of course this is terrible. However it feels like the Piston organization was not committed to WNBA no more and it was either move or fold. That is shameful. On the other hand, I don't think any team in the league suffered in attendance more than the Shock. In it's hey day, the Palace was vibrant. The past two seasons, it seemed like it was a ghost town.

 

[PurpleHaze]

I'm shocked!

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Eh, better to move than be disbanded.

Pops seems to be under the impression that the Shock's new ownership might want to trade for Paris to sell tickets. I gotta say, anybody that the Shock would be willing to trade in exchange for Paris would work for me...

 

[Purple Reign]

Eh, better to move than be disbanded.

Pops seems to be under the impression that the Shock's new ownership might want to trade for Paris to sell tickets. I gotta say, anybody that the Shock would be willing to trade in exchange for Paris would work for me...

If they would be willing to give up Zellous or Hornbuckle, I would take either of those players for Paris, especially if Monarchs end up with either Pick #1 or #2 in the draft.

 

[StevenHW]

As much as I detested the Shock, I'm sad that the team is leaving.

Still, it is a lot better to move the team to another location, than it is to fold (think: Houston Comets).

The franchise hasn't been the same since chief owner Bill Davidson died back in March. And when Bill Laimbeer resigned as coach after only three games, it may have been a sign that he knew something bad was going to happen to the franchise. Apparently, the Davidson family wasn't interested in keeping the team.

 

[6th]

Ahhhhh! Detroit...Tulsa...doesn't matter. As long as they have the same players................I do not like them.

 

[HoopMatron]

What is even more unnerving to me is the potential folding of the Atlanta franchise. They have taken down their 2010 season ticket sales. One relocation and one team folding is not a good thing. I've been worried that the economy might end the league since attendance was so poor throughout the league this year (it's also bad in other professional sports).

The Tulsa group apparently has hired Nolan Richardson as the GM/head coach. He was a successful men's college basketball coach at Arkansas, but I don't think he has any women's experience. Hopefully he's a quick study, because he's getting a talented team that just needs a little work to return to championship caliber.

I've got my fingers crossed for the rest of the off-season....

HoopMatron
GOOOOOOO Monarchs!

 

[Purple Reign]

As much as I detested the Shock, I'm sad that the team is leaving.

Still, it is a lot better to move the team to another location, than it is to fold (think: Houston Comets).

The franchise hasn't been the same since chief owner Bill Davidson died back in March. And when Bill Laimbeer resigned as coach after only three games, it may have been a sign that he knew something bad was going to happen to the franchise. Apparently, the Davidson family wasn't interested in keeping the team.

I guess I look at it from a completely different perspective. I don't think it is a great thing for the league that a team is moving from Detroit (a large market, 3 titles, a high profile NBA arena, being ran by a high profile NBA owner) to a very small market in Oklahoma, run by NBA owners from another market.

Then you look at another franchise in Atlanta (a large market, high profile arena) on the verge of folding, unless they find a buyer in probably another small market town. I think that Atlanta team may be on the move to Bensonville, Arkansas who has been rumored to want a team for the last few years.

So now the WNBA will now have ownership from NBA teams in only Sacramento, Phoenix, Minnesota, Indiana (maybe), San Antonio, New York and Tulsa (who does not play in a NBA market). To me one of the appeal of the league is having as much ties to the NBA as possible, playing in NBA arenas, etc. Without that the WNBA will eventually become the WBL, and to me that has already been done and failed.

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

I have no problem with the Shock leaving Detroit, I'll join the chorus that it's better than them getting disintergrated. They've been in trouble for a while, not just after Davidson died, although that's what probably sealed their fate. And yes, Laimbeer's early departure raised a red flag for me too (as it did the other times he was rumored to nearly be on the move).

I thought ATL had someone stepping up to buy in, I thought I read that recently. In any event, if the league has to move or break up the Dream, I agree that's a much much much worse scenario than a NBA team shedding it's WNBA franchise. Terwiliger was supposed to be the most monied up outside owner to come into the league - which is why I always thought the league flipped over itself to change it's draft rules to appease his desire to get competitive quicker than other expansion teams.

If Bentonville is still viable and the league didn't move Houston or Charlotte there, then I'm even more upset at their lack of foresight. And for the record, Bentonville continues to be a bad idea for a franchise and if a team wound up there, I would see it as the beginning of the end for this league. Especially if they are still actively courting the Bay Area and Kansas City, among others. They can't trade Atlanta for northern Arkansas, I don't care what kind of (walmart) money lives there. ESPN would then have even more of an incentive to drop the number of games it televises if they lost another huge market.

Oklahoma's fan base (within reasonable driving distance of Tusla) is solid, I'm pretty sure Courtney Paris played in front of more fans per night in her career in Norman than she did at any of her stops in the W.