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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Katie Smith's relentless pursuit of success is matched only by coach Bill Laimbeer's dogged pursuit of the trade that brought her intensity to his Detroit Shock.
"I worked on that trade for two years before I was able to get her," Laimbeer recalled.
Tonight, Detroit's Perfect Storm -- the merger of Laimbeer's molten coaching style and Smith's overflowing desire -- will be on display when the Shock host the Sacramento Monarchs in the opening game of the best-of-five WNBA Finals (7:30p.m. ET, ESPN2).
The Shock acquired Smith, 32, from the Minnesota Lynx on July30, 2005, but she was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered at the Athens Olympics. After surgery in September 2004, she played the 2005 season with less preparation than she would normally have. She felt it.
"I came in here mentally and physically drained from the season and trade," Smith said. "I was coming into a new team and learning a new system. I felt good about what I was able to do, but I was by no means where I wanted to be."
However, once healthy enough to immerse herself in an offseason conditioning program to resharpen her game, she became the Smith of old, the player who left Ohio State in 1996 as the leading scorer in Big Ten history.
"She made a conscious effort to come back in the best shape possible," said Shock assistant coach Rich Mahorn. "I couldn't believe it was the same person."
Smith is 20 pounds lighter this season, and Laimbeer asked her to become a distributor for this team instead of a scorer. But the Shock also wanted Smith as much for her attitude as her skills. "Katie is very intense, especially in close games, even toward us and we are her teammates," Deanna Nolan said.
Although Smith's resume shows Olympic gold medals and ABL team success, this is her first trip to the Finals. "The ultimate goal of an athlete is to win, so when you get to this point you don't want to come up short," she said.
*For Finals preview and predictions, go to wnba.usatoday.com
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