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Originally Published: September 23, 2009

Zellous helps Shock foil Fever

Rookie flourishes into key role for Detroit in Katie Smith's absence

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By Mechelle Voepel
Special to ESPN.com
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Shock Top Fever, 72-56

Zellous scores 23 as Shock take East opener

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Shock Top Fever, 72-56

It wasn't that long ago that Shavonte Zellous thought of herself as more a track athlete who also happened to play basketball.

Not many people back then countered that assessment. As late as the spring of her senior year in high school in Orlando, Fla., the only college that seemed enthusiastic about her was South Carolina State. Zellous thought that was probably her best option. But then …

Pittsburgh called. Marynell Meadors, now head coach of the Atlanta Dream, was an assistant at Pitt then. She had watched a re-run of the Florida state high school tournament, and Zellous caught her eye.

Meadors told head coach Agnus Berenato that it was worth looking at Zellous … not that it was a hard sell. Berenato was just starting the Pitt rebuilding job and was ready to take chances.

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Allen Einstein/NBAE/Getty ImagesIn the 10 games since Katie Smith went out with back problems Aug. 27, Shavonte Zellous has averaged 14.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

No one then could have guessed what a sure thing Zellous has actually turned out to be.

Wednesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, she continued helping Detroit not miss Katie Smith as much as expected. And the Shock continued being Indiana's nightmare, beating the Fever 72-56 at The Palace at Auburn Hills. The rookie Zellous had a game-high 23 points as she more than complemented veteran star Deanna Nolan's 22.

With one more win, the Shock will be back in the WNBA Finals for the fourth year in a row -- and Indiana has been in Detroit's path the previous three times, too. This year, the Fever are the East's top seed and have the second-best record in the league … but still once again face elimination at the hands of the Shock.

This time, it's a new face causing Indy problems: Zellous. The 5-foot-10 guard was the No. 11 pick in April's draft and is proving to be one more great personnel decision by former Shock coach Bill Laimbeer.

It's kind of astonishing how Detroit somehow doesn't look all that different right now than the Shock did a year ago, when Laimbeer was on the sidelines, and Smith and Plenette Pierson were in action.

Laimbeer said back then that assistants Rick Mahorn and Cheryl Reeve were ready to run the team, and he was right. But Laimbeer, for all his confidence, certainly wouldn't have predicted that Detroit could lose Smith and Pierson yet still be a game away from the finals.

Wednesday's victory was a blueprint for how the Shock are able to succeed without them. Start with letting Nolan and Zellous carry the scoring load; they were a step ahead of the Fever all night.

Let Alexis Hornbuckle set the tone with her defensive energy. Let Taj McWilliams and Cheryl Ford concentrate on rebounding and defense inside, and don't worry about them getting many shot attempts. Keep Kara Braxton at no more than 20 minutes so she's focused and rested when she is in the game, which is how you maximize her productivity. Utilize Nikki Teasley's height to help your perimeter defense, but limit her minutes, too.

It all worked just as if the Shock wrote a script for the game. Detroit held Indy to 35.5 percent shooting, won the board battle 36-29 and forced 18 turnovers while committing just 12.

Along with her point production, Zellous came off the bench for four rebounds and five assists. Smith went out with back problems Aug. 27; in the 10 games since then, Zellous has averaged 14.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists. She already helped eliminate Atlanta, coached by the person who "discovered" her for Pitt: Meadors.

And Zellous also is keeping her poise as the games continue getting bigger.

To see Zellous now, you'd think she had to be one of the most sought-after recruits in the country when she was in high school. Instead, when Zellous came to Pittsburgh, Berenato considered her a raw athletic talent, not really a basketball player. She redshirted her first year with the Panthers to adjust and learn.

Now, Zellous and her team are a game away from the WNBA Finals. Pitt's one-time "gamble" has indeed paid off very well.

Mechelle Voepel, a regular contributor to ESPN.com, can be reached at mvoepel123@yahoo.com. Read her blog at http://voepel.wordpress.com.