The Detroit Shock beat Los Angeles in a "home" game at Grand Rapids, Michigan on Friday and then beat Chicago at the usual Shock home arena in Auburn Hills the following evening. First place still remains elusive, though, as Connecticut has won its last three games to remain a game ahead of Detroit in the WNBA East. Detroit's next game is Wednesday, at home against Sacramento who is currently in second behind Los Angeles in the West.

Swin Cash scored 18 and 17 points in the weekend's games, and also recently tallied 19 in a win at Minnesota. More and more, she seems to be back to her full effectiveness which was hampered by an injury two seasons ago. This is, of course, a very good thing for the Shock, as a healthy Swin Cash is among the better players in the business.

Cheryl Ford continues to be a major force in the rebounding department, and in general a tough inside player not unlike her father Karl Malone. Sometimes, though, she still struggles with her free throw shooting, something that has also tended to be a weakness of certain big male players like Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O'Neal.

Deanna Nolan is my favorite player, so sometimes perhaps I am a bit biased towards her. Nevertheless, she has proven herself time and again to be a very skilled player who can do a lot of things well. She currently leads the team in assists and steals per game, is second in points per game, and also averages five rebounds per game which is a good number in general and especially for a backcourt player.

Katie Smith is averaging an even 12 points per game and is especially proficient at the three point field goal. She is also right up there in the assists and steals categories.

Ruth Riley is head and shoulders above the rest of the team in the blocked shots department, averaging 1.61 rejections per game. Her scoring and rebounding averages could be better, but are not too shabby at 8.2 points and 5.13 rebounds a game.

Plenette Pierson has been the most productive player off the bench thus far in 2006. Kedra Holland-Corn has shown some of the spark she provided as the "sixth woman" on the 2003 championship team, but has not quite matched her numbers from that season.

Kara Braxton has the size and strength to be a real force at center and/or power forward, but all too often does not seem able to realize her potential on the court. Her numbers are down this season from her rookie year, and so we will see what we will see.

Angelina Williams and Sabrina Palie have both made the most of limited playing time, while Jackie Batteast has not done quite as much in her minutes. Irina Osipova is no longer with the team.

At 16 wins and 7 losses, the Shock are in good shape as the regular season heads into its latter stages. At the same point last season, they were three games under .500 at 10-13 and fighting just to get into a playoff spot.