AN APOLOGY

I come to you today embarrassed as I let my emotions get the best of me. Today while facing Minnesota I was ejected from the game, something that is so uncharacteristic of me. I am not only embarrassed but upset with myself because as the leader that's not suppose to happen. Leaders don't allow others to rattle them to the point of leaving their team out to battle alone. This is definitely a growing season and another lesson learned for me. As we head to the Olympic break I have a lot of time to reflect on the first half of this season and I will do just that. In the mean time I will take some much need rest but will be routing the USA Team on all the way. I want to wish all of them good luck and I believe they will bring back home the gold.

Temeka

A STATISTICAL PICTURE OF OUR IMPROVEMENT

I'm certainly not accustomed to losing on the basketball court so at times this season it has been very frustrating because we have been close a number of times.  Last week I had a long discussion about this with my college coach at LSU, Bob Starkey.  Coach Starkey also serves on my HOPE Foundation board and has been a big supporter of me and my mission.

He obviously follows our team closely and he made a very profound statement to me.  He said that I should be more "process-oriented" as opposed to "result-oriented." He reminded me that I was coming into an organization that had won only 3 games last season and it was unfair to expect a massive turn around in one season.  Coach Starkey said that the improvement on our team had been impressive and that I and my teammates would miss out on that fact if we just looked at the win-loss record.

I started to give it some thought and realize that it is really true.  Then Coach Starkey emailed me some statistics that prove that very point.

Last year we averaged losing games by 13 points.
This year we average losing games by only 6 points.

This year, we have lost four games by 3 points or less.
Last year, we had no losses by 3 points or less.

Our worse loss this year is one by 20 points and another by 18.
Last year we had losses by 39, 31, 30, 28 and five more by 20 or more.

We are getting better...it is evident if you look close enough.  Now make no mistake about it, we want to win -- and we are going to win here in Tulsa!  But it's about baby steps and making progress. We are competing!!!

As I was told -- it's about the process!

Meek

MECHELLE VOEPEL REPORTS ON THE SHOCK

Recently I did an article with Mechelle Voepel of ESPN.com.  Mechelle is one of my favorite writers because she is so passionate about sports -- especially women's basketball.  Not all journalist are knowledgeable on the subject they are reporting on -- that's no the case with Mechelle!

Here are some excerpts from her article:

Temeka Johnson always heard she was too little, and just never paid any attention. Courtney Paris heard she was too big, and tried to ignore it. Now, here they both are with the Tulsa Shock, the team that wants so much to fit in.

In its third WNBA season in Oklahoma, the Shock's record so far isn't much different than the first two seasons, when they won a combined nine games. Tulsa is 2-12, pretty much the categorical opposite of Western Conference-leading Minnesota, at 13-2.

But is there light at the end of the tunnel? Or is it just a mirage? The Shock has lost four games by three points or fewer. You don't need to be completely delusional to picture Tulsa as 6-8, in which case it would be hanging with Seattle and San Antonio in playoff contention.

At least, I don't think you have to be delusional. There seems to be hope in Tulsa … or at least not abject despair.

Johnson wasn't expecting to be here, having spent the past three seasons starting in Phoenix, where she was part of a WNBA championship team in 2009. But she was traded for Andrea Riley on Jan. 12. The move basically was the Mercury's way of saying, "We just don't want you anymore."

Johnson said she hasn't dwelled on that. Instead, she has focused on the fact that Tulsa did want her.

"Once I heard about the trade, I was in Russia, and I accepted it," Johnson said of getting the news when she was playing overseas. "I'm not sure I really understood what I was getting myself into, but I just believed I was here for a reason.

"When I talked to Coach Klop, it was about leadership. This allows me to grow as a person. I like getting better as an individual."

That's certainly an optimistic way of looking at it. And Johnson says she has been encouraged by the fact that Tulsa supporters have welcomed her.

"The fans are loyal, and they're holding on," Johnson said. "They have told us they're going to stick with us, and believe we're going to turn things around. Everybody is looking for that ray of hope. OKC found it, and Tulsa is looking for it."

You can read the entire article here: http://es.pn/P8IiX2

4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS

Hey everyone! I really hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July. It was great for me. My teammates and I popped fireworks last night and really enjoyed ourselves. I won't embarrass any of them by dropping the names of the ones that were afraid LOL, I'll just keep that one to myself for now; but know that we definitely had a lot of laughs while out there.

Meek

BOWLING WITH THE SHOCK

Hey everyone! I want to share with you just how much fun we had on yesterday at our team bowling event. It was with our season ticket holders. It was soooooo much fun and yes my team did win and we had such a good bunch.

This man right here Brian, is going to give me some bowling lessons. I am looking forward to it. I wasn't too bad but Brian, now he was on a different level.

Meek