MEEK TALLIES CAREER HIGH 26 POINTS IN WIN OVER NEW YORK

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Temeka Johnson put on a show in what could possibly be her last home game with the Tulsa Shock.

Johnson scored 26 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the field to lead the Shock to a 78-66 victory over the New York Liberty on Thursday night, for their third straight win and the franchise's longest in three seasons in Tulsa.

With just two road games remaining and Johnson a free agent after the season, nothing seems certain for 2013. Asked if she wanted to return, Johnson said, ``Of course.''

After thinking about it, she added: ``I won't rule it out. It's been a very difficult season, something I've never experienced. We've lived the highs and lows but you always want to make a difference in terms of turning things around. There's an upside (to this organization) and I may just be around to see it.''
Ivory Latta had 13 points and Amber Holt added 10 as the Shock (9-23) matched their victory total from the first two years since moving from Detroit before the 2010 season - a combined 9-59.

``Tonight was really a collective effort,'' Johnson said. ``Everyone came out with a lot of energy. We wanted to do this for the fans. When you are on the outside all you see is the record. You don't feel the energy of the fans. When I talked to coach (Gary Kloppenburg) during the offseason he made me want to come Tulsa. You don't want to be anywhere where you aren't wanted and the Shock wanted me. That was a plus.''

``Riquna hit a couple of big 3s for us,'' Kloppenburg said. ``We have gotten really great guard play particularly in the second half of the season. We really got our running game going. ... Temeka played outstanding tonight, so did Amber and Ivory. Temeka is probably the reason we've been winning of late.''

The Shock finish the season on the road, with the game at New York followed by the finale at Indiana on Sunday.

Kloppenburg acknowledged the team has a few free agents but added it was a priority to re-sign Johnson.

``For sure, we'd love to get Temeka back,'' Kloppenburg said. ``No question about that. We want to keep this team intact and add those two bigs (Tiffany Jones and Liz Cambage) back into the scheme. Ideally, that's what we want to do.''

MEEK AND HER 1,000 CAREER ASSIST!

Hello there everyone!

I truly hope that all is well. I know that it has been some time but I am back. I have been focusing on our team and trying to get better. I hope you all don't mind.

I want to share with you how much better we have gotten as a team. We have won a couple of much needed games and have been feeling much better as a unit.

On last night we came away with a good win against the Atlanta Dream. They are a very talented team that is fully of athleticism as well as speed. Through it all we were able to come away with our first road Win.  We also found out that our Australian teammate will not be returning this season, and it was causing a lot of up roar for people. I will just say this, I think Liz did what she thought was best for her. I can not make or pass judgement on a situation that I don't know all the details to. I don't want to do what everyone else is doing and just assume anything. I have not spoken to Liz so I don't know the true reason. As of right now we are doing what we can with what we have and I think that we are all still growing and learning in this process.

On a good note I was able to obtain my 1000 assist in my WNBA Career in this game, and I want to thank every teammate that I have had during this process to make this possible. This is not just for me it is for you all as well.

Meek

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GLORY

Hey world in yesterday our Rookie Glory Johnson celebrated her birthday. Yep she is a whopping 22 lol, and she says she's getting old! I just laughed and looked at her.  Her is a picture of her being blind fold as a few of our friends take her out on the town. I think she had a pretty good time, and we were happy that we could help her bring in her birthday.

Happy Birthday lil homie!

Meek

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

AUDIO FEED FOR TEMEKA'S CHOICE

Today was such an eventful day. After practice today, Glory Johnson and myself  played a little horse with Alex Chambers from Full Court who is in town for a few days.

After that he and I did some audio feed for my book Temeka's Choice. I was a little nervous at first but after I got into it I think it went fairly smooth. Both Alex and I had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun... I promise you I do not want to look at that blooper tape LOL.

I have so much respect for the actors/actresses that does the voice overs for the movies, you really have to get into the character, so it definitely made me have to step outside of myself. I know you are thinking that it is your book so how can it but believe me when I say it did.

I am super excited about all that is going on with the book and I believe that you all will be as well.

Stay tune for more information coming shortly.Meek

GREAT TEAM WIN!

Wow wow wow!

I couldnt be more proud of our team for the effort that was put forth in last nights victory against the LA Sparks. Riquina Williams on of our rookies really stepped up well, and utilized her minutes tithe best of her ability. She led us with 27 points but it was our team defense that turned things for us and helped us to not look back once we got ahead. It was great for our team as well as our fans. For the first time tonight we took the lead and kept it and it ended up being a pretty decent lead at that.

After the game was over we had a locker room full of the sponsors, owners, as well as the League President Laurel Richie who is in town for business as well as our game. It was such a great atmosphere in there, but I think owner Bill Cameron took the cake when he became a little emotional about the potential that he sees in this team. He is so proud of the way things have turned around from last year and he assured us that he is behind us and Tulsa will not be going anywhere anytime soon.

With passion like that from your owner what can you say?

And of course the shock fans they are there every night watch at the edge of their seats, butting their nails, etc LOL, but this victory was not a close one at all. WE REALLY PLAYED well. Again, I am so proud of each and every one of my teammates for the effort tonight. It was great!

Meek

IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY

It has been a long journey, but I was told that I should pay attention to the progress more than the wins and loss column. I couldnt agree more. I will say that our team is growing and moving in the right direction. We have had some minor set backs with our players, but I am proud of the way that others have stepped up. We came up short against the talented Indiana Fever last night, it was a 3 point deficit but we fought hard to get back after getting down to them by a little more than 10.

We have today off so I will get in the weight room, and I have some of my family here, so I will take my little cousin to get him a work out in, then I will relax and enjoy the day. Its always great to have family around, and I will enjoy them for as long as they are here

We have LA coming in here on the 26th -- so we will continue to work hard to improve.  Our win-loss record doesn't show it but this team is improving.  If we continue to work hard and stick together, the wins will follow!

Meek

THE TASTE OF VICTORY!

Hey Hey everyone!

I want to let you know that it feels great to wake up after a hard fought win. We have broken a 9 game losing streak -- yes that's right 9 -- and I am very proud of each and everyone of my teammates. We have struggled closing out game but last night all of that changed. I believe that this will be a great turning point for us as we head to LA for a game on wednesday and then back home for Indiana this Saturday.

As I rest up today, I look forward to getting back to work tomorrow and preparing for our task at hand. LA is a very talented team and we lost to them at the buzzer last time we played them at their place. I believe our team has grown since then and I'm anxious to see how we come out against them. Enjoy your day everyone!

Meek

PREPARING FOR THE MERCURY

I am not sure how to even begin, I just know that I expected so much more out of us! We are playing very hard for 32-38 min, and that is not enough for us yet, we need to play that way for the complete 40. I will say that I love working with our team, and appreciate each and every members effort to keep getting better. As a competitor, of course I would like to have some W's but looking beyond what is seen, I see the potential as well as the growth that has taking place within us so far.  We have fought very hard on this 10 day road trip and will continue to do so. It doesn't get any easier as we go ahead, so our goal is to continue to improve and get better.

We will face the Mercury tomorrow at 3 pm Pacific time. It will be another fun and uptempo game and one that we will work really hard to get. Wish us luck!

Meek

WE ARE RIGHT THERE

I am still upset about last night's loss. Yes, it was a good shot at the end, by the opposing team; but come on. We worked so hard to let that one just slip away. This has been the breaking points for us as well as the difference in us having 1, 2, or maybe even 3 wins in the W column. Through all of this, I still see the positiveness though. We are right there. RIGHT THERE!!!! We just have to figure it out and soon.  We have Seattle coming up and then Phoenix to finish off this ten day road trip. That's right -- it will not be easy, but we never thought that it would be.

We have to let this one go and move on to the next one. Tough, Tough, Tough one! but what else can you say?

Meek

ANOTHER TOUGH LOSS

I know everyone wants to know my thoughts about last night's game against Phoenix. Well let me just say that it was great to see my old teammates, but it was definitely a heart breaker. It was not a rival or revenge game for me -- it was what it was Tulsa vs. Phoenix. I think that we did a lot of great things, but we have to do better coming out after halftime. We have started a little slow in the 3rd quarter the last 2 games and that has to change. I think that we played hard and showed that we are taking this team in the right direction. We are still looking to get our first W, and I am sure that will happen very soon -- in the mean time we will continue to get better and keep on working!
Meek 

DISAPPOINTED WITH OUTCOME, MEEK STILL LIKES WHAT SHE SAW IN YOUNG SHOCK

We are under way now as we started our season and had our first game last night against the SilverStars.  I was pretty excited about our efforts but don't like that we didn't come away with the win. We played 38 minutes of some good basketball and came up short in the last 2 minutes. We definitely started off going in the right direction. We have some work to do to continue to get better, as we have Phoenix coming in on Tuesday at 7, but I am confident in our team and coaching staff and know that we will continue to progress.

Meek