Swin Cash doesn't see Detroit anymore.

How could she when the Motor City's team was relocated to Tulsa last year and stripped of everything but the name "Shock" — while her current team, the Storm, clings to a playoff berth?

Then there's the Shock's 15-game losing streak.

Seattle (12-10) hosts Tulsa (1-20) at 7 p.m. Thursday at KeyArena.

"We're not taking this Tulsa team lightly at all," Cash said. "Coming from someone that was on a team that was on a losing streak forever, you are scrapping as hard as you possibly can to get the next win.

"People who play with a sense of urgency, that really don't have a rhyme or reason, sometimes what they're doing could be street ball and it's hard to defend. You have to match their intensity because they want it so bad. I understand that."

A decade ago, Tulsa was the Detroit Shock, playing at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The team drafted Cash, a star power forward from Connecticut, and hoped for a turnaround. Instead the Shock, with Cash (who went undefeated her senior season in college), lost 13 consecutive games from May 30 to June 28, 2002.

The following year, Detroit went from worst to first, winning Cash's first of three WNBA titles.

Cash seemed to be rooting herself professionally, buying a home in Michigan and making the hard transition from post player to wing.

But she never became a fixture for Detroit — not in the way Sue Bird, Lisa Leslie, or Tamika Catchings have in their cities.

Cash was traded. The team left.

"I feel like I have had a rare opportunity to have great success with two different franchises," said Cash, who helped Seattle to the title in 2010. "But I'm focused on the playoff push."

Cash is averaging a team-high-tying 15.3 points and has been one of the Storm's top stars in her four seasons.

She, along with center Ashley Robinson, called the KeyArena fans "Storm Crazies" via Twitter, and it's caught on as some fans are buying T-shirts for charity and traveling to road games.

Cash was drafted behind Bird in the one of the best classes in WNBA history (2002). Today, her impact is clear.

"Any time you can be one place for a really long time, it's special," said Cash, a back-to-back All-Star Game MVP. "I don't feel any less as far as it being my 10th year in the league. I appreciate my four years here and the other six that were in Detroit."

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com