Mercury 101, Sparks 82

Postgame Quotes: Mercury vs. Sparks - July 5, 2011


Corey Gaines

Penny Taylor

Diana Taurasi

Jennifer Gillom

Tina Thompson

Ebony Hoffman

Click on a player to read quotes


Mercury Head Coach Corey Gaines

(On halftime adjustments)
�We just had to get a couple of shots, and in the first half they were shooting free-throws and you can�t run off free-throws, unless they miss them. I told the team we need to do three things: play defense, get the rebound, and then we can do what we do best, which is run.�

(On Ketia Swanier�s injury)
It was a bad one to her eye. Her eye was bleeding, any time you get hit in the eye it�s kind of dangerous.�

(On effect of Ketia Swanier�s injury)
�I think it started before that, they had an 8 point lead going into half. We just tried to play a little better defense, not foul and put them on the line. We were getting stops, but we weren�t getting the rebound after the stop. A lot of times you only do those two things, but if you do that third thing, that�s how you can turn it around.�


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Mercury forward Penny Taylor

(On solid second half play)
�There was some good energy out there, we played some good defense. We really knuckled down on defense and that got us out running. That�s always when we look our best.�

(On defensive tone)
�It�s really something that when we do it, which isn�t always, it really helps us to run and like I said, when we run it�s when we look our best. Our defense is really what can make us take off on offense.�


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Mercury guard Diana Taurasi

(On momentum shift in third quarter)
�I think a little bit before that (Ketia Swanier injury) we started playing a little bit better, we got some stops. When Ketia (Swanier) went down, obviously things got a little out of control for a minute, but we found a way to stay with it. When something like that happens it can affect you in a way where it takes all your energy away or it can get you going a little bit, and I think it did that for us today.�

(On slow start to season)
�I think the slow start worried us a little bit, but we knew it was because we weren�t doing certain things. I think in the last few weeks, everyone settled in a little bit, felt a little more comfortable on the court, and knew what we needed from each other to get some wins. Now we just have to continue to work hard and see where it takes us.�


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Sparks Head Coach Jennifer Gillom

(What happened after the flagrant foul?)
�We lost our composure. That�s the bottom line. It started with that and then it trickled down to our team and it took us out of our game. �

(On Ebony Hoffman�s performance)
�That�s the thing, we do this every time. We get players to step up that haven�t been stepping up and then we�I don�t know. We�re not playing together as a team right now and that�s something that they�re going to have to figure out. There�s no one man show on this team. The only way we�re going to get a win is we�ve got to be a team. Until they figure that out, it�s going to be a long season.


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Sparks forward Tina Thompson

(Play after the flagrant foul)
�I think we lost our composure just a little bit. We got too involved with the refereeing and with things not going our way but we know that we�re a pretty veteran group and at times things are not going to go our way. Especially teams like Phoenix are going to make a run and we have to keep our composure in that situation. I think it was kind of like a snowball effect. One that flagrant foul happened and a couple of calls didn�t go our way and it went their way and they went on a small run it felt like we were climbing an uphill battle but it wasn�t the case. The game was still pretty close but mentally, once you get in that place, it�s hard to get out.�

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Sparks guard Ebony Hoffman

(On play after the flagrant foul)
�It was kind of like a spiral, we spiraled down from there. We didn�t rebound from the flagrant foul and all the technicals that we got. I think we weren�t tough mentally today and that�s sad to say with as many veterans as we have on this team to not be so tough mentally, it�s kind of inexcusable and I�m speechless on our effort today.�

(On getting shots in first vs. second half)
�I can�t comment on what everybody else is thinking but I know that we have to start playing together in order to get back to .500. If you don�t play together, than you know, the west is a dog fight. How are we going to be Seattle, Phoenix again, Minnesota if we don�t play together? One person�s not going to do it every game. The next game it might be Tina that goes off and we�ve got to keep feeding her so as a team we need to be conscious of that.�


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