2010 WNBA Finals - Game One Quotes: Atlanta Dream
Sep 13 2010 12:41PM
The following is a collection of quotes from Atlanta Dream players and coaches after Game One of the 2010 WNBA Finals.
Head coach Marynell Meadors
Coach, are you heartened by the fact that Angel played as few minutes as she did and you guys hung in there the way you did?
I've said all along that this team was built on balance and, you know, we really we play hard, whether Angel is in the lineup or she's not, and we're a team, and we share the ball extremely well. A lot of times throughout the season Angel was not the leading scorer; she was a secondary scorer, but she looks to give assists to her teammates, so I would like to keep her in the game, and I would like her to play about 35 minutes. That's what I want to happen on Tuesday night. As far as not getting into foul trouble, she will stay aggressive, but I was proud of the way she came back when she was in foul trouble and then when she got hit in the head and had to have stitches, she came back strong in the fourth. I'm not sure how many but there was a good gash there.
(question away from mic.)
I saw us give up the shot; it just didn't go in. It was designed for anyone that was open, we had our shooters in the lineup at the time, and we didn't care whether it was a two or a three. You have 2.6 seconds left, it's not a lot of time once you catch it, so we had to catch the ball and shoot it, and it was designed to get an open shot and it got that for us; we just didn't make it.
Coach, the last shot that Bird took and hit, can you talk about that?
We gave Sue Bird that open look and if you give her an open look with the game on the line, nine times out of 10 she's going to make it, and she made it this time, so we've got to do a better job defensively.
Iziane Castro Marques
Izzy, how difficult is to have someone injured and out for a while? You guys played so hard without Angel and you were still in it toward the end.
It was hard. We thought she would be able to be in longer than she was, and we had to work through it. And we did a great job without her on the court. Definitely we need her for next game.
You guys all stepped up and scored without Angel in the game. Has there been a situation before this game before you had to step up for her?
Yeah, we have many games and know always she is the one who we go to, so everybody has to know what to do when she is not in. And when one player is not doing her job, somebody else has to bring it, and we did that largely this season, and we did that today, too.
Izzy, talk about the defense on the last sequence with Bird. It seemed like she got a better look than you might have wanted her to. Can you talk about that?
It was a hard thing because you have a shooter screening, and you are not able to help as much so you have to make a good defensive play on the situation. It was a good play, good shooter, and it's hard to defend that.
What was it that you guys were seeing by the Storm that you had not found a way to approach that?
We couldn't help off the screener, because they are good shooters, so we have to work around it, and the best way we could do it is to go under and meet the player on the other side, because if we help off the screen then the other person has a wide open shot.
Head coach Marynell Meadors
|
Coach, are you heartened by the fact that Angel played as few minutes as she did and you guys hung in there the way you did?
I've said all along that this team was built on balance and, you know, we really we play hard, whether Angel is in the lineup or she's not, and we're a team, and we share the ball extremely well. A lot of times throughout the season Angel was not the leading scorer; she was a secondary scorer, but she looks to give assists to her teammates, so I would like to keep her in the game, and I would like her to play about 35 minutes. That's what I want to happen on Tuesday night. As far as not getting into foul trouble, she will stay aggressive, but I was proud of the way she came back when she was in foul trouble and then when she got hit in the head and had to have stitches, she came back strong in the fourth. I'm not sure how many but there was a good gash there.
(question away from mic.)
I saw us give up the shot; it just didn't go in. It was designed for anyone that was open, we had our shooters in the lineup at the time, and we didn't care whether it was a two or a three. You have 2.6 seconds left, it's not a lot of time once you catch it, so we had to catch the ball and shoot it, and it was designed to get an open shot and it got that for us; we just didn't make it.
Coach, the last shot that Bird took and hit, can you talk about that?
We gave Sue Bird that open look and if you give her an open look with the game on the line, nine times out of 10 she's going to make it, and she made it this time, so we've got to do a better job defensively.
Iziane Castro Marques
|
Izzy, how difficult is to have someone injured and out for a while? You guys played so hard without Angel and you were still in it toward the end.
It was hard. We thought she would be able to be in longer than she was, and we had to work through it. And we did a great job without her on the court. Definitely we need her for next game.
You guys all stepped up and scored without Angel in the game. Has there been a situation before this game before you had to step up for her?
Yeah, we have many games and know always she is the one who we go to, so everybody has to know what to do when she is not in. And when one player is not doing her job, somebody else has to bring it, and we did that largely this season, and we did that today, too.
Izzy, talk about the defense on the last sequence with Bird. It seemed like she got a better look than you might have wanted her to. Can you talk about that?
It was a hard thing because you have a shooter screening, and you are not able to help as much so you have to make a good defensive play on the situation. It was a good play, good shooter, and it's hard to defend that.
What was it that you guys were seeing by the Storm that you had not found a way to approach that?
We couldn't help off the screener, because they are good shooters, so we have to work around it, and the best way we could do it is to go under and meet the player on the other side, because if we help off the screen then the other person has a wide open shot.
