Postgame Quotes/Notes - Storm 70, San Antonio 60

Sept. 3, 2011

STORM HEAD COACH BRIAN AGLER:


On hitting stride heading toward the playoffs:
Well, Lauren (Jackson) isn�t 100 percent, but having her back makes a difference. It gives us an inside presence and she affects the game at both ends of the floor. We are starting to play better together. I like the way we�re moving. I don�t know if we�ve quite hit it yet, but I like the way that we�re playing right now.

On Jackson playing a back-to-back set:
She wanted to play. She knows her body better than anybody. We didn�t play her big minutes or for long stretches, but she wanted to play and be a part of it, so we let her do that.

On dominating the glass:
Well, we talked about that. Last time we played them at our place they outrebounded us. Historically we�ve done a really good job against them on the boards, but not the last time we played. So we brought it to the team�s attention tonight.

On Sue Bird's defense on Danielle Robinson:
She did a good job tonight of containing Danielle. She did a good job of helping away (from the ball). She got a couple steals and got a couple key offensive rebounds when we needed them, and she hits big shots. She�s extremely important to us.

STORM GUARD SUE BIRD:


On the team's focus:
For us the focus is just trying to get a win. It�s never easy in this league when you�re on the road. We�re in a situation where (we have a) couple games left, we�re trying to get second place and we can really control our own destiny by getting wins. We just wanted to do whatever we had to do to get a win. Everybody did that tonight and it felt really good.

On familiarity with the Silver Stars:
It�s a good and bad thing. It�s hard when you play a team five times. We�ve played this team five times. We know them very well and they know us very well. I think tonight you saw both teams at times playing to their strengths and we were just fortunate enough to have a big fourth quarter and take the lead.

On hitting stride going to the playoffs:
I hope so. It would be a good time to do that. The WNBA is a short season, but it can be long in terms of the ups and downs over the year. For us we�ve definitely dealt with our downs and I hope we�re getting on an upswing.

On dominating the glass:
It was huge. In the last game at home, even though we won, they actually beat us on the boards. It was something we talked about. Swin (Cash) had double-digit rebounds and a lot of people were getting in there and snatching them. You need to rebound by committee and when everybody is in there doing it, we�re a much better team.

STORM FORWARD SWIN CASH:


On dominating the glass:
Coach emphasized that tonight. Last time we played they beat us on the boards, so we wanted to really make sure we got to the glass defensively and give them only one shot, and offensively to give ourselves second chances.

On Bird's performance:
Sue�s been playing really well for us and she comes up with big shots in clutch times when we need her. Her offense has been there and she�s our leader out there. Today was pretty much a must-win for us so we went into this game and she just led us through and everyone contributed.

On having success against San Antonio:
I think we�re very similar in some regards, especially in some of the stuff that we run. A little of luck, I would say. We just played really well and we just match up well against them.

On reaching 4,000 career points:
I was told that. It�s pretty cool. You play this game for a long time and get different milestones in your career. It�s just an honor and a blessing to be doing what I love. I was happy to see some Storm fans out there. I saw some of their signs, so that was pretty cool.

On hitting stride:
We feel like we�re starting to get into that groove. We�re playing harder and we can smell the playoffs right around the corner. Everything is just really clicking and we�re hoping that we can ride that wave into the playoffs.

On finishing the road trip with a win:
It�s very important because now we get to go home in front of our fans and end the season with two games at home. That�s important for us especially going into the playoffs anytime you can secure the home court advantage.

SAN ANTONIO HEAD COACH DAN HUGHES:
On the game:
We outscored them in the paint. We got fast-break points, but the rebounding differential, which was so dramatic, I think it made it very tough for us. Give Seattle credit. I think they�re as good of a defensive team as we have in this league right now. They�re playing at a premium level. Beyond that for us to have a flow we needed to rebound a little better. I thought we played hard. I thought there was great effort, but we just didn�t finish plays. We didn�t create the kind of tempo that we wanted to play to. I thought Seattle played good. I thought Bird and Jackson were Bird and Jackson. They have a very formidable team. They�re back in a rhythm that reminded me of what I saw of them last year. We�re going to get a chance to regroup. We�ve gone through five games in eight games; then we�ll head out for the final week. We�ve put ourselves in a situation where we have great opportunity. We�ll regroup and head to the future.

SAN ANTONIO GUARD BECKY HAMMON:
On the game:
We have to take care of our own business. We must take care of ourselves. We don�t want to have to have someone lose for us to get in. We want to get there because we�re playing well at the end of the year. I thought we played okay tonight. We missed some easy shots, which we normally make. If we knock those down, it�s probably a different outcome. Then, we have to do our work on the boards. If we take care of those things, we�ll win games. It�s very obvious when we don�t rebound, we don�t win. It can�t just be the bigs; it has to be the guards too. It has to be everybody getting down in the paint and helping out.

On her rookie teammates having a tough night:
Well, they are a very veteran team. They are very smart and they are very physical. This is where you take your learning lumps when you are a rookie. You�re playing against the defending champs. They are going to come out and be physical and have a great game plan on you. I�m sure we�ll learn from this and move on.

SAN ANTONIO FORWARD SOPHIA YOUNG:
On the game:
I thought there were some points in the game where we were aggressive. There were some points in the game when we were slacking. They hit some tough threes on us, late in the shot clock. Those were daggers. Overall, we played mediocre. Seattle is a good team. I've got to give them credit for how they played on back-to-back nights. I think we can play better as a team. Right now, we�re fighting for a playoff spot. We have to forget about the past and focus on the future. The next three games are important for us.

On improving on the glass:
The last two games we played, we outrebounded them. Seattle is always a tough team. They beat us on the boards and Los Angeles is going to be a team like that as well. They have good players and we�re going to have to box out. Rebounding is kind of a mental thing. That�s something we've got to focus on Monday, when we come back to practice. If we don�t rebound against an opponent or if we get outrebounded by 20, we�re not going to win a game, especially in L.A. when they�re fighting for a playoff spot.

2011 Postgame Quotes/Notes Archive

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