Postgame Quotes/Notes: Chicago 74, Storm 58

June 13, 2012

STORM HEAD COACH BRIAN AGLER:


On the Sky:
Well, obviously they have had some great additions with two of our former players in Swin (Cash) and Le'coe (Willingham). Even though you may not see their impact on the team in statistics, they impact the team in regards to leadership, stability and experience out there. That's one big improvement. Also, (Sylvia) Fowles is a year older, (Epiphanny) Prince is a year older, (Courtney) Vandersloot's a year older, Tamera Young is having a good year, so they've got a chance to do well this year.

On the team's game plan:
Well, I thought defensively, we did a pretty good job on Prince and Fowles in regards to guarding them on their offense but we didn't do a very good job of keeping Fowles off the boards and giving them too many second chances.

On what the Storm needs:
Just time together. Keep playing together. We have to get the schedule going our way a little bit. Keep on working through things. There's no panic right now. We are making progress and we just have to keep heading in the right direction.

STORM CENTER ANN WAUTERS:


On the Sky's improvement:
This is the first time I've played here, actually, but it is a big change. I think it's a team that every year gets better and better and gets more experience. They have someone like Sylvia Fowles inside, which is huge for them but also Epiphanny Prince is playing awesome for them this year. They also have some other young players who are stepping up so I think this team, with Pokey as head coach, has completely changed from the teams that I used to play.

On getting over the hump:
It's hard. There are some new players here and I know we have a lot of very talented players in this locker room but we just have to find a way to really click and connect together. Sometimes we show it on the court, but not consistently enough and that's what we have to look for. Consistency, offense and defense and finding each other is what we have to look for. Just playing together and knowing what my teammate is going to do in defense and offense. We just have to play together better.

STORM FORWARD TINA THOMPSON:


On the game plan:
We wanted to limit the touches of Epiphanny. She's been playing red hot, she's played so well so we wanted to contain her as much as we could just because she has been such a big part of her offense.

On Fowles' performance:
She is an amazing talent. Just genetically. She is just physically stronger than most players in her position. Her size and athleticism. She's tall, she's strong, she's athletic, she's agile and that's just not something you see. Most players don't have all those; they only have a combination of a couple of those. For her size, she's just really tough to guard because of how athletic and mobile she is.

On Wauters:
She means a lot. She is our go-to post presence. She is of course an amazing talent has been consistently playing basketball well for a very long time so just to have her back in the WNBA is great. Not only that but she is a great asset for our team.

CHICAGO HEAD COACH POKEY CHATMAN:
On the game:
We had a solid defensive effort in the fourth quarter. We held them to eight points in the fourth quarter and really did some of the dirty work. We were plus-23 on the boards. We could have taken care of the ball a little better but I could live with the 15 (turnovers) because only three came from Piph and Sloot and they played 60 minutes so that was a good thing. We need this momentum going into our next game in Indiana.

On getting balanced scoring:
When you followed this team([in the past) it was 'limit Syl's touches and flip a coin if someone else can step up.' Piph has stepped up and she's drawn a lot of attention so now its Syl and Piph and that third option right now is being spread around. (Sonja) Petrovic had some open shots and Young had open shots - wide open because they are picking their poison and fortunately we knocked some of those shots down. When we didn't - we got some second chance points, 25 second chance points, so that was good when we didn't hit those shots.

On her team's leadership:
I can't even put it in words because, for instance, in a crucial situation we are changing a defensive scheme and then Le'coe walks up to me and she asks me a coaching question that no one on my staff even asked me, which was brilliant because it's one particular defensive assignment guarding Sue Bird. For her to have the presence of mind, not being the person that logs the most minutes she just thinks the game so well. What happens is when they leave my huddle it is just comforting to hear stuff from your teammates. It's a different voice and it's probably a little bit nicer than coming from one of us and then they have that respect of the players because they know what they are talking about. It doesn't matter if Swin is 2-for-10 or 10-for-10 it is the same energy and the same talk or Le'coe or Ruth (Riley) and I can't replace that. I would like to think I could do it but I can't.

CHICAGO CENTER SYLVIA FOWLES:
On the game:
We started off very well and trying to execute the game plan. The coaches did a great job of preparing us this week for Seattle. Our main focus was going out and getting to a good start because our home games have been kind of rough. We try not to make it so hard in the beginning, but overall, everyone did their part on the floor.

On the importance of a good start:
It means a lot because our last two games here came down to (the final) seconds in the fourth quarter. We just try to refocus that and getting off to a good start is very important especially at home. We want to protect home court.

On the Fever:
It's going to be hard because Indiana's very scrappy but I'm pretty sure our coaches are going to get us ready and prepare us. It just comes down to us to getting it done on the court. Matching their intensity and being just as aggressive as them will mean a lot in this game.

CHICAGO GUARD EPIPHANNY PRINCE:
On the game:
I think we played good defense. We outrebounded them and we read (their) defense well and found open shots for each other. We established Sylvia early and that got us open looks.

On what she was trying to do:
I was just reading what the defense was giving me and playing off of that. We had certain plays for me and I got open looks and I was able to hit them.

On the Fever:
They always give us a tough time. They've played with each other for a long time; they're real aggressive. We saw the film with what we did wrong the last time, hopefully we play better next game.

2012 Postgame Quotes/Notes Archive

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