vs. 
POSTGAME QUOTES
JULY 23, 2002
COMETS COACH VAN CHANCELLOR
On the game:
"You can tell the Texans have started their preseason, but that doesn’t bother me one bit. We won. In my estimation, we are so close to busting out offensively. It’s so close, I can almost taste it. We got so close tonight. We scored 80 or 90 points, but some of the plays wouldn’t go down, but I’m happy tonight. We gave up 54, but scored 66. I’m really pleased. Rita Williams is going to give us another dimension and is the big reason I feel we’re close to busting out. I really admire Tina Thompson tonight. She feels as tough as I’ve ever seen a player; she’s not feeling at all well, but she had a Tina Thompson night."
On the impact of the crowd:
"It always helps coming home. This crowd always helps. It’s a wonderful feeling when you come into the airport and there’s 50 people there and then you come in here and the crowd is so enthusiastic."
On the play of Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird:
"They got their points, but then nobody else got theirs. Great players are going to score. There’s no way to stop great players. I hope it’s the last time we see them; I’m tired of them."
On the missed three-pointers:
"We were 1-of-9 and we used to be as good from the three-point line as has ever been. If we ever get that back, we’re going to be a team to reckon with."
SHERYL SWOOPES
On being close to a triple-double:
"Coach came up to me with 47 seconds left and said, ‘You need three more rebounds to have a triple double. Do you think you can do it?’ First of all, he said, ‘I don’t think you can do it in 47 seconds; I’m going to take you out.’ I said, ‘Are you kidding? Yes, leave me in. Yes, I can do it.’ I just went out and played. I had no idea I was even that close. Who knows? It might happen another time. I’m just glad we won."
On Chancellor's statement that team is on the verge offensively:
"I think we are so close. I think we’re at the point right now where we are very confident in ourselves, very confident in what we’re doing offensively as a team. I think we are still waiting for that one great offensive night. And that is from everybody on the team. Tonight I thought offensively we really passed the ball well. I thought we shared the ball, we got into our offensive flow. There were a couple of times where we got impatient, but I think that is all part of basketball. I thought tonight we played incredibly well offensively and defensively. I thought we were great individually; I thought we did a really good job on team defense, shutting down what they wanted to do offensively. I thought that was the biggest difference in the game."
TINA THOMPSON
On the game:
"They’re a very talented team. Their record doesn’t show how talented they actually are. None of our games are easy; everyone plays us tough. I think it’s just the reputation that we have as a team and everyone is kind of measuring themselves up to us. I can’t say there has ever been a game that I have played in as a Houston Comet that has been easy."
On the team’s defensive play:
"When the lead slipped to five points, we stepped up the defense. I don’t think that we expect any team to just lay down and die for us; it’s not going to happen. Every single time they get an opportunity to either score a basket or some type of advantage, they’re going to. For us, it’s a matter of weathering the storm and continuing to play the type of basketball that we are comfortable with and, hopefully, in the end we will come out on the positive side."
STORM COACH LIN DUNN
On the game:
"We had a great defensive effort and the only thing I thought that really hurt us tonight is that we didn’t knock down some wide-open shots. I thought Lauren Jackson missed some good looks at the basket, I thought Amanda (Lassiter) did, I thought Felicia Ragland did. Kamila (Vodichova) missed a few shots she usually gets. If you’re going to come in here and have a chance to beat Houston, we’ve got to score more than 54. I was disappointed with the looks that we got, that we didn’t do a better job of putting the ball in the hole. We’ve got to step up and hit big shots."
On the play of the team:
"I thought both teams looked unfocused in the first half. I thought both teams looked a little out of sync, not nearly like the last first half we had in the first game here. I think with us, because we don’t have as many offensive weapons as they do, every possession is so important to us. We don’t have three players like they do with the experience that they do that can take over the game at any point. We have to take advantage of every opportunity we have."
FELICIA RAGLAND
On the game:
"It was a tough one to swallow. I thought our defense was good, we just didn’t hit any of our shots. Just an off night for us. I think we can bounce back from this loss and get ready for Orlando. We started off a little bit slow, but we picked up our defense throughout the game. We ran at them, but we just weren’t making any shots. We’ve got to play hard from the start and not wait until the second half to play hard."
On possibly making the playoffs:
"I think we can still make the playoffs. We’ve got a few games left that I think we can win. We need to win our home games and a couple on the road. We’ve just got to believe in ourselves and be confident in ourselves."
SUE BIRD
On the game:
"Obviously, we can’t shoot the way we did tonight and beat better teams. We had a chance to win, and that’s encouraging and discouraging. They’re a great team and they’ve got great players."
On her first season:
"Obviously I’ve experienced losing, but every day I try to learn something new. The best thing about this year is that we’ve gotten better. And even though our record doesn’t show it, we have gotten better. We’ve got a really great foundation now. We really want to make the playoffs, but the biggest thing is that we’ve gotten better."
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