vs. 
POSTGAME QUOTES
MAY 30, 2004
On the game:
"What a nice win for us today. To come in here and to grit one out, to just find a way to win. We won it today with defense. I thought we played hard and (I thought) Kedra Holland-Corn, to play up for her teammates, had a really nice game and I’m proud for her. I thought Dominique Canty came in and played really, really well.
"I thought two areas really hurt us a little bit – one, we turned the ball over in key situations when we shouldn’t have, though we did a good job of going back and getting the ball after we turned it over. And then I thought we had spurts where we really rebounded the ball well and then other spurts where we didn’t. We didn’t give up any transition baskets off of transition – we gave them up over turnovers.
"I thought we did a nice job guarding Yolanda (Griffith),
Tangela (Smith) and DeMya Walker tonight. I was really pleased with that. We
doubled down on Yolanda (Griffith) – we couldn’t afford to let her get
started. Ruthie Bolton, her and (Kara) Lawson made some shots that were just
unbelievable. (Ruthie) Bolton made a shot there at the end…oh. We did a good
job with her in the second half, (but) I told whoever was guarding her that if
they sagged, they were coming out. I couldn’t get anyone in the first half to
understand that (but) I’m very pleased with the win. Sacramento has a shot at
being really good. We’ve got three tough games (coming up); thank God two of the three
are at home."
On keeping the Monarchs scoreless for a four-minute stretch in the second half:
"It was critical when you consider we’re
still trying to find ourselves offensively. We’ve concentrated on our
defense the past three days thinking our offense is there and it’s just not (there)."
On the team’s seeming lack of understanding what plays he wanted to run:
"I just think that we’ve got to find a way to get us in our offense quicker.
We’re just not getting into it enough. We’re disorganized at times
offensively; we’re just making some great plays to get us there."
On the play of Sheryl Swoopes:
"The way they’re defensing us right now,
it’s hard to get her the shot. We’ve got to find a way to get her an easier
look at the basket. That’s what our problem is right now."
On the play of Tina Thompson:
"I thought she was really big tonight, 27 points, 7-of-10 (FGs), 4-of-4 for the 'three-ball', 9-of-9 from the free throw line. If I was in a wishful, dreaming mode, I’d like her to rebound a little better, but you can’t have everything. You ask her to guard
Tangela Smith (six points), score 27 points. In a perfect world, that’s what
I’d ask. What we should have done in the second half was get her the ball more.
Here’s what’s hurting us – I think we’re playing so many players that have
never played at guard and we’re just having a real struggle."
On the last four minutes of the second half when Kara Lawson started scoring:
"We knew at some point they were going to start scoring. They are a very tough team to guard. They are a very big team. When you have a team like that, they are just going to throw it up and crash the boards. They did a great job rebounding. I thought we did a great job, especially towards the end. I thought down the stretch, when we really needed to pick up our defense and not allow them second or third shots, we did a really good job."
On the Comets:
"I thought we came out, especially early on, and executed. We had some crucial turnovers during the game that really hurt us. Overall, I thought it was a great team win. At times, when we needed to pull together and understand what was going on and what was on the line, I thought everybody really stepped up and went out individually and did what we had to do defensively."
On the game:
"The teams are pretty competitive all the way around. Games are going to be tough. I don’t think that anyone is just going to come in and just blow anyone out. If that happens, then that particular team is having a really good day or the opposing team is having a really bad day. It’s a win; we needed it. It was a big win for us. Everyone is excited we came out on top today."
On the Comets defense:
"I think Ruthie (Bolton), as well as Yolanda (Griffith), is the heart of their offense as well as their defense. Ruthie (Bolton) came in and she was on fire. In the first half, she had a lot of big shots. I think she scored 13 or 14 points as soon as she came in off the bench. That was definitely our focus going into the second half. We didn’t want her to come in and be Ruthie. That is what she does. She is almost instant offense. When she came in, we were paying particular attention to her and not letting her get into a comfort zone. For Yolanda (Griffith), she gets a lot of her points off of offensive rebounds. I think she is the best offensive rebounder in the WNBA. My job today was to keep her off the boards and not allow her to get into a comfortable position to get those put-backs."
On how she felt after hitting her first three-point shot of the game:
"I think after hitting your first shot, it kind of gets your confidence going no matter when you are playing or where you are playing. It is very important for me to come out offensively-minded because this team needs one more person to be offensively minded. Whenever I hit a first '3' or first shot, just like anybody, you start feeling good about your shot and yourself. That first shot that went in was very important."
On the game:
"We couldn’t throw it in the ocean. We missed some shots down there that were almost layups. When you get tight and tense those things will happen. We out rebounded a good team on their home court. They let their other home loss slip away with their effort. Tonight they played hard, tough, and mean like the four time WNBA champions they have been. We were right with them.
"There’s no such thing as a moral victory, but it was a
better feeling than our other two losses. We blew a lead in our home loss to
Minnesota and then in San Antonio. I thought we played hard and fought hard
even though we weren’t polished. We had a hard time making baskets. I can’t
be upset at my people for their effort and missing shots. No matter how hard
you try you can’t make baskets. Sometimes you have a hard time. Defensively
in the second half we caused a lot of fits for them. They are typically a
low turnover team and we caused 17 tonight."
On Tina Thompson:
"Tina Thompson is just unreal. She’s on a hot streak. If
she threw it in from the women’s bathroom she’d make it. Whether falling out
of bounds or standing on her head or getting a drink at the fountain, she’s
still able to make it. She’s been that way. Tangela Smith worked hard on
her. She’s just good. It’s like trying to guard Larry Bird or Kobe Bryant.
We just wanted to make her shots tough. You don’t make threes in a horse
game like that. She made them all."
On his team's shooting:
"We shot 20 more shots than they did. That’s usually
a good thing. We’re having trouble putting it in the basket. The only
difference tonight is that we got 12 offensive rebounds. The only thing you
can do when you’re not putting it in is to tip it in. That kept us in the
game along with Ruthie’s bombs in the first half. We talked about that
during half time. I can say anything I want to about shooting. I know you’re
trying. No body tries to miss shots. But what we can control is getting some
of those shots back."
On the game:
"We were struggling offensively and I just wanted to come in and be a spark. Our defense wasn’t really bad, but we just needed to get something going offensively. Our effort was there, but we need to get more loose balls. We need to get smarter down the stretch and we had some turnovers that kind of hurt us. This was one of those games that was about even looking at the stats, but they just made more shots than we did. One good thing about the overall game is that our effort and the things we did were a lot better than they were in the other games we lost, but if we keep playing hard and stay focused and positive, we’ll get back on track."
On the game:
"Games like this, one of the teams has to establish some composure. It was just one of those games. We were working hard and some of the loose balls went our way, but the key ones we really needed didn’t. We gave a good effort, but when we need to shut people down or shut a team down, we tend to lose our focus and that’s what happened. They pulled together as team.
"We’ve just got to stay positive. We’re 1-3 now, but we’ve
been close in the last two games that we’ve lost. Eventually things are
going to go our way, but we’ve just got to stay positive. But we didn’t quit
and as long as we continue to fight, we’re going to win games. Ruthie came
in and gave us a lift. Every game is important and everyone on a team is
important. Ruthie came in and we started pulling together as a team and got
back in the game. We should have got this game. We just have to learn from
it and get ready for the next game. It’s frustrating, but when we tie the
game up, we’ve got to have that killer instinct."
On Tina Thompson:
"Tina had a good game. She’s having a good beginning.
Everybody guarding her has to be determined to stop her. You’ve got to play
tough defense on everybody. They played together as a team. We had some
tough turnovers at the end but all we can do is stay positive. It’s still
the beginning of the season. We can’t be negative. If we stay positive we’ll
turn it around."
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