"When I have a goal, I work on that," says Mattox. "So right now the total focus is on winning a championship in Connecticut." Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

Under her tutelage in Connecticut, the guard trio of Katie Douglas, Lindsay Whalen and Jamie Carey has developed into one of the league's best groups. But Mattox isn't satisfied with mere progress. As she explained recently to WNBA.com's Mark Bodenrader, a WNBA championship is what she's really after.

Q: How did you become an assistant with the Sun?

Mattox: "Mike just called me (laughs). That's it."

Q: What has your experience been like in Connecticut and how it has made you the coach you are today?

Mattox: "I take all my experiences through my entire career - 18, 19 years -- and I put them to work. Obviously, I've learned a tremendous amount from Coach Mike Thibault. He's been at the pro level, so being under somebody who has that knowledge of the trades and the money -- all that kind of stuff -- it's great because you can just sit there and absorb it all. The business part has been really good for me, learning about that side of the game.

"But Mike's offensive mind is just incredible. He can throw together 15 offensive plays in 15 seconds. That has been good for me, watching him work that side of it, because we all know that coaches have a few times during a game that you can control it with your timeouts, where you can call things, draw things up, help players. With his offensive mind, he's really good at that. So I've learned a lot from that."

Q: Has it been a goal of yours since the WNBA started to coach in the league?

Mattox: "I never set a goal like coach here, coach here then coach here. It just kind of happens in life. If you're doing well and doing the things you need to do, good things are going to happen. I was really fortunate that Mike called me at a time that it was right for me to make a change and to come to the WNBA. It's been great. I've enjoyed it."

Q: Is there one basketball person that has made the biggest influence on you in your career?

Mattox: "Probably Coach Rick Pitino because that (as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky) is where I just worked a tremendous amount. He just threw so much at me. His philosophy was so new, even at the college level. It was really intriguing to see how his mind worked. That got me going and got me to really understanding the game. He's probably had the most influence as far as that, and then probably Mike with the pro side of it. Rick was more the college side and Mike was more the pro side."

Q: What is the difference between coaching college and pro players?

Mattox: "Well, pro players are pros. They're adults. You don't have to worry about the academics. You don't have to worry about the paperwork... that kind of thing. When you're on the road with college players, they're yours - they're your children for the four years that they're with you. The pros aren't your children per se. They're adults. They have their own lives. It's basketball. They take care of their business and you treat them like adults. That's probably the biggest difference. You're still teaching and helping college people grow, because they are yours. The parents give them to you to continue influencing their lives. And here at this level, they're married, they have children, they're lives are already influenced. You just teach them the basketball side of it and help make them better from that side."

Q: You have a veteran core on the Sun. Does that make it harder or easier to coach them?

Mattox: "It's probably two-fold. It can be tough trying to teach the veterans something new. But it's easier in that you can teach the rookies coming in because now the veterans can help out and show them. 'This is what we want and this is how it is done, so watch so-and-so.' That makes it a little easier because they have a visual of what you're asking them to do. From that standpoint, the veterans are good because they're good in the locker room and good outside of that. When you've got veteran players around you, good people that understand what winning is all about, what taking care of your business is all about, and our veterans do, that's really good off the court. On the court, it's good because they've got a visual. They can see how we want someone to work that screen or how we want someone to work that specific play set."

Q: Do you have any long-term goals as far as coaching goes?

Mattox: "I want to win a championship here in Connecticut. That's it. That's our goal."

Q: How about personally?

Mattox: "When I have a goal, I work on that. Then after I've reached that, then I move on to other things because I don't want anything in the shadow of what I'm working on now. So right now the total focus is on winning a championship in Connecticut."

Q: Do you have any advice for coaches that teach players earlier in the stages of basketball development?

Mattox: "Be patient. We all think that just because a player comes from some program that they know everything. Teach them because they don't know everything. They want to know. They want to learn the little things that will make them better. Listen to the players from the standpoint that they might not want help, but they do want it! But just be patient with them. Be persistent with what you're doing and just be relentless with teaching because results are going to come. Sooner or later, you will see and you'll say, 'Finally!' (laughs). And that moment of clarity is amazing. It's like, 'And now they get!'"