Notes and Quotes: June 23-29, 2008

"Just because I'm not shooting does not mean I'm not involved in the offensive and not distributing the ball. In the first half it wasn't really there. I'm not going to go barreling in their every single time."
- Lindsay Whalen on her offensive involvement in Sunday's loss to Phoenix

"I can't think of a player in the WNBA that is more tough than Kara Lawson, mentally or physically. I think she thrives on that opportunity to show the world. She just goes above and beyond what you would expect an athlete to be able to do."
- After Saturday's win over New York, Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek discusses the play of All-Star Kara Lawson

"We talked about who we are. I think some nights we're going to offensively be a good basketball team. But I think every night we ought to be a good defensive team."
- Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes after San Antonio's win Saturday night over Minnesota, to the San Antonio Express-News

"I just think we lose so much in terms of leadership and we really look for her to score, to give us defense, advice… not having her on the court really hurt us."
- Lynx rookie Candice Wiggins on missingteammate SeimoneAugustus for the first time this season in their loss Saturday to the Silver Stars

"We kept everybody entertained. It kind of became a test of wills versus whatever you want to call what [Betty Lennox] was. She reminded me of Allen Iverson."
- Sun coach Mike Thibault on Saturday's hard-fought victory over the Dream, to the Hartford Courant

"We apologize to you all for the lackluster effort tonight. We're going to correct this and, next game, you're going to see a different Sparks team."
- Sparks center Lisa Leslie to the home crowd of 8,144 following Thursday's loss to Washington, to the Los Angeles Times

"When Coach Karleen Thompson told me this morning that I was going start I knew that I had to go in the game and play as hard as I could play. I am backing up somebody who is very, very good! I had to put all my effort just to match her intensity and then I guess the game was just smooth sailing from there. "
- Comets forward Sancho Lyttle on setting a career high in points against the Silver Stars as she got the start in place of injured Tina Thompson

"The way I look at it is that we had a mental test in Minnesota and failed and tonight we faced another one and succeeded. We're young and have a long way to go, but we showed character."
- Liberty forward Shameka Christon after her team's triple-OT win over the Fever, to the New York Post

"A lot of us have just seen history. (And) you're going to see more because Candace Parker is very, very good."
- Sparks coach Michael Cooper after Candace Parker's second dunk in two games, to the Los Angeles Times

"It was more than a blowout. It was actually laughable at one point. … Tonight was more of getting our character back, a little bit of that soul that (the Liberty) ripped out of us."
- Mercury guard Diana Taurasi said of rebounding from the 105-72 loss at New York with Tuesday's win over the Mystics, to the Arizona Republic

"The motivation for [our] post players was the comment Janel [McCarville] made in the papers. They kind of fed off of that. So thank you, Janel, for that great comment."
- Lynx forward Seimone Augustus after McCarville, the former Minnesota Golden Gopher, said the Lynx should have taken her in the dispersal draft last season when the team had the chance, to the Star Tribune

"It was 'Get Tina the ball!!' We ran a play from out-of-bounds and it was going straight in to Tina and to get Tina open. We got her the ball and that was it! No play is needed for that. Get her the ball. So we ran a play to try and free her up a little bit and we just put the ball in her hands and let her to the rest."
- Comets coach Karleen Thompson on the last play of the game against the Silver Stars, in which Tina Thompson hit a runner to earn Houston the win

"It's just looking at yourself and understanding what you need to do every night, what your role is, keeping it simple and doing the little things. Basketball isn't about shooting 3-balls and making spectacular passes, it's about doing the little things, boxing out, setting good screens, knowing what your assignment is. Hopefully we can just refocus and get ourselves back on track."
- Katie Smith of the Shock after Detroit's loss to Connecticut on Tuesday on how the team's internal problems can be fixed

"I'm not going to be around to welcome you - but play hard anyway."
- President George W. Bush to the Mercury during their visit to the White House, feeling the team has a chance to win the championship again this season, thereby earning another trip to the White House next year

"Just trying not to miss. It's exciting to do it in front of Los Angeles, at home and on the same basket that Lisa did it on."
Sparks forward Candace Parker on her approach to her first dunk, just the WNBA's second ever, last Sunday against the Fever, to the Los Angeles Times