One-On-One With Corey Gaines

It’s not often a team partakes in their training camp three games into the season, but for the Phoenix Mercury that’s what this past week at the US Airways Center has felt like.

After Diana Taurasi and Kelly Miller led Spartak Moscow to the EuroLeague Women’s title earlier this month, the two returned having missed nearly all of training camp. Cappie Pondexter, meanwhile, didn’t see her first action with the Mercury until the team’s season opener against Los Angeles.

Following a tough defeat at the hands of the Seattle Storm, the team found themselves with an eight-day layoff and an opportunity to work on improving their 0-3 start. New Mercury Head Coach Corey Gaines spoke with phoenixmercury.com following Thursday’s practiced and discussed the team’s slow start, what the team has spent the week working on and who fans should keep their eye on the rest of the way.

Phoenixmercury.com: The team obviously hasn’t gotten off to the kind of start you’d have liked at 0-3. What does this team need to do in order to get things turned around?

Corey Gaines: It’s just cutting down our turnovers. Turnovers weren’t a problem for us in the past, but sometimes when you’re fatigued, you make mistakes you normally wouldn’t. We’re getting in a rhythm now and feel good after this week.

Phoenixmercury.com: This time off has kind of been like the 2008 Training Camp you never got to have. What is the team working on to get back on track?

Gaines: We’ve gotten a lot of stuff in. Our rover defense was something we focused on having had Diana and Cappie both here. It was kind of hard to work on it without Diana, who is the rover, and we can’t just throw anybody in that spot. It’s something that took us half a season to get down last year so this week has really helped.

Phoenixmercury.com: After a tough loss against Seattle, how hard has it been waiting around for your next contest? Do you appreciate the extra practice time or would you rather have been right back out there on the court?

Gaines: The long layoff helped us because we needed to get some work in. This was our training camp and this will help. Usually after a loss you do just want to play another game real quick, but this was definitely better for us in the long run.

Phoenixmercury.com: Nobody is surprised that Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter have played like they have. Has anybody else on the team surprised you and who are you expecting big things from the rest of the way?

Gaines: Allie Quigley is somebody to keep an eye on, I’m really high on her and she’s been playing well. We’re also looking forward to getting the doctor’s okay on LaToya Pringle.

Phoenixmercury.com: Speaking of LaToya Pringle, what’s the status of the first round draft pick and how close is she to returning from her offseason knee surgery?

Gaines: She’s close, she’s real close. I’m looking to get her out there and know she’ll be a contributor to this team. She’s very aggressive, runs well and knows how to rebound. She’s also long which is going to help us a lot on the defensive end of the floor.

Phoenixmercury.com: One player whose status is more of a question mark is All-Star Penny Taylor. How have you guys looked to replace her as she prepares for the Olympics with the Australian Team?

Gaines: There’s no replacing Penny. She was the person who, when we weren’t shooting well outside and hadn’t scored in a couple of minutes, you knew you could get her the ball down low or somewhere near the basket and let her create her own shot. Penny was great at making something happen and it’s tough losing that. It’s a lot like Tim Duncan with the San Antonio Spurs. If you post him up, defenders are either going to foul him or double him, something. Penny was our Timmy and right now we’ve got to find a way to get those jobs done with other players. Right now there’s no Penny and my job is to solve that problem.

Phoenixmercury.com: Would you be able to provide any insight in terms of how that process is going?

Gaines: I’ve put a couple of things into our offense which I think will give us some easier shots down low. We don’t have a post-up banger like a Lisa Leslie, but we have some other things we can work in. Diana was posting the last game and we got some good things out of it, especially when she drew a double team. Now we’ve got to figure out ways to get those around her in the right position.

Phoenixmercury.com: While Penny may be out, you’ve still got two great All-Stars in Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter. How impressed are you on a daily basis with them and their play?

Gaines: It’s not just their play that impresses me. They work hard, they’re vocal. It’s maybe been harder this season because last year we had a three-headed dragon with Diana, Cappie and Penny, but we have to find another way to fix that which we’ll do.