McHugh

Opening statement: We haven't had a whole lot of time to think about [facing Utah] because we just found out after our game last night who we'd be playing. We knew that it would be one of two teams obviously, and it turned out to be Utah. We just got to Salt Lake City, and here we are.

Q: Talk about the matchup with Utah and what problems they present for you.
McHugh: Utah presents a problem for anybody in the league in that they have a 7-2 player that can really play, and there's nobody in the league that has that. So, always there's that consideration. I think Margo Dydek will alter the game just by being there, because of her size, her agility, her ability offensively to play the game. That's always a match-up problem for every team in the league. They're a very well balanced team. I think they have great leadership in Jennifer Azzi. Their two and three players, [Marie] Ferdinand and [Adrienne] Goodson, are very athletic, can take the ball to the hole very, very well. And they have a very strong inside presence with Natalie Williams and Margo Dydek. They're quite a formidable team.

Q: How bad was the trip to Salt Lake City?
McHugh: We were supposed to leave [from Seattle] at -- I believe it was 8:00 this morning -- and we were delayed for about 3+ hours, I guess. There was fog, the plane had to circle, the plane was running out of gas and they had to send it back to Spokane to refuel because they were in a holding pattern, so it was pretty long. We had to get up pretty early this morning. We had to leave the hotel at 6 a.m. The team also had travel problems getting to Seattle, they were delayed in the airport for another 3+ hours. We were on separate flights, staff and team. So, Seattle was kind of a travel nightmare for us.

Q: What will you be keying on in your matchup with Utah?
McHugh: The first time we played them it was when they hadn't hit their stride, but the second two times we played them, they had obviously made a lot of changes and were playing well. I've seen a lot of tape on them. I think they're playing harder and with more confidence, probably better defensively, and have just gelled offensively.

Q: What have you done for the team since becoming head coach to result in the turnaround the Monarchs have had?
McHugh: I think we've tried to do as much as we could in the short period of time you have to practice and institute new things. One of the things I felt we were really lacking was that we didn't play with a lot of intensity, and our defense wasn't very good. I felt like those were two of the things you could immediately change. So we've spent a lot of time on those two things. I looked at some of the games we had lost earlier in the season, and they were fairly close most of the games. You felt a few minor changes on things like that could make a difference in the outcome of the game, so that's been our main emphasis. We've also worked on some different things offensively, especially things to get the ball to the post players, namely Yolanda Griffith.

Q: Utah is probably well rested, are you guys tired?
McHugh: That obviously is an advantage for them, but when you get to this stage of the game, you have to be prepared for anything. A lot of it is mental. I tell our team that if you get hung up on the tragedies of travel and that sort of thing, you're going to spend a lot of time being miserable in the league because there's a lot of that going on. You can almost expect it from the beginning of the season that there's going to be some time when your travel's not going to be ideal. You can't do anything about that. I say we should worry about the things we can control, rather than the things we cannot control. That's one of them we can't, so we've got to move on and start concentrating and focusing on the task ahead, which is the game.

Q: What is the difference in this team since you took over?
McHugh: I think basically what I mentioned in the earlier question. We've tried to increase the defensive intensity, just play with a lot more heart, I guess, is the word I want to use. Play harder and do a few new things offensively, really work to get the ball inside to our post players. We didn't do a lot to get the ball inside earlier in the year, and I feel like our strength is our post game and we have to have some things to get the ball to those players. I think we've done a better job of that.

Q: You were Yolanda Griffith's coach in the ABL, how much does your history with her help?
McHugh: It does help, and the other thing is that I've been with the Monarchs for two years previous to being named the head coach, so we still had that ongoing chemistry. I felt like I had good chemistry with the whole team in Sacramento. We have some great people on our team. It's been a very smooth transition. I felt like I knew the players very well and they've really responded well. I give them a lot of credit because it's hard on a team that goes through a transition like that. Some teams respond and step up, and that's basically what our team has done.

Q: Talk about having to play the first game of the series on the road when Utah is on such a roll.
McHugh: You can kind of look at it like both teams are on a roll. The goal is to get to the playoffs, and once you're there to go out and play the best you can. We feel good about our chances, having won two of the three matchups [against Utah]. We're going to use that as a focal point for us and take it from there. People kind of pointed at some of our losses recently, but three of them were to L.A. Utah beat them by two in overtime, we lost by two in overtime, so it's a pretty close matchup I think all the way.

Q: What does L.A. have to do to beat Houston?
McHugh: L.A. is the team in the league with the most momentum. They're playing really well and have been all year long. I think the key with them is just to keep their focus and really step it up for the playoffs. I think they'll have the kind of enthusiasm they need, especially with the history they have with Houston, and what happened to them last year. I think L.A. has a lot more depth than Houston and a lot more scorers. Top to bottom they're just a deeper, better team, but in the playoffs anything can happen. You can't underestimate who you play. After what L.A. has gone through last year with Houston, I don't think that they will this year.