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Riley and Co. are ready to face the Rockers. Terrence Vaccaro/WNBAE/Getty Images WNBAE/Getty Images |
Congratulations on a great season. I am looking forward to seeing you play on ESPN - we don't see much of the Shock in Chicago. We hear so much about the lack of Shock playoff experience. So many of the Shock players have come from colleges with great programs, deep tournament experience, and championship wins (like Notre Dame, UConn, and LSU). Do you think that this type of experience will be helpful to the Shock as you seek the WNBA championship? Good Luck and GO SHOCK!!
-- Kymberli (Hammond, IN)
Riley: "I think the experience our team has, although it is young, is going to be very helpful. To win a championship it takes a strong mental attitude, and I think we have that in our players."
How does it feel to have the home court advantage?
-- Sarah (Indianapolis, IN)
Riley: "It feel great to have the home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The crowd has been awesome here, very supportive here in Detroit."
Hey Ruth, How are you? Congratulations on having the best standings in the league! My question to you is how positive are you that you and your team can bring a WNBA championship to the east? You have a lot of competition this year in the east and especially in the West, do you think you can hold them off? GOD BLESS AND GOOD LUCK!
-- Liz (Freeport, NY)
Riley: "I think the playoffs are anyone's right now, especially in the East. But we're playing good basketball right now. We have a lot of experience from the regular season, and I think we're confident that we can win the East."
How do you feel about your team's playoff chances this year compared to last year with the Sol?
-- Jim (Arroyo Grande, CA)
Riley: "I think our chances are good. With Detroit we have a lot of young players, but more important we're confident so it's going to be hard for us to die."
Ruth, Are you excited about your second trip to the playoffs? Considering that Detroit has gone from Worst to First in the league, how do you think you have impacted upon this team's incredible season?
-- Chantelle (Melbourne, Australia)
Riley: "I think that the fact that we have gone worst to first can be attributed to a lot of things -- Coach first of all bringing in the players and the personnel and the team that would be successful and the addition of Kedra myself and Cheryl complementing the players that were already here."
Hey Ruth, Miss you in Miami. You had a great season! How did you prepare for it? Did playing overseas help? Did you do any conditioning?
--Luisa (Miami, FL)
Riley: "Playing overseas helped my game a lot this year. I played in Spain for eight months this year and got a lot of experience and worked my way back into the shape that I'm in now."
Hi Ruth, do you think coach Laimbeer is the main reason why the shock finished with the best record in the WNBA?
-- Michelle (Pittsburg, PA)
Riley: "I think he has done a lot to contribute to the record that we have, not only bringing the players and the personnel but just his attitude and his knowledge of the game. "
