"With Detroit’s season, they’ve established themselves as the best WNBA team during the regular season. They’ve been able to do that through great size, strength and athleticism, and they are able to get a lot of things done around the basket offensively. When you look at them defensively, they’ve also been tough to score on around the basket. The thing that’s remarkable to me is that they’ve been able to be efficient in close basketball games. I think since the All-Star break, they’ve had seven games where they’ve won by three or less points."
What concerns you the most about playing the Shock?
"I think being able to control the tempo during the game. When they control the tempo, play where they want to play at, and play in the paint, they’ve been very good. The teams that have had success were able to control the tempo with their defense and their efficiency on offense. That’s led to teams such as Charlotte having success against them."
What do you feel your strengths are as a team heading in to the playoffs?
"We’re playing the best basketball we’ve played all year. We’ve pretty much been in a playoff mode for over two weeks now because we’ve encountered so many teams in the playoff race. Our players know what it means to be playing meaningful games this year, and that’s an asset as you go in the playoffs because that’s what playoff basketball is all about. I think Chas Melvin has supplied us strong leadership in the post, LaToya Thomas' evolution through the year is continuing to help us, and that’s established for us some strong inside play. We’ve also gotten strong play from our bench, and Deanna [Jackson], Helen [Darling] and Penny [Taylor] have also grown with their experiences. I feel like we’re coming in being the most efficient offensively and defensively as we’ve been all year."
Who needs to step up for the Rockers to be successful?
"As a team, we need to step up. We have to make sure we’re playing the way we want to play. Because they’re strong enough and athletic enough, they’ll attempt to disrupt what we’re trying to do. They’re going to be physical, but we have to have a strong mindset of what we’re going to do. At the same time, we need to maintain our defensive focus and plan and not let Detroit get us out of our defensive rhythm."
What will it take to beat Detroit after going 0-4 during the regular season?
"At the basket area, we’ve got to impact the game both offensively and defensively. We need a balance of transition play, halfcourt play, inside play and outside play. If we’re balanced, that can put pressure on them in different ways. If we get that, we get a nice flow, and I think you need that against a team like Detroit."
