Q: Are these two days off a good thing for your team?
Laimbeer: Yes, it will help us mentally. If we were to go right again tomorrow, it would be a little difficult for us because we are not prepared mentally yet. We have to tweak some stuff offensively especially. Defensively it’s mostly effort, but offensively we have to tweak some stuff and work on some timing, plus our state of mind that we have to get right.
Q: How do you feel about the team’s back being up against the wall for Game 4? Laimbeer: We have been here before. Against Connecticut we had to win on the road. This is a one game series as far as we are concerned. We will take our chance on our home court. So, it’s a one game series and we win on Wednesday, watch out, we are going to have 19,000 screaming people in Detroit and I’ll take my chances there all day long. This is a two day mental preparation to do a battle and come into this gym and get a win.
Q: Can you talk about Yolanda Griffith’s role as a leader.
Laimbeer: I really can’t comment on it because I’m really not around their ball club and they are in the West and we really don’t play them that much. I know she works hard and she doesn’t make many mistakes. [What] I look for in leaders is how they do on the basketball court…consistency, consistency, consistency every night and she seems to have that.
Q: What type of game are you looking to get out of Swin Cash and Katie Smith?
Laimbeer: I expect [Swin] Cash to be totally energized more so than she was last game. I expect her to get out there and attack every rebound there is. I expect her to play solid defense. I expect her to open up in transition and push herself in transition all game long. When she does that good things happen, her instincts take over then. You have to get her to a point where instincts kick in.
As far as Katie Smith, Katie knows that there are opportunities to score out there all over the place. Watching the film she sees it and that’s something she needs. It’s a guard game for us against them right now and a wing players game where you have to be able to hit shots, look for the shots, take your player one-on-one because there is no help from their defense because they are so occupied with their defense fronting them.
Katie Smith, Detroit Shock
Q: What are you going to work on for Game 4?
Smith: We just have to be aggressive, there’s lanes we can penetrate. Obviously we have to finish and make good passes and take care of the basketball when they do come and help. But, we can attack them primarily. Tweety [Deanna Nolan] is going to have to do her thing and I’m going to have to stay more aggressive and Swin [Cash] can attack off the dribble and then we have to finish.
Q: Is that putting more pressure on the back court?
Smith: Not necessarily. You want to be able to take advantage of what they are giving you. You can’t go in there with reckless abandon and not taking a good shot and making turnovers. You have to go in there smart and attack and be strong. Tomorrow I’m going to try and do my part and I’m sure everyone else is.
Q: When you watched the film did you see opportunities that were there that you didn’t take?
Smith: There’s a lot of opportunities for us to attack and put the pressure on. With us being aggressive it can help in a lot of different ways not only for us to score but also to give our post players offensive reboundS or better position.