Shock 66, Comets 60
Boxscore
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Recap
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July 9, 2006
Toyota Center
Houston, TX |
| Points: | (DET) R. Riley, 16
(HOU) S. Swoopes, 14 |
| Rebounds: | (DET) C. Ford, 10
(HOU) T. Phillips, 7 |
| Assists: | (DET) Two Tied, 6
(HOU) Two Tied, 4 |
| Blocks: | (DET) N/A
(HOU) N/A |
| Player of the Game |
Ruth Riley
Points: 16
Rebounds: 7
FGM-A: 8-12
Minutes: 34
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Shock Head Coach Bill Laimbeer
On the play of the game and Houston's 4th quarter
come back:
“You're always a little concerned in the
WNBA because the teams are so good. They got hot and
we weren't making shots, but our defense was solid and
that's what carried us through. We knew they were
short with injuries and had to win their home games.
We knew in the first quarter they would come out, give
it their best shot, try to stick it to us, and get a
lead; but, we matched their intensity and that was
good for us.”
On the play of Kedra Holland-Corn:
“It happens.
That's why you have benches and that's why I went out
and got Kedra Holland-Corn this year. I thought in
the first half she played very well. She didn't play
very well in the second half, but in the first half
she played well and kept us in the game.”
On the play of Ruth Riley:
“Ruth is a great screener
and a great perimeter shooter. With Swin Cash and
Cheryl Ford patroling the inside, Ruth is more of a
perimeter player for us and she makes open shots.
She's a big body to set good screens. She gets people
open and they have to respect our gaurds, so she's
open for the wide open shots.”
On the importance of Deanna Nolan and her potential
to be one of the best players in the league:
“She's a
great player both offensively and defensively. Nobody
can gaurd her because she's so fast. But, she has to
find that emotion and desire one day. Right now she's
one of the best players there is. She can do that
(take over a game) whenever she wants to. It's just a
matter of if she wants to do it at that particular
moment.”
On the importance of getting a good seed in the
playoff race:
“We are trying to get the best record
overall in the league. If we win our home games, we
win the championship. We're one game behind the best
record and we have a lot of home games coming up. We
only have five more road games for the rest of the
year. I think that with our home schedule, if we win
them all, we'll have the best record.”
On tonight's win:
“That's right! It's the first time
we ever won here!”
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Shock Center Ruth Riley
On her play:
“Well, my play depends on my teammates.
We have such great post players in Cheryl Ford and
Swin Cash down on the block, so when my man doubles,
I'm wide open.”
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Shock Guard Deanna Nolan
On her early foul trouble:
“Of course it's
frustrating when they are calling bogus calls and you
think otherwise. That starts to get you out of the
game and out of the flow when you're out early and
have to sit until it's safe for you to play without
picking up another foul. I played maybe the first
two minutes (of the game) and had to sit down. It's
frustrating, but at the start of the third I just had
to get back in the flow of the game and get my legs
underneath me since I didn't play that much. But, we
scored when we needed to.”
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Comets Head Coach Van Chancellor
On the play of the game:
“Tonight I was really,
really, really proud of our team. We had 3 or 4
opporunities to fold and we didn't. We were down 13
points to begin the 4 quarter and we put in Mistie
Williams. I just thought her and Sancho Lyttle
energized us. We spent so much energy getting there
and then we didn't have it. I was pleased; playing a
Detroit team is just a bear for us to guard.”
On falling behind by 18 points:
“You just spend so
much energy getting back in the game that it's hard to
have anything left, and that's what we've done.
Playing Detroit is a tough match-up for us with
Dominique Canty and Tina Thompson, but without them,
it's a REAL tough match up. We came back against
their first group and I think it's very indicative of
something - that is, we all want to win but what we
want to do with Cometball is what we did tonight. I
don't usually pay attention to this, but the number of
fans that stood up and clapped as we left the floor;
that's what I want to leave here. I want to lead a
team that puts our hearts out there and I thought that
in the last quarter, we did.”
On the post-game talk to the team:
“I told them I
was really proud of them for getting back in the game.
I just didn't think that we were aggressive enough to
get back in the game. We had a defensive plan but
some of them just didn't follow it.”
Concerning the airball with 4 minutes to go:
“They're human beings. The ball didn't even come
close to hitting the rim. They're human beings and
don't have the advantage of having a replay.”
About the open Detroit shots:
“When we substituted
and got Sancho and them in there, we stopped all of
that. Too many wide-open looks. They shot the ball
and when we tightened up our defense, they didn't
shoot the ball. We've got a shot; when we played
hard, we were right there and when we didn't play
hard, we were not there.”
About Mistie Williams and her aggressive playing:
“Here's what we do sometimes and this would be my one
criticism of us as a staff...I sometimes think we put
too much faith in athletic basketball abilities
instead of relying on people who jusyt play hard and
who get other people open. I thought Mistie Williams
was just outstanding here tonight, in that respect.”
Headed to the All-Star break, how opportunisitic do
you feel:
“I feel good after tonight because we're
going to change things and if you get to play, you get
to play, and if you don't, then you get to sit with
me.”
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Comets Forward Mistie Williams
On the game:
“I felt we fought hard. We really have
been working on staying together when times get rough.
I felt we fought real hard and when it comes down to
it we just ended up a little short.”
How do you feel the Comets played defensively:
“I
think we played really good defensively. We didn't
have very many breakdowns and we really have been
working on that. We haven't been great the past
couple of games and we really buckled down yesterday
in practice and we brought it out today. It has to be
a whole collective effort and it has to be one hundred
percent each game.”
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Comets Center Michelle Snow
Overall impession of today's game:
“Even though we
lost tonight, we lost playing hard and we are getting
better each night and that is what we want.”
On Comet's defensive play:
“We said before the game,
that even if time gets ahead and we fall behind, we
are going to stay together. It is a process. I think
that our comeback just adds to our confidence.”
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Comets Forward Sheryl Swoopes
Overall impression of today's game and how the Comets
played defensively:
“For the majority of the game I
thought we played some pretty solid defense. We had
some mental lapses of defensive assignments. I think
we are getting better, but I think a lot of our
problem is the effort or lack thereof. It's
frustrating to lose a game period, and then to feel
like you were right there, but just couldn't get over
the hump. Besides that, I think one of the most
encouraging things I saw from the game was that Mistie
Williams was incredible. To be honest with you, she
is my player of the game. She did it on both ends of
the floor and she was huge for us. She gave us that
energy and that little extra something we needed
coming off of the bench.”
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