Detroit Shock: Bill Laimbeer | Katie Smith | Swin Cash
Sacramento Monarchs: John Whisenant | Ticha
Penicheiro| Demya Walker
Coach
Bill Laimbeer, Detroit Shock
Q: How do you feel about your backs being up against the wall for Game 4?
A: When we get determined we play very well. That’s one thing: we have to come together as a ball club and get determined that we want to win this and put forth the effort necessary for us to get it done.
Q: How much did you get fined for comments you made after Game 3?
A: Fine? I got fined for what? I don’t know, $50,000, $500,000 I’m not sure it had a five and zeros.
Q: Were your comments worth the cost of the fine?
A: It’s always worth it to stand up and defend you teammates. Our ball club right now is a little frustrated. These two days here(between games) are really good for us to overcome our frustration and focus on what our task at hand is to get ready to play this basketball game. We know what is at stake and we know what has to get done and now we have to go do it.
Q: Have you seen a different attitude over the past two days?
A: Today’s film session was good for us. You can see our team mentally preparing themselves and you can see it starting to build and the us versus the world mentality starting to creep in. We are tired of the criticism from the peripheral people. We hear little bits and pieces from the talking heads on ESPN. I don’t watch TV, I’m playing the game, but you hear the peripheral people from the fans or our families talk about how there is bias. We are from Detroit; we are used to that. As you all know, our local writers know people just dump on Detroit left and right and we are used to that.
Q: What is the mindset of the team right now?
A: Mentally understanding some of the tweaks and adjustments that we have put in. The bottom line is just get ready physically and mentally to come and be on attack mode for 40 minutes and be able to come in and handle everything that comes our way. Basically, bring the effort and energy for 40 minutes.
Q: What do you have to work on for Game 4?
A: Come out here and play smart and play patient and be aggressive not only offensively and create for others. Defensively, being smart and know who you are guarding. It’s nothing new or major changes, it’s just tuning in and being focused and mentally tough throughout the whole ball game.
Q: Do you expect Sacramento to make any changes?
A: Slight tweaks here and there. The majority of their game is the same. Their defense is the same. They might have a couple of more plays, but offensively they are going to attack, they are going to try and post us up, get to the free throw line. No, I don’t see any major adjustments. It’s going to come down to who wants it more. It’s going to be about the effort and energy.
Q: What do you have to do to slow Sacramento down?
A: Play defense. Play our style of defense and rebound the basketball.
Q: What do you have to improve on?
A: Executing whatever the game plan is that coach puts in to play. Coaches coach and players play and we have to go out there and play our game.
Q: How is the mindset of the team?
A: We are all very confident that we are going to come out and do what we have to do to win this game.
Coach
John Whisenant, Sacramento Monarchs
Q: What did you have the team work on today?
A: We just had them work on their normal game preparation and various different offensive things we think they will defend against. We just tried to work on defending the things they are most likely to run against our defense.
Q: With two blowout wins, how do you prevent overconfidence?
A: They are the Eastern Conference champions, they have numerous all-stars and Olympic players and a coaching staff that has been there and done that before so we know that that’s the way the game is and sometimes things go well for you. We remember the fourth quarter in Game 2 when they beat us 25-9 and we remember the game in Detroit during the regular season. It’s us against them and we have to do our stuff better than they do their stuff tomorrow otherwise we have to go back to Detroit.
Q: How good would it be to close it out at home?
A: It would save a lot of grey hair and a lot of sleeplessness. It would be great for our fans. We have really good fans here in Sacramento and it would just be great for them to have a chance to celebrate with us.
Ticha
Penicheiro, Sacramento Monarchs
Q: What are you expecting out of Detroit tomorrow?
A: An aggressive team knowing that their backs are against the wall and they will have to come out and win the game tomorrow otherwise their season is over. We expect a very aggressive team from the jump. We just have to match the intensity and make sure we don’t go back to Detroit and we finish it up here.
Q: How good would it be to win in front of the home fans?
A: Great. We had that experience last year and it’s unbelievable. These fans definitely deserve another championship and they definitely deserve for us to win it at home. It would be a dream come true. We know how much better it is to win a championship at home. We are aware of that and we are aware that we don’t want to go back to Detroit and play Game 5 on their home court. We are very focused even though we are up 2-1. We know we haven’t finished our mission. So 40 more minutes and hopefully tomorrow we can get it done.
Q: What did you work on today in practice?
A: We are just going to continue to do what brought us here and that’s good defense and that’s being alert and determined and playing good team basketball both defensively and offensively. That’s what we do and that’s what we have been doing all year and that’s why we are here and that’s what we are going to continue to do.
Demya
Walker, Sacramento Monarchs
Q: What did you work on today in practice?
A: Same thing everyday, defense, offense, fast break.
Q: After having two blowout wins how, do you prevent against over confidence?
A: Remembering game two because we didn’t win.
Q: How good would it be to win in front of your home fans?
A: It would be awesome to win in front of our home fans. They deserve it. Everybody that supports our organization deserves it.