Lauren Jackson Back-to-Back MVP Watch Quotes
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"Lauren Jackson is one of the best players in the league." (7/17)
FORMER SAN ANTONIO COACH DEE BROWN:
"Lauren Jackson is the MVP, and she brought her “A” game like she always does."
"When you put a big on her, she’s quick enough to go around. When you put a small on her, you see what happens. She hits a turnaround jumper. We’d make a run and she’d make a shot, but you expect your franchise player to do that." (6/19)
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"The MVP and deservedly so, she is one of the best players in the world." (7/22)
HOUSTON COACH VAN CHANCELLOR:
"You know, I'm watching her warm up, and I'm thinking to myself. I've already done seen enough of you to last me the rest of the year, and I've got to see you about five more times."
"Shot-blocker. Rebounder. Runs the floor. She has no known weakness in her game, and she's still young. She reminds me a lot of Cynthia Cooper in the will to win and the right absolute mixture of confidence and I-ain't-gonna-take-nothin'-from-nobody." (Jun. 23, Seattle Times)
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"Lauren Jackson is maturing before our very eyes, and the Seattle Storm, they're reaping the benefits of her maturity right now. She is just playing with a confidence that is incredibly high right now.
"There aren't many 6-5 players who can do the things that she does. Not only can she shoot the three-pointer and play with her back to the basket, but she has something most of the other post players don't have. She has one of the quickest first steps I've ever seen. She has the quickness of a guard, and that's incredibly difficult for another post player to try and stop and defend." (Jun. 23, Seattle Times)
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"Look at one of the best players in the world - 29 points in 26 minutes and she was 12-of-14 from the line. Lauren doesn’t get much better than that. I don’t think we defended her particularly well, but credit Lauren - that’s a heck of a ballgame." (5/16)
"There were a lot of things that were the difference in the game. Obviously when Lauren doesn’t score, you know she’s going to come out firing. She attacked a lot more, but we didn’t stick with what we did in the first half defensively." (6/3)
"She's certainly in that top echelon (of all time)."
"As good as Lauren is now, I get goose bumps when I think how good she's going to be at 28." (7/1, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
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"They have a very talented group. Lauren is probably the best player in the world." (8/1)
MINNESOTA CENTER NICOLE OHLDE:
"She’s a tremendous athlete. She is so incredible. She does so many things - stepping up and knocking down threes, taking it inside - she’s very versatile. She’s good, really good."(5/20)
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"She is the real deal. No joke, at all. What people say is true – she’s amazing. She really is." (5/16)
"Lauren is probably the best player I've played against, hands down." (6/13, Seattle Times)
SAN ANTONIO FORWARD LATOYA THOMAS:
"She’s a great player. She found her rhythm tonight. She’s tough to guard, but you can’t make excuses. She’s one of the best players in the league." (6/19)
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"I thought she played very well defensively. She was all over the place. She got a lot of blocked shots on ball, off the ball - she was just really active tonight." (7/24)
SACRAMENTO COACH JOHN WHISENANT:
"Lauren Jackson is not somebody you stop - you just kind of slow her down. The second half, she wasn’t quite as good, scoring just nine points. If you hold her to nine points a half, you’ve done a heck of job. If we would’ve done that in both halves … but that’s why she’s the MVP. They have the best player in the league right there." (7/3)
"Obviously without (Jackson), they were somewhat crippled. They played hard anyway … she’s not the only good player they have. She is the best in the league, but they have other players that gave us fits." (9/1)
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"There are no words for Lauren Jackson and her passion for this game. It's a coach's dream to have somebody like that." (4/30, Seattle Times)
"I don’t know how long, if ever, Lauren has ever been held scoreless for 20 minutes. She came out in the second half surely motivated and playing like the MVP that she is." (6/3)
"She was pretty impressive tonight, to say the least. There was a match-up there that we wanted to take advantage of. We knew headed in that one-on-one she was going to be tough to stop. She did a great job of taking advantage of that match-up early in the game." (6/19)
"She's the mobile post that I was not. I was a back-to-the-basket post. All the things she can do, how versatile she is, out to the 3-point line and putting the ball on the floor, it's really a pleasure to coach." (7/1, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
"I think she’s had several breakout games. By far, that first half was one of her best. She had over her averages in the first half with 23 (points) and eight (rebounds). That first half I’ll rank with all of her best games." (7/3)
"They came with different people to try to guard Lauren and couldn’t really find anybody to shut her down. What do you do with Lauren Jackson?" (7/3)
"She finished three-point plays, finished plays through the contact, going to the foul line and finishing up there. She’d seen single coverage the last two games we played them, but tonight they threw two and three people at her. It was much more physical than she’s seen in the past from San Antonio. That was an MVP performance." (7/12)
"She's such a complete player. We've been talking to Lauren a lot about her defense this year and picking that up to a high level, and she's responded and really focused on that. But she can post up with anybody or can step out to the 3-point line and drill it. She's now one of the best 3-point shooters in the league. So it's complete versatility. She does all the little things." (7/22, espn.com) "I think she’s proving to everyone, including me, that her defense is as good as her offense. When they went with their big lineup we struggled, because that’s just a tough guard for Sheri (Sam) on (Tina) Thompson, and obviously Betty (Lennox) is outsized with (Sheryl) Swoopes. When they went to their big lineup and LJ was forced to guard a post player, we lost some of our momentum. But that other lineup worked well when LJ can guard Tina and Sheri can guard Swoopes - incredible defense by LJ down the stretch." (7/24)
"I can’t say enough about Lauren’s defense on (Chamique) Holdsclaw. It didn’t change the course of the game because obviously they got off to a 14-, 16-point lead. This team is capable without Chamique scoring points. This was just like in D.C. She had six points in the half and came out in the second to finish with 23, so we knew that she’d come around in the second half. Lauren was pretty determined, especially in the second half." (7/17)
"She looked a little off, but we’re a much better team with her in there. Offensively, defensively, we’re much more confident." (9/8)
STORM FORWARD ADIA BARNES:
"I was surprised to see her this early on two, three hours of sleep. It shows the dedication of an MVP. That's awesome." (4/30, Seattle Times)
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On Jackson's performance against Minnesota May 20:
"It was just a matter of when she was going to do it. Luckily she did it at the exact time we needed it. We kept going to her because we knew she would pull through for us. She did a terrific job. Once she scored two times in a row, I was running every play through her. When she gets hot like that, you have to go to her. To be honest, I don’t think there is anybody in the league that can guard her one-on-one. And for some reason, towards the end, they didn’t double-team her. And she made some unbelievable shots and getting fouled. What are you going to say? She was ridiculous. We just kept going to her because she’s unstoppable when she’s on fire like that." (5/20)
"Once she hit that first one and the second, I was like, 'Uh oh, keep getting her the ball.' When she is like that, you really just want to feed her, because she is like a machine down there. When she’s able to score like that, she smells blood and gets after it." (7/3)
"Obviously she had three big blocks, but that last one was insane. I don’t know who made the pass, but whoever it was hit Michelle Snow and we had to help because she was wide open under the basket. Lauren came out of nowhere. And Michelle Snow is 6-5 and she is up at the rim. This is a girl who dunks often. For Lauren to just come out of nowhere … and she almost hit the ball against the backboard. No foul, all ball. And not only that, it was when she did it. What were we, up one? That layup puts them up one. It was just huge. It doesn’t get any bigger than that block." (7/24)
STORM FORWARD SHERI SAM:
"Sometimes she's a little too humble. She hates for you to even mention she's an MVP. I tell her she should be more cocky and confident out there. She should have that air; she earned it. But you have to make her mad and then she'll turn on you in a second. I've seen it. I've seen that look she gets." (6/13, Seattle Times)
