Postgame Quotes/Notes - Storm 85, Washington 83 (OT)
July 12, 2004
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On the game:
That second half was gritty. Washington had their confidence up so just being able to trade baskets with them and stay in the game was important. I was confident we could make big plays down the stretch, and our big players made big plays. Lauren (Jackson)’s block and Sue (Bird)’s layup, it was unbelievable. Two incredible plays by two incredible players.
On Chamique Holdsclaw being held to 10 points:
I can’t say enough about Lauren’s defense on 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.
On the importance of this win:
It’s huge. It took everybody really locking down in the second half and overtime. We had a good opportunity at the end of regulation, but we didn’t get the ball where we needed it to go. We had good execution down the stretch.
On the performance of the Mystics:
Washington deserves a lot of credit, to come in here with a lot of confidence and execute as well as they did. They took it right at us for the second time; they did the same thing to us in D.C.
On the KeyArena crowd:
What a great game. I looked out at half and wondered if half of our fans had left because it was such a poor showing in the first half. But everybody stuck around and they were a big part of it. The energy coming out of here was awesome. I’m glad we were at home and not on the road.
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On Bird's shot:
Sue made the most incredible shot I’ve ever seen in women’s basketball. That was awesome. Sue just made a big-time shot. It was awesome. That’s how the game went and she did it.
On if the play was the most exciting of her time with the Storm:
Probably, yeah.
On the difference in the second half:
Yeah, Anne kind of got into us at halftime. It wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t as bad as I’ve heard her. She wanted us to get high energy and pick up where we left off in Sacramento.
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On the shot:
It was called luck. It happened really quickly. Lauren’s block was huge, and whatever happened after, that block was the most important part. Not only did it take away an opportunity for them to take the lead by her blocking it, it put me ahead of the field so there was only one or two people ahead of me. I just got the ball, and I know Alana Beard came, and I saw Lauren running and I thought about passing it and then I didn’t know how much time was left so I thought I should throw the ball up there. If there was 10 minutes left in the game, they probably would have called a foul because she got me good. So then I just thought, 'I’m throwing this up.' And like I said, I got lucky. It was like a reverse lay-up without going reverse.
On the game:
We didn’t play well at all, especially in the first half, so just to be in that position was pretty important. Once we went into overtime, Coach said that we took care of business in the second half and now we just had to do it for five more minutes. It was a tough overtime. Every time we scored, they answered. Every time they scored, we answered. It just went back and forth.
On the difference in the second half:
We just didn’t come out aggressive in the first half. Coach let us know that at halftime. Sometimes it takes a coach to light that fire and we came out and played much better in the second half.
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On the game:
We had the game won, but we just found a way to lose the game. We took off-balance shots down the stretch, missed a couple free throws, and had an offensive foul that didn’t have anything to do with the play. It was just not being smart down the stretch - that cost us the game. It was all us - it wasn’t anything they did down the stretch, we just didn’t finish the job.
On whether there's a moral victory in playing so well:
No, no moral victory here. We lost. We should’ve won the game.
On the last sequence of overtime:
It was actually a pick-and-roll and (Chamique) was supposed to go to the basket. She shot a one-handed fade-away shot; you can’t shoot those kinds of shots when the game is on the line. You have to go stronger than that, that’s the bottom line. But she’ll learn from it.
On Jackson and Bird:
They’re good players, there’s no doubt about that. Lauren Jackson is one of the best players in the league. What are you going to do? They played well, but at the same time I think the game should’ve been won already.
On the impact of the Storm's run at the end of the first half:
Not really. We were still up nine at halftime. We gave up five points at the end of the half that cut into the lead and those are things we just can’t do. We have to think out there. Those last couple plays in the first half hurt us and then a couple plays we did offensively didn’t do us any justice.
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On her performance:
Tonight was one of those nights where personally things just weren’t in the flow. We were playing a great game and I’m not going to force it if the team is making plays. We were right there down the stretch. We had three possessions where we didn’t get anything going - we had a turnover, an offensive foul … we didn’t get to the basket the last play of the game. I took an outside shot - that’s the tale of the game right there. The shot gets blocked and we lose on a layup. You have to get to the basket at the end of the game.
On whether there are positives to be taken from the game:
Definitely. We went out there and played well. We showed that when we beat them before - that wasn’t luck like a lot of people probably thought. We’re a very competitive team and today everybody stepped up and brought it. I mean we had four players in double-figures, so we were rolling … but hey, we just gotta live with (the loss).
On Beard's game:
She was really rolling tonight. That was her best game as a professional. She did well on the defensive end and on the offensive end she got to the basket. She really helped us down the stretch.
Notes:
