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On the game:
I thought our first half defense was horrendous. You’re going to give a shot now and then, but Ruthie Bolton hit back-to-back threes. No focus at all. In the first half we looked rusty; we looked totally out of sorts defensively. I felt much better about our effort in the second half.
On what changed in the second half:
I thought in the second half we guarded them. Yolanda (Griffith) had some monster moves in the second half. She’s an Olympian; she’s going to have that. She looked confident. Without Yolanda, we don’t win that gold medal, and that’s exactly how she’s playing right now. She didn’t look tired or fatigued at all.
On the Monarchs guards:
You have to give Edna (Campbell) and Ruthie credit. Ticha (Penicheiro), offensively, looked a whole lot better than I’ve seen her before. It used to be when she penetrated, she was a little out of control, but tonight she was really poised and in control.
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On the game:
It felt good to get out there and play. We were still trying to adjust to the role changes. We picked up our defense a little more in the second half and got our confidence up.
On the impact of Lauren Jackson's absence:
How many did we get beat by? (Eight) Well, that’s about half of what she averages, so it was a big difference. If she comes in and gets her average, we win the game.
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On whether fatigue was an issue:
I wasn’t tired. I feel fresh. I was resting for the last month. If we would have played the second half the way we played the first half, more so on defense, it would have been a different game. We gave them way too many open shots. We just had to get it done and we didn’t.
On specifically what went wrong:
Particularly at the end of the first half, if we would have ended that a little differently. I think they scored 10 points in a row, I think it would have been different for the game. I think on the defensive end is where we need to pick it up. That’s what is going to carry us through. The shots aren’t always going to fall, but if we play well defensively we have a chance to win the game.
On this weekend's road trip:
I think everybody is going to remember that we lost this game. And now we have to play back-to-back games on the road. LA and Phoenix are two teams that play really well at home. We have a long way to go. We showed that we can play defensively in the second half.
SACRAMENTO COACH JOHN WHISENANT:
On the game:
It was a good team game. We have a lot of respect for Seattle. They’ve played us tough, to say the least. 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. I’m proud of my team. We’ve been off 30 days. You never know what is going to happen. We’ve worked hard to get back in the groove. We started out (the season) poorly, as you know. I’m proud of the way we’ve come back. I wasn’t sure how we’d do after the layoff. Obviously it would’ve been a tougher game with LJ … we would’ve still battled them, but she would’ve made some difference. They are going to be in the playoffs, there’s no question. We’re fighting to get there. I compliment them and wish them good luck actually. I like this coaching staff.
On Griffith facing a Storm front line with out Jackson:
Actually, I thought that was the one advantage we had. Yo is tough. She is a veteran of going back and forth overseas. I thought Yo would come out of this better than Sue and LJ. For one reason, Yo is not a perimeter shooter - she gets most of her points right around the basket. Changing the size of the ball wasn’t going to make any difference to her. She could have a volleyball or a big beach ball and she’d still play the same. She’s been doing this for a long time, traveling overseas. She’s a tough player. I think the hard game for her will be tomorrow night. We rested her, but still ended up giving her 28 minutes.
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On her energy:
It’ll hit me eventually … it hasn’t yet. I didn’t really sleep last night. I slept the first night back and tried sleeping today. I’m just antsy I guess. It’ll catch up with me. I took an energy drink at the end of the game - I needed a boost! I’m going to try not to think tired and just try and have the energy to help this team win. If it’s not points, it’ll be rebounds or defense.
On Sacramento's dominance in the paint:
With Jackson, they are a dominating team. Without her they are still a threat. We just haven’t played up to our abilities. Even though we came in 12-13, we let a lot of games get away by one point, two points, not making smart decisions in the last minutes of games. We’ve got 13 losses and we took a break and now it’s like 0-0. That’s the attitude we’re going to have and how we’re going to approach each game. This is a good win for us.
On playing with confidence:
I’m always going to have confidence - I’ve never lost that. I think I’ve been pretty steady for this team before the break. Sometimes I’m in the flow of the game and sometimes it’s different players - we have a great team and anybody can step up and be the leader of this team. I’m just trying to help this team win regardless of if I’m scoring points or playing defense, we just have to win and I’m going to do what I can.
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