Postgame Quotes/Notes - Storm 82, Sacramento 62

On the game:
Great second half, huh? 10-of-12 from the three-point line? I can’t tell you how proud I am of this group. How focused we stayed and composed we were in Game 3 against a team that has been here before. They’ve been in Game 3s in the playoffs already this season and have really challenged us in the past. So for us to keep our composure and share the ball, 24 assists on 29 field goals (is great). There are some incredible things on the stat sheet. This was a group effort which makes me incredibly proud.

On whether the Storm's 20-0 run was the best the team has ever played:
I would say yes, because we were getting stops at the same time. You know me well and I’m all about defense and we stymied them defensively. At the same time, we were getting looks at the other end. Incredible second half.

On putting Sue Bird's performance into words:
I don’t think I can. You see the cast on her nose, you see all kinds of discomfort that she could give in to, not getting a single foul called, and putting herself in the position to get fouls, and to still be able to keep her focus and her composure through traps and double-teams, which was obviously their goal to trap her, and still being able to come up with 14 assists and three turnovers. What else can you say about Sue Bird? I don’t think she’s ever been better. I say that clearly because of how mentally tough she had to be, to come into this series with the broken nose, to go through surgery yesterday, keep her focus and handle a very good defense that was definitely geared on her today, to trap her and take the ball out of her hands, and to again to be able to keep her composure for 14 assists. Phenomenal.

On what was said in the timeout preceding the run:
We talked about that this was their time. This is when they challenged us in the past. We stared that right in the face. We needed to continue to keep our composure as they kept their pressure up, and I thought we did a great job of that.

On whether she was surprised by the run:
I don’t think any coach foresees 10-for-12 from the three-point line, especially against good defense. We found openings and knocked down good, solid shots. That did surprise me, but that will teach me never to underestimate this group.

On Alicia Thompson's contributions:
She was smack in the middle of that run that we made. Her energy, her defensive presence out there, the boards, the three, and, much like Tully (Bevilaqua), she’ll give it everything and run out of gas. In that stretch of five minutes, look what she accomplished: seven points, two boards. She did a great job in a stretch when we had to have some. I took out Betty (Lennox) and Sheri (Sam) because it looked like our pressure was coming down. We talked about focus at the point and picked it right up again.

On Bird:
She’s amazing. She’s been so inspiring and she’s so nice. She’s awesome. I can’t imagine playing with any other point guard in this league. She’s the best point guard in the league. Tears are coming to my eyes. I can tell you so much about her, but I can’t think of it right now.

On whether the run was the best the Storm has ever played:
It didn’t feel like that out there, until about two minutes to go. It was so intense out there with Sacramento playing such hard defense. We just did what we could do and I guess at the end of the day the best team won.

On her six threes:
I’m a three-point shooter. I have been throughout the year, so it wasn’t really all that surprising. When I dropped a few, I was like, ‘Yup.’ We won the Western Conference Championship, so it wasn’t about shooting the three. I do it everyday.

On whether the run was the best the Storm has ever played:
Yeah, for sure. More importantly, it’s when it happened. If that run would’ve happened in the regular season, it probably would have gone unnoticed. But to do it in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals . . . . I think Alicia Thompson came in and started up going, and it was a domino effect. Everybody started making their shots, we were getting stops. I mean a 20-0 run is pretty incredible.

On whether the team was still nervous after the run:
Even though we were up 20, you never know with that Sacramento team; they always come back. It didn’t feel safe. We continued to play hard, but with about three minutes left I kinda got that happy feeling that something good was going on.

On her assist total:
Sacramento pressures you and forces you to do things that you might not normally do. For whatever reason, our offense kind of goes with it. We were able to get into the lane and kick it out and find the open people. Tonight we just knocked down our shots. That’s what the assists are. It was nothing crazy that I did, it’s my teammates that stepped up and knocked down some big shots.

On going to the WNBA Finals:
It’s tremendous to be going to the Finals. Who would have thought when Lauren got drafted and when I got drafted that only two years later we would be sitting here right now? So to do it together, along with the rest of our teammates and coaching staff that we have, is pretty incredible. I think it’s quite a feat for us to be here right now. This is our first step towards a championship in Connecticut and I couldn’t think of a better place for me.

SACRAMENTO COACH JOHN WHISENANT:

On the game:
Obviously Seattle was a much better team tonight. They should represent the Western half of this league well if they continue to play that way. They were 12-of-18 from the three-point line and that doesn’t say much about our three-point defense. Making two-thirds of your three-pointers is hard to do in a H-O-R-S-E game. They shot well. I’m disappointed that we allowed them to shoot that well. That’s good shooting with nobody guarding you. They were the superior team; that’s why they won. We had trouble scoring and getting any movement out of our offense. We only had 12 assists the whole game - Sue Bird had more assists (14) than our whole team. That was one of the problems.

On whether the Monarchs played well:
I’m proud of my team. But we have to give Seattle credit - they played well and did a wonderful job. They’ve got several stars … that’s a good basketball team. They were more than we could handle. I don’t want in any way to sound like I’m doing a disservice to them, but we just never played as well as we have played some games. We had to play much better to compete with them here.

On his feeling when the Monarchs pulled within one point, 44-43:
It felt good. I felt our defense had slowed them down, but unfortunately it stayed on 43 for however long. We did a better job in our rotations, but we got caught too many times. We got the game in a close, winnable position - which is usually a good spot for the Monarchs. That didn’t work tonight. Anne does a good job. She’s an excellent basketball coach. She and her staff do a great job. They scouted us well.

On the Storm moving on to the WNBA Finals:
I hope they play that well now against the East and represent the West like they’re supposed to. I told Anne that we wanted her to come back with the championship for the West. If we can’t have it, we sure want to keep it in the West.

On what he told the team during the Storm's run:
I don’t remember. Whatever I told them, they didn’t hear it. We were trying to stop them. We were trying to run some offense that we could get some layups because we couldn’t make a basket. It’s very frustrating, and even more so when you’re tired. I wanted us to get the ball inside and get offensive rebounds and put it back in. I thought if we could ever get on a roll that way we might get some baskets, but it seemed like we missed four or five real easy shots. The discouragement showed on our defensive end – we didn’t make good rotations defensively. They just shot the lights out. It was a combination of us having trouble scoring and then them just making everything.

On tonight being a game of runs:
A game of runs? I don’t know if we even made a run tonight. We just couldn’t establish anything defensively. The last two minutes (of the first half) we fought back and were moving the ball a little better than we did the first 18 minutes. We went into the locker room and discussed some things that we needed to do. We came back the second half and didn’t do anything we had talked about.

On the year:
So, we had a good season. We finished 18-16. Nobody ever thought we were going to make the playoffs. We believed in ourselves and we did that. But Seattle … Anne Donovan put this team together. They’re a great team. They hit a lot open shots and they wanted it more than we did.

On getting over another loss in the Western Conference Finals:
It’s very difficult. We were here last year against LA in a third game, and lost by three or four points. Like I’ve been telling my teammates, you only get so many chances and this was a great opportunity for us because a lot of people didn’t think we had a chance. But we believed in ourselves. I think if we would’ve put forth a little more effort, we’d be the ones celebrating right now. We just have to learn from this tonight and get ready for next year. Next year, we just don’t know what’s going to happen. You only get so many opportunities and this was our chance.

On trying to stop Lauren Jackson:
Well, we did have a game plan, but it just didn’t work out. She was left open quite a bit and you can’t leave a player like Lauren Jackson open. With the whole team, I think anything they put up with their eyes closed went in, basically. They hit a lot of shots, penetrated our defense … and once you penetrate our defense, it’s hard to recover. We just couldn’t buy a basket.

On the WNBA Finals:
Like a lot of people are saying, whoever comes out of the Western Conference is going to be the champions, but you can’t put anything past Connecticut. They put together a great team. (Lindsay) Whalen is leading that team. It’s going to be a tough matchup. If Connecticut gets that first game, then Seattle has to come home and play their best basketball. Whoever wants it the most is going to get it. It’s not about two players on Connecticut; they have a good team … a good starting five and then players that come off the bench with confidence. They’re in the Finals, so you can’t second-guess anybody. It’s up in the air right now.

On what the Monarchs accomplished:
I just want to say I’m proud of my teammates. We did a lot this year. We turned it around in the second half (of the season). Our coaching staff did an outstanding job and the Sacramento fans are the best fans in the WNBA. So we’ll be back – I’m not retiring yet! We will be back.

On the game :
We kept fighting and coming back. But they had more than we had. They were just on fire. All of their shots were going in. They just wanted it more.

On the Storm's shooting:
It wasn’t just one person - it was everybody. We didn’t have any defense for that and couldn’t stop it.

On next year:
It’s hard to think about right now because I’m upset. There’s no telling what’s going to happen next year. The whole team could be different. This was our opportunity right here and we let it go.

On the game:
We were right there and made a good run. We felt if we could keep it close the last three or four minutes that we could make some plays and seal it, but they were too overpowering for us. They shot tremendously. You have to give (Seattle) credit - they definitely were the aggressors more than we were. They have great players and are a tough team to defend because all five players can score and hurt you. It’s a tough defensive matchup.

On Jackson's game:
She is incredible. As far as her whole offensive repertoire, she’s probably the best player in the world in terms of her versatility. At 6-5, she can score in the post, she can hit threes better than anybody in the league. She’s a tough player to guard.

On Bird:
Sue is a great player. I’ve been playing against her for a long time, and this year you can really see the difference in her game because she has more weapons at her disposal. She really finds the right people and gives them the ball in places where they can be successful. She’s definitely a quarterback out there, helps her teammates score and makes them look good because she finds them in the right places.

On the WNBA Finals:
Oh, Seattle is going to win. Everyone knows the West is the stronger conference. I’m not trying to slight the Eastern Conference teams, but you can look at record alone. When we, as a four seed, have the same record as the one seed over there … that speaks for itself. The West has been dominant in this league for a long time. I don’t see any possible way that Connecticut wins - if they do, I’d be shocked. I might be eating my words, but Seattle is playing really well right now. They are playing like the best team in the league and have so many weapons. It’s going to be tough for Connecticut to contend with Lauren and with the way they’re shooting the ball. They have home-court advantage, so I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t win the championship.

Notes: