Postgame Quotes/Notes - Storm 78, Phoenix 67
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TONIGHT'S NOTES | ||
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ANNE DONOVAN:
On
Janell Burse's performance:When a team really focuses on
Lauren (Jackson), we need other players to step up. We really haven’t had another post player step up. It was great to see Janell step up like that.
On playing Phoenix:
This is a really tough team to beat because they shot the 3 so well. At the early stages of the game we were scoring twos and they were scoring 3s. As long as we kept the game close, we knew we were going to be uncomfortable down the stretch. Our goal was to get out ahead.
On Diana Taurasi's performance:
Diana’s a great player. You are not going to shut her down.
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SUE BIRD:
On the Storm's turnovers:
We didn’t want to turn the ball over. They had 16 points off of our turnovers.
On the difference in the game:
We just made plays, offensively and defensively.
Offensively, there was a couple of times that we needed to score. Defensively, there were times that we needed to get a stop and we did.
On playing Taurasi:
She is so tough. We joke around, and we have known each other for a while now, so we have some inside jokes going on out there. But to play against her it is really tough. You just have to hope she misses.
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On her game:
I feel like there are some things that I could have done better. It wasn’t like I played the best game of my life tonight. I made a couple of mistakes, but I've just got to keep at it.
On starting the season strong:
My position, my role is different from what it was last year, so hopefully it will snowball and good things will keep on happening.
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CARRIE GRAF:
On the Mercury's offense:
When we only shoot 35 percent from the field, we are going to struggle on the offensive side of the ball. You have to give credit to the inside presence of the Storm, but shooting like that is not going to yield many victories.
We did not hit form the perimeter tonight. We really struggled from the 3-point line, and you can tell that from the fact that Penny Taylor and Anna DeForge shot 5-for-20 from out there. Whenever they shoot like that, its going to be a battle for us to score points
On the Storm's 44 points in the paint:
Their inside penetration really hurt us tonight. Lauren Jackson and Janell Burse got to the hoop a lot and did a great job on penetrating. We just did not get the job done inside and you can’t do that against a team with an inside presence like the Storm and expect to win.
On the Mercury's slow start to the season:
I think a lot of our record has to do with the fact that we still do not have all our players suited and playing with us. If we had every player with us when we started training camp, we would not be 1-4 right now, but we are. We got Penny back tonight and that helped, and we are going to get Kamila (Vodichkova) very soon. We do not have team chemistry right now and we need to find it. It’s impossible to tell how good this team is until we are complete and have everyone suited up. Once that happens, I think we can start to develop our chemistry as a unit and we’ll see this team start to perform to expectations.
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On the second half:
It is the same story. We come out and play very well for stretches at a time. Then we have these two- or three-minute lapses and when you look up at the scoreboard, we’re down by 11. The sooner that we can get that problem fixed, the sooner that we can get this team rolling. I know we’ve started out 1-4 now and we just have to figure out a way to start winning ballgames. That’s the bottom line.
On whether the Storm is still looking for a rhythm:
I think so. We got Penny this week and we just got Kamila back, but as a team, we still have to find ways to win and learn how to win. I think we are still at that stage. The sooner we get that figured out, (the sooner) we can go out there and hopefully win some games.
On what went wrong:
Rebounding we did well, but there are other things. Momentum swings and things like that really make the difference in the game. We just need to start doing the little things because they are the things that make the difference. We are going to Houston next week and we played them well last year. We are going to have to go out there and figure out what we have to do to win. We are still a confident team, but we’re working on nailing down some things.
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On her return to the lineup:
We are running the same sets as last year so there is nothing new that I had to learn. But coming back against a team like Seattle is hard because you know it's going to be a hard game. You have to be sharp for the entire game and I think we were for parts of it. Once we get the whole game together and get into that rhythm as a team, we will start to improve on parts of the game.
On what went wrong:
Tonight was just focus. Instead of having lapses like in the second half, we need to focus on getting defense stops and the worrying about our offense will sort of fade away. We need to build offense from our defense. We had moments of that and it's promising that we may get to that point where we can keep it up deeper into the game.
On team chemistry:
I don’t think it’s a problem as coming together as a unit. We have all our starters back now and with Kamila coming back, she is such an excellent player that we can’t help but get better. We need to get out there and play a little bit all together and we’ll find our rhythm again. I think we’ll be fine.
