Postgame Quotes/Notes - Storm 76, Minnesota 60
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TONIGHT'S NOTES | |||
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ANNE DONOVAN:
On getting her 100th career win:
That was a great win. That was how we have to play in the playoffs. The 100 wins is just icing.
On having players that want to play for her:
It’s really special. That’s one of the reasons that I’m successful in this business, and I love this business, is that relationships with players are the most important thing to me. I’m out of this business when I find I can’t relate to players and that becomes challenging. That’s the reason I do it. I’m proud that I have players that want to play hard for us and I work hard for them and I think they know it. For me, I don’t do it if I don’t have these relationships. I am who I am and I think that serves me well.
On whether this was the best defense the Storm has played this season:
It was the best I’ve seen in quite a while. I thought our help side was good, we made a few mistakes, a few offensive boards that slipped away, but for the most part we were really aggressive. 
Sue Bird kept pressure on the ball; 
Tanisha (Wright) got her hands on the ball. We haven’t seen that kind of defense in a long, long time.
On whether she sees social significance in reaching milestones as a female coach:
I do because I think there has been little respect given to female coaches in this league. I think the opportunities, when in doubt, have gone to a male, an NBA guy, some with experience and some without. To have been given an opportunity also is a responsibility and I don’t take it lightly. I downplay it because personal awards don’t mean a whole lot; championships are what I’m about. At the same time, the more opportunities women have in this league, the more success we’ll find for the females.
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LAUREN JACKSON:
On the game:
We had a lot of fun in the second half. Anne was happy with us, so we must have done something right. The first half was really stressful, but we stuck with it. The second half we jumped on them and took control. It’s so much nicer to play that way.
On Saturday's game in Sacramento:
It’s going to be a really hard game. It’s going to be tough. I think we match up really well with Sacramento and I think they know that too. It’s going to be huge for us. We’ll still be without 
Betty (Lennox), so when she comes back she’ll bring a whole new aspect to the team.
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On the social significance of Donovan's 100th win:
I think it’s great. The importance is that it is a women’s league. It’s important for coaches like Anne blazing the way. Right now I know women are in the minority in terms of head coaching positions. She’s carrying the load in a way. She won the first title (for a woman), she’s got to 100 first, hopefully she can continue to do that.
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SUZIE MCCONNELL SERIO:
On the game:
Yes, (
Vanessa Hayden going down) hurt us right from the first minute of the game, but they came out the aggressor. We didn’t respond. It was a great crowd and had our team rattled along with their pressure. Ironically we had our fewest turnovers of the year, but they caused us to take quick and contested shots. They challenged everything. They played a great game - give them a lot of credit. They played with a lot of energy and it helps to be in front of your home fans.
Tamika (Williams) came in and did a great job. She was huge on the boards and plays with a lot of heart. That needs to be contagious among everybody.
On the Lynx's fight:
Our mentality the last so many games has been that we’re going to fight for 40 minutes. Despite being down, we never quit. No matter who was on the floor, we kept fighting. We’re only going to get better. We’re a young team and we need to learn to play on the road. This was a great atmosphere for a young team to be thrown into … so we’ll see what happens. This is what our future looks like and next year we’ll come back better and stronger and healthier.
On the Mercury losing:
Yes, so we have the same amount of wins as Phoenix, but we just have fewer games to play than they do. You never know what’s going to happen. That’s the crazy thing about this league and how competitive the West is. We still have the opportunity to control so much and we’ll take it one game at a time.
On Donovan's 100th win:
That’s a milestone and a tremendous accomplishment. She’s done a great job - when she was in Charlotte and here, she’s done a great job with her teams. She always has them ready to play. I’m happy for her, but unfortunately it came against us … but she’s a great coach.
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NICOLE OHLDE:
On how Hayden's injury changed the game:
When a player of Vanessa’s caliber goes down you definitely have to change your game plan a little bit. We had to change the way we ran the game, but we also know we have players on the bench who can step up and fill that role … and that’s what we needed to do tonight.
On her matchup with Jackson:
She’s a tremendous player and I have so much respect for her game. I look at her game and there is a lot of stuff that I’d like to learn from her. It was definitely competitive out there, but unfortunately the score didn’t show it was that competitive.
On positives from the game:
Right now, I don’t know if we can say a lot. Once we look at the film we’ll see some stuff. We can take pride in the fact that we only had eight turnovers, which is a low for us.
