Postgame Quotes/Notes - Phoenix 89, Storm 79
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TONIGHT'S NOTES | ||
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ANNE DONOVAN:
On the game:
We got off to a great start. We handled their zone real well; we got them out of the zone. We kind of lost our focus. They packed in the zone a little bit more and we just didn’t handle it well. We weren’t shooting the ball well, we weren’t taking care of the ball, and they were running it out the other way. Our transition defense was really an issue.
On Penny Taylor's matchup with 
Lauren Jackson:
We know she’s a great player, she’s one of Australia’s best players along with Lauren Jackson. They match up well, they know each other’s game very well. Penny got a whole lot in transition, so it wasn’t necessarily one on one against Lauren. LJ did what LJ does. She just dominates. She did well against the zone, brought it inside, and brought it outside. Just a great performance by two Australians tonight.
On the Mercury fast break:
We did a great job in Seattle the second game of the season, the first time we played them. We did a much better job of being focused. Some of that I attribute to coming back from the All-Star break and not having a lot of practice time, but there were definitely some mental breakdowns from our perimeter.
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On what went wrong:
Turnovers and defensive transition. We didn’t rotate on defense. Our defense killed us.
On Penny Taylor:
She’s a great player. She’s one of those players in the league, like Diana (Taurasi); not one person is going to be able to stop her. She’s very good. She’s one of the premier scorers in the league and she had a great game, and we expect that from her.
PHOENIX HEAD COACH PAUL WESTHEAD:
On the game:
Especially on zone we defended very well and we were active and caused them to reverse the ball and kind of get out of their rhythm. Despite the points we did a very good job on Lauren Jackson and boxing her in our zones. Dee played her very well,
Belinda Snell came in and played her very well. Heaven knows what she would have gotten if we didn’t play her well.
On the complete effort:
It took us almost the whole first quarter to get up but we sustained it and made some key baskets. Penny Taylor was spectacular throughout the game. Dee Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter started scoring a little more in the second half that helped us. We got a terrific rebounding game from Tangela Smith. I mean, to beat a good team like Seattle you have to have your team defense working and offense. It’s a big win for us.
On Cappie Pondexter:
We played her a fair amount of minutes. We’ve been practicing that and we’re going to try to use that at times in games, trying to get her game ready for that. The hard part is we want her and Kelly Miller on the floor at the same time so its hard to flip-flop them but we’ll work out a scheme to get Cappie some more time.
On Kelly Miller:
Kelly Miller is the same, she runs and pushes and plays her game. She’s probably our most consistent player. What Kelly Miller announces is what you get. We got nice help, Belinda Snell did a nice job defensively. Mazz (Kelly Mazzante) came in in the first half and helped us offensively. That’s something you have to do, you can’t rely on your two or three stars to get it done for you.
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On the first quarter comeback:
We were playing a little tentative and not really pushing the tempo and then in that formative stand we got some stops, we got some goes and some good looks and we knocked them down.
On the upcoming schedule:
Its going to be difficult tough schedule and a lot of games in three weeks. We’re confident in how we’ve been playing and how together we’ve been through the three game losing streak and three game win streak. Teams go through ups and downs but its how you bounce back from those that lets you know how good of a team you are.
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On the intensity:
We ran the ball so well tonight. I don’t know how many easy layups we got on the break just because we were rebounded and getting out and running.
On the team’s intensity:
It’s extremely important for us. We’ve had a few games when we’ve been up and let it sleep away. We’ve also had games where we’ve been down and had to come back up so we know we can do it either way,. We get a lead like that we know we need to hang on to it, especially going into the playoffs.
