Postgame Quotes/Notes - Storm 86, Connecticut 74
RELATED CONTENT | |||
| |||
TONIGHT'S NOTES | |||
|
|
|
BRIAN AGLER:
On the Storm's bench:
I saw a lot of things that I liked. I thought everyone that played helped us. Obviously
Shannon (Johnson) made a big steal that helped get us going. I think we were up three and it may have helped us for the momentum push at the end. 
Janell (Burse) missed a couple of shots, but she had some big rebounds and played good defense. Anyone that follows basketball knows that there’s more to it than just what’s on the stat sheet. Stats are easy to look at and obviously mean some things, but there are other intangible things that you have to have to win basketball games.
On Lauren Jackson playing with a bad back:
What can you say? She was struggling. We couldn’t hardly get her on the floor until game time. She is just the ultimate competitor. We gave her the option tonight of whether to play or sit out and she didn’t even hesitate, she was going to play. What happens on Saturday I don’t know. We’ll just have to try to get her ready and we’ll make a decision then.
On the run to end the game:
I loved how we finished tonight. I thought we had some great stops defensively and we executed our offense at the other end. They’re a good team. They execute their offense very well, they get some people in the right spots and create some openings. They’re tough to defend. You have to be able to guard them one-on-one and keep them out of the lane on penetration. It was a struggle at times. We were very inconsistent. At the end we did a pretty good job.
On whether he's relieved to clinch a playoff berth:
We’re happy. I don’t know if it’s a relief; I’m just glad we’re there. That’s always your goal, and when you accomplish the first step you’re happy. We’re happy and satisfied, but we’d still like to get some more things done. I know Phoenix and L.A. are playing right now; it’s a tight game in the fourth quarter. Whatever happens there sort of benefits us, whether we close in on Phoenix or separate ourselves from L.A. a little bit. We can’t really lose in that situation.
|
SUE BIRD:
On the run to end the game:
Lauren wanted the ball down on the block. First of all we got a lot of good defensive stops, whether it was getting rebounds or forcing turnovers, we just did a really good job of locking it down at the end. And offensively, I think we ran three straight plays to get Lauren the ball on the block. She got a three-point play and that pretty much put us ahead. From there it was just a matter of getting stops and getting some scores to ice it and finish it off.
On clinching a sixth straight playoff berth:
It says a lot about our franchise and what we’ve accomplished, but it’s still just making the playoffs. Three other teams are going to do it in our conference and four other teams from the other side. Now that we’re in we want to get good position, and we’re playing for that right now. We want to make more noise than we have in the past.
|
On the loss:
Well, 28 to 13 difference in the free throw attempts is part of it. They scored 50 points and shot 62 percent or whatever it was in the second half. I got on my team at halftime for not taking away the paint and (Seattle) came out and made some of their outside shots finally. They knocked down some shots. Swin (Cash) made a big three, Sue made two long jumpers that kind of turned the game around. Then the three-point play that Lauren (Jackson) got late - that was a big, big play. We had a chance and couldn’t get a stop when we needed one.
On the Storm's fourth-quarter defense:
Yeah, they played much better near the end. We’re missing our go-to player in Asjha (Jones) and it changes how we play offensively a little bit. They know what it’s like to play without Lauren or somebody before. I can’t fault my team’s effort. I just thought we broke down at a couple key points in the game. I thought we had a chance when Kerri (Gardin) made that play and was going to the line, to get the momentum back, and the free throw didn’t go in and they came down and scored.
On the remainder of this road trip:
Oh boy, we’ve got three games in the next five days - get your rest. We’ve got our work cut out for us. I don’t know if Asjha is going to play when we get to L.A. or Sacramento, but you know, the effort was good. If you bring that effort in all of the games in this trip, then we’ll win some games.
|
On the game:
I thought for the most part we hung tough. It was a close game throughout and it just came down to we didn’t get a couple big stops when we needed to and they made some tough shots. They kind of got their crowd going and into it.
On missing Jones:
Of course you’re going to miss Asjha, but we’ve have to play with who’s here and focus on that. There’s nothing you can do but play hard with who you’ve got.
On the remainder of this road trip:
We’ve got to get some stops at the end of these games and figure out a way to pull out some wins. This is the start of a four-game, six-day stretch for us and Saturday comes real quick so we have to be ready to go.
