Connecticut Sun CEO Mitchell Etess on scouting Lindsay Whalen:“As early as late October early November coach (Mike) Thibault was telling me about this girl from Minnesota. Coach told me that he had to go watch her play. At first I was a little skeptical because he told me that he had to see the girl play in the Bahamas, but now after about a whole year of tracking Lindsay we were able to get the player that we really coveted and that player is Lindsay Whalen.”
General Manager Chris Sienko on how the team decided on drafting Whalen:
“An awful lot of work went into our draft this season. Mike did go to the Bahamas and got a tan, but he also watched a lot of basketball there and came back with a sense of the player he wanted from that early stage. Then, throughout the year Coach Thibault, along with his assistants, Bernadette Mattox and Scott Hawk, they saw a lot of games this year and throughout that time and the hundreds of players that they watched, our goal was to get Lindsay Whalen to play in Connecticut. Obviously we were successful in our goal and we are all very excited about this.”
On early ticket sales:
“We have had a terrific start to our preparation for the season which includes about a 40% increase in ticket sales over last year. Right now we are basically sold out of our opening night game, so if you want good tickets to our games the best way to ensure that is to buy one of our mini-plans for multiple games for the season. Also, when we confirmed the draft pick of Lindsay the phones have been ringing off the hook for tickets, which is a great tribute to Lindsay and people knowing who she is and what she comes from.”
On Lindsay’s playing style:
“If I had to compare Lindsay’s style of play to someone, it would have to be Jennifer Rizzotti. She has a great passion for the game; whether it is diving to the floor or being very aggressive. You can tell she loves to play the game. She is also one of, if not the best, passers I have ever seen. I think Lindsay is a great addition to our team, and she will help us complete our goals of first the Eastern Conference Championship and then the WNBA Championship.”
Head Coach Mike Thibault on Whalen fitting in with the Sun:
"I know that professional basketball is a business, but in order to be successful at what you do, you have to enjoy your job. So what we have tried to do here with the Connecticut Sun is to make sure that we are still having fun playing the game. We are trying to make the whole team a big family, so when people’s daughters come to Connecticut to play basketball, they are in an environment that’s conducive to being good basketball players, and to being around good teammates. I think that Lindsay is also a part of doing that, not only with her play on the basketball court, but how she leads her teammates and how she makes the right types of things happen for her team. It’s a testament to what she accomplished in Minnesota, a testament to the way she was raised by her family, and I think that with the steps we have made in the off-season, we are getting closer every day to our ultimate goal of winning a WNBA Championship.”
“Off the court Lindsay is fairly quiet, but when she plays she has a fire about competing, and winning, and a love of the game that makes her a special player.”
Lindsay Whalen
“When you think of women’s basketball you think of two things: Connecticut and Tennessee. So, I feel very fortunate to be able to play in an area that is so well known for women’s basketball, and look forward to playing in front of fans that are passionate about the game.”
“It has been a very busy month for me, so I am happy to finally know where I am playing. I have been in the area for a couple of days with the draft and then my parents and I came here yesterday to check out the area surrounding Connecticut and we couldn’t be happier. We have been treated very well and I am excited to come here and start playing.”
Q: How is the hand that you broke feeling?
A: From the moment I came back to playing, it really felt fine. I had to wear a little brace on my hand, but it never really bothered me. I am sure there was some adrenaline that comes along with the games, but I am just going to continue to exercise and get ready for the season.
Q: Was it hard for you to switch from being more of a point guard during your first two seasons to playing a lot of two guard later?
A: Not really. On my high school team, whoever got the rebound would bring the ball up, and we played a similar style during AAU, so it made it easy for me to handle the ball when I needed to at Minnesota and also to play on the wing when my team needed me to do that as well.
Q: Is there a reason why you wear number 13?
A: Well, when I was a seventh grader playing on the ninth grade team there, the last number was 13, and it was also the smallest, which made sense since I was the smallest on the team. And when I got to high school, the number was available. And then when I got to Minnesota, luckily, nobody had the number so I have just kind of stuck with it and got lucky that nobody else had it.
Q: How did you get into playing basketball?
A: Well my dad is from North Dakota and if you know anything about the area of both North Dakota and Minnesota, what parents teach their kids to play is hockey. So from about first grade until fifth grade I played hockey. Then, in fifth grade, my best friend’s father was the coach of a basketball team, and it was getting to the checking age with hockey. I went to a (basketball) tournament with my friend and played well. From that point on I just kept playing and practicing and furthered my love for the sport.
Q: When did you start to think that you would be able to play in the WNBA?
A: Probably after my sophomore year at Minnesota. My freshman year we had a tough season, but my sophomore year I had a good year and we made it to the NCAA tournament, so from that point on it was a personal goal of mine to make it to the WNBA. Obviously, I was lucky enough to have the league there in high school, but I hadn’t really thought about it until after my sophomore year.
