Attitude and Energy

Doris Burke: From the outset, it just felt like the East had a good vibe. Their was cohesion. There was energy. There was enthusiasm. They were guarding. It was surprising to be honest. It just felt like they took it a little more seriously than the West did.
I think Mike Thibault had the sense that (and they talked about it Tuesday at practice), if he was going to win this game, they’ve got to do two things. They’ve got to be committed to playing defense, which is a little bit unusual in an All-Star Game. And then they had to get up and down and play the pace that was absolutely relentless.

Everytime they got the ball, whether it was a make or a miss, you heard Thibault saying “Go, go, go.” He wanted transition. He wanted to put the heat on. I think he felt like he had to have a huge cushion in terms of points, so that the West couldn’t make a run, and he got it.

The key to me was the fact that they came out with energy. They wanted to guard. They wanted to force the tempo. It was surprising. I did not think the East could win without Tamika Catchings.

Nancy Lieberman: It was about the attitude. There were six players on the East who had nothing to do with the six previous losses and they came to play. They were focused. They didn’t want the stigma of losing. They shot well and they dominated the boards against a bigger West team.

Ann Meyers: You could tell that the East was a lot more motivated than the West.

Rebecca Lobo: They definitely had a more aggressive mindset than you normally see in an All-Star Game. It seemed like the West was more out there having fun and the East played like they had something to prove since they hadn’t won one yet. But I thought it was a very competitive game even when it was a blowout. Everybody was playing hard out there. It wasn’t your typical All-Star Game in that sense.

Teamwork and Cohesion

Lieberman: The best team in the East beat the West All-Stars. The four Connecticut players combined for 39 points and 25 rebounds.

Lobo: I think it really helped that Connecticut had so many players here that had a feel for one another. You could see early in the game that Lindsay Whalen and Katie Douglas really had a connection and I think that got things off on the right foot.

Meyers: The four Connecticut players and the three Detroit players were key. Deanna Nolan led everybody with seven assists. Katie Smith and Cheryl Ford also had big games. The biggest thing to me though was the defense, and a lot of it had to do with Margo Dydek. The West just couldn’t get inside because Margo Dydek just clogged everything up.

Burke: I thought the whole Connecticut Sun contingent was really a huge part of this, because of their cohesion. A couple of times on the fast break, you saw only Lindsay and Katie touch it. The ball never hit the floor. So they got easy baskets because there’s a feel and a rhythm that’s inherent in those teammates.

Leadership From the Point

Meyers: Lindsay Whalen had a terrific game, really controlling things and she finishes shots.
Lieberman: Whalen is remarkable. She had six assists. They had great leadership. It was the best she has looked since her surgery. She told me that she played 36 minutes the other day and she felt wonderful.