Sting-Phoenix Post game Notes and Quotes
May 26, 2005 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Charlotte Sting News Release
Sting Head Coach Trudi Lacey
"We did not come out and execute our game plan early. We gave (Diana) Taurasi and (Anna) DeForge too many early looks at the three. We were tentative defensively and really did not execute the game plan until the last ten minutes. We got back in it, but it was too late."
On Phoenix's three-point shooting
"It was a combination of things. Some of it was us backing off of them, and some of it was them hitting some very tough shots. But defensively the second half we really got after them and made them miss a lot of shots. We've got to execute the game plan for 40 minutes; that's the bottom line."
On what was missing offensively
"We had our first two games where Sheri (Sam) scored the ball well, and our post players haven't. Tonight the post players scored well and perimeter didn't. It's going to come together. I saw some very good signs the last ten minutes. We have just got to go out and play with that aggressiveness and desire for 40 minutes."
On the free throw shooting
"At Indiana we shot 45 percent from the free throw line, and it cost us the game. Tonight we come back and shoot 82 percent from the free throw line. Pieces of it are coming together and getting better, so eventually we'll hit that zone and everything's going to work."
On the problem with the offense
"We're getting a lot of looks, a lot of easy looks. The first half we missed a ton of shots from right underneath the basket. We gave up six threes in the first half, so we traded three points for two points and we just can't let that happen. Right now, it's just a lack of concentration. We're getting good looks."
On the lack of three-point shooting
"Allison (Feaster) is a key three-point shooter, and they were obviously keying in on her. She's only been back for less than a week, so she is still getting comfortable with our offense."
On what she will tell her team to prepare for the next game
"Play tough. Play to win. Play for 40 minutes."
Charlotte Sting vs. Phoenix Mercury
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Post-game Quotes
Phoenix 68, Charlotte 58
Tangela Smith (21 points, 6 rebounds)
(On key factors in the game)
"We didn't play 40 minutes of basketball, we came out the second half and played okay in the last 10 minutes, but this is a 40 minutes basketball game. We waited too late to try and get back into the game and unfortunately that's not going to cut it. We have to play 40 minutes from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. We just didn't do that."
(On team adjustments)
"I think our defense is there but our offense isn't yet. We just need to open up and execute our plays better and just play more together as a team. Overall, we need to play hard for forty minutes."
Tammy Sutton-Brown (15 points, 4 rebounds)
(On key factors in the game)
"We didn't play our best defense and that kind of put us in a hole. It's hard to fight back and play the second because it's key to come out strong in the first half."
(On adjustments)
"I think we just need to down and find a way. Basically it comes down to scoring and we just didn't get on that initially right out of the gate."
Dawn Staley (2 points, 3 assists)
(On key factors)
"I think a good sign is that our post players played extremely well tonight. We just have to put the combination of our post and perimeters playing together great in one night and it will be a great night for us."
"We've been in this position before. You get a couple of wins under your belt, even just one win and it can snowball into a couple of wins. We just have to stay together, we can't point fingers. Once we get that one win, we will feel a lot better at practice and going into basketball games. We'll be all right."
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Final Score: Charlotte 58, Phoenix 68
Starters Points: Charlotte 48, Phoenix 65
Bench Points: Charlotte 10, Phoenix 3
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Charlotte High Points: Tangela Smith (21)
Charlotte High Rebounds: Tangela Smith (6)
Charlotte High Assists: Sheri Sam, Dawn Staley (3)
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Phoenix High Points: Anna DeForge (20)
Phoenix High Rebounds: Plenette Pierson, Diana Taurasi (5)
Phoenix High Assists: Diana Taurasi (7)
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NOTES:
· The 21 points scored tonight by Tangela Smith is her season high and the most point scored by a Sting player this season.
· The Sting had more steals (6-4) and blocks (5-3) than Phoenix. This is the first game this season where the Sting had more blocks and steals than their opponent.
· Tammy Sutton-Brown had two blocks tonight. This puts her 1 block away from reaching 200 for her career.
· The Sting shot .821 % tonight from the foul line- their highest average this season.
· The Sting's bench outscored the Mercury's bench (10-3).
· The 68 points scored by Phoenix are the most points Charlotte has allowed this season.
· Charlotte falls to 0-3 and Phoenix improves to 1-2. The Mercury has never started a season 0-3, and are now 4-0 all-time in the third game of the season after an 0-2 start.
· Sheri Sam had one steal tonight. This puts her 5 steals away from reaching 300 for her career.
· This is the third consecutive game in which Dawn Staley and Sheri Sam each finished out three assists.
· The 13 points scored tonight by Tammy Sutton-Brown is her season high. She also went 9-10 from the charity stripe.
· The Sting had three players reach double figures: Tangela Smith (21); Tammy Sutton-Brown (15) and Allison Feaster (10).
· The 26 points in the paint by the Sting is a season high.
· Phoenix connected on 10-15 (.667) from the three point line, one shy of their franchise record of 11 made three pointers set three different times and once against Charlotte last season (July 1, 2004).
Charlotte Sting vs. Phoenix Mercury
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Post-game Quotes
Phoenix 68, Charlotte 58
Phoenix Head Coach Carrie Graf
(Keys to tonight's win)
"As a team, we really stuck to our defensive game plan. On the offensive end, Anna (DeForge) and Diana (Taurasi) really stepped up. With two of our starters out, we definitely played a great game."
(Immediate team goals)
"I was impressed with tonight's win, but I would like for us to remain more poised whenever we have a big lead. In this league, if you have a big lead, you must keep the intensity level high to prevent the other team from coming back."
Phoenix Guard Anna DeForge (17 points, 4 rebounds)
(Keys to tonight's win)
"I think we played great on the offensive end. Our execution was great, and I think we had a good night on the boards. This was a big win for us."
"We really stuck to our game plan tonight. We wanted to get off to a great start, and I definitely feel that we accomplished that."
Phoenix Guard Diana Taurasi (19 points, 7 assists)
(Keys to tonight's win)
"Tonight we played with a sense of urgency. Every loss in the league is big, and since we already had two losses, we certainly didn't want to add to that."
(On Shereka Wright)
"Shereka (Wright) had a great game. She made some big shots and played great the entire game."
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