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WNBA FINALS MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 2, 2013Angel McCoughtryFred WilliamsTHE MODERATOR: We have on the call Coach Fred Williams and Angel McCoughtry. Congratulations on reaching the finals for the third time in four years. Once again, we will not begin with opening statements. They will go right to questions. Q. Congratulations, Coach. Let me just ask you, how important has winning been to helping you develop the fan base and having the fan base grow? Also down there in Atlanta, the Hawks haven't won any championships. Have you been able to transcend and actually see NBA fans starting to come over and becoming better fans of your team? COACH WILLIAMS: Yes. I think overall, not only from the NBA side, from the baseball side and football side of people coming in and really supporting the ladies here in Atlanta. We have seen a different face of the crowd and community come out and support us. Q. So basically, winning in the WNBA has been able to basically bring in more fans in Atlanta because people are sports fans? COACH WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, they're just sports fans, period. I think with our games being pretty much in the summer, and with us being really the new ladies on the block here in this town, it takes about six to ten years to really establish a really solid fan base all the way around. Q. Angel, how are you doing? ANGEL McCOUGHTRY: How are you doing? Q. Good, good. I just want to‑‑ this is probably going back a while, but when you look at your career at U of L, how did you actually end up there? What do you feel like you're using from your experience there? As you succeed the way you are in the WNBA. ANGEL McCOUGHTRY: Well, how I ended up in Louisville was one of the things that just wound up happening out of the blue, spur of the moment thing, and it wound up being one of the best decisions of my career. What I took over is the same thing‑‑ we just‑‑ when I was in Louisville, it's the same thing like here. Nobody expected us to be in the position that we're in now. We're the underdogs. So we just fought our way to the top, and that's exactly what the Atlanta Dream has done. Q. And Coach Walz, what did he mean, do you feel like, to your career? ANGEL McCOUGHTRY: He meant a lot to my career. He's the one who kind of helped me become a woman in this world, just on and off the basketball court. I learned so many things from Coach Walz. He just proved himself over and over again, that he's one of the best coaches out there this year, to take the ladies back to the National Championship Game. He's meant a lot to my career. We still maintain a great relationship to this day. Q. Can you talk about the roller coaster season you've had. You started off really hot and then hitting the slump, and sort of getting your way again in the playoffs? COACH WILLIAMS: I think a lot of it is due to injuries earlier, number one, with Lyttle going down for us, and then we had Tiffany Hayes at one point went out for a few games. Hitting the long road streak there in July really tested us a lot going on the West Coast and being kind of beat up some. I thought all in all we were able to maintain a second place level in our division and try to compete to gain home court advantage for the East. Down the stretch, I thought we just wanted to get into postseason play, where it's a different season and that we could kind of show it when we stepped up after that first game with Washington. Q. Congratulations, Coach and Angel. Two quick questions. One, is there anything singly that you can hang on that surprised you as you made your playoff run? And two, both teams have about the same amount of rest in terms of you both played last Sunday and this Sunday, and do you have an advantage or disadvantage to either one? COACH WILLIAMS: I think it's‑‑ advantage‑wise, both teams played the same day, and I think we finished the series the same time. It's just home court advantage right now for Minnesota. For us, we had some momentum going, playing on the road and playing at home. So we're just going to have to take that one game at a time and deal with it. The other is‑‑ what was the first part of your question? Q. Anything that's really surprised you in your run thus far in the playoffs? COACH WILLIAMS: I just thought‑‑ I thought our shooting got a little bit better after our first game, and really one thing that was a surprise, I thought we stepped it up defensively and put a lot of pressure, extreme pressure on the road in Indiana, and that really kind of showed and carried over to us getting that Eastern Conference Championship. Q. What have you all learned from the previous trips to the finals that you all can apply this time that might put you over the hump and take that first Championship? COACH WILLIAMS: Angel, I'll let you have that one. ANGEL McCOUGHTRY: I mean, we just learned‑‑ I mean, you learn from your failures. You just know what it feels like to not win in Tucson, and we really wanted to get over the hump this year and get a ring and bring a Championship to Atlanta. At least we know what it takes to get there. We know what the atmosphere feels like. We know this game is going to be very physical, very tough, especially playing Minnesota. So it's going to take more focus. Just got to try to figure out a way to get over the hump. That's about it. Q. And if I could ask a followup real quick. Going back to the roller coaster question, the last four games of the regular season and then that first game against Washington, it wasn't a great effort. What changed mentally for you all that you just kind of turned things around so quickly? COACH WILLIAMS: I think a lot of it is film and then just getting after it defensively. Still take the selected shots we had from the perimeter. We average about 72 to 75 attempts a game. We shot 28 percent in that first game. There's no way we can do that for the rest of our series against Washington. I think we got a lot better after that series to wake us up a little bit. Q. Fewer shots? COACH WILLIAMS: Beg pardon? Q. Fewer perimeter shots? COACH WILLIAMS: Yeah, we were able to get more perimeter shots outside, and then that really opened up more points in the paint for us. Q. This question is for Angel. You basically accomplished everything a player can accomplish except for this WNBA Championship. This is your third shot. Can you talk about your mindset going in and what it would mean for you to get this, I guess, the last thing in your career. ANGEL McCOUGHTRY: It would mean a lot. The mindset going in‑‑ the mindset going in just making sure we just have‑‑ just a go‑getter mentality. Trying to go in attack mode, no fear. We're going to go in confidently. I've got to go get ready for practice. My practice is about to start real soon. THE MODERATOR: Coach Williams is still with us if you would like to direct questions to Coach Williams. Q. Hi, Coach. Can you talk about how tight‑knit, just kind of from a chemistry and off‑the‑court standpoint, your team is and how‑‑ does that just kind of a WNBA thing? I know, as we look at the Lynx here in Minnesota, we see on the outside a group that really genuinely enjoys being around each other. And how important is that for you guys and for the WNBA, do you think? COACH WILLIAMS: I think that's very important. You know, to get to the next level of the playoffs and to the Championship level, you definitely have to have the team chemistry and being together. That's something that's formulated through us all the way from training camp through the midseason, wins and losses. These young ladies really thrive and love each other a lot, to where they can go out and have dinner and talk about the game and just have fun. I like players to go out and have fun and work hard and do the right things. Q. Hi, Coach Williams. I wondered if you could sort of address the‑‑ how much Erika has sort of improved over her time in the league. She came into the league as a very young player. If you could maybe talk about where she is right now in her game. COACH WILLIAMS: I think Erika has really improved over the years in development. In her time with us at the Atlanta Dream, she established herself as being an all‑star player. This has been one of her outstanding years, I think, in her career. For her to really commit to be with us through the all‑star‑‑ through the playoffs shows the extent to where she believes in the Dream, believes in Atlanta, and believes in this league. So I think she's just going to get better and better. I don't think she's really reached her peak in her career yet. We're just going to continue to work with her and make her a better player. Q. Coach, could you please describe how difficult it is to prepare for a team with as many different offensive threats as Minnesota presents and describe your view of the matchup for this. COACH WILLIAMS: It's very difficult. We're looking at some Olympians on that team who get a lot of power for shooting the outside jumper. They're pretty long at the post and ring area where they can step out and pull your post away from the basket. So we've got a lot of work to do and try to figure things out. I know, when we played them here the last time down, they were kind of one player short there. We just got to really up tempo the game some and just try to take advantage of the open court space. Q. Coach, can you talk a little bit about the growth of Armintie Harrington's game this season from the beginning to the end and how you think that she'll be effective in this series. COACH WILLIAMS: Well, I think she's been a very consistent veteran throughout this whole‑‑ her whole career. I mean, she's been a player, she's been a role player at some point. She's been a starter for us over the years. And it's going to be really important for her to really hit the boards like she's been doing and also hit a few of those outside jumpers for us. Q. And what about defensively? Who do you think that she'll be able to create the most trouble for on the Lynx? COACH WILLIAMS: Well, she'll get some help somewhere, but if you try to match her up with Moore or Seimone or somewhere in that area, you can't guard those players one‑on‑one. We'll get her some help when she's defending one of those players. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. I wish you the best as you enter the finals this weekend. To our media, thank you for your participation. My apologies for that technical difficulties during Angel's part of the call. I believe she had stepped outside to get to practice. I would also remind you the WNBA Finals by Boost Mobile begin on Sunday at 8:30 on ESPN and then again on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN2. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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