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WNBA FINALS: FEVER v LYNX

October 6, 2015

Stephanie White

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Game Two

Indiana Fever - 71
Minnesota Lynx - 77

COACH WHITE: Well, I guess first and foremost I learned a valuable lesson today. I learned that it pays to go public with comments about officials. Who would have known that? Because this game was a blood bath. I've never seen a player of Tamika Catchings caliber get so disrespected in my life, never, and to me, that's a travesty. That's a travesty.
We knew we had to do a better job on the boards. We didn't do that in the first half. We had to take care of the paint; we didn't do that. We stopped Catchings, pretty much like a Lindsay Whalen because we weren't getting calls, right? So one up for the veteran, and a lesson learned for the rookie.

Q. Can you talk about the impact that Tamika had on what you guys wanted to do?
COACH WHITE: Well it had an impact because she does so many things other than just go for the paint. Certainly we were still in position to win the game. It's a one‑possession ballgame with 1:29 to go. However, Tamika does a lot of things that doesn't show up on the stat sheet. Whether it's being in the correct rotation, keeping a play alive with the hustle play, setting great screens, occupying a defender. She creates space for us because of who she is. So, not having her on the floor hurts us in more ways than just her stats.

Q. Minnesota forced 13 turnovers against you in the second half. What did they do to disrupt you offensively?
COACH WHITE: Besides fouls, is that what you mean?

Q. Sure.
COACH WHITE: Well, obviously, you know a team like Minnesota, if you look from top to bottom, they're the best team in the league. They're the best team in the league for a reason, and they went small and they turned up their defensive intensity, and we lost our composure for about a minute and a half, and that's all a problem when you play against a great team, and they capitalized on it.
I think we had four or five possessions in the fourth quarter where we just turned the ball over, and it was a five‑point game, and we can't do that. We can't do that. We can't do that against anybody, let alone against one of the best teams in the league.
There is a reason they have a lot of championships. It's not just about offense. They have been a tremendous defensive team, and they're still a tremendous defensive team. But that small lineup really caused them some problems when we lost our composure.

Q. What was working to frustrate Maya Moore, especially in the first half? You held her to five points in the first half, and you seemed to have had her off her game for a time?
COACH WHITE: I don't know that you really frustrate Maya Moore. I think we just tried to make things difficult. She had five points, but you know she does all those things that Tamika Catchings does for us because you've got to know where she is. She's always running around. I mean she's watching her running around everywhere. You have to know where she is, not only one person, but two people.
So I'm not sure it's anything that we did besides trying to make life very difficult for her. And we just weren't able to maintain that, and we weren't able to maintain that because we had to worry about Seimone. Lindsay Whalen only played 21 minutes but she was much more aggressive early in the ballgame until she got loose as well. So it's one of those things with the team where you have to pick your poison.

Q. You talked about going small and that kind of changed the dynamic. Do you think the insertion of Montgomery assisted their perimeter defense and made things more difficult for you?
COACH WHITE: I think Montgomery and Cruz both. Anna Cruz reminds me of Debbie Black for all the people that were covering the league back then. She's just like a little gnat that's all over you. It's exhausting and it's irritating, and you just want to slap her away.
I mean that with the utmost respect because Debbie Black is one of the all‑time greats that played in this league because of that. So to have Cruz, somebody who just hounds you and hounds you and she never gets tired, and then Montgomery as well, certainly it absolutely makes a difference.

Q. The condition of Shenise Thompson?
COACH WHITE: She got nailed by a screen. I don't know what her condition is right now, but she doubled over. I really don't. Was it a legal screen? Probably. But Tamika Catchings was a legal screen too. I think anytime you give them a foot, that's all you have to give them.
I wasn't complaining about the fact that it was an illegal screen; I was complaining about the fact that Tamika Catchings got called on the same screen.

Q. How important do you feel Fowles was especially in that first half in really establishing herself on the board even though she missed the putback?
COACH WHITE: I think it's critical. Sylvia's a beast. She's one of those players almost like I feel like I'm talking about Tina Charles last week. But the only person who limits her is herself. I mean, with that body, with that athleticism, with how quick she gets up in the air, she should dominate. And 21‑9 is pretty good. But the way that she gets in, she's so quick off her feet, and, yeah, you can box her out, but she can get right over top of you and reach higher than you. You have to do a better job of pushing her out.
But you know what? I think she's been playing inspired this series, and she's a big part of what they're doing now. It's been a credit to Minnesota's staff the way they've integrated her throughout the season because there haven't been a lot of time without her in the lineup.

Q. Second half complete change. What was the biggest contributing factor that you saw?
COACH WHITE: Besides officiating? Again, it's the same thing. It's the same thing. We didn't handle the pressure. When we were getting mulled, we got past it and we tried to get rid of it instead of getting around them. And we didn't do a good job.

Q. Talk about when you were going to put Catchings back in? She was in very early in the fourth. Was that a conversation with her, or do you just trust that you're going to put her in that situation?
COACH WHITE: It's not really like you have a choice. You can't let Minnesota up because they can score so quickly, because they can make runs so quickly, you have to have her on the floor. I certainly trust that she's going to do what she can do to keep herself from fouling out.
She's been a Defensive Player of the Year a number of times and all‑defensive team a number of times, so you've got to trust that. But honestly, yeah, I would have liked to milk a couple more minutes, but I didn't feel like we had a choice.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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