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WNBA FINALS: SPARKS VS LYNXOctober 9, 2016Candace ParkerAlana BeardMinneapolis, Minnesota Sparks - 78, Lynx - 76 Q. Candace, just can you take us through what you saw in that last possession and how big it was for Alana to knock that shot down? CANDACE PARKER: I think one of our key points going into postseason is preparing for like broken plays, and we didn't execute that play the way that we wanted to, but we executed it the way we needed to. Chelsea had the ball. I was screaming, "shoot it, shoot it," because I saw the time winding down. She drove and kicked, and AB hit the shot, and I was right underneath the him, and I remember being like, that's good. But everybody is going to talk about AB's shot, but the key defensive two possessions before that, that she blocked Lindsay Whalen and she got a steal with Maya Moore, those are the possessions that were crucial for us, and it's about time that that worked out in our favor. We've had a lot of shots that haven't gone our way, and we've been on the other end of it. I'm proud of my team. Q. Candace, how would you assess the defense overall going off of that because you forced 16 turnovers on Minnesota and scored 18 off, and that really helped you weather through a very gritty game to open this series. CANDACE PARKER: I think Coach Agler, one thing you're going to do under him is you're going to play defense. So I think all of us want to, and we realize that's what it's going to take to win. We just try to make things hard, you know, pressure the ball and kind of make them rush and take quick shots. Q. Candace, it looked pretty physical out there, especially in the post. There were a lot of fouls called this game, I think 42 in total. Not all of them seemed to be the plays in which somebody landed on the floor. Can you just, without criticizing the officiating, just talk about the way the game was called and whether that makes it harder for you to get into the transition game and the flow that you want? CANDACE PARKER: I think that we can adjust to the way things are played, and that's what we've done all year. We've had games that they're not calling anything, and we have to do what we have to do to win. So if they're calling things tight, we need to go to the basket and get fouled, and if they're not, then we need to play through it, and I think that's the type of attitude that we had in this game and the type of attitude that we have to have going forward. Q. Alana, I would like for you to say what happened in your mind when Chelsea runs into traffic and passes the ball out to you. ALANA BEARD: I was just watching the play, to be honest with you. I knew what we were looking for. I saw that Minnesota did a great job of taking away the options, which was expected, and Chelsea kind of rejected the screen and drove and read the defense, and at one point, however many seconds left on the clock, you kind of have to take that shot, so I threw it up. Q. Alana, in terms of shots in your career, where do you rank this? Where do you put this one? ALANA BEARD: Um, I don't think I've ever hit a game winner, so it's pretty cool. Pretty cool. But this is only one game, and that's how we think about it. We came in and did what we wanted to do. We wanted to get a win, so now we have another game. Q. Alana, do you derive more joy and pleasure from the shot or from the two defensive stops that you had the previous possessions? ALANA BEARD: You know, I think it's the win in general. Yeah, it was two big defensive stops, but I thought we had a few possessions before that that we put together a string of stops, and that was an important stint in this game. But yeah, defense definitely won this game tonight for us. Q. Candace, your first Finals game. Was it everything you thought it would be? Did it feel different than any other playoff games? CANDACE PARKER: Well, we're used to kind of meeting them before the Finals, so it had a feel like before. Western Conference Finals, first round, we've played Minnesota. I think in general at first obviously there's some nerves, but you kind of get lost in the game, and just trying to execute, and obviously we had to take it possession by possession because you never know what's going to happen, and I've learned that in this journey. I think all of us have, that early possessions matter, and I think we did a good job of taking care of those possessions, and it came out in our favor. Q. Candace, Lisa Leslie was in attendance tonight for this game. Did that kind of help spark some confidence? CANDACE PARKER: I think so. She had some words during the ceremony for me. I think it was an honor for all of us to play in front of the 20 players and to see where the game has gone and the history of our game and how much it's grown, and the opportunity to grow the game in the future, as well. I think just in general, everybody being there really kind of motivated us to play our best, and it was kind of cool to look up in the stands and see different players that have won championships, and that's what we're trying to do. Q. I wanted to ask you what you were saying to each other because the third quarter has not been kind to you in the Playoffs and basically since the Olympic break, but you came out with a lot more energy this time. Even though you got out-shot by one basket, it wasn't the kind of letdown. What did you say to each other to keep that mentality and energy up? ALANA BEARD: I think it was a matter of us just being aware. We're definitely aware that our third quarters haven't been very good starting out, so just sort of staying on each other and getting out of the locker room early, I think it became more mental than anything. So we were very focused on the start of the third quarter. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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