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WNBA FINALS: SPARKS VS LYNXSeptember 29, 2017Candace ParkerOdyssey SimsLos Angeles, California Sparks - 75, Lynx - 64 Q. What's the biggest challenge the other team poses that you'll have to overcome to take this championship? ODYSSEY SIMS: I think just going in, as it's been three games, especially in the second game, Minnesota was really, really aggressive. That's something that we have to do a better job of when teams respond. We don't take up on the challenge, we wait, we wait, we wait to get it done, and that's something that's going to be big going into Game 4. It's something that's been big all series, but definitely, definitely going into Game 4 on Sunday. Q. Candace, tonight, first of all, it was the first night that you actually won the battle of the boards for the Sparks, and you did that decisively. It also was a game in which you showed a marked improvement in your assist ratio. Were those adjustments that you focused on as you came back to LA for this game, and do you see anything you'd like to change as you head to Game 4? CANDACE PARKER: Well, by no means at this point, as well as we know each other, are the games going to be pretty. You know, it's not going to be fluidity. It's not going to be like they let us execute our offense and we just let them get to their spots. So it's going to come down to, you know, second-chance points. It's going to come down to those loose balls and making things difficult. You know, on the offensive end stepping up and making and taking tough shots, you know. But I think just from our pace perspective, I was proud of the way down the stretch when it got to be five, six minutes, we didn't stop and just let the clock go. I think that's kind of been our achilles heel towards the end of the game is we stopped playing with pace, and when we stop playing with pace then we can't utilize this little engine over here to the left of me and how quick and fast she is. I think that was kind of an adjustment that we made, and obviously going into the next game we want to try to keep them on the board. I mean, they're a great rebounding team. Q. Candace, you guys held Whalen and Augustus scoreless and Maya scoreless for the first half. How would you assess your sustained defensive intensity throughout the game? CANDACE PARKER: I mean, we stuck with it. They're great players, you just try to make things tough. But with them not scoring, you know, Renee had a great first half, Rebekkah Brunson played well in the first half. So it kind of balanced out a little bit. We're not going to hold Maya scoreless for the first half. I think fouls had a lot to do with it in terms of when you pick up a couple fouls, it kind of plays with your mind, you're able to kind of go in and out. Coach had to not play her as much. And that was the same with me in Game 1. It does kind of play with your emotions a little bit. Like I said, we just try to make things tough for them, try to make things difficult and live with the results. Q. What did you guys think about how Nneka was able to play in foul trouble? ODYSSEY SIMS: Nneka is a smart player. I think we have across the board all great and smart players. I think that comes to play with Brian. He trusts everyone, even with Candace, me, Alana, anyone gets in foul trouble, he knows what he's doing, and for him to keep her in, to trust her and for her to play smart with those early fouls says a lot about her. She's a smart player, and you know, when you have foul trouble, you try to play conservative. You try to be a little bit timid. But she didn't let that affect her tonight. She played great from the jump, and she kept on going the entire time she was in there. Q. I know everybody says we'll take one game at a time. They now have their backs against the wall. You've got two games if you allowed it to be that way. How big would it be for you to take a championship here at home, and how do you keep psychologically from just taking your foot off the pedal a little bit? CANDACE PARKER: You know, I think that this team is mature enough to realize how important it is to play possession by possession. You know, we can learn from our experiences in the past, and we're mature enough to understand that you can't go out there and try to swing for the fences and hit the home run at the beginning of the game. You've got to take it possession by possession, and just as the first two games as evidence, one possession in the first half is no more or less important than it is in the second. I mean, we could have came back home 0-2 or we could have came back home 2-0, so nothing is guaranteed, and I think that's the way that we're going to approach their team that plays well when their backs are against the wall, and we play well when our backs are against the wall, so how do we play when we're ahead? I guess that's the question. Q. You guys got to be very pleased with the hustle plays tonight on the loose balls, the blocked shots. Tell me how that came into play tonight. CANDACE PARKER: I think the play of the game was Alana Beard when Nneka got hit and Sylvia had the ball and Alana took it from Syl and she was on the floor, and we called time-out and got that possession and then came down and Chelsea hit a three. I think that was the play, and those are the type of plays we have to make. What if they would have got the rebound, then it would have been a four-point game, and that's a five-point swing basically, and so I think we understand, we're mature enough to understand how different plays change the game. I mean, it's no secret, it's come down to one or two points in the first two games. Q. What did you make of you guys leading from start to finish, even though they kept pulling within one or two late, what was it about this team that you guys were able to withstand all those runs of theirs? CANDACE PARKER: Well, I think our guards did a good job of controlling the tempo. In games past, even back into the Phoenix series when we'd be up by 11 or 12 with five minutes left, we would slow the ball down and walk it and we wouldn't get good possessions. We tried to limit as many empty possessions as we can. And I think in the first half a little bit we had spells where we were taking half court shots because we weren't playing that pace. That's the key, we've still got to cut hard, play hard, even when we're down the stretch. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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