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WNBA FINALS: SPARKS VS LYNXOctober 4, 2017Maya MooreSylvia FowlesLindsay WhalenLos Angeles, California Lynx - 85, Sparks - 76 Q. Lindsay, this was another kind of hard-fought battle all the way to the end. Just to get back up here for your fourth time, what are the overall emotions that you're feeling right now? LINDSAY WHALEN: Yeah, I think -- ooh, I think this group more than anything just -- we stuck it together. We stuck throughout thick and thin all season, and this game, thick and thin. There were some runs. They cut it obviously to three there with a couple of our turnovers at the end, but we didn't panic. You know, and like Coach said, at a certain point, players make plays, and Maya made that runner at the free-throw line, which is why she's Maya Moore, which is also why we like her on our team. So I think every time you do this, it just gets a little bit more special because it gets a little harder and it gets a little more meaningful because you know it's not easy, you know it's not something that we try to take for granted ever, and we've now been on this journey together since 2010, but 2011 was our first ring, and every year since then it gets a little tougher. But we keep coming back, and that's just a testament to our organization, to our coach, and to everybody on this team is that we keep fighting, we keep coming back. Q. Lindsay, it seemed like a couple pivotal moments where they were making runs and I can remember one time where you got pretty animated, getting everyone fired up. Can you talk about what that says about your team, when it comes to the emotion, when it comes to the charge you guys are going to match and exceed that? LINDSAY WHALEN: Yeah, I think the one you're talking about was problem probably in the first half, and we need to get the ball to Syl. I thought we had a couple possessions where it was just a little chaotic and scattered, and within that time Syl had a huge basket, Maya had a big tip, and Mone had a kick-out three, which was big, it just kind of steadied us. That's your job as a point guard is to read those things and make those calls and kind of feel the game, and when you've got amazing leaders and amazing players beside you, it's easy to be able to do that, and we all just kind of gave it our all from that point on, and really all game we did, but that was just a moment we needed to kind of settle in and make some plays, and we've got the players to do it. Q. Sylvia, what was your attitude, 20 rebounds, and like they said out there, getting the closing rebound, right? What was the attitude of just imposing your will tonight? SYLVIA FOWLES: If I didn't do anything else, I just wanted to make it my business to make sure I just go out there and rebound, and that was my downfall last year. Like I said, I fell on the court, that haunted me for a long time after Game 5 last year. I just wanted to come in and I wanted to show my presence, and if that was rebounding, then rebounding it was. Q. Maya, it looked like you survived a little bit of a cold stretch there in the third quarter, and you looked a little bit frustrated. What were your feelings there, and take us through that last shot that you hit after they had made the 9-0 run? MAYA MOORE: I think there were some moments in the third where frustration was more defensively for me of just wanting to secure some of those rebounds and just make sure that we didn't give them offense off of our offense. I think we ultimately came back in the third, but I never quit. I never think that I'm out of it. I'm always trying to find the next way I can help my team, whether that's setting a screen or cutting hard and just always believing the next opportunity is one to take. Just happy it came at a good time for that shot and all the other ways I could help. That's just what I was trying to do. Q. Lindsay, you said every time you do this it gets a little more special. How much more special to do it at the place where you became a nationally-known player? LINDSAY WHALEN: Yeah, I mean, it's -- I knew when Mr. Taylor made the decision and the commitment to us to make sure that we have air-conditioning and everything here, I knew it was going to be special for us. I didn't exactly know how it was going to turn out. I just kind of felt like -- I felt good about it. I felt good about our chances being in this building, because I know what -- I know I've been a part of some special games here and some special runs. For him to have that commitment to us and to our fans is really special, and you know, we owed it to them to give it our best shot and to leave it all on the floor and see what happens. It doesn't get any sweeter than to bring another trophy home and another ring. But to do it here is definitely pretty cool. I mean, we were at the Xcel for the regular season and then here, and to be able to come away with a championship says a lot about this group and about the toughness that we all have. Q. Maya, I'm sure Lindsay told you what this place could be like when it was full; what did you think tonight? MAYA MOORE: Unbelievable. The gray, matching our uniforms, that was sweet. It's just deafening out there. It's so loud. Whenever we did something great, even to start the game, you could just feel the energy in it. It helped us. I think it absolutely helped us just embrace the moment and just to be able to finish it here and people to show up the way they did shows that they don't take us for granted, either. And so I think our journey of being so successful and not taking things for granted, it's the same for our fans and Lynx nation. They showed up, poured it out in the game and got rewarded for it. Just happy to have such another special memory. Just when you think it can't get any better, we create a new memory in the house that Weezy build. I'm just over the top excited and happy of how we did it, and just the way we did it. No questions, it was just clear that we were the best team this year. Q. Maya, can you try and put into context where this team stands in terms of WNBA history as a franchise? MAYA MOORE: You know, as a longtime WNBA fan since I was eight years old, I've been die hard, watching the Comets, some classic battles, New York, then Detroit had their run, watching the Storm, and then I get a chance to be a part of just an unbelievable group of players over these last few years. It's just hard to compare, obviously, because when times change and talent gets better and we have more opportunities and things now to take advantage of, but I don't know if you're going to get a more deep, committed, selfless group that we have right now. You have talent, but the people that make up this organization is -- it would be really hard to find again, top to bottom. You've got Rebekkah Brunson, who just won her fifth ring, and she's happy with the role that she had. It's unbelievable. She doesn't necessarily get as much attention from the outside as we give her, but it's just players like that, you know, who can just say, hey, I need more. But she just constantly gives and pours out. I think it'll be hard to find another group that's, like I said, as talented, as deep, but as selfless as this group. Q. Lindsay, was it -- do you remember your first Williams arena game? LINDSAY WHALEN: Yeah, in college? Yeah, we -- well, the legend has it that we was at the pavilion first and then the water main broke, and it flooded the pavilion and we had to come over here. So it was our first game at Williams. That night we had the most we ever had before that game was 2,000 people at the sports pavilion, and the first game over here we had 11,000. Yeah, I don't know, it just kind of worked out, and that was our first game, and none of us knew how to basically play because we had never seen that many people to watch us play, and I think we beat Indiana that night, but I think the score was like 22-18 at halftime because we didn't know what we were doing. But yeah, that was the first game. And then there was a lot after that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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