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WNBA FINALS: MYSTICS VS STORM

September 9, 2018

Dan Hughes

Seattle, Washington

Storm - 75, Mystics - 73

DAN HUGHES: Well, you knew Washington would respond after Game 1, and that second quarter was an example, I think, of how good they were. What I was pleased with was that we realized at halftime that we've got to kind of back out and reestablish some things. It's going to be that -- you've got two great teams going against each other. It's going to be like that in regard to it. I thought it was really imperative that Jewell kind of become part of our flow, and I thought she did a great, great job of giving us that flow at that point, and it came down to a stop, and I thought we really did a good job.

This is a team that's grown defensively. They have grown. All year if you watch the defensive numbers, better, better, better, better, and I thought it was only poetic that some of these most important games are going to come down to a stop.

Q. You only forced two turnovers through three quarters. What kind of changed in the fourth that enabled you to create a lot more turnovers?
DAN HUGHES: You know, it wasn't so much a change, I think, as it was just early work to what we were dealing with. I think -- we'd had a hard time really speeding them up in regard to it. They'd gone away from a lot of pick-and-rolls, they'd gone into more isolations and things like that, so now all of a sudden it's a little bit about your fundamentals and what have you.

But I did think down the stretch we were able to have a little more ball pressure, a little more rotation, a little more congestion into spaces, and that's -- it's a battle to do that with them because I thought they made a lot of plays along the way.

Q. From your perspective can you take us through that final mystics possession where you forced a jump ball? What was your take on that series?
DAN HUGHES: I didn't see a foul. I mean, if anything, I thought we had a time-out called because I thought we had possession of that. That's more what's in my head there.

But you know, that's the nature of when it's this competitive a little bit. I have no question that there's plays both teams can look at and say, boy, I wish this would have gone this way here. That's just the nature of what we're doing. But from my vantage point, I didn't see it.

Q. Coach, you get a couple of early baskets to start the fourth and you hold the lead the rest of the way. What did you have to do to just keep that margin all the way to the end?
DAN HUGHES: Well, I wish it was that easy. A couple things. You know, if we make our free throws down the stretch, we probably have that. In the back and forth affair -- and the other thing, I think, is learning in those situations. But I thought we did a great job, and I think Sue was directing a lot of it. We got touches for Stewie, and I think that's imperative. And then we also had the ability to, I think, in some cases play to the paint. We lost the ability to play the paint in the second quarter. If you look at what happened the second quarter, they really established, we didn't. Down the stretch we were able to either drive it or pitch it into those areas. Well, I'm just going to tell you that a lot of good is going to happen if we can get it to there. I thought that was imperative that Stewie got several touches she did. I thought Jewell did a good job of being more aggressive to the middle of the floor. It's basketball, but it's going to be like that. Washington is an incredible team. You are not going to separate very much.

Q. You mentioned getting Stewie touches. Her ability to score efficiently in those situations when she's kind of the focal point of the defense, how important was that tonight?
DAN HUGHES: Oh, it's huge. One of the messages that I thought to start the game, we got second touches for Stewie in situations, and she did a good job of seeking -- and they were paint touches. Those are huge. Those are huge because not only is she going to score, she's going to distribute well. And sometimes it's the second touch. Sometimes the congestion in the first touch doesn't always lead to something, but if there's a second touch in the course of -- and we play with a lot of flow. Boy, your chances, your analytics for success with Breanna Stewart catching the ball twice is good, and I don't even know the exact number, but I've watched enough tape to know.

Q. Were they doing anything different defensively? You had 15 turnovers, a little unusual for your teams. Did they come up with something different that you weren't expecting?
DAN HUGHES: Well, I thought they were -- I thought they were well prepared. I can't sit here and say that this was tremendously different. But they fought us for space. They fought us for position. They fought us. We had to go into the second half and reestablish. It's just two good teams battling, and they created battle to me for where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do in regard to it. We had to kind of regroup, have a little presence, keep the ball moving, and that's just the level of play it's going to be in the Finals. I mean, that's not going to be anything different when we head up to Washington.

Q. They missed all 16 of their three-pointers. I don't know if you were aware of that, but I'm just curious how much you think that came into play. Were you guys pretty fortunate for that to happen do you think?
DAN HUGHES: Yeah. I mean, you want the correct answer? Yeah, they're a really good -- statistically they're a really good three-point shooting team. Are we working at it, yes. But sometimes they have -- you have periods where the ball doesn't go in the basket. I think it's a little bit of both.

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