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WNBA FINALS: MYSTICS VS SUN

September 29, 2019

Mike Thibault

Washington, D.C.

Washington - 95, Connecticut - 86

MIKE THIBAULT: Just quickly, obviously being 1-0 in the series is a great thing. I suspect that both coaches will be meeting with their teams tomorrow and telling them a lot of the same things: You could have done this better, you could have done that better, take care of the ball, don't turn it over.

I felt both teams made some mistakes. First game is kind of feeling it out and deciding how somebody is going to play you, and I thought we adjusted fairly well to how we were going to be played.

But the second half was played evenly, and we need to be better than that. Our turnovers were higher than I'd like, but we got ourselves to the free-throw line. We did a good job on the boards. We got some huge second shots in the fourth quarter that gave us the possession back after they made their run. You know, and then having five players in double figures is huge.

But I thought obviously Elena did what she does. I mean, 22-10-5, and we had a lot of great contributions, but the Ariel Atkins contribution was huge today, from making her first three of the game to being aggressive. That looked like the Ariel from last year in the playoffs, and that offensive rebound she got late in the game was a huge saver for us. It gave us the last piece of momentum that we needed.

Q. Was some of the conscious effort for tonight offensively, was to have more of a drive and kick game, especially with Kristi going in the lane and kicking it out?
MIKE THIBAULT: I don't know that it was any more than normal other than we're trying to make people have to over-help a little bit so that we can get some clear looks. When a team is switching as much as they did, she had posts guarding her, and that gives her some opportunities to drive, as did some others. And when they switched and we had mismatches, they double-teamed Emma and Elena on the block, and so when it's kick back out to the guard, you have some driving lanes when teams are double teaming. I think it was just as much a product of the game and not necessarily a game plan.

I think that's kind of what I was saying, our team adjusted to how we were being played. So those were the opportunities that were being presented today.

Q. Jonquel has obviously had some pretty big games against you in the regular season. What were you able to do to limit her and not let her get going early?
MIKE THIBAULT: We tried to with Elena's length make it tough on her. She shoots the turnaround pretty well against us. We tried to limit her catches a little bit more by denying post entry passes to her. Same thing we tried to do in the Vegas series, except that Cambage was so big and physical, it was a little bit harder.

We tried to put Jonquel Jones in tougher spots, and the trade-off was we gave up some other stuff, but I thought it was a big deal that we made her and Jasmine Thomas have to work hard to get stuff done, but in doing that we gave up some other things. Hopefully we'll have the same focus come Tuesday.

Q. Curt was saying how 99 percent of the people in this league if they pick a dribble up, they're not going to be able to score as easily as Elena did in the last few minutes. Just how confident you are with that?
MIKE THIBAULT: Yeah, I mean, I think Elena would say she doesn't love to be in that position, but because of her length and how high she gets the ball up on her shot, she can shoot over people or lean in on people. I mean, she's been used to being bumped and hit like that all of her career. And she's learned to adjust to that. I think she would tell you probably that she wishes she hadn't picked up the dribble a couple times and maybe she could have got one more step. But by the same token, they come hard with their hands in the lane and they try to disrupt you and make you pick it up to get your shot. It's nice to have a weapon like that that can make those plays because there's not very many that can.

Q. You went to that big lineup in the first quarter. What did you see that was so effective early on with those three playing together?
MIKE THIBAULT: Well, they were put in a position to have one of their guards either guard Elena or Emma Meesseman or LaToya and we were going to go at that match-up, which we did with Emma some. The problem for us is we didn't stay with it long enough because Emma got a couple quick fouls.

So we didn't play that lineup as long, but that was the idea, is to make them have to play on their heels, make a decision on who they were going to put on our various post players.

You know, I think that was the big thing, we just couldn't stay with that lineup long enough in the second half. I think LaToya was sore from the other day, the ankle turn, and we kind of got to the point where we put our five best shooters on the floor down the stretch or a good offensive lineup. But we'll see more of that lineup as the series goes on.

Q. You've told us before that you knew you would need Kristi in the lineup to win, last series and this series. She showed up in a lot of different various ways in the fourth quarter, and throughout the game, too, on offense and everywhere else. How crucial is it that she has been here and done this with another team in the past and she's had the experience in college, as well, winning a championship? How crucial is that for the rest of your roster and for you as a coach?
MIKE THIBAULT: I mean, I think it's comforting for an entire team, coaches and players. You know you have somebody -- not even so much whether she's won a championship before but is not afraid of taking shots in big moments. The best players in the history of basketball are ones who want to make plays when the game is on the line. There are a lot of people that kind of run from it when it gets late in games, and there are others who step up. Luckily we have three or four on our team that are all willing to do that. You saw it today. And Connecticut has those kind of (audio interruption).

Q. Obviously you have a home arena this year, but also just the change in culture, where you're getting the kind of support right down to the same chef the Wizards have, the weight room? Again, it will be decided on the court, but how that adds to the equation?
MIKE THIBAULT: Well, I mean, as you've all witnessed here, the atmosphere in the arena is terrific with the fans and how they're on top of everybody and it's loud. It's given us a home-court advantage we've never had, certainly in my seven years in D.C.; the intimate setting is terrific. Our players feed off that.

And then to be able to walk in a building and know that we're important to somebody, to ownership, to the rest of the organization. You see the Wizards' players and staff here supporting us, and vice versa, and it makes a big difference. They know that they're cared about.

From medical help to nutrition to the weight room to everything, that's trying to -- we're trying to be a gold standard in this league if we can. Our players are proud of that, and they know that throughout the organization people have their back.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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