WNBA FINALS: STORM VS. ACES

October 4, 2020

Gary Kloppenburg

Seattle Storm

Game 2: Postgame

Seattle Storm 104, Las Vegas Aces 91

Q. Congratulations on the win. I'm hoping you can just put in perspective a little bit, Sue and Stewie, and the level they are playing at, when you guys won in 2018 their net rating was 11.1. Their net rating coming in to today was 22.8 in the playoffs after being over 27 in the regular season. Just talk about in what ways and how they have managed to somehow become that much better in 2020.

GARY KLOPPENBURG: Yeah, I think it's the desire, after sitting out last year, and having to go through missing that season, I just think they were so single-minded in their rehab and wanting to get back and I just think they really want it so badly and it's displayed in their game, and just unbelievable. I mean, Sue, 16 and 10, shot the ball really well, we knew she was going to get some shots and that that was coming. Stewie just 22 points and shot the ball from three, those guys are just such clutch pressure players, but I'm glad they are on our side.

Q. Gary, Game 1, Vegas made a huge run to catch you and you guys pulled ahead again and today they also made a big run. Is there something about this team that's able to withstand those kind of runs and stay cool and get right back up and extend their lead again?

GARY KLOPPENBURG: I think they understand that this happens. This is a very, very good team we are playing or they wouldn't be here. You know they are going to give their best shot and you know they are going to make runs during the game. I thought they made their run and I thought we withstood it. In fact, we ended up winning that third quarter by one point. Even with that, I thought we stayed focused, came back down and got really good shots and we were putting the ball down, driving and kicking and I thought our execution offensively was really good tonight. Only 10 turnovers and we forced 16, so that's good. The other thing we really wanted to do was play defense without fouling and that's -- you know, with them, just taking five free throws, that's tremendous. They are usually -- they are the lead in the league at getting to the line and I thought we did a really good job there.

We've got some things to build on going into that championship game that I think just a great effort today for us to get there.

Q. The assists, you set the record for most assists in a Finals game. Must have been fun to watch the offense flow like that, and second question, you had mentioned yesterday and even this afternoon before the game that you thought it would be more of a balanced offense, and surely enough, it was. So just talk about the assists and why it was a balanced offense.

GARY KLOPPENBURG: All year long, we have been a high-assist team. It's just the way we play and move the ball. We really wanted to move the ball from side to side, and I thought we did a good job of that tonight, especially against a team like this where they try to pack the paint on you. You really have to get the ball to the second side, and I thought we did that, and we knocked down our open shots. We shot 12-for-26 from three. [Alysha] Clark looked comfortable tonight out there shooting the ball. So you know, I think that's what we -- I thought we got back to a really good, balanced offense, ball moving side to side, and then we got the stops. I didn't feel like we were -- I think it was the third quarter we were struggling to get stops. I think fourth quarter we finally got strung some stops together and were able to stretch out that lead a little bit.

Q. Just talk about in Game 1, Natasha Howard and Alysha Clark combined for just 10 points and today they had 42. Talk about both of their performances.

GARY KLOPPENBURG: Yeah, we knew that was probably an anomaly because both of those two have been steady scorers all year long, and I think maybe first game, they were very amped up, wanted it so bad and maybe they were pressing it a little bit. They both were relaxed today and we did a good job of getting Tasha down low. She ran the floor really well and got a couple easy ones. Got her down low, iso'd one-on-one, and she's really good right around the rim.

I thought Alysha, she got in the right spot. We found her for those open threes and she's really good. She sets up really nicely. I think she's one of the better three-point shooters in the league. It's not a surprise that those guys, both of those two got back in the flow tonight.

Q. You talked all year about the need to be peaking at the right time. Do you think your team is peaking at the right time now?

GARY KLOPPENBURG: I do, yeah. You know, Sue and Stewie missed right at the end there a couple games, and then it took a little while to get them back in the flow. I felt like the last Minnesota game, we kind of got back to how we want to play, both ends of the floor, good pressure defense, the running game on makes, misses and turnovers, puts so much -- we call it pressure offense, and really trying to put pressure on the defense to guard. We felt like tonight we really put together a 40-minute game. During that third quarter, they made a little run there but I thought we responded really well down the stretch in the fourth quarter to stretch that lead out.

Q. What are your thoughts about the three players scoring 20 points at least in today's contest?

GARY KLOPPENBURG: Yeah, that was a really good balance, and that's what we need. That's really how we played all year long is good balance, and rarely you're going to have two players score like 65 like last game, but every game's different. I thought we settled down. I thought Natasha and Clark really played within themselves. They took what was there for them and they both were really excellent offensively. I think Natasha was 9-for-10 from the floor and Clark was 8-for-12 and 3-for-6 from three. Really good to see that tonight getting ready for that championship game on Tuesday.

Q. How much impact have the experienced players like Sue Bird and Stewy had in the Finals?

GARY KLOPPENBURG: Yeah, I mean, they have been there before. They know what it takes I think to close a team out. That's invaluable to have that experience going into a championship and we'll be ready. I think we know that that's a prideful team that plays extremely hard on the other side and nobody wants to get swept, so we know we're going to get their best shot. So we really have to be mentally and physically ready to try to match anything that they throw at us and come out with a lot of energy.