	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

WNBA FINALS: MONARCHS v SHOCK

August 30, 2006

Katie Smith

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game One

KATIE SMITH: Not very pretty. A little disappointing just with the effort. Sac obviously is here for a reason, and they played well on both ends of the floor. Effort-wise and also executing, they played very well as a team. We got a little frustrated at times. Probably tried to force some things offensively. Defensively they kind of picked us apart. Obviously they are post players are hard in match-ups just in the sense they are agile, they put the ball on the floor real well. And then obviously we need to stay a little closer to Lawson and Powell.
But just in general I think we have to come ready to play and happens, happens. But we have to bring the energy and the effort on Friday to compete with Sac because that's one thing they bring every night is the effort and the energy. You know, they stole this one, but you know, it's a series and we'll get right back off it on Friday night.

Q. How frustrating was it because at times you would get on a mini-run and they would have an answer for it every time?
KATIE SMITH: It's frustrating because you do, you want to get a little momentum, you want to get back in the groove. They were getting offensive rebounds, they would knock down a big shot, they would get a steal or whatnot. It was just like a never-ending, uphill battle. So frustrating in that sense, we didn't do a very good job of withstanding that. There are runs in the game, ebbs and flows, but they took that and they went with it. We didn't handle that well.
You know, hopefully we'll look at some film and just understand and have the mentality of just, you know, getting it done. I mean, you have to find a way to get it done. It's not always the way you draw it up, but you go out there and give the effort and find a way.

Q. Do you have an explanation why the effort wasn't there, because you have been so knocked down the last couple of weeks and as Bill said you reverted to the old Shock where some people were not as tuned in as others? Do you have any explanation as to why that happened?
KATIE SMITH: Not really. It's not something I think, you know, going in. You get there and obviously prepare yourself individually to come ready to play and doing what you need to do.
I'm not totally familiar with the old Shock. I kind of know this year. We are, we can be inconsistent. When it comes to executing, when it comes, you know, getting frustrated, that kind of takes us out of our ballgame. Not the frustration, but we have to use the adversity or missing a shot or letting somebody score, like if Powell hits a shot on me, Lawson hit that first one off me, I backed off a little bit and I didn't want to get another one. That's a mind-set and something we have to do from top to bottom, like, okay, I have to pick it up a notch. She's challenging me so I have to step up.
I don't know if you can pinpoint it but as you say this is something they are consistently doing. We've got to bring it or it's going to be a short series.

Q. Talk a little about how important it is for the guards to go up against the big gals from Sacramento.
KATIE SMITH: We have to do a better job of getting in there and helping our bigs rebounds, the loose balls I think Kristin Haynie, Lawson got their hands on a couple and pulling loose balls out. They are battling you, and one of best rebounders in the world, you have Brunson, DeMya, just relentless and the post players down there trying to box, we have to get in there and get our hands on things and get some loose balls and help them out and maybe that will help us generate offense by getting out and being able to push the ball. If we don't rebound well, we're not going to be able to get out and get some easy buckets, which you need when you're playing a defense as tough as Sac.

End of FastScripts...

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297