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WNBA FINALS: MONARCHS v SHOCKSeptember 9, 2006Cheryl FordKatie SmithDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Five KATIE SMITH: First half was a little, excuse me, slow, took a little getting used to. I think we were getting some of the jitters out, had some turnovers, definitely came out in the second half with a lot more intensity. Little more mental toughness, I think my view of it was how we want to leave this season. We want to come out, we didn't play well well, come out, leave it out there. That's what we did in the second half and every single person stepped up and made contributions in all kinds of ways. And the second half was a lot of fun. Q. Katie, we'll get this one out of the way real quick, how does it feel? KATIE SMITH: It's awesome. Any championship is special because being number one in anything is tough to do. And I think as you get older, when you're younger you think, you know what, I'll get another chance, I'll get another chance. It's easier as you get older, you realize how special and hard it is to be number one at anything. And to get this and with this group and coaches and as close as we are, it's special. And these fans came out and got us going today, too. Q. Cheryl, since you were so young when you won the first time, and then you had a couple of down years, is this one even more special because you've had some downtime? CHERYL FORD: Well, I mean nothing is, no one championship is as special as the first one, because '03 was my first championship in anything. So just, I mean, it's special, don't get me wrong, because we've been through so much this year, playing an up and down season. I don't think anybody but family and friends expected us to get past the first round. We did and we have a great group of girls and we wanted to win it for Katie because she's done so much for this league, and just glad we could win you one, Katie. KATIE SMITH: Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. Q. In the fourth quarter, Katie, seemed like you were in the zone a little bit, did you feel it? Or was it just something, did you realize the magnitude of the situation? KATIE SMITH: You know, it's just my mindset in a little way. First I didn't get in a flow where I contributed offensively we all needed to pick it up a bit. I know obviously my past, that's what I do. I'm going to score buckets and it was fun. I know if I got a shot I want to knock it down. Tweetty found me for the 3. You put up a shot. You don't hope it goes in; you shoot it like you're going to make it. Everybody needed to make plays, whether it was making buckets and whatnot, and we did that during the second half. And I feel comfortable with the ball in my hand and taking shots. And I am confident that I can, you know, do good things. Q. If you could touch on what it was like to play in front of your home crowd here. It was a different arena but same fans. CHERYL FORD: Definitely it was the same fans. You know, they support us 100%. We won at The Palace. We wanted to be there, but we came down to The Joe. I hear fans talk about they'd rather come downtown than drive to Auburn Hills. But I think they'll follow us to the end of the world if they had to. We thank them for that. Like I told everybody else, we are professional athletes. Wherever we play we know that's our job and it's a basketball game. You got two hoops and a basketball. So just go play. KATIE SMITH: They definitely were there for us from the get-go. I think during the warmups they had the music going and didn't stop clapping. We didn't have much to cheer in the first half. Second half we got it going. Being in an older arena they felt it was on top of you, and -- CHERYL FORD: Claustrophobic. KATIE SMITH: It keeps you going there when you might be a little tired hearing them cheering. But it was fun and thanks Detroit. CHERYL FORD: Thanks Detroit.
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