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WNBA FINALS: MERCURY v SHOCKSeptember 16, 2007Cappie PondexterDiana TaurasiPenny TaylorDETROIT MICHIGAN: Game Five Q. Cappie, given how many of your teammates had great series, how did it feel to be named the MVP? CAPPIE PONDEXTER: It feels great. But, you know, I know it came along with help from my teammates, and they did a great job just believing in me. I just, I don't know. Just giving me the confidence to go out there and play. Q. At what point did you guys realize that you were going to win the championship? PENNY TAYLOR: About a minute from the end. When they started subbing people out. They're such a good team that you can't count them out until the siren goes. Maybe a minute early. But, yeah, I mean we were there, and we knew they could come back at any moment even though we had quite a lead the whole game. Q. Could this game have started any better that you guys shot over 70% in the first quarter and really set the tone there? DIANA TAURASI: Ever since I woke up Friday morning, I kept saying we're due to have a good game. I mean, four games that we played like crud for four games, really. In our opinion, after watching film after watching ourselves, and we didn't put it all together. You know, just looking at the stat sheet, everything that we've focused on all year kind of came into play tonight. You know, 97% from the free-throw line, 52 from the floor, 100 points. All the things that people said we couldn't do and win the championship, today was kind of full circle. And that doesn't come without these two playing like monsters today. Without Kelly Miller doing what she does. Without Kelly Mazzante coming off the bench and hitting three. It was really nice for everything to come full circle and come together. Kind of like Coach had envisioned two years ago, so this was kind of a culmination all of that. Q. Can you put in perspective what this championship means to you? PENNY TAYLOR: Yeah, it means a lot, because I've been playing in this league for seven years, and never gotten to this point, let alone won it. So it's huge. And it feels so much more better because I'm doing it with these girls. And the chemistry we have on our team is almost impossible to have in any situation in World Basketball. And you know, we have it, and we have the right people with the right attitudes, and we got the job done. Q. You've won titles in college, the Olympics, how does this compare to those? DIANA TAURASI: This is sweet. I was talking to Penny in the locker room two months ago, we were 7-7, you know. Sitting, you know, at U.S. Airways thinking, Man, are we going to make the playoffs again? And there came a point in the season where we challenged each other, and really put the responsibility on each player to really play up to their potential every night. You know, sometimes when you have great talent it doesn't always workout. But we found a way to maximize every little bit of talent we had. And we're just a tough team. You know, coming into the series, how are we going to match up with all this physicality. We're just as tough as anyone out there. And I think we proved it over the five games. Q. I know you guys are the top scorers, but I know you appreciate the efforts of Miller. Can you just, Diana, talk about her contributions maybe overlooked sometimes? DIANA TAURASI: You know, I said it before. You've got the wheels and Penny, Cappie, myself and Tan, and then you've got Kelly Miller, And she's the motor. If the motor's not working, all the other pieces really don't count. Like Coach said, I think we all take a lot of pride in Kelly Miller being, you know, the center of our team. She might not get a lot of credit, but in house, we know how much she means to us. Q. Yeah, Cappie, unlike Diana, you didn't win a championship in college? DIANA TAURASI: Sorry, Cappie. Q. But you know, Tennessee kind of got you a few times there. But how does this feel to you to be able to do that, you know, after those disappointments? CAPPIE PONDEXTER: It feels great. I'm happy right now. I know, you know, God, everything happens for a reason. And I'm right here sharing it with a UConn fellow. And then Penny, and the rest of these guys, so it's even better. You know, it's like a long-time coming. It's something I've been waiting for, working hard for, and it's finally here. So I'm extremely happy. Q. First of all, it's been a pretty good 12 months for you. You won a gold medal in the World Championships? DIANA TAURASI: Can we not mention that right now? Q. And also you said I'm not going to have another game like I did Thursday. And really came out and showed that from the beginning? PENNY TAYLOR: Well, yeah, like I said earlier, it can't get much worse than that, and we won the game anyway, and that is the thing like Diana said, we haven't had great games, but we won games anyway. That is purely the credit to the heart of this team. The determination. Even when it looks bad, we stick together and somehow find a way to get the job done, and we've done it all season. I'm just so happy that we did it tonight also and the other question was? Oh, the Worlds. I mean, yeah, it's been a great year. What more can I ask for? The Worlds was unbelievable. And this is just as good. End of FastScripts |
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