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WNBA FINALS: FEVER v MERCURY

October 9, 2009

Lin Dunn

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Game Five

Phoenix Â– 94
Indiana - 86

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for coming in, Coach. If you want to start with an opening statement and we'll go into questions.
COACH DUNN: Well, let me start by congratulating Phoenix. They have an absolutely terrific team, just great players, very well-coached.
They did what they had to do tonight in crunch time. I think we tied it up and they hit some big shots, did some big things and, um, they're -- they've had a great season.
I thought we played about as well as we could play. I thought there were a couple of times that we missed some shots that maybe could have helped us win the championship, but they didn't fall down for us. We've had a great season. We're still absolutely thrilled to be a part of a great WNBA Finals, and we'll regroup. And, hopefully, this time next year we'll get us a trophy instead of Phoenix.

Q. Lin, where were the missed opportunities in this game?
COACH DUNN: We just missed, again, too many open shots. We missed six free-throws. They hit 24 out of 25. We are 14 for 20.
Every point is gold. Every layup is gold. Every wide-open 3 is gold. They hit ten 3s. We hit six. I thought we got some good looks. There was a layup at the end that was important we just didn't hit enough shots, but I thought we did what we needed to do to get good shots.
We got good play off the bench. I was pleased with the play of Jessica Davenport off the bench and Briann January. And at the end of the day, you have to knock down some more shots, short about -- by the end, we were close but we just got to knock down those open shots.

Q. Coach, talk about the adjustment you made coming out of the half. They had a big second quarter.
COACH DUNN: Well, I don't think we really -- you know, we substituted some there in the second quarter, and I have to accept responsibility for that. And I think we had some momentum. And when we started subbing a little bit, we lost some of that momentum.
Looking back, I'm probably going to kick myself in the -- you know. I'm just going to kick myself that I subbed. But I knew it was going to be a long, hard-fought game. And I was trying to get rotation there, and I think we lost some momentum there, and they went on a run there.
But I thought our defensive game plan was good. We did what we wanted to do. At the end of the day, you have to give credit to Cappie Pondexter. She stepped up and hit some big, big long-range shots with very few seconds left on the clock; and that's the sign of a champion.

Q. Lin, what about the 2 three's from Tangela at the top of the arc, were those defensive breakdowns?
COACH DUNN: Absolutely. There is no way in this world Tangela Smith should have a wide-open 3. You are not going to play a perfect game defensively, but you never, ever leave Tangela. It was just a mental breakdown there. She hurt us last game, and she hurt us a little -- she didn't get as many 3s tonight but she hurt us.
I thought at the end of the day, some of the Cappie shots in crunch time really were tough for us, when we defended her really well. She is running around, running around, running around and then she just rises up and hits a big shot.

Q. Coach, you know, Katie Douglas and Briann January, I haven't seen the final box yet but I know they must have shot much better than the night before.
COACH DUNN: Briann shot better but Katie struggled from the field. She was 4-14 and 1-9 from the 3-point line and that was uncharacteristic from her.

Q. And I guess my question is, when it came down to crunch time there, do you think that some of that tentativeness there about shooting --
COACH DUNN: I thought there was a time there when Katie hesitated. There in crunch time she had a wide-open 3 and you saw her hesitate. Just can't happen. If you're open you gotta shoot it. If you're open, you got to shoot it.

Q. Lin, can you talk about Tamika's series.
COACH DUNN: The good news is she started out the first game with foul trouble that disrupted her rhythm. And since then, she was not in foul trouble and I think she has had a tremendous, tremendous Finals: Offensively, defensively, rebounding, steals, you know, just the heart and soul of this team. No one has greater will than she did.
But at the end of the day, Phoenix has got a great team, too. And they've got a lot of great players, too, but I was pleased with the series that Catchings had.

Q. Coach, can you talk a little bit about the effect of the foul trouble on Ebony Hoffman and also along with that Jessica Davenport probably had one of her best games this season.
COACH DUNN: I was very concerned with some of the fouls that were happening out there. I don't want to get a $10,000 fine or whatever it is. But I thought there were some times when we didn't get some calls that we deserved with people coming over the back, and I think there were some holding calls.
And I thought Ebony lost her poise a little bit there when the call went the other way, but that happens in a game. You have to keep your poise. I thought we fought back, though. There was a time when we let the officiating get to us and then we closed the gap again.
Jessica Davenport, wow, you know, I put her in and she just went to there in the paint. Really did a super job, and that bodes well for us in the future.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, Dunn, thanks again.
COACH DUNN: Again, congratulations to Phoenix, they played a great series.

End of FastScripts

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