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WNBA FINALS: FEVER v LYNXOctober 14, 2012Lin DunnMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Game One INDIANA 76 COACH DUNN: Well, I thought it was a great game. I thought we did the things defensively that we needed to do. We didn't rebound quite as well as I'd hoped we would. I think that the rebounding helped keep them close when they had 15 offensive rebounds. It led to, gosh, a lot of points. But I think in crunch time, our defense did a really good job. I thought our bench, as short as it was without Douglas tonight, did a great job. Can't say enough about Erlana Larkins. She was a warrior on the boards with 15 rebounds. And then I thought in crunch time, we stepped up and hit the free throws that we needed to hit when they fouled us intentionally. We didn't get many but the nine we got, we hit. So big win on the road for us. We are excited and you know, we dedicate this game to Katie Douglas and know that she's watching and thrilled to death that we were able to steal this game. Q. You've done something that teams have not been able to do to the Minnesota Lynx here at home; you beat them. Was there one thing that did it or was it a team effort? COACH DUNN: I think you have to understand that we came in here with a lot of confidence. You may not be familiar with the game that we had here with them during the regular season. You know, we got a head of them, I think 13 or 14 points and then we lost two starters to concussions and still had a chance to win. So we knew at full strength, we could beat Minnesota, because we had come so close before, and I think that gave us confidence. And then our place at Indy, it was 64‑64 with 12 seconds left and they hit a shot at the buzzer. So from the season, we knew we could compete with them. And as the season has gone along, I think we have improved since the last time we played them. So we came in here without any fear. We knew they were going to be tough at home. The crowd was going to be great. Defensively I thought we did the things we needed to do to win. Q. They had a pretty strong run in the third quarter. It looked like maybe they were taking control of the game and you responded coming out for the fourth; what did you tell the players? COACH DUNN: I think we made some adjustments at halftime that were not correct. We were doing a pretty good job with some of the sets that we were running, and for some reason, I decided to try a couple other sets that we had not tried, and I didn't think they worked well for us. And during that period of time, they kind of made their run, and so I called a time‑out and I said, forget those sets, let's go back to this one and this one and this one because they are working. And then that's when we kind of got back in control offensively. We were matching the points that they were hitting. And then I think once we started hitting our shots again and getting good looks, our defense continued to stay up. Q. You outscored them in the paint but a pretty sizable margin‑‑ COACH DUNN: 38‑24. And I think our goal was to get in the paint, drive to the rim. We didn't get some calls going to the rim but we still wanted to attack and get in the paint. And then I thought Larkins did a great job, offensive flip‑backs, got her the ball back in the paint, Catch got shots in the paint. We want to attack and get those good, high‑percentage shots but at the end of the day, we got some pretty good looks that helped us, too. Q. Can you talk with as much as Katie helps with ball handling, you were still able to only have nine turnovers tonight and have the same amount of possessions, how big was that‑‑ COACH DUNN: That's a great point but I think what helped us tonight is when Bri and Zi were out for ten days, and they missed three or four games, and now, Erin is playing more point, Jeanette Pohlen played point. So Pohlen and Erin were able to help Bri tonight with the ball handling because of the experiences they got when the other players were hurt and let's don't forget, we use Catch as a point everything. She plays the 4 for us. She's a point power forward. She brings the ball down for us and she can get us in our offense she's like having an extra point guard out there to help with ball handling. Q. Does Larkins embody the toughness and tenacity of your team through the playoffs? COACH DUNN: What do you think? (Laughter). Well, she is exactly the type player that we have been looking for, what I call a warrior. She does the dirty work. She sets the hard screen. She goes and gets the rebound. She's got three people hanging on her and she goes back up and puts it backup. And then that block she had, I don't know what exactly, how much time was on the clock, but it was what I call a thunder block. She is rising up and she just slides that ball and it just kind of set the tone, that, hey, we are here for real and we are ready to play. She was a huge plus for us tonight. Q. Katie is continuing to get treatment in Indy. Do you intend to have her comeback here for Game2 or do you think she'll just continue getting treatment? COACH DUNN: She'll come back for two reasons: She'll come back because she can play or she'll come back because she cannot play at all, do you know what I'm saying. Like in other words, the doctors may come to a point and say, there's no way you can play in this series, it's just going to take too long. And so therefore, you know, traveling wouldn't hurt her. The other reason is that the treatment started to work and the swelling is going down and they would let her come back, if she could play, and play at a high level. We are not going to put her out there if she can't play at a high level. You saw how physical and up‑tempo that game was. You don't want to get out there if you didn't up‑and‑down the floor at full speed. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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