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WNBA FINALS: DREAM v LYNXOctober 10, 2013Fred WilliamsATLANTA, GEORGIA: Game Three Minnesota Lynx ‑ 86, FRED WILLIAMS: Sorry to keep everyone waiting. We had to talk to my team a little bit and congratulate them individually and as a group on a fine job this year that they've done for the Atlanta Dream, the franchise. As far as the game, tonight I felt that we really fought hard. We really fought hard. I've got to commend Minnesota on their shooting, their talent that they have on that squad. They played great basketball throughout the year and throughout the series. You know, for our young ladies to be hobbled and crippled and beat down a little bit and get back up and bounce back up and trying to compete for another game and for another individual play in the league and team play in the league, I thought they all tried to make that happen in this game today. I would like to thank Gwinnett Arena for allowing us to play in their home and play here in this arena. It was very homely for us here to make a lot of things happen for us, and unfortunately we came up real short at the end. Other than that, Minnesota and Cheryl, Coach Reeve, congratulations to them. They did a tremendous job in this series, and we'll get better. We'll be back there again someday. Q. Can you just talk about the decision to bench Angel for the last five minutes of the first quarter and then again in the third quarter? FRED WILLIAMS: Well, I didn't really bench her. It was just she wasn't in rhythm at that time, and I felt that I needed to get another player to come in and go with a taller lineup and get some more production for us, ball movement around the perimeter. But no, I didn't really bench her at all. I think it's been a tough series for her. It's been a tough Playoffs, period, for Angel. I think she's played through a lot of things on the court, and she made a couple of plays at the end that almost got us back in it with some defensive stops, blocked some shots. She's one of the reasons how we got here. At that point in time I just felt that I needed to make that change. Q. Is that true in the third quarter, also? FRED WILLIAMS: Third quarter also, yes, absolutely. Q. You spoke about Minnesota earlier. Could you expound on that a little bit because they dominated throughout the Playoffs. They won by an average of more than 15 points a game and had three wins over 25. FRED WILLIAMS: Well, I mean, you're looking at a few‑‑ you look at that roster they've got, they came on fire. They've been there before. They understand what it takes to get there. They're veteran players, and they really stepped it up. Brunson on the boards, and Maya Moore, who really knows this arena pretty good; and Augustus. I thought she was really key for them throughout this whole series. You've got some perimeter‑‑ that's 20 points they were getting a night from those players. They're great shooters. They're great slashers, going to the basket. For us it was kind of tough because we are slashers at getting to the rim, and we didn't get there enough. I keep saying it over and over again; that's been our style of play, and I know in the future we'll have to develop that, just like they've done over the years to get championships. Q. We talked about this briefly at halftime, just the difference in play. Your team played with a little timidness, and their team played with more urgency, and we talked about the mental game. Can you expound on that a little? FRED WILLIAMS: Well, I just think‑‑ I thought our team played hard all the way through from the injuries they had. I'm going to be a little timid if I'm hobbled with one leg and trying to get in there. Tiffany Hayes is just really tough. She didn't want to come out when she went on the floor. Armintie Price with her arm, pretty much shooting with one hand. But you're going to be a little hesitant to try to do a few things on the floor and on the court, but those are the players‑‑ I call them warriors that I want to go with. We didn't back down at all. I think we gave them a good challenge tonight, and that's about all you can ask for. Q. This season you told us Tiffany Hayes was sort of the spark of the team. Talk about the back half of the third quarter, Atlanta was down by 16 and Tiffany just sort of stepped up, hit a couple of three‑pointers, a free throw, a basket, a free throw, and she sort of single‑handedly sort of kept Atlanta from sliding away from that third quarter. FRED WILLIAMS: Well, that's Tiffany's game. We talked about shooting too many threes, and tonight she stepped it up and hit a lot of outside jumpers for us. She's that young lady that I can count on if she starts or doesn't start, to come out there and play hard. It's a matter of she just wanted to play hard. I put her in those positions to get some kick off passes and also take it to the basket. But I think once she kind of went down towards that end of the game, she was kind of a little timid for us trying to get back in there again. She was really off balance with some of her shots. But I was very pleased how she stepped her game up and really played. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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