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Women's National Basketball Association

WNBA Head Coaches Conference Call Transcript

May 18, 2005 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) News Release


Trudi Lacey, Charlotte Sting

Opening Statement: We are in the process of rebuilding our team. We have had the same starting lineup for at least the last five years since I’ve been with the Charlotte Sting. So we did a complete overhaul in the offseason. We acquired Sheri Sam from the WNBA Champion Seattle Storm. We also acquired Tangela Smith from Sacramento and in addition to that, Helen Darling from the Minnesota Lynx. To continue on the rebuilding process, we had the number one draft pick, and with that pick we chose Janel McCarville, 6-2 forward/center from the University of Minnesota and also Jessica Moore from the University of Connecticut. Returning to our team after a successful stint at the Olympics, Dawn Staley returns, as does Allison Feaster and Tammy Sutton Brown from our original starting group and hopefully we have added some depth to our bench as well, returning Kelly Mazzante and Teana Miller. We are looking forward to the season and working hard and putting it all together. We still need some time to gel especially on the offensive end. And we’re excited to tip off against Washington on Saturday.

Q: You have a great player in Tangela (Smith). How is she fitting in with your team?

Lacey: We did get a great player in Tangela Smith and she is fitting in very well. As you can imagine, it’s a bit of an adjustment for her having played on the West Coast for so long and then coming to the East. But we expect her to make that transition very easily. She is a tremendous athlete, a very good player, a veteran in the league, did great things in Sacramento and we don’t expect anything less here in Charlotte.

Q: With Dawn (Staley) being such a legend in the league and in basketball overall, is there a feeling on the team that this is the year that you have to win for Dawn?

Lacey: I think there is a sense of that, perhaps, a little sense of urgency, not knowing how long Dawn will continue to play. At the same time we recognize that we have a new team and it’s going to take us some time to gel and for it to come together and so while we’re working very hard, we’re also trying not to put too much pressure on ourselves.

Q: Are there things that you find your team ahead of schedule on that you didn’t expect or what has surprised you the most so far?

Lacey: It’s not really a surprise, but the players have worked extremely hard to embrace our system and understand how we do business in Charlotte. And they have been a tremendous group to work with. I believe our chemistry will be very good. That’s always a concern for me because you never know about that. That has probably been the best surprise of the whole thing. That instantly this team has gotten along off-the-court and I think that will eventually help produce wins for us on-the-court. They’ve been great to be around and I have enjoyed coaching this bunch almost as much as any team I have had in Charlotte.

Q: Now after a year, how does Kelly Mazzante look?

Lacey: Kelly Mazzante has made a lot of strides in the offseason. She really worked in her game. She also played in the NWBL and we’re expecting Mazzante to be a more consistent player this year coming off the bench and to provide us a lot of energy off the bench. In the preseason she has been shooting the ball well and we hope that it continues.

Q: How is Janel McCarville doing in making the transition from college to pro?

Lacey: It is quite a transition in our league. Every day you have to go to battle, whether it’s in practice or in a game. That’s an adjustment for her. Also, the professional game is played two or three seconds faster than the college games. The moves and some of the passes that you can make in college, you’re not able to make them in this league. So Janel right now, is working on how to play at that pace and have some success.

Q: How do you expect the veteran experience of you players to help your Janel’s transition?

Lacey: We do have some veterans that should take a little heat off of Janel as well as teach her what it takes to be successful in this league. I think that’s a nice transition for Janel -- that she can relax and learn the game and learn what she needs to do to be successful. So I think that will be very good for her.

Q: And this is kind of a rookie season for Jia Perkins having only played a few games last year. What have you seen of her so far?

Lacey: Jia Perkins has been, by far, the most improved player in training camp. She’s playing tremendous defense, she’s shooting the ball very well in practice, but hasn’t particularly shown that in exhibition games because I think she still has some jitters when she gets out there in game situations. But I’m expecting Jia to elevate her game this year and really be able to make a solid contribution to us.

Q: What is Allison Feaster’s status right now?

Lacey: Allison’s team won last night, so tomorrow she will be on a plane and headed home and I can’t tell you how happy I am about that.

Q: What has she meant to your team and how excited where you to get her into your team?

Lacey: Allison is obviously one of our key players. She’s our anchor. Dawn is our leader, but Allison is our anchor. We know what we are going to get from Allison every single night. She defends the best offensive players in the league and does it very well. She’s a tremendous three-point shooter. She’s added pieces to her game to make her a well rounded player. She means everything to us and she’s going to help us stabilize this team once she gets here.

Q: How fans are reacting to Janel?

Lacey: The fans have embraced Janel and welcomed her with open arms. How can you not? She has a fabulous personality. I love her attitude. Everyday she has something funny to say, she doesn’t take herself too seriously but at the same time she is willing to work hard, work on her game. She’s worked extremely hard. It’s been a transition for her but she hasn’t backed down at all. As the season progresses I believe Janel will progress and be a very solid player in the WNBA.

Q: Will she McCarville come off the bench?

Lacey: Right now I do see her getting adequate minutes off the bench. As you know we have some veteran players that we acquired. I think it’s a good situation for her because she doesn’t have to feel that pressure to perform or to carry us. We have enough veterans around her so that she can adjust to the WNBA at her own pace.

Q: With the changes in Washington, what do you expect to come out of the Mystic on Saturday?

Lacey: In acquiring DeLisha Milton-Jones for Chamique Holdsclaw. And don’t forget Alana Beard. They had a pretty good draft pick in Temeka Johnson. And they have some other very good players returning, Murriel Page, Coco Miller. So they are a very solid team and I anticipate they’ll be one of the top teams in the East.

Mike Thibault, Connecticut Sun

Opening Statement: We’re anxious to get the season rolling. It’s been a long wait since our last game in Seattle. So we want to get playing on Saturday against Detroit. Camp has been great. We have everybody here now. Our health is reasonable good, so right now I don’t too many complaints.

Q: How different is it going into this season than last year?

Thibault: I treat it the same either way. I knew we were better last year and people were picking us. I don’t know how easy it is to pick anyone in our conference from year to year. There was a three game difference between first and last in our conference. But the fact that we have a year of experience together, and our rookies are growing up, that we had more time in the preseason than we did a year ago, has really helped us and the growth and maturity of all of our young players has been great. I’m flattered by the prediction but the reality is that we need to go out there and do it on the court. But if we can play like we did at the end of last year, we have the chance to be as good as anybody.

Q: What teams do you think will be the most improved in your conference?

Thibault: Well, I think everybody has improved. I think teams that didn’t make the playoffs like Charlotte, helped themselves through the draft and trades. Detroit is waiting a little bit on Swin Cash here at the start of the year, but there other players are certainly top-notch players. Washington has new draft picks and New York is looking forward to having Ann Wauters coming back healthy. You have Indiana with the addition of Tan White to help them offensively. If you look at our conference you see that any team can win.

Q: If you look at the schedule it looks like any team can get off to a pretty good start.

Thibault: I would think so. Anybody can get a run going. We’re a little bit prohibited from that because we only play four games in the first 18 days of the season, so there are some other teams that are playing more games. Anybody can put together a four or five game winning streak early in the season.

Q: Your team came within a couple of buckets from the winning a Championship in Game 2. What do you think will be to getting over that hump and finally getting the crown?

Thibault: I think it would have helped if we played the game on our homecourt. I think our players have realized how much homecourt can mean in a series. It’s the games that you give away, so to speak, in the middle of the season that you wish you can have back.

I think there is a better focus from our team about how important every day of the season is. I think that’s the first thing we learned. I think our team has grown up a little bit. We had five rookies last year; it was a first-time experience for them. I think the experience of having gone through that will help us a little bit. Every player on our team has come in great condition. We gave them three or four goals in the off season and I’ve been happy with what they’ve don to try to meet those. You bring the additional Margo Dydek in and it changes how we can play defense. We didn’t intimidate many people in the lane last year and we were last in blocked shots and that’s a situation where we can improve our defense with her addition.

Q: How is Margo fitting in?

Thibault: It’s been great. Obviously our team has welcomed her. She’s having to go back to basics somewhat. There are some things that we expect of her that maybe weren’t expected of her in the past. She just changes the [inaudible] and we can rotate people and we can play a little more zone, we could do some different things [inaudible] because she allows us to take care of the basket a lot better.

Q: Can you give us a gage of your guard situation beyond Linday Whalen and how you expect that to play out as the season starts?

Thibault: We have the luxury, because we’ve gotten bigger. So Lindsay and Katie Douglas will start in the back court with Nykesha Sales as small forward, so when we sub, Nykesha will be able to play at the two spot and we’ll bring Brooke Wyckoff off the bench to play the three as well as the four, so it makes us bigger there. And in the backup situation Jen Derenvjanik, who played for us last year and had a very good training camp, and we added Jamie Carey to our roster who will give us some help. I feel good about where we are.

Q: If Jamie Carey makes your roster, can you talk about what she can bring to your team this year?

Thibault: First of all, she knows how to run a basketball team. She knows how to get players the ball in the right spot. She’s a very good three-point shooter. She runs pick-and-rolls well. She’s been a great addition to our team in that roll. How much she will play, I’m not sure yet.

Q: How big of a factor is it to have Brooke Wyckoff back this year?

Thibault: It makes a big difference. She’s a multi-skilled player position wise. She can play three and four, and we even played her at the two a little bit in training camp. She’s what we call our go-to defender. In our league with players like Tamika Catchings, Chamique Holdsclaw and Swin Cash, she’s a great matchup to those players and she allows us to have her play up on a one and not have to help as much off on someone else to cover that matchup.

Q: How tough was it for you to go through training camp and make cuts?

Thibault: It’s not an easy situation no matter how you cut it. Sometimes, when you go through training camp, players almost cut themselves in the sense the longer you go the more evidence you get of their strengths and weaknesses and how players fit together. And you see as you put combinations together what lineups gravitate towards playing together. So even though it’s hard, it was clear what was the right direction was to go. You could always make a mistake with the last cut or two but you can change your mind later and try to do something about it.

Q: How is Taj McWilliams-Franklin doing?

Thibault: She’s been great. It’s been good for her to not have to play all the minutes at center. We could role her over to power forward and let Margo play there. Asjha Jones has improved and that’s taken some pressure off of her too. I think she might be the most improved player in the league this year with what she has shown in training camp. It has allowed Taj to do more of her thing and what comes natural to her.

Bill Laimbeer, Detroit Shock

Opening Statement: Last year was a lost year for our franchise and our players know it now. Going through it they didn’t. They were a little too young to realize what was going to happen to them and they’ve all dedicated themselves to coming back to this training camp with the sole purpose of winning the Championship again. They’re very upset with how they played last year and it showed in training camp. We have great focus. We have great new leadership from players who have never stepped up before such as Barbara Farris. Swin Cash has not been on the floor yet but we expect her back on the floor later this week to begin practices and be ready to go by our fourth game this year.

Q: How do you see your team doing this year and are they ready to rebound and get back the title?

Laimbeer: Yes, our team is very focused to get our Championship back. What happened to us last year is that we were just too young to realize how hard we had to play every night. Winning the Championship the first time came so easy to us and we were the youngest team in the league. We hadn’t gone through the school of hard knocks and the mental toughness hasn’t built up. And last year we had some internal issues. We had some chemistry problems that we have since fixed and Cheryl (Ford) had a rough year from a person perspective. So all of that really got under our skin this past off season and everybody is really looking forward to coming out here. A lot of it is mental on our part. We have great talent. We have speed. We have size. We have rebounding. And it’s about how much do we want it. And I thing our team is very hungry and that’s the biggest difference we have this year.

Q: Who do you see as the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference?

Laimbeer: Well obviously Connecticut is the defending champion of the east. We have more depth than they do, I believe, so we’ll try to wear them down. Indiana seems to be improved by the way they’ve played in the preaseason so far. Those are the two big ones that I see out there right now. But everybody has improved, everybody has gotten better, including us. We’ve added Kara Braxton who is an unbelievable post player.

Q: You spoke about how you see the east shaking out. You did see Indiana in the preseason can you talk about that?

Laimbeer: We were missing three of our starters in that game. I think Indiana has improved itself. Their guards play with such determination and it looks like they are moving Tamika Catchings to the small forward, which I believe is where she should be playing. How do I think it will shake out? Obviously I’m going to pick the Shock to finish first. And I think Connecticut and Indiana will beat each other up to see who comes in second and third. That’s up for grabs. You don’t know what will happen with Charlotte, whether they can find their chemistry and put it together down there. Everybody, I think, is pretty unclear. As well as New York, people are coming in late and Washington seems to be a mystery so far.

Q: I see your team is honoring Michigan State and coach Mc xx with a hero’s award. Was there good synergy as Michigan State was making their run and part of the state being wrapped up in women’s basketball. Is there a sense of carry-over with people liking what they saw and getting behind the WNBA?

Laimbeer: I think there was. It started when we won the Championship. We were very fortunate to be able to bring women’s sports in general but women’s basketball especially back onto the front page of the newspapers in Detroit. So, media-wise, it fit right in for Michigan State this year. They piggy-backed on what we had done and they got an immense amount of coverage. It was great to watch. It was the first time that any of the Michigan women’s team have really made their mark and it was fun and we were proud to see that happen and it translate right into our season now. Women’s basketball in Michigan is a product that people are aware of. Everyone knows it’s here and they talk about it a lot. So that’s not only great for women’s basketball, but also for the WNBA and the Shock.

Q: Your roster seems to have the most dynamic depth. Was it difficult to make cuts and how do you see your final roster shaping up?

Laimbeer: It is tough right now. We didn’t bring a lot of people in. We actually opened up training camp with only nine players because of the salary cap we didn’t want anybody getting hurt that has no chance to make your team. So we didn’t have that many. It’s been fairly simple for me. This morning we waived Nikita Bell, which was difficult for me to do because she was a horse in there. She worked very hard but it came down to that we didn’t have a spot for her. We’ll carry 12 it looks like. And right now I’m down to 13 and I’m dragging my feet because it’s a brutal thing to do, to find out who that player is. I’m hoping something shakes loose from a trade perspective that will help me make my decision. But if I have to tell one of these players “I’m sorry I don’t have a spot,” that’s going to be a bit tough. But we do have tremendous depth across the board. Our post play with (Cheryl) Ford, (Ruth) Riley, (Kara) Braxton and (Barbara) Farris is phenomenal. They’re big, huge and they can run. Swin will be back hopefully in a couple of weeks and life will be wonderful.

Q: Can you talk about what Andrea Stinson could bring to your team if she does make your roster?

Laimbeer: We brought her in for a couple of reasons. One, to take a look at her because we may move Deanna Nolan to small forward and we’re looking for some other two guard leadership because Chandi Jones is going to be in her second year and she’s showed up real late for training camp. So we were unclear on how that situation was going to shake out and it’s one of the main reasons we brought Stinson in. And there is no doubt that she is one of our smartest players in camp. She’s very intelligent and she makes passes that hardly anyone else on our team can make. Obviously her age is going to hold her back a little bit in our transition game, but her intelligence and the way she uses her experience and her leadership, more than makes up for that.

Q: How do you feel about the changes in the WNBA this season?

Laimbeer: I’m a firm believer in having the best-of-five for every series let alone the champion series. So that’s going to be great when we’re in a championship series and there are five games. It’s more exposure not only for the Detroit Shock but also for the rest of the league. Rick Mahorn has been a great player for the coaches. They love him a lot. He’s a tremendous practice coach. He has a lot of presence on our team and one of the big reasons that I hired him is that he could tell me “no.” I’m a pretty strong-willed person and I may march in the wrong direction sometimes and he’s one of those few guys that stand there and tell me I’m wrong. And I listen to him.

Q: Everyone is talking about the east but who do you see getting closer in the west?

Laimbeer: I see L.A. in the West. I think they vastly improved themselves with (Chamique) Holdsclaw. I think they are going to be determined to try to get back to the championship round.

Brian Winters, Indiana

Opening Statement: We feel like we’ve improved our team quite a bit, particularly at the guard position since a year ago. Tan White, with the second pick in the draft, she was the leading scorer in the nation and she’s going to be a very good player in the WNBA. We feel she’s a great slasher, scorer. She’s strong and quick and can finish around the goal with both hands and a willing learner.

We also drafted Yolanda Paige in the second round and she gives us another point guard who can dribble, drive and penetrate and make plays. Also, she’s quick getting the ball down the floor and that’s something we really needed. We also added Tully Bevilaqua to our team, who gives us an experienced veteran point guard who can run a team; knows how to play and knows what to do and gives us some leadership at the point guard position.

With the addition of Tully and Paige and the ability to play Kelly Miller at point guard, we’re much approved at the point guard position. Obviously, the leader of our team and our best player is Tamika Catchings and we expect her to have a tremendous year. She no longer has to deal with going to the Olympics and coming back and having that as a distraction to the WNBA season. It’s a great accomplishment for her, but it was a little bit of a distraction. She’s a tremendous player, one of the top three, four, five players in the league and we expect great things from her.

Deanna Jackson will probably be her back up at small forward and we love Deanna’s length and quickness and her defensive abilities and her ability to get up and down the floor and run the court. Along with her we have Kelly Schumacher back and she’ll probably start as our power forward and Natalie Williams will be our center. With Kelly we feel we have a 6-5 post player who can play inside and out and plays well with Natalie and plays well in the pick-and-roll. She can pick, pop and shoot and she does have the ability to make a three, so it’s nice to have a big player who has the ability to make a three.

We also added Jurgita Streimikyte from Lithuania to our team. She was with the Fever four years ago and she gives us a different dimension on our front line. She has more quickness and speed than any of our other post players; mainly plays on the perimeter and can dribble the ball and pass and is a good free throw and jump shooter. We think with her experience having played professionally for 10 to 15 years, she gives us a great addition to our team. Ebony Hoffman will backup Natalie Williams at the center position and we expect her to come into her own this year. We think she has ability and talent. She’s played well in exhibition and we expect her to do a good job as our backup center. We also have Coretta Brown as our backup guard who’s been hampered by a knee surgery over the offseason and right now she’s probably in the fifth guard position. And we also have Jenni Benningfield who we had on our team at the end of last year and went oversea this past summer and improved her game and we think she’s going to be a good player for us. That’s, overall, our team. We’re excited about it. We think that with the three guards we added to our team, we’ve added a different dimension to our team where we can dribble, drive and penetrate and also provide more scoring around Tamika Catchings.

Q: After a successful Final Four in Indianapolis, have you been able to capitalize from a marketing standpoint?

Winters: We like to think so. I think our season ticket sales are up a little bit and I think once people see our team and see the difference in it from a year ago, they’ll like what they see. I think we can be an exciting team and we’ve played well in exhibition and those additions to our team have given us a different look. We’re not as perimeter-oriented, in the sense that we have guards who can dribble, drive and break defenses down and create shots for other people. I think that is going to be exciting to watch. Tan White is going to be an up-and-coming player in the WNBA and Yolanda Paige gives us another rookie guard who does some exciting things, who really likes to pass and find people. It helps all of our players, especially our big players.

Q: As close as the Eastern Conference was last year, a winning streak early in the first two weeks could get you off to a really nice start.

Winters: That’s what we hope to do. We’ve worked really hard in training camp and we won our three exhibition games. Two against Phoenix and one against Detroit and I thought we played really well in all of them. Obviously the regular season is always different. The rotations change a little bit, the starters get a few more minutes. It will be difficult. The East is highly competitive. First and last place was [separated by] three games last year and I would suspect it will be very competitive again. We feel if we can get out of the gate early and win some early wins, I think it’s going to really help us become a playoff team.

Q: Do you think your depth will make a difference this year, especially down the stretch?

Winters: It’s always good to have depth and those players who come off your bench have to accept their roles and we do have good players on our bench. I do think over the long haul this season, depth is good for your team. You never know if you’re going to have injuries. The season is long and hard. Also, depth helps you in back-to-back games. If you don’t have to overextend your starters in the first night of a back-to-back and still have the ability to win games, than the second nights they’re not as tired and your bench can provide a spark for you. I like our bench and I do think we have depth and I do think we have different combinations that we can play to help us win games. I think we have a stronger team from top to bottom than we did a year ago

Q: Has Tan (White) been what you expected?

Winters: Yes. She brings what I thought. She’s a slasher and scorer, she led the nation in scoring. The thing about her in which I really like is that she’s not a selfish player. You think of a high scorer, you think that person always scores. She’s a much better passer than people think. When she is driving to the goal and penetrating and getting double-teamed, she has the ability to take a hit with her strength and get though it and make a play, either for herself or for someone to get a better shot. That’s one of the things I’ve been a little more surprised of, she at times throws some terrific passes and that always goes a long ways in getting along with your teammates and being a good teammate.

Q: Do you see parity within the WNBA like last year, but even tougher?

Winters: I think every year the WNBA goes on, it gets a little tougher. The players get better, there are more and more drafts. I think there is quite a bit of parity. On any given night, any body can beat anybody. Like I said earlier, in the East, first and last place was only three games. When you talk about being a first place team and only three games difference between last, you can have some big swings. It doesn’t take much to have those swings. I know in the East, there’s quite a bit of parity, but in the West I think a couple of teams separated themselves last year, Seattle and Los Angeles in particular with everybody else someone on a par with one another. In the East, it’s been very close.

Pat Coyle, New York

Opening Statement: We still haven’t picked our final roster, but we do have everyone in camp and we will make that final decision on Friday, the last cut-down date. Things have been going well. We’ve been lucky, we’ve already had some people nicked up and really haven’t missed a lot of training camp. We’re just excited to start on Sunday.

Q: How do you feel Shameka Christon’s work overseas will affect her ability to be an impact player in the league? Will it take a little while for you to know what this team’s personality and capability is with late people coming in?

Coyle: Shameka Christon had a terrific season overseas and we’re looking forward for her doing those things here in the WNBA. As a rookie, like most rookies, she had to find her niche and with her going overseas and playing in Israel, she had a chance to continue her development at the pro level. I think she’s going to be a hell of a player in this league. I don’t know the personality of this team just yet. I know what we have in our veterans. V.J. (Vicky Johnson), Becky (Hammon) and Crystal (Robinson) they’re the heart and soul of this team. We know what we’re getting from them every night. Elena (Baranova) and Ann (Wauters) have been a great addition. I think when it’s all said and done, we’re going to be we’re we want to be.

Q: Do you think your team’s post game will be competitive with some of the other front lines that you’re going to face?

Coyle: Absolutely. You look at Elena Baranova and Ann Wauters and they’re two of the best players in the world, not just in the WNBA, but the world. I think once they get a couple of weeks under their belt and we get going, I think people are going to see what we’ve seen.

Q:How quickly is your team adapting to your system? Especially within the East were you don’t have much leeway.

Coyle: If you wait a couple of weeks in the East, you may find yourself out of the race. Elena and Ann have been in training camp since Monday and they’ve picked up things very quickly. They’ve retained some things that we ran last year, which we’re going to continue to run. They’re great players and they understand the game and they’re intelligent and they’re in shape. I think that’s the biggest thing, they’re in shape right now.

Q: Last year taking over mid-season, there is always the feeling of doing what you need to do just to get through the season, but now that you’re beginning the season with the team as your own, do you feel like this is your team? What sort of offensive are you going to be running?

Coyle: First off, I think this is our team. That’s just the way we talk about things here in New York. It’s all of us responsible; I’m part of that. We’re going to try and open up the floor. We’re going to try and push the ball a little bit more in transition. We’re going to try and open up the floor. We have some post players who aren’t your traditional post players, just playing their back to the basket. We have some post players that can face the basket and put the ball on the floor and we’re going to try and open up the floor.

Q: Who are the teams to beat in the East?

Coyle: I think everybody in the East. There are no cupcakes in this league anymore. All the teams have gotten better through the draft and through free agency. It’s going to be a war every night and we have to be ready every single night because you’re not getting a night off.

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