24 October 2012
Exit Interviews
Jayda Evans conducted exit interviews with almost all of the Storm players. (Ann Wauters and Ewelina Kobryn had already left for Europe.)
Sue Bird: This [her hip injury] is literally like deja vu because it's the same exact thing, same exact place, almost the same exact timing [as last year]. Then I'm going to go to my team (UMMC Ekaterinburg) overseas January 1. It's really pretty much the same, which is good. I know what to expect. I know how to get through it. And the best part is I know it's going to be successful. I'll never have to drop anymore bombs in regards to my hip. So, I'm very excited to put the hip stuff in the past because I've been dealing with it for a long time and this past month has been tough.
Lauren Jackson: [Jayda asked about the last shot in Game 3 against Minnesota.] You make some, you miss stuff. I missed it, you know. People miss shots all the time, especially me at the moment.
Tanisha Wright: [Jayda asked if she thought Lauren Jackson was nearing retirement.] Lauren? What kind of question is that? She's in her prime. Absolute prime. It's tough for anybody...she played for the Olympics. That is a toll. Mental. I think people forget, this game is mental as much as it is physical.
Camille Little: [Jayda asked about playing her second season in China.] China is a good place to just expand. I have the green light to do whatever. When you play like that, it's probably the best when you have no worries. I can just shoot when I want and I can work on my offensive aggression. It helped me for sure this year.
Katie Smith: Right now, I'd like to play [next season]. That's my mindset right now, I want to play next summer. We'll see how it pans out, where I'll be, who wants me and all of that. But, yeah, right now I feel pretty good. I still feel like I can help a team out.
Shekinna Stricklen: [Jayda asked how she felt about playing overseas for the first time.] I'm a little nervous, but I'm really excited. It's a new experience. Just being over there by myself, I'm a little nervous about that. But I think everything will be all right.
Svetlana Abrosimova: [Jayda asked how she felt about going home for the first time since being left off the Russian national team.] I'm going to have to face it when I go back home. A few days ago we had big basketball committee (Executive committee at the Russian Basketball Federation) and they voted that the coach (Boris Sokolovsky) and the entire coaching staff officially didn't do a good job. That means that they're not going to (extend) his contract. He doesn't have a job right now. At this stage, there was a coach's committee and everybody said that was not a good job, they didn't select the team right and they didn't prepare them. So, at least somebody saw that. It wasn't just me.
Alysha Clark: [Jayda asked how she felt about finally playing a full season in the WNBA.] It was fun for me. I was glad to finally make it. It was a personal milestone for myself, know that I could actually do it. T
Tina Thompson: I probably haven't had a good night's sleep in three months [because of the knee injury] other than being just completely exhausted. But even then, that's not really good sleep. Right now, as we speak, my leg is still numb. My toes? I know that they're there, but I can't feel them. So, yeah, that's what I've been going through for the last three months.
Coach Agler: I think the first thing you do is sit here and evaluate this season and how it shaped out, how we matured as a team and how each player matured. Then you go in the off-season and have a series of meetings with your staff, your front office, the owners and you talk about a couple things: you talk about the upcoming season but then you also talk about the big picture, the two, three, four years down the road. Obviously, we want to keep adding young players to our roster and the number that we do is hard to say at this moment but we do have a middle of first-round pick and we'll scout real hard to see who that person is and we'll have some options there. Then, we'll decide on what players we want to return and then we'll scour and look and evaluate the free agency market.
Sue Bird: This [her hip injury] is literally like deja vu because it's the same exact thing, same exact place, almost the same exact timing [as last year]. Then I'm going to go to my team (UMMC Ekaterinburg) overseas January 1. It's really pretty much the same, which is good. I know what to expect. I know how to get through it. And the best part is I know it's going to be successful. I'll never have to drop anymore bombs in regards to my hip. So, I'm very excited to put the hip stuff in the past because I've been dealing with it for a long time and this past month has been tough.
Lauren Jackson: [Jayda asked about the last shot in Game 3 against Minnesota.] You make some, you miss stuff. I missed it, you know. People miss shots all the time, especially me at the moment.
Tanisha Wright: [Jayda asked if she thought Lauren Jackson was nearing retirement.] Lauren? What kind of question is that? She's in her prime. Absolute prime. It's tough for anybody...she played for the Olympics. That is a toll. Mental. I think people forget, this game is mental as much as it is physical.
Camille Little: [Jayda asked about playing her second season in China.] China is a good place to just expand. I have the green light to do whatever. When you play like that, it's probably the best when you have no worries. I can just shoot when I want and I can work on my offensive aggression. It helped me for sure this year.
Katie Smith: Right now, I'd like to play [next season]. That's my mindset right now, I want to play next summer. We'll see how it pans out, where I'll be, who wants me and all of that. But, yeah, right now I feel pretty good. I still feel like I can help a team out.
Shekinna Stricklen: [Jayda asked how she felt about playing overseas for the first time.] I'm a little nervous, but I'm really excited. It's a new experience. Just being over there by myself, I'm a little nervous about that. But I think everything will be all right.
Svetlana Abrosimova: [Jayda asked how she felt about going home for the first time since being left off the Russian national team.] I'm going to have to face it when I go back home. A few days ago we had big basketball committee (Executive committee at the Russian Basketball Federation) and they voted that the coach (Boris Sokolovsky) and the entire coaching staff officially didn't do a good job. That means that they're not going to (extend) his contract. He doesn't have a job right now. At this stage, there was a coach's committee and everybody said that was not a good job, they didn't select the team right and they didn't prepare them. So, at least somebody saw that. It wasn't just me.
Alysha Clark: [Jayda asked how she felt about finally playing a full season in the WNBA.] It was fun for me. I was glad to finally make it. It was a personal milestone for myself, know that I could actually do it. T
Tina Thompson: I probably haven't had a good night's sleep in three months [because of the knee injury] other than being just completely exhausted. But even then, that's not really good sleep. Right now, as we speak, my leg is still numb. My toes? I know that they're there, but I can't feel them. So, yeah, that's what I've been going through for the last three months.
Coach Agler: I think the first thing you do is sit here and evaluate this season and how it shaped out, how we matured as a team and how each player matured. Then you go in the off-season and have a series of meetings with your staff, your front office, the owners and you talk about a couple things: you talk about the upcoming season but then you also talk about the big picture, the two, three, four years down the road. Obviously, we want to keep adding young players to our roster and the number that we do is hard to say at this moment but we do have a middle of first-round pick and we'll scout real hard to see who that person is and we'll have some options there. Then, we'll decide on what players we want to return and then we'll scour and look and evaluate the free agency market.
Labels: Seattle Storm
# posted by mamurd @ 9:06 PM 
