Sky Notes
• Rookie forward Diamond DeShields struggled in her third professional game,
finishing with eight points on 3-for-9 shooting. • The Sky shot 28.6 percent
from the field in the first half, their lowest since going for 26.7 percent in
the first half of the final preseason game against the Minnesota Lynx on May 12.
• Leading scorer Allie Quigley was limited to 12 points after averaging 20.5
points a game in the first two contests. • Center Alainah Coates finished with a
team-high eight rebounds and surpassed her previous season-high of two.
Dream Notes • Guard Tiffany Hayes poured in a team-high 22 points on 7-for-15
shooting. She has led the Dream in scoring in both games this season. • The
Dream outrebounded the Sky 40-28 and tallied 48 points in the paint,compared to
36 by the Sky. • The Dream held the Sky to 36.8 percent from the field and a
season-low of 10 points in the third quarter.
Sky Post Game Quotes
Sky Head Coach Amber Stocks
Overall thoughts…
We were not able to execute some things offensively as well as we would’ve
liked. Some shots weren’t falling. I don’t know the exact numbers right now, but
I know our field goal percentage definitely could have increased and would have
resulted in a different flow to the game as well as the turnovers. I think we
had 13 turnovers, so not terribly bad. However, they came back crucial points in
the game that a shot on goal and an opportunity for Steph or Alayna to grab the
rebound would’ve been to our benefit.
On Atlanta getting to the basket…
Well, it’s not so much that was the problem—that’s what they do. That’s the
style of play they have. They drive the ball to the basket, and that is there
gameplan, and it is well executed. We have a defensive system in place to help
absorb a lot of the penetration and minimize rotations. I thought we did a good
job of minimizing the free throw attempts of Atlanta. Atlanta had 13 free throw
attempts, which might end up being a season-low for them. So, I thought we did a
good job of keeping them off the free throw line. However, they were relentless
with their determination to get to the rim.
On Atlanta’s pick & roll effect on Dolson…
The sideline pick and rolls are always a difficult challenge to guard which is
why everybody runs them. We had our hands full containing their perimeter
players on their aggressive drives to the basket, which does put a lot of
pressure on your second & third line in your defense. Then as a secondary
defender in a pick and roll helping onto the ball, you’re very vulnerable
because you’re now focused on two primary tasks, which are the ball handler
attacking as well as your specific assignment role. It’s a challenge, and
Steph’s worked hard at it. They were just able to execute.
On Atlanta’s defense…
Atlanta did a good job of pressuring the ball and denying our passes. Their
pressure had our offense extended past typical scoring and execution range. That
definitely contributed to us being out of our flow a little bit, which
contributed to our low field goal percentage.
On rookies responding to adversity…
That’s totally something that [Montgomery] and [Quigley], our leaders, have
complete empowerment to lead by example in that area. I have the utmost
confidence in Alex and Allie’s leadership as veterans and experienced players.
The’re poised, they’re mature and our young players are smart enough to follow
their lead. We just talked about the quote ‘starve your distractions and feed
your focus’. Alex and Quigley are focused, and they will not allow distractions
to creep in. I our young players follow their example, we’ll all remain focused.
On the play of Tiffany Hayes…
Tiffany Hayes is a dynamic player. She’s in the USA Basketball fold for a
reason. Tonight she showed what she will show glimpses of throughout the season,
which is her ability to be both a perimeter threat as well as an interior
scoring threat. One thing she’s known for is her free throw attempts and we did
a good job of limiting that; she only shot four free throws. She was poised
enough to the adjust her game and execute from the 3-point line.
#1 Guard Diamond DeShields
On going up against Angel McCoughtry…
It was nice. You always want to compete against the best players. Obviously,
Angel’s one of the best in the world right now. It’s a challenge I was willing
and ready to accept. Coach trusted me with that responsibility today. I
appreciate her for that. It’s just something that I learned from moving forward.
I look forward to more matchups. It was fun.
On transition from college 3-point line to WNBA’s…
There’s obvious things like pace and spacing and just playing with a higher
level of competition, but I definitely think, coming out of college, the
adjustment for me has been pretty easy. I have great teammates around me who
have really helped me and embraced me and what I’m capable of doing and kind of
just allowing me to be myself out there, and I appreciate them for giving me
that confidence.
On her defense today…
It could have been better. Obviously, we didn’t even come close to accomplishing
what we wanted to defensively, so I can’t even say it was better than the past
two games because we lost. Watch the film, get together and work on preparing
for the next game.
On transitioning from overseas…
It’s the beginning of a new season with a new team and we have a lot of work to
do. Coming from overseas, it was a long season but physically I feel great. I’m
excited to be here and to be in this league. I’ve been blessed with the
opportunity to play with Chicago under coach Stocks and I’m just ready to pursue
our team goals and do whatever is necessary to attain those goals.
#6 Forward Alex Montgomery
On the bench play and rebounding from it…
We can’t get too low on a loss. Always stay together and keep our heads up, it’s
a long season ahead of us. The game is going to come quick. I know we hate to
lose, but we’ve got to keep pushing forward and prepare for the next game. Just
continue to stay aggressive and keep pushing forward. We’ve got a lot of things
to work on. It is what it is. You win some and lose some, but hopefully we’re
going to win a lot more than we lose.
On if she sees herself having a leadership role…
I do, [especially] on the defensive end. Regardless of what’s going on the
offensive end, we always have to stay together defensively. We just got to take
the punches and keep going. A lot of players do look up to me, so I just have to
be that strong role model and stay positive at all times.
On adjusting to new teammates…
The process from day one is chemistry, learning one another and everyone’s
ability, whether its defensive strengths or offensive strengths. It’s about just
learning how to play each other. It’s the beginning of the season; we’ll be
alright.
Dream Post Game Quotes
Coach Nicki Collen
On the game…
“After giving 101 points up to Dallas in our opener, it was really important for
us to really hit first, and emphasize defense in this game. I think we really
set the tone defensively. We were on the floor for loose balls, we were tipping
balls around, just mucking it up in the paint, which I think you have to do
against Chicago Sky. So, really proud of their defensive effort. I think we got
balanced scoring. Sykes gave us great minutes off the bench, Hayes got us going
early, Angel just really facilitated for us, so I think it was a really good
team effort. Breland getting double rebounds and her return to Chicago, in an
emotional game for her, was key. It was a fun game to coach when we’re sharing
the ball, we’re making the extra pass, players are pointing at one another. It’s
just fun basketball to watch; it’s fun basketball to play; it’s fun basketball
to coach.”
On defensive strategy changes from game 1 to game 2…
“Well, I think in general, it was really congesting the point of attack whether
that was a ball screen, whether there was a pin down. We obviously focused on
Quigley because she’s Chicago’s leading scorer. Certainly a different scouting
report…so to turn that around, and kind of the concept of two lineups and the
smaller, athletic line-up versus the bigger, stronger Chicago lineup. So, we
really focused defensive game plans based on their lineups.”
On the benefits of facing the Sky in the preseason…
“It gave us a taste of their roster. Certainly, they didn’t have DeShields then.
They’ve gotten Faulkner back, so that gives them a true point guard that can run
the show. But, I know that our younger players, our new players, coming back
here because we played well here the first time, I think it probably gave them a
sense of ‘hey we know we can beat this team, so let’s set the tone early.’ And I
think we did that.”
On dominance in the paint…
“Really, it was just effort. We’re not bigger, we’re not stronger. I mean, we’re
long and athletic, and we were quicker to the ball. And, having Angel, 6-1 as a
3-player, being able to get in there and clean up sometimes when we don’t
necessarily get two hands on it, but we’re tipping it around. So, I think that
was a lot of it, and then offensively we just moved the ball. So you end up with
touches in the paint by just moving the ball. You don’t have to necessarily
throw the ball to the low block to get paint touches. You can touch the paint
off the drive, off a roll, lots of different ways, so I think we really touched
the paint, and played inside out.”
On looking forward to the rest of the season…
“Oh, I think we just want to build confidence. We got Angel back late from
Russia, so really Sunday was her first game playing with these guys, so really
establishing a rotation. This is kind of who we are, we’re going to rotate eight
or nine, and then from there play off that, sometimes our rotation changes based
on opponent, or things like that, but I think this team needs to learn how to
play together, and I saw really good glimpses of how well they can play together
when they share the basketball.”
On Jessica Breland…
“She means a whole lot. I worked really, really hard to sign her. I think she’s
a glue player. She doesn’t need to put a ton of points, but stretch, hit the
floor, face up,she can beat you off the bounce a little bit, and you
underestimate just how long she is. She’s hard to score on in the paint even
though she’s not very big physically, she’s long and she’s disrupted a lot of
shots at the rim today. So, a great defensive power forward in this league, and
just a glue player that’s a great teammate, likes playing with her teammates.
So, just a winner to me.”
On the atmosphere…
“I think kids games are great. This is one of six that we’ve got. We’re on the
all kids game roll this year. There’s definite energy in the gym, and they don’t
really know the game that well, so they just cheer to be cheering. They cheer
when there’s music, so the great part about it is, for us, it causes us to
really have to communicate at a higher level because there is that buzz in the
background all the time. When we call a play, all five people have to echo that
play so that all five people can run it. So, a great atmosphere today, for sure
because of all the kids.”
On the Angel and Deshields Matchup…
“I think you’ve got someone who’s a two-time Olympian and you underestimate
Angel’s strength. When she gets herself to the rim, she finishes, she’s a
finisher at the rim. And I think Deshields is going to be that way in a few
years, but it’s going to take her sometime when she gets acrobatic in the lane
of powering up and through people. I think in some ways their games are very
similar. We could argue that Deshields is coming into the league a better
3-point shot than Angel, but Angel is as good a pure athlete as this league has
ever seen and this [is a] really good matchup in general. I don’t want to say
that Angel is on the downside of her career because I think she has a lot of
basketball in her but you’re looking at the future in Deshields, for sure.”
Brittney Sykes #7
On bringing energy and points off the bench…
“Coming off of a loss at Dallas, it was a hard one. Practice the next day, we
got after it… we got into each other. Our defense is really what attributed to
our success today, and then just coming out and making it known that this is
what our identity is going to be. Defense, coming off the bench people ready to
go, ready to play. Myself, Lay [Layshia Clarendon], everybody that came off the
bench today gave energy and kept that energy going, and we’re going to need that
down the stretch. When we throw up those 5 and 5 and 5, and sub here, two here,
sub there…everybody just has to be ready, and I think we all did a collective
effort of that.”
On keeping high energy on defense…
“I think it’s more so in practice. I think in practice we get on each other
about being that defensive team and being scrappy and being a pest. On the
court, when we bring it to the games, it’s natural. We’re in help position,
we’re scrappy, we’re picking at the ball, we’re being pests with the ball. We’re
aggravating teams because nine times out of ten, the other teams are doing that
to us, so we have to start being the aggressor.”
On confidence going into the game…
“It was great. It was there. And, my teammates give me that. I give myself
confidence, but I give a lot of credit to my teammates. They stay in my ear;
they tell me to stay ready. While Angel [McCoughtry] is in the game, and we’ve
got a timeout, she’s coming to me telling me to ‘stay ready, be ready.’ She’s
talking to me and staying in my ear. With all that help, you can’t help but to
get on the floor and just want to give it your all. And, that’s what we want
from everybody who touches that floor. Even if you’re on the bench, we want you
to give your all in whatever you do.”
Tiffany Hayes #15
On today’s win…
“I thought the game was pretty good. For us, we started out good and we kept the
same intensity. Our defense was really good, and I think that’s what drove our
offense today.”
On confidence going into the game…
“I just knew we had a bad loss in Dallas, and I think our team is still learning
each other. We’re going to be one of those ones where it takes us time, but
we’re going to get there. And, you saw a glimpse of it today, where we can be a
really good team. It’s a working process for us, and I’m really proud of how we
responded from the loss and came out today and got the win.
On defense in the game…
“We’ve got to talk about it, communication. Everybody’s bumping on cutters,
everybody’s got their hands active, getting tips on passes, so those were big.
That stuff doesn’t come with the stats, but it’s big for us. That’s what leads
to somebody else getting a steal, so we talked about it. Active hands, because
we didn’t have a lot of that in the last game, and now we carried it into this
game to where we changed that. And, we did it, and look…we actually got a
win.”
On bringing the same energy from this win into playing the Wings again in the
next game…
“Same thing we brought this game. We learned from our mistakes last game. We
knew that we didn’t match their intensity, we were soft, so they’re definitely
going to see a different team when we come and play them.”
