(But) Kara is smart, and tougher than a knot on a log. And she loves the opportunity to stick the big shot against these great players. |
[And she does a lot of it on just her own grit and determination.] We don't run a single play for Yolanda, ... She creates her own opportunities. |
[Getting his players to share his confidence wasn't easy.] They bought into what I was selling, ... They analyzed it, studied it and ultimately accepted my concept. |
[It's true. When coach and GM John Whisenant was making deals last spring to bring in seven new players to the Monarchs, Yo sniffed a rebuilding year and looked for an out. She was 35 and she wanted a title. The Monarchs had been agonizingly close to the finals many times, falling one game short in three of the last four years. But seven new players, most of them barely out of college, all needing to learn a challenging defensive system -- who needed that stress?] She thought she was too old to be on a rebuilding team, ... I told her we weren't rebuilding, we were reloading. |
[Sacramento coach John Whisenant said he could tell Whalen was not 100 percent.] Lindsay was obviously in pain, ... I was really concerned the one time under the basket in front of our bench. I thought she had reinjured it. She's a determined young lady. Got to give it to her. Got a lot of courage. |
And we'll take it any way we can get it. |
At 35, Yolanda did not want to waste a year, ... But I explained that we were reloading, not rebuilding. We were just adding some young shooters around her. Eventually, she didn't want to be traded. |
At 35, Yolanda did not want to waste a year. But I explained that we were reloading, not rebuilding. We were just adding some young shooters around her. Eventually, she didn't want to be traded. |
Bittersweet with Demya's injury, |
But I never wanted a 'yes' person around, |
But we have to do it our way. |
Coach T. drives me somewhere between half to three-quarters nuts, ... I'll be (on the sidelines) telling him, 'No, no, no,' and he just says the same thing a different way until I yell at him to stop. |
Gutsy, very gutsy. She played hard and determined. We intended to give Lindsay fits, whether she had a knee (injury) not. |
Gutsy, very gutsy. She played hard and determined. We intended to give Lindsay fits, whether she had a knee [injury] or not. |
I came in here expecting that we could win two, ... I think that's the way our players think. We've got two at Arco (arena) now, but I don't think home court makes a lot of difference. With these two teams, they are very close. |