Anne Donovan Quotations

We've still got to make sure that shin heals; it's like a rehab/recovery process. The reality now for Lauren is that she's never going to be healthy from the knee to ankle. It's: How do we best manage that? It's going to be different for me and her. It's very difficult when it's your star player on a treadmill or bike on the sideline. We've got to adjust.

Leah or Erin could develop into what we need, but at this point, it's foolish to think that two inexperienced players are the way to go. Expect to see other free agents at the point position come through camp.

She was adamant to play. There was no way this old coach could get a 24-year-old kid to look at the big picture.

She's a special player. She's definitely one of the best in the league.

She's so good at dealing with pain. This is somebody you don't have to say 'suck it up' to.

She's going to have a decision she's going to have to make at some point.

Simone is coming along, but we know what she can do. We've got to get our final roster set before we worry about June.

She could have been extremely frustrated, rushed shots and been greedy, but she wasn't. That's when we're a great team. We're unselfish. We share the ball.

She didn't sit out last night and I seriously doubt she'll be sitting this series.

She's a great player. In the second half she was trying to take it over. We had (Tanisha) Wright on her for a while and Betty doubled on her pretty well.

Sheryl's proven herself as a class act. The people who will make a big deal out of this probably have a problem with the lifestyle. It's not an issue for me.

Sheryl's proven herself as a class act, ... The people who will make a big deal out of this probably have a problem with the lifestyle. It's not an issue for me.

Sheryl finds a way to help her team win a game, and it doesn't necessarily have to do with scoring.

She knew her experience was minimal, but she just plugged away and quietly went about her business. By the end of the training in April, there was no doubt she was the best, most consistent player that had played with us. She's quietly gone about her business and earned everybody's confidence.

She is so confident, so cool. She's so much a starter. You don't look at her and think she's just a replacement, filling in for Betty. The season has gone really well in terms of getting her valuable experience this year.

I was stunned. I was sitting over here (on the sideline) stunned that it was happening.

I bleed red, white and blue. I'm a red-blooded American that absolutely has a complete passion for the flag and what we represent.

I am so thrilled about the opportunity to coach the Storm for years to come, ... Winning a WNBA Championship last season was an incredible experience not only for me, but for the city of Seattle. I look forward to many more successful seasons with the Storm.

I always play better when I'm in pain.

To finish the season on this note is not how any of us envisioned this.

Having a successful game against Sacramento and having the season series go our way against them, I think does wonders for our confidence going into the playoffs. When you see that kind of balance on the stat sheet ... that's what you have to do against Sacramento.

The only thing that matters tonight, and I mean this sincerely, is that we just played a great defensive effort for 40 minutes. It's a great win for that reason. The icing on the cake is 100.

I think it is huge that this team played that way down the stretch. At the end of the game we have to be focused and be able to execute.

I think internally we're all feeling really good about it. To know that we accomplished the same record as last year with the experience we had, it says a whole lot about those 11 players.

I was dragging my feet. There was never a doubt that it wasn't going to get worked out. I'm happy. Very, very happy.

Lauren has been a cornerstone of our franchise since the day she got here and we're thrilled to keep her in a Storm uniform for years to come. She's a proven All-Star and her renewed commitment to this organization will be a big asset as we work to bring another championship to the city of Seattle.

I said right after we won the championship that I thought we could lose at least one starter. But I had no idea they were coming after our bench.

Parker obviously had a marvelous tournament, and we got good contributions from the other ones as well. We're in good shape; you add our veteran players with our younger players, and we'll field a good team in September that will really compete hard.

Sue went to a different level. She got everybody organized, kept everybody focused, moreso than a regular-season kind of deal. Betty stepped up verbally, so yeah, it's a different gear.

It feels good (clinching a playoff spot). But there are still two more home games left and we would like to have homecourt advantage with that second seed (in the Western Conference).

I think everybody is disappointed how the season finished. I think many people are surprised we're not playing right now.

We don't have a lot of trade value. But my commitment is still getting that veteran leadership piece.

We relied too much on Lauren in the first half. We made sure (Betty) knew she had the green light. Her second half was the difference.

Tina's value is huge. As long as I've coached USA Basketball, I don't think we've had a four who drills the 3 as consistently as Tina does. Because she can do damage from the outside, she opens everything up for us offensively. Lisa really benefits from that. And she'll benefit even more in the next few games.

We were all thinking, it's her putback. (Dawn) is a winner. She's the one who made the mistake, so you can guarantee she's going to get herself back in position to change the game.

The reality now for Lauren is that she's never going to be healthy from the knee to ankle.

The reality now for Lauren is that she's never going to be healthy from her knee to her ankle. It's very difficult when your star player's going to be on the side of the court on (an exercise) bike. But we've got to make adjustments.

We're relying on our practice guys, who have competed, to coming in morning and night.

We are so fortunate to have Heidi join our staff. Heidi has tremendous experience in the WNBA as both an assistant and as a head coach, as well as many years in the college game.

Very happy about the defense tonight. Holding them to 19 points and 20-percent shooting in the first half was solid, and I was happy to see that we didn't let up in the second half.

You had two MVPs on the court. Between Sheryl at one end and Lauren at the other end, it was fun to watch. And Swoopes, anytime you send two people to guard her as soon as she catches the ball, that tells you how good she was playing.

We just had to rely so much on Lauren in the first half and she really came up big for us. You know she wasn't 100 percent, but sometimes when you're hurt you are focused only on the game itself.

We just got steamrolled on our home floor and that doesn't happen very often. It surprised me that we could never get a grip.

We lose Betty's points, her energy. She takes a defender away from Lauren. So it changes the flow of our offense for sure.

To be drilled on your home court is not how any of us envisioned this. Coming in here with two home games and home-court advantage, we thought we had a great chance to move onto the Western Conference finals. ... I have to give Van Chancellor and Houston a ton of credit.

Betty's three is what everyone will talk about, but (Burse's) offensive rebound was huge.

Betty is a marquee player in this league. I think she needed to see our commitment. And after losing three players, we were determined not to lose anybody this year.

There's no standing around in this camp. The defense is brand new, including to the returning players, so keeping my patience and cool now is important.

The way of the WNBA playoffs, it does not put the higher seed at an advantage, ... You have to go in there and make the most of it.

The second half, we came out and cut it to 10, and felt real good about the momentum. The crowd was in it, with just two minutes off the clock and already we had done that damage.

Texas Tech had a very disappointing season, and Erin didn't have a lot of people around her. I think people looked at that team as underachieving and maybe labeled Erin the same way. But she had a tremendous pre-draft camp. When you put her with better players, she's able to rise to the occasion. I expect that she is really going to compete for that backup spot.

Saturday's game is important for several reasons. It is the last regular-season game, and it not only has implications for us but it impacts other teams.

The most important things was the free throw line, no question. The other thing was, down the stretch, I saw us lose our composure much more than I would have thought at this point of the season.

Awesome. She's been working hard on the sideline, obviously, because her conditioning was good, too.

You want momentum. It is our last home game of the regular season, and we're expecting a good crowd.

It's one of the few times in my life ... when you try to articulate what's going on inside and I don't think it's possible. This is up there for me.

It looks good. It's going to be sore every time she uses it whether it's practice or a game, so it's just a matter of managing it every day.

Dawn is a winner and the ultimate competitor. She has been successful at the highest level as a player for our country. Dawn is a three-time gold medal Olympian, who is respected as no other and a definite leader for our program. She has translated her on-court success into being one of the brightest coaches in our game today. Dawn defines everything 'golden' about USA Basketball, and I am so glad that she will be on the sidelines with me.

It was gutsy, very gutsy. You could see she was not 100 percent out there. She carried us in the first half. I didn't think she'd be able to rebound.

This is a very focused group. They're very aware of what a few days' rest will do for Lauren.

She looked great while she was out there. It's not really going to depend on how she looks.

Their starting five are title contenders. On paper, they are the team to beat.

I'll give Sue Bird that shot every night of the week and she will make it nine out of ten times.

In the second half we encouraged (Lennox) because we know they would focus in Lauren Jackson. Most impressive on her play was her ability to to knock down open shots and get to the free throw line.

I think all I can do is to continue to talk about it, and I'm not male bashing. Good men deserve opportunities, but good women also deserve opportunities, and they can have success given the right situation.

I don't know how many of those (triple-doubles) we get in the league but that's special. She was below her (scoring) average tonight but she's filling up other columns. So Sheryl finds a way to help her team win a game and it doesn't necessarily have to do with scoring.

I downplay (the 100th win) because for me, personal awards don't mean a whole lot. Championships are what I'm about.

I don't want to write Erin and Leah out of here. It's just a huge adjustment here for any rookie in camp -- let alone at that position.

Her ability to create off the dribble can break down that white-line defense,

The hope is when we go back to Seattle, we can use her even more. She was doing everything. If she's mentally doing those things, she's ready to play.

The days of Lauren practicing every day, full practices every day, are gone. This last stress fracture showed Lauren the importance of being realistic and honest about her pain level.