Dawn Staley Quotations

Until the trainers clear her, then I can only play the players that are ready to play.

We faced elimination, so we know what it feels like. Seattle doesn't at this point, so it (the pressure) is going to be on them. They're supposed to win.

We have aspirations of becoming a contender for a national championship, but you have to take really small steps and winning the Atlantic 10 championship is one way of taking those steps. But you have to use it and go further and further in the NCAA tournament.

We wanted to use our speed and really pressure the ball and get into the passing lanes. We didn't want to give them any open looks. They can shoot the ball with the best of them if you let them.

Things didn't quite work out like we wanted them too, but... we still have you, and you still have us.

You can look in every direction and find a competition or an event going on. Even if you're not involved in playing one of the sports being offered, you can find anything you want to do. There's shopping, entertainment, all different types of people ... it's really a great atmosphere.

We were rattled. A team like Rutgers, they play in spurts, and they didn't have a large spurt. We certainly knew we had it in us to get back in the game if we stayed focused.

I like the challenge of getting players to rise to certain levels, but that's the easy part. The biggest challenge is to get them to believe in what we're doing. They have to understand that it's O.K. to have good days and bad days.

A lot of people notice when you succeed, but they don't see what it takes to get there.

She's taking care of the basketball. She's knocking down threes. The only thing she could do is just be a little more vocal. And if we can get that out of her, we'll probably be a better basketball team.

She's gotten better in a lot of ways. The biggest thing with Lady was her conditioning. I told her she had to come back in better shape, and she did. It's shown on the court. I think she has a tremendous upside. She has the opportunity to keep improving for next season. She has a world of talent.

She's got my all-star vote, ... I think you'll see her in a bunch of these before her career is over. She's quick. She's tough. She has great vision. People might talk about her being small but you can't talk about the small game to me. She's having a tremendous season.

She's capable of doing that. You don't want her to touch it in that situation.

One more year. I'm going back to Houston.

I expect that this level will be the most challenging for me, being on the other side of the whistle. I'm going to approach this challenge the same way that I did as a player, helping Anne in any way that I can and doing whatever it takes to come away with nothing less than the gold.

If it was one-game elimination, youth would probably win, ... But since it is a series, I like our chances because of our experience in big games games even bigger than the WNBA playoffs.

Having grown up in the housing projects of North Philly, I understand the profound value of Olympic dreams.

GW did have a run in them, and we expected that. We were up by eight, and then a minute and a half later, it was gone.

Our players needed a wakeup call. They can't know how good they can be until they beat a team of this caliber. We had to drive to the basket and we had to exploit their (Rutgers) inability to stop us.

I think most of the players who have jumped from playing to coaching have their egos in check. You played the game at a high level and that brings instant respect, but what you do to maintain that credibility is the key.

When you're faced with this type of situation, it's not going to be easy, ... but it's doable as long as there is time on the clock.

We're not back there with Stony Brook, I can tell you that. Our team lacked leadership in the beginning. It's gotten a lot better in the past six to eight weeks. Candice Dupree has really taken on a vocal role. Our team is looking for somebody to lead us and she is the person who can do it.

We made it dramatic. But that's why Coach (Van) Chancellor and Coach (Bill) Laimbeer made the moves. They knew it wasn't going to be easy. They had the foresight to look at who they were going to be playing the last 10 games.

We are not in the driver's seat. And when you're not in the driver's seat, you got to play hungry every night. And that's what we're doing.

We attacked, but we couldn't get anything to fall.

This team is the most undisciplined team that we've had. They're just really undisciplined. They're not a team. This is the first team that's not a team, so we're going to get to the problem. We'll slowly but surely get to it, but we'll get to it.

You'd think you would go in and see the crying. They're not like that; they're very positive. I wasn't anticipating that. I thought I was going to have to comfort people. But they let us know exactly what went on, (that) they were out of a tough situation and were on to something else that could give them a little hope.

It would have been devastating. They made the trades to make themselves better, and I was getting a chance to play for a championship.

It would bring tremendous publicity, revenue and a massive amount of people from all over the world to our beautiful city. It would also help the children of Philadelphia see that they too could become an Olympic athlete.

That's what veterans do. At times like that, we don't get rattled. We know we always have a shot at winning the basketball game. You just have to stay in it. With us, we're an older group. We understand. We've been in big, big games before.

They played harder, they gave more effort for 40 minutes and they won. We just didn't have it today. We had our moments, but we didn't have it for 40 minutes.

There were too many instances in the game we weren't ourselves. We didn't have enough fight. We had too many lapses to complete.

I told Candice our team is searching for a leader. We are searching for someone to listen to, searching for someone to ride her coattail. It had to be her.

It took her a year and a half to do it, although it could have been just one semester. It's hard. She's from Philadelphia. You've got different people and things pulling at you, but sometimes it takes people just a little longer to achieve something. She's resilient.

They could have handled the trade differently, opened the lines of communication, especially with the amount of time and professionalism that I've given to that organization and to that city, ... It's a business, but I don't have to like it.

They can play in that type of game. Come Monday, the competition is going to be different. It's going to take a little experience, and a little Olympic savvy to win. We shouldn't have had 27 turnovers against New Zealand. You give Australia 27 extra possessions, it's a different outcome.

I'm treating it as an Olympic experience where for the most part we were going to beat teams, ... I knew I'd be needed somewhere between the quarterfinals and gold medal. With this Houston team, their core is intact. I'm here for plays, certain situations. It's easy for me because I understand it. I don't think any other veteran that has played this long or won as many gold medals, I don't think their ego could stand playing maybe 15, 20 minutes a night. I relish the fact that I get to compete for a championship. I just got to do my part.

I play basketball because I love it. This was enjoyable, and I'm still motivated to get to the finals.

Candice is a tremendous player and we'll go as far as she'll take us. We'll ride her coattails as far as we can.

I didn't think we played well. Offensively, we rushed. We gave a lot away.

For the people who know Sheryl, the people that she talks to, she has already confided in them. Now she is just being truthful and honest. It is a personal choice, but not a revelation for those of us who know her.