Skylar Diggins-Smith & Gabby Williams on Storm’s Winning Time!

all right we'll go ahead and begin if you have questions go hit that hand rais button Percy will'll start with you and then we'll go to Jeff Brown Percy go ahead awesome um I guess the first question is for Skyler hey just um considering your like two and five record you know since uh returning from the break was the be belief wavering at all and what type of statement did you guys make tonight with a road win like this against a team with the second best record in the league no the belief didn't waver I think that um was where the frustration comes from we knew we know what type of team we have we know what we have in that locker room we know what we're capable of and so we were we were disappointed in that performance um not to say that it's um a shame to lose anybody in this league um especially the son who like you said been playing great all year um we talk about our how to how we do things our want to need to and I thought we played with more of an edge today we were more physical we were more into bodies we were more uh active engaged defensively and um and and that's why they didn't score almost 100 points and we were able to hold them um under 70 um I thought defensively we just came out with more of an edge and more physicality than we started that first game for like Gabby did you guys prove anything to yourselves tonight or did you see something that hasn't been there for a while I mean obviously you joined the team five games ago but did you see something you know maybe in like your team that you haven't seen in a while uh this is the identity that I expected to have even before I came like when I saw this roster like how we played tonight was how I expected us to play of course like there's some growing things people changing positions adding me things like that but uh the fact that we held them to 64 points I think we can do that to any team any day and um that that sets the tone for our offense as well when we when you get those kinds of things going on defense there you go thanks guys appreciate it je Brad yeah first for Skyler just all the adjustments you guys made you were kind of touching out defensively um they scored 56 points in the paint on Sunday and then just held to 34 um their bench had 28 points in the last game just two points tonight what maybe are the adjustments that you're most proud of and maybe what were those types of adjustments yeah um not to be redundant but um we we wanted to be more physical we wanted to start the game touching we thought they um we got into a lot of unnecessary switches and that kind of put um me in particular in position sometimes guarding the post players just some unwanted switching and I thought we did a good job of kind of staying with our match up uh this time around um pressure B pressure you know I thought um just put more pressure on the basketball and and honestly obviously with G playing like that we have a chance versus any team I thought she was really aggressive tonight I thought the first unit did not start the first five minutes how we wanted to start the basketball game um but Sammy came in uh Mercedes she had great minutes off the bench tonight with a plus 21 uh Jordan she gave great minutes uh Joiner came in for a stretch and um I thought that group in the second quarter was the one that really kind of got us back into the game um but but yeah those are the adjustments we wanted to make most of them was defensively trying to figure out what we wanted to do there um but points in the paint was the emphasis and rebounding and for Gabby obviously I know it's only been a few games but uh this season high for you um just talk about kind of your offensive game what was feeling comfortable for you and I think as a team as a whole it seemed like you guys were hitting a lot of like good like screening moving without the ball yeah uh I mean I've only had two real practices since I've been here so it took me a while to like really get my rhythm but my teammates have been like so confident in me everyone's been talking to me this staff just like be you be aggressive um so I really just try to kind of be less timid today with the ball I just really attack and I know when I'm aggressive that opens up everything else for my teammates and it makes it easier for everyone so I'm just going to continue to be aggressive like that and just play with a lot of energy and just get us going transition is where is my strong suit so I'm going to keep an emphasis on that and uh Skyler just one more uh about Mercedes you kind of touched on already but just the job that she was able to do to just kind of slow down Briana Jones down there yeah well when she's in and she's active like that and she's engaged defensively um we're a different team um she's great at knowing the schemes um she's she's a she has a high basketball IQ and um for her to just come in there obviously we know um Bri Jones is a load for anybody you know she she's she's going to get her position I thought Sadies did a good job of being physical um you know DB got loose just a little bit but you know outside of that the difference was those were the only two in double digits and I thought last game you know Veronica Burton got in double digits Ty Harris got digits Marina got in double digits and so I thought we eliminated that with only two bench points tonight and really just okay Bri Jones and DB got th and we cut everybody else's water off definitely thank you ladies thanks Christian and then Bella I gab me Skyler uh my first question is could you just speak to how easy uh well not easy but how easy flowing it is to run the offense when your defense is feeling the offense kind of just adding on to that extra Edge uh yeah I mean like I said it's it's easier to get going when when we're forcing in when we're pushing in transition uh I think it's also when when uh we forced them to defend uh for 24 seconds and I think we did that really well last game I think we maybe took some quick shots or shots were out of position so we couldn't get back as much but when we take those shots in transition in and in good offense it allows us to set up for our defense as well and I think that also helped us in limiting them to with their points in the paint and with um their transition points yeah I'm leaving and one more everyone that played tonight shot above League average or better from the field what do you think you guys are seeing out there and kind of the openings that you had to night that you probably didn't see on Sunday um yeah I don't know we made some adjustments I thought um having gab start at the point um you know just giving a different look us running the wings and kind of get getting into some different shapes um who we wanted in certain matchups and kind of targeting there um yeah I think it was more of a of a mindset than it was anything like on paper we know we got the skill set I always say I think it was just our mindset of how we played the game and how we approached the basketball game after starting at 0 to8 um we started playing at the seven minute Mark but um in the first quarter but like how we responded from there and then what I was proud of was how we grabbed the lead and we held on to it after we we got it up to seven I think we got it up to 11 um but you know we kind of kept it in that pocket they got it down a three but we didn't panic I thought we played like we got the lead instead of trying to hold on to a lead or not lose thank you and B and then looks like one last one from person hey guys thanks for the time um just one quick one for me uh Gabby I had talked to um Jordan about your return and she was really excited to learn from you and have you push her and you know battle for those minutes um but just in terms of you know what she brought to the team today can you just speak to her performance and what you saw from her um yeah Morgan uh sorry thank you Morgan uh Jordan and I um were always in each other's ears during the games because I think we have a lot of similarities in our game so like when we say something to each other we're also saying it to our it kind of helps us get motivated like keep being aggressive keep attacking your defense is great your energy is great um and because I'm older and have a bit more experience I try to like Mentor her Mentor her because I see like baby Gabby and I want her to like not make the mistakes that baby Gabby made um so we have great chemistry I love playing with her I love being on the same team with her and I can't wait to see what kind of player she becomes and when she becomes an All-Star I hope she gives me a shout out thank you Percy gra hey I just want to get your guys thoughts um was late in the game you're up by like it was like six or so um I think Carrington had a fast break driving down and the only thing between her was uh NECA just just you know just your thoughts on like that play that she made there at The Rim to like not just get the fou but to to to like get that block great verticality we talk about it all the time verticality but she did a great job that was a huge moment and momentum for her to get that block so that's what we know of our big that's what they're capable of but that's the verticality we always talk about it a good y thank you appreciate it co here in just a minute