Jewell Loyd and Nneka Ogwumike on how Skylar Diggins-Smith's COMMENTS last game PUSHED the Storm

when you're ready go ahead Hey Joe can you take us through that last shot there uh you you guys are down one it didn't seem like you necessarily needed A3 but just was that was it the screen was it the play what what was that play um it was kind of both um hello okay uh yeah I was kind of both uh it was a great great setup we were pretty patient I'm selling Nea like like it was such a great screen it's hard not to take that shot um you know it's a really good setup but you know it it's a this whole game tonight was really just team effort um everyone made big plays Big Shots throughout the game and uh that's what we're going to need um you know we're it's not always going to be pretty but uh you know we were able to come up with some big stops too and and allowed us to kind of be in that position but um yeah it was a great pass great screen and be to knock that shat down just as you guys in this game just uh I don't know if pressure is the right word but just as you guys have come out of the break how much pressure was there on you you guys to like win this game and to turn things around I think there's an understanding that all these games are super important um and we want to make sure that we're locked in and executing our our our game our game plan and we want to come out here and set the tone and that's what um said in practice coming up is understanding you know we want to set the tone from just how we play um just effort um I you know keep saying you no matter make or Miss turn over not like just play hard um just play you know we can't control everything but um we control how our mindset is and our perspective on things and I think that's where we're at right now NECA uh you and Tina Charles were battling all night long um Jan up with a triple double just talk about the battle between you two I was a battle of the Vets you know um I've been Gardena my whole career uh including in college it's always a really great challenging matchup and um she's the type of player that makes me better and juel um just you obviously have been through multiple championships now but for this specific team I felt like this was one of your guttieri down four with like 90 seconds to go you finish on an 80 run um kind of talk about what happened during that 80 80 run and then just also like what that means that you can build off of this yeah I mean it's super important to understand like it's just execution um you know we were really locked in in our timeouts and we were really just communicating um you know like I said after the game these are the games that you want to be in um that you know that got to get us where we need to go um and I feel like um tonight was a good segment of that because we we know we could wi this kind of games we know can wi you know hopefully you know you always want not blow out right but there not always what you're going to get so we know we could be in games where you have to grind it out and we know that's probably going to be how it is the rest of the season just because everyone's fighting for the same thing right but um for us it's an understanding that we we're here and we're supposed to be here um we're able to to play like this and have a team win that's what it is it's all team basketball at this point we saw how emotional Skyler was postgame after Monday night was that message shared in the locker room or did it need to be um I mean everyone here is super passionate um and it's not just totally about basketball it's because we believe in one another we have an expectation and I think that's the passion that you see and you heard in in the press conference and I think for all of us we came into to practice we came into the gym we came into shoot around with a different mindset of like we want to play better we have more to give um and that's what um we saw tonight is there's another level that we can get to and I think if we have that and sustain that then we're able to to be in games and close out games um wanted to kind of follow up on that as you know leaders on this team was there anything you did to help the team come into practice like that the next day or was that sort of it seemed like everyone made that decision by themselves and came in and was ready to go I mean I think everyone made that decision on their own um I'd also say that you know no no we came in with the attitude of like let's this is business you know um this period after the break is not at all up to our expectations and it's not necessarily about it is but it's not necessarily about the losses it's about how it happens the wins are good but it's about how we do it and I think we got to a point where you know the rubber is going to hit the road and you have to show up in the way that you want to and so um we're playing unapologetically so and in terms of you know maybe what you say to your team or anything like do you have a a message to your to your teammates after that sorry actually can I restart my question yeah um how do you as As Leaders deal with a loss like that in terms of your message to others balancing not getting too hard on yourself not being too hard on yourselves and giving people Grace but also knowing it's not good enough how do you try and find that balance especially having done it for so long I mean I think what was unique about Monday's game was you know the sequence of plays at the end and I think that that's where you give the grace because it doesn't come down to one possession you know we we can watch tape and see a string of possessions we can see um isolated incidents that built up to the point where now you've lost control of the game um against play against teams that will that will capitalize on that and I think there's a there's a way to be passionate about it like how sky is always and to lean into the yuck you know I think that you have to lean into that um because the reality is is that time is running out and you know you just got to show up you got to do the job you you you have to do the job these games are going to happen whether you show up or not so you might as well do it the way you want to um and it's about it's about the method the madness and so being able to play a certain way is going to yield a result but what is your process like you know and so I think that being harder on ourselves in the process I think is important you know those Nuance those nuances it adds up I mean look look what's going on right now anybody can win you know and that's that's an attitude that you have to have every night coming in knowing that about yourself communicating that to yourself but then playing like that too and leading by example as a leader thanks gby steel what worked defensively on that play to force Atlanta kind of deep in the 5sec count and then for her to be able to make that play mindset they didn't tell us to do anything we just went out there and we almost got two we almost got two 5sec plays to me after the first one I knew we were locked in I knew it was going to happen again we just wanted to do it uh question was kind of about the defensive play at the end too um there has been a lot of talk on communication with the team and it seems like that defensive play was the combination of that uh communication so can you talk a little bit about that and uh when Gabby jumped to get the ball it was right in front the two of you so can you give us like your point of view of that just how high she jumped and how uh strong that play was yeah I mean we talked about in locker room and I you know we were we were ready and even before I looked at Sky and like right before the ball got inbounded or try to get B it we kind of looked like are we G to be aggressive and she kind of look I'm like she's probably G to go out and like we said it wasn't anything fully communicated it was just like we're gonna whatever we gotta do to get a stop but I kind of knew once that ball went is in the air I'm like Gabby somewhere about to get this like I know she's an athlete and I looked around I'm like there she is it was just like yeah like free safety and I joke around with her all the time saying like she's our free free safety and the moment that ball was up I'm like yeah it's a steal so yeah we have like I have a moment with my teammates before we get our names called out and today you know was Gabby's first start so I had to figure out what her Mantra was you know we all have our things that we say to each other and Gabby said you are who you want to be that's what she tells herself and she was that in that moment in so many other moments um she's our French our French army knife let's take a question from Christian on uh Zoom uh Christian go ahead with your question hi Jula um you know throughout that first quarter then going throughout the rest of the game um juw had 12 points in the first Nea had 10 in the second and then in the third quarter um I believe Skylar scored or assisted on six of the seven possessions to start the quarter could you just speak to the effect that you guys have as Leaders but also as kind of the stars of the team I mean the the best thing about this this roster in general is that we're so versatile um and we have a lot of weapons and you know there's going to be times I we seen like that I could go on and score 10 in a row you know Sky gets hot same thing I mean we all have that we just need like one to go and and kind of just snowballs um and that's really hard to guard you know we put ourselves in good situations and we feed off that you know I think it's a really nice balance and then remember we not you know we have people coming in you know I think sades came in and gave us a lift right like same everyone comes in so um our job is to make sure that we're putting ourselves in the right situations to succeed but also hyping each other up like I know I was tell Nea like she shoots half the time I don't rebound because I'm like that's going in I have the confidence that she's going to make these shots all the time so I think that helps a lot too but um it's really hard to to try to eliminate all of us um at some point someone's going to go off and um you know we're g to keep feeding them you know and I believe that and so it's really cool just to sit there and watch too um it's really cool to see you know her Dominate and and I have to guard it it's nice that she's on this side and to really fully appreciate it everything so so pretty cool I think it's also important too um speaking kind of specifically to your question that um like on any given night obviously we all know what we're capable of but through the course of the game ensuring that none of us turn our light switches off you know I feel like you know on a team where you have so many um so much artillery uh and there's tempos of the game there's flow of the game knowing that you always got to be on I think is important you know you made a really good point you know you have one person scored this much in this quarter another person another person and then at any given time it could be all three of us you know and I think that um and of course obviously the rest of the team but speaking specifically to your question ensuring that our switches are never turned off I think is something we always got to stay warm to the aggression that each one of us can offer throughout the game thank you hey Jo um out of all of the big shots that that you've made I mean we can sort of count them off Dallas LA and the like bubble just can you rank them you I mean and and like any idea as to where this one may fall I don't know I mean right now this one matters because we won you know like I don't know like I I know I've been big shots before but some of them we've lost games um and so the biggest thing right now it's focusing on this year um you know and making sure that regardless of not always in those situations either to have to make all these big shots but at the same time I I I understand that um I do like those situations I'm comfortable in those situations but uh tonight was a big one because we needed we needed this one but like I said it was set up perfectly great pass great screen um and an execution of our offense so I don't ask me when I'm like retired or something I don't know give me a better answer it's pretty a lot more of those to come so um thank you ladies appreciate it thanks everyone in just a minute