Los Angeles Sparks Coach Curt Miller, Dearica Hamby, Rae Burrell post-game vs. New York

super proud of these guys tonight um you know less than two weeks ago coming out of the Olympic break a national television uh just did not compete real well against this same New York team so uh for us to step back up especially after um the disappointment from Dallas it just says so much about this team's character uh just really proud of them and for them um that they continue to just grind um during this year I think our practice yesterday getting back to the basic Basics and really focused in on defense um I just really proud of accomplishing the scheme that we uh wanted to try tonight against New York so um again team effort multiple people in double figures our turnovers low our defense really turned them over almost the 30 points uh Reay with a big fourth quarter for us her career high um Odyssey you know doesn't get enough credit for leading a team that she hasn't been with very long but then chased around Sabrina the entire night at the other end so full team um victory for us tonight and proud again just shows despite injuries illnesses all the adversity that this team has faced that we haven't quit and uh that're super proud of the effort tonight we'll start with players questions first then they'll leave and then we'll go with to K DJ hey uh de DJ from infinity TV and our chat before the game you talked a lot about the energy and how fun it was to play basketball do you see this game as a reflection just retrospectively of what we talked about yeah I mean this game brought a lot of confidence to our team especially our younger girls um and like I said I think we all enjoy playing basketball but makes it a lot fun to get some point by the way Derica had five assists and zero turnovers tonight and so R's question is for you just when you having performances like tonight just how much does that do for your confidence uh moving forward for the rest of the season yeah I mean everybody likes to see the shots go in uh it makes me feel good um I'm just happy that my team was able to put me in great positions to get those shots and I'm just happy that they were able to celebrate me too that also makes me feel really great this support that they have for me so hey Di this one for you Jackie with Jack TV you guys always seem to show up in the right moments with the big teams how have you guys talked about how you can make sure that that happens no matter who you're playing throughout the season yeah I think we've consistently shown three quarters out of four quarters with any team we're the better team on the floor um uh but we haven't been able to close games so this is what we've been talking about we blew it in Dallas um so down the stretch we emphasize that we got to close this game we gotta close this game we gotta get stops we gotta get stops um and so just cuted it out de' um you know as somebody who's won a championship in this league you know knows what it takes to to win at the highest level you know for for you guys you know have who have you kind of struggle closing out games throughout this season to get a win like tonight you know where you close it out take control of the game in the fourth quarter just kind of what does this do for a team that's that's young as you I mean know championship teams and close fo um they take time you know part of that last team I was on took us five six years to get to where it was and where it is now so um we know it's a process uh we think we have key pieces we've shown that we have key pieces um in our young team um and just keep building you know like you said we're not necessarily focused on May WI a championship this year but we had a defensive practice yesterday and just focused on building for uh the rest of the season and next year last question for players right excuse me uh at the beginning at the at the outset of the Season you play sparingly however whenever you got in you you remain engaged can you just talk to me about your mental approach towards just being ready when you're when your number is called yeah I mean really just controlling what I can control you know I have that tattooed on me um uh just you know controlling your attitude and the work that you put in the extra work that you put in and just staying ready and just making sure to continue to be a good teammate and just staying engaged like you said for when your number is called and just know that you put in that work to to be ready for those moments thank you ladies you ladies good we'll start with question first so coach just speaking of Odyssey you know she comes off the big game 26 and 10 and tonight you know close to 10 as well just what has she been like brought to the team as far as her veteran leadership and just her point guard play because it seemed like she's talking to you know the ladies out there and C cing them down she's become you know that voice on the floor for the team yeah she's she's a true vet you know in a league that is constantly hunting for point guards you know she has a proven track record uh she's leading us she's getting more and more comfortable every day um you know I just I I told her again multiple times tonight that I really believe in her and I believe that she's a closer and she's she I called her my dog tonight you know like she just um you know like she just has uh the confidence and the Swagger to be really really special so um you know she's had great moments in this league and I'm glad she's with us now she's a person that certainly um deserves to be in this league and she's getting more more comfortable with us which is a good sign and laes um Ria was a really big part of that first half getting you guys off with 15 with 15 points in the first half and she was also coming off a career high from Sunday's game how big has her growth been this season and what have you like from her yeah she you guys if we go back and watch film in May or talk about the training camp to where she is now I talked about this in the pregame with the media that was here it's remarkable how much she's improved within the season um she is competing so hard at the defensive end now like she was fighting through screens tonight she was switching and battling people bigger than her uh she was staying in plays there there is a absolute intent and dedication to that end of the floor which is really fun to see and doesn't get talked about because she's such a dynamic three level scorer uh I don't know how many games in a row it is now that she has gotten us off to Great starts um and we've played through her a lot and she's had great first quarters she is really really special at the offensive end and is only going to get better she now has the confidence and she knows she has the green light to not hesitate at a three she's in a groove right now shooting in the three um and it's really fun to see that just makes her even more Dynamic um you know she just she's going to be a special one and we're all seeing it and we're all seeing the growth um but again shout out to my assistant coaches that watch tons of film with her and are in the gym working but the improvement from May to now um is truly amazing it is not easy with the Cadence of games and the season that we're having it's not always easy to improve in season and to watch what she's doing is really impressive hey Co DJ from inanity TV quickly want to ask you about your assessment of three-point shooting from New York to to tonight going into the game and your game plan how did we fair in comparison to what you expected yeah they're a team that averages 33s we went to halftime they only had 12 so we felt really good about where we were at halftime not only their percentage of makes obviously but their volume and that was one of the keys going in they've averaged 15 made threes in those first three games against us this year um you know so again they crept towards their average right to 30 and and got some late but I thought we did a really good job for the most part with our schemes to try to stay in plays um you know just again they're so talented even without JJ and uh for us to turn them over into 29 Points is one of our our best defensive performances and you know again that fourth quarter was kind of a chess match because of no JJ they were playing smaller so we played smaller very underrated uh you know in that fourth quarter was the ability for Steph talit to be able to play the four and Chase around Stewie and allowed us to have a ray on the floor yeah you know if we were traditionally two bigs with either Aire or Lee um you know we may not get to see Ray the amount of minutes in that fourth quarter so we we we went small also I thought it was a good switching team and it paid off and and Ray really stepped up for us in that moment playing uh small but that doesn't happen without the versatility as we talked with some of you guys pregame on on the strength that Steph calbet allows us to do with all her versatility hey coach I had a chance to talk to studie and she said that the Sparks are one of the most dangerous teams in the league which means you're being recognized for the work that you're doing so in the position that you're in right now what is the focus going forward yeah I think that's a compliment because I my my played with her children in in Paris um so I paid her off a little bit but um no just you know coming from one one of the greatest in the world you know it it's nice to see that people are seeing that we're growing people are seeing and respecting what we're doing it's not always equ equating in the winds uh we know that you know we're there's no moral victories in this league but um people know every time that they have to prepare and they have to play us and that we have a lot of young pieces and and again we're doing this with a lot of injuries and illness so I'm proud of them that they could feel what it feels like to win again especially against a team like New York coach uh you guys had 29 Points off turnovers just what about the defense was able to make you get those turnovers and how did it Propel your offense yeah I thought we did a really nice job of staying in plays and that was some of our schemes um you know that we adjusted to uh we kept them out of the paint better than we did the first um you know three games in the series and we while not perfect uh we were better overall in transition and part of that is your offensive execution that's our second straight game shooting over 50% uh that's a really encouraging sign for our team to have two straight games like that we we had a franchise you know record type performance offensively against Dallas we didn't get to celebrate the win without so um you know part of your defense is your offensive execution it's your first line so they're taking the ball out of bounds and not running at at you because they're the best team in transition in the league so you know part of our whole defensive success tonight of turning them over you know gets like uh uh correlated back to our offensive execution hi coach Mia from adberg media um at practice you talked about how would you really need your team tonight was fight can you talk a little bit about how you saw that fight and how you want to see it going forward in the season yeah I loved our fight I loved our start um you know I don't have to remind you guys it was 10 in a hurry here that first game back after the Olympic break with them and I didn't think we responded to that punch um and we got off to a much better start in fact we turned them over the first two possessions of the game and it really set the tone of activity playing with active hands uh we played that whole fourth quarter defensively against Dallas without turning them over so you know that certainly we reminded them that so when we came out and turn them over the first two possessions that was a really big start for us coach de e mentioned um you guys are able to compete with any team for for three quarters it's it's that fourth quarter that always gives you a challenge coming off the the Olympic break dropping six dropping six games just what does it feel like to get a win yeah it feels great you know I'm so proud of them you know it's you know you feel better with wins obviously but you know more proud that they proved to themselves that they could step back up and fight and that we were better than what we looked like in that fourth quarter despite we now like we failed to keep talking about we scored 110 points in that game but um you know I just you know if it's really rewarding for them in that locker room they already were going to have two days off so nothing better than going to a couple days off off of a win we're gonna go to zoom now so Michael yeah um coach Miller if you look at the last couple of days the the bottom three teams in the standings all have big wins over playoff teams with you guys Dallas and Washington obviously you and Dallas played a tremendous game um the other day can you just talk about it I just feel like nobody gives up in this league like there isn't the nobody's ing it in even if they're at the bottom of the standings and you can see that in other leagues but we're not seeing that I wonder if you could speak to that from both the Sparks perspective but what we're we're seeing you know really with uh with the entire league yeah Michael I I mean you know I'm preaching the choir you understand this it's such a fine line between winning and losing in this league there are tremendous players top to bottom um you know Z Cook continues the waiter turn and and be a true professional for us and you know she's a really good player too so there's just really good players in this league there's a fine line between winning and losing and you know anyone can beat anyone it truly is that way in this league and if you can disrupt someone and you can get them on their heels you know you you can do this and and this is why you see it and no no one's you know like you know if I have to read the word tank one more time I mean we are trying to get better and uh we're building something special and uh you know no team in this League's going to quit uh the two-year aggregate it you know makes that you know so you know silly to even talk about but uh you know again you know I appreciate the comment of our Dallas game I thought it was a tremendous game disappointment for us but what a what an offensive performance by both teams and and uh you know both teams went into that game you know tied for 11th and 12th last question Raj uh uh coach the Liber run a lot of actions to leverage Sabrina shooting you talked about the defensive scheme but can you kind of go into specifically against her uh 0 for four from three in the first half four for three for 13 from three overall um can you just talk about the Su success you guys had against her especially in that fourth quarter to hold the league yeah I think you know we we tried to show her bodies you know truly hats off to Odyssey and C that got the assignment in that first half Odyssey just chased her around all night but you know we tried to you know try to keep her off balance and just make things as difficult as possible and start you know stay in play where where Sabrina has crazy improved is you know being a three-level scorer herself and being able to get into the paint and with her float game and and her mid-range game now is lead Elite as it is it's not easy to disrupt her but loved our physicality loved our attention to detail on on our Sabrina coverage tonight thanks thank you don't bother me for 48 hours oh yeah