LA Sparks vs Chicago Sky | 9/06/24 Post Game Show Press Conferences | LA Sparks Weekly

what's going on LA Sparks weekly you already know me it's DJ trcy Tre and the Chicago Sky break a seven game losing streak and have another chance to fight for that final eighth spot in the playoffs Angel Reese was too much Kennedy Carter was back it was just too much the Sparks really fought hard but unfortunately lost 92-78 I have a special guest in the studio with me today make sure you stay tuned to LA Sparks week [Music] still [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] what's going on infinity TV it's DJ trcy Tre and welcome back to another episode of LA Sparks weekly the Chicago Sky took us down y'all we really tried to put up a fight but they've got so much on the line with that eighth playoff spot happening I'm not alone here in the studio I've got our familiar friend Kahari everybody Welcome Kari back to the show what's happening what's happening what's going on Kahari man we were off to such a good start give me your initial thoughts on what happened tonight against the Chicago Sky my initial thoughts is I love what I seen in the first half from the team like it was a game it was neck and neck they were playing great defense I think they was tied and switch points uh six times or whatever you know what I mean so just what I see is uh just the team and the pieces that you can start building for the future that's what I that's what I start seeing like this could be a potential um you know playoff team in the future yeah I agree with you but let's also talk about the fact that we kind of backsliding a little bit cuz uh the last uh 10 to 12 games we've been showing up for three quarters and then one quarter kind of gets away with gets away from us tonight it seemed like the whole second half got away from us at half time we were in a just a six-point slide you know we had a chance to catch up there but something went very wrong in that third third quarter like give me give me your thoughts of where we started to go wrong in that third quarter well they you started off wrong with defense you know they I feel like they wasn't playing with the same intensity uh they went away from Rak raki wouldn't get too many touches they wasn't really getting uh they wasn't getting much offense going they had the Scott had 27 points the third quarter like that was crazy you know what I'm saying yeah yeah I agree with you on the defense um and and the offense as well rille was cooking that first half she really was you know getting her own rebounds and being um aggressive I think it was one of those things where coach Miller said like you know she's earned this extra attention and the sky just made the adjustments that they needed to make in order to convert let's talk about the sky shooting three-pointers banam from from three even Angel ree hit a three there at the end like what's your thoughts on Chicago Sky strategy around the three-point uh Arc tonight I think they took advantage of that you know they would just getting open shots they was literally just hitting everything I don't think they did anything spectacular they were literally just knocking down shots you know Banner went crazy you know you let Kennedy Carter go go crazy you know then like like you said Angel Reese hit one and deer was looking like there's no way you're not you're going to hit this and she made it so it was just happened to be one no nice I don't think they had some big strategy yeah that they had it was the shots were just falling yeah and I think I think it had a lot to do too with the Sparks were scoring more effectively in the paint in the first half and it feels like um teaspoon and the Chicago Scott basically just said all right well you going to score in the paint we gonna score from the three-point line and they kind of just changed up the strategy but man Kennedy Carter was out the last uh I I'm not sure if she was out the last seven games but theyve they've lost the last seven games and they really missed her presence tonight was her first night back it was a very crucial game because the Atlanta Dream just won and overtook them for the aort spot so they needed this in order to tie for the eth spot how important was Kennedy Carter to this game tonight she was she was very important you can tell that she's playoff ready like she's been here before she's won a championship she's actually showing her leadership skills you can tell her with the way she went out tonight you can tell that she's ready for the playoffs yeah I I don't know how far they gonna go in the playoffs I mean think about it I don't I'm not saying they going to go far but she's ready to bring it yeah she's ready to play like we need this win let's go and also like I said I wouldn't want to play the Chicago Scotland playoffs either yeah yeah cuz I mean they real unpredictable too because it's like how do you lose seven games and have an explosive game like this where you just um at halim almost switch gears and just take off it's it's insane let's talk about angel Rees and Ria Jackson tonight we saw two of the rookies who are outstanding in the draft class and my opinion Angel Reese is two in the Rookie of the Year number two in the Rookie of the Year conversation and Ria Jackson is a close third she's one of the most efficient scorers um but tonight angel had herself a game so how do you feel like those two rookies in this draft class matched up tonight I feel like they matched up pry well you can always tell and that's the one things I want to ask for K tonight just about like you can see that players are going at you you can tell they they taking it person when they go at you in the sense like they know you're competitor so I see the way that Angela and Ria uh match up like like like you said like a lot a lot of commentators are saying that if it was wasn't for all the hype and things of that nature if it was any other year R would be guaranteed rookie of the year for sure you know and the way they match up I still believe that R is a better player Angel has the popularity but I've been saying it from the beginning you can ask Mel that rakia is g is one gonna be one of the best players in this draft yeah no I agree with you I think Ria's game all around is better than Angel Reese's Angel has found her Lane and also has been starting with the sky the whole year Ria wasn't starting with the with the Sparks she had to earn her way up and then adapt to playing the two I'm sorry the three and the four so she's playing multiple positions whereas Angel Reese has the same position on the Block every single night pulling another triple double she had different CH she had different challenges and that's one thing that uh Kurt Praises Ria on the way that she developed and actually learned with the the help from the assistant coaches so rakia was going through development quickly all year she had to learn fast yes yeah I agree and watching her square up and and shoot those threes and also score in the paint she had like three and ons back to back in the game where she's just pounding the glass and and going up and drawing the contact so you got to love players like Ria Jackson tonight but it just seems like we got out scor Dear Hami with 21 points four rebounds Ria Jackson 17 points um and six rebounds no other spark tonight reach double digits that's tough when you got a Chicago Sky team with five players in double digits what do you think we could have offensively done um to to just put more points on the board and put more uh baskets get more baskets I say just run more sets it's kind of like Kirk just kind of just letting them see what's going on like I said he's be building for the future just run more sets and see what's going on once you see that okay they they they they they turn the handing in on uh they doubling down on Ria y That's not working anymore let's go away from that that's where you got to start running sets and even run some motion to get other people going get ray going yeah get de de Erica going you know get AAR re going things that nature trying to see where where we can get some offense from you got to try to pull it and different that's where you come in as a coach yeah and I'm glad you mentioned Ray because tonight was Ray's time first time in the starting lineup I I tweeted it I put it on my Instagram story I'm like come on Ray how do you think Ray did tonight on the first night where she uh was in that starting lineup well today you could just tell the confidence I'm not going to look at numbers I'm not going to think what she did on the board or statistically but I saw how she was a confident you can tell that she's not worried about coming out she plays better and definitely more confident when she's knows okay I I got Ru to make mistakes yep you know I mean you I could tell the way she was running uh grabbing rebounds yeah you know just her whole body language and energy was different tonight yeah dare I say that we've actually turned that corner in the season where coach is like you know what I'm just going to play Ray because she is a part of the building blocks for the future you know we been saying it all seon we were like yo coach the fans been tweeting them Yo adding them like yo coach play R so that's why he's like okay he's hearing it he's seeing it and now we're seeing the benefits of what put rean playing time yep and you know what he played Ray and Zia played too she didn't play a whole bunch of minutes let's see how many um minutes Z Cook play and while you looking at that you can see that that the you got to keep the connection going between uh Ray and R like they're both athletic they got that dog keep them playing together and active and see what they can do like the energy they bring on the court can be something yep and I'm I think he put Zia played nine minutes by the way I think he put Zia in because Zia's a good offensive spark to go against a Carter you know like counteract the times where they take Kennedy out the game Throw Zia in so she can kind of play that quick fast role and and and Hunt her buckets in order to get to it but y'all we going to the press conference we are live with the team Ria deer and coach let's go followed by question for players first only you know disappointing um middle quarters for us tonight against uh that giving up 56 points in those middle quarters really just put us on our heels it was a defensive night that um you know is just really frustrating that they shot over 50% over 43% from The Arc um had their second highest point total of the year and uh just frustrating uh didn't execute very many things that we wanted to do defensively and really don't have a lot of answers why we couldn't get some of that done these two continue to play hard um tried to put us on their back offensively you know made 14 of our 29 foul uh field goals um they were both you know uh between the two of them 14 of 28 so we were efficient with these guys we just didn't have enough help and certainly it started at the defensive end question for players only will start with Ran hey Ria um sticking back or with the defense um coach was just talking about I think on a positive the strides you've shown as a helps side Defender uh have been imminent these last few games or so what what what have you seen with does that come from watching film or is that more instinctual how have you sort of developed uh that way um I mean some of it is film some of it is hurt saying on me about it um in a game I could be across the court and all I hear is flow flow flow so I so to make sure that I don't keep hearing that I just get there you said flow is what he says to you flow cleanse flow everything you can think of nice thank you Infinity Hey DJ from infinity TV this question is for RIA tonight you had three blocks so can you talk a little bit about your defensive spark playing against the Chicago sky tonight um I don't think it's just against them I feel like every game um I try to make strides on the defensive end um I tried to cleanse to the ball more I know they got quick guard so I wanted to be in help for my teammates just in case they got blown by um this team their guards doesn't really give a lot of shot fake so I just knew like once they pick the ball up can kind of just time their blocks um and that just came from like watching films and things like that and um this question for r as well like um can you give your thoughts on just players you know like when they see you and then they want to you know they just want to really compete you can tell they I'm not saying necessarily they taking it personal but you know you can tell they kind of want to go at you out of respect you know what are have is that something that you've been noticing these past uh really all season I mean the other game like Coach K was just like you earned this like you earned this attention on the offensive end so I mean it's cute I guess I mean I don't know like they take it personal I think I like it you know like I don't want no one to just take it easy on me you know challenge my defense a little bit um especially when they're going hard at me and I feel like I I stayed in front of them like one onone I feel proud of myself so I mean it is what it is it's cute Jackie hey Jackie with Jack accur TV Derica this one is for you obviously when things get frustrating um as a leader on the team especially at halftime we see the chemistry continue to grow between all of you but is there a a halftime speech that you give to try to make adjustments so these young players can go out there and and see the game in the floor a little differently um no coach gets on me about it he wants me to give halftime speeches um and that's just something I'm trying to find in my leadership ship because it's not instinctual for me you know I'm not I don't discipline my kids like that so I don't it's um it's a learning curve that I'm going to have to find in the offseason um to bring back to this team but just try to uh reemphasize the things we are doing well um and then I mean I'll talk about what we aren't doing well but uh I'm not really giving any speeches thank you ladies thank you guys goe with questions for Kurt infity hey coach it's DJ from infinity TV it seems like in the second half the team almost came out as a different team did you have a moment where you kind of pinpointed where you noticed that the tide changed in the game you know it's it was frustrating after 29-point quarter in most of the halftime um talking about defense and uh where we having slippage in what our coverages were trying to be um that we didn't get a stop um you know for the first four or five minutes of that third quarter so that that 56 points in those middle quarters for them um you know probably Rivals the highest two consecutive quarters that they've had all year offensively so it's just really frustrating that um we we could not bear down and get stops tonight individually or as a team um you know again um you know we just will keep reminding them what we were trying to do and we weren't accomplishing it I don't know if it's a lack of focus they were tired um you know they let any offensive um stuff affect the way they play defense but we have to be better defensively than we were tonight um coach can you talk about just what did you see like you seem like the first half you know you guys neck and neck you know and um can you elaborate on just what did you see the switch Yeah I just you know again um you know Carter's Dynamic and can playmake um but you know there's lots of attention to Reese and Cardoza and and you know trying to give congestion and help in the paint around them and try to keep them off the glass but when you supplement you know Rachel going through three for three from the ark um you know we knew that they there is a coaching tendency a a uh ex Ando tendency of that team out of atos out of timeouts or out of U situations When Rachel gets in almost all the plays are run for her and they our players knew that and sure enough they ran a play where we had slippage and how we wanted to guard it and Rachel got a three it's those kind of things that happen within the game things that we were doing within the game that the average spectator won't know uh what we were trying to accomplish or what we had talked about and those things happening th those really affected us tonight um not only in the game but emotionally because they all knew when it was happening that we've talked about it and it was a key and it was important for us and so when those things consistently happened tonight on things that we were looking for and anticipating and kn that we coming at us still hurt us tonight it's almost deflating emotionally um you know and so you know I I haven't felt like this in a long time with this group that they knew so much about what was going to happen and they and they just couldn't stop it uh you know was just a frustrating night for all of us hey coach uh it's one thing to be facing a team that's dropped uh that's right in the losing streak but then also like there's a a heightened sense of urgency with them trying to hold on to a playoff spot as well what can be learned facing a team like that playing with that type of urgency for a young Squad like yours yeah I mean we we have honest talk you know we talk about it with this group about like how important a game is for someone and you know what kind of emotion and and the energy that you're going to need to match or uh it's seed especially on the road and you just got to keep talking about it until you know it's like you you don't want to be a staff that says you know I told you like we we told you hey we you know like we talked about what Kennedy has all over social media and how important uh the stretch was and how important tonight was uh but you know they you know they have to feel it and live it and uh if they're not if they're not responding to just the talk about it they have to be able to respond after they feel it um and did you know was it a game that they're want to Chicago's want to was higher than ours that's frustrating at this level right every game everybody should have great want to thanks coach save travels thank you hey coach kind of to piggyback on that we've seen we've talked about this um All Season where there's not they're not playing the full four quarters and sometimes it's emotional sometimes it's fatigue is that something that you can really coach them through given that this is a young team or is this something that they just have to go through and experience and get to the other side yeah they got to experience it and we got to coach them through it you know and there and there's different ways sometimes uh you're trying to drag it out of them and and and you're harder on them and you're demanding and and there's that tack then there's the encouragement side then there's kind of things where you just you don't address every little thing um and you hope that the veterans are talking to each other like you mentioned someone mentioned in in halftime uh before the coaches even walk in there that there's there's some ownership in that locker room um again you know we just we've had a revolving door with with point guards you know we have lean Ary not playing um now you know both Odyssey and Crystal have been with us in Long long enough and are on rest of season contracts but you know it's asking a lot of them that haven't been here very long um to really be the leaders we have some veterans in the post group we have some veterans that have been in really good locker rooms around this league that again we're asking them to take on a role um that's an enhanced uh role than maybe what they've been in the past years and really trying to help them you know with that leadership help them with that um voice that you know is so important because it just can't always be the coaches so um again I'm just tonight was frustrating you know like we've lost games and you know I I can find a lot of positives a lot of games but tonight um you know that 92 points in the defense of what we really were trying to accomplish is disappointing last question ra hey coach right from the sporting tribute um the Sparks have been eliminated from a playoff contention um is there going to be any changes going forward and also did you just say odyssey's on a rest of year contract I guess not right she's on the third day second or third seven she's on her third s day Ray sorry I misspoke that way no problem um uh what were we saying uh changes you know again we're just going to keep exploring um obviously um you know giving you know giving people looks to give us the best chance to win but honestly it's you know um you know you got you got to play people that um continue to earn minutes thank you all right LA Sparks weekly fans thank y'all for hanging out with us um we actually just heard from coach and the players in the press conference you just heard it live it's sounding very deflated it's sounding very oh my goodness what happened to us it sounds like we're at a point where coaching is frustrated because we knew the things that were going to happen and we still couldn't stop them Kahari how did the press conference make you feel like where do you think we are after hearing from coaching players tonight kind of like we said earlier um I feel like we at a point where you need to just focus on the pieces that you need for next season okay who I'm Who I'm a key what what can I how can I build for next season you know like I said you you got the has a contract you sign a you have the two rookies and R and Cam I think you start preparing for that and see what can how can I build and what can I learn from from this season and deer said in the press conference that she didn't the question was asked do you give halftime speeches and she like no do that I'm almost wondering if de'arra could turned up on them if they would act right cuz she said you know I don't parent my kids that way like you know you got to be accountable for yourself and it's like they might need veteran leadership to be more hard on them and she said that she was going to develop it in the off season so it's like mentally is she already preparing for the next season what what are your thoughts around that I don't think that she's going to be ever ever ever be able to be able to bring that energy they might have to bring someone in to bring that vocal leadership or try to see who who they have but de' has a lot going on right now you can see it so that's that's why I feel like she's at mentally you can tell like you say she hasn't been the same since the Olympic break so mentally where she's at just is probably you know at multiple places right now and you know what I don't I don't even think it's fair to ask a player like more I mean I get yes more be our leader more more more but she is already doing so much you know what I mean now she got to be the cheerleader and the person to tell them to be accountable and we know the things like it almost feels like that's so out of her her comfort zone if that is it's it's warming to hear that she's willing to try that but it's also kind of feels like unfair that's how that's what that's how that's that's how what I felt from her she was like I mean I Tred but you know like she's so nice and sweet she's like okay I'll try to be this but you can't try to take all her energy yeah and she she shows it more than she tells it she's one she strikes me as one of those people I'm looking I'm seeing it yeah yeah and then R was in the press conference as well and and talked about I asked about her defensiveness she said she trying to do that every game with the three blocks love to hear that from her um and and matching up against Angel Ree of course fires her up she's she also said it does kind of motivate her a lot that people want to play more aggressive toward her what are your thoughts on Ria moving forward and experiencing these losses which coach talked about because the experien sometimes is a better teacher than any coaching could be and you couldn't have said a better experience is your best teaching and I feel like we're kids is just learning the game a couple weeks ago coach said that she's a potential Allstar in the future and everyone sees it so long as she could continue to learn the game you know noticing that okay y'all respect me players are y'all why yall y'all trying to go at me okay now I got to turn on my defense those little things like that matters those experiences matters for her yep all right car it's time and you're the guest here on the show so let me know who is your player of the game tonight who is my player of the game tonight I like I got to say Odyssey Odyssey okay yeah I just like her leadership you know what I mean like I said I I be looking at things it don't have everything don't have to be on statistical board but I saw how vocal she was out there the fact that you know you don't see this nowadays like that okay if my rookie is scoring I don't care that she's a rookie let's give it back to her that might not even been a coach mve that might have been Odyssey just like oh go back to you you can score they not stopping you go back to you four or five plays in a row she went right back to Ria me I like that type of leadership because now you're getting building Ria's confidence you already know I've been in how long uh I been in the league eight plus years yeah I think this year eight for her yeah so you already know like this is my time it's your time go with no Egos and I like that okay Odyssey for the attitude my player of the game I'mma have to give it to Deer you got to have regular consistent fantastic play de' has shown up for double digits once again cut that curve after the Olympic break you know sometimes you don't come back and you have a couple off games and your mental could just be be thrown she has not done that she has continued to show her worth through the play and then even in the press conference talking about developing for next year so deer is my player of the game today LA Sparks weekly man we got another loss we a little bit deflated here we're at the end of the season but this is good things are happening we are talking about building for the future it was a late game for the people on the east coast and us here for the West Coast no it's pretty much late it's 9:00 it's 9:00 so thank y'all for staying up with us make sure you tap in and follow infinity TV as well as LA Sparks weekly we are going to be live for all of our post games in the studio on X so make sure you follow us make sure you follow me and Mel thank y'all so much for showing love Kahari as well we will see y'all next episode [Music]