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WNBA FINALS: MONARCHS v SHOCKSeptember 1, 2006John WhisenantDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Two COACH JOHN WHISENANT: Well, it's not as much fun to be up here as it was last time when we're beaten. They handled us in the paint in the second half, beat us 40-21. We gave them a 25-point fourth quarter. You know, our goal always is to keep people in the teens each quarter. We do it, that's just a defensive goal. You know, we kept it reasonably close for three quarters and then we just broke down, when their four is inside, and they came and got us. And our offense got stagnant and we got caught standing. I felt like, you know, we left Sacramento Thursday a week ago, so we've been on the road quite a while, and even though we've been living pretty good, pretty nice five-star hotels and eating well, it's still -- I thought we acted a little tired. It could have been the coach's substitution pattern. Maybe I left them, some players in there too long and they became tired in the fourth quarter. But needless to say, they played well. They came back, they had to win this game. I think they knew that. They felt going back to our place down 0-2 would have been a very deep hole, but now they are back right where they want to be, right in the thick of things. So it will be a dogfight from here on. Q. You missed 20 of your first 24 shots in the second half, how much of that was, you said your offense was stagnant, and how much of that was their defense? COACH JOHN WHISENANT: Probably a lot their defense. They played well. They were guarding us. They got us, bumping us, and kind of got us out of rhythm. And I thought we stood, we didn't move sharply like we need to against that kind of defense, pressure. We play against it every day; that's what we do. But, you know, when your legs get a little bit tired, it's easy to get to standing, and I thought we did that. Although, we held them to 15 points. That's where our defense keeps us in the game, and that's what we preach to our team. And so we were still in good shape at the end of three quarters after ten minutes in the third quarter. Missing all those shots, we were still up by whatever. We were still up, anyway. So it wasn't until later that we let it drag us down, got to us. Q. Do you want to comment on the play of Katie Smith for the Shock in the second half? COACH JOHN WHISENANT: Katie's a handful. When she was -- before she was at Detroit, she was a handful. She's always been. I call her an Ohio State fullback. She's strong and powerful. Heavy, powerful legs, can power through most guards. It's very hard for guards to stay with her. And she's a deadly shooter, always has been. Been that way since she was at Ohio State. So, you know, there's a reason she's been on the Olympic teams and won the gold medals. She's an outstanding player. Q. To kind of go in the same direction, but you held your own in the third quarter but she makes that thought at the end of the third quarter, did that alarm go off at that point even though you still had the lead? COACH JOHN WHISENANT: I would have much rather she didn't make it. But I mean, I still thought we could win the game. I've got confidence in our defense, and I thought that we just hit a wall there physically that I started seeing my players, they didn't have any zip. Detroit was beating us to all loose balls, all deflected rebounds they were getting to. They were just sharper and fresher, and you can say, Bill will probably say, they just wanted it more. That's one expression. I thought we played -- we looked, showed a little fatigue there.
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