Becky Hammon after Las Vegas Aces' exciting 77-75 road win over the Chicago Sky

Intro; comments on Kelsey Plum's screen to free up A'ja Wilson on the game-winning, buzzer-beater play after the timeout last atto the game obviously d off for Asia Chelsea inbounding but I think the subot in is Kel continuing to stream for you do so effectively can you just kind of speak to just her growth and just really how the Buy in as a smaller guard to screening can kind of play functionality wise to the offense yeah uh she really takes a lot of pride in her screening and um you know there's a lot of combinations that we use with her in Asia um she's such a great screener she's such a great shooter and scorer she's setting a pick for Asia you got to kind of pick your poison with those two in action so um you know there was a heck of a pass by Chelsea um her timing was really great but the that you're right the the real uh special part there was was Plum's screen um you know Asia that close to the rim it's going to finish so uh but it was it it was really KP that got her open here some atos like that I know obviously you practice them but like how much with a veteran team that you have like how much are you actually going over that stuff under a regular basis we Coach Hammon comments on ATOs (after timeout) plays she has in her coaching bag haven't recently um but uh there's times in practice or in shoot we're not really practicing anymore so in shoot around you know I'll tell them I'm thinking about drawing this or that and then kind of have them run through it but we didn't have a shoot around um today so um you know that was the choice I I had a couple other rolling around in my head um one of them though you know that I was thinking about I know spoon notse because we used to run it in New York it's a Richie Autobot PL so I I stayed away from the richy place because I know spoon knows those she actually got us in Vegas on the backpck the jump ball backpck that's a rich auto place we used to do that in New York so there was a couple of them I was rolling around I was like no she's going to know those um so you you're just really making split-second decisions out there um on what you want to do and time and score are you going to need a two or you gonna need three how much time you have all that stuff kind of goes into play you speak to Megan Gus obviously she got the start today just to stay ready mentality and her ability to impact Marge experienc yeah I mean she was great Thoughts on Megan Gustafson's performance today as a starter today we um you know we've talked to the team about just we're going with matchups in that fifth spot sometimes it could be AC it might be Megan might be Kia it just depends on what we feel we need each night we thought um AC was a better match up yester the other night in Minnesota and we thought Megan with the size of their bigs was a better uh choice to start today um and it'll probably be the same thing you know with Dallas with their two bigs um so we'll see we're kind of like a whenn today what's important now that's that's uh a little slogan that you know our assistant coach Tyler talked about and I liked it and we last Quick one for you so we talked about your experience both as a player and a coach on both sides of basketball in a season like this one where you had some highs and lows do you feel like a game like this one especially for the the extravagant ending can kind of catapult you stream you where you desire be I Can today's thrilling win catapult the Aces to get rolling again? mean I hope so I mean I I I always have faith that you know we're going to win basketball games there's my faith is unwavering probably to a fault I just think they can always do it um um that's my expectation um you know on a night that we really struggle to shoot the ball from three um you know we didn't get a a monster game from Asia you know if she if her 17f footer was going today it was going to be she was going to ring up 50 um she happened to have a little bit of an off night but she kept playing offense and um you know we held him to 75 I'm I'm good with those those numbers um and and conversely that's a team that probably doesn't traditionally shoot three as well and I thought they knocked down shots today so it was kind of a feel fortunate to walk out with a win really when we shot terrible and they shot very well um on shots that I would say you know we probably shoot better than them they shot them better than us today let's J to zoom Mike Vel yeah coach I just wondered um in terms of with with Chelsea Gray do you feel like she's becoming more and more herself as she has more reps and in a game like today it seemed like she you I don't know there there was some moments of real I guess Chelsea confidence that we saw um that in points where it was really important were you in our Coach's Locker Room today Michael Is Chelsea Gray becoming more comfortable and more confident and playing like herself now? or what no no I don't think so no that's that's what we just said the confidence that she was oozing today um you know again didn't necessarily shoot the ball but she was on on on point every other area of the game with her passing her rebounding she gets in and gets you know seven eight rebounds that helps us a lot especially with a team like that that really just hammers you on the glass um but it it's always her mind that sets her apart um and to be honest like she's she's she feels very good um you know and she's playing better and better and she's getting to be more and more herself but the bottom line is she's not even a year out from her fracture you know and so that's very uh impressive and substantial um to where she is and the work that she's put in and how she can impact a game um you know with really not being able to bend her foot you know so she's she's just a special player her mind is second to none she is just sharp as attack and um you know worst case scenario for me I'm like even if you like just give me your eyes and in mind out there and and I can work with that thank you all right Jordan hey coach so I wanted to talk Thoughts on the Aces' bench play this season about your bench you got some valuable contributions off your bench so what have you just like from your bench so far this season oh man they're they've been consistent um we've had more Firepower um coming off our bench so it's been good uh tip Hayes gives us just a gear that I love I am a huge Tiffany Hayes fan um coming off just being that microwave score but she just mixes it up defensively too for us I mean she's long she's kind of gangly like she's just and she's just a flash of speed um you know so she totally gives us a different look it's a totally contrasting look to say like a Chelsea you you know or um some of our other players where you know they're very they're their skill they'll they'll dance you like this where she can just flat out beat you with her with her speed um she's a great Creator she plays defense she plays the right way um and then you know AC is Just Like Old City Yeti she's just like old Mrs reliable back there like you can put her in in any situation and she is going to be solid um who she is is she's been her whole career and then you know we we sprinkle I liked Kia Stokes coming in off the bench the other night just defensively anchoring us um same thing tonight you know you saw me sub Kia in last play of the game um because I trust her instincts I trust uh her defensive her defensive prowess um so it's just a matter of everybody staying ready I think Sid's giv us good minutes um Kate the the thing is is we're struggling to win games there's just no margin for air so you know I always I always try to be fair with my players doesn't mean it's always equal there there's a big difference you know so coming in off the bench you have to be super solid solid where you know Asia Wilson yeah she has a longer lease like she can make a few more mistakes and you're going to roll with it um if we could get out the gates good that would help not have so much pressure on on our younger players like a Kate Martin it's it's huge moments it's huge Stakes right now when we're trying to crawl in um for playoff position so we're getting them in when we can and um it's their job to just be solid and like I said I Megan's probably you know hasn't had those consistent minutes so for me to throw her in the starting lineup and her to perform on a night where we're not making any thre she steps out and hit gives us a couple that's huge thank you we're gonna apologize to everybody with your hands up we only have one time for cie and we because we got a plane to catch to have to get to Dallas so Cali go ahead hey coach obviously basketball is a game Picking and choosing as a coach what you're willing to live with of runs ases had some C crucial ones throughout the game and then the sky was really effective and cutting into your lead at the end of that fourth quarter is that something you just talk up to their talent and their coaching or was there something specific there at the end that stood out or concerned you from your team perspective H more so than tonight Cali probably the ongoing trend of not being able to get stops when we need to get stops that is definitely a concern for me however tonight when you're picking and choosing as a coach what you're willing to live with and what you can't live with they hit some shots that we're kind of willing to live with like we're we're willing to live with Kennedy Carter shooting threes it's better than her getting in the paint finishing and drawing contact and doing what she does I think that's her you always want to make people try to beat you with their second and third moves not their first moves and so in the scheme of things you know Lindsay Allen steps up hits a three Kenny Carter hits some big threes there you you can't take away everything and uh we won the paint that was a priority for us tonight um and on a night that you shoot 25% on the road um and 38% overall to walk away with a win I I I feel super fortunate so we did something right