firsters as you guys know uh we talked about with the team and and with you guys that have been covering us that we were trying to treat um this second game as kind of a playoff series with Connecticut and I thought when we came out in the first quarter I thought we did a lot of um things that we wanted to accomplish and you know I I looked at the staff um near the end of the first quarter and said you know we we really look connected and playing good basketball um and felt like we made some good adjustments going into what we considered our game two of the playoffs um unfortunately that start of the second quarter um you know an 80 run in the first 80 Seconds um you know with a Mis coverage and turnovers and and a couple things you know really put us on our heels and you know those are the kind of stretches that have shaken our team right now when we're in this build and in this stretch and I thought that really set the tone uh for a second quarter that got away from us which then um kind of um had us go into halftime you know feeling not as good as we should because of how well we played the first quarter um I thought you know Marina had a really good game against us but um we just never could really make make a run at them in the second half to make them feel us um but you know some positives through that you azire had a monster defensive rebounding night we were scrambling for records to see you know who in franchise history has ever had more than that and I think maybe Candace is the only person that's ever had more defensive rebounds than azere so big shout out talked about the three-pointers tonight wanting to take more and and Hunt more threes I thought for the most part we did uh that I thought we even passed up some and then Crystal got hot so appreciate Crystal continuing to hunt for threes like we asked um and and had you know what I consider her best performance as a spark with with us this year so um you know some some good moments in that game but certainly not enough to come away with a win so we look at that as our first playoff series and we didn't get through it now we get to start this next one against Seattle this is not easy with a third game in four days um and now a backto back ever uh but we'll regroup and and start to prepare for a talented Seattle Team tomorrow for game one of what we look like in in that what we're considering our playoff series with Seattle hey um as a ra just your aggressiveness uh tonight you were able to put up 13 shots getting the 17 rebounds like what did you see out there that made you come to this game like I'm going to be very aggressive um I mean I like the matchup against Breezy like obviously she's really talented but I mean I'm a quick like agile post and so I mean I played against her for a few years now and I I like to exploit that so I think the team did a good job just giving me the ball and we were moving and and just trying to like just like they were doing mismatches against us we have the same amount of mismatches um so I I mean I just try to be aggressive and I think the team plays better when I'm aggressive even if I'm not and everything but just coming out being aggressive is something I'm trying to do hey as this one's for you as well um obviously it's late in the season it's been kind of ups and downs but there's been some positive are you guys feeling some physical and emotional fatigue right now and how are you guys lifting each other up right now yeah for sure I think it's a tough season obviously that's no secret um we're out of playoffs now like there's a lot of negatives but there's a lot we can be building towards too um a lot of us are going to be returning next year and even the ones that aren't it's still an opportunity to grow as a player in this league and prepare yourself for whatever opportunity is next so we've talked about that after a lot of these games just like what are ways we can stay positive and continue to build um for those of us that are coming back next year and even the ones that aren't what are ways that we can continue to pour positive energy into what we're trying to do and finish this year with pride like who cares about the record at this point like we want to walk off the court that last game feeling good about representing the Sparks in the in the best way possible I'm also sure hey uh DJ from infinity TV Crystal we had a chance to speak before the game and you talked about finding your way to the Sparks uh through hardship how does a moment like tonight field to reinforce you know all the hard work that you put in to get some of that payout back um question for me but I mean it feels nice um you know my teammates I'm trying to pour into them and they back into me so whatever minutes I get out there on the court I'm just going to go go as hard as I can and tonight just for this points and i' just like to point out that she's a Husky and huskies are the best than you started hey coach DJ andan TV um so with the pieces being we've talked a bunch you know about hardship and different things that are happening and you're treating this like the playoffs and again like the pieces are moving around and we're finding different matchups how do you feel going into this matchup against Seattle coming from this uh this part of the game yeah you know I haven't I haven't turned to page in Seattle yet so yeah I got this game on my mind but obviously quick turnaround um you know we've played uh I've been in a lot of playoff games and uh you know the Turn Around from one series to another when when you advance is not always short and so these are the kind of things that you got to turn the page and and and be ready so we're going to treat it well it's not easy to play three games in four days in this league it's certainly not easy to play back to back uh but I think you know I got a group that has always been a willing preparer uh they're going to prepare and and we're going to we're going to coach them like we are fighting for a number one seed uh we're we're going to continue to prepare hard um and it's a good test you know they they got Dynamic players um a lot of you know a lot of Olympic type players um and so you know we look forward to the challenge that Seattle brings I'm not sure if they were there I heard they might be there in person tonight so I'm not sure if they were in the stands or not um but um you know we'll get back to work tomorrow Co you talked about um just preparing like it's playoff series a few times um and you talked about you know your coverage against Marina last game did you change that at all and why do you think she was able to have success today yeah um you know we we changed um different coverages within the game but but we played the coverage that we had success getting the ball out of her hands tonight I thought uh she played with a better t Tempo um and um you know just exploited some of our our uh mistakes defensively you know again she just gets an inch she's such a good scorer um and then you know as she got hot um you know it's hard to cool her down and she starts to make the contested shots that's what makes the elite players in our league so special is a lot of players in our league make open shots the elite players make contested shots and you you could tell she got into one of those flows tonight where uh she was really comfortable and we we guarded the ark okay they were three for 13 or two for 13 I think uh beside her uh but her ability to you know give them three points is so big because um again they didn't have a great night at the ark outside of her so disappointing at times some of the lack of um some of the slippage we had in our coverages but we tried to change it up and give her different looks um throughout the game um hey coach obviously you know what it means to build a team injuries played a huge part in this season but of course you growing pains are a thing but for you specifically is there anything that keeps you up at night about anything that's happened thus far in the season yeah and I mentioned it probably a couple weeks ago that um again I pride myself in unintended consequences um you know the the amount of injuries and illnesses we've had in these first two years um have been daunting um but you know again the unintended consequences I've always you know looked at the positives of opening the opportunities up for other players you know Connecticut it seemed like every year we had a major starter out for the season or out for significant part of the season and it opened the door um you know for other people and Bri Jones is a perfect example um you know when when JJ opted out of the bubble you know just continued to allow her more and more opportunities and she just kept getting better and better and by the time she was in her fourth and fifth year she's now a perennial Allstar and uh you know one of the go-to players so you know what keeps me up a little bit at this uh with this team is um you know I've always prided myself to regardless of the injuries and illnesses in this league is you know can you overachieve um and can you help people um that now are maybe getting a different opportunity or even more enhanced role to take advantage of it I just I I just haven't always pushed the right buttons for this team uh to overachieve I I feel like we are good enough to play with teams for three three and a half quarters but we've struggled to get to the Finish Line at times so that that's that's on you know that's what I you know lose sleep at at times because this locker room has great people in it it's frustrated there's you know that's human that with with the losses that we have but this locker room has great people in it we have a lot of people that are committed to coming back um and I just want them to experience um you know some Joy I want them to experience a win again because they haven't stopped working they haven't stopped preparing um you know so you know that that's you know I wish for them you know to to feel some Joy before the end of the year coach um you kind of just alluded to my next question you know you guys haven't really been able to put together for four quarters so looking ahead to your next playoff series and even you know next season how are you trying to get your team to overachieve like you said yeah I think you know the the big the big catch wordss around um the team recently are discipline um you know Focus um you know and you know we rean just spoke to to the players and and talked about um you know Finding joy and and you know some of the message was not letting you know one mistake slippage snowball and you know that that's that's our big growth area these last five games is that we can't let a couple mistakes a couple bad plays a couple poor decisions turn into um you know a quarter that gets away from us or a segment in the game that gets away from us um that's important for this team we are we have fine line there's thin line between you know we have fine line between um you know winning and losing right now and so we just got it to avoid some of these um stretches where people have bigger runs on us than we'd like coach excuse me coach uh as you said your the team has been decimated by injuries um with the challenges that this season has brought to you a how's your mental health and B what's bringing you Joy uh I love living in the South Bay I live in one of the greatest places in the world and one of the reasons that um you know La was such an attraction for me um this fite coming off that you know finals appearance again with Conneticut um you know I love um people that I work with very fortunate um you know I I've had two GMS in the first 15 months but to have Reagan as as my boss and Reagan and I once worked together as assistant coaches and someone that has been a coach and understands what coaches are going through um you know that brings me joy that I'm working with really good people um I'm telling you what can't be seen is when I got here there there was um issues and there was things that were for lack of better word a little bit in disarray and the roots that have started to form and and the the work behind the scenes and the work of our president who's going to be do terrific things for La um to watch you know Reagan's first year as a GM like I think about back at my first year as a GM I I I had no idea so to see what she's doing already and and you know how she communicates with the team how she communicates with agents you know is just really encouraging to me that she's going to be really a bright star in the GM role so the roots that are s that are in place the um support uh the investment and the commitment that Eric has right now as our owner is greater than it's ever been and all those things you know aren't going to be in the media they're not going to be seen on a daily basis but we're feeling them and where we are now compared to when I got here um we is the roots are so much stronger and so um we've got to be patient never easy for fan bases never easy for us you know like I'm not I'm I'm a builder and build a lot of programs but I'm not used to losing either you know and so um you know we're going to get there though and I'm proud of the work behind the scenes that isn't as seen as much on what's going on it's going to pay off I can't tell you when um I understand that um I I can have honest talk but you know really doing good things behind the scenes than that was a good question