The Sting enter the second half of the 2006 WNBA season with a 3-16 record, but with 15 games remaining, Head Coach Muggsy Bogues knows his team can get things turned around. CharlotteSting.com checked in with Bogues during the break to get his thoughts on the first half and what it will take to get on the winning track starting Friday against San Antonio.
(Opening thoughts of the first half of the season) It hasn’t gone the way I expected for it to go -- you know I thought we were going to be a better team as far as our record indicated. I know we have the talent on the team, we just haven’t gotten the job done. Coming down the stretch they are playing better basketball of late, but we still have issues with turning the basketball over and not getting rebounds, not boxing out and that sort of thing, but they are playing hard. But we have to play hard and smart for 40 minutes.
(On the record not being indicative of the talent on the Sting) Yeah, that is frustrating because I do believe in this team and believe that they can play better and can close out games, but we just are not doing it. We emphasize it in practice quite a bit and we go over things and try to transfer that onto the basketball court, but its just not happening. We still have a tendency not to match the other teams intensity when they mix it up. You just have to have a will to want to go get the basketball, and you have to have a will to win. I know they want to win -- I know they are playing extremely hard for me, but we’re just not closing it out at the end. Hopefully we’ll have better results this last part of the season.
(On the Sting needing to pick up that next win to get things going and learn how to win again) Yeah, I think so. We need to learn how to win consistently and not to get so high on one win. You have to get that one win to get things going though. We are coming home now, and we need to start defending our home court. We have two winnable games, I think, at home coming up. If we continue to play like we did in our last three ballgames, we will come out on top. They just have to believe it. We will keep emphasizing it and keep pushing and keep fighting.
(On having so many rookies on the roster combined with injured veterans made for a slow start) It factored into the slow start a lot. We had players at the latter of training camp trying to get acclimated in it. I was playing my rookies a lot during the preseason, and then come regular season we still had players injured. Tangela Smith is starting to coming along and get into her groove now -- she’s feeling a lot healthier. We had Janel McCarville with back issues bothering her. And you know Helen (Darling)’s hamstring went out on her. Tammy banged her knee. So we had issues to deal with, and then at the same time, we have rookies that had to feel the void. No excuses. I make none -- whoever I put on the floor, we still have to produce, but it hinders you when you are faced with those types of situations. The only thing you can do is make the best out of it, and that’s what we’ve been trying to do.
(On if he thinks other teams will be underestimating the Sting in the second half) I think so. I think if they do that they are setting themselves up, because we are going to continue to fight. I think these ladies want to win. I know they want to win -- I’m not going to say think, I know they want to win. I know they want to change this around. And I told them that the only way it’s going to happen is if everyone collectively contributes. Coaching staff and the players, you have to do the job -- you are the ones playing, and they respect that and they understand that. And they know that we are all in it together. We are all in it and we are all going to get the job done. It’s frustrating that the record doesn’t stand for our talent on paper, but that’s the reality of it.
(On Tangela Smith finally becoming an All-Star) It’s a good honor on her behalf. She is still one of the lead players out there. Hopefully it will boost her confidence up and make her fired up to come in here and really want to get this thing done. You know she’s a competitor. Tangela is a good person, a great competitor. You know I like all the players. That’s one thing I do like -- I like all of the players and want to see us get it done for them more than anything, and I think we are going to get it done the second half of the season.
(On the collective contribution of the rookies) I really like the rookies that we have -- they are really coachable, and all of the players are coachable, but the rookies came in with no agenda. They just came in wanting to blend in, didn’t want to step on any of the veteran’s toes and were willing to do whatever I asked them to do to contribute. They are all talented -- from the second round pick of LaToya Bond to Yelena Leuchanka, who was undrafted. They will all become good basketball players in this league -- I believe that whole-heartedly. It’s good to see them get confidence in themselves -- we may have Luechanka coming back here shortly, too. It’s a treat to see the rookies still pushing and still fighting because it’s not over yet.
(On Monique Currie) I’m trying to give her as much confidence as I possibly can, giving her more freedom and telling her she can do more things because I still think she is holding back. And that could be because she is a rookie, but of late she has been really aggressive, especially coming down the stretch. She wants the ball in her hands and that says something special about a player. She’s always been a winner. A lot of these players have been winners, and I know there are no losers on this team. Like I said, I want it for them, but it’s good for Monique and the other rookies to play aggressive. The sky is the limit for her -- it’s just a matter of how far she wants to go.
(On Kelly Mazzante and Janel McCarville stepping up) They have. Kelly came into training camp willing to make a difference, and I told her I needed her to make shots and pick up her defensive intensity. She hasn’t stopped doing that, so I’ve been pleased with how she’s been playing on both ends of the floor. Janel has talent -- it’s just a matter of her getting on the court, getting wind under her and getting reps, and most of that is just to showcase what she is capable of doing. You know it’s a little tough for me right now because you have Tangela Smith playing very well, so we are trying to get her more minutes on rotation and try to keep her on the floor, but you have your hands full. I think she’s starting to understand what I want. She tries to make plays when she’s on the floor -- I want to look for her offense a lot more. I’m pleased with the way they have been playing, but we can all step up our game another level.
(On the players not hanging their heads despite the record) Well, that’s something I don’t want them to do, and I always try to give them something positive to think about. Basketball is not tricky, we understand what goes on with it and what we need to do in order to get better. They know what to do to get better. It’s just a matter of doing it. They know that out turnovers have really been hurting us, they know that our rebounds have really hurt us, but we have to correct those and really do better and focus on things to make sure that we don’t keep putting ourselves in that situation. The second half of the season, like I said, they still believe -- mathematically we are still in it. So anything can happen. We’re going to take one game at a time, but what I need to do and what I need for them to continue to do, is to keep fighting. That’s all I ask -- just keep fighting.
