Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley
Dawn Michelle Staley is an American basketball hall of fame player and coach. Staley is a three-time Olympian and was elected to carry the United States flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics. After playing point guard for the University of Virginia under Debbie Ryan, and winning the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, she went to play professionally in the American Basketball League and the WNBA. In 2011, Staley was voted in by fans as...
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth4 May 1970
CityPhiladelphia, PA
We are not in the driver's seat. And when you're not in the driver's seat, you got to play hungry every night. And that's what we're doing.
They played harder, they gave more effort for 40 minutes and they won. We just didn't have it today. We had our moments, but we didn't have it for 40 minutes.
That's what veterans do. At times like that, we don't get rattled. We know we always have a shot at winning the basketball game. You just have to stay in it. With us, we're an older group. We understand. We've been in big, big games before.
There were too many instances in the game we weren't ourselves. We didn't have enough fight. We had too many lapses to complete.
Our players needed a wakeup call. They can't know how good they can be until they beat a team of this caliber. We had to drive to the basket and we had to exploit their (Rutgers) inability to stop us.
If it was one-game elimination, youth would probably win, ... But since it is a series, I like our chances because of our experience in big games games even bigger than the WNBA playoffs.
GW did have a run in them, and we expected that. We were up by eight, and then a minute and a half later, it was gone.
Having grown up in the housing projects of North Philly, I understand the profound value of Olympic dreams.
I play basketball because I love it. This was enjoyable, and I'm still motivated to get to the finals.
Candice is a tremendous player and we'll go as far as she'll take us. We'll ride her coattails as far as we can.
I'm treating it as an Olympic experience where for the most part we were going to beat teams, ... I knew I'd be needed somewhere between the quarterfinals and gold medal. With this Houston team, their core is intact. I'm here for plays, certain situations. It's easy for me because I understand it. I don't think any other veteran that has played this long or won as many gold medals, I don't think their ego could stand playing maybe 15, 20 minutes a night. I relish the fact that I get to compete for a championship. I just got to do my part.
I didn't think we played well. Offensively, we rushed. We gave a lot away.
For the people who know Sheryl, the people that she talks to, she has already confided in them. Now she is just being truthful and honest. It is a personal choice, but not a revelation for those of us who know her.