Colorado University Athletics
Brittany Spears WNBA Press Conference Quotes
Brittany Spears, Sr., G/F
General - "I'm really excited and looking forward to the opportunity. I can't believe it. It is an amazing feeling right now."
On what she knows about Phoenix - "I just know that they are up tempo and that they run a lot. They also have Diana Taurasi."
On if she was expecting Phoenix - "I really kind of expected San Antonio. I didn't expect Phoenix, it was a shock."
On Diana Taurasi - "I watched her a lot, especially when she played with UConn. I have been watching her a long time. It's going to be kind of weird playing with her."
On if this is a dream - "This is a dream come true. Ever since I was little, when the WNBA started."
On if she thought she was a long shot - "If I worked hard enough I knew would get there."
On being drafted - "I still have a lot of work to do. I need to go in there and perform well and do the little things. So I have a lot of work to do."
On when she wasn't in the gym - "Mostly the weekends. If we had a game the next day I wouldn't go late."
On her hard work - "I always just did that, all of the time."
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
On WNBA tryout timeline - "I think it is the beginning of June. They can make cuts whenever they want but I know they need to have their roster set at the beginning of June."
On Spears' chances of making the team - "There are (12) teams and 11 spots. That is not a lot of spots. We've already talked about what it takes for her to make the team and that it is not guaranteed. I think this is an amazing day. It is an exciting day and Brittany has worked really, really hard to be in this position and to have the chance to tryout for a team. She has to enjoy this, but the next step, tomorrow, and she has already thought of what it takes to make a team, but from here on out until May 15th she will continue to work and continue to work on her weaknesses and just keep getting better and better. Hopefully if she shows in that two week period, three week period what she can do and what we know she can do then I think she will have a great shot."
On what she saw in Brittany during her senior year that would make the dream come true - "Well at the beginning at the year I wasn't quite sure. I knew that was her goal and I knew she would be playing a lot of basketball after her days at Colorado. I didn't exactly know if she would be able to be in the position that she is in now, and I felt during the course of the year she stepped up in a lot of different ways and she did everything that we asked her to do as a coaching staff. If we needed her to defend a post player, she defended a post player, if we needed her to defend a guard, she defended a guard, if we needed her to score 30 points in a game, that is what she did, if we needed her to be our passer in a certain set we ran then she was able to do that. Just her versatility, and not just shooting outside jump shots but also getting into the paint, driving - pull up jumpers still has to get better and she needs to start on that - but her leadership was a lot better this year. Throughout the course of the year, it became evident and midway through the year we said, 'She might be able to have a shot. She might be able to do this,' and then as it kept going, she kept better and better and by the end of the year I thought this day would happen and I'm so happy that it did."