Q. I know things just wrapped up last night, but for you personally, how do you look back on your growth from the year? You got a full year in starting, one of your best seasons all around, certainly shooting, things like that. How did your growth kind of evolve as you went through this year, and what seemed to work so well in this system, in this place?
SUG SUTTON: I would say coming into this season, I didn't know what to expect. We had new staff, new players, everything was just new all around, and I think that first conversation I had with Coach Johnson, he wanted me to come in and be the point guard, be the leader of the team, but also be able to run the team and use my voice a little bit more.
I think that's where my growth came in this whole season is I've always been a point guard leading by example, doing the right things, and trying to do those things, but I think throughout the season, one of the biggest things that I wanted to grow into was my voice, and I think I did that pretty well.
Still some work to do, but there was a lot of growth. Just being a starting point guard, it was hard. It was the first time that I was in that position. But I feel like I prepared for that throughout the time that I was in the WNBA before that, playing under certain players. So I prepared for it.
But I would just say that that growth just came from using my voice more, and then just allowing my game to kind of expand, in a way. I feel like I've showcased part of my game throughout the time that I was in the W playing for Phoenix, for example.
But this season I wanted to kind of show a little bit more. I think by the numbers, I did shoot the ball better than I previously have throughout my career, so I kind of wanted to showcase things of that sort, and I think I did a pretty good job with that. There was a lot of growth within that.
Just being able to showcase my game a little bit more as well, that was kind of something that I wanted to do this season too.
Q. Is there a sense of pride or satisfaction in being able to show more than maybe you had previously and to kind of have it come together? And what was it about this year where you think it kind of clicked a little bit? I don't know if that's just being another year older in the league or something about this system that fit you well, but what do you think kind of enabled you to put it all together in the way that you did and take that next step?
SUG SUTTON: Yeah, I think it was just the opportunity that was given to me just to come in and the confidence that the coaches had in me from the beginning. I think that helped a lot, and that shaped everything for me and what I wanted to bring this season.
But most importantly, I think that the position that I was put in this season kind of allowed me to grow within my confidence and showcase those things. Having more opportunity, having more playing time and having the opportunity to grow and think about certain things, when you're put in the fire, you have to figure it out, and I feel like throughout the season it was just -- I had to try to figure things out, whether that was individually or as a team, and I think that was part of my growth as well is I wasn't put in the fire within my career. I feel like I was put in the fire a little bit, but I was prepared for it, and I was able to continue to grow within that.
I think it just came with the opportunity that was put in front of me from the beginning.
Q. Looking ahead, obviously restricted free agent this off-season in a weird off-season for everybody and all teams. I don't know if you guys have had conversations about your future yet. If so, could you share a little bit about that, and what do you kind of hope? Would you like to return and kind of be part of this thing that they're starting to build? How do you start to envision your future?
SUG SUTTON: I really haven't thought too much ahead to that. I'm just kind of taking in the moment of the season just ended yesterday. We're just still trying to process that and process the fact that we won't see each other every day for a few months until off-season.
I haven't really thought much about that yet.
Q. Do you have any off-season plans to play this year?
SUG SUTTON: Not really. I'm not sure yet. I'll just be here in the off-season, which I'm really excited about that. So we'll see.
Q. Throughout this year, you and I have talked about how one of your goals from a year ago from today was showing how you can be a scoring guard and add that element to your game. Do you feel like you were able to be successful with that this year, at least to the reaches that you want to be able to?
SUG SUTTON: Yeah, I think I had some good strides this season with showcasing that, and that was something that I wanted to do. I think I've showcased certain things when I was with Phoenix, and I wanted to just continue that and continue to gain confidence within myself throughout the season.
I think I got that, and I was able to have a bit of success with trying to showcase everything.
Q. With you being a leader of a young group and you being I don't want to say thrust in this position, but being put in it in a different way, did you learn anything about yourself that you're going to be able to take away from this experience this year?
SUG SUTTON: I would say just how resilient I am. I knew certain things that I went through within the W, trying to stay in the W, things like that. But as far as being on the court, being in that fire, being a starting point guard, I would say the resiliency mentally of throughout this whole season it was like me fighting that battle like, am I capable of doing this.
I got that clarity of that last game yesterday of I can do it. I did it. I think fighting that mental battle, that was something I grew into, and I think that just came with being in that fire and being able to figure out certain things just by being in that position, and I think that's going to take me a long way, and it's going to help my career in the long run.
Q. Under your tutelage as a point guard, you had multiple records being broken by multiple teammates. What does that say about your leadership on the court?
SUG SUTTON: That just says we have great players. But I mean, we continue to pour into each other every single day, not just me but everybody on this team. We cheer for each other. We're excited about everybody's success. I think that made it easier for players to go out and play confidently and play to the best of their ability because we continue to pour into each other and have confidence in each other. We have really great players on our team. We're really young but have great players.
Records are going to be broken. A lot of success is going to happen. We just tried to stay within each other and pour into each other and continued to cheer each other on.
Q. You mentioned your leadership skills. Any skills that you plan on working on in the off season, not only from a leadership perspective but from a player perspective?
SUG SUTTON: I just want to continue to showcase my skill, scoring, passing. I think that can go to another level, and I think that I'm capable of that, and I want to be one of the best point guards in this league, so just continuing to work on my game, and I think that's one of the biggest focuses in this off-season is focusing on the scoring aspect, the offensive aspect, but pouring into my defense, too. That's going to continue to allow me to grow as a point guard in this league.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports