Greetings. Just got back from the media access period. I talked with both coaches and players from both teams. Here's a list of tidbits and info I gathered up:

--Dream forward Tiffany Hayes is doing a lot better today than she was last night. Remember? She got tied up with Monica Wright on a Wright drive to the basket. She ended up airborne, and feel about three feet onto her tailbone and back. She tried briefly to return, but could not. Hayes said today she's sore, but expects to play tomorrow night, though she wasn't scheduled to do much in practice today.

--Lynx center Janel McCarville, who played through some pretty intense lower back pain Sunday, was feeling relatively healthy today. The back will likely be an issue going forward, but she feels better today, the day before Game 2, than she did Saturday. "The day before the game last time I was laying on the training table struggling to move," she said. "I feel relatively good.''

--Given her back pain, that monstrous third-quarter pick she put on Dream star Angel McCoughtry must have hurt. "I think it hurt me about as much as it hurt her," McCarville said. "So I don't know. I won't forget that one. It was a good one, but it came at a price.''

--Responded McCoughtry: "She was still standing and I was on the floor, a little dizzy. That was definitely a brick wall I ran into."

--More McCoughtry. She spent a good deal of time talking about how the Dream had to come out and be more physical Tuesday than they were Monday. "The reason Indiana beat them last year was because they were physical," she said. "We're too nice. We can't be nice. I know we have a great group of nice girls. But we have to be monsters and we have to be disruptive out there on the court. We can't let people push us around."

--The general feeling among the Lynx players and coaches is that Atlanta will try to be more physical, and that the Dream will try even harder to pound the ball inside to Erika de Souza and Aneika Henry, who had 14 points and 14 rebounds Sunday. The Lynx are determined to keep Atlanta off the offensive boards Tuesday.

--One last thing. I was talking with Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve about Monica Wright, and Reeve compared her to legendary Detroit Pistons sixth man Vinnie "Microwave'' Johnson . When I mentioned this to Wright, she asked me who Vinnie Johnson was. OK, I feel old.

That's about it for now. Have a good night.