WEBVTT - New York State of Mind 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:03.080 Welcome to good Game with Sarah Spain, where we can't 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:07.680 decide whether to cry, puke, or open up a window 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:09.520 and just scream into the night. 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:14.040 Becuz this just happened twenty. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.560 Eight years in the May Games. Good New York Liberty 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:26.560 WA champions. That's right, the New York Liberty just won 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:32.720 the first WNBA championship in their franchise history and overtime 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:36.080 victory over the Minnesota Links in one of the most 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.840 incredible WNBA finals we've ever seen. 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:42.120 Sixty two sixty. 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:45.640 Seven, the final score, How we got there, Who did what? 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:48.159 Why? We're gonna cry if you can scream. 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:50.320 All coming up next, and we're going to get to 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.560 the headlines and the news and everything else from the 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.760 weekend tomorrow. So when we come back, it's all Links 0:00:55.760 --> 0:01:03.760 and Liberty. 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:05.880 Welcome back, Slices. 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:11.480 I don't know if you're hungover, exhausted, thrilled, disappointed, but 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.280 I think we're all sort of all of those things. 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:15.440 Maybe not hungover. 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:17.560 I try to keep it sober for the game, but 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:19.520 Misha and Alex are going to join me to talk 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:22.760 about everything that we just witnessed. We're coming to you 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:26.839 live at the time right after the podium ceremony. There's 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.320 probably going to be a ton of incredible quotes and 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:33.319 moments that come in the hours after we record this, 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:34.959 and we'll get to all of that this week. I 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:36.720 hope we get some Liberty guests. I hope we get 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:38.680 some folks to talk about just what this means in 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.920 terms of the history of the league and of this team. 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.880 But let's start with two pretty incredible statistics from this one. 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.040 The New York Liberty won the first major championship for 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:55.600 Brooklyn since the Dodgers in nineteen fifty five, and the 0:01:55.800 --> 0:02:00.240 first professional basketball championship for the city of New York 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:01.960 since nineteen seventy. 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:09.160 She Wow, this is pretty huge. 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:13.840 The next one May eighth, nineteen seventy and again Brooklyn 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.440 getting its first major championship since back when the Dodgers 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.919 were there. Right after the game ends, we get a 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:21.960 Nike ad Liberty has a nice ring to it with 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:25.200 a ring. They so quickly the ring on the statue 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:28.840 of Liberty before we get into sort of a breakdown 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:31.600 of how everybody played in all the different things. 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:33.960 Like Meiche, what's just your first reaction. 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:38.040 To what you just witnessed, Sarah, My heart is so 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:42.160 happy right now because I told y'all coming into this series, 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:44.160 I had the Libs winning it. I will state that 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.280 for the record off top. Okay, so we're all clear. 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:49.560 But the other thing I really wanted out of this 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.919 series was extra basketball. I wanted us to get our 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:55.040 money's worth. If you're in the arena, I want us 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:57.680 to get, you know, our time's worth, and we got that. 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.919 In more so, I'm just so happy. 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:03.320 For the entire pure basketball community because what we just 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:07.600 witnessed was easily one of the best finals series NBA 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:10.600 WNBA period. 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:14.320 Well timed for the WNBA to have its best season 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:17.560 ever and have one of, if not its best WNBA 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.960 Finals ever, the only one with multiple overtime games in it, 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:25.880 clutched moments for five games, all five games right within 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.760 at least five points in the two minutes remaining. 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:30.960 Alex's first reaction. 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:35.120 And first time that a title deciding game ever went 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:40.240 to overtime in WNBA history pretty incredible. Uh oh my gosh, 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:44.920 initial reaction. I feel like the Liberty both deserved it 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:48.000 for so many reasons and then did not deserve it 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:52.120 for so many reasons. Real so it feel so split 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.600 in that way, and yet so excited for them. 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:57.400 At the same time, I have to tell you a 0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:59.960 weird thing happened to me while watching this game, because 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.360 I also picked the Liberty before the playoffs started to 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:07.120 win it all. Heading into the game and this whole series, 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:09.600 I said to myself, I'd like the Liberty to win. 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:12.480 I'd like them to win their first championship. You know, 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.320 love the Links, you know, friend of the show Cheryl 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:18.960 Reevenfisa Colliers quickly becoming one of my favorite players to watch, 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:21.479 But I'd like to see the Liberty finally, you know, 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:25.640 get there first. And the whole game, my gut was 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:28.680 cheering for the Links, and I was like, hey, hello, 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.240 excuse me, gut, We've already decided up top in our 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:33.040 brains that were rooting for the Liberty. 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:35.719 And I couldn't stop myself from being like, oh. 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:37.960 That was a foul, that's a travel like, you know, 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:39.880 and being like, don't let them get back in this 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:41.680 this is a bit, this is a big moment, you know, 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:43.640 with like with like Elena Smith on the bench, you 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:45.160 got to make sure you don't let them come back in. 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:46.320 Which is exactly what happened. 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.480 And I couldn't figure out why that was happening to me. 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:51.760 Can either of you explain why you think that was 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:52.359 happening to me? 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:54.640 I just wanted it to be real close. 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:55.640 Yeah. 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:57.880 For me, it was like, I'm rooting for whoever's down 0:04:57.960 --> 0:04:59.600 right now, and that's who I'm rooting for. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:00.800 Doesn't even matter. 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:03.159 At one point, you know, people have been asking me 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:04.479 every game of the series. 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:04.840 Who I want to win? 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:06.960 Who I want I'm like, at this point, I said 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:09.320 what I said, But again, I just want to see 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:12.159 the most chaos max chaos max out. 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:14.480 So yeah, that's understandable. 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:18.599 And the way the way that Minnesota played, you wanted 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:19.240 to root for them. 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.000 I think that's part of it. Yeah, because of how 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:23.080 they competed. 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:26.760 I mean New York and Sandy Brondelo had to press 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:29.280 every button they had, you know what I mean, use 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:33.960 every tool in the toolbox. In Minnesota, just I felt 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:35.960 so bad because I know they wanted it so bad. 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.680 Fee the way she approached it as a leader for 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.040 that team, she was composed that whole. 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:42.080 First half they led. 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.120 You know, they went the way that she went because 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.000 she was unphased, and so it is her unfazed. 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:51.840 Yeah, I mean, I think though on the other side 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.360 of That is how much credit you have to give 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:56.359 the Liberty for winning a game that they had no 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.480 business winning. Sabrina and Nescu, as they said on Twitter, 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.560 it was called than a penguin's toes. I don't even 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:04.680 think penguins have toes, but that's how cold she was. 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.400 And I want to tell you all respect to her 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:11.280 for her passing ability, that still being able to draw 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.599 defense because she was going to keep shooting. All props 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.560 to her for the incredible shot earlier in the series, 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.600 and for everything she's done for this team all season long. 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:20.960 We have given her all of her flowers all season 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:22.839 for stepping up her game in a way some of 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.800 us maybe didn't even know she could this year. All 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:31.560 that being said, she owes that whole team beers for 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:37.360 saving her ass from a lifetime of this game haunting her. 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.560 When you shoot that poorly in a winner take all 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.320 championship on the line, You've been one of the leaders 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:46.440 of the team the whole time and you show up 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:51.120 like that, Oh boy, you are not getting rid of 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:52.440 that for life. 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:54.680 Not even in a winner take all game. So I 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:57.479 went to across the timeline and ran the numbers. No 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:02.080 player in WNBA history we're talking regular season, Commissioner's Cup 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:06.479 Finals playoffs. Has ever taken so many shots and yielded 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:11.600 such a low no field goal percentage of any game ever, 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:16.000 any game ever, No one before this for a player 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.040 that had at least nineteen field gold attempts, field gold 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:24.120 field goal attempts, any gold in there, any gold. She 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:26.080 did win a gold medal this summer, so we'll give 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:31.480 her that. The closest was Arik Gunbawalle with an eight 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.360 point six percent field goal percentage that was back in 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:36.720 twenty nineteen. I think Sabrina finished the night at something 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:38.280 like five point two percent. 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:41.240 Oh man, okay. 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:43.800 I want to go back to the beginning, but first 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:45.760 a couple more moments at the end there that I 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:47.680 just want to hit on quick as we're still talking 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:51.080 and feeling the joy from it, the scene around John 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:56.800 Qwell Jones, the joy from her and the joy for 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.880 her when she was named MVP. This was her four 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.480 attempt at a WNBA Championship. Her teams came up short 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:07.760 in twenty nineteen, twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three. She's 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.720 been the league's most improved player. She's been sixth Woman 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:12.720 of the Year she's been an All Star, she's been 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:16.640 an MVP. She is finally a champion, and in doing so, 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:21.280 she also gets the MVP of the Finals. And I 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:24.120 mean her story. You briefly heard Holly mention it, but 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.480 for those who aren't familiar, go back and watch some 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:29.480 of the feature storytelling about her leaving the Bahamas at 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.240 age thirteen, moving in with strangers to pursue this passion 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:33.400 of basketball. 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:35.439 The journey that she's been on. You could feel all 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:35.800 of that. 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:39.360 In that moment, the way there was surprise and delight. 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:42.200 I think even she was surprised that it didn't go 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.520 to someone like Brianna or sab even if they had 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:48.000 rough games tonight. She was deserving and it was really 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:48.640 cool to see. 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.120 Yeah, And I think you know, in that moment, for 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:55.160 everybody that was watching, you saw the reactions from her 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:58.280 whole team, from everybody who was up there on the podium, 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:01.680 from the entire arena, that shocking surprise, but also the 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:06.439 elation on her behalf like, and I would be remiss, 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:07.960 I'm about to get a little DMV. 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.640 I would be of course. 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:15.559 I already got texts from people, Okay, we are going 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:22.080 up Riverdale Baptist stand up, George Washington University. 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:27.320 Stand up, my Behavians stand up. And also you Bahamian. 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:31.120 I'm not, but you know what tonight tonight. I was 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.640 at Caine on H Street in DC the other day 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:34.760 eat jerk chicken wings. 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:41.360 So we're acting like honorary Bahamian. Honorary honorary tonight, all right. 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:42.960 But I also have to give a shout out to 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:48.040 coach Diane Richardson. Folks who are plugged in with DMV basketball, 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.480 with women's basketball as a whole, know that this lady 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:54.240 right here, she produces players like that, and she is 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:56.319 one of the big reasons why JJ has gotten to 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:58.280 the point that she's at. She was at the podium 0:09:58.320 --> 0:09:59.760 on the floor during the celebration. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:02.199 Shout out to her. Shout out to everybody who's ever 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:02.760 worked with JJ. 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.600 Shout out to anybody who's even tangentially connected. 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:07.800 We're celebrating were going on tonight. 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:10.040 Okay, I just want to point out, you know, we 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:12.120 had Michael Voppelan a couple of days ago, and he 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.679 talked about in the sort of oral history of the 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:18.040 tortured franchise of the Liberty, saying something like New York 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:20.360 is the place that you go and you become a 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:24.360 New Yorker. And interesting to look at such a diverse 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:30.840 team in the Liberty, Bahamians, Germans, right, this international conglomerate 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.480 coming together in the melting pot that is New York 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:36.800 City to become New Yorkers, and you're sort of a 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:39.200 forever New Yorker if you bring them their first title 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.480 in Liberty history and also in professional basketball since nineteen 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:44.320 seventy and also in Brooklyn for the first time since 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:44.800 fifty five. 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:48.319 I mean, these women from all over the globe are 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:49.240 New Yorkers. 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.520 You know, you're gonna call them DMV and you're gonna 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:55.640 take credit for him, but I'm sorry, Bahama's, Germany, everywhere 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:57.600 else that they're from, it's New York now. 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.840 Yeah, It's It's a beautiful thing to see. And I 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.080 feel like that's been the story of the Liberty this 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.720 whole season too. Right, it's from the finn experience, the 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.640 in game arena experience, they've had, you know, different cultural nights, 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.840 different performers. I think the New York Liberty franchise as 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:17.480 a whole has bought into that concept of being a 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:18.120 melting pot. 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:20.720 And look at what the successes that they're reaping from it. 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.480 You just reminded me that game was so good. I 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:25.680 did not even notice that I got zero. Ellie the 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:28.040 elephant that tells you how. 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.960 Good the game was. How are her puffer? How are 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.040 we gonna get zero? She was wearing a puffy skirt 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:34.920 and a puffy jacket. We got zero. 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.560 Codeaways to Ellie. I did not see her celebrating the trophy. 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:41.880 They tell Ellie, chill out tonight, they tell Ellie cool. 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:44.640 Out will I will not stand for Ellie Eraser at 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:46.000 the peak moment of this franchise. 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:48.080 She was a huge part of this title one. 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:50.960 I want to propose a new rule. So right now, 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.240 in the WNBA, it is the owner who has handed 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.240 the trophy first. That's not the rule in all leagues, 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:58.680 but it is in the WNBA. And I think that 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:01.800 from here on out, Scott first mascot hands off. 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:05.800 Okay, but only Ellie, because only trash mascots. And I 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.200 want you to know that if Skyguy had been handed 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:11.360 the trophy when the Sky won it all, that would 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:13.400 have been the end of my fandom. So I like 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.280 your rule, but only Ellie. Also, speaking of that, I 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:18.319 did love that it was a woman who has handed 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:21.000 the trophy first. That is such a rarity in professional 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.520 sports to see a woman be the one that is 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:25.800 the owner and getting it. I know it's both of 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.280 the size, but still there is some beauty in that. 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.960 And I like that she talked about investment. 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:34.640 I like that she talked about watching this team grow 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:36.640 and wanting to put them somewhere bigger where the fans 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:40.000 could appreciate them. I saw a women's sports reporter that 0:12:40.000 --> 0:12:42.120 I really respect and love say you know what, I 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:43.840 don't really want to talk of investment right now. Not 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:45.440 everything has to be a PSA. And I was like, 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.839 I completely disagree. You are telling everyone else show up 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.079 like this team, and this is what you get when 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:53.720 you care. Would you invest? When you give these women 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:57.679 what they deserve? You bring the joy the fans. Another 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:02.800 sell out, another record. This was the biggest crowd in 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:06.199 Liberty history again eighteen thy and ninety. They just keep 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:08.280 finding more standing room only, I think is how they're 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:09.400 doing that, because somehow. 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.360 It keeps going up even though the building stays the same, 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:12.160 which I love. 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:15.200 Okay, let's get into some of the nitty gritty of 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:17.400 a game. We're gonna call gritty because we don't want 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:19.319 to just say ugly. It's coming up next after this 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:20.319 quick break. 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.240 We're backslices and you're back too. Love that for us? 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:34.880 Okay, Like I said, not a pretty game and for 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:38.200 such a beautiful series, I guess it's to be expected. 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:42.720 They were tired. They were tight, especially through the first half. 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:45.760 The reason the Links were ahead was that they were 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:49.920 getting open looks in the paint layup after layup, and 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:51.560 that was allowing them to get in some sort of 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.240 offensive rhythm. And then defensively they were great. But also 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:58.040 the Liberty looked tight and rushed and no one frankly, 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.120 no one could hit a three, but not even mid 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:03.280 range jumpers dropping for most anyone. 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:05.320 That was all the Links was getting. 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.120 And at the beginning it really looked like all it 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:10.400 was going to need was for someone on the Liberty 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.600 to start to hit some shots. Sabrina started, Oh force 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:15.000 do we started oh of three? After the first it's 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:20.000 nineteen ten Links, But it didn't feel it felt like 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:22.360 they had such control of it. But it didn't feel 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:24.480 like something that was sustainable, because there was just no 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:26.400 way you were going to see the Liberty give up 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:28.880 those back cuts and those easy lanes the whole game. 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:30.480 It just didn't seem possible, right, Alex. 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:32.720 I had a lot of moments during this game where 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:34.880 I was like, has anyone checked the rims to make 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:40.200 sure they're okay? Like, like, it just felt like and honestly, 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:42.000 I want to throw this question back at the basketball 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:46.000 folks how much of it was shots not falling and 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:50.920 that luck factor almost versus good defense, because I struggled 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:52.400 with that throughout the game where I was like, I 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:53.960 feel like that should have gone in, and I'm not 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:56.160 sure why it didn't go in, Like was it just 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:58.880 that the look wasn't good enough that she wasn't able 0:14:58.880 --> 0:14:59.880 to get it where she wanted it to go? 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.360 Wow, Meshe, I want your answer to for me. 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:05.640 In the first half, especially the interior defense of the 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:09.400 Links was strong and making inside shots tough for the Liberty, 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.560 but mid range and three they were perfectly fine shots. 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:14.040 No one could hit the broad side of a barn. 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:17.160 On the other side, the defense for the Liberty was 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:21.520 ass and they were getting whooped in the paint and 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:25.240 those shots were so easy they almost couldn't miss them. 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:26.320 That's what I saw. 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.080 Yeah, I saw a little bit of the same I 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:33.680 think for Minnesota, the defense that they played all season 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:37.160 was the defense you saw even with the fatigue, because 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.560 they were very clearly to me fatigue that was one 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.520 through line the entire game. But even with that, the 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:45.960 defense they played, if you watch a little technical here, 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.840 every time New York catches the basketball. 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:51.720 Minnesota is in their space. There's no room to breathe. 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:54.240 And once you do that time and time again over 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.320 the course of a possession, that's the kind of stuff 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:58.240 that gets into an opponent's head. That's the kind of 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.720 stuff that forces a Stewie or a sab or anybody 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.560 to shoot off balanced shots, when if you could pivot 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:07.480 and calm down and not be as chaotic in your body, 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:09.840 you could find an open layout. But they didn't have 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:12.240 that frame of mind because Minnesota was so up in 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:12.880 their business. 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:14.200 It's also exhausting. Though. 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.040 Yes, we saw later in the game for the links, 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.000 and we talked about this all series long, the bench 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:20.920 for the liberty. We'll get into it more in the 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:25.000 second half, because that's obviously when soabily you really starts 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.840 to make the biggest difference. But early on their defense 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:32.720 was smothering, and especially inside it was why but they 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:37.840 were just tight Sabrina all of eight through the second. 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:40.880 Stewie finally gets her first bucket early in the second, 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:44.120 shots were just not dropping, and they didn't have any 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:48.600 easy neither free throws nor easy plays to try to 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:50.880 get him in some sort of rhythm. Finally, near the 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:55.920 end of the second quarter, big play relatively speaking, because 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.320 the Liberty fans had almost nothing to cheer for, they 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.880 finally got this moment that the building could release and 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:05.760 get excited. And unfortunately for New York there was about 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:07.960 to be halftime. They couldn't take advantage of that momentum 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:09.640 shift and the fans getting into it, so they needed 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:10.960 to come out in the second half and try to 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.919 take advantage. It's thirty four to twenty seven at the half. 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:17.560 It's a miracle for the Liberty that at the half 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:20.960 was Sabrina and Stewie combining for five points, and the 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.600 ease with which the Links were scoring in the first 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:24.240 that it was. 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:26.600 That close of a game. Yeah, and that was a 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:28.480 bit of a warning for all of us watching. 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:32.240 I don't think anybody was feeling confident or comfortable in 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:34.280 the Links at this point, and they were just waiting 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:36.719 for something to come from the Liberty, and what we 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:45.479 saw ultimately was some bench players step up, the Sobbly huge, 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:51.680 the biggest Thornton, great, big minutes, getting stops, doing things 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:56.360 that they needed from hustling hustling, and that's when Minnesota 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.440 started to get tired. To me, in the second half, 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.240 that's where it started to matter. They just couldn't play 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:05.400 that free, easy, rhythmic offense. You saw a couple plays, 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:07.479 but other than that, the Liberty started to get stronger. 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:09.440 And then also I think the Links weren't quick enough 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:10.760 to take advantage the same way as they did in 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:11.320 the first half. 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:13.080 Yeah, New York just turned it up. 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:15.320 It was do or die time because they knew if 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:18.160 they did not hit a run sometime in that third quarter, 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:20.880 their championship hopes were about to be dashed. 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:25.720 Period. Like you said, Niarisaboli, been talking about this girl 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:26.560 on here. 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:28.960 What did you do with Germany and the Olympics, y'all? 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.080 She was like the was it was crazy. She was 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:33.119 hurt for a little while in there and still was 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.520 like the leading scorer or some craziness like that. I 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:36.879 can't even tell you this is that right now, but 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:39.800 she was bawling and she brought that energy to the court. 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:43.480 You saw her interview with Holly Row during that little stretch. 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.680 She was like, she was so excited by the way she. 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.960 Was excited that she got her first in game interview 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.720 in Game five of the WNBA Finals, talk about it 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:54.840 time to show up. 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.200 Yeah, and it didn't phase her. 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:00.320 I was watching the game with my parents and my 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.360 dad was like, she's just out there having fun. None 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:05.800 of the pressure that everybody else on the court seems 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:06.760 to be dealing with is. 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:10.159 Zero expectations, zero expectations. And that's the beauty of that. 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:12.320 They needed that because to be honest, look at what 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.040 happened to the two people with the biggest expectations period 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:15.600 dewiye and. 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:17.160 Sab period yep. 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.040 And then, like you said, Kayla Thornton, I do not 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:22.640 want her to go under the radar, her or foe. 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:24.720