Speaker 1: In Case You missed It with Christina Williams is an
Speaker 1: iheartwomen's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1: Welcome to a special playoff preview of In Case you
Speaker 1: missed It with Christina Williams. Today, we're gonna be talking
Speaker 1: to a couple of my favorite people who are actually
Speaker 1: friends to the show, and we're gonna break down the
Speaker 1: WNBA playoffs. We're gonna be talking about postseason awards, we're
Speaker 1: gonna give our predictions, and we're gonna talk about w
Speaker 1: NBA expansion news. So, without further ado, I want to
Speaker 1: welcome my two friends friends to the show, Winsider reporter
Speaker 1: Miles Erlick and New York Post Sports dexter Henry. What's up, guys,
Speaker 1: what's up.
Speaker 2: Hey Christina? Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1: Big three back together again. I love it.
Speaker 3: Glad to be back.
Speaker 1: So, guys, I want to get right into the headlines
Speaker 1: for this week. This week we received the breaking news
Speaker 1: that the WNBA will be expanding to Portland. So this
Speaker 1: is the third franchise that has been announced over the
Speaker 1: last year and a half. I want to say, so,
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts about the WNBA moving back to Portland.
Speaker 2: I'm excited about this. I think that there's already kind
Speaker 2: of a built in rivalry between Portland and Seattle, and
Speaker 2: we've seen that this is just a community that really
Speaker 2: embraces women's sports. From twenty thirteen to twenty twenty one,
Speaker 2: the Portland Thorns, the NWSL team, led the league in attendance,
Speaker 2: and this is an area that's really excited. And it
Speaker 2: was great to see Jenny Wynn, who started the sports Bra,
Speaker 2: kind of in the middle of all of it, because
Speaker 2: she kind of helped show how deep that love for
Speaker 2: women's sports runs in Portland. And obviously, as we know
Speaker 2: by the non stop Sabrina mentions that ur I know
Speaker 2: the tampering, there's a lot of excitement from the college
Speaker 2: pipeline to the pros also, So I think it's kind
Speaker 2: of a no brainer destination and I'm excited about it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's a no brainer too. Christina love
Speaker 3: seeing another team in the Pacific Northwest. As Miles said,
Speaker 3: they've supported women's sports tremendously there, you know, bringing back
Speaker 3: a franchise there, I think it's fantastic, makes a ton
Speaker 3: of sense. So that community, I think is going to
Speaker 3: be fired up. I think you're going to see a
Speaker 3: lot of the same interest that you saw around the
Speaker 3: Valkyries once they announced their ticket sales are through the
Speaker 3: roof their pre ticket sales. I think you're going to
Speaker 3: see that same sort of level of interest. And this
Speaker 3: is just another good addition for the w as it
Speaker 3: continue to expand.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when I heard the news, I was really excited,
Speaker 1: in part because that means that this goes from one
Speaker 1: point forty four to potentially one hundred and eighty plus
Speaker 1: jobs through twenty twenty six for these women athletes who
Speaker 1: are so deserving of being in the number one basketball
Speaker 1: league in the world. And so I'm excited on that
Speaker 1: front to see more athletes get an opportunity to play
Speaker 1: in the WNBA. And so with the news that the
Speaker 1: WNBA was expanding to Portland, it got people fired up
Speaker 1: to think about some other cities that they would like
Speaker 1: to potentially see the WNBA. What are some cities that
Speaker 1: you want to see the WNBA go to next.
Speaker 3: So Miles and I were talking about this a little
Speaker 3: bit before, and Philadelphia seems to make a lot of sense.
Speaker 3: Another Northeast market team, very hungry basketball city, very rabid
Speaker 3: sports fan base. Some of us in New York don't
Speaker 3: really care for those people down in the city of
Speaker 3: Brotherley Love because they don't show brotherly love. But I
Speaker 3: think it's a really good market that could use a
Speaker 3: w team. I think it would be well supported. I
Speaker 3: think they make a lot of sense. I think if
Speaker 3: you want to maybe look a little bit further south,
Speaker 3: you could think about some cities Charlotte, Nashville. Maybe those
Speaker 3: could work. I think Nashville might be a little bit
Speaker 3: better than Charlotte in terms of fans support. They're hungry
Speaker 3: for another professional team, so those are two cities I
Speaker 3: would be interested. Listen. I'm also on this train too.
Speaker 3: I'd love to bring back the comments. I would love
Speaker 3: the comments to come back. I've been riding that can
Speaker 3: bring back the comics train. Hopefully they could be well
Speaker 3: supported in h Town, but I'd love to see the
Speaker 3: comments come back.
Speaker 2: To Dexter named every city in America, so it didn't
Speaker 2: make that easy for me.
Speaker 1: Couple of years ago, I had a chance to interview
Speaker 1: Natasha Cloud, and she revealed to me that there was
Speaker 1: an ownership group spearheaded by comedian Wanda Sykes, who was
Speaker 1: preparing a proposal to the WNBA to bring a team
Speaker 1: to Philly. So I think that that would be so
Speaker 1: dope because you know, there are players in Philly. I
Speaker 1: think that you know, you have the seventy six ers
Speaker 1: out there already, the fandom, you have players like Kalia
Speaker 1: Koppa and Natasha Cloud or from Philly, So it would
Speaker 1: be dope to get another East Coast team. And I
Speaker 1: totally agree, why not take advantage of that huge women's
Speaker 1: basketball fandom in the South and I had another team.
Speaker 1: I think that athletes unlimited. Right now, they're kind of
Speaker 1: testing the Nashville market. In twenty twenty five, they are
Speaker 1: relocating their professional women's basketball league to Nashville. So I
Speaker 1: think the w will definitely be taking a look at
Speaker 1: what's happening there next year to see if that can
Speaker 1: potentially be you know, a city to add a team to.
Speaker 1: And we know that this is not it for expansion
Speaker 1: in the WNBA. Commissioner Kathy Engelberg has hinted time and
Speaker 1: time again that the WNBA is looking to add sixteen
Speaker 1: to eighteen teams I think through twenty twenty eight, so
Speaker 1: we never know, like if those cities you know, will
Speaker 1: be the next up on the list. For the WNBA's
Speaker 1: expansion agenda, but I want to move right along. So
Speaker 1: the WNBA season just concluded, and it feels so weird
Speaker 1: to say that we went through an entire WNBA season.
Speaker 1: I feel like just yesterday we were at the WNBA
Speaker 1: Draft and now we're prepping for the postseason. But as
Speaker 1: the WNBA season has just wrapped up, what stood out
Speaker 1: to the both of you about this season?
Speaker 2: I think that it's the energy, the energy that is
Speaker 2: here that has been building and building and building, but
Speaker 2: has hit a point that we haven't seen in decades,
Speaker 2: since the early years of the WNBA. And to have
Speaker 2: that happen in a season with an Olympics built into it.
Speaker 2: On one hand, yes, that adds to the national stage,
Speaker 2: but on the other there could have been a loss
Speaker 2: of momentum and they're really hasn't been in the second half,
Speaker 2: and I think that's in part due to the rookies
Speaker 2: putting on such a show and breaking all these records,
Speaker 2: but also the stars putting on a show night in
Speaker 2: and night out. There are teams at the top. You're
Speaker 2: looking at the Liberty and the Links, and then there's
Speaker 2: what Asia has done in terms of just breaking all
Speaker 2: these singles, the scoring record, the rebounding record, and then
Speaker 2: obviously Caitlin and Angel. It's just been awesome. It's just
Speaker 2: been terrific. And for so long we've been saying the
Speaker 2: W's coming, the W's coming, and now we're like, the
Speaker 2: W is here, and it's just been refreshing really to
Speaker 2: just see how it's kind of built itself into the culture.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm kind of going to build off for what
Speaker 3: Miles said there. I think for me, you know, when
Speaker 3: you look at it, it's also the star play. You know,
Speaker 3: the star play has elevated even so much and just
Speaker 3: how recognizable now these women are at the forefront. You're
Speaker 3: seeing more opportunities for them in terms of commercials. It
Speaker 3: really starts with the play on the court, right and
Speaker 3: there's just so many women who are super stars in
Speaker 3: this league, playing at an extremely high level and doing
Speaker 3: this for consecutive years. That's the thing. You're seeing these
Speaker 3: names that we're seeing where there's Asia, whether it's Stewie,
Speaker 3: where there's no Visa Collier, You're seeing these women play
Speaker 3: at such a high level time and time again. And
Speaker 3: I think that's what's really dope about the league and
Speaker 3: what people are really attaching themselves to They're seeing these
Speaker 3: stars and they're continuing to play at a high level
Speaker 3: and show out every night.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I mean, we're all three
Speaker 1: here in the New York market, so we get a
Speaker 1: little bit of a treat to get to see the
Speaker 1: New York Liberty night in and night out, and just
Speaker 1: the fandom that is in Barclays Center, sellout crowds and
Speaker 1: arenas game to game. Seeing that crossover and intersection of
Speaker 1: sports culture, fashion, beauty, et cetera, I think that we
Speaker 1: are in a really good place when it comes to
Speaker 1: women's basketball. Okay, so we know the season ended and
Speaker 1: you know there are w NBA End of Season Awards. Now,
Speaker 1: I am a media voter, so I personally will not
Speaker 1: partake in this little game that we're gonna play here
Speaker 1: because I'm gonna reveal who I've voted for after the
Speaker 1: awards are announced. So I want to ask you, Dex
Speaker 1: and Miles who you would have voted for. All Right,
Speaker 1: So starting with the MVP, if you had a vote,
Speaker 1: who would be your MVP pick?
Speaker 2: So I'm going to take Asia Wilson off the board.
Speaker 2: What Asia has done this year has just been phenomenal
Speaker 2: in terms of setting the scoring record, the most counting rebounds,
Speaker 2: and really just keeping an ace's team that was trying
Speaker 2: to find themselves. She's spectacular. She's a superstar. Any league
Speaker 2: would be lucky to have her fronting there and just
Speaker 2: representing their brand and what Asia is doing to continue
Speaker 2: to level up after she's already a multi time MVP,
Speaker 2: after she led Team USA to a gold medal this summer.
Speaker 2: It's unlike anything we've seen in the W but also
Speaker 2: sports at large. Really, so just Asia all the way
Speaker 2: over here.
Speaker 3: Look, I'm stealing Miles's answer. Lets this is easy. I mean, like,
Speaker 3: if you're not saying Asia Wilson, you weren't watching the
Speaker 3: W right, like becoming the first thousand point scorer in
Speaker 3: the league, arguably the greatest season we've ever seen in
Speaker 3: the W by a player. I mean, the efficiency, everything's
Speaker 3: up from Asia Wilson. There's a case to even be made,
Speaker 3: and I know we'll get to some of this later
Speaker 3: that Asia Wilson her game even improved to another level.
Speaker 3: I'm not saying she's the most improved player, but her
Speaker 3: game improved so much that she's even better than the
Speaker 3: greatness we saw before she was the best player in
Speaker 3: the league, hands down, incredible two way player. She's MVP.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm gonna say Asia Wilson as well. I think
Speaker 1: that she really took that fourth place vote to Art
Speaker 1: last year and she came back and she completely dominated.
Speaker 1: Its Asia Wilson and then everybody else. But I do
Speaker 1: want to recognize other potential candidates, and no, Fisa Collier,
Speaker 1: Caitlin Clark, Nekka Gumakay has also had a really good season,
Speaker 1: and some can even make a case with Sabrina and
Speaker 1: Rescue and the way she's been Start Stuart and Brianda Stewart,
Speaker 1: who is the current reigning MVP. So it just speaks
Speaker 1: to how great this season has been in terms of
Speaker 1: the parody. But Asian Wilson has just been on a
Speaker 1: completely different level, all right, moving right along Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year And I don't think there's much of a
Speaker 1: debate here either, But what do you guys think?
Speaker 3: I don't think there's much of a debate here either.
Speaker 3: I think at a point there was between Kaitlyn Clark
Speaker 3: and Angel Reese, and I thought that maybe a quarter
Speaker 3: through the season, I was like, oh, maybe we'll have
Speaker 3: a co Rookie of the Year, but obviously with Angel
Speaker 3: getting injured and being out for the season, and the
Speaker 3: way Caitlyn played, especially post Olympic break right, we saw
Speaker 3: the turnovers go down, we saw the shooting numbers increase,
Speaker 3: and just what she's meant to this Indiana Fever team.
Speaker 3: She's been set all the records in terms of scoring
Speaker 3: for a rookie assist. She's the Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 3: I think these are the two easiest awards to vote
Speaker 3: for this year in the w the MVP and Rookie
Speaker 3: of the Year. So I'm giving it to Kaitlin Clark.
Speaker 3: The question is, I don't know, be unanimous. I would
Speaker 3: say no, I think that's a big question around Asia
Speaker 3: for MVP, but Caitlyn Clark definitely in my book Rookie
Speaker 3: the Year.
Speaker 2: I agree, and I think she should be unanimous there too.
Speaker 2: What the expectations that Caitlyn had when she was coming
Speaker 2: into the pros for her to meet and exceed those
Speaker 2: in her rookie year are spectacular, and I think that
Speaker 2: it shouldn't be lost that there are some years where
Speaker 2: there is a Rookie of the Year by default, right
Speaker 2: where nobody is getting the time and the minutes, and
Speaker 2: Christina alluded to it where we need more roster spots
Speaker 2: because there are so many rookies that are cut out
Speaker 2: of camp just because there's no room for them, and
Speaker 2: I think that's a big thing that expansion is going
Speaker 2: to help with. But this year there's a real competition
Speaker 2: for that those five spots in the All Rookie team
Speaker 2: because this has just been such a deep class. So
Speaker 2: for Caitlyn to come in and excel beyond that because
Speaker 2: so many players are already so far ahead of the
Speaker 2: timeline that was expected of them, including Angel who has
Speaker 2: the single season rebounding average record as a rookie, which
Speaker 2: is phenomenal. For Haitland to come in and then set
Speaker 2: all these other rookie records is just so cool and
Speaker 2: the sport is in great hands right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I agree on that front. With this being
Speaker 1: a really deep and talented rookie class. Some would argue
Speaker 1: Rokia Jackson, if she would have gotten more minutes at
Speaker 1: the first half of the season, she could have been
Speaker 1: and that running for the Rookie of the Year race.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think about players like Kamla Cardoso,
Speaker 1: who has adapted really well. Cam and Brinck pre injury,
Speaker 1: how great she was playing Julie van Leoni Phoebich. You know,
Speaker 1: this is a huge rookie class and you know, I'm
Speaker 1: excited to see where all of these players go in
Speaker 1: the future. Don't go anywhere. We have more with Miles
Speaker 1: Erlick and dex to Henry when we return on in
Speaker 1: case you missed it, with Christina Williams. All right, let's
Speaker 1: move on to Defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 2: But you got this was a tricky one for me
Speaker 2: because for most of the year I had Asia Wilson
Speaker 2: as my Defensive Player of the Year and in the
Speaker 2: last post Olympics it shifted over to Nafisa Collier. And
Speaker 2: that's not a knock on what Asia has done at all.
Speaker 2: She's been a premier defender. She would still be on
Speaker 2: my first team All WNBA Defensive team. But it's just
Speaker 2: what Fee has done within the context of that Minnesota
Speaker 2: defense and leading that Minnesota defense, and just how they communicate,
Speaker 2: how switchful they are. She's the hub of everything that
Speaker 2: they're doing there. And also I think part of it
Speaker 2: is we talked about Asia's offensive efficiency, but they had
Speaker 2: to lean on her so much on that end of
Speaker 2: the floor that she's not maybe as elite as she
Speaker 2: was last year where she was the defensive player of
Speaker 2: the Year, but still you know, top two in this
Speaker 2: in this category, but by the smallest margins. I'm leaning
Speaker 2: Fee here.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I don't know if this was one that Miles and
Speaker 3: I would have disagreed on here, but we don't. And
Speaker 3: it was sort of for the same reason Christina. I
Speaker 3: looked at this and I said, I usually like, when
Speaker 3: it comes to defensi player of the year, who's the
Speaker 3: best defensive player on the one of the best, if
Speaker 3: top two or three defensive teams in the league. And
Speaker 3: you know, when you look at points per possession in
Speaker 3: terms of defense for the Minnesota Links, you know Fee
Speaker 3: is right there at the top of that. She's also
Speaker 3: fourth in steel rate. A tremendous defensive player. She is
Speaker 3: the hub of everything they do. Her bid lead to
Speaker 3: switch one through four is absolutely amazing. So when I
Speaker 3: looked at the defensive season she had and when you
Speaker 3: look at how good the Links are defensively, yeah, it
Speaker 3: had to be her for me, I think, and I
Speaker 3: agree Miles. I think that was a great point. You
Speaker 3: brought up the slippage if you want to say that
Speaker 3: with that we saw with Asia, I think a lot
Speaker 3: is because of how much more she had to do
Speaker 3: on the offensive end this year. I think they're spot
Speaker 3: on with that. And so while she had a fantastic
Speaker 3: season and this is no shade to Asia, fee to
Speaker 3: me as a defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 1: Now, a lot of people or a lot of conversations
Speaker 1: that I've been here around the Defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Year is that you know, it tends to go to
Speaker 1: a lot of the bigs and some of the guards
Speaker 1: don't really get love when it comes to this particular award.
Speaker 1: And I've heard even cases for Djna Carrington, who has
Speaker 1: had a great defensive year for the Connecticut Sun. What
Speaker 1: do you guys think about Djna?
Speaker 2: So that's a little tricky for me because I love
Speaker 2: a campaign for a wing or a guard being put
Speaker 2: into that conversation because they don't get the counting stats
Speaker 2: that people look at the rebounds in the blocks like
Speaker 2: that's a lot of what casual fans are kind of
Speaker 2: looking at counting stats wise when they're trying to figure
Speaker 2: out who's the most impactful on the defensive end. But
Speaker 2: where I come back to is this is still a
Speaker 2: forward dominated league when you're going to talk about the
Speaker 2: MVP candidates year in and year out. Caitlin has worked
Speaker 2: into that conversation, which is awesome. But it's Asia, it's Stewie,
Speaker 2: it's Fee, it's at it's Neca. These are big This
Speaker 2: is a big league. So I think that when it
Speaker 2: comes to stop those front court players, it's just that's
Speaker 2: where the defensive player the year has to come from.
Speaker 3: I definitely agree with that as well. And listen, I'm
Speaker 3: the same as Miles. I'm all here. I think the
Speaker 3: guard should get more love. I say this around when
Speaker 3: I'm on NBA shows or podcasts. I kind of advocate
Speaker 3: for some guards too. But that's even why I brought
Speaker 3: up steel rate with Fee, because I think that's something
Speaker 3: that sometimes can get overlooked, but in the context of
Speaker 3: a truly good team defense, that does matter. And she's
Speaker 3: so great at that. And so I'm with Miles. It
Speaker 3: is a Biggs league. You have to be able to
Speaker 3: stop the primary bigs who are the best two way
Speaker 3: players in the league right now, and Fee is somebody
Speaker 3: who can actually do that right. She can give age
Speaker 3: of fits if she's on her she can give Stewie
Speaker 3: fits if she's on herself. While I love to see
Speaker 3: more love for the guards, I don't think it's crazy
Speaker 3: to have Djna in your top three or four for
Speaker 3: Defensive Player of the Year. I don't think that's crazy
Speaker 3: at all. Yeah, I still got to go with fee here.
Speaker 1: I like that. I like that, all right? Moving on
Speaker 1: to six Women of the Year? Who do you have
Speaker 1: for this award? And Miles I already think I know
Speaker 1: who you're going to say.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I see. This was another one where I was like, man,
Speaker 3: I don't know where Miles is gonna go, and this
Speaker 3: one was this was tough for me. I mean, this
Speaker 3: one was tough for me. But I'm gonna go with
Speaker 3: Leoni Phoebitch of the Liberty.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's a good choice.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I just think when you look at what she did,
Speaker 3: and sometimes I know, people say she started fifteen games, right,
Speaker 3: and people like, does that take away from you voting
Speaker 3: for her for six Women of the Year. No for me,
Speaker 3: because I think it's also the ability of what you
Speaker 3: were able to do off the bench and then when
Speaker 3: you were counted upon to fill in as the reserve
Speaker 3: and start, that production didn't dip off it at all whatsoever.
Speaker 3: In fact, there's some argument that you could say it
Speaker 3: was even better. So for me, just what she was
Speaker 3: able to do in terms of knocking down the outside shot,
Speaker 3: the physicality and defense she provided in coming over, you know,
Speaker 3: to this league and playing for the first time, also
Speaker 3: as a rookie. You know, she's getting a conversation for
Speaker 3: that too. Obviously not gonna win, but I think she
Speaker 3: was the best player off the bench on one of
Speaker 3: the best teams and a consistent contributor. So while this
Speaker 3: was close for me, I'd to go, Leoni poebitch, Miles,
Speaker 3: did you do the same?
Speaker 2: Yere, I'm going to agree with you, but where I'm
Speaker 2: going to disagree as I'm going to say, this was
Speaker 2: not even close for me. This was Leo being the
Speaker 2: best reserve on the best team in the WNBA and
Speaker 2: as a rookie setting She's third all time in three
Speaker 2: point percentage from rookies and that's qualifying. With one hundred
Speaker 2: threes attempted, She's third by that same metric in the
Speaker 2: WNBA this year. She had a stretch after the break,
Speaker 2: after the Olympic break that she played in and played
Speaker 2: heavy minutes where she had sixteen or twenty two threes
Speaker 2: across an eight game stretch. What she has done in
Speaker 2: terms of just spacing the floor, in terms of being
Speaker 2: that versatile switching wing for this team that they could
Speaker 2: put in plug and play into any lineup. And that's
Speaker 2: when you're talking about you could start, you can come
Speaker 2: off the bench, you could just knock down threes, but
Speaker 2: they've continued to put her into more actions. Leo has
Speaker 2: just really lapped the field for me. And yes, all
Speaker 2: of these players that are in contention for six Women
Speaker 2: of the Year have started some time and they just
Speaker 2: hit the criteria which as they come off the bench
Speaker 2: more than they start, but it's because they're so good.
Speaker 2: These are starters that are in reserve roles. But sometimes
Speaker 2: it will be overlooked when you don't have the largest
Speaker 2: point per game average or rebound per game. But this
Speaker 2: is the ultimate role player award. This is doing what
Speaker 2: is essential for the team. And Leo just passed Maya
Speaker 2: More for the most rookie games all time with double
Speaker 2: digit plus minus. So she comes into the game and
Speaker 2: the liberty are better. They are more than ten points
Speaker 2: better in all those instances and she set the record
Speaker 2: for seven straight games of double digit plus minus. So
Speaker 2: Lao has just been consistently and that's what this is.
Speaker 2: This is a consistency award. The most impactful reserve in
Speaker 2: the WNBA.
Speaker 1: I like that choice. Shout out to Laoni Pepitch all right,
Speaker 1: most improved player.
Speaker 3: Man, this was scoop was. This was the award for
Speaker 3: me and I do not envy you as a voter
Speaker 3: on this one. And what's interesting is the three of
Speaker 3: us talked about this earlier in the season.
Speaker 1: In first I think was all yeah for Sabrina.
Speaker 3: And this is an interesting award to me in terms
Speaker 3: of how you view either improvement and the value of
Speaker 3: that to a team. I ended up through a lot
Speaker 3: of thinking and number crunching and all this, I ended
Speaker 3: up going with DJ Carrington. She was the leader for
Speaker 3: me most of the year. I think that the fact
Speaker 3: that she got thrust into the start and role career
Speaker 3: highs this year in points, rebounds, assist minutes played the
Speaker 3: big thing for me with her. We know how good
Speaker 3: of an on ball defender she is, but her foul
Speaker 3: rate went down, which was impressive to me because that
Speaker 3: also is allowing you to stay on the floor and
Speaker 3: have more of an impact to your team. So I
Speaker 3: think what she did and improvement of her game. We
Speaker 3: always knew she was a good player on that side
Speaker 3: of the ball, but seeing the scoring, the assist, the
Speaker 3: steels go up career highs and all of that, her
Speaker 3: impact on the sun and handling the role of becoming
Speaker 3: a starter and still being productive and being able to
Speaker 3: stay on the floor. For me, it was DJN Carrington.
Speaker 3: But I'm going to be honest whatever. I don't know
Speaker 3: if Miles is going to agree with me on this,
Speaker 3: but even if Miles goes somebody different, I think there's
Speaker 3: a strong argument for other players, and I don't think
Speaker 3: it's crazy if someone tells me somebody else is the
Speaker 3: most improved player this year.
Speaker 2: So you didn't need to have both of us on
Speaker 2: the show if we were just going to chalk it up.
Speaker 2: But I did want to show some love to some
Speaker 2: other candidates because I agree. We've talked about this a
Speaker 2: lot about how this is my least favorite award because
Speaker 2: of the way that it's phrased. You don't know if
Speaker 2: this is a comeback player award or someone has done.
Speaker 1: They are very specific as saying that it's not a comeback.
Speaker 2: Player, yeah, but they're not specific in saying somebody like
Speaker 2: Kennedy Carter, who was really great a couple of years
Speaker 2: ago but then was in the league. If that means
Speaker 2: that she's eligible for this or not. But I want
Speaker 2: to show love to Kennedy because what she did given
Speaker 2: the opportunity. We've already known she was a hooper like this,
Speaker 2: but to see her put this together with such consistency
Speaker 2: was awesome and I think in a lot of years
Speaker 2: she would have won this award. Bridget Carlton made a
Speaker 2: really big late push for me what she's done for
Speaker 2: the Links, and you cannot show enough love to this
Speaker 2: Minnesota Lynks team. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: it was Djna for me. And last week I spoke
Speaker 2: to Stephanie White, the head coach of the Sun, and
Speaker 2: steph presented her case for why she thought DJA should
Speaker 2: be and something she said that was interesting was last
Speaker 2: year they needed Djna off the bench because she was
Speaker 2: this spark blood for them. She just had this energy
Speaker 2: and they would bring her in to take on whatever
Speaker 2: player was killing them that night and put Djna there
Speaker 2: and try to stop the bleeding. And they challenged her
Speaker 2: this year by moving her into that starting lineup and said,
Speaker 2: can you keep that energy for an entire game? And
Speaker 2: she responded by not only working her way into Defensive
Speaker 2: Player of the Year conversations, but by all of these
Speaker 2: career highs. So for Djna to be able to do that,
Speaker 2: for them to have her as a Downhills, which they
Speaker 2: needed so badly as a transition scorer. We've seen some
Speaker 2: games where she's just completely taken over, right, We've seen
Speaker 2: three steals in a row and these these pick six
Speaker 2: fast break layups. Djna has just upped her game in
Speaker 2: every every way. And I think that that is the
Speaker 2: spirit of the award, if not the weird wonky definition.
Speaker 3: Miles, real quick, did you have Alana Smith? Was she
Speaker 3: in consideration for you as well too? Because she was
Speaker 3: in consideration for me?
Speaker 2: Yeah, every year and she was also up there if
Speaker 2: not for fee right, she was up there for Defensive
Speaker 2: Player of the Year. Yep, she would be on my
Speaker 2: on my first team All WNBA defense because Alana Smith
Speaker 2: just every year keeps on climbing and climbing and climbing.
Speaker 2: This is why we need more roster spots. Because Alana
Speaker 2: Smith was almost out of the double yep, and she
Speaker 2: was she was looking for new opportunities, and last year
Speaker 2: she really took off in Chicago, and then this year
Speaker 2: to see her continue that upward trajectory. I think last
Speaker 2: year she probably had an even better case than this
Speaker 2: year because that was kind of her breakout. I feel
Speaker 2: like with her she kind of unlocked defensively, that she
Speaker 2: could be this three to four and just be a
Speaker 2: mismatch on both ends the floor. But her health defense
Speaker 2: is tremendous, absolutely.
Speaker 1: All right, last one Coach of the Year, I think
Speaker 1: that it's a tight race between two coaches. But what
Speaker 1: do you guys think?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's a tight race between Cheryl Reeves
Speaker 3: and Sandy Broundello. I think that's the race here. I
Speaker 3: think a lot of how you vote this award would
Speaker 3: be do you value somebody coaching the team with the
Speaker 3: best record in the league as much and being dominant
Speaker 3: throughout right to a degree, or do you value the
Speaker 3: coach that maybe lifted a team up from where most
Speaker 3: people didn't think they were going to be. Now, I
Speaker 3: did think the Links were going to be good this year.
Speaker 3: I liked some of the way they were playing towards
Speaker 3: last year, some of the additions they made, I thought
Speaker 3: they'd be better, not sure. I had them as number
Speaker 3: two in the league right going into the playoffs. I
Speaker 3: gotta go with Cheryl Reeve. I think when you look
Speaker 3: at what she's done with this team, like I said,
Speaker 3: getting them to the two seed, having one of the
Speaker 3: best defenses in the league, loving the style of the
Speaker 3: way they play, how versatile they are, I think she's
Speaker 3: done a great coaching job if you give it to
Speaker 3: Sandy Brondelo. Not mad at you either, but my vote
Speaker 3: would go to Cheryl Reeve.
Speaker 2: With the links before the season started, the links were
Speaker 2: being set up at sportsbooks at over fourteen and a
Speaker 2: half wins per game. They doubled that this is a
Speaker 2: team that has just excelled in every way. So Cheryl
Speaker 2: Reeve's going to win this award. What I want to
Speaker 2: use your platform to do is just shout out Sandy Brondelo,
Speaker 2: because Cheryl's going to win this. But what Sandy Brondelo
Speaker 2: did is going to be overlooked because the expectations were
Speaker 2: already there. But I think a lot of what faltered
Speaker 2: for the Liberty last year was that they didn't have
Speaker 2: this depth, they didn't manage these minutes and by the
Speaker 2: time they got to the postseason, players were more run down.
Speaker 2: So in an Olympic year for her to be more
Speaker 2: trusting of the second unit and Jonathan Cold found these
Speaker 2: players like Kennedy Burn, like Leoni Fievish, like Evonadutskinch that
Speaker 2: were able to come in and spell those starters, so
Speaker 2: that near Savoli. Her development this year has been tremendous
Speaker 2: so that Sandy Brondella didn't have to lean on those
Speaker 2: stars so much. What she was able to do to
Speaker 2: then get the liberty to these back to back thirty
Speaker 2: plus win seasons, which is the first time in WNBA history.
Speaker 2: I think it's going to be overshadowed because of expectations,
Speaker 2: but the coaching job she's done has been better this
Speaker 2: year than last year.
Speaker 1: I like that you both made it case and I myself,
Speaker 1: I think it is between coach Sandy Brundello and coach
Speaker 1: Cherrol Reeve. But one could also make a case for
Speaker 1: coach Christy Sides, who in the beginning first half of
Speaker 1: the season everyone's calling for her job, and then there
Speaker 1: was that turn with the team in the second half
Speaker 1: of the season where the Fever have now clinched a
Speaker 1: playoff berth for the first time since twenty sixteens. But
Speaker 1: I think by far it is going to be Hirol Reeve.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think that it's those two and then
Speaker 1: coach sides you can make a case for as well.
Speaker 1: All right, we're going to take a quick break and
Speaker 1: when we come back, we're going to have some playoff
Speaker 1: predictions and I'm going to see who Dexter and Miles
Speaker 1: will predict to be the twenty twenty four WNBA champions.
Speaker 1: Now it's time for some first round WNBA playoff predictions.
Speaker 1: So we know the New York Liberty have secured that
Speaker 1: number one seed and we'll have home court advantage in
Speaker 1: the first round. What doll we expected to see from
Speaker 1: this New York Liberty team?
Speaker 3: One word, Christina, expecting to sweep. That's what I'm expecting.
Speaker 3: Liberty is dominated all year. I expect them to sweep.
Speaker 3: They're not going to play with their food. Well yeah, sorry,
Speaker 3: that is three words. But yes, I'm expected to sleep.
Speaker 3: But look, I don't expect them to play with their
Speaker 3: food at all, whatsoever. I think they will take care
Speaker 3: of business. This is a team that has been focused
Speaker 3: on a mission. I think they know what time it
Speaker 3: is right now. Like I said, I don't see them
Speaker 3: playing with their food. Give me a sweep by the
Speaker 3: Liberty in the first round.
Speaker 1: I like that.
Speaker 2: I'll say that too. To nothing. The Liberty have played
Speaker 2: so well at home all season, regardless of who's coming in.
Speaker 2: This is Ellie's house that you're coming into. The howd's
Speaker 2: going to be allowed, It's going to be sold out.
Speaker 2: They work this hard so that they could create this standard,
Speaker 2: and I don't see them dropping a game, and just
Speaker 2: I see them just moving on easily to the second round.
Speaker 1: I like it. You said it's Ellie's house, because when
Speaker 1: you come to Barclays, you've got to check in with
Speaker 1: my girl Ellie before we know that you're good in
Speaker 1: the Barclays Center. All right? Moving on to Seed two
Speaker 1: versus Seed seven, the Minnesota Leaks and the Mercury. Diana
Speaker 1: Tarazzi is this it is?
Speaker 3: This?
Speaker 1: It for Diana Tarazzi. We don't know yet, but what
Speaker 1: are you liking to see with this matchup?
Speaker 2: For me, it's just how dominant Minnesota has been. They
Speaker 2: won the season series three to one by thirty nine
Speaker 2: points total those four games, so almost ten points a game.
Speaker 2: I think that we're just going to see this cohesive team,
Speaker 2: and unfortunately for Phoenix, the Wheels have kind of come
Speaker 2: off a bit lately. They've got some injuries, they had
Speaker 2: some players accruing technical foul limits, so there were some
Speaker 2: players in and out of the lineup. It just feels
Speaker 2: like maybe that's an appropriate way for DT to go
Speaker 2: out with the cur in their history of text. But
Speaker 2: I respect the hell out of the fact that she
Speaker 2: is just kind of doing this her own way, that
Speaker 2: she's not being forced to do a big tour if
Speaker 2: that's not what she wants. Although we would have all
Speaker 2: loved to celebrate her, I always respect when an athlete
Speaker 2: wants that or it doesn't want that. So I just
Speaker 2: hope that Diana Tarssi feels love everywhere because she deserves it.
Speaker 2: The game is not where it is today without DT's impact.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is a series where, look, I think the
Speaker 3: links and we wax poetic about them on this show.
Speaker 3: They've been fantastic. I'm going to go to sweep here,
Speaker 3: but it wouldn't shock me if one of the two
Speaker 3: games here were close and Phoenix pushed them. But I
Speaker 3: think it's going to be a sweep. I'm going links
Speaker 3: to over the market.
Speaker 2: That would be fun.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that would be fun.
Speaker 2: Free back at foot Print Center. Get Diana another shot
Speaker 2: to keep her career going against the crowd.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on. We have Seed three versus
Speaker 1: Seed six, the Connecticut Son Indiana Fever. What are we
Speaker 1: liking from this potential matchup?
Speaker 3: Everybody wants to pick the Fever here. I feel like
Speaker 3: everybody wants to pick the Fever here. And I get it,
Speaker 3: They've been playing good basketball. Caitlin's been crazy, but I
Speaker 3: feel like it's a little bit of disrespect to the Son.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 3: Look, the Sun have their issues. I don't trust them
Speaker 3: enough offensively, right, that's my issue with them, right, I
Speaker 3: don't trust them offensively. But I still think this is
Speaker 3: a veteran team with at with Dewana Bonner, you know,
Speaker 3: they've got Marina Mayby. Now, I think they figure out
Speaker 3: a way to get this done. I do think this
Speaker 3: is going to be the best first round series though.
Speaker 3: I do think this one goes three. I'm gonna go yeah,
Speaker 3: the Sun is going to be in a little bit
Speaker 3: of trouble with this going to Indiana for a third game,
Speaker 3: But I think they get this done and I'm going
Speaker 3: to go with Connecticut in three games.
Speaker 2: This is also my favorite series to look forward to
Speaker 2: because it's just such a difference in style of play
Speaker 2: and what we saw from Connecticut in terms of the
Speaker 2: ball pressure and generating turnovers and just taking over these games.
Speaker 2: There's nobody in the league that maybe outside of Minnesota,
Speaker 2: that can quite push them like that. The question will
Speaker 2: be if they're down, can they score to keep up
Speaker 2: with Indiana, and how Indiana has been playing with pace
Speaker 2: and all their outside shooting, their in and out game
Speaker 2: now everything. Indiana has been one of the best teams
Speaker 2: in the second half in the WA So I think,
Speaker 2: I hope this goes at least three. And I don't know.
Speaker 2: There's something like when we were watching March Madness last
Speaker 2: year and you wanted Caitlin to kind of stay in
Speaker 2: and advance because you want to see how high these
Speaker 2: these ratings and these metrics can get. There's something to
Speaker 2: that effect for me here where I'm like, let's keep
Speaker 2: on seeing how this momentum will build. So I don't know,
Speaker 2: I don't know who's going to come out of it,
Speaker 2: but we better get at least three games. Here and
Speaker 2: then see who wins and moves on.
Speaker 1: And for what is worked. It's must see TV, right
Speaker 1: because we have Djna Carrington who will be the primary
Speaker 1: depender on Caitlin Clark in We know just how much
Speaker 1: fans love to see that. So I'm getting my popcorn
Speaker 1: ready for this matchup. Okay, moving right along to the
Speaker 1: four seed versus the five seed Aces versus Storm. Now
Speaker 1: we know in the last regular season game, the Aces
Speaker 1: decided to rest the majority of their starters ahead of
Speaker 1: the first round matchup. So what do we like from
Speaker 1: this Aces Storm game?
Speaker 2: Potentially the Storm needs to take that disrespect handle away
Speaker 2: from Connecticut and put that chip onto their shoulder ahead
Speaker 2: of these games, because the Aces went into their building
Speaker 2: and they ran away with that game in the fourth
Speaker 2: quarter and then they're like, you know what, we could
Speaker 2: do this again. We don't mind this, And I think
Speaker 2: the Aces are ready. They are starting to play like
Speaker 2: the Las Vegas Aces that we knew, and I think
Speaker 2: that's partially because they're starting to lean a little bit
Speaker 2: more on their second unit, not just putting all of
Speaker 2: it at Asia's feet as it was for a lot
Speaker 2: of the year and host Olympics Jackie hasn't been quite
Speaker 2: what we're used to seeing from her. Chelsea the whole
Speaker 2: year has kind of been building back, and Kelsey is
Speaker 2: a little bit up and down. Asia has been so consistent,
Speaker 2: and anytime you enter a playoff series with the best
Speaker 2: player in the world, you've got a fighter's chance. But
Speaker 2: then to do that while they're all starting to play
Speaker 2: a little bit better together is great. The Storm are
Speaker 2: just so talented on that side too. They've got MVP
Speaker 2: talent on that end of the floor. But I just
Speaker 2: see Vegas trying to repeat here, making their way to
Speaker 2: hopefully the Liberty in the second round for that rematch.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with Miles on this. I think Vegas wins this.
Speaker 3: I do think these games will be competitive, but I
Speaker 3: think you saw in this last matchup between Vegas and Seattle.
Speaker 3: Vegas knows what it takes and how to get it done.
Speaker 3: Down to stretch, they can out execute them. I think
Speaker 3: they're CONFI into that going to this. I think Vegas
Speaker 3: knows that it's been an up and down sort of
Speaker 3: season for them. It started to look a little bit
Speaker 3: better over the final three weeks. I think they're focused here.
Speaker 3: I think this is a sweep. I'm going to go
Speaker 3: to nothing, but I think it's a very competitive sweep.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do.
Speaker 3: I think it's competitive sweep, though I do not think
Speaker 3: it'll be easy. But I just trust and like Vegas's
Speaker 3: ability to execute. You're starting to see some things get
Speaker 3: better for them, and I think it really starts with
Speaker 3: Chelsea Gray, who, like Miles said, has been trying to
Speaker 3: work her way back all season. I think if she
Speaker 3: gets back to somewhat of what we're used to seeing
Speaker 3: from her in the playoffs, She's not going to be
Speaker 3: all the way back, but I think somewhat of that
Speaker 3: is going to be huge and taking a little bit
Speaker 3: of pressure off of Asia. But yeah, I like the
Speaker 3: Aces here. I think they sweep Seattle, but I think
Speaker 3: it's a very competitive sweep. It will not be easy.
Speaker 1: Okay, Dexter has a very competitive suite in that four
Speaker 1: versus five matchup. Okay, last thing for today, I want
Speaker 1: to know who you both predict to be the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four NBA champions. Who do you have holding up
Speaker 1: the trophy at the end of the postseason.
Speaker 2: I hope that there are seven other teams that are
Speaker 2: listening and ready to clip this if this goes any
Speaker 2: other way, I stand by what I'm about to say.
Speaker 2: But the New York Liberty have been the best team
Speaker 2: in the WNBA from day one through the end of
Speaker 2: the season. They've got the depth, they've got the star
Speaker 2: power at the top, They've got that year to chemistry
Speaker 2: with this core that they are built for all of
Speaker 2: these matchups. They're built to win this championship. They're built
Speaker 2: to bring a championship, a basketball championship back to New
Speaker 2: York City where it is long overdue. And I will
Speaker 2: say that for every single year, but especially this year.
Speaker 2: This feels like the time there's going to be a
Speaker 2: parade in New York City.
Speaker 3: I'm with Miles on this. Yeah, I'm with Miles. You
Speaker 3: shouldn't have had both of us on the podcast. We
Speaker 3: think very similarly on a lot of things, because that's
Speaker 3: why Miles is the great writer that is. I think
Speaker 3: we saw that play out through this regular season. We
Speaker 3: also saw this stream focus from this team when they
Speaker 3: started at the beginning in training camp, and you've kind
Speaker 3: of seen that through. There's not been a lot of
Speaker 3: downs in the season, but when there were this team
Speaker 3: of the ability to bounce back and refocus, and I
Speaker 3: think they've really been focused on the task at hand.
Speaker 3: You talked about that in terms of them getting the
Speaker 3: number one seed, getting home court advantaged throughout, but I
Speaker 3: think now they know this is the time, and I
Speaker 3: trust this team that even if they see the Aces
Speaker 3: in the second round and they are tested, that they
Speaker 3: have the depth to get it done. I think that's
Speaker 3: a different thing. I love how Sandy Brondello's coached this year.
Speaker 3: I like how she's used the team and a rotation.
Speaker 3: I think she will lean on that in terms of
Speaker 3: her best closing lineup when it comes down to it
Speaker 3: in a tough game in the playoffs. So I love
Speaker 3: the Liberty here. I think they're going to get it done.
Speaker 3: I think it's time. I think Ellie's going to be happy.
Speaker 3: I think all of us who cover the team will
Speaker 3: be happy. And so I'm going with de Liberty as
Speaker 3: a twenty twenty four WNBA champions.
Speaker 1: I like that take from the both of you, and
Speaker 1: for what is worth. You know, Liberty swept the Aces
Speaker 1: in the regular season series, but we do know that
Speaker 1: regular season wins don't translate to post in place. So
Speaker 1: hopefully the Liberty can continue to carry out that momentum
Speaker 1: throughout the postseason and play at a high level, because
Speaker 1: we've seen spurts in this regular season where this team
Speaker 1: has been complacent and just as Stuwie said, playing floating around,
Speaker 1: and they have to like turn that switch on and
Speaker 1: keep it on for all forty minutes of each and
Speaker 1: every single game, night in and night out. And I
Speaker 1: do agree with both of you. I think that the
Speaker 1: New York Liberty and I'm saying this for every buddy
Speaker 1: who lost to clip our postseason clips in audio, I
Speaker 1: think that the New York Liberty will be your twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four WNBA champions. But the links are right there
Speaker 1: as well. May've been playing pretty good. We know how
Speaker 1: much defense means when it comes to winning basketball games,
Speaker 1: and so I think that the New York Liberty out
Speaker 1: the gate. They can't take any game and play it
Speaker 1: lacks of days cool even in round one, even if
Speaker 1: they have the idea that they will sweep you know
Speaker 1: that number eight seed. They have to practice how they
Speaker 1: play through and through and just be aggressive through all
Speaker 1: of the rounds. And yeah, I have them taking it.
Speaker 1: I have them holding up the trophy at the end
Speaker 1: of the postseason. In October, so we're gonna run this
Speaker 1: back in October when they are holding up the trophy.
Speaker 1: All right, Thank you guys so much for being guessed
Speaker 1: this week on the special playoff preview of In Case
Speaker 1: You Missed It with Christina Williams. As always fun the
Speaker 1: chat hoops with y'all.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much. It's always fun, same here.
Speaker 3: Thank Christina.
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for this special edition of In
Speaker 1: Case You Missed It with Christina Williams. And don't forget
Speaker 1: to follow us on social media at I See y
Speaker 1: Am I with k W across all social media. We'll
Speaker 1: see you back here next time. In Case You Missed
Speaker 1: It with Christina Williams is an iheartwomen's sports production in
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