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Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're still

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Speaker 1: crying at the speech Asia Wilson gave after learning she

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Speaker 1: won MVP, and we're still hydrated after a busy weekend

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Speaker 1: as the world's best wedding officiant.

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Speaker 2: Congrats Hannah and Jenny.

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Speaker 1: On today's show, we'll be chatting with Minnesota Links and

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Speaker 1: USA basketball head coach Cheryl Reef about our team's focus

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Speaker 1: in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs, managing the

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Speaker 1: USA roster route to gold in Paris, and dealing with

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Speaker 1: criticism surrounding roster selection and player minutes. Plus, it's our

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Speaker 1: fiftieth episode. The traditional gift for fifty is gold. Do

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Speaker 1: with that information what you will. It's all coming up

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Speaker 1: right after this. Welcome back, my Orange slices. Hope you

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Speaker 1: had a great weekend. Here's what you need to know

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Speaker 1: today in the w the first round series are underway.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 2: I had to hop on a flight home from the

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Speaker 2: aforementioned nuptials. The things we do for love.

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Speaker 1: So we're going to update you on the Phoenix Mercury

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Speaker 1: versus the Minnesota Links and the Las Vegas Aces versus

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Speaker 1: the Seattle Storm tomorrow. But here's the status report on

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Speaker 1: the first two games. The New York Liberty took care

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Speaker 1: of business on home court against Atlanta down in the

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Speaker 1: Dream eighty three sixty nine. Leoni Phoebich had the best

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Speaker 1: scoring game of her career in the first playoff game

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Speaker 1: of her career, leading New York with twenty one points.

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Speaker 1: Along the way, Courtney Vandersloute passed suberd to become the

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Speaker 1: w's all time playoff assists leader. She's got three hundred

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Speaker 1: and sixty five and counting Tina Charles, the newly minted

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Speaker 1: WNBA all time leader in rebounds and double doubles. She

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Speaker 1: broke both those records in the final regular season game.

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Speaker 1: She had twelve points and seven rebounds for Atlanta. Some

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Speaker 1: hometown fun in the Indiana Fever Connecticut Sun game as

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Speaker 1: the Mohegan Sun, video operators highlighted a bunch of Fever

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Speaker 1: fans in attendance on a quote unquote bandwagon cam with

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Speaker 1: the caption diehard Fever fan since twenty twenty four. They

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Speaker 1: got jokes and the Sun got the win. The game

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Speaker 1: started out tight and pretty ugly, with both team's lacking

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Speaker 1: rhythm and some equipment malfunctions that had Caitlin Clark given

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Speaker 1: her best bill O'Reilly stare at the scorer's desk. We'll

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Speaker 1: do it live if you know, you know, But it

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Speaker 1: wasn't their fault and it got cleared up and the

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Speaker 1: sun eventually clicked, pulling away to get an easy ninety

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Speaker 1: three to sixty nine win. Marina Maybrey led the way

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Speaker 1: for Connecticut with twenty seven points. That's the most points

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Speaker 1: ever off the bench in a WNBA playoff game, while

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Speaker 1: Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with twenty one points. And

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Speaker 1: we'd be remiss if we didn't give you the hoops

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Speaker 1: and gay shit update, seeing as this game had two

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Speaker 1: count them two engaged couples. First, the Sons Alyssa Thomas

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Speaker 1: and Duanna Bonner, who combined for thirty four points, sixteen rebounds,

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Speaker 1: and eighteen assists in their team's win, and the sons

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Speaker 1: djn A Carrington and the Fevers Melissa Smith engaged. I said,

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Speaker 1: sure did they're stoken some serious rumors after showing up

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Speaker 1: to the last game of their respective regular seasons in

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Speaker 1: matching outfits and Djona wearing a big old diamond ring

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Speaker 1: on her left ring finger. We stand real bad and

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Speaker 1: now we're wondering if there are new rules for staying

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Speaker 1: at your opponent's place when it's the postseason. We really

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Speaker 1: need to get a WNBA reporter to ask if Melissa

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Speaker 1: is staying at Djona's place tonight.

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Speaker 2: I just I can't imagine it. I really can't. Okay,

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Speaker 2: more w news.

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Speaker 1: On Sunday morning, the WNBA officially announced that Asia Wilson

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Speaker 1: is the unanimous MVP of the twenty twenty four season.

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Speaker 1: It's only the second unanimous vote ever. The first with

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Speaker 1: no opposition was Cynthia Cooper back in the inaugural ninety

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Speaker 1: seven season. This is Asia's third MVP award, making her

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Speaker 1: the fourth player in w history to win three of them,

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Speaker 1: joining Cheryl Swoops, Lisa Leslie, and Lauren Jackson. That is

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Speaker 1: great company. The announcement head at eight thirty am Eastern,

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Speaker 1: and the Aces followed it up with a video that's

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Speaker 1: definitely going to get your eyes a little misty.

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Speaker 2: We'll link to it in our episode notes.

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Speaker 1: But eight thirty am Eastern is five thirty am in Vegas,

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Speaker 1: so some folks on the West Coast woke up beyond

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Speaker 1: a little late to the party, and same for those

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Speaker 1: of us who slept in real late on the East Coast.

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Speaker 1: Also interesting, there were sixty eight voters, but only sixty

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Speaker 1: seven ballots were cast for Wilson as MVP. Maybe someone

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Speaker 1: overslept and didn't submit in time. Maybe someone refused to answer.

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Speaker 1: Someone tells me we're not going to find out. In

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Speaker 1: any event, this year's crown is Asia's Take a bow girl.

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Speaker 1: Oh and you didn't think this announcement would pass without

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Speaker 1: a mention from Asia's secret boot. But it was actually

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Speaker 1: his team that got in on the game this time.

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Speaker 1: The MNBA Miami Heat joined the social media shenanigans between

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Speaker 1: Wilson and Bam Autobio, tweeting, quote our random photo of

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Speaker 1: Bam on this lovely Sunday. Of course that's a apostrophe random.

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Speaker 2: We love this.

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Speaker 1: The rest of the w's end of season awards will

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Speaker 1: be released throughout the postseason, and will update y'all on

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Speaker 1: those as they come in. For what it's worth, though,

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Speaker 1: the Associated Press's fifteen member media panel did release all

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Speaker 1: of their picks for the awards. We'll link to the

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Speaker 1: full list in our show notes, but it's worth noting

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Speaker 1: that the AP voters did select a Fisa Collier for

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Speaker 1: Defensive Player of the Year over Asia Wilson. Now, in

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Speaker 1: case you missed it, last week, Becky Hammond, coach of

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Speaker 1: the Las Vegas Asis, called out ESPN in particular during

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Speaker 1: a postgame press conference after several ESPN writers announced they

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Speaker 1: had selected ANFISA as Defensive Player of the Year.

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Speaker 2: Here's a clip of.

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Speaker 4: That ESPN and we worked with ESPN, Eve and I

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Speaker 4: worked with ESPN, And I'm just going to say this,

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Speaker 4: Asia Wilson got the.

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Speaker 2: MVP stuff right, the Defensive Player of the Year.

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Speaker 5: If you have to, as a journalist or a reporter,

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Speaker 5: have to go down a rabbit hole to find somebody

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Speaker 5: else to be in the conversation, you already have the

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Speaker 5: answer to all your questions.

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Speaker 3: And that's all I'm going to say on it.

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Speaker 1: We asked aphesis coach Cheryl Reeve for her thoughts on

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Speaker 1: him and sentiments, so stay tuned for that more. WNBA

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Speaker 1: News La Sparks guard and twelve year WNBA vet Leisha

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Speaker 1: Clarendon announced their retirement over the weekend. The thirty three

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Speaker 1: year old, who uses he she they pronouns, is the

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Speaker 1: league's first openly transgender and non binary player and the

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Speaker 1: first ever VP of the players Association. He was a

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Speaker 1: driving force behind the league's historic twenty twenty collective bargaining agreement,

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Speaker 1: which increased salaries, improved travel conditions.

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Speaker 2: And offered more support for parents in the league.

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Speaker 1: She also advocated for LGBTQIA plus inclusive policies across the

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Speaker 1: w and it was their idea to dedicate the twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty season to the Say Her Name Campaign, a social

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Speaker 1: movement which calls attention to the stories of black women

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Speaker 1: and girls who have been victimized by racist police violence.

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Speaker 1: Clarendon has dealt with their share of injuries in recent

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Speaker 1: years and hasn't played a full season since twenty twenty one.

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Speaker 1: In a post on Instagram, they wrote, in part, quote,

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Speaker 1: while the grief is heavy, the joy remains. I am

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Speaker 1: so looking forward to being celebrated and love done. I

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Speaker 1: respectfully ask you not to say you're going to be

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Speaker 1: great in whatever you choose next. I want to stay

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Speaker 1: in the sweetness of this moment where my heart is

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Speaker 1: broken and there's tears rolling down my eyes, and I

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Speaker 1: can also smile, look up and say, damn, I really

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Speaker 1: did all of that.

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Speaker 2: End quote, Yes, Ley, you did. Thank you for it all.

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Speaker 1: In the NWSL We've got a positive update on Washington's

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Speaker 1: Spirit striker Trinity Rodman. She was taken off the pitch

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Speaker 1: in a wheelchair after a collision in the seventy fifth

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Speaker 1: minute of Washington's Friday night match against the Case Current.

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Speaker 1: After the match, the Spirit's head coach said Rodman felt

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Speaker 1: quote something in her back end quote. Rodman's agent confirmed

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Speaker 1: this Saturday, telling the Washington Posts Ella Brockway that Trinity

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Speaker 1: had in fact suffered an intense backspasm and is in

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Speaker 1: a lot of pain. That her team is hopeful she

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Speaker 1: avoided anything serious. Speaking of injury, we got some sad

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Speaker 1: news on Saturday in New York, New Jersey. GOTHAMFC announced

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Speaker 1: that defender Kelly O'Hara is done for the season due

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Speaker 1: to chronic need degeneration.

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Speaker 2: O'Hara, who was a.

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Speaker 1: Staple on the back line of the US women's national team,

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Speaker 1: announced in May that she would be retiring at the

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Speaker 1: end of the twenty twenty fourth season. According to a

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Speaker 1: Gotham press release, she'll continue to be in the team's

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Speaker 1: environment for the remainder of the season in a leadership role,

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Speaker 1: and GOTHAMFC will also celebrate O'Hara's legendary career on October twentieth,

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Speaker 1: during the team's final regular season home match against the

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Speaker 1: Orlando Pride. That's a five pm Eastern start at Red

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Speaker 1: Bull Arena. Also, it was a little poetic that Kelly

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Speaker 1: and Alex Morgan ended up playing their final games on

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Speaker 1: the exact same day. Those two are sort of inextricably linked,

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Speaker 1: and as sad as we are to see both of

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Speaker 1: them be done, it does feel a little bit right

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Speaker 1: that they both played their last game on the exact

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Speaker 1: same day. Also, something got them can celebrate. They clinched

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Speaker 1: a spot in the playoffs. The team's one nil victory

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Speaker 1: over the Utah Royals on Sunday made it official. The

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Speaker 1: defending champs are third overall in the league as it

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Speaker 1: stands now, trailing the unbeaten Orlando Pride and the Washington

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Speaker 1: Spirit to Hockey. The college hockey season is officially underway.

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Speaker 1: The Ohio State Buckeys are on a mission to defend

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Speaker 1: their twenty twenty four title and capture a third chip

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Speaker 1: in four years. Last season, they defeated Wisconsin won nothing

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Speaker 1: in the Frozen four final. But Ohio State's roster looks

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Speaker 1: pretty different these days. After eight members of last year's

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Speaker 1: championship roster were picked up in the twenty twenty four

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Speaker 1: PWHL draft. Minnesota Duluth humbled the buck Guys in the

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Speaker 1: season opener, beating the defending champs two to one on

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Speaker 1: Saturday and then pulling out a.

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Speaker 2: Four to three win on Sunday. Finally, some style.

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Speaker 1: And fashion news, Ellie the Elephant, the uber popular New

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Speaker 1: York Liberty mascot, teamed up with Nike to create a

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Speaker 1: new Sabrina two colorway. We'll link to the site in

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Speaker 1: our show notes, and we'll also link to the video

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Speaker 1: of Ellie's design process at Nike headquarters Pure Entertainment. The

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Speaker 1: Liberty also announced a multi year partnership with fashion company

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Speaker 1: off White over the weekend. The brand is now the

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Speaker 1: official style and culture curator of the team, marking off

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Speaker 1: White's first US sports team partnership. The first item born

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Speaker 1: from the collaboration is a custom varsity jacket, which was

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Speaker 1: unveiled ahead of the Liberty's opening playoff game. We are

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Speaker 1: super excited to see an insanely cool and cheep brand

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Speaker 1: like off White work with the Liberty, but we are

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Speaker 1: also wondering how we are ever going to be able

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Speaker 1: to afford the merch We're going to take a quick

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Speaker 1: break when we come back. We caught up with Minnesota

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Speaker 1: Link's head coach Cheryl Reeve on Friday ahead of the

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Speaker 1: first round of the playoffs. You'll hear that conversation coming

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Speaker 1: up next. She's the head coach and president of basketball

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Speaker 1: operations for the Minnesota Links of the WNBA A team

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Speaker 1: she's led to four championship wins, and she's a two

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Speaker 1: time WNBA champion. As an assistant coach with the Detroit Shock,

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Speaker 1: she was head coach of the USA basketball team that

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Speaker 1: just won gold in Paris, and as a player, she's

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Speaker 1: still top ten in single season assists at LaSalle University,

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Speaker 1: where she was inducted into the Hall.

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Speaker 2: Of Athletes in twenty seventeen. I once talked shit to

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Speaker 2: her sitting courtside in Toronto while she was coaching against

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Speaker 2: my Sky and it's her birthday today. It's Cheryl reed

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Speaker 2: what's up, coach?

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Speaker 3: What's up? What's up? I do remember that in Toronto.

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Speaker 3: I haven't forgotten that. I haven't forgot.

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Speaker 2: Listen only gets my squad. I'm gonna talk some shit.

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Speaker 3: That's just the way I oper I hear you I

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Speaker 3: do appreciate that about you.

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Speaker 2: So big birthday plans besides our show.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm gonna be spending it a team is so sweet.

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Speaker 3: Gonna have dinner with the team tonight. It's actually our

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Speaker 3: playoff dinner. They invited me to that, so I'll be Yeah,

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Speaker 3: so spending my birthday with the team. So actually, they've

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Speaker 3: been so therapeutic for me. So it actually is fitting life.

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Speaker 2: Of a coach, pretty standard.

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Speaker 1: Before we even get into your incredible Minnesota links and

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Speaker 1: the postseason coming up, their incredible post Olympic run, I

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Speaker 1: want to take a moment for that run to the

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Speaker 1: Olympic gold. Congratulations. Also, thank you. That was a close one.

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Speaker 1: What was the toughest part of that job for you

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Speaker 1: being the head coach of Tmosa basketball?

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Speaker 3: Uh, you know, I would say without question it's probably

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Speaker 3: one A and one B, which we talk about all

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Speaker 3: the time, is just that we don't get enough time

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Speaker 3: together and so it has to be like this instant

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Speaker 3: where you get a group of players together. The final roster,

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Speaker 3: you know, wasn't what I had for since twenty twenty two, right,

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Speaker 3: It changed each time we had a competition. So that's

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Speaker 3: that's a challenge. You know, I'm thankful that the leaders

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Speaker 3: of our team sort of understood that we didn't have

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Speaker 3: time for skepticism or anything like that. We had to

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Speaker 3: kind of all be in it right away and buy in.

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Speaker 3: And that allowed us, you know, obviously to have a

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Speaker 3: you know, a level of success that you know, I

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Speaker 3: appreciated what they were giving. And then the second part,

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Speaker 3: every coach that I talked to, you know, I worked

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Speaker 3: for uh Gino for two quads. I worked for Dawn

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Speaker 3: for a quad. Uh and both of them said unequivocally

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Speaker 3: the roster management at the playing time for players would

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Speaker 3: be the hardest thing, UH, because you have I mean,

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Speaker 3: there's no wrong choices. But what I did learn is

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Speaker 3: you have to make choices, and I've learned that a

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Speaker 3: long time ago. It's a mistake that a lot of

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Speaker 3: young coaches make. You have to be willing to make

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Speaker 3: the hard decisions, and you know, you try to inform

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Speaker 3: your decisions collectively as a staff. We certainly did that,

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Speaker 3: but there's no question that was that was those two

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Speaker 3: things with the hardest.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned coaching under geno Ori Emma and Don Staley.

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Speaker 1: Give me one big thing you learned or took away

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Speaker 1: from each of them, Well.

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Speaker 3: Both very very different Gino. Gino had d and Sue

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Speaker 3: kind of you know, it was comical, uh the way

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Speaker 3: that they treated him. Uh, it was was fun to

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Speaker 3: be around. But I think Gino, you know, a little

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Speaker 3: more offensive oriented. I would say at that time, you know, Don,

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Speaker 3: you just learned I learned from Don in terms of

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Speaker 3: uh player relations. It's about the players and and trying

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Speaker 3: to kind of have that balance. Uh. So they both

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Speaker 3: were really good. Uh, two very different teams uh that

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Speaker 3: they coached, and so I learned different things. Uh, I

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Speaker 3: knew My biggest takeaway was that I wanted to utilize

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Speaker 3: our depth on our team. I wanted that to be

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Speaker 3: sort of a hallmark because that is a separator in

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Speaker 3: the US. And we saw with France that they were

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Speaker 3: able to to have depth. They had athleticism, two things

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Speaker 3: that that we have, which is why you saw what

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Speaker 3: you saw in that gold medal game. France was a

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Speaker 3: team you know, we were worried about for more than

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Speaker 3: a year as we saw them come together. So we

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Speaker 3: are not surprised with how that played out.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, if there were a player that played for each

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Speaker 1: of the three of you, what do you think they

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Speaker 1: would say? Was distinctly different about playing for you and

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Speaker 1: your style, your way of doing things.

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Speaker 3: Oh wow, that's a tough one. I really don't know.

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Speaker 3: I really don't know. I'd love to be a fly

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Speaker 3: on the wall to hear it. I wouldn't be surprised,

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Speaker 3: you know. I think I think typically what would be

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Speaker 3: described about me, I can't say what they would say

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Speaker 3: about Donn or Geno. I certainly have like I put

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Speaker 3: my own mark on things. I like to collect information.

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Speaker 3: But I learned long ago that being yourself is the

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Speaker 3: most important thing can do.

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Speaker 4: Uh.

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Speaker 3: And that can be both, especially in a short short

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Speaker 3: time where you know, when most of the players aren't

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Speaker 3: my players and they don't get me. Uh. And so

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Speaker 3: I think I can be prickly, you know, I'm demanding.

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Speaker 3: I think, you know, like I want the details. Uh

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Speaker 3: And so I think in camp, you know, we we

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Speaker 3: wanted what we wanted and we worked hard for it,

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Speaker 3: whether it was you know, we wanted to be a

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Speaker 3: defensive oriented team. We were going to do it. We

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Speaker 3: were going to do it a certain way. So I

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Speaker 3: don't I don't know. I mean, you know, I wanted

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Speaker 3: to have fun at the same time, I'm not sure

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Speaker 3: if we accomplished all that. I don't know it was

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Speaker 3: I I was gonna say, I mean our job. We

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Speaker 3: had one job, you know, and Dawn told me that repeatedly. Cheryl,

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Speaker 3: you have one job, one job, and you don't make

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Speaker 3: many friends in the job, but you have one job.

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Speaker 1: Yep, you get a lot of friends afterwards when you

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Speaker 1: hand them all their gold medals.

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Speaker 3: That's right, that's exactly right. It's exactly what you said.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned that it's hard to try to please everyone,

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Speaker 1: and that could be in playing Diana Tarassi more minutes,

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Speaker 1: because you know it's a final Olympics.

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Speaker 2: It could even be roster making.

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Speaker 1: Even though the roster was made by a USA Basketball

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Speaker 1: selection committee, you still end up facing questions, in particular

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Speaker 1: about Caitlin Clark's omission. Sure did how did you handle

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Speaker 1: that situation? And what didn't people get about it?

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Speaker 3: I think what people don't get about it? And it's okay,

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Speaker 3: you know, like it's you know, you can't change what

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Speaker 3: people think. But the coach of the national team truly

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Speaker 3: has no power in the selection of the team. And

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Speaker 3: my example that I give is we were at a

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Speaker 3: camp in Las Vegas getting ready to go to Sydney,

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Speaker 3: Australia for the World Cup. One of my players was there,

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Speaker 3: Kayla McBride from the Minnesota Lynx. I thought k mack

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Speaker 3: had a tremendous camp and it should have gone with

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Speaker 3: us to Sydney, and had no indication that anyone felt that,

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Speaker 3: especially from our staff and some of the committee was

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Speaker 3: in our meetings. It felt as if we all felt

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Speaker 3: the same that came back, had a great camp, and

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Speaker 3: not that you'd make the final rouster because you still

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Speaker 3: had to go to Sydney and make that final cut.

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Speaker 3: And I learned at the eleventh hour that they cut

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Speaker 3: my player, and so I said that came back. If

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Speaker 3: there's ever a time for people to understand that the

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Speaker 3: coach has no say in it, this is one of

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Speaker 3: those times. And so but I get, I get you

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Speaker 3: got to you know, in this day and age, you

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Speaker 3: got to assign blame somewhere that took a lot of

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Speaker 3: bullets for USA basketball. Uh, you know, this is a

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Speaker 3: unique time. I took a lot of bullets and and

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Speaker 3: you know, but you can't. You know, it is what

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Speaker 3: it is when you sign up for the position, it

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Speaker 3: is what it is. I mean, certainly, Gino, you know

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Speaker 3: went through his time, and you know omissions of players, Dawn,

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Speaker 3: you can't escape that when you're in this position. Somebody's

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Speaker 3: upset and you mentioned Caitlin, but there's other Erique. I

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Speaker 3: thought Arique really had improved and did some great things,

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Speaker 3: and you can make a case for you know, Ryan Howard.

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Speaker 3: You know these are all players that you hope that

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Speaker 3: they stick with it. It may not have been their

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Speaker 3: time right now, but their time could be coming. And

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Speaker 3: not to give up on that, because I think all

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Speaker 3: those players were worthy of the consideration that they got

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Speaker 3: all right.

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Speaker 1: Last Olympic question, how do you balance wanting to win

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Speaker 1: and having as much success as possible without giving away

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Speaker 1: links secrets like you're going to need those later to

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Speaker 1: win the title?

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Speaker 2: How do you do that?

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Speaker 3: You know what's cool about the group? The players were

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Speaker 3: a little more guarded. I think at times when I'd

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Speaker 3: ask questions like I'm truly was like trying to install

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Speaker 3: an off and say an Asian what block do you like?

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Speaker 3: Chelsea and Asian Jack, y'all look at each other like

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Speaker 3: we really gonna tell her, you know, like which blood

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Speaker 3: you know? And then when push comes to shelve, we're

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Speaker 3: trying to win, so it comes out. But you know, honestly,

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Speaker 3: I was unguarded. You know, I like, if you learn

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Speaker 3: some things about the Minnesota Links, Okay, you still got

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Speaker 3: to play against us, you still got to stop it whatever.

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Speaker 3: You know, really just that's why you play the game.

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Speaker 3: And it really is just a shell of what the

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Speaker 3: larger picture is for the Lynx because you don't have

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Speaker 3: a lot of time to really drill down. So they

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Speaker 3: learned some maybe some components to it, but I suspect

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Speaker 3: that they won't remember very much.

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Speaker 2: We'll find out in the postseason.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so you go straight from Olympic gold right back

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Speaker 1: to the Lynx and you go on an incredible thirteen

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Speaker 1: and one run to close the season after Paris. No

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Speaker 1: post Olympic fatigue, no post Olympic goldrums like you're crushing

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Speaker 1: take us inside the locker room in those practices, like

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Speaker 1: you were already a strong team.

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Speaker 2: But there's a flip the switch moment that happened. What

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Speaker 2: is that?

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Speaker 3: You know? I wish I could tell you. It's a

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Speaker 3: special group. We had three Olympians that were away that

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Speaker 3: were you know, three of our starters, and you know

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Speaker 3: McBride was was back in Minneapolis and Courtney Williams, and

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Speaker 3: you know, I think I think they just really enjoy

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Speaker 3: playing with each other. I know Fee was excited to

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Speaker 3: get back, you know, with her with her group and

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Speaker 3: get to, you know, play the position she naturally played,

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Speaker 3: because she played out a position for the entirety of

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Speaker 3: the Olympics. And I think there was just this I

403
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Speaker 3: don't know, they just like playing with each other. I

404
00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:11,360
Speaker 3: got to tell you, I had nothing to do with it.

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Speaker 3: I had nothing to do with it. Nothing to do

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Speaker 3: with it.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes it's that simple.

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Speaker 3: It is.

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Speaker 1: It's like when people say, oh, when you meet your person,

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Speaker 1: you'll just know, and you're before you meet them, you're like,

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Speaker 1: that's so annoying, what does that even mean?

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Speaker 2: And then you meet them, You're like, oh, I got it.

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Speaker 2: It's like that.

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Speaker 1: It's like a good team just has this intangible vibe

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Speaker 1: and you guys are vibing, like we.

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Speaker 2: Can see it. I want to talk about Nafista Callier.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned her an unbelievable regular season on both sides

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Speaker 1: of the ball, but the defense has really been fantastic.

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Speaker 1: What's the case you would make for her as Defensive

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Speaker 1: Player of the Year.

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Speaker 3: Nefisa just her ability to impact, whether it's on off ball,

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Speaker 3: her length, her deflections, her positioning, her shot blocking, and

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Speaker 3: that's gone to another level, that's just overall awareness. So

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Speaker 3: we count on her heavily to reach our goals defensively

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Speaker 3: in deflecting the different matchups you can give her. She

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Speaker 3: could obviously she can switch guard at pimeter player. The

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Speaker 3: steals that she's getting as a result of deflection, so

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Speaker 3: you know, I think the the RSB, the rebound steels blocks,

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Speaker 3: I mean, she's knocking it out of the park. And

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Speaker 3: we have we have, you know, a top two defense

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Speaker 3: in the league, and we're number one an opponent field

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Speaker 3: goal percentage. She's the anchor to that. And you know,

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Speaker 3: I will say this, I'm really proud of her because

434
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,600
Speaker 3: in our exit interview, you know, we really laughed because

435
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,800
Speaker 3: I had shared with her, Hey, for our defense last

436
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,920
Speaker 3: year wasn't what it is this year, And I said

437
00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,280
Speaker 3: to her, if this team is going to really take

438
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:39,119
Speaker 3: this next step? So we were, you know, we were

439
00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:40,960
Speaker 3: a bit of a surprise last year. We were terrible

440
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:42,919
Speaker 3: and then we got you know, got going a little bit,

441
00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:47,639
Speaker 3: made the playoffs, but we want more. We don't want to.

442
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:49,200
Speaker 3: I mean, we were you know, essentially we were a

443
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,440
Speaker 3: five hundred team last year. That's not what the goal is.

444
00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,160
Speaker 3: And I told Fie, hey, if we're going to really

445
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,119
Speaker 3: reach our greatest heights, obviously we're going to get to

446
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:58,639
Speaker 3: a couple more players around you, but you have to

447
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,600
Speaker 3: be our best defender as well as our best offensive player,

448
00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:03,800
Speaker 3: be an MVP and a Defensive Player of the Year.

449
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,520
Speaker 3: That's what this team needs. If you do that, then

450
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:08,840
Speaker 3: we can be we can really go to great places.

451
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,200
Speaker 3: And so I was kind of telling her, you know, defensively,

452
00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 3: we weren't that. You know, you got to do this.

453
00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:15,000
Speaker 3: This isn't this the very next gate. Next day, she

454
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,600
Speaker 3: gets named to All Defensive Team, right, she said. She

455
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,720
Speaker 3: texts me, you know, right away, She's like, like, guess my

456
00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:24,000
Speaker 3: defense wasn't that bad and so and I said, this year,

457
00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,240
Speaker 3: you know, it was really funny. So the jump that

458
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:29,520
Speaker 3: she made, I actually just told her this yesterday. I

459
00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:31,879
Speaker 3: am super proud of of the jump, the jump that

460
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,639
Speaker 3: she's made. She was good defensively, no question about it before,

461
00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:38,879
Speaker 3: but she took us to another realm where our defense's

462
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:39,800
Speaker 3: tops in the league.

463
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not sure if you heard Las Vegas Asis

464
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,920
Speaker 1: coach Beckyhammond. On Thursday night after the final regular season game.

465
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,760
Speaker 1: She was taking a few reporters to task for voting

466
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 1: for NAFISA for Defensive Player of the Year, people who

467
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,320
Speaker 1: had made their ballots public instead of voting for Asia Wilson. Now,

468
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,480
Speaker 1: I fully understand advocating for your own player, and there

469
00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:59,280
Speaker 1: is a great argument to be made for Asia as

470
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:00,520
Speaker 1: Defensive Player of Year as.

471
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:02,760
Speaker 2: Well, But there was real anger there.

472
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,399
Speaker 1: Do you think that NAFISA as Defensive Player of the

473
00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,200
Speaker 1: Year is a vote deserving of anger?

474
00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,080
Speaker 3: I didn't see the interview that I would be surprised

475
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,639
Speaker 3: if someone expressed anger, because I think most people that

476
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,440
Speaker 3: I talked to I think it's a unanimous decision. No,

477
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 3: no disrespect to Asia. I mean, I know what Asia

478
00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:23,159
Speaker 3: brings to the table. It depends on what you It

479
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 3: depends on what you what you value when you vote.

480
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 3: Everybody's different. I know for me what I value is

481
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 3: top defensive teams should be you know, the all defensive

482
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,600
Speaker 3: teams should be riddled with the with the players from

483
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:38,760
Speaker 3: that team, you know, and so more than one player.

484
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:40,879
Speaker 3: So you look at the top three or four defensive teams,

485
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,400
Speaker 3: you know. I think in Asia's case, you know, can

486
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,159
Speaker 3: you be the Defensive Player of the Year when your

487
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:50,080
Speaker 3: defense isn't in that that that's completely subjective, and that's

488
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,800
Speaker 3: obviously the angle that Becky's coming from. I'm a huge

489
00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,159
Speaker 3: fan of Asia Wilson. She's had an incredible year, you know,

490
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 3: but she can have MVP and the FISA Collier's Defensive

491
00:23:58,560 --> 00:23:59,120
Speaker 3: Player of the Year.

492
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean it's it's always hard with those

493
00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 1: awards because it's just a couple of words and then

494
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,120
Speaker 1: you get to decide what those words mean and how

495
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,080
Speaker 1: you vote based on your semantic reading. And we leave

496
00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:13,240
Speaker 1: it open to everyone to have their opinion except for

497
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:15,560
Speaker 1: fourth place voters for Asia for MVP, we do not

498
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 1: leave that up to anyone.

499
00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 3: That no one will call it.

500
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,160
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of conversation this season about who

501
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,879
Speaker 1: gets the attention of fans and media. Is Asia getting

502
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,040
Speaker 1: enough love for her MVP season? Is Kitlyn Clark getting

503
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:29,480
Speaker 1: too much love? I want to go back to the

504
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,880
Speaker 1: beginning of the season, because during preseason you tweeted about

505
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,159
Speaker 1: the fact that the Skylinks game wasn't televised. This was

506
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 1: the first look for so many fans at the newly

507
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:38,960
Speaker 1: drafted players, and you use the hashtag twelve teams and

508
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,280
Speaker 1: the w is more than one player. A fan ended

509
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:43,439
Speaker 1: up live streaming the game on her cell phone. It

510
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,639
Speaker 1: got more than two and a half million views, and

511
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,240
Speaker 1: some people still took your advocacy for your own team

512
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 1: and for the league as a whole as some sort

513
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:52,200
Speaker 1: of hit against Caitlin Clark.

514
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,200
Speaker 2: Were you surprised by that reaction?

515
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 3: Maybe at that time, yes, But as the season has

516
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,919
Speaker 3: evolved and there's a very clear understanding of there's a

517
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,240
Speaker 3: lot of new fans and new media. Uh, there's there's

518
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,359
Speaker 3: one media member who really latched onto and sort of

519
00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:13,280
Speaker 3: made it her mantra that I didn't got a book deal,

520
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,840
Speaker 3: and so like it's uh, it's interesting because my thing is, uh,

521
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:20,919
Speaker 3: if you have followed the league at all, and if

522
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,359
Speaker 3: you have followed Cheryl Reeve at all, trolling the w

523
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,800
Speaker 3: n B A is not something you know, it's something

524
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,920
Speaker 3: that I would would would take them to task for that,

525
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,360
Speaker 3: And it wasn't that we were and I recognize now

526
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,040
Speaker 3: that maybe there it was maybe a bit ambiguous in

527
00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:42,720
Speaker 3: terms of my initial post, which was all I was saying,

528
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:45,919
Speaker 3: was the w n B a social media account? Forget

529
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:47,919
Speaker 3: that we weren't on. It's a preseason game. We're not

530
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,119
Speaker 3: on right now, whether you should be on? Did you

531
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 3: miss the boat? Did you not recognize what these rookies?

532
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,160
Speaker 3: I think so. I think that would be a fair assessment.

533
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:03,560
Speaker 3: But my beef was that the w NBA social media account,

534
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,040
Speaker 3: you know but you know, hey, that that was really cool.

535
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 3: But the my beef was that the social media account

536
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 3: was not promoting all of the games. No problem, Indiana

537
00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 3: Dallas being televised. I didn't care about that. I didn't

538
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,240
Speaker 3: care that we weren't being televised. Those are business decisions.

539
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 3: I do care, and I'm going to protect my team.

540
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 3: When one you don't even mention the game. And by

541
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,160
Speaker 3: the way, if you're not interested in the minister links,

542
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,280
Speaker 3: Angel Reese was playing her first w NBA game, right

543
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,320
Speaker 3: so the fact that you don't even mention it, all

544
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,040
Speaker 3: I was doing was assisting our fans of hey, don't

545
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,520
Speaker 3: forget we're playing, and here's where you can find it.

546
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,760
Speaker 3: And I listened it. And then I also helped the

547
00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 3: league when they were posting the you know, the the

548
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,040
Speaker 3: players that they were promoting in the league, and there

549
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:53,280
Speaker 3: was no headshot of Nefisa Kalier, who clearly coming off

550
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,280
Speaker 3: an MVP candidacy last year, would be a player. And

551
00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,400
Speaker 3: so my photoshopped fee and it said here are fans.

552
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,520
Speaker 3: I fixed it right, and so you know, I try

553
00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:06,560
Speaker 3: to like bring levity to situations. Yeah. Uh and so,

554
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 3: but you know, what you're mentioning is that there were

555
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:13,280
Speaker 3: a number of fans Kaitlyn Clark fans that sort of

556
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,439
Speaker 3: grabbed a hold of that and found it to be

557
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:19,960
Speaker 3: that I was anti Caitlyn Clark. And you won't find

558
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,520
Speaker 3: very many clips of me saying amazing things about Caitlyn,

559
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 3: which I have done throughout by the time she was

560
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 3: a college player, all the way through. But all you're

561
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 3: gonna find is the ones where you know, it's misconstrued

562
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 3: that I don't like Caitlyn, and my goodness when she

563
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:36,639
Speaker 3: wasn't on the team, that somehow that was all me

564
00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,000
Speaker 3: controverted wreck. I'll go on your show for the record,

565
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,440
Speaker 3: it absolutely does. I'm a huge Kaitlyn Clark fan. I don't,

566
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:46,120
Speaker 3: you know, not when we're playing against her, of course,

567
00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:48,240
Speaker 3: but she said, you know, like I said, she's a

568
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 3: future Hall of Famer. Everybody can see that. So but anyway, yeah,

569
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,080
Speaker 3: that was all, like you said, for whatever reason, that

570
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 3: was the angle people took, and.

571
00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,080
Speaker 1: I think it's spot on to say I was surprised

572
00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 1: at the time, and then it became abundantly clear that

573
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:02,560
Speaker 1: the rest of the season was going to be just

574
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:03,520
Speaker 1: as unhinged as.

575
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:05,679
Speaker 2: This moment, and then I was ready to prepare for it.

576
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:07,880
Speaker 3: Very good word, very good word.

577
00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,439
Speaker 1: Un As for those who maybe aren't awhare, Christine Brennan

578
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,399
Speaker 1: is writing a book about Kaitlyn Clark. I have been

579
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:15,600
Speaker 1: a huge fan of Christine's work for many years. I

580
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:17,639
Speaker 1: have also very much disagreed with a lot of her

581
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,399
Speaker 1: takes on Caitlin and the Olympics and some other stuff

582
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,679
Speaker 1: this year, and some of the techs she's taken in

583
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 1: approaching the league this year. But we look forward to

584
00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:28,119
Speaker 1: the book and it'll be interesting to see how that

585
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:28,920
Speaker 1: coverage evolves.

586
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 2: I want to go back to the defense.

587
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:32,680
Speaker 1: You were on Christina Williams podcast in case you missed

588
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,040
Speaker 1: it right here on Iheartwomen's Sports, and you said that

589
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:37,199
Speaker 1: this season you really needed to correct a mistake that

590
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,080
Speaker 1: you had been making, emphasizing offense over defense a little

591
00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:42,960
Speaker 1: too much. How do you explain the gift of being

592
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,720
Speaker 1: able to keep yourself humble, learn and check back in

593
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:49,360
Speaker 1: with yourself, even after all the success you've had, because

594
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:51,440
Speaker 1: some folks are not willing to adjust after all the

595
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 1: titles and accolades and success. But you were looking at

596
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:56,240
Speaker 1: yourself and saying, here's what I've been doing wrong.

597
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:02,840
Speaker 3: Well, first, I'm a virgo. Virgos are very critical. I

598
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 3: am as much as the players might feel uncritical of them,

599
00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:10,680
Speaker 3: I'm more critical of myself. I'm a big believer as

600
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 3: a coach than when players aren't doing something, then there's

601
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 3: a there's a flaw in the way that it's being coached.

602
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 3: And more, you don't have the right players and you're

603
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,960
Speaker 3: being unrealistic in your expectations. And so maybe it was

604
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:29,120
Speaker 3: a combination of both. And so when I tell you

605
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,680
Speaker 3: that we did, you know, get some players that I

606
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:38,200
Speaker 3: think tremendously helped Atlanta Smith, Natitia Heideman, Courtney Williams doesn't

607
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,400
Speaker 3: get enough credit, uh for the ways that she's helped

608
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:45,560
Speaker 3: our defense. The tremendous buy in we've gotten obviously mentioned fee,

609
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,240
Speaker 3: you know, fee anchoring the thing, and Kayla McBride doesn't

610
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,440
Speaker 3: get enough credit, so Bridget Carlton. So we just I

611
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 3: think a combination of I needed to move it up

612
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 3: the list, and I learned long ago. Number one, you

613
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 3: get what you accept, h or two it's what you emphasize.

614
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,320
Speaker 3: And so you always look at your practice. And if

615
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:10,760
Speaker 3: a stranger walked in and they watched your practice, what

616
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,400
Speaker 3: would be their takeaways when they walked away? What's your identity?

617
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,840
Speaker 3: And if you walk out of our practice facility and

618
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:19,400
Speaker 3: you don't have any idea what our identity is, defensively,

619
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:24,000
Speaker 3: that's a problem. And that falls directly to coaching. And

620
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 3: so you know, I learned that a while ago, and

621
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,200
Speaker 3: so and as they say, it starts at the top.

622
00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:30,200
Speaker 3: So I was very much a part of the poor

623
00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 3: defenses over the last couple of seasons, both selection of

624
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:34,880
Speaker 3: personnel and execution.

625
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,120
Speaker 2: You get what you accept is so good. I am

626
00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:41,440
Speaker 2: going to be repeating that for the rest of my life.

627
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:42,400
Speaker 2: That's it.

628
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:47,200
Speaker 1: You do everything alife frustrated with your expectation or your

629
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 1: attention to detail, or your desire to get things right.

630
00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:53,479
Speaker 1: Their frustration is not the thing that should decide how

631
00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:55,280
Speaker 1: things get done. It should be what am I willing

632
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:57,040
Speaker 1: to accept and what am I willing to get back?

633
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 2: That's so good. You just mentioned Courtney william she's a dog.

634
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,400
Speaker 1: You talked about needing to add a dog to your team,

635
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,640
Speaker 1: that that was necessary. Why is that kind of player

636
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,560
Speaker 1: so important to any team? And why do new fans

637
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,040
Speaker 1: not understand that women hoopers can be and should be

638
00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:12,800
Speaker 1: dogs too?

639
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,520
Speaker 3: That's right, that's right. Uh. You know, Courtney gave us

640
00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 3: this kind of edge. You know, I don't if they

641
00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 3: still say swag, but gave us a swag about us,

642
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:29,320
Speaker 3: a balance of confidence, you know, believe. You know, she

643
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,320
Speaker 3: immersed herself into the links and and you know from

644
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 3: the time we had our conversation and free agency. Uh,

645
00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:37,760
Speaker 3: she is a believer. She was a believer. And I

646
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:39,800
Speaker 3: tell you I have enjoyed the heck out of coaching

647
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:44,120
Speaker 3: Courtney Williams. She's hilarious. You know, she makes me laugh

648
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 3: often even in game. You know, she's very difficult, you know,

649
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:53,960
Speaker 3: to to be upset with. She brings levity the situations

650
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,680
Speaker 3: so easily. But I think what's important because you know,

651
00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:59,800
Speaker 3: I think Rebecca Lobo mentioned it a couple of years

652
00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 3: ago when describing our team. You know, I, you know,

653
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 3: I like to get opinions from you know, different disciplines,

654
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,280
Speaker 3: and Rebecca was happy to share and she just said,

655
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:12,640
Speaker 3: I think you're missing a dog, missing a dog or two.

656
00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:15,720
Speaker 3: You know, like a good team, but you need this

657
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,200
Speaker 3: next player that can that can take you to the

658
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:21,200
Speaker 3: next level. And so dogs aren't easy to come by.

659
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:24,600
Speaker 3: Everybody wants them, uh you know. And so we were

660
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,320
Speaker 3: fortunate to uh you know, lore Courtney to be a

661
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 3: part of our group. And we sure, we're sure glad

662
00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:30,880
Speaker 3: she chose us.

663
00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:34,360
Speaker 2: Love it, you know, need the Dogs against Phoenix.

664
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:38,720
Speaker 1: That is a very explosive offensive team, lots of finals experience.

665
00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:42,160
Speaker 1: You got Diana Tarassi, Klia Kapper, Britney Grinder, Natasha Cloud.

666
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:44,880
Speaker 1: Your group is taking care of business against them. You

667
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,520
Speaker 1: won three out of four times this season. Besides the obvious,

668
00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:49,160
Speaker 1: you gotta win. You got to score more points, You

669
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 1: got to play good defense. What do you know that

670
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,680
Speaker 1: your team has to do to win this first game

671
00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:54,800
Speaker 1: in this first series?

672
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 3: Be ourselves. We don't have to be anything we're not.

673
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,920
Speaker 3: And and when you to the playoffs, you can't change

674
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,560
Speaker 3: who you are. You can't suddenly if you didn't rebound

675
00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:06,840
Speaker 3: all season, you're not suddenly going to rebound the basketball.

676
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,080
Speaker 3: If you didn't defend ball screens, you're not going to

677
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 3: suddenly defend it. And I think that's the positive thing

678
00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,440
Speaker 3: for us is that just be ourselves, which is be

679
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,520
Speaker 3: a great defensive team that you know, we're terrific in

680
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,080
Speaker 3: our help and our rotation and our trust. That's what

681
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 3: we have to do. And on the offensive end, continue

682
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,600
Speaker 3: to share the basketball. You know, it's the collective that

683
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,000
Speaker 3: is our strength. So just be ourselves.

684
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,360
Speaker 1: A handful of those stars were on your Olympic squad.

685
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:34,440
Speaker 1: You get any tips, you figure out how they're thrive

686
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 1: or maybe how to slow them down.

687
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:38,880
Speaker 3: You know, you'd be surprised because it's just so different.

688
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:41,760
Speaker 3: It's so different what you do. And the players say

689
00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 3: this all the time. It is a great sacrifice. And

690
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:47,040
Speaker 3: super Bird had the best quotes and description of this

691
00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,520
Speaker 3: that it's really uncomfortable. You know, there's only a couple

692
00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 3: of players that get to actually be themselves. And for

693
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:57,240
Speaker 3: this team, I would say Asia Wilson and Brianna Stewart,

694
00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,239
Speaker 3: we tried to create a space for them that they

695
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,960
Speaker 3: could be them right the two top players. I said, fee,

696
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:04,959
Speaker 3: you've got to take a back seat, you know, like

697
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,680
Speaker 3: you got to play some small forward. And then I

698
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:10,960
Speaker 3: would say Jackie Young emerged and I thought she had

699
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,680
Speaker 3: a chance to be close to herself as she got

700
00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:17,160
Speaker 3: more comfortable. The rest of them all made sacrifices in

701
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:19,520
Speaker 3: the way that they were being used or things they

702
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:24,319
Speaker 3: were asked to be doing defensively, roles, you know, I mean,

703
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:26,799
Speaker 3: you know, you have leading scorers, you know, top five

704
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:29,080
Speaker 3: scorers in the league, kind of going, you know, you're

705
00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:32,040
Speaker 3: not playing my ass, you know, like what are you doing?

706
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,440
Speaker 3: You know? So it's hard. It's hard for everybody. But

707
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:38,440
Speaker 3: you know, when you're coaching a team, you know, like

708
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:41,359
Speaker 3: you just the best you can as quickly as you can,

709
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,840
Speaker 3: because you can't drill down. You've got to keep it basic.

710
00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:47,440
Speaker 3: They're just coming off a WNBA season where we played

711
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:51,439
Speaker 3: twenty five games. Can you imagine? So I had four

712
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:54,840
Speaker 3: Aces players, three Phoenix players, and you know whatever the

713
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,080
Speaker 3: rest of the breakdown is, that was seven of the

714
00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:02,200
Speaker 3: twelve and they're coming to USA Basketball to run completely

715
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,279
Speaker 3: different things, and so you have to turn off what

716
00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,680
Speaker 3: you're doing and then turn on, Okay, this is what

717
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,200
Speaker 3: they need me to do here, right, Maybe I did

718
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:13,600
Speaker 3: this for my team. They need me to do this.

719
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:16,879
Speaker 3: This is the focal point, and that's a challenge. That's

720
00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:18,799
Speaker 3: you know, that's a challenge that we tried really hard

721
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,520
Speaker 3: to meet. I also tried to do some things that

722
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,520
Speaker 3: were familiar to them, and so I'm not trying to

723
00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,200
Speaker 3: not answer your question. Uh, you know, I think, uh,

724
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,640
Speaker 3: I think Beg is is playing great. She's playing great,

725
00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:34,040
Speaker 3: and and that's probably my only uh I know, regrets

726
00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,880
Speaker 3: the right word, but like, if I could do it again,

727
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:39,120
Speaker 3: I know why it happened the way that it did.

728
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,160
Speaker 3: Stewie in Asia being in their space led to a

729
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:48,640
Speaker 3: decision too, and being uncertain about Beg all that she

730
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 3: went through and what space she would be in, and

731
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,640
Speaker 3: so Beg kind of becoming a reserve player for us

732
00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:59,000
Speaker 3: that made it more difficult to feature her. I think

733
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,799
Speaker 3: Phoenix has done a terrific fig job, and she's evolving

734
00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:04,479
Speaker 3: as a player in the way that they're utilizing her.

735
00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 3: That's a player that you know, probably you know, I

736
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,040
Speaker 3: wish we could have found a way, you know, to

737
00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:15,719
Speaker 3: have her more impactful, especially in the France game. That's

738
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:17,880
Speaker 3: one that you look back and you know, if you

739
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:21,600
Speaker 3: could do some things differently, you know that that is

740
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:23,400
Speaker 3: one of them. And I tell I actually told her

741
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:25,200
Speaker 3: repeatedly after games that was the one thing that was

742
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:27,000
Speaker 3: eating at me. I didn't feel like we could get

743
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:30,360
Speaker 3: enough minutes for her, enough usage for her. But anyway,

744
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,920
Speaker 3: I think Beg's playing great. Obviously we know Diana and

745
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:37,440
Speaker 3: the playoffs and her competitive spirit and what she's going

746
00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,040
Speaker 3: to bring to the table. And obviously the great play

747
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,359
Speaker 3: of Khlia Copper, so their big three is awfully good. Uh.

748
00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:45,839
Speaker 3: And then obviously their supporting cast Cunningham's having a really

749
00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:49,000
Speaker 3: nice season, and you know, Cloud was a great addition

750
00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,360
Speaker 3: for them. So we have our work cut out for us.

751
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I'm so pumped for the number of eyeballs that

752
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:58,440
Speaker 1: are going to be on this playoffs and and hopefully

753
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:00,879
Speaker 1: more informed eyeballs to their will be the people who

754
00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:03,479
Speaker 1: know the intricacies of the cool matchups and the people

755
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:05,680
Speaker 1: who have played together before and are now playing against

756
00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:07,880
Speaker 1: each other. But I'm also very much ready for all

757
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:10,960
Speaker 1: the uninformed takes and unfortunately more of that racism and

758
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,440
Speaker 1: misogyny and homophobia that we've seen in the w for

759
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,799
Speaker 1: years but has really reached a peak this season. You know,

760
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:19,640
Speaker 1: you've been in this game for three decades, You've overseeen

761
00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:22,920
Speaker 1: the links, in particular through so much incredible activism from

762
00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:26,000
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, after the shooting deaths of Auton Sterling and

763
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 1: Filando Castile and the five Dallas police officers, Maya Moore

764
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:33,919
Speaker 1: leaving the team to battle wrongful convictions, speaking out after

765
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:36,320
Speaker 1: George Floyd during twenty twenty and that sort of racial

766
00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,080
Speaker 1: reckoning in America. You've even publicly supported the right for

767
00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:42,000
Speaker 1: transgender and non binary athletes to participate. Like you've really

768
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:44,520
Speaker 1: done the work and been super involved in the stuff

769
00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:47,160
Speaker 1: outside of the game. You've embraced your responsibility as a

770
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:49,000
Speaker 1: white woman that's leading a team in a league made

771
00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,920
Speaker 1: up of predominantly women of color, And I wonder how

772
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 1: you've processed and dealt with that particular kind of toxicity

773
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,400
Speaker 1: this year and how it's impacted the league and the players.

774
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:05,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, disheartening is probably the word that comes to mind.

775
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,160
Speaker 3: It was it's wn B A I don't want to

776
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:14,440
Speaker 3: say a safe space, but WNBA was a space that

777
00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 3: we all felt like we could be ourselves and we

778
00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 3: were making great progress towards creating change for society larger

779
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 3: as a whole, right like the you know, the voting

780
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,759
Speaker 3: and things like that, And I thought the WNBA really

781
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:33,960
Speaker 3: found our voice. Twenty sixteen, you know, like you said,

782
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,799
Speaker 3: we were at the forefront of that, and we were

783
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:40,279
Speaker 3: in such a great space. And one of the most

784
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:42,960
Speaker 3: beautiful parts about the w n B A why I

785
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:45,319
Speaker 3: love coaching in the WNBA is we all get to

786
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:51,239
Speaker 3: be ourselves. It's such a welcoming, safe space that you know,

787
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:55,920
Speaker 3: it doesn't matter how you identify in anything, you're accepted

788
00:38:56,560 --> 00:39:01,040
Speaker 3: and supported, not just accepted and supported and empowered. And

789
00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:06,600
Speaker 3: then so to have this vitriol, this toxicity that it's

790
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:09,680
Speaker 3: a reminder though you know it as we've seen it.

791
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:13,799
Speaker 3: We go from for example, uh d E and I

792
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:16,359
Speaker 3: coming out of George Floyd was one of the most

793
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,799
Speaker 3: amazing things, and I thought something that really was going

794
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:26,680
Speaker 3: to move corporate America forward, sports forward, opportunities. Uh And

795
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:29,960
Speaker 3: and look how fast all of that has been undone

796
00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:36,600
Speaker 3: and people standing proudly doing so. It's it's disheartening. And

797
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,320
Speaker 3: what I have tried to do, it's been an incredible

798
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:46,520
Speaker 3: uh summer. It's been incredibly difficult, incredibly draining professionally. UH

799
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:51,280
Speaker 3: And then now to add that personally, I think finding

800
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:55,560
Speaker 3: the energy uh and I will find it to make

801
00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:59,000
Speaker 3: sure that we can we can not let this in

802
00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:03,680
Speaker 3: the w n b A space. It's unacceptable, uh, and

803
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:06,840
Speaker 3: our players deserve better. I'm so proud of the players

804
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:09,040
Speaker 3: in the w n b A, the strength of their

805
00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:13,960
Speaker 3: collective voices. They understand it, and I hope this is

806
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:18,840
Speaker 3: all going to calm down. I'm not sure, you know,

807
00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:23,719
Speaker 3: because the base. While uh, diversifying your fan base is

808
00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:28,279
Speaker 3: a great thing, I think that the fan base has

809
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:31,400
Speaker 3: been diversified in a way that is going going to

810
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:35,759
Speaker 3: challenge us. And I think that uh, you know what

811
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:39,479
Speaker 3: lies ahead. I think who who speaks out and who

812
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:43,400
Speaker 3: utilizes this their voices in this time is going to

813
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:45,759
Speaker 3: be really really impactful on how this whole entire league

814
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:47,239
Speaker 3: moves forward. Mm hmm.

815
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 1: So well said, I'm going to leave us on a

816
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,319
Speaker 1: more positive note, which is that that gal we've been

817
00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:55,160
Speaker 1: talking about a lot during this show, Diana Tarassi. When

818
00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:57,319
Speaker 1: she entered the league, it was sort of believed that

819
00:40:57,360 --> 00:40:59,880
Speaker 1: she should maybe suppress her sexuality and who she was,

820
00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:02,840
Speaker 1: she should be rocking the tank tops and given the

821
00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:06,319
Speaker 1: kissy faces and you know that bullshit, and over the

822
00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:08,560
Speaker 1: course of her career, if this is indeed it, as

823
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:12,360
Speaker 1: they've been saying in Phoenix, she is now prominently featured

824
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:15,480
Speaker 1: with her wife, with their children, with their family, and

825
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:17,680
Speaker 1: that's part of why we love the league, instead of

826
00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:20,279
Speaker 1: a fear that the league has about what that might

827
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:22,640
Speaker 1: mean for their fan base and the support that the

828
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:24,880
Speaker 1: that the league gets, and that's a really powerful statement

829
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:26,480
Speaker 1: to how much work has been done over the years,

830
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:28,880
Speaker 1: both in society at large, but also the w in

831
00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:31,560
Speaker 1: particular being a place that people can see that and

832
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:34,000
Speaker 1: see it being supported and beloved, which is really cool.

833
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:35,320
Speaker 2: And you have a big role in that.

834
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:37,680
Speaker 1: I've all the stuff that you've done over the years,

835
00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:40,879
Speaker 1: so I've been telling everybody this. You know, Skyrim my team,

836
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:42,960
Speaker 1: but everybody's my side piece, so we'll be rooting for

837
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:44,600
Speaker 1: you in addition to all the other people that I

838
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:46,239
Speaker 1: have said I'm rooting for. I don't know how I'm

839
00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:48,000
Speaker 1: gonna do it, but that's the problem with women's sports.

840
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:49,920
Speaker 1: I just end up liking everyone and I'm like, I

841
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,040
Speaker 1: hope both teams have fun. But Coach, we so so

842
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:55,680
Speaker 1: appreciate you coming on. Happy birthday and good luck in

843
00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:56,360
Speaker 1: the postseason.

844
00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:57,160
Speaker 3: Thank you.

845
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:01,960
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Cheryl for joining us. We got to

846
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,920
Speaker 1: pay the bills when we come back. A special milestone

847
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:17,160
Speaker 1: for our little baby show Welcome back, my little Orange slices.

848
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:24,280
Speaker 1: We hit a pretty cool milestone today. It's our fiftieth episode,

849
00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:26,759
Speaker 1: and in honor of half a hundred, please enjoy this

850
00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:30,520
Speaker 1: curated selection of some of our favorite show opening lines.

851
00:42:33,239 --> 00:42:34,360
Speaker 2: Welcome to Good Game.

852
00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:37,600
Speaker 1: With Sarah Spain, The daily women's sports show You've always wanted,

853
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:40,200
Speaker 1: Where we just bought a gallon of sunscreen and three

854
00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:44,360
Speaker 1: portable fans in preparation for WNBA All Star Weekend in Phoenix.

855
00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:45,320
Speaker 2: The show that's.

856
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:48,280
Speaker 1: Using a drone to spy on Sam Uis's house, hoping

857
00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:50,600
Speaker 1: to steal secrets on how to make a great podcast.

858
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:53,360
Speaker 1: Where we heard you loud and clear, trend sof and Mal.

859
00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:57,000
Speaker 1: We're only drinking triple Espressos from here on out. Our

860
00:42:57,040 --> 00:42:59,359
Speaker 1: brains are vibrating inside our heads and we can't buel

861
00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:00,480
Speaker 1: our hands, but it's.

862
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:01,040
Speaker 2: So worth it.

863
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:04,680
Speaker 1: Where we're staging a second battle of Hogwarts to oust

864
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:08,000
Speaker 1: all the transphobes. And where we're watching Gabby Thomas on

865
00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:11,640
Speaker 1: the Daily Show starting to question our own manifestation. Game

866
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:16,640
Speaker 1: still waiting on that Pulitzer and that Nobel Peace Prize

867
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:20,560
Speaker 1: and that call from Lorne Michaels, where we'll be smiling

868
00:43:20,719 --> 00:43:23,719
Speaker 1: all day after hearing that Ted Lasso is coming back

869
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:26,800
Speaker 1: for a fourth season. Do you remember that last episode

870
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:30,360
Speaker 1: of season three is an AFC Richmond Women's.

871
00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:30,959
Speaker 2: Team on the way.

872
00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:33,279
Speaker 1: I feel like we fell out of the lucky tree

873
00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:35,160
Speaker 1: and hit every branch on the way down that ended

874
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:37,320
Speaker 1: up in a pool of cash and sour patch kids,

875
00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:40,400
Speaker 1: where we're taking one last ride on our favorite baby

876
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:43,239
Speaker 1: horse before she gallops off into the sunset, where we

877
00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:49,920
Speaker 1: have concepts of a plan for today's episode. It's been

878
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:51,600
Speaker 1: a blast so far, you guys. I can't wait to

879
00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:54,160
Speaker 1: celebrate one hundred with you. Thank you for continuing to

880
00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:57,040
Speaker 1: listen to the shows, for engaging with us, for supporting

881
00:43:57,040 --> 00:43:59,680
Speaker 1: our mission. I even got a text from Billy Jean

882
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,040
Speaker 1: King her wife Alana saying that they're loving the show.

883
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:05,480
Speaker 1: So we're just our buckets are full. This is all

884
00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:08,120
Speaker 1: I can say. If you love us, share us, tell

885
00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:10,960
Speaker 1: your friends, tell your enemies. That's our good gameplay of

886
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:13,440
Speaker 1: the day. Oh and we've got one more watch the

887
00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:15,080
Speaker 1: freakin WNBA playoffs.

888
00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:15,919
Speaker 2: Duh.

889
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:18,360
Speaker 1: We'll link to the schedule in our episode notes. And

890
00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:19,759
Speaker 1: we always love to hear from you, so to hit

891
00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:22,920
Speaker 1: us up on email. Good game at wondermedianetwork dot com

892
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:25,040
Speaker 1: or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two

893
00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:29,000
Speaker 1: O four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate

894
00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:29,800
Speaker 1: and review.

895
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:32,720
Speaker 2: It really helps us. So if you're enjoying the show,

896
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:34,320
Speaker 2: go ahead and do it. It's super easy.

897
00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:39,040
Speaker 1: Watch a WNBA team beating five MNBA teams in season

898
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:43,200
Speaker 1: attendance this year, rating seventeen thousand and thirty five stars.

899
00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:44,000
Speaker 2: Review.

900
00:44:44,239 --> 00:44:47,680
Speaker 1: The Indiana Fever average seventeen thousand and thirty five fans

901
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:51,520
Speaker 1: this year, up from four thousand and sixty six last season.

902
00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:55,320
Speaker 1: The Caitlin Clark effect for real. They not only outpaced

903
00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:58,480
Speaker 1: their fellow Indiana's the Pacers, who average sixteen thy five

904
00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:02,160
Speaker 1: twenty eight, but also the season averages for the Hornets, Grizzlies,

905
00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:06,440
Speaker 1: Wizards and Hawks as well. Pretty awesome. Now it's your

906
00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:10,080
Speaker 1: turn rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices, See you tomorrow.

907
00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:14,880
Speaker 1: Good game, Asia, Good game, Cheryl, You you early morning wake ups.

908
00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:16,359
Speaker 2: Even if it is for MVP news.

909
00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:20,760
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports

910
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:22,200
Speaker 1: production in partnership with.

911
00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:23,600
Speaker 2: Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

912
00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:26,640
Speaker 1: You can find us on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts

913
00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:28,279
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.

914
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:32,200
Speaker 2: Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers are Alex Azzi

915
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:33,200
Speaker 2: and Misha Jones.

916
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:37,560
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan.

917
00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:38,080
Speaker 2: And Emily Rudder.

918
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:41,880
Speaker 1: Our editors are Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and

919
00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:45,480
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your

920
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:46,560
Speaker 1: Host Sarah Spain