Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're still
Speaker 1: crying at the speech Asia Wilson gave after learning she
Speaker 1: won MVP, and we're still hydrated after a busy weekend
Speaker 1: as the world's best wedding officiant.
Speaker 2: Congrats Hannah and Jenny.
Speaker 1: On today's show, we'll be chatting with Minnesota Links and
Speaker 1: USA basketball head coach Cheryl Reef about our team's focus
Speaker 1: in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs, managing the
Speaker 1: USA roster route to gold in Paris, and dealing with
Speaker 1: criticism surrounding roster selection and player minutes. Plus, it's our
Speaker 1: fiftieth episode. The traditional gift for fifty is gold. Do
Speaker 1: with that information what you will. It's all coming up
Speaker 1: right after this. Welcome back, my Orange slices. Hope you
Speaker 1: had a great weekend. Here's what you need to know
Speaker 1: today in the w the first round series are underway.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: I had to hop on a flight home from the
Speaker 2: aforementioned nuptials. The things we do for love.
Speaker 1: So we're going to update you on the Phoenix Mercury
Speaker 1: versus the Minnesota Links and the Las Vegas Aces versus
Speaker 1: the Seattle Storm tomorrow. But here's the status report on
Speaker 1: the first two games. The New York Liberty took care
Speaker 1: of business on home court against Atlanta down in the
Speaker 1: Dream eighty three sixty nine. Leoni Phoebich had the best
Speaker 1: scoring game of her career in the first playoff game
Speaker 1: of her career, leading New York with twenty one points.
Speaker 1: Along the way, Courtney Vandersloute passed suberd to become the
Speaker 1: w's all time playoff assists leader. She's got three hundred
Speaker 1: and sixty five and counting Tina Charles, the newly minted
Speaker 1: WNBA all time leader in rebounds and double doubles. She
Speaker 1: broke both those records in the final regular season game.
Speaker 1: She had twelve points and seven rebounds for Atlanta. Some
Speaker 1: hometown fun in the Indiana Fever Connecticut Sun game as
Speaker 1: the Mohegan Sun, video operators highlighted a bunch of Fever
Speaker 1: fans in attendance on a quote unquote bandwagon cam with
Speaker 1: the caption diehard Fever fan since twenty twenty four. They
Speaker 1: got jokes and the Sun got the win. The game
Speaker 1: started out tight and pretty ugly, with both team's lacking
Speaker 1: rhythm and some equipment malfunctions that had Caitlin Clark given
Speaker 1: her best bill O'Reilly stare at the scorer's desk. We'll
Speaker 1: do it live if you know, you know, But it
Speaker 1: wasn't their fault and it got cleared up and the
Speaker 1: sun eventually clicked, pulling away to get an easy ninety
Speaker 1: three to sixty nine win. Marina Maybrey led the way
Speaker 1: for Connecticut with twenty seven points. That's the most points
Speaker 1: ever off the bench in a WNBA playoff game, while
Speaker 1: Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with twenty one points. And
Speaker 1: we'd be remiss if we didn't give you the hoops
Speaker 1: and gay shit update, seeing as this game had two
Speaker 1: count them two engaged couples. First, the Sons Alyssa Thomas
Speaker 1: and Duanna Bonner, who combined for thirty four points, sixteen rebounds,
Speaker 1: and eighteen assists in their team's win, and the sons
Speaker 1: djn A Carrington and the Fevers Melissa Smith engaged. I said,
Speaker 1: sure did they're stoken some serious rumors after showing up
Speaker 1: to the last game of their respective regular seasons in
Speaker 1: matching outfits and Djona wearing a big old diamond ring
Speaker 1: on her left ring finger. We stand real bad and
Speaker 1: now we're wondering if there are new rules for staying
Speaker 1: at your opponent's place when it's the postseason. We really
Speaker 1: need to get a WNBA reporter to ask if Melissa
Speaker 1: is staying at Djona's place tonight.
Speaker 2: I just I can't imagine it. I really can't. Okay,
Speaker 2: more w news.
Speaker 1: On Sunday morning, the WNBA officially announced that Asia Wilson
Speaker 1: is the unanimous MVP of the twenty twenty four season.
Speaker 1: It's only the second unanimous vote ever. The first with
Speaker 1: no opposition was Cynthia Cooper back in the inaugural ninety
Speaker 1: seven season. This is Asia's third MVP award, making her
Speaker 1: the fourth player in w history to win three of them,
Speaker 1: joining Cheryl Swoops, Lisa Leslie, and Lauren Jackson. That is
Speaker 1: great company. The announcement head at eight thirty am Eastern,
Speaker 1: and the Aces followed it up with a video that's
Speaker 1: definitely going to get your eyes a little misty.
Speaker 2: We'll link to it in our episode notes.
Speaker 1: But eight thirty am Eastern is five thirty am in Vegas,
Speaker 1: so some folks on the West Coast woke up beyond
Speaker 1: a little late to the party, and same for those
Speaker 1: of us who slept in real late on the East Coast.
Speaker 1: Also interesting, there were sixty eight voters, but only sixty
Speaker 1: seven ballots were cast for Wilson as MVP. Maybe someone
Speaker 1: overslept and didn't submit in time. Maybe someone refused to answer.
Speaker 1: Someone tells me we're not going to find out. In
Speaker 1: any event, this year's crown is Asia's Take a bow girl.
Speaker 1: Oh and you didn't think this announcement would pass without
Speaker 1: a mention from Asia's secret boot. But it was actually
Speaker 1: his team that got in on the game this time.
Speaker 1: The MNBA Miami Heat joined the social media shenanigans between
Speaker 1: Wilson and Bam Autobio, tweeting, quote our random photo of
Speaker 1: Bam on this lovely Sunday. Of course that's a apostrophe random.
Speaker 2: We love this.
Speaker 1: The rest of the w's end of season awards will
Speaker 1: be released throughout the postseason, and will update y'all on
Speaker 1: those as they come in. For what it's worth, though,
Speaker 1: the Associated Press's fifteen member media panel did release all
Speaker 1: of their picks for the awards. We'll link to the
Speaker 1: full list in our show notes, but it's worth noting
Speaker 1: that the AP voters did select a Fisa Collier for
Speaker 1: Defensive Player of the Year over Asia Wilson. Now, in
Speaker 1: case you missed it, last week, Becky Hammond, coach of
Speaker 1: the Las Vegas Asis, called out ESPN in particular during
Speaker 1: a postgame press conference after several ESPN writers announced they
Speaker 1: had selected ANFISA as Defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 2: Here's a clip of.
Speaker 4: That ESPN and we worked with ESPN, Eve and I
Speaker 4: worked with ESPN, And I'm just going to say this,
Speaker 4: Asia Wilson got the.
Speaker 2: MVP stuff right, the Defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 5: If you have to, as a journalist or a reporter,
Speaker 5: have to go down a rabbit hole to find somebody
Speaker 5: else to be in the conversation, you already have the
Speaker 5: answer to all your questions.
Speaker 3: And that's all I'm going to say on it.
Speaker 1: We asked aphesis coach Cheryl Reeve for her thoughts on
Speaker 1: him and sentiments, so stay tuned for that more. WNBA
Speaker 1: News La Sparks guard and twelve year WNBA vet Leisha
Speaker 1: Clarendon announced their retirement over the weekend. The thirty three
Speaker 1: year old, who uses he she they pronouns, is the
Speaker 1: league's first openly transgender and non binary player and the
Speaker 1: first ever VP of the players Association. He was a
Speaker 1: driving force behind the league's historic twenty twenty collective bargaining agreement,
Speaker 1: which increased salaries, improved travel conditions.
Speaker 2: And offered more support for parents in the league.
Speaker 1: She also advocated for LGBTQIA plus inclusive policies across the
Speaker 1: w and it was their idea to dedicate the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty season to the Say Her Name Campaign, a social
Speaker 1: movement which calls attention to the stories of black women
Speaker 1: and girls who have been victimized by racist police violence.
Speaker 1: Clarendon has dealt with their share of injuries in recent
Speaker 1: years and hasn't played a full season since twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: In a post on Instagram, they wrote, in part, quote,
Speaker 1: while the grief is heavy, the joy remains. I am
Speaker 1: so looking forward to being celebrated and love done. I
Speaker 1: respectfully ask you not to say you're going to be
Speaker 1: great in whatever you choose next. I want to stay
Speaker 1: in the sweetness of this moment where my heart is
Speaker 1: broken and there's tears rolling down my eyes, and I
Speaker 1: can also smile, look up and say, damn, I really
Speaker 1: did all of that.
Speaker 2: End quote, Yes, Ley, you did. Thank you for it all.
Speaker 1: In the NWSL We've got a positive update on Washington's
Speaker 1: Spirit striker Trinity Rodman. She was taken off the pitch
Speaker 1: in a wheelchair after a collision in the seventy fifth
Speaker 1: minute of Washington's Friday night match against the Case Current.
Speaker 1: After the match, the Spirit's head coach said Rodman felt
Speaker 1: quote something in her back end quote. Rodman's agent confirmed
Speaker 1: this Saturday, telling the Washington Posts Ella Brockway that Trinity
Speaker 1: had in fact suffered an intense backspasm and is in
Speaker 1: a lot of pain. That her team is hopeful she
Speaker 1: avoided anything serious. Speaking of injury, we got some sad
Speaker 1: news on Saturday in New York, New Jersey. GOTHAMFC announced
Speaker 1: that defender Kelly O'Hara is done for the season due
Speaker 1: to chronic need degeneration.
Speaker 2: O'Hara, who was a.
Speaker 1: Staple on the back line of the US women's national team,
Speaker 1: announced in May that she would be retiring at the
Speaker 1: end of the twenty twenty fourth season. According to a
Speaker 1: Gotham press release, she'll continue to be in the team's
Speaker 1: environment for the remainder of the season in a leadership role,
Speaker 1: and GOTHAMFC will also celebrate O'Hara's legendary career on October twentieth,
Speaker 1: during the team's final regular season home match against the
Speaker 1: Orlando Pride. That's a five pm Eastern start at Red
Speaker 1: Bull Arena. Also, it was a little poetic that Kelly
Speaker 1: and Alex Morgan ended up playing their final games on
Speaker 1: the exact same day. Those two are sort of inextricably linked,
Speaker 1: and as sad as we are to see both of
Speaker 1: them be done, it does feel a little bit right
Speaker 1: that they both played their last game on the exact
Speaker 1: same day. Also, something got them can celebrate. They clinched
Speaker 1: a spot in the playoffs. The team's one nil victory
Speaker 1: over the Utah Royals on Sunday made it official. The
Speaker 1: defending champs are third overall in the league as it
Speaker 1: stands now, trailing the unbeaten Orlando Pride and the Washington
Speaker 1: Spirit to Hockey. The college hockey season is officially underway.
Speaker 1: The Ohio State Buckeys are on a mission to defend
Speaker 1: their twenty twenty four title and capture a third chip
Speaker 1: in four years. Last season, they defeated Wisconsin won nothing
Speaker 1: in the Frozen four final. But Ohio State's roster looks
Speaker 1: pretty different these days. After eight members of last year's
Speaker 1: championship roster were picked up in the twenty twenty four
Speaker 1: PWHL draft. Minnesota Duluth humbled the buck Guys in the
Speaker 1: season opener, beating the defending champs two to one on
Speaker 1: Saturday and then pulling out a.
Speaker 2: Four to three win on Sunday. Finally, some style.
Speaker 1: And fashion news, Ellie the Elephant, the uber popular New
Speaker 1: York Liberty mascot, teamed up with Nike to create a
Speaker 1: new Sabrina two colorway. We'll link to the site in
Speaker 1: our show notes, and we'll also link to the video
Speaker 1: of Ellie's design process at Nike headquarters Pure Entertainment. The
Speaker 1: Liberty also announced a multi year partnership with fashion company
Speaker 1: off White over the weekend. The brand is now the
Speaker 1: official style and culture curator of the team, marking off
Speaker 1: White's first US sports team partnership. The first item born
Speaker 1: from the collaboration is a custom varsity jacket, which was
Speaker 1: unveiled ahead of the Liberty's opening playoff game. We are
Speaker 1: super excited to see an insanely cool and cheep brand
Speaker 1: like off White work with the Liberty, but we are
Speaker 1: also wondering how we are ever going to be able
Speaker 1: to afford the merch We're going to take a quick
Speaker 1: break when we come back. We caught up with Minnesota
Speaker 1: Link's head coach Cheryl Reeve on Friday ahead of the
Speaker 1: first round of the playoffs. You'll hear that conversation coming
Speaker 1: up next. She's the head coach and president of basketball
Speaker 1: operations for the Minnesota Links of the WNBA A team
Speaker 1: she's led to four championship wins, and she's a two
Speaker 1: time WNBA champion. As an assistant coach with the Detroit Shock,
Speaker 1: she was head coach of the USA basketball team that
Speaker 1: just won gold in Paris, and as a player, she's
Speaker 1: still top ten in single season assists at LaSalle University,
Speaker 1: where she was inducted into the Hall.
Speaker 2: Of Athletes in twenty seventeen. I once talked shit to
Speaker 2: her sitting courtside in Toronto while she was coaching against
Speaker 2: my Sky and it's her birthday today. It's Cheryl reed
Speaker 2: what's up, coach?
Speaker 3: What's up? What's up? I do remember that in Toronto.
Speaker 3: I haven't forgotten that. I haven't forgot.
Speaker 2: Listen only gets my squad. I'm gonna talk some shit.
Speaker 3: That's just the way I oper I hear you I
Speaker 3: do appreciate that about you.
Speaker 2: So big birthday plans besides our show.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm gonna be spending it a team is so sweet.
Speaker 3: Gonna have dinner with the team tonight. It's actually our
Speaker 3: playoff dinner. They invited me to that, so I'll be Yeah,
Speaker 3: so spending my birthday with the team. So actually, they've
Speaker 3: been so therapeutic for me. So it actually is fitting life.
Speaker 2: Of a coach, pretty standard.
Speaker 1: Before we even get into your incredible Minnesota links and
Speaker 1: the postseason coming up, their incredible post Olympic run, I
Speaker 1: want to take a moment for that run to the
Speaker 1: Olympic gold. Congratulations. Also, thank you. That was a close one.
Speaker 1: What was the toughest part of that job for you
Speaker 1: being the head coach of Tmosa basketball?
Speaker 3: Uh, you know, I would say without question it's probably
Speaker 3: one A and one B, which we talk about all
Speaker 3: the time, is just that we don't get enough time
Speaker 3: together and so it has to be like this instant
Speaker 3: where you get a group of players together. The final roster,
Speaker 3: you know, wasn't what I had for since twenty twenty two, right,
Speaker 3: It changed each time we had a competition. So that's
Speaker 3: that's a challenge. You know, I'm thankful that the leaders
Speaker 3: of our team sort of understood that we didn't have
Speaker 3: time for skepticism or anything like that. We had to
Speaker 3: kind of all be in it right away and buy in.
Speaker 3: And that allowed us, you know, obviously to have a
Speaker 3: you know, a level of success that you know, I
Speaker 3: appreciated what they were giving. And then the second part,
Speaker 3: every coach that I talked to, you know, I worked
Speaker 3: for uh Gino for two quads. I worked for Dawn
Speaker 3: for a quad. Uh and both of them said unequivocally
Speaker 3: the roster management at the playing time for players would
Speaker 3: be the hardest thing, UH, because you have I mean,
Speaker 3: there's no wrong choices. But what I did learn is
Speaker 3: you have to make choices, and I've learned that a
Speaker 3: long time ago. It's a mistake that a lot of
Speaker 3: young coaches make. You have to be willing to make
Speaker 3: the hard decisions, and you know, you try to inform
Speaker 3: your decisions collectively as a staff. We certainly did that,
Speaker 3: but there's no question that was that was those two
Speaker 3: things with the hardest.
Speaker 1: You mentioned coaching under geno Ori Emma and Don Staley.
Speaker 1: Give me one big thing you learned or took away
Speaker 1: from each of them, Well.
Speaker 3: Both very very different Gino. Gino had d and Sue
Speaker 3: kind of you know, it was comical, uh the way
Speaker 3: that they treated him. Uh, it was was fun to
Speaker 3: be around. But I think Gino, you know, a little
Speaker 3: more offensive oriented. I would say at that time, you know, Don,
Speaker 3: you just learned I learned from Don in terms of
Speaker 3: uh player relations. It's about the players and and trying
Speaker 3: to kind of have that balance. Uh. So they both
Speaker 3: were really good. Uh, two very different teams uh that
Speaker 3: they coached, and so I learned different things. Uh, I
Speaker 3: knew My biggest takeaway was that I wanted to utilize
Speaker 3: our depth on our team. I wanted that to be
Speaker 3: sort of a hallmark because that is a separator in
Speaker 3: the US. And we saw with France that they were
Speaker 3: able to to have depth. They had athleticism, two things
Speaker 3: that that we have, which is why you saw what
Speaker 3: you saw in that gold medal game. France was a
Speaker 3: team you know, we were worried about for more than
Speaker 3: a year as we saw them come together. So we
Speaker 3: are not surprised with how that played out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if there were a player that played for each
Speaker 1: of the three of you, what do you think they
Speaker 1: would say? Was distinctly different about playing for you and
Speaker 1: your style, your way of doing things.
Speaker 3: Oh wow, that's a tough one. I really don't know.
Speaker 3: I really don't know. I'd love to be a fly
Speaker 3: on the wall to hear it. I wouldn't be surprised,
Speaker 3: you know. I think I think typically what would be
Speaker 3: described about me, I can't say what they would say
Speaker 3: about Donn or Geno. I certainly have like I put
Speaker 3: my own mark on things. I like to collect information.
Speaker 3: But I learned long ago that being yourself is the
Speaker 3: most important thing can do.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: And that can be both, especially in a short short
Speaker 3: time where you know, when most of the players aren't
Speaker 3: my players and they don't get me. Uh. And so
Speaker 3: I think I can be prickly, you know, I'm demanding.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, like I want the details. Uh
Speaker 3: And so I think in camp, you know, we we
Speaker 3: wanted what we wanted and we worked hard for it,
Speaker 3: whether it was you know, we wanted to be a
Speaker 3: defensive oriented team. We were going to do it. We
Speaker 3: were going to do it a certain way. So I
Speaker 3: don't I don't know. I mean, you know, I wanted
Speaker 3: to have fun at the same time, I'm not sure
Speaker 3: if we accomplished all that. I don't know it was
Speaker 3: I I was gonna say, I mean our job. We
Speaker 3: had one job, you know, and Dawn told me that repeatedly. Cheryl,
Speaker 3: you have one job, one job, and you don't make
Speaker 3: many friends in the job, but you have one job.
Speaker 1: Yep, you get a lot of friends afterwards when you
Speaker 1: hand them all their gold medals.
Speaker 3: That's right, that's exactly right. It's exactly what you said.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that it's hard to try to please everyone,
Speaker 1: and that could be in playing Diana Tarassi more minutes,
Speaker 1: because you know it's a final Olympics.
Speaker 2: It could even be roster making.
Speaker 1: Even though the roster was made by a USA Basketball
Speaker 1: selection committee, you still end up facing questions, in particular
Speaker 1: about Caitlin Clark's omission. Sure did how did you handle
Speaker 1: that situation? And what didn't people get about it?
Speaker 3: I think what people don't get about it? And it's okay,
Speaker 3: you know, like it's you know, you can't change what
Speaker 3: people think. But the coach of the national team truly
Speaker 3: has no power in the selection of the team. And
Speaker 3: my example that I give is we were at a
Speaker 3: camp in Las Vegas getting ready to go to Sydney,
Speaker 3: Australia for the World Cup. One of my players was there,
Speaker 3: Kayla McBride from the Minnesota Lynx. I thought k mack
Speaker 3: had a tremendous camp and it should have gone with
Speaker 3: us to Sydney, and had no indication that anyone felt that,
Speaker 3: especially from our staff and some of the committee was
Speaker 3: in our meetings. It felt as if we all felt
Speaker 3: the same that came back, had a great camp, and
Speaker 3: not that you'd make the final rouster because you still
Speaker 3: had to go to Sydney and make that final cut.
Speaker 3: And I learned at the eleventh hour that they cut
Speaker 3: my player, and so I said that came back. If
Speaker 3: there's ever a time for people to understand that the
Speaker 3: coach has no say in it, this is one of
Speaker 3: those times. And so but I get, I get you
Speaker 3: got to you know, in this day and age, you
Speaker 3: got to assign blame somewhere that took a lot of
Speaker 3: bullets for USA basketball. Uh, you know, this is a
Speaker 3: unique time. I took a lot of bullets and and
Speaker 3: you know, but you can't. You know, it is what
Speaker 3: it is when you sign up for the position, it
Speaker 3: is what it is. I mean, certainly, Gino, you know
Speaker 3: went through his time, and you know omissions of players, Dawn,
Speaker 3: you can't escape that when you're in this position. Somebody's
Speaker 3: upset and you mentioned Caitlin, but there's other Erique. I
Speaker 3: thought Arique really had improved and did some great things,
Speaker 3: and you can make a case for you know, Ryan Howard.
Speaker 3: You know these are all players that you hope that
Speaker 3: they stick with it. It may not have been their
Speaker 3: time right now, but their time could be coming. And
Speaker 3: not to give up on that, because I think all
Speaker 3: those players were worthy of the consideration that they got
Speaker 3: all right.
Speaker 1: Last Olympic question, how do you balance wanting to win
Speaker 1: and having as much success as possible without giving away
Speaker 1: links secrets like you're going to need those later to
Speaker 1: win the title?
Speaker 2: How do you do that?
Speaker 3: You know what's cool about the group? The players were
Speaker 3: a little more guarded. I think at times when I'd
Speaker 3: ask questions like I'm truly was like trying to install
Speaker 3: an off and say an Asian what block do you like?
Speaker 3: Chelsea and Asian Jack, y'all look at each other like
Speaker 3: we really gonna tell her, you know, like which blood
Speaker 3: you know? And then when push comes to shelve, we're
Speaker 3: trying to win, so it comes out. But you know, honestly,
Speaker 3: I was unguarded. You know, I like, if you learn
Speaker 3: some things about the Minnesota Links, Okay, you still got
Speaker 3: to play against us, you still got to stop it whatever.
Speaker 3: You know, really just that's why you play the game.
Speaker 3: And it really is just a shell of what the
Speaker 3: larger picture is for the Lynx because you don't have
Speaker 3: a lot of time to really drill down. So they
Speaker 3: learned some maybe some components to it, but I suspect
Speaker 3: that they won't remember very much.
Speaker 2: We'll find out in the postseason.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you go straight from Olympic gold right back
Speaker 1: to the Lynx and you go on an incredible thirteen
Speaker 1: and one run to close the season after Paris. No
Speaker 1: post Olympic fatigue, no post Olympic goldrums like you're crushing
Speaker 1: take us inside the locker room in those practices, like
Speaker 1: you were already a strong team.
Speaker 2: But there's a flip the switch moment that happened. What
Speaker 2: is that?
Speaker 3: You know? I wish I could tell you. It's a
Speaker 3: special group. We had three Olympians that were away that
Speaker 3: were you know, three of our starters, and you know
Speaker 3: McBride was was back in Minneapolis and Courtney Williams, and
Speaker 3: you know, I think I think they just really enjoy
Speaker 3: playing with each other. I know Fee was excited to
Speaker 3: get back, you know, with her with her group and
Speaker 3: get to, you know, play the position she naturally played,
Speaker 3: because she played out a position for the entirety of
Speaker 3: the Olympics. And I think there was just this I
Speaker 3: don't know, they just like playing with each other. I
Speaker 3: got to tell you, I had nothing to do with it.
Speaker 3: I had nothing to do with it. Nothing to do
Speaker 3: with it.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it's that simple.
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 1: It's like when people say, oh, when you meet your person,
Speaker 1: you'll just know, and you're before you meet them, you're like,
Speaker 1: that's so annoying, what does that even mean?
Speaker 2: And then you meet them, You're like, oh, I got it.
Speaker 2: It's like that.
Speaker 1: It's like a good team just has this intangible vibe
Speaker 1: and you guys are vibing, like we.
Speaker 2: Can see it. I want to talk about Nafista Callier.
Speaker 1: You mentioned her an unbelievable regular season on both sides
Speaker 1: of the ball, but the defense has really been fantastic.
Speaker 1: What's the case you would make for her as Defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year.
Speaker 3: Nefisa just her ability to impact, whether it's on off ball,
Speaker 3: her length, her deflections, her positioning, her shot blocking, and
Speaker 3: that's gone to another level, that's just overall awareness. So
Speaker 3: we count on her heavily to reach our goals defensively
Speaker 3: in deflecting the different matchups you can give her. She
Speaker 3: could obviously she can switch guard at pimeter player. The
Speaker 3: steals that she's getting as a result of deflection, so
Speaker 3: you know, I think the the RSB, the rebound steels blocks,
Speaker 3: I mean, she's knocking it out of the park. And
Speaker 3: we have we have, you know, a top two defense
Speaker 3: in the league, and we're number one an opponent field
Speaker 3: goal percentage. She's the anchor to that. And you know,
Speaker 3: I will say this, I'm really proud of her because
Speaker 3: in our exit interview, you know, we really laughed because
Speaker 3: I had shared with her, Hey, for our defense last
Speaker 3: year wasn't what it is this year, And I said
Speaker 3: to her, if this team is going to really take
Speaker 3: this next step? So we were, you know, we were
Speaker 3: a bit of a surprise last year. We were terrible
Speaker 3: and then we got you know, got going a little bit,
Speaker 3: made the playoffs, but we want more. We don't want to.
Speaker 3: I mean, we were you know, essentially we were a
Speaker 3: five hundred team last year. That's not what the goal is.
Speaker 3: And I told Fie, hey, if we're going to really
Speaker 3: reach our greatest heights, obviously we're going to get to
Speaker 3: a couple more players around you, but you have to
Speaker 3: be our best defender as well as our best offensive player,
Speaker 3: be an MVP and a Defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 3: That's what this team needs. If you do that, then
Speaker 3: we can be we can really go to great places.
Speaker 3: And so I was kind of telling her, you know, defensively,
Speaker 3: we weren't that. You know, you got to do this.
Speaker 3: This isn't this the very next gate. Next day, she
Speaker 3: gets named to All Defensive Team, right, she said. She
Speaker 3: texts me, you know, right away, She's like, like, guess my
Speaker 3: defense wasn't that bad and so and I said, this year,
Speaker 3: you know, it was really funny. So the jump that
Speaker 3: she made, I actually just told her this yesterday. I
Speaker 3: am super proud of of the jump, the jump that
Speaker 3: she's made. She was good defensively, no question about it before,
Speaker 3: but she took us to another realm where our defense's
Speaker 3: tops in the league.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not sure if you heard Las Vegas Asis
Speaker 1: coach Beckyhammond. On Thursday night after the final regular season game.
Speaker 1: She was taking a few reporters to task for voting
Speaker 1: for NAFISA for Defensive Player of the Year, people who
Speaker 1: had made their ballots public instead of voting for Asia Wilson. Now,
Speaker 1: I fully understand advocating for your own player, and there
Speaker 1: is a great argument to be made for Asia as
Speaker 1: Defensive Player of Year as.
Speaker 2: Well, But there was real anger there.
Speaker 1: Do you think that NAFISA as Defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Year is a vote deserving of anger?
Speaker 3: I didn't see the interview that I would be surprised
Speaker 3: if someone expressed anger, because I think most people that
Speaker 3: I talked to I think it's a unanimous decision. No,
Speaker 3: no disrespect to Asia. I mean, I know what Asia
Speaker 3: brings to the table. It depends on what you It
Speaker 3: depends on what you what you value when you vote.
Speaker 3: Everybody's different. I know for me what I value is
Speaker 3: top defensive teams should be you know, the all defensive
Speaker 3: teams should be riddled with the with the players from
Speaker 3: that team, you know, and so more than one player.
Speaker 3: So you look at the top three or four defensive teams,
Speaker 3: you know. I think in Asia's case, you know, can
Speaker 3: you be the Defensive Player of the Year when your
Speaker 3: defense isn't in that that that's completely subjective, and that's
Speaker 3: obviously the angle that Becky's coming from. I'm a huge
Speaker 3: fan of Asia Wilson. She's had an incredible year, you know,
Speaker 3: but she can have MVP and the FISA Collier's Defensive
Speaker 3: Player of the Year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean it's it's always hard with those
Speaker 1: awards because it's just a couple of words and then
Speaker 1: you get to decide what those words mean and how
Speaker 1: you vote based on your semantic reading. And we leave
Speaker 1: it open to everyone to have their opinion except for
Speaker 1: fourth place voters for Asia for MVP, we do not
Speaker 1: leave that up to anyone.
Speaker 3: That no one will call it.
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of conversation this season about who
Speaker 1: gets the attention of fans and media. Is Asia getting
Speaker 1: enough love for her MVP season? Is Kitlyn Clark getting
Speaker 1: too much love? I want to go back to the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season, because during preseason you tweeted about
Speaker 1: the fact that the Skylinks game wasn't televised. This was
Speaker 1: the first look for so many fans at the newly
Speaker 1: drafted players, and you use the hashtag twelve teams and
Speaker 1: the w is more than one player. A fan ended
Speaker 1: up live streaming the game on her cell phone. It
Speaker 1: got more than two and a half million views, and
Speaker 1: some people still took your advocacy for your own team
Speaker 1: and for the league as a whole as some sort
Speaker 1: of hit against Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 2: Were you surprised by that reaction?
Speaker 3: Maybe at that time, yes, But as the season has
Speaker 3: evolved and there's a very clear understanding of there's a
Speaker 3: lot of new fans and new media. Uh, there's there's
Speaker 3: one media member who really latched onto and sort of
Speaker 3: made it her mantra that I didn't got a book deal,
Speaker 3: and so like it's uh, it's interesting because my thing is, uh,
Speaker 3: if you have followed the league at all, and if
Speaker 3: you have followed Cheryl Reeve at all, trolling the w
Speaker 3: n B A is not something you know, it's something
Speaker 3: that I would would would take them to task for that,
Speaker 3: And it wasn't that we were and I recognize now
Speaker 3: that maybe there it was maybe a bit ambiguous in
Speaker 3: terms of my initial post, which was all I was saying,
Speaker 3: was the w n B a social media account? Forget
Speaker 3: that we weren't on. It's a preseason game. We're not
Speaker 3: on right now, whether you should be on? Did you
Speaker 3: miss the boat? Did you not recognize what these rookies?
Speaker 3: I think so. I think that would be a fair assessment.
Speaker 3: But my beef was that the w NBA social media account,
Speaker 3: you know but you know, hey, that that was really cool.
Speaker 3: But the my beef was that the social media account
Speaker 3: was not promoting all of the games. No problem, Indiana
Speaker 3: Dallas being televised. I didn't care about that. I didn't
Speaker 3: care that we weren't being televised. Those are business decisions.
Speaker 3: I do care, and I'm going to protect my team.
Speaker 3: When one you don't even mention the game. And by
Speaker 3: the way, if you're not interested in the minister links,
Speaker 3: Angel Reese was playing her first w NBA game, right
Speaker 3: so the fact that you don't even mention it, all
Speaker 3: I was doing was assisting our fans of hey, don't
Speaker 3: forget we're playing, and here's where you can find it.
Speaker 3: And I listened it. And then I also helped the
Speaker 3: league when they were posting the you know, the the
Speaker 3: players that they were promoting in the league, and there
Speaker 3: was no headshot of Nefisa Kalier, who clearly coming off
Speaker 3: an MVP candidacy last year, would be a player. And
Speaker 3: so my photoshopped fee and it said here are fans.
Speaker 3: I fixed it right, and so you know, I try
Speaker 3: to like bring levity to situations. Yeah. Uh and so,
Speaker 3: but you know, what you're mentioning is that there were
Speaker 3: a number of fans Kaitlyn Clark fans that sort of
Speaker 3: grabbed a hold of that and found it to be
Speaker 3: that I was anti Caitlyn Clark. And you won't find
Speaker 3: very many clips of me saying amazing things about Caitlyn,
Speaker 3: which I have done throughout by the time she was
Speaker 3: a college player, all the way through. But all you're
Speaker 3: gonna find is the ones where you know, it's misconstrued
Speaker 3: that I don't like Caitlyn, and my goodness when she
Speaker 3: wasn't on the team, that somehow that was all me
Speaker 3: controverted wreck. I'll go on your show for the record,
Speaker 3: it absolutely does. I'm a huge Kaitlyn Clark fan. I don't,
Speaker 3: you know, not when we're playing against her, of course,
Speaker 3: but she said, you know, like I said, she's a
Speaker 3: future Hall of Famer. Everybody can see that. So but anyway, yeah,
Speaker 3: that was all, like you said, for whatever reason, that
Speaker 3: was the angle people took, and.
Speaker 1: I think it's spot on to say I was surprised
Speaker 1: at the time, and then it became abundantly clear that
Speaker 1: the rest of the season was going to be just
Speaker 1: as unhinged as.
Speaker 2: This moment, and then I was ready to prepare for it.
Speaker 3: Very good word, very good word.
Speaker 1: Un As for those who maybe aren't awhare, Christine Brennan
Speaker 1: is writing a book about Kaitlyn Clark. I have been
Speaker 1: a huge fan of Christine's work for many years. I
Speaker 1: have also very much disagreed with a lot of her
Speaker 1: takes on Caitlin and the Olympics and some other stuff
Speaker 1: this year, and some of the techs she's taken in
Speaker 1: approaching the league this year. But we look forward to
Speaker 1: the book and it'll be interesting to see how that
Speaker 1: coverage evolves.
Speaker 2: I want to go back to the defense.
Speaker 1: You were on Christina Williams podcast in case you missed
Speaker 1: it right here on Iheartwomen's Sports, and you said that
Speaker 1: this season you really needed to correct a mistake that
Speaker 1: you had been making, emphasizing offense over defense a little
Speaker 1: too much. How do you explain the gift of being
Speaker 1: able to keep yourself humble, learn and check back in
Speaker 1: with yourself, even after all the success you've had, because
Speaker 1: some folks are not willing to adjust after all the
Speaker 1: titles and accolades and success. But you were looking at
Speaker 1: yourself and saying, here's what I've been doing wrong.
Speaker 3: Well, first, I'm a virgo. Virgos are very critical. I
Speaker 3: am as much as the players might feel uncritical of them,
Speaker 3: I'm more critical of myself. I'm a big believer as
Speaker 3: a coach than when players aren't doing something, then there's
Speaker 3: a there's a flaw in the way that it's being coached.
Speaker 3: And more, you don't have the right players and you're
Speaker 3: being unrealistic in your expectations. And so maybe it was
Speaker 3: a combination of both. And so when I tell you
Speaker 3: that we did, you know, get some players that I
Speaker 3: think tremendously helped Atlanta Smith, Natitia Heideman, Courtney Williams doesn't
Speaker 3: get enough credit, uh for the ways that she's helped
Speaker 3: our defense. The tremendous buy in we've gotten obviously mentioned fee,
Speaker 3: you know, fee anchoring the thing, and Kayla McBride doesn't
Speaker 3: get enough credit, so Bridget Carlton. So we just I
Speaker 3: think a combination of I needed to move it up
Speaker 3: the list, and I learned long ago. Number one, you
Speaker 3: get what you accept, h or two it's what you emphasize.
Speaker 3: And so you always look at your practice. And if
Speaker 3: a stranger walked in and they watched your practice, what
Speaker 3: would be their takeaways when they walked away? What's your identity?
Speaker 3: And if you walk out of our practice facility and
Speaker 3: you don't have any idea what our identity is, defensively,
Speaker 3: that's a problem. And that falls directly to coaching. And
Speaker 3: so you know, I learned that a while ago, and
Speaker 3: so and as they say, it starts at the top.
Speaker 3: So I was very much a part of the poor
Speaker 3: defenses over the last couple of seasons, both selection of
Speaker 3: personnel and execution.
Speaker 2: You get what you accept is so good. I am
Speaker 2: going to be repeating that for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2: That's it.
Speaker 1: You do everything alife frustrated with your expectation or your
Speaker 1: attention to detail, or your desire to get things right.
Speaker 1: Their frustration is not the thing that should decide how
Speaker 1: things get done. It should be what am I willing
Speaker 1: to accept and what am I willing to get back?
Speaker 2: That's so good. You just mentioned Courtney william she's a dog.
Speaker 1: You talked about needing to add a dog to your team,
Speaker 1: that that was necessary. Why is that kind of player
Speaker 1: so important to any team? And why do new fans
Speaker 1: not understand that women hoopers can be and should be
Speaker 1: dogs too?
Speaker 3: That's right, that's right. Uh. You know, Courtney gave us
Speaker 3: this kind of edge. You know, I don't if they
Speaker 3: still say swag, but gave us a swag about us,
Speaker 3: a balance of confidence, you know, believe. You know, she
Speaker 3: immersed herself into the links and and you know from
Speaker 3: the time we had our conversation and free agency. Uh,
Speaker 3: she is a believer. She was a believer. And I
Speaker 3: tell you I have enjoyed the heck out of coaching
Speaker 3: Courtney Williams. She's hilarious. You know, she makes me laugh
Speaker 3: often even in game. You know, she's very difficult, you know,
Speaker 3: to to be upset with. She brings levity the situations
Speaker 3: so easily. But I think what's important because you know,
Speaker 3: I think Rebecca Lobo mentioned it a couple of years
Speaker 3: ago when describing our team. You know, I, you know,
Speaker 3: I like to get opinions from you know, different disciplines,
Speaker 3: and Rebecca was happy to share and she just said,
Speaker 3: I think you're missing a dog, missing a dog or two.
Speaker 3: You know, like a good team, but you need this
Speaker 3: next player that can that can take you to the
Speaker 3: next level. And so dogs aren't easy to come by.
Speaker 3: Everybody wants them, uh you know. And so we were
Speaker 3: fortunate to uh you know, lore Courtney to be a
Speaker 3: part of our group. And we sure, we're sure glad
Speaker 3: she chose us.
Speaker 2: Love it, you know, need the Dogs against Phoenix.
Speaker 1: That is a very explosive offensive team, lots of finals experience.
Speaker 1: You got Diana Tarassi, Klia Kapper, Britney Grinder, Natasha Cloud.
Speaker 1: Your group is taking care of business against them. You
Speaker 1: won three out of four times this season. Besides the obvious,
Speaker 1: you gotta win. You got to score more points, You
Speaker 1: got to play good defense. What do you know that
Speaker 1: your team has to do to win this first game
Speaker 1: in this first series?
Speaker 3: Be ourselves. We don't have to be anything we're not.
Speaker 3: And and when you to the playoffs, you can't change
Speaker 3: who you are. You can't suddenly if you didn't rebound
Speaker 3: all season, you're not suddenly going to rebound the basketball.
Speaker 3: If you didn't defend ball screens, you're not going to
Speaker 3: suddenly defend it. And I think that's the positive thing
Speaker 3: for us is that just be ourselves, which is be
Speaker 3: a great defensive team that you know, we're terrific in
Speaker 3: our help and our rotation and our trust. That's what
Speaker 3: we have to do. And on the offensive end, continue
Speaker 3: to share the basketball. You know, it's the collective that
Speaker 3: is our strength. So just be ourselves.
Speaker 1: A handful of those stars were on your Olympic squad.
Speaker 1: You get any tips, you figure out how they're thrive
Speaker 1: or maybe how to slow them down.
Speaker 3: You know, you'd be surprised because it's just so different.
Speaker 3: It's so different what you do. And the players say
Speaker 3: this all the time. It is a great sacrifice. And
Speaker 3: super Bird had the best quotes and description of this
Speaker 3: that it's really uncomfortable. You know, there's only a couple
Speaker 3: of players that get to actually be themselves. And for
Speaker 3: this team, I would say Asia Wilson and Brianna Stewart,
Speaker 3: we tried to create a space for them that they
Speaker 3: could be them right the two top players. I said, fee,
Speaker 3: you've got to take a back seat, you know, like
Speaker 3: you got to play some small forward. And then I
Speaker 3: would say Jackie Young emerged and I thought she had
Speaker 3: a chance to be close to herself as she got
Speaker 3: more comfortable. The rest of them all made sacrifices in
Speaker 3: the way that they were being used or things they
Speaker 3: were asked to be doing defensively, roles, you know, I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, you have leading scorers, you know, top five
Speaker 3: scorers in the league, kind of going, you know, you're
Speaker 3: not playing my ass, you know, like what are you doing?
Speaker 3: You know? So it's hard. It's hard for everybody. But
Speaker 3: you know, when you're coaching a team, you know, like
Speaker 3: you just the best you can as quickly as you can,
Speaker 3: because you can't drill down. You've got to keep it basic.
Speaker 3: They're just coming off a WNBA season where we played
Speaker 3: twenty five games. Can you imagine? So I had four
Speaker 3: Aces players, three Phoenix players, and you know whatever the
Speaker 3: rest of the breakdown is, that was seven of the
Speaker 3: twelve and they're coming to USA Basketball to run completely
Speaker 3: different things, and so you have to turn off what
Speaker 3: you're doing and then turn on, Okay, this is what
Speaker 3: they need me to do here, right, Maybe I did
Speaker 3: this for my team. They need me to do this.
Speaker 3: This is the focal point, and that's a challenge. That's
Speaker 3: you know, that's a challenge that we tried really hard
Speaker 3: to meet. I also tried to do some things that
Speaker 3: were familiar to them, and so I'm not trying to
Speaker 3: not answer your question. Uh, you know, I think, uh,
Speaker 3: I think Beg is is playing great. She's playing great,
Speaker 3: and and that's probably my only uh I know, regrets
Speaker 3: the right word, but like, if I could do it again,
Speaker 3: I know why it happened the way that it did.
Speaker 3: Stewie in Asia being in their space led to a
Speaker 3: decision too, and being uncertain about Beg all that she
Speaker 3: went through and what space she would be in, and
Speaker 3: so Beg kind of becoming a reserve player for us
Speaker 3: that made it more difficult to feature her. I think
Speaker 3: Phoenix has done a terrific fig job, and she's evolving
Speaker 3: as a player in the way that they're utilizing her.
Speaker 3: That's a player that you know, probably you know, I
Speaker 3: wish we could have found a way, you know, to
Speaker 3: have her more impactful, especially in the France game. That's
Speaker 3: one that you look back and you know, if you
Speaker 3: could do some things differently, you know that that is
Speaker 3: one of them. And I tell I actually told her
Speaker 3: repeatedly after games that was the one thing that was
Speaker 3: eating at me. I didn't feel like we could get
Speaker 3: enough minutes for her, enough usage for her. But anyway,
Speaker 3: I think Beg's playing great. Obviously we know Diana and
Speaker 3: the playoffs and her competitive spirit and what she's going
Speaker 3: to bring to the table. And obviously the great play
Speaker 3: of Khlia Copper, so their big three is awfully good. Uh.
Speaker 3: And then obviously their supporting cast Cunningham's having a really
Speaker 3: nice season, and you know, Cloud was a great addition
Speaker 3: for them. So we have our work cut out for us.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I'm so pumped for the number of eyeballs that
Speaker 1: are going to be on this playoffs and and hopefully
Speaker 1: more informed eyeballs to their will be the people who
Speaker 1: know the intricacies of the cool matchups and the people
Speaker 1: who have played together before and are now playing against
Speaker 1: each other. But I'm also very much ready for all
Speaker 1: the uninformed takes and unfortunately more of that racism and
Speaker 1: misogyny and homophobia that we've seen in the w for
Speaker 1: years but has really reached a peak this season. You know,
Speaker 1: you've been in this game for three decades, You've overseeen
Speaker 1: the links, in particular through so much incredible activism from
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, after the shooting deaths of Auton Sterling and
Speaker 1: Filando Castile and the five Dallas police officers, Maya Moore
Speaker 1: leaving the team to battle wrongful convictions, speaking out after
Speaker 1: George Floyd during twenty twenty and that sort of racial
Speaker 1: reckoning in America. You've even publicly supported the right for
Speaker 1: transgender and non binary athletes to participate. Like you've really
Speaker 1: done the work and been super involved in the stuff
Speaker 1: outside of the game. You've embraced your responsibility as a
Speaker 1: white woman that's leading a team in a league made
Speaker 1: up of predominantly women of color, And I wonder how
Speaker 1: you've processed and dealt with that particular kind of toxicity
Speaker 1: this year and how it's impacted the league and the players.
Speaker 3: Yeah, disheartening is probably the word that comes to mind.
Speaker 3: It was it's wn B A I don't want to
Speaker 3: say a safe space, but WNBA was a space that
Speaker 3: we all felt like we could be ourselves and we
Speaker 3: were making great progress towards creating change for society larger
Speaker 3: as a whole, right like the you know, the voting
Speaker 3: and things like that, And I thought the WNBA really
Speaker 3: found our voice. Twenty sixteen, you know, like you said,
Speaker 3: we were at the forefront of that, and we were
Speaker 3: in such a great space. And one of the most
Speaker 3: beautiful parts about the w n B A why I
Speaker 3: love coaching in the WNBA is we all get to
Speaker 3: be ourselves. It's such a welcoming, safe space that you know,
Speaker 3: it doesn't matter how you identify in anything, you're accepted
Speaker 3: and supported, not just accepted and supported and empowered. And
Speaker 3: then so to have this vitriol, this toxicity that it's
Speaker 3: a reminder though you know it as we've seen it.
Speaker 3: We go from for example, uh d E and I
Speaker 3: coming out of George Floyd was one of the most
Speaker 3: amazing things, and I thought something that really was going
Speaker 3: to move corporate America forward, sports forward, opportunities. Uh And
Speaker 3: and look how fast all of that has been undone
Speaker 3: and people standing proudly doing so. It's it's disheartening. And
Speaker 3: what I have tried to do, it's been an incredible
Speaker 3: uh summer. It's been incredibly difficult, incredibly draining professionally. UH
Speaker 3: And then now to add that personally, I think finding
Speaker 3: the energy uh and I will find it to make
Speaker 3: sure that we can we can not let this in
Speaker 3: the w n b A space. It's unacceptable, uh, and
Speaker 3: our players deserve better. I'm so proud of the players
Speaker 3: in the w n b A, the strength of their
Speaker 3: collective voices. They understand it, and I hope this is
Speaker 3: all going to calm down. I'm not sure, you know,
Speaker 3: because the base. While uh, diversifying your fan base is
Speaker 3: a great thing, I think that the fan base has
Speaker 3: been diversified in a way that is going going to
Speaker 3: challenge us. And I think that uh, you know what
Speaker 3: lies ahead. I think who who speaks out and who
Speaker 3: utilizes this their voices in this time is going to
Speaker 3: be really really impactful on how this whole entire league
Speaker 3: moves forward. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1: So well said, I'm going to leave us on a
Speaker 1: more positive note, which is that that gal we've been
Speaker 1: talking about a lot during this show, Diana Tarassi. When
Speaker 1: she entered the league, it was sort of believed that
Speaker 1: she should maybe suppress her sexuality and who she was,
Speaker 1: she should be rocking the tank tops and given the
Speaker 1: kissy faces and you know that bullshit, and over the
Speaker 1: course of her career, if this is indeed it, as
Speaker 1: they've been saying in Phoenix, she is now prominently featured
Speaker 1: with her wife, with their children, with their family, and
Speaker 1: that's part of why we love the league, instead of
Speaker 1: a fear that the league has about what that might
Speaker 1: mean for their fan base and the support that the
Speaker 1: that the league gets, and that's a really powerful statement
Speaker 1: to how much work has been done over the years,
Speaker 1: both in society at large, but also the w in
Speaker 1: particular being a place that people can see that and
Speaker 1: see it being supported and beloved, which is really cool.
Speaker 2: And you have a big role in that.
Speaker 1: I've all the stuff that you've done over the years,
Speaker 1: so I've been telling everybody this. You know, Skyrim my team,
Speaker 1: but everybody's my side piece, so we'll be rooting for
Speaker 1: you in addition to all the other people that I
Speaker 1: have said I'm rooting for. I don't know how I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do it, but that's the problem with women's sports.
Speaker 1: I just end up liking everyone and I'm like, I
Speaker 1: hope both teams have fun. But Coach, we so so
Speaker 1: appreciate you coming on. Happy birthday and good luck in
Speaker 1: the postseason.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Cheryl for joining us. We got to
Speaker 1: pay the bills when we come back. A special milestone
Speaker 1: for our little baby show Welcome back, my little Orange slices.
Speaker 1: We hit a pretty cool milestone today. It's our fiftieth episode,
Speaker 1: and in honor of half a hundred, please enjoy this
Speaker 1: curated selection of some of our favorite show opening lines.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Good Game.
Speaker 1: With Sarah Spain, The daily women's sports show You've always wanted,
Speaker 1: Where we just bought a gallon of sunscreen and three
Speaker 1: portable fans in preparation for WNBA All Star Weekend in Phoenix.
Speaker 2: The show that's.
Speaker 1: Using a drone to spy on Sam Uis's house, hoping
Speaker 1: to steal secrets on how to make a great podcast.
Speaker 1: Where we heard you loud and clear, trend sof and Mal.
Speaker 1: We're only drinking triple Espressos from here on out. Our
Speaker 1: brains are vibrating inside our heads and we can't buel
Speaker 1: our hands, but it's.
Speaker 2: So worth it.
Speaker 1: Where we're staging a second battle of Hogwarts to oust
Speaker 1: all the transphobes. And where we're watching Gabby Thomas on
Speaker 1: the Daily Show starting to question our own manifestation. Game
Speaker 1: still waiting on that Pulitzer and that Nobel Peace Prize
Speaker 1: and that call from Lorne Michaels, where we'll be smiling
Speaker 1: all day after hearing that Ted Lasso is coming back
Speaker 1: for a fourth season. Do you remember that last episode
Speaker 1: of season three is an AFC Richmond Women's.
Speaker 2: Team on the way.
Speaker 1: I feel like we fell out of the lucky tree
Speaker 1: and hit every branch on the way down that ended
Speaker 1: up in a pool of cash and sour patch kids,
Speaker 1: where we're taking one last ride on our favorite baby
Speaker 1: horse before she gallops off into the sunset, where we
Speaker 1: have concepts of a plan for today's episode. It's been
Speaker 1: a blast so far, you guys. I can't wait to
Speaker 1: celebrate one hundred with you. Thank you for continuing to
Speaker 1: listen to the shows, for engaging with us, for supporting
Speaker 1: our mission. I even got a text from Billy Jean
Speaker 1: King her wife Alana saying that they're loving the show.
Speaker 1: So we're just our buckets are full. This is all
Speaker 1: I can say. If you love us, share us, tell
Speaker 1: your friends, tell your enemies. That's our good gameplay of
Speaker 1: the day. Oh and we've got one more watch the
Speaker 1: freakin WNBA playoffs.
Speaker 2: Duh.
Speaker 1: We'll link to the schedule in our episode notes. And
Speaker 1: we always love to hear from you, so to hit
Speaker 1: us up on email. Good game at wondermedianetwork dot com
Speaker 1: or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
Speaker 1: O four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate
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Speaker 2: It really helps us. So if you're enjoying the show,
Speaker 2: go ahead and do it. It's super easy.
Speaker 1: Watch a WNBA team beating five MNBA teams in season
Speaker 1: attendance this year, rating seventeen thousand and thirty five stars.
Speaker 2: Review.
Speaker 1: The Indiana Fever average seventeen thousand and thirty five fans
Speaker 1: this year, up from four thousand and sixty six last season.
Speaker 1: The Caitlin Clark effect for real. They not only outpaced
Speaker 1: their fellow Indiana's the Pacers, who average sixteen thy five
Speaker 1: twenty eight, but also the season averages for the Hornets, Grizzlies,
Speaker 1: Wizards and Hawks as well. Pretty awesome. Now it's your
Speaker 1: turn rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices, See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Good game, Asia, Good game, Cheryl, You you early morning wake ups.
Speaker 2: Even if it is for MVP news.
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
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Speaker 2: Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers are Alex Azzi
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Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan.
Speaker 2: And Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Speaker 1: Host Sarah Spain