Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're wondering
Speaker 1: where the big money DJ powered party paddock track meets
Speaker 1: were when we still had wheels and two functioning Achilles.
Speaker 1: On today's show, we'll be unpacking the WNBA Playoffs, looking
Speaker 1: ahead to a finals rematch in the Semis, and calling
Speaker 1: in a favor from a friend.
Speaker 2: Of the show.
Speaker 1: Plus what the fact that will make your blood boil?
Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this. Welcome back, everybody.
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today. Two more first
Speaker 1: round series in the books, and that makes it a
Speaker 1: clean sweep for all four top seeds. In the first
Speaker 1: round of the WNBA Playoffs, Connecticut Sun eliminated the Indiana
Speaker 1: Fever with an eighty seven to eighty one victory in
Speaker 1: the early game, and the Minnesota Links finished off the
Speaker 1: Phoenix Mercury with a one oh one eighty eight win
Speaker 1: in the late game. The Fever Sun game had everything
Speaker 1: a fan that Caitlin Clark had to get security to
Speaker 1: put in time out. Clark and Dwana Bonner get into
Speaker 1: a couple of feisty exchanges, a scary moment where Erica
Speaker 1: Wheeler flew into a cameraman, but did return to play
Speaker 1: a Marina the Dog Maybury Dagger three at the end
Speaker 1: and some more insane stat lines from who else but
Speaker 1: Alyssa Thomas. Thomas had nineteen points, thirteen assists, and five rebounds.
Speaker 1: She now has just the second game in WNBA playoff
Speaker 1: history with fifteen plus points, thirteen plus assists, and five
Speaker 1: plus rebounds. She also had the first one last year,
Speaker 1: and per ESPN stats at Info, Thomas's twenty six assists
Speaker 1: in the series ty with Sueberd in twenty twenty for
Speaker 1: the most assists over a two game span within a
Speaker 1: postseason all time. On the other side, a much better
Speaker 1: game from Caitlin Clark in the loss. She put up
Speaker 1: twenty five points, nine assists, and six boards. Via ESPN
Speaker 1: Stats and Info, Clark became just the second rookie in
Speaker 1: WNBA postseason history with at least twenty points, five rebounds
Speaker 1: and five assists, joining her hero Maya Moore, who did
Speaker 1: it in twenty eleven. Clark's team, Adaliah Boston had sixteen
Speaker 1: points and nineteen boards, becoming the second youngest player in
Speaker 1: WNBA playoffs history with fifteen plus points and fifteen plus
Speaker 1: rebounds in a postseason game. Trailing only Candice Parker. I'm
Speaker 1: sure sad to see the Fever season end, but an
Speaker 1: incredible year for last year's last place team. I see
Speaker 1: a whole lot of success in their future, especially with
Speaker 1: arrested Kitlin Clark. And according to Wednesday night's ESPN broadcast,
Speaker 1: she's going to take some time to rest this offseason,
Speaker 1: which means likely no Overseas league and no Unrivaled. We
Speaker 1: were actually wondering if we were going to see that
Speaker 1: announcement drop anytime soon about her joining Unrivaled, and it
Speaker 1: turns out Indiana Fever gm Lyn Dunn revealed on one
Speaker 1: oh seven five the Fans Wake Up Call show a
Speaker 1: few months ago that Kaitlyn was invited to Unrivaled, but
Speaker 1: she said at the time she thought Caitlyn preferred to
Speaker 1: get more five on five reps. So could we see
Speaker 1: her join AU basketball That's just a four week season,
Speaker 1: could still get some reps in Caitlin and Nashville would
Speaker 1: be very fun. We'll keep you updated on that. One
Speaker 1: more thing about this series I think is worth noting.
Speaker 1: In the postgame presser, Alisa Thomas was asked about her
Speaker 1: son team staying professional in the face of racism and
Speaker 1: threats from social media users and alleged fans during the series.
Speaker 1: Here's some of what Thomas had to say.
Speaker 3: Honestly, it's been a lot of nonsense. I think in
Speaker 3: my eleven year career, I've I've never experienced the the
Speaker 3: racial comments from the India and the Fever fan base.
Speaker 3: It's unacceptable, honestly, And yeah, there there's no place for it.
Speaker 3: And we've been professional throughout the whole entire thing. But
Speaker 3: I I've I've never been called the things that I've
Speaker 3: been called on on social media and and and there's
Speaker 3: no place for it. And and you know, basketball is
Speaker 3: headed in in in a great direction, but we we don't.
Speaker 3: We don't want fans that are are gonna degrade us
Speaker 3: and call us racial names. I mean, we already see
Speaker 3: what what's happening in the world and and what we
Speaker 3: have to deal with.
Speaker 2: In that aspect.
Speaker 3: And you know, we come to play basketball for our
Speaker 3: job and it's fun, but we don't wanna go to
Speaker 3: work every day and and and have social media blown
Speaker 3: up over over things like that. It's it's it's uncalled
Speaker 3: for and something needs to be done, whether it's you know,
Speaker 3: them checking their fans or this league checking it.
Speaker 2: There's there's no time for it anymore.
Speaker 1: And I think it's necessary to give you an example
Speaker 1: of just how graphic and horrific these messages have been,
Speaker 1: especially in the direction of djn A Carrington, who accidentally
Speaker 1: caught Kitlin Clark in the ie in game one of
Speaker 1: the series. Before the game, Carrington shared to her Instagram
Speaker 1: an email she received, and I'm warning you about the
Speaker 1: language here, but I think it's necessary to share the
Speaker 1: email read quote worthless N word bitch. I hope someone
Speaker 1: rapes you and cuts your head off. All over social
Speaker 1: media there are things like that and just awful things
Speaker 1: being said, in particular to the Sun, A team opposing
Speaker 1: Kaitlyn Clark's fever. Now, Kaitlin Clark is not to blame
Speaker 1: for this, but it is something that the league finally
Speaker 1: felt they should address. After this game, the WNBA put
Speaker 1: out a statement that read, the WNBA is a competitive
Speaker 1: league with some of the most elite athletes in the world.
Speaker 1: While we welcome a growing fan base, the WNBA will
Speaker 1: not tolerate racist, derogatory or threatening comments made about players, teams,
Speaker 1: and anyone affiliated with the league. League security is actively
Speaker 1: monitoring threat related activity and will work directly with teams
Speaker 1: and arenas to take appropriate measures to include involved law
Speaker 1: enforcement as necessary. Now it feels like that statement is
Speaker 1: a few days, if not weeks too late, but better
Speaker 1: late than never. After the game, Fever coach Christie Sides
Speaker 1: also made a statement about how there is absolutely no
Speaker 1: place for these players who are going to work and
Speaker 1: doing their best to be receiving this kind of treatment.
Speaker 1: To the late game where the Minnesota Links managed to
Speaker 1: finish off the Phoenix Mercury one oh one eighty eight
Speaker 1: behind a fist at Collier. Picking up where she left
Speaker 1: off in Game one, she put up twenty three points
Speaker 1: in the first half and finished with forty two in
Speaker 1: the game, tying a WNBA playoff record some truly ipop
Speaker 1: and stats for Fee thanks to across the timeline first
Speaker 1: player with back to back thirty five point games in
Speaker 1: WNBA playoffs history. First player was seventy three plus points
Speaker 1: in a two game span in a WNBA postseason. Fee
Speaker 1: was cash money all night long. On the other side,
Speaker 1: Britney Grinder was all but unstoppable and they got it
Speaker 1: tour in the paint and she put up twenty four
Speaker 1: in the game, but the Mercury simply couldn't get enough
Speaker 1: stops on defense. Points off, turnovers were a hiller for them,
Speaker 1: and they had no answer for the Links half court
Speaker 1: offense either. Twenty eight team assists for the Links in
Speaker 1: the game, a truly well oiled machine. This from across
Speaker 1: the timeline again. In the two game series, the Links
Speaker 1: had fifty eight assists on sixty eight field goals made.
Speaker 1: That's eighty five point three percent of makes assisted down
Speaker 1: That's the best mark over a two game span in
Speaker 1: WNBA Playoffs history. Like Game one, Khalia Copper was slowed
Speaker 1: down by foul trouble, she had thirteen in the lost
Speaker 1: Natasha Cloud sixteen points and ten boards, and in what
Speaker 1: might have been the final game of her incredible career,
Speaker 1: Dina Trossi put up ten points. If she's done, she
Speaker 1: leaves sitting in first place all time in points, field
Speaker 1: goals made, and three pointers made, second in games played,
Speaker 1: and fourth in assists. So much more to say about
Speaker 1: Diana Trossi if she lets us know in the coming days, weeks,
Speaker 1: or months that this was indeed it. Seeing Diana walk
Speaker 1: off the court to a standing ovation from the Minnesota
Speaker 1: crowd in fact, you know, seeing all these teams done
Speaker 1: for the year, I'm not ready. I'm not ready to
Speaker 1: say goodbye. Fans need a chance to see their squad
Speaker 1: at home in the postseason at least once. I think,
Speaker 1: and I think these lower seeded teams need a chance
Speaker 1: to make some money off a home playoff game or two.
Speaker 1: So I got to give to Twitter RTIs and shout
Speaker 1: out on this show to this. Shay Serrano tweet, he wrote, WNBA,
Speaker 1: the first round should be best of five. This best
Speaker 1: of three nonsense is nonsensical. Please do something about this
Speaker 1: at FBI, at the Rock, at Michelle Obama, someone, anyone.
Speaker 1: Shay is right, Michelle, we need you help us. In
Speaker 1: WNBA Awards news, it's official. Connecticut Sun guard Dja Carrington
Speaker 1: is the WNBA's most improved Player. It's the terry. On
Speaker 1: top of the best regular season of her career, Carrington,
Speaker 1: in her fourth year in the league, average a career
Speaker 1: high twelve point seven points, five rebounds, one point six assists,
Speaker 1: and one point five to six deals. The Stanford alum
Speaker 1: got twenty eight of the sixty seven votes for the award,
Speaker 1: with Dereka Hamby of the Sparks receiving eighteen and Bridget
Speaker 1: Carlton of the Thanks getting fifteen to round out the
Speaker 1: top three senior at a seat belt, one of the
Speaker 1: best defensive guards in the league has been doing her
Speaker 1: job in a variety of ways, which keeps the main thing,
Speaker 1: the main thing, locking opponents up. That's where that seat
Speaker 1: belt celebration she does got its inspiration, and now that
Speaker 1: playoff NAY is activated, she's showing no signs of slowing down.
Speaker 1: Congratulations to Dja Carrington. More w News. Kurt Miller is
Speaker 1: out as head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks. The
Speaker 1: franchise announced the move on Tuesday, after Miller's second season
Speaker 1: with the team. While the Sparks were twenty five and
Speaker 1: fifty five during Miller's time at the Helm, the move
Speaker 1: still came as a shock, seeing that Miller was brought
Speaker 1: in to rebuild a struggling franchise and the player spoke
Speaker 1: very highly of his leadership. The team was plagued with injury,
Speaker 1: including an absolute killer to star rookie Cameron Brink, and
Speaker 1: most assumed he'd be given more time to turn things around,
Speaker 1: especially since Miller was the WNBA Coach of the Year
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen with the Connecticut Sun and the league's
Speaker 1: first ever executed the year when he was the GM
Speaker 1: for the Sun as well. After the news broke, sparkstar
Speaker 1: Deerica Hamby took to Twitter, thanking Miller for always having
Speaker 1: her back. She wrote, quote, A little lost for words. Honestly,
Speaker 1: this is hard for me as a big part of
Speaker 1: my transition success and support to LA has been Kurt.
Speaker 1: I hope there is grace in this process for a proven,
Speaker 1: amazing coach. Everything shouldn't fall on his shoulders. And there's
Speaker 1: so much more that goes into coaching besides wins and losses.
Speaker 1: And then she put in parentheses that a lot of
Speaker 1: you don't see but you speak on end quote. In
Speaker 1: another tweet, Hanby continued, quote takes courage to come into
Speaker 1: a situation as such and do the dirty work that
Speaker 1: essentially you don't and won't get credit for. Everyone not
Speaker 1: built for that. He wanted that challenge. Some people like
Speaker 1: and only want gold hand it on a platter.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: Kurt Miller actually responded, writing thanks to Erica, you are
Speaker 1: one of a kind. I do and always will have
Speaker 1: your back. Congratulations again on your year. Keep leading this group,
Speaker 1: nothing changes, build LA into a champion period. Hashtag if
Speaker 1: you know you know hashtag love You Shoe News Las
Speaker 1: Vegas Aces, practical joker and self described bench warmer, Sidney
Speaker 1: Colson is one step closer to being the quote face
Speaker 1: of the league thanks to a new shoe deal. Colson
Speaker 1: is the first signature shoe athlete and official brand partner
Speaker 1: of Creative Control. Per the press release that went out,
Speaker 1: Quote Creative Control is rewriting the rules of athlete brand partnerships,
Speaker 1: putting athletes at the center of creative decision making and
Speaker 1: offering a fifty one percent profit share from design to production.
Speaker 1: Athletes like Sidney Colson are given full ownership over their
Speaker 1: signature shoe journey, allowing them to build a personal brand
Speaker 1: that extends beyond the court.
Speaker 2: And if you don't know.
Speaker 1: What Face of the League refers to get yourself to
Speaker 1: a TV and watch season one of the Sydney TP Show.
Speaker 1: We'll link to the trailer in the show notes. Track
Speaker 1: News Athlos NYC, the women's track event organized and backed
Speaker 1: by Alexis Ohanian and headlined by Gabby Thomas, is tonight
Speaker 1: in New York City. A total of thirty six women
Speaker 1: with thirty Olympic medals between them will compete under the
Speaker 1: lights at Icon Stadium. DJ Nice will be spinning sets
Speaker 1: in between races, and Megan the Stallion will perform at
Speaker 1: the end of the night. Superstar participants include Thomas of
Speaker 1: course in the two hundred meters plus Friend of the Show,
Speaker 1: Massi Russell and the hundred meter Hurdles and fifteen hundred
Speaker 1: meters goat Faith Kip Yagan. The winner of each event
Speaker 1: will receive sixty thousand dollars plus a crown from Tiffany
Speaker 1: and Company. And by the way, to put that in perspective,
Speaker 1: that's double the money that athletes get for winning in
Speaker 1: the Diamond League, which is track and Field's elite circuit
Speaker 1: to soccer. We mentioned earlier this week that Kelly O'Hara
Speaker 1: had played her final game after the Gotham FC defender
Speaker 1: was placed on the season ending injury list due to
Speaker 1: chronic needed generation. Back in May, O'Hara had announced her
Speaker 1: plans to retire from soccer at the end of this season,
Speaker 1: and we're happy to see that the US women's national
Speaker 1: team won't let her career pass without celebrating it. US
Speaker 1: Soccer announced it honor O'Hara in a retirement ceremony during
Speaker 1: halftime of the team's friendly versus Iceland on October twenty seven.
Speaker 1: Per the Athletic US Soccer is also planning to honor
Speaker 1: Alex Morgan, who retired this month after announcing she's pregnant
Speaker 1: with her second child, but details on the timing of
Speaker 1: that celebration are still in the works. And finally, great
Speaker 1: news for chikai Ugo Red Stars fans and fans of
Speaker 1: world class goalkeeping, Alissa Naier has re signed with the team,
Speaker 1: agreeing to her tenth season with Chicago world's best keeper
Speaker 1: sticking in the world's best city. But I'm not biased,
Speaker 1: So the other day on Twitter, I asked y'all the
Speaker 1: vote on this question, what's the ideal WNBA playoff watching
Speaker 1: situation at the arena? At home on the couch with
Speaker 1: your favorite snacks, in your own bathroom, out and about
Speaker 1: running errands, are at the club on your phone, or
Speaker 1: at a team sponsored watch party. And it turns out
Speaker 1: y'all like free snacks and no bathroom lines, because at
Speaker 1: home one with sixty two percent of the vote. In
Speaker 1: the arena second with twenty eight percent. At a team
Speaker 1: watch party, earned seven percent of the vote, and watching
Speaker 1: on your phone while running errands are at the club
Speaker 1: snagged two percent. Speaking of voting, it's hard to believe,
Speaker 1: but we're officially less than forty days from election day,
Speaker 1: My little slices, As November fifth approaches, there are sports leagues, teams,
Speaker 1: and groups organizing all over the place in support of
Speaker 1: Kamala Harrison Tim Walls. Last week, more than fifty former
Speaker 1: football players and coaches, including several Pro Football Hall of
Speaker 1: famers and Super Bowl MVPs, announced their endorsement of the
Speaker 1: VP on National Black Voter Day. And this past Monday,
Speaker 1: I joined an organizing call for Athletes for Harris. I
Speaker 1: got to hear from co chairs Magic Johnson and Billy
Speaker 1: Jean King, from current Second Gentleman Doug M. Hoff, coaches
Speaker 1: Steve Kerr, Doc rivers, Greg Popovich and Moore. Other co
Speaker 1: chairs of the group include South Carolina coach John Staley,
Speaker 1: soccer legend Ali Krieger, MNBA players Draymond Green and Chris Paul,
Speaker 1: and paralympian Ali Truett. Now, a few things stood out
Speaker 1: from that call that I thought might be useful to
Speaker 1: you slices as we spend these weeks approaching election day. First,
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson talked about not needing to know every single
Speaker 1: issue in order to feel comfortable talking to friends and
Speaker 1: family about voting. Just figure out the ones that matter
Speaker 1: most to you and your loved ones and community and
Speaker 1: start conversations about those issues, talk about how they would
Speaker 1: be affected by the election of either candidate. And second,
Speaker 1: Steve Kerr had an interesting angle on getting traditionally conservative
Speaker 1: voters to cast a ballot for Harris Walls. He talked
Speaker 1: about the need for a stable Republican party in this country,
Speaker 1: how valuable and necessary it is for the GOP to
Speaker 1: be a functioning party, and he talked about how removing
Speaker 1: Donald Trump as the leader of the GOP and resetting
Speaker 1: their idea of what would be a successful candidate can
Speaker 1: help start their path back to a respected party that
Speaker 1: differs in issues of policy instead of issues of decency.
Speaker 1: So if you're in a battleground state like Arizona, Georgia,
Speaker 1: at Michigan, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin or near one of those states,
Speaker 1: it is all the more important that you talk to
Speaker 1: folks about voting and you get involved. You can actually
Speaker 1: go to events dot Democrats dot org and find opportunities
Speaker 1: to do things like phone banking or canvassing in places
Speaker 1: all across the country. It might not be something you've
Speaker 1: ever done before. They will walk you through every single
Speaker 1: little detailed They'll show you how to do it and
Speaker 1: you can make a difference. You could truly talk to
Speaker 1: people that are on the fence or aren't sure what
Speaker 1: they're going to do and help them understand what an
Speaker 1: important election this is going to be for the future
Speaker 1: of our country and in particular the future of the
Speaker 1: rights for women in our country. So be sure to
Speaker 1: share the site iwill vote dot com and tell folks
Speaker 1: to make sure they're registered. They can learn how to
Speaker 1: vote by mail and all sorts of other stuff. All Right,
Speaker 1: we got to take a quick break when we come back.
Speaker 1: Who's got the edge when you run back a WNBA
Speaker 1: finals matchup one year later, the team that won last
Speaker 1: year or the team with the better record this year.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about it next.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, my little slices.
Speaker 1: The WNBA semifinals, which are best of five, get underway
Speaker 1: this Sunday. Both semifinals series start that day. But today
Speaker 1: I want to dig in on the Aces Liberty series.
Speaker 1: It's a rematch of last year's WNBA finals. So let's
Speaker 1: set the stage. It's twenty twenty three, can you remember it?
Speaker 1: Barbie and Oppenheimer were dueling at the box office. Billionaires
Speaker 1: still had high hopes of visiting the Titanic in a submersible.
Speaker 1: We were at the very beginning of what hopefully will
Speaker 1: be an endless in Infinity era tour from Taylor Swift,
Speaker 1: and every WNBA headline was about the battle of the
Speaker 1: super teams, the Las Vegas Aces versus the New York Liberty.
Speaker 1: What a time to be alive. So no one was
Speaker 1: surprised when the Liberty and the Aces met in the finals.
Speaker 1: But were we a little surprised when the Aces, after
Speaker 1: losing Chelsea Gray and Kia Stokes to injury, made easy
Speaker 1: work of the Liberty to win a second straight WNBA title.
Speaker 1: We were, We were surprised, and in their postgame celebration,
Speaker 1: the Aces made it clear there was only one real
Speaker 1: super team in the league. Fast forward to twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: and the Liberty have been the better all around team,
Speaker 1: earning the number one seed in the playoffs. New York
Speaker 1: dominated the Aces in the regular season, beating them in
Speaker 1: all three meetings. Ninety to eighty two on June fifteenth,
Speaker 1: seventy nine to sixty seven on August seventeenth, and seventy
Speaker 1: five to seventy one on September eighth. After the matchup
Speaker 1: was set, Aces guard Kelsey Plumb had this to say
Speaker 1: about taking on the liberty. I think, first of all,
Speaker 1: New York is a lot better than they were last year,
Speaker 1: just playing simple, bigger. They shove the ball at a
Speaker 1: better clip if you.
Speaker 2: Go down the line, like pound for pound.
Speaker 1: Individually, all of them are better basketball players, So credit
Speaker 1: to them. And here's ace's coach Becky Hammond talking about
Speaker 1: the finals rematch.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll just say they've been the best team all year.
Speaker 4: They played like a team pissed off with an edge,
Speaker 4: and you know, we've worked our way there.
Speaker 3: I feel like we got our edge back probably in
Speaker 3: the last three to four weeks.
Speaker 1: So let's get into it. Mis Let's start with you,
Speaker 1: how similar is this actually to last year's final matchup?
Speaker 4: You know, Sarah, It's funny because it doesn't feel similar
Speaker 4: at all to me. Frankly, the vibe feels completely opposite,
Speaker 4: like the pendulum has totally swung on this head to head.
Speaker 4: So some more stats to kind of back up what
Speaker 4: you just told the people. First and foremost, the Aces
Speaker 4: were the best team in the league. They were thirty
Speaker 4: four and six this year. Obviously, they looked shaky until
Speaker 4: about three quarters of the way through.
Speaker 2: Chelsea Gray was healthy the entire year. They had beaten
Speaker 2: New York twice. Already in the regular season.
Speaker 4: They were scoring at one hundred and thirteen points per
Speaker 4: one hundred possessions rate, which is good for the best
Speaker 4: offensive rating in the history of the league. So that's like,
Speaker 4: that's drastic compared to what we've seen this year. Oh
Speaker 4: and by the way, nobody was suing the organization, so
Speaker 4: I think there was probably a little bit less stress.
Speaker 2: Involved as well.
Speaker 4: And then for New York, they'd written Stewie's cold tales
Speaker 4: all year. She was the MVP last season for a reason.
Speaker 4: John cole Jones was dealing with a foot injury. She
Speaker 4: was trying to acclimate to the team, so was Courtney
Speaker 4: van der Sloute. She was new, they didn't have arguably
Speaker 4: the sixth player of the year and Leoni Phoebich doing
Speaker 4: her thing, So things were just completely different for both sides.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it is a completely different setup in
Speaker 1: so much of that was also kind of like momentum
Speaker 1: and confidence. Yes, So, Alex, when we look at these
Speaker 1: two teams, who has the edge in that category? You've
Speaker 1: got a team coming in two time defending champs and
Speaker 1: they won this matchup in the playoffs last year. But
Speaker 1: on the other side, the Liberty had the better record
Speaker 1: this year, looked the best from start to finish, and
Speaker 1: they won all three regular season matchups. Who should come
Speaker 1: in more confident?
Speaker 5: I think the Liberty do. But I want to go
Speaker 5: back because you know, when we were talking about that
Speaker 5: super team superteam matchup last year, I think the thing
Speaker 5: that made the Aces hate that the Liberty were also
Speaker 5: being called a superteam was this idea that you can't
Speaker 5: just build a super team overnight. You know, the Aces
Speaker 5: and the Liberty on paper had the pieces, but the
Speaker 5: Aces had the chemistry and the Liberty did not. Heading
Speaker 5: into this series, right, the Liberty has the momentum. They've
Speaker 5: made it clear that these pieces can work together, it
Speaker 5: can achieve great things on the court. But I think
Speaker 5: what the Aces have going for them is they know
Speaker 5: how to do it. It's just whether or not they're
Speaker 5: all healthy in the same head space. At the same time,
Speaker 5: And I do think that that's something that you can
Speaker 5: turn on in the playoffs in a way that if
Speaker 5: you don't have those pieces, you have no hope at all.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's such a good point. And Mesh I talked
Speaker 1: to Calli finn slash loss and Freeman. We're still adjusting
Speaker 1: to that name change the other day and I asked her,
Speaker 1: and I wonder what your take on this is. Do
Speaker 1: you think that Asia's unbelievable season has come as a
Speaker 1: response to some of the other players not playing as
Speaker 1: well as they had last year and also Chelsea Gray
Speaker 1: being out, or do you think that because Asia is
Speaker 1: so dominant sometimes the team is almost maybe even subconsciously
Speaker 1: or unintentionally deferring to her instead of stepping up.
Speaker 4: You know, it could be a good mix of both, right,
Speaker 4: one could lead to the other. And what I mean
Speaker 4: by that is Kelsey Plumb, Jackie Young, Alicia Clark, like
Speaker 4: the rest of their group. It's not like they haven't
Speaker 4: been putting in the work and doing the same stuff
Speaker 4: they were doing in the twenty twenty three regular season,
Speaker 4: like they've been doing that. But at a certain point,
Speaker 4: once you realize you don't have it going. You kind
Speaker 4: of have to make that decision because if you keep
Speaker 4: jacking shots up, Hey, Becky's not gonna be real happy
Speaker 4: with you, and b you're not gonna have a one
Speaker 4: hundred and thirteen offensive rating like you did in twenty
Speaker 4: twenty three. So I think, you know, it's kind of
Speaker 4: a domino effect in that they realized, Okay, we don't
Speaker 4: have it going, and somebody's gonna have to write this shit.
Speaker 4: And Asia is the best player in the world and
Speaker 4: she's on the team, so why would you not defer
Speaker 4: to her? But it's a really good question, especially in
Speaker 4: the playoffs, when it comes down to the crunch time,
Speaker 4: you gotta figure out who your go to is gonna be,
Speaker 4: who's hands you're putting that ball in, because everybody can't
Speaker 4: have the ball.
Speaker 2: At one time.
Speaker 1: Well, we saw in game two of that opening round
Speaker 1: series Kelsey Plumb couldn't hit the broadside of a barn
Speaker 1: in game one, and in game two she erupts. And
Speaker 1: we love to see it in the first game that
Speaker 1: she kept shooting because you're like, that's the kind of
Speaker 1: confidence you need if you're gonna be a good player.
Speaker 1: You try to shoot through it. You don't just stop.
Speaker 1: And in game two we saw the Kelsey plum that
Speaker 1: we're used to seeing. That's gonna be huge for the
Speaker 1: Asis is having nights where some other player just explodes
Speaker 1: because the other team is going to focus on Asia,
Speaker 1: and rightfully so, but you need to figure out then
Speaker 1: if Asia's getting double team triple teamed, or if she's
Speaker 1: just tired, who are you going to and are they
Speaker 1: gonna step up exactly?
Speaker 4: And like to that point, you hear people talked about it.
Speaker 4: In the Liberty series against Atlanta, get the ball to
Speaker 4: Tea and Charles, she's got to touch the ball with Seattle.
Speaker 4: Against Vegas in the elimination game, get the ball to
Speaker 4: Echo Gumacase she's got to touch it so she can
Speaker 4: spray it out and make other things happen.
Speaker 2: So you know that's the other thing.
Speaker 4: Asia Wilson is also a fantastic passer, shares the ball so.
Speaker 2: Well and reads the floor so well.
Speaker 4: So if I'm Becky and the rest of that crew,
Speaker 4: I'm just glad she's on our team and she's gotten
Speaker 4: them out.
Speaker 2: Of a lot of holes.
Speaker 1: All right, Alex, we talked about confidence. Who should come
Speaker 1: in more confident? What about pressure? You've got a team
Speaker 1: trying to repeat a very rare occurrence in any sport,
Speaker 1: and especially in the W And then you've got a
Speaker 1: team trying to win their first title, and with the
Speaker 1: extra added pressure of this roster most likely not looking
Speaker 1: too similar next year once all these contracts and deal
Speaker 1: shake out, who's got more pressure.
Speaker 5: I always think when you see someone win a title
Speaker 5: for the first time, the emotion that accompanies it is joy,
Speaker 5: and when you repeat or repeat again, the feeling is real.
Speaker 1: Ooh see, I disagree. Ooh what do you think? I
Speaker 1: think the first title is relief. I think the first
Speaker 1: title because legacy is all about titles, and we know
Speaker 1: that because of the players that have gone down as
Speaker 1: some of the best ever and have never won it all,
Speaker 1: and that is the asterisk that lives on their resume forever.
Speaker 2: No matter what their stats are.
Speaker 1: So to me, the first one is joy and relief,
Speaker 1: and the ones that come later there's a little relief there,
Speaker 1: but it's more just like, oh man, this is all
Speaker 1: like cherry on top, keep adding on top, like that's interesting,
Speaker 1: that's I've never heard that.
Speaker 5: Maybe I'm thinking of it more in respect to the
Speaker 5: pressure that you come in facing. So you know, if
Speaker 5: you've won everything else that there is to win, but
Speaker 5: you haven't yet won a WNBA title, right, Like, that
Speaker 5: is probably more pressure than if you haven't ever won
Speaker 5: anything at all.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why for me, it's the Liberty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the Liberty hands down.
Speaker 4: Funny you say that because this is the team that
Speaker 4: the most finals appearance is five with no championship. And
Speaker 4: I've heard from Erica Elaiyala shout out to Black Rosie
Speaker 4: and all them folks and all the people who love
Speaker 4: the Liberty in New York. They're fed up, they're mad
Speaker 4: at this team. They were pissed last season after Game four.
Speaker 4: So I definitely would agree the pressures on New York. Yeah,
Speaker 4: who's the X factor in this series? Let's give one
Speaker 4: for each team.
Speaker 1: This is where the semantics come in, because like, X factor,
Speaker 1: does that mean like the glue gal?
Speaker 2: Does that mean the star? Does that mean the unexpected?
Speaker 1: Like? So take your pick of what you think it
Speaker 1: means when someone says X factor, but make sure you're
Speaker 1: X factors.
Speaker 4: You know Sarah, she's been doing her job really well
Speaker 4: and hasn't been forced to step up to the plate
Speaker 4: in an offensive way.
Speaker 2: Thus far these playoffs.
Speaker 4: But I think Kiya Stokes is gonna be really really
Speaker 4: important in this series, not just on the offensive end,
Speaker 4: but on both sides of the ball because she's gonna
Speaker 4: have to deal with John Quell, She's gonna have to
Speaker 4: deal with Brianna Stewart and y Aresabii, who's coming off
Speaker 4: the bench and I think actually really producing well for
Speaker 4: New York when she gets some minutes. So but he
Speaker 4: has also got to be ready to take that corner
Speaker 4: three balls. She's got to be ready to knock down
Speaker 4: any open jumpers and clean up on the offensive boards.
Speaker 4: I think that's something that'll help them get over the
Speaker 4: hump and then gosh.
Speaker 2: New York team full of X factors.
Speaker 4: But I'm gonna go with Arguably she's not my pick,
Speaker 4: but I love what she's done. Arguably the sixth woman
Speaker 4: of the Year in Leoni Phoebich, Oh.
Speaker 2: You mean the one I selected? Not too much?
Speaker 1: Not too much.
Speaker 2: I'm standing by Tiffany Hayes.
Speaker 4: Okay, I am standing by her, but I think you know,
Speaker 4: based on what she didn't for her playoff debut, twenty
Speaker 4: one points in your playoff debut, when you know she
Speaker 4: can go off like that, if, for example, John Quel
Speaker 4: gets into foul trouble, which we know she can, if
Speaker 4: for some reason Stewie doesn't have it going from three,
Speaker 4: any of these myriad of things can happen. Leoni Phoebich
Speaker 4: can help put a band aid on it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's mine. Mine are actually two people you
Speaker 1: just mentioned. It's Foebitch and it's Tiff Hayes. I know
Speaker 1: that that's cliches all the six women, but I do
Speaker 1: think that these starting lineups, there are so many ways
Speaker 1: I can see them offset each other. There are ways
Speaker 1: I can convince myself, oh, they've got this matchup beat,
Speaker 1: this is going to be easy, And then there's completely
Speaker 1: other side. I'm like, okay, well there's a there's a
Speaker 1: mismatch here that I'm worried about. But that person coming
Speaker 1: off the bench in the moments where people are tired,
Speaker 1: in the moments where there's a foul someone gets hurt,
Speaker 1: like knowing that that person's coming off and going to
Speaker 1: be able to contribute, which we've already seen from both
Speaker 1: of them just in this first round. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: think for me it's Tiff and Leoni Febitch. What about you, Alex.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think for the Liberty, I'm gonna go with
Speaker 5: John Quell Jones. And maybe it's a little bit strange
Speaker 5: to call somebody who's such an integral part of the
Speaker 5: team and X factor, but I think John Quell can
Speaker 5: be so hot and can also be so cold. And
Speaker 5: when you look at when the Liberty haven't had success
Speaker 5: this year, it is often because John Quall is getting
Speaker 5: three points, you know, And so I think she really
Speaker 5: has to turn it on, have confidence, and be willing
Speaker 5: to do her thing and be set up in a
Speaker 5: position to do her thing for the Liberty to have success.
Speaker 5: For the Aces, this maybe sounds like a little bit
Speaker 5: of a copad answer, but their bench, And the reason
Speaker 5: why I say that is I think that the Aces,
Speaker 5: out of all the teams in the league, have the
Speaker 5: best bench chemistry, and that's led by Sid Colson, self
Speaker 5: described benchwarmer. Right like she owns that title. She knows
Speaker 5: that she's not going to be the star on the court,
Speaker 5: and it is hard, I think, in a league with
Speaker 5: the best players in the world to have people on
Speaker 5: the bench who know what their place is, who know
Speaker 5: how to set up their teammates for success, and aren't
Speaker 5: resentful of that. It's that off court chemistry that really
Speaker 5: makes a big difference when you get down to the
Speaker 5: finals in the semifinals.
Speaker 2: I love that answer.
Speaker 1: I love that answer because I have found, like, particularly
Speaker 1: with my teams that I follow, that's the stuff you
Speaker 1: notice when you watch every single game of a season.
Speaker 1: You notice when the bench has certain celebrations for different
Speaker 1: players doing things. You notice how hype they get when
Speaker 1: someone comes last woman off the bench and gets some
Speaker 1: playing time and everyone loses their shit. You notice when
Speaker 1: they're messing with Kate Martin and then leaving her off
Speaker 1: the bus and having like those things stand out to me.
Speaker 1: So I do love that answer, and I do think
Speaker 1: oftentimes I'll look back on a championship year from one
Speaker 1: of my teams and I'll be like, you could almost
Speaker 1: tell from the beginning they just had it. They had it. Okay,
Speaker 1: last question, big question, Miish, I'm starting with you.
Speaker 2: Who's your pick?
Speaker 1: Who?
Speaker 4: I literally was the person to write this in our
Speaker 4: rundown today. I want everybody to know that I'm still struggling. Oh,
Speaker 4: I have to go liberty, and it is it's going
Speaker 4: against all the Leo cells in my body to not
Speaker 4: pick Asia Wilson to advance here. But I'm at a
Speaker 4: point where, looking big picture, it's got to be New
Speaker 4: York this year, or it's got to be Connecticut, like
Speaker 4: somebody's gonna get that payoff.
Speaker 2: And it just feels like New York's time.
Speaker 4: Everybody's clicking la China Robinson said it on WNBA accountdown
Speaker 4: called it in the clinching game to Brittany and Escue
Speaker 4: was gonna lead the way she did the Tiger. She's
Speaker 4: built different this season, and I think the rest of
Speaker 4: the team is also following that lead.
Speaker 5: So Alex New York, I'm still ninety.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: Alex is sticking to her guns. She said it a
Speaker 1: month or so ago, and she's sticking to it. Okay,
Speaker 1: I like that.
Speaker 2: I'm going Liberty.
Speaker 1: I'm going Liberty for a lot of what you said me.
Speaker 1: She'm going Liberty because in the matchups, every time this
Speaker 1: season they've come out on top, they've figured out how
Speaker 1: to beat an Ace's team that yes has gotten better
Speaker 1: and maybe hasn't even been at its peak in those
Speaker 1: regular season matchups. But something about this Liberty team that
Speaker 1: I think is it's it's gonna get it done this year.
Speaker 1: By the way, Sharyl Reeve is jotting down your name
Speaker 1: for not including the links in that conversation.
Speaker 2: I know you were saying two teams that have never won,
Speaker 2: but she's like.
Speaker 1: Oh for real, okay, all right, good to know.
Speaker 2: All right, good stuff, guys. We got to take another
Speaker 2: break when we come back.
Speaker 1: Oh what the fact that puts the WNBA's recent success
Speaker 1: into perspective.
Speaker 2: Stick around.
Speaker 1: You're back, We're back to welcome backslices. It's time for
Speaker 1: a little what the fact? Okay, so a little context here.
Speaker 1: As women's sports have exploded of late, I've spoken on
Speaker 1: a number of panels, I've done some keynotes, and I'm
Speaker 1: always trying to emphasize the context around what we're seeing now.
Speaker 1: It's not just Caitlin Clark changing the whole landscape for
Speaker 1: women's sports. It's also what came before and prevented it
Speaker 1: from blowing up before. That includes patriarchal values that kept
Speaker 1: women from participating, pseudoscience dictating what women were allowed to
Speaker 1: even attempt to do, actual bands on women's sports, like
Speaker 1: seventy years banning women's pro soccer in England, and then
Speaker 1: lack of investment, lack of data, lack of resources, lack
Speaker 1: of coverage, you get the idea. The point is all
Speaker 1: that context around the landscape of women's sports is so
Speaker 1: necessary when we have conversations about how we got here
Speaker 1: and where we're going. And that's true in the WNBA two. Yes,
Speaker 1: we've seen Kaitlin Clark be the match that lit up
Speaker 1: the bonfire of a league that was being built over
Speaker 1: the last quarter century. And when we talk about this change,
Speaker 1: this pivotal moment, so much of it is around the
Speaker 1: hype about Kaitlin Clark. But we also have to talk
Speaker 1: about the league's starts and stops, it's moments of growth
Speaker 1: and regression, and we just got some new information about
Speaker 1: that because the recent sportsmediawatch dot com article entitled how
Speaker 1: Caitlin Clark raised the bar for the WNBA highlights an
Speaker 1: excerpt from a book about ESPN. Now I actually have
Speaker 1: this book, and I thought I read the whole thing,
Speaker 1: but I do not remember this section. Maybe it's just
Speaker 1: hitten a little different in the context of everything that's
Speaker 1: going around with the w But the story talks about
Speaker 1: this part of the book and reflects on how decision
Speaker 1: making from one higher up at the worldwide leader changed
Speaker 1: the whole trajectory of the league. So here's a bit
Speaker 1: of that story from sportsmediawatch dot com, written by John Lewis.
Speaker 1: Quote in the Jim Miller and Tom Shales book Those
Speaker 1: Guys Have All the Fun. Former ESPN executive Mark Shapiro
Speaker 1: was blunt about the clashes he and then NBA commissioner
Speaker 1: David Stern had over the airing of WNBA games in
Speaker 1: the early two thousands. This quote from Shapiro, he wanted
Speaker 1: the WNBA on the air. I told him the WNBA stinks,
Speaker 1: it doesn't rate, and I didn't want it. No one
Speaker 1: watches it, men don't watch it, women don't watch it.
Speaker 1: My goal was to get it off the air. I
Speaker 1: wanted it off altogether. But he went above me to
Speaker 1: ESPN president George Bodenheimer, and I think Disney CEO Bob
Speaker 1: Iiger and one. It was one of the few times
Speaker 1: George ever overruled me. At least I got it put
Speaker 1: on ESPN two where it couldn't hurt us. End quote.
Speaker 1: Lewis's story continues quote. The WNBA's banishment to ESPN two
Speaker 1: after benefiting from regular windows on NBC and ESPN, was
Speaker 1: the beginning of its dark ages when viewership tanked, every
Speaker 1: team jersey was the same except for color and the
Speaker 1: ad on the front, and playoff games were being moved
Speaker 1: to college campuses because Disney on Ice held precedents. A
Speaker 1: WNBA title was once clinched at the Convocation Center of
Speaker 1: Eastern Michigan. The only attention the league got was as
Speaker 1: the butt of jokes on Network's It Comes. It took
Speaker 1: nearly twenty years for the league to merely recover to
Speaker 1: the point where it was viewed as having potential. It
Speaker 1: may well have continued to grow without Clerk. The difference
Speaker 1: she has made is not between survival and failure, but
Speaker 1: between gradual growth and a level of cultural relevance that
Speaker 1: the league realistically may never have reached without her. From
Speaker 1: baby steps to a full sprint. End quote. Now, again,
Speaker 1: this book has been out there, but I think looking
Speaker 1: at everything around the w right now, looking at all
Speaker 1: the bad faith arguments people have made about the product
Speaker 1: being bad, about nobody watching it, hits especially to read
Speaker 1: that an executive at the most powerful sports media company
Speaker 1: was trying to tank it with intention and listen. As
Speaker 1: business people, you can decide whether you want to elevate something,
Speaker 1: whether you believe in something, whether you want to bet
Speaker 1: on something to bring in ratings and revenue and ad dollars.
Speaker 1: But also at every turn in history, usually men have
Speaker 1: not bet on women. They have not given it a
Speaker 1: shot to thrive. And as it said in that story
Speaker 1: and as it said in the book, when it did
Speaker 1: have the opportunity to be seen and covered, it did thrive.
Speaker 1: And as soon as they took that away, it started
Speaker 1: to falter. And that example is true across so many
Speaker 1: different opportunities for women's sports in the past. And I
Speaker 1: hope that now that we're having real dialogue about this
Speaker 1: and being transparent about how those decisions can change everything,
Speaker 1: we do not allow that to happen again. And I'm
Speaker 1: thankful for those who fought him on at least keeping
Speaker 1: it on. But man, does that suck to hear how
Speaker 1: much farther along the league could have been if it
Speaker 1: hadn't been for people putting those roadblocks in the way. Anyway,
Speaker 1: it's really important to keep talking about that stuff, and
Speaker 1: it's really important to keep calling out those what the facts,
Speaker 1: so that we can make sure we don't make those
Speaker 1: same mistakes in the future. We love that you're listening slices,
Speaker 1: but we always want to get you in the game
Speaker 1: every day too. So here's our good gameplay at the day,
Speaker 1: and it's a real easy one. Just go watch Sidney
Speaker 1: Coolson's shoe launch video. We'll link to it in our
Speaker 1: show notes. It finally puts an end to the age
Speaker 1: old question, can you flirt with yourself? Yes? Yes, you
Speaker 1: can go watch it. You'll understand we love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. Hit us up on email good game at
Speaker 1: wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight
Speaker 1: seven two two four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe,
Speaker 1: rate and review and tell your friends to do the same.
Speaker 1: In fact, that's what we did today. There's been some
Speaker 1: major drama in the ultra running world, so we called
Speaker 1: up friend of the show, former group Chat guest and
Speaker 1: ultra marathon Kalaim Conahan to help us out.
Speaker 6: Here's her review, changing Wikipedia pages for your competitors. Out
Speaker 6: of five stars, this story gets crazy. Eights before yesterday,
Speaker 6: I knew Kamille Herron as one of my favorite ultrarunners,
Speaker 6: a champion who had earned twelve world records in ultra running,
Speaker 6: including fastest one hundred miler, running a ridiculous seven minutes
Speaker 6: thirty eight seconds per mile for one hundred miles. She
Speaker 6: remains the only athlete to have won all the IAW
Speaker 6: World championships for the fifty K, one hundred k, and
Speaker 6: twenty four hours. Her talent, wins and accolades are undeniable.
Speaker 6: But then, just like when my headlamp went out in
Speaker 6: the deep woods of Rocky Point, New York in the
Speaker 6: middle of the night, things have taken an unexpected turn
Speaker 6: to the dark side.
Speaker 1: Uh oh.
Speaker 6: In an article from Canadian Running magazine, reporter Marley Dickinson
Speaker 6: details how heron and her coach slash husband Connor Holt,
Speaker 6: have been caught removing accolades from other runners Wikipedia pages.
Speaker 6: That's right, slices. One of veres sneaky Wikipedia account has
Speaker 6: been found pulling superlatives from the pages of fellow runners
Speaker 6: like Desi Lindon, who won the twenty eighteen Boston Marathon,
Speaker 6: and Courtney de Walter, who, after winning the three most
Speaker 6: prestigious one hundred milers last summer, is arguably the sport's
Speaker 6: biggest star. This Wikipedia account removed phrases like quote, widely
Speaker 6: regarded as one of the best trail runners ever from
Speaker 6: de Walter's Wikipedia page, meanwhile adding the suspiciously similar phrase
Speaker 6: quote widely regarded as one of the greatest ultra runners
Speaker 6: of all time, to you guessed it. Camille Heron's Wikipedia page.
Speaker 6: Also sketchy, This Wikipedia account was created hours after a
Speaker 6: prior account was temporarily banned for conflict of interest policies,
Speaker 6: specifically for jusging up Heron's page, and it was later
Speaker 6: determined to be a continuation of that banned account. Even
Speaker 6: more sketchy, this same Wikipedia account was awfully quiet during
Speaker 6: Heron's six day world record attempt back in March. Either
Speaker 6: the Internet is full of great detectives, or perhaps this
Speaker 6: account was not so sneaky after all, changing other runners
Speaker 6: Wikipedia entries is not cheating per se. So you really
Speaker 6: can't take away any of Camille Heron's incredible successes as
Speaker 6: an ultrarunner. So why is she trying to take away
Speaker 6: the success of her peers. I'm all for healthy competition,
Speaker 6: but this ain't it. It's embarrassing and cringe and downright bananas.
Speaker 6: As an ultrarunner myself, I don't mind being called crazy.
Speaker 6: I'm kind of used to it, but this is crossing
Speaker 6: the line.
Speaker 1: Camille absolutely Bonker's story.
Speaker 2: Thanks Klain.
Speaker 1: Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices.
Speaker 1: See you tomorrow. Good Game, Kalaine, Good Game, Djona Kew
Speaker 1: execs who held back the growth of women's sports. Good
Speaker 1: Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production
Speaker 1: in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can
Speaker 1: find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our
Speaker 1: producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers
Speaker 1: are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Speaker 1: Lindsay Cradowell. Production assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Speaker 1: Host Sarah Spain