Speaker 1: Welcome It's a good game with Sarah Spain, without Sarah Spain.
Speaker 1: Where the kids are in charge today.
Speaker 2: Akaa, me producer and ME producer Alex. We can't promise
Speaker 2: we won't break anything, but we will eat lots of
Speaker 2: candy and definitely have some fun. On today's show, Misha
Speaker 2: chats with multimedia journalist Erica l Ayala about New York's
Speaker 2: path back to the WNBA Finals and what the Liberty
Speaker 2: has to do to overcome the Minnesota Links, plus breaking
Speaker 2: ground new shoes in women's sports in the wild.
Speaker 1: That's all coming up right after this.
Speaker 2: Welcome back. Here's what you need to know today. The
Speaker 2: best of five WNBA Finals get underway tonight between the
Speaker 2: New York Liberty and the Minnesota Links. New York will
Speaker 2: host games one and two before the series heads to Minnesota.
Speaker 2: The Liberty are aiming to win the franchise's first ever
Speaker 2: WNBA title in their sixth finals appearance. The Links, meanwhile,
Speaker 2: will they're going for banner number five, but they're first
Speaker 2: since twenty seventeen. Tonight's game tips off at eight pm
Speaker 2: Eastern on ESPN. Now, I'm personally hoping that Fees daughter
Speaker 2: Mila and Stewie's kids, Ruby and Theo get a good
Speaker 2: play date out of this series. As for what to
Speaker 2: expect on the court, Mish and Erica will get you
Speaker 2: caught up on that in a bit. Elsewhere in the
Speaker 2: w the Chicago Sky broke ground on a new training
Speaker 2: facility on Wednesday. It's a thirty eight million dollar project
Speaker 2: that is scheduled to be completed in December twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: Friend of the show, Annie Costable was there reporting for
Speaker 2: the Chicago Sun Times, and she posted a video of
Speaker 2: the groundbreaking that, to be totally honest, is pretty funny.
Speaker 2: The quote unquote groundbreaking didn't actually involve digging up the
Speaker 2: actual ground that already existed on the site. Instead, they
Speaker 2: brought in a stage dirt pit that was just big
Speaker 2: enough so that the owners, execs, and players and attendance
Speaker 2: each had enough room to make a little dirt pile
Speaker 2: of their own. Still, it's great to see training facilities
Speaker 2: have become a major game changer in WNBA free agency.
Speaker 2: Since the start of last season, three teams Las Vegas, Seattle,
Speaker 2: and Phoenix have all opened up brand new facilities. To
Speaker 2: college hoops, USC sophomore Juju Watkins has agreed to a
Speaker 2: multi year contract extension with Nike. Per ESPN's sham Shrania.
Speaker 2: It is reportedly one of the biggest shoe deals in
Speaker 2: women's basketball history. Now quick refresher folks. As a freshman,
Speaker 2: Watkins helped usc make its deepest NC DOUBLEA tournament run
Speaker 2: in three decades, with the Trojans eventually losing to Yukon
Speaker 2: in the Elite eight. Along the way, Watkins became the
Speaker 2: all time freshman scoring leader in NC DOUBLEA women's basketball history,
Speaker 2: recording nine hundred and twenty points. For reference, Caitlin Clark,
Speaker 2: who became the NC doublea's all time career scoring leader
Speaker 2: this spring, she scored seven hundred and ninety nine points
Speaker 2: her freshman season at Iowa, so Juju has a bit
Speaker 2: of a head start, but will she make a run
Speaker 2: for the all time record. Only time will tell. Moving
Speaker 2: on to college soccer, on Tuesday, Duke earned the number
Speaker 2: one spot in the United Soccer Coaches Poll for the
Speaker 2: first time since nineteen ninety two, and tonight the Blue
Speaker 2: Devils take on number seven Stanford AKA, last year's NCAA
Speaker 2: runner up. Both teams have had stellar starts to the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four season, each with just one loss to date.
Speaker 2: It's worth noting that while these teams have played each
Speaker 2: other a handful of times in recent years, Tonight's game
Speaker 2: will actually be their first meeting as conference rivals. Stanford
Speaker 2: joined the ACC this year following the implosion of the
Speaker 2: PAC twelve, finally to the NWSL, and a new development
Speaker 2: involving the San Diego Wave, Defector Media reported on Wednesday
Speaker 2: that the team and league are being sued by five
Speaker 2: former Wave employees over fifteen claims, including racial discrimination, sexual harassment,
Speaker 2: and disability discrimination. The lawsuit does not name club president
Speaker 2: Jill Ellis in the suit, but it does include lots
Speaker 2: of examples meant to highlight her role in creating a
Speaker 2: quote abusive and toxic workplace culture end quote. The five
Speaker 2: former employees include Brittany Alverado, who spoke out against the
Speaker 2: Wave on social media in July and was so subsequently
Speaker 2: sued by Ellis for defamation. In statements to Defector, the
Speaker 2: Wave and NWSL did not comment on specific allegations, citing
Speaker 2: the ongoing legal action lots to unpack here. We'll link
Speaker 2: to Defector's full story in the show notes, and plan
Speaker 2: to discuss this more in detail on a future episode.
Speaker 1: We're gonna take a quick break when we come back.
Speaker 1: Erica el Ayala gives us the lowdown on the New
Speaker 1: York Liberty heading into the finals Keep It Locked. She
Speaker 1: is a multimedia sports journalist at CBS Sports and the
Speaker 1: creator of Black Rosy Media. She's a Day one New
Speaker 1: York Liberty fan who is one of the go tos
Speaker 1: for all things Liberty on the gott to Get Up podcasts.
Speaker 1: She's a proud after Latina, a connector in the media space.
Speaker 1: She's returned to thwart our podcast Thupple with Sarah while
Speaker 1: she's away, and she's joining us from the airport on
Speaker 1: her way back to New York for the finals.
Speaker 2: It's Erica el Ayala again.
Speaker 1: What's up, Erica?
Speaker 3: Let up? Misha Jones. Good to be back.
Speaker 1: Yes, good to have you back. It feels like it
Speaker 1: feels like early Rosy media days, right, you would be
Speaker 1: were missing Brian Florentin shout out to him.
Speaker 2: But it's good to have you on.
Speaker 1: So let's let's get to the meat of this thing, right.
Speaker 1: Gotta start with the New York Las Vegas series. The
Speaker 1: libs finished the job in four games. We saw fireworks
Speaker 1: from Sabrinia Escu and Brianna Stewart all throughout JJ John
Speaker 1: Quel Jones was solid and there were big plays made
Speaker 1: by the entire supporting cast when their numbers were called.
Speaker 1: So what went right for the Liberty to push him
Speaker 1: over the hump in that series?
Speaker 3: To you, what went right is that Sabrina took the keys.
Speaker 3: You know, I talk about this all the time. What
Speaker 3: I loved. I'm going to go to game three real quick,
Speaker 3: because I think that is it sets up, you know,
Speaker 3: the story if we were writing like a comic book, right,
Speaker 3: But game three, after Game three, when Sabrina said she
Speaker 3: had three players coming at her at all times, and
Speaker 3: she was talking about how difficult that was, and she
Speaker 3: kept saying, this is great, this is great. We've seen it.
Speaker 3: Now we know how to attack it. She said it
Speaker 3: multiple times, this is great that we saw it and
Speaker 3: now we make adjustments. And for me a few things
Speaker 3: when talking about Sabrina, the confidence and the way that
Speaker 3: she thinks and attacks the game of basketball. In that interview,
Speaker 3: it's one of my favorite interviews she's ever done, because
Speaker 3: you can just tell, all right, this is a student
Speaker 3: of the game, this is someone who respects and honors
Speaker 3: the game. And so, first of all, I just love that.
Speaker 3: Second of all, it's one thing to say, oh, this
Speaker 3: is great. Now we know what to see and now
Speaker 3: we can fix it. It's one thing to say that.
Speaker 3: But they did it, Misha yeh. They absolutely did it.
Speaker 3: And we talked about it. You mentioned got to get up,
Speaker 3: you know, Brian and I talked about that. Are we
Speaker 3: going to see the New York Liberty play Sabrina off
Speaker 3: the ball in what we on the podcast believe is
Speaker 3: and I think what many people likely believe is her
Speaker 3: true position at the two guard, and that's what they did.
Speaker 3: The reason that's effective is because you have a Swiss
Speaker 3: Army Knife, multiple time champion, multiple time All Star, multiple
Speaker 3: time Olympic gold medalist in Brianna Stewart. Because I was
Speaker 3: thinking maybe Courtney Vanderslut gets more time, a true point guard,
Speaker 3: a veteran point guard has started for the New York Liberty,
Speaker 3: and instead what we saw was Stuie bringing up the ball.
Speaker 3: So that now the New York Liberty to take it back,
Speaker 3: not just just Sabrina but to the whole team. Now
Speaker 3: they get back to what they feel is their best
Speaker 3: shot when they play any team which is to make
Speaker 3: other teams make the defense have to think very strategically
Speaker 3: about switching off screens on defense. And so for me,
Speaker 3: it was a combination of Sabrini and Escu and the
Speaker 3: New York Liberty being able to adapt and to adapt quickly.
Speaker 1: They have so many weapons, right, It's like they can
Speaker 1: morph into whatever they need to morph into whenever they
Speaker 1: need to do it. You spoke a little bit there
Speaker 1: about Sabrina and handing her the keys. That's one thing
Speaker 1: I definitely wanted to press on here with you, and
Speaker 1: you talk about on got to get up a lot
Speaker 1: about how the organization, the Liberty organization should be preparing
Speaker 1: to give her the keys to the franchise. So, I mean,
Speaker 1: let's zero in on sab What did you like about
Speaker 1: the way she performed in this series? What else did
Speaker 1: you see from her in terms of her facilitation, not
Speaker 1: just putting the ball in the basket? What made her
Speaker 1: so effective?
Speaker 3: I honestly want to talk about her leadership, because when
Speaker 3: I talk about giving sab the keys first, the first
Speaker 3: part of that, right phase one, if you will, was
Speaker 3: her having the confidence to know like she's, if not
Speaker 3: the go to one of the go tos on the
Speaker 3: New York Liberty and I say that because you still
Speaker 3: have John cole Jones, you still have Breonna Stewart, But
Speaker 3: Nigelini can get hot. She's been playing injured, but she
Speaker 3: can get hot. Leoni Phoebish can get hot. So she
Speaker 3: doesn't have to put everything on her shoulders. But she
Speaker 3: has to know that she can take the big shots,
Speaker 3: and we've seen that. That's part of the reason why
Speaker 3: I was the one voter who voted her most improved player.
Speaker 3: I've been talking about it all year, and I think
Speaker 3: that we need to look at most improved in literally
Speaker 3: the game. What are the parts of her game that
Speaker 3: are in eight that are known as her bread and butter,
Speaker 3: and what has she added to that. Sabrini a Escu
Speaker 3: has added leadership. She's added better, not great, better defense,
Speaker 3: and that first step is not as unquick as as
Speaker 3: I have reported in the past. She's gotten quicker and
Speaker 3: she's always been strong. After that first step, she's very strong.
Speaker 3: But the leadership for me, the confidence and the leadership
Speaker 3: has been what makes her the right person for this
Speaker 3: New York Liberty squad. She's able to communicate alongside Brianna Stewart.
Speaker 3: She's able to direct Brianna Stewart, and she has to
Speaker 3: do that as a backcourt player. She has to do
Speaker 3: that as a guard, whether she's the lead guard, the
Speaker 3: shooting guard, whatever the case is. And the confidence, the
Speaker 3: confidence to say after scoring, what was it?
Speaker 1: Well?
Speaker 3: Does she even score seven?
Speaker 1: I don't even remember.
Speaker 3: It was like it was some crazy She's had single
Speaker 3: digit in a semi final gain against the Las Vegas
Speaker 3: Aces and is over here talking about this is great,
Speaker 3: this is great. That's wild confidence to me that we
Speaker 3: didn't see. This is the same Sabrinian Escuhu and I
Speaker 3: talk about this on the podcast a lot. She was
Speaker 3: ill to her stomach in Game four of the WNB Finals.
Speaker 3: Less than a year later, she is facilitating, she is
Speaker 3: leading on the court, she is executing on defense and
Speaker 3: offense to get the New York Liberty going. So for me,
Speaker 3: that's why, that's what I saw, That's what I felt
Speaker 3: the New York Liberty have always needed. And I mean,
Speaker 3: if they end up winning, you know, I'm gonna be
Speaker 3: talking about them peas until the next champ I'll be
Speaker 3: like I've been telling you, I've been telling y'all for
Speaker 3: two years she's she's she's got to take she's got
Speaker 3: to take the wheel, and we've seen that, and I
Speaker 3: think the leadership part, outside of again some of the
Speaker 3: other things that she's done just to improve her game,
Speaker 3: that to me, is what's most important for the New
Speaker 3: York Liberty this season.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think you got a really good point there.
Speaker 1: I think some people, you know, they talk about mama mentality,
Speaker 1: and sab is one of the few players who I
Speaker 1: think really has it. You know, she's one of the
Speaker 1: players who worked very closely with Kobe while he was
Speaker 1: here with us. I think you talk about leadership.
Speaker 2: I think that's a big part of it, right.
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody could be in the position that
Speaker 1: tab is in with a JJ, with a Brianna Stewart
Speaker 1: who's excellent, with the Courtney Vanderslut who's a vet who
Speaker 1: you know, if you're not doing your job, Sandy Brondello
Speaker 1: can just say, Okay, come here, Courtney, go in there,
Speaker 1: fix with the mess that Sabrina made. But that is
Speaker 1: not the case. Sabrina has stepped up to that challenge
Speaker 1: for the Liberty, and it's just really it's really good
Speaker 1: to see her hooping like this after dealing with injury,
Speaker 1: you know, coming into the to her WNBA career. I
Speaker 1: think she's she's the best she's ever been this season.
Speaker 1: But you did mention JJ and Leoni Phoebish. Both of
Speaker 1: them had a lot of foul trouble in Game four
Speaker 1: of that series and we're limited. How did New York
Speaker 1: whether that storm? And are you confident that they could
Speaker 1: fight through a similar situation against the Links.
Speaker 3: I love this question because I think this is another
Speaker 3: place where the New York Liberty as a team have matured.
Speaker 3: So Leoni Phoebish, We've been talking Brian and I about
Speaker 3: how Leoni Foebish reminds me of early New York Liberty
Speaker 3: Rebecca Allen, like to the point where like I'm talking Rebecca,
Speaker 3: not Beck, but Rebecca beca Rebecca Okay, full government, just
Speaker 3: like you know Sandra Brondela. But Rebecca Allen is the
Speaker 3: LEO before LEO is on the New York Liberty. Long
Speaker 3: can stretch the defense because they have a perimeter shot
Speaker 3: makes switches difficult defensively because of their wingspan, right, But
Speaker 3: Rebecca Allen had difficulty with her timing sometimes on defense
Speaker 3: because you have that wingspan, sometimes you rely on the
Speaker 3: reach too much instead of moving your feet. I think
Speaker 3: Leo has better footwork, but also can struggle a little
Speaker 3: bit because of her size with timing and knowing kind
Speaker 3: of when to put her hands up, and she gets
Speaker 3: caught with those kind of tiki tak fouls. They are fouls,
Speaker 3: but you know, I mean in the grand scheme of things,
Speaker 3: you know, she gets caught with those a lot because
Speaker 3: of when she's switching on someone shorter than her, which
Speaker 3: happens because of her size. So with Leo, some of
Speaker 3: that is just a learning curve, and the New York
Speaker 3: Litter Liberty are going to have to just absorb that
Speaker 3: because she's she's still a rookie. I think what they
Speaker 3: did is they used Leo in bursts and then they
Speaker 3: were able to go back to Courtney Vanderslut, who we
Speaker 3: saw getting more significant minutes. And with Courtney Vanderslut, at
Speaker 3: first the question was is she going to be able
Speaker 3: to shoot if a team leaves her open, and she's
Speaker 3: been hesitant throughout the playoffs at times, but now seeing
Speaker 3: that Leo's been in a little bit of trouble, getting
Speaker 3: more into the groove and understanding. Now, Okay, this is
Speaker 3: my role. I've agreed to this role to come in
Speaker 3: as a reserve and the game plan might switch. I
Speaker 3: need to be able to tap into and have the
Speaker 3: confidence to tap back into that skill set. And so
Speaker 3: I think that's what we're I'm hoping that's what we'll
Speaker 3: see for the Liberty's sake from Courtney Vanderslut in relation
Speaker 3: to Leo, that's how they handle that now with JJ.
Speaker 3: And it's not that Leo doesn't get this approach, but
Speaker 3: we've also talked about JJ is a maturing player. She's
Speaker 3: getting into she's out of those baby vet years and
Speaker 3: she's getting into true veteran WNBA veteran status. And with
Speaker 3: that has come she has to play with a certain
Speaker 3: amount of calm that she's been a little flustered in
Speaker 3: the last handful of games, and that's by design. And
Speaker 3: Minnesota has done that Commissioner's Cup, you know, they beat
Speaker 3: them twice in the regular season, and the way they
Speaker 3: were able to do that is frustrate JJ early with
Speaker 3: John Quell Jones. You heard the team, the New York
Speaker 3: Liberties say when that's happening with JJ, they're just pouring
Speaker 3: into JJ. Hey, that's all right, don't worry about it.
Speaker 3: We need you, we need you. Let's focus on what
Speaker 3: we need to do. Don't worry about that. We saw
Speaker 3: she got frustrated, even kind of you know, popped up,
Speaker 3: and it ends up running into her head. Coach, you
Speaker 3: know that that level of frustration for JJ can easily
Speaker 3: take her out of the game. And that's exactly what
Speaker 3: Minnesota or any opponent is going to want to do
Speaker 3: with John call Jones well when she played with the
Speaker 3: Connecticut Son So for the New York Liberty, it's going
Speaker 3: to be critically important. I think it was. Was it
Speaker 3: Lauren Holliday who said in an interview, she's like, with
Speaker 3: Alex Morgan, my job, I felt My job was to
Speaker 3: remind her, hey, you're Alex Morgan and we need you.
Speaker 1: You.
Speaker 3: You are Alex Morgan, you are at the top. You
Speaker 3: are the best. And it's not blowing smoke. It's just
Speaker 3: when you have a player that can be such a
Speaker 3: game changer as their teammate, you need them to be
Speaker 3: operating at peak performance at all times. So you don't
Speaker 3: want them thinking about any of them negative. Save that
Speaker 3: for film session, all right, save that save that from
Speaker 3: behind closed doors.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3: On the court, everything you do is golden and we're
Speaker 3: gonna keep it that way. That's how the New York
Speaker 3: Liberty want to and have been operating with John cole
Speaker 3: Jones because they do need her on the court. I
Speaker 3: think their best when she gets touches on the offensive
Speaker 3: side within the first ten seconds of the shot clock.
Speaker 1: And Sandy Brondelo has said it right, She's called JJ
Speaker 1: the most important piece. She says, when JJ gets a
Speaker 1: double double, we win. The stats have proven that, you know,
Speaker 1: so I think that's gonna be a really important point
Speaker 1: of emphasis for New York heatting into the finals. But
Speaker 1: speaking of the finals, Erica, let's do a little vibe
Speaker 1: check here. This season, compared to last year, we were
Speaker 1: talking a lot about this team in the playoffs after
Speaker 1: y'all beat my Mystics. You know, we had a lot
Speaker 1: of conversations about this Liberty team. But you, as a
Speaker 1: lifelong Liberty fan, how are you feeling entering this series
Speaker 1: this season?
Speaker 3: You know what, I probably would use different language, but
Speaker 3: the New York Liberty have said, we haven't done anything yet,
Speaker 3: and honestly, that's kind of how I feel like. If
Speaker 3: you're asking me as someone who's watched this team, who
Speaker 3: has a vested emotional interest in how the New York
Speaker 3: Liberty perform as a New Yorker, then yes, that's how
Speaker 3: I feel. I think it's so let me break that down.
Speaker 3: That's my you know, coded you know, sports way of saying,
Speaker 3: at least for me, I'm not putting this on the
Speaker 3: New York Liberty. I'm putting this on me squarely. Of course,
Speaker 3: there's nerves, of course, you know, it's respect for what
Speaker 3: Minnesota has done. And you know, I know what the
Speaker 3: Liberty got. I know what they got. They maybe ain't
Speaker 3: one nothing yet, but if they do what they have
Speaker 3: to do, then then they'll be exactly where they want
Speaker 3: to be. And it's interesting. So now, as an analyst,
Speaker 3: right as a as a journalist, I my predictions early
Speaker 3: on as far as who would make the final, I
Speaker 3: always had the Liberty making the final. Preseason I had
Speaker 3: Liberty Son almost saw that, and then right before the
Speaker 3: postseason I have I had Liberty links. So that's right
Speaker 3: where we are now. In both preseason and right before postseason,
Speaker 3: I had the Liberty losing in the finals. And that's
Speaker 3: because this is a better New York Liberty squad, and
Speaker 3: I wanted to see the maxie I'm a New Yorker,
Speaker 3: come on, like you know, I'm an underdog New Yorker
Speaker 3: at that, Like this is.
Speaker 1: What I wanted to get at, because we talked about
Speaker 1: this a lot last night.
Speaker 3: This is what's going to be interesting about this finals,
Speaker 3: and I'm sure we'll get to this. The Minnesota Links
Speaker 3: team is very similarly built to this New York Liberty squad,
Speaker 3: length in all positions, and they want you to have
Speaker 3: problems switching when they're when they're running their offensive sets.
Speaker 3: They want that to be a nightmare for their opposition.
Speaker 3: And the Minnesota Links and beat the New York Liberty.
Speaker 3: So coming into the postseason, I was like, if we
Speaker 3: get that finals, you gotta think the Links have earned
Speaker 3: the benefit of the doubt in that series. And as
Speaker 3: we stand here right now, the New York Liberty have
Speaker 3: continued to get even better since the postseason began. They
Speaker 3: continue to say things like we're not done yet. I'm
Speaker 3: telling you that interview with sabrinian Escu one of my
Speaker 3: top favorite athlete interviews of ever. Okay, we saw it
Speaker 3: and like, that's so New York to me, okay, and.
Speaker 1: That's the mentality you have to have when you're exactly
Speaker 1: in a situation like this, you know what I mean, Like,
Speaker 1: what do you what are you going to do? Just
Speaker 1: sit there and wallow in it? That's not how you
Speaker 1: get to a finals, correct. I think to your point
Speaker 1: earlier in our conversation, I think you know, her mentality
Speaker 1: has been kind of one of the mentalities that this
Speaker 1: whole team has taken on. I think, you know, a
Speaker 1: superstar like Stewie, She's always going to be here, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. It's it's kind of how I
Speaker 1: feel about Fee on the other side, right, they're always
Speaker 1: going to be right Now to Yukon kids, what it's not.
Speaker 1: It's not a coincidence, right, But Okay, So now we
Speaker 1: got to move on to the difference in where these
Speaker 1: two teams are coming in. New York's had three full
Speaker 1: days of rest, no games, nothing going on. Minnesota will
Speaker 1: be forty eight hours out from the end of game five.
Speaker 1: What role do you believe fatigue is gonna play in
Speaker 1: this matchup?
Speaker 3: Oh, I think it's gonna be huge, especially knowing that
Speaker 3: Minnesota has to play two games at Barclays. So you're
Speaker 3: changing time zones and Brooklyn is a hard place to play.
Speaker 3: That's been proven this year and the New York Liberty
Speaker 3: have been leaning into After every win at Barclays, they
Speaker 3: make it a point to give love. Spread love is
Speaker 3: to Brooklyn way they give love to their fans. Sabrino
Speaker 3: was shown giving love to the New York Liberty fans
Speaker 3: in Vegas when they won Game four. This New York team,
Speaker 3: and it's a very New York thing. You love us
Speaker 3: or you hate us, but we there either way. And
Speaker 3: that's the fans like sometimes, you know, we were the
Speaker 3: first ones to let you know about yourself. This is
Speaker 3: a very uh you know, and we've seen, you know,
Speaker 3: with sabridion Escu and Spike Lee saying like New York
Speaker 3: has been injected into their veins. Like that's gonna be huge.
Speaker 3: So the Minnesota Links, that's a real thing. They're gonna
Speaker 3: have to overcome that, and they have the disadvantage there.
Speaker 3: I think also what's gonna come into play when you
Speaker 3: look at these rosters is what is the bench gonna do?
Speaker 3: So the Minnesota bench in their last game against the
Speaker 3: Kid the Connecticut Son in Game five, Minnesota got nine
Speaker 3: points from their bench. Connecticut got eleven, So Minnesota lost
Speaker 3: that battle against Connecticut. And if the New York Liberty
Speaker 3: play as they've been playing all year, they should be
Speaker 3: able to beat that. If the New York Liberty bench
Speaker 3: is only scoring nine points, something's not working. So that's
Speaker 3: an advantage for the New York Liberty. Where I think
Speaker 3: the New York Liberty, or I should say, let me
Speaker 3: rephrase it, where I believe Minnesota will want to try
Speaker 3: to win back some momentum, especially on the road in
Speaker 3: Game one and two, including the fact that there's gonna
Speaker 3: be fatigue. I mean, it's just one of those things,
Speaker 3: like it is what it is. Where they have to
Speaker 3: be able to shine is in the paint. Now that
Speaker 3: goes back to something that we already talked about. They
Speaker 3: have to find a way to disrupt junk Wold Jones.
Speaker 3: They're not gonna stop everybody. The New York Liberty are
Speaker 3: gonna get points in the paint. That's gonna happen. Minnesota
Speaker 3: is gonna get points in the paint. Minnesota can if
Speaker 3: they really want to. They can and have already done
Speaker 3: so They've beat New York Liberty in points in the paint.
Speaker 3: They can beat the New York Liberty in the rebound battle. Again,
Speaker 3: that goes back to why Junkle Jones and her double
Speaker 3: double is so important. But if I were Minnesota, I
Speaker 3: think that's what they're gonna want to do. Establish that
Speaker 3: that's gonna be a hard battle because then if it
Speaker 3: comes to a shootout again two similar teams, we know
Speaker 3: both teams can shoot from the perimeter. I'd probably give Minnesota.
Speaker 3: They en at this point in the season when it
Speaker 3: comes to shooting from the perimeter, and we saw that
Speaker 3: come into play against Connecticut in the semi finals. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And you know, the other big component of scoring points
Speaker 1: in the paint for Minnesota is the Fisa Collier, right,
Speaker 1: she has been I've heard her described as a ballerina
Speaker 1: in the paint. She's extremely efficient, I mean her and
Speaker 1: it's true. Her agility down there. It scares me some
Speaker 1: of the moves that she makes because I'm like, what
Speaker 1: about your knees, what about your ankles? What about you know?
Speaker 1: But that's why Fee is a pro. And she started
Speaker 1: off the playoffs with two forty point games in a
Speaker 1: sweep of the Phoenix Mercury in the semis. It felt
Speaker 1: like Connecticut had her number a little bit, but by
Speaker 1: game five she was back to being an unstoppable force.
Speaker 1: So how does New York save or solve excuse me,
Speaker 1: the Fee equation.
Speaker 3: I think what you do is similarly to what the
Speaker 3: Aces did against Sabrina Enescu. You make things very difficult
Speaker 3: in the backcourt. So it's difficult to feed the ball
Speaker 3: to Fee. I think that the FISA collier can bring
Speaker 3: up the ball. But can she do it as well
Speaker 3: and expertly as uh as Brianna Stewart has done. I
Speaker 3: don't think so, not yet. I don't think she's been
Speaker 3: asked to do that. So if you can put the
Speaker 3: ball in Fee's hands higher up and have her bring
Speaker 3: up the ball and try to switch things there make
Speaker 3: things difficult for the backcourt, I'd be curious to see
Speaker 3: if that's something we see from the New York Liberty,
Speaker 3: just because that's a way that you can neutralize a
Speaker 3: player in the paint by making sure that they have
Speaker 3: more responsibilities outside of the paint.
Speaker 1: All right, now, last question here, because we've got to
Speaker 1: wrap up for time. Erica, yes or no? Will the
Speaker 1: Liberty win this series? All right?
Speaker 3: All right, I'm gonna give you an answer. You can
Speaker 3: tell I don't like I don't like this, yes or no,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna do my job. I'm gonna do my job,
Speaker 3: but I don't like this. I'm gonna and I'm gonna
Speaker 3: say what I have to say, and then I'm gonna
Speaker 3: explain what I'm going through right now, all right? The
Speaker 3: New York Liberty do have what it takes to win
Speaker 3: their first title. The New York Liberty do have what
Speaker 3: it takes to stop the Minnesota Links from winning a
Speaker 3: fifth title. This series is going five. It's going five,
Speaker 3: and the New York Liberty are they going to win?
Speaker 3: I mean I said, I said Links before the postseason started,
Speaker 3: and the Liberty have played in a way that makes
Speaker 3: me think that maybe I picked wrong. So I do
Speaker 3: think the New York Liberty have a chance if they're
Speaker 3: gonna do it though it's going five. That's my final
Speaker 3: answer now the reason.
Speaker 1: Yes, Yeah, that's.
Speaker 3: I said what I said. You could ask the questions
Speaker 3: and I answer them how I choose. No, like, I don't,
Speaker 3: I honestly don't. I'm just a person in general, especially
Speaker 3: when it's a New York team. I don't like making
Speaker 3: predictions because to me as an as an analyst. Sure,
Speaker 3: I watch the games, but we're not performing in the games.
Speaker 3: It's just like you know, it's it's several steps from
Speaker 3: even a coach, and I think it's important to honor
Speaker 3: and respect what players do on the court. So I
Speaker 3: can give you a prediction. I'm not saying it's gonna
Speaker 3: be right, But if the New York Liberty win a title,
Speaker 3: it's happening that it has to go to five. I
Speaker 3: think they're gonna be pushed to the brink. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I don't see them winning. I don't see them sweeping,
Speaker 3: and I don't see them getting through in four. If
Speaker 3: the New York Liberty win, they're gonna have to earn it.
Speaker 3: They said they ain't done nothing yet, and you have
Speaker 3: to beat the best to be the best, and the
Speaker 3: second best team is who they're taking on. So yeah,
Speaker 3: are they gonna do it? I don't know. I honestly,
Speaker 3: I genuinely do not know. I don't have a feeling
Speaker 3: one way or another. If if the question is is
Speaker 3: New York gonna win, I don't know. And if they do,
Speaker 3: I'm very confident that they're gonna have to do it
Speaker 3: in five games.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Erica for taking the time. You
Speaker 1: know I always love talking to you. When we return,
Speaker 1: we ask you to put your ears to the ground.
Speaker 1: See you on the other side.
Speaker 2: Welcome back slices. All right, quick storytime. A couple weeks ago,
Speaker 2: I was at an art fair and I overheard a
Speaker 2: woman who makes these little cute felt animals talking about
Speaker 2: Asia Wilson's greatness. Now I don't know this woman, I
Speaker 2: have never seen her before, and yet she was talking
Speaker 2: about women's sports with respect and accuracy and passion. And
Speaker 2: I realized I do not have enough of this in
Speaker 2: my life. I want to encounter more strangers in the
Speaker 2: wild talking about women's sports, which brings us to today's
Speaker 2: good gameplay of the day. I want to hear from you.
Speaker 2: I'm sure Sarah and Misha also want to hear from you.
Speaker 2: What are your stories about meeting strangers who know just
Speaker 2: as much as you, or maybe even more, about women's sports.
Speaker 2: Did you run into somebody at the grocery store, at
Speaker 2: the pickleball courts? Tell us. You can reach out to
Speaker 2: me on Twitter at buy alex Azi, or you can
Speaker 2: send them to us on email. Good game at wondermedianetwork
Speaker 2: dot com, or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
Speaker 2: to two two four fifty seventy.
Speaker 1: And don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. It is
Speaker 1: literally so easy watch clothes that don't fit true to size.
Speaker 1: Rating negative a billion out of five stars review. Now,
Speaker 1: maybe I got the game messed up, but I thought
Speaker 1: the whole point in giving sizes and measurements was so
Speaker 1: that folks who are ordering clothes have an accurate reflection
Speaker 1: of what they're gonna receive. That just sounds reasonable to me.
Speaker 1: So why are there so many discrepancies in sizing? I
Speaker 1: just don't get it. I mean, I understand that maybe
Speaker 1: certain brands or certain styles have slight alterations to the
Speaker 1: way they fit on the body. For example, the kids
Speaker 1: are loving the cropped boxy T shirt look right now,
Speaker 1: and I can't hold you. I got a couple of
Speaker 1: those teas myself, with the big sleeves and all that
Speaker 1: good stuff. I totally get it. But all I'm asking
Speaker 1: is if the size you've got listed on the site,
Speaker 1: are on the tack in store is not the size
Speaker 1: of the garment itself, just say that. It'll save us
Speaker 1: all a lot of time and a lot of turmoil. Okay,
Speaker 1: I feel better. I got that off my chest. Now
Speaker 1: it's your turn, rate and review.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Good Game, Erica, Good.
Speaker 2: Game, Juju. You to the fact that the WNBA season's
Speaker 2: gotta end?
Speaker 1: Are we sure?
Speaker 2: Can we just get a little bonus series?
Speaker 4: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 4: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
Speaker 4: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 4: wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
Speaker 4: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
Speaker 4: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 4: Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Speaker 4: Lindsay Crowdowell. Production assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm your
Speaker 4: host Sarah Spain