Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain.
Speaker 2: Where we thought we belonged to the trash talk Hall
Speaker 2: of Fame until we watch today's guest in action.
Speaker 1: There are levels to this. It's Friday, May thirtieth, Happy
Speaker 1: Friday Slices.
Speaker 2: On today we're going to be bringing you my conversation
Speaker 2: with Connecticut Sun guard Marina Maybray, recorded on Wednesday. We
Speaker 2: talked about the Sun's tough start to the season, finding
Speaker 2: her focus and purpose in Connecticut after being denied a
Speaker 2: trade out, trash talking, self regulating, and more.
Speaker 1: This is a good one, y'all.
Speaker 2: Plus a look ahead at another weekend chock full of
Speaker 2: WNBA hoops, soccer, friendlies, golf, and a lacrosse What the
Speaker 2: fact that'll put toenails in your creamed corn? It's all
Speaker 2: coming up right after this. Welcome back, y'all.
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today in hoops.
Speaker 2: Big weekend for the WNBA, starting with five matchups tonight,
Speaker 2: two contests at seven thirty pm Eastern. First, the Caitlin
Speaker 2: Clarkless Indiana Fever hosts the Connecticut Sun, and then the
Speaker 2: Washington Mystics play host to the New York Liberty defending Champs.
Speaker 1: New York are on a roll to start this season.
Speaker 2: They've got five players averaging double figures, Brianna Stewart, Johnqwell Jones,
Speaker 2: Natasha cloud Sabrinia Escu and Kennedy Burke. Then at ten
Speaker 2: pm Eastern, three more games the La Sparks at the
Speaker 2: Las Vegas Aces, the Seattle Storm at home against the
Speaker 2: Atlanta Dream, and the five and zero Minnesota Links visiting
Speaker 2: the Phoenix Mercury Links. Undefeated NAFISA Colliers come out of
Speaker 2: the gates with a point to prove Kaylea McBride's getting
Speaker 2: back to full strength, and the entire team is looking
Speaker 2: to avenge last year's finals loss. They have been fun
Speaker 2: so far. You can catch all of tonight's games on
Speaker 2: League Pass or on Ion. The lone game on Saturday
Speaker 2: is at eight pm when the Chicago Sky heads south
Speaker 2: to play the Dallas Wings. That'll be the second meeting
Speaker 2: between those two teams in three days. Then on Sunday,
Speaker 2: Commissioner's Cup play starts quick refresher for so a select
Speaker 2: number of games count toward this Commissioner's Cup in season tournament.
Speaker 2: This year, it's the thirty six games running from June
Speaker 2: first to June seventeenth, Every team will play one game
Speaker 2: against each of the other teams in its conference, and
Speaker 2: the team from each conference with the best record in
Speaker 2: those games will face off for the Commissioner's Cup Championship
Speaker 2: on July First. Four games Sunday to kickoff Cup play
Speaker 2: this year sun at Liberty, Mercury at Sparks, Aces at Storm,
Speaker 2: and Links at Valkyrie's. We'll link to the full WNBA
Speaker 2: schedule in our show notes.
Speaker 1: More hoops news.
Speaker 2: The Chicago Sky have announced that they'll hang Candae Parker's
Speaker 2: number three jersey in the wind Trust Arena rafters on
Speaker 2: August twenty fifth, when they host the Las Vegas Aces.
Speaker 2: Parker only spent two seasons with the Sky, but the
Speaker 2: beloved Illinois native helped the team to its first and
Speaker 2: only WNBA title in twenty twenty one. The honor from
Speaker 2: the Sky will come about a month after the Los
Speaker 2: Angeles Sparks retire her jersey. The team Parker spent thirteen
Speaker 2: seasons with and helped to a championship in twenty sixteen,
Speaker 2: will honor her in their game against the Sky on
Speaker 2: June twenty ninth. Golf Don't Forget The US Open continues
Speaker 2: today and this weekend as one hundred and fifty six
Speaker 2: players compete for a.
Speaker 1: Share of the twelve million dollar perse.
Speaker 2: You can watch today's action twelve to six Eastern on
Speaker 2: USA Network and six to eight Eastern on Peacock. On Saturday,
Speaker 2: it'll be one to six Eastern on Peacock and three
Speaker 2: to six Eastern on NBC, and Sunday's final round can
Speaker 2: be watched from two to seven pm Eastern live on
Speaker 2: NBC and Peacock. Also in tennis, the French Open rolls
Speaker 2: on at Roland Garros, with live coverage on TNT Sports.
Speaker 2: Everyone there vying to make it to the June seventh
Speaker 2: championship match and earn the roughly two point nine million
Speaker 2: dollar winners. Cut to softball, Remember Jessica Mendoza teasing some
Speaker 2: big athletes unlimited softball news on yesterday's show. Well, it's
Speaker 2: officially out and it's big big. Major League Baseball has
Speaker 2: announced a strategic investment in the AUSL. Per an official release,
Speaker 2: the partnership includes quote engagement with the AUSL across many
Speaker 2: areas of MLB's business operation, including collaborative sales and marketing efforts,
Speaker 2: while AUSL athletes and storylines will be featured across MLB's
Speaker 2: digital platforms and incorporated into select MLB events, including the
Speaker 2: All Star Game and throughout the MLB postseason end quote.
Speaker 2: This is huge news and for the first time a
Speaker 2: professional softball league having an affiliation with Major League Baseball
Speaker 2: including resources and investment and time and energy and marketing
Speaker 2: and all of that is fantastic. In footy news, no
Speaker 2: NWSL soccer this weekend. The league is on an international
Speaker 2: break so players can compete during the FIFA International Match
Speaker 2: Window ending on June third. NWSL play starts back up
Speaker 2: on June sixth. Speaking of the FIFA window, the US
Speaker 2: women's national team is using it to play matches against
Speaker 2: China on Saturday in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Jamaica on
Speaker 2: Tuesday in Saint Louis. And remember we told you last
Speaker 2: week that the second match will also have a pregame
Speaker 2: retirement celebration for US women's national team legend Becky Souerbrunn,
Speaker 2: friend of the show, who had a legendary career and
Speaker 2: recently announced that she's pregnant. So get your tissues ready.
Speaker 2: That's going to be a lovely moment for one of
Speaker 2: our best. You can catch both those national team games
Speaker 2: on TBS Universo Max Peacock and Westwood One Sports.
Speaker 1: More footy.
Speaker 2: Our show side, Minnesota Aurora FC plays this weekend as well.
Speaker 2: They're two to zero to start the season, continuing their
Speaker 2: unbeaten streak. Our girls have been undefeated in the regular
Speaker 2: season for three consecutive seasons in the USLW League, and
Speaker 2: the streak rolls on. Squad's got a road game against
Speaker 2: river Light FC tonight at six pm Eastern and another
Speaker 2: road game Sunday at five pm against the Chicago City
Speaker 2: Dutch Lions. All right, y'all, we got to take a
Speaker 2: quick break when we come back. We aren't cooking with
Speaker 2: Marina Maybriy, but things might still get spicy stick around
Speaker 2: joining us now. She's a guard for the Connecticut side
Speaker 2: of the WNBA. Drafted by the LA Sparks and the
Speaker 2: second round of the twenty nineteen WNBA draft, she spent
Speaker 2: two seasons in LA before being traded to the Dallas Wings,
Speaker 2: a couple seasons there before being sent to the Chicago
Speaker 2: Sky and just a season and a half here in Chicago,
Speaker 2: where we all loved her, before being traded to the
Speaker 2: Sun in the middle of last season, she left Notre
Speaker 2: Dame of the program's all time leader in made three pointers.
Speaker 2: She's famously the only one of the Maybury sisters to
Speaker 2: win a title with the Irish. You could check TikTok
Speaker 2: to see if her sisters are salty about that. And
Speaker 2: she was a member of Phantom BC and unrivaled this season,
Speaker 2: but a calf injury limited her play, so she focused
Speaker 2: mostly on learning how to use spices. It's Marina Maybury
Speaker 2: him Marina.
Speaker 3: Hi, thank you. That's a great intro.
Speaker 2: Well, I want to hear about the most important thing first,
Speaker 2: cooking with Maybury. So have you mastered any new recipes
Speaker 2: that the Sun teammates have given the seal of approval?
Speaker 3: No, not yet, but I was thinking that since today
Speaker 3: with our off day, I was going to make something
Speaker 3: with the kitchen aid, maybe like some chocolate chip cookie
Speaker 3: so nice. I'm kind of nervous. This is going to
Speaker 3: be the first time. I don't know how they're going
Speaker 3: to feel about it, but.
Speaker 1: I have faith.
Speaker 2: Just read all the ingredients before you start, and all
Speaker 2: the instructions. I have problems sometimes where I don't do that,
Speaker 2: and then it's like immediately put in that and I'm like, no,
Speaker 2: I didn't measure that yet, or then it's like make
Speaker 2: sure you don't and I've already done that because I
Speaker 2: didn't read down further. So yeah, yeah, especially with baking,
Speaker 2: it's it gets really difficult, especially like the temperatures and stuff,
Speaker 2: like I didn't realize how important that was. Extremely That's
Speaker 2: why I prefer cooking to baking, because cooking you're like, oops,
Speaker 2: I screwed that up, Like I had some more of
Speaker 2: this and put a little of this, and at baking
Speaker 2: it's like that's it, one and done. Speaking of your
Speaker 2: son teammates, one of them is one of the all
Speaker 2: time greats in Tina Charles, and I'm wondering if she
Speaker 2: has practice habits or tendencies that like feel like keys
Speaker 2: to her years of success. Because when I see someone
Speaker 2: in any professional sport that was born in the nineteen eighties,
Speaker 2: first of all, I feel validated, and also I wonder, like,
Speaker 2: what are they doing to stick around this long and
Speaker 2: be successful?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean, Teena just knows her spots, Like she gets
Speaker 3: out there and she's going to go to her she's
Speaker 3: going to go to her jump shot, and she reads
Speaker 3: her defender pretty well when she's in one on one
Speaker 3: situations and stuff, so it's just like hard to stop.
Speaker 3: And she's powerful and she's been doing it for years,
Speaker 3: so like she's not going to get sped up or
Speaker 3: like into anything you're trying to stop her from doing.
Speaker 3: She's just going to keep doing what she does no
Speaker 3: matter what. So that's definitely probably brought her her success
Speaker 3: throughout the years in the w just being able to
Speaker 3: get to your spots no matter what the scheme is.
Speaker 2: A whole lot of new teammates for you this year,
Speaker 2: How has it been trying to like just get started
Speaker 2: and get going with such a short offseason. Once the
Speaker 2: draft happens and everybody's in one place.
Speaker 3: I just think it happens a lot faster than everybody thinks.
Speaker 3: It's like, oh, we have time, we have time, we
Speaker 3: have time, and all of a sudden, we're playing the
Speaker 3: Mystics on our first game, and you know, you're trying
Speaker 3: to work through things, shoot in practice and shoot around
Speaker 3: in training camp, and everybody's young and inexperienced, and you
Speaker 3: have to have grace and leadership at the same time, accountability,
Speaker 3: but also some type of sympathy in a way, like
Speaker 3: I know that this is really hard, this is tough.
Speaker 3: You just got from college, and now all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: people are screaming, let's go move faster, sense of urgency
Speaker 3: this and that, you know. So I try to like
Speaker 3: put myself in their shoes and remember what I felt
Speaker 3: like as a rookie and like I wanted some comfort.
Speaker 3: I wanted somebody to tell me, like, you are doing good,
Speaker 3: even though maybe I probably wasn't doing that good. But
Speaker 3: so I've been trying to take that and give that
Speaker 3: to the rookies and the younger players that we have.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about that, you're one of the more experienced
Speaker 2: players on this team. What are you telling the rookies
Speaker 2: and the youngsters about, like getting off to a tough
Speaker 2: start or just being patient through the first couple of games.
Speaker 3: I've been trying not to address like little situations rather
Speaker 3: than kind of helping them figure out what gives them
Speaker 3: the most energy to be able to come out here
Speaker 3: for forty four games, Like where can you go to
Speaker 3: fill your cup up? Like what do you need to do?
Speaker 3: Because those things you have to do to be consistent
Speaker 3: in this league to them out and keep playing whether
Speaker 3: things are going great or they're not going great. And
Speaker 3: then also just like preaching about boundaries, like no matter
Speaker 3: how old you are, no matter how long you've been
Speaker 3: in this league, you have to have boundaries. You have
Speaker 3: to set an intention of not allowing other people's energy
Speaker 3: to affect yours. And when you're in a work environment,
Speaker 3: there are always there's always going to be somebody that
Speaker 3: maybe isn't great energy, or the person the people that
Speaker 3: you're playing against next to you, there's not maybe they're
Speaker 3: out to make you mad, or they're whatever they're doing,
Speaker 3: or the rest are not calling, which you want. Like
Speaker 3: you have to have boundaries set in the sense of
Speaker 3: I'm not giving my energy to this, I'm not giving
Speaker 3: my energy to this, but I am giving my energy
Speaker 3: to this, or you know, just like that as an athlete,
Speaker 3: even like brand deals and stuff like you're in the
Speaker 3: middle of the season, like you have to be able
Speaker 3: to say no, sometimes no, I can't do that, I'm
Speaker 3: too tired. I need to do this and to do that,
Speaker 3: Like those all go in that boundary category. And then
Speaker 3: just confidence, like I think that most things come from confidence,
Speaker 3: and so you to go out there and perform in
Speaker 3: forty four games in a WNBA season, against the best
Speaker 3: players in the world. If you're lacking any type of confidence,
Speaker 3: it's going to be really hard. So those, like the
Speaker 3: three things that I've been talking to them a lot about.
Speaker 2: Those are all really smart, And you know, the first
Speaker 2: one you talked about sort of like where do you
Speaker 2: give your energy and how do you react to your
Speaker 2: teammates and your opponents and everything else. It seems like
Speaker 2: that's something you're sort of working on this year. Fans
Speaker 2: are loving watching clips of you in games, sort of
Speaker 2: reacting to hard fouls or calls you don't like. Someone
Speaker 2: said Marina Mabria's first team all reactions, which I loved,
Speaker 2: But they also love watching you sort of practice self regulation.
Speaker 2: This year, you got caught doing the deep breathing, the
Speaker 2: send hands sort of talking to yourself. Is that something
Speaker 2: that you've been working on with coaches or just in
Speaker 2: the off season being more intentional.
Speaker 3: About Yeah, I mean, I think I'll honestly give credit
Speaker 3: to like last year's team, like AT and dB and them,
Speaker 3: they were big on me about like keeping my complete,
Speaker 3: with keeping my control because they're saying, like you're getting
Speaker 3: out of you, no one can stop you when you're
Speaker 3: in the zone and no one, and you're not upset
Speaker 3: and you're not like losing your focus. So been trying
Speaker 3: to have my moment and then get back to it
Speaker 3: and go on a run or do something that's going
Speaker 3: to help the team win, because you know, when I
Speaker 3: get too far one way and I'm too mad, I'm
Speaker 3: crashing out, like I can't come back. I'm not good
Speaker 3: when I am all the way down, when I go
Speaker 3: all the way down there. So I feel like the
Speaker 3: first week of the season, I actually did go down
Speaker 3: that way a little bit, and I was like, I
Speaker 3: got to catch myself. So I feel like this week
Speaker 3: I was a lot better with like keeping my controlsure
Speaker 3: and keeping my head. And then the numbers said, so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the crash out seems to be the term of
Speaker 2: choice specifically to you. Is that something that you came
Speaker 2: up with or it is something that like the folks
Speaker 2: on TikTok and social unsigned to you and you're like,
Speaker 2: all right, that's right, that is what it feels like.
Speaker 3: Well, my TikTok friends gave me that one. I learned
Speaker 3: it from them. Yeah, they're always like hung crash on stuff. Honestly,
Speaker 3: sometimes I get mad at those videos though, because it's
Speaker 3: like sometimes they create a narrative that's like, yeah, that's like, oh,
Speaker 3: I'm crazy and stuff, and it's like I hear you,
Speaker 3: but like if I need to know that if you
Speaker 3: got tackled from behind in the back court right and
Speaker 3: no one's saying anything in their talking about our marine
Speaker 3: or flopping, like and you know you didn't flop, it's
Speaker 3: like okay, like at some point you really might crash
Speaker 3: out too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, I want you to know that.
Speaker 2: I would be absolutely mortified to play basketball on television.
Speaker 2: I have a terrible temper. I'm a horrible loser. I
Speaker 2: would get so.
Speaker 1: Angry during games. I would throw my hands in the air, my.
Speaker 2: Face would get beat red, like I just was like
Speaker 2: I wanted it so bad, but I couldn't really control
Speaker 2: it sometimes when I was indeed crashing out or when
Speaker 2: I didn't think like.
Speaker 1: The call went the right way.
Speaker 2: So I think people watching, especially people who never played,
Speaker 2: just don't get it, Like they just don't understand and
Speaker 2: they think you're somehow supposed to like have the best
Speaker 2: energy in the world toward the thing that you want
Speaker 2: to accomplish, and then be able to have no energy
Speaker 2: in the moments.
Speaker 1: When you're angry or frustrated or whatever.
Speaker 2: So I feel, yeah, and I enjoy it, and I
Speaker 2: also get that sometimes the.
Speaker 1: Narrative is that what you were hoping for?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 2: Like, sometimes I'm just like whatever, Yeah, you mentioned Alyssa
Speaker 2: Thomas and do Wanna Bonnard. Those are two of your
Speaker 2: previous teammates that sort of helped talk you through it.
Speaker 2: But you're you've been able to figure out how to
Speaker 2: better control yourself. But you're also like you're willing to
Speaker 2: let opposing players know what's on your mind. You're willing
Speaker 2: to talk, You're willing to like try to get in
Speaker 2: their heads and do exactly what you're warning those rooks against,
Speaker 2: Like how do you not let the energy of the
Speaker 2: opposing players get you? And if you could take advantage
Speaker 2: of doing that to someone else, it can really help
Speaker 2: your game. Do you remember, Like ever, it's just like
Speaker 2: the wildest thing you ever said to someone.
Speaker 3: I mean, I've said some wild shit.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I mean I've like told someone their dog is ugly before. No, No,
Speaker 3: I've never seen their dogs too far it's too far, right,
Speaker 3: that's wild. And someoney told me that Charlie was ugly.
Speaker 3: You might have to scrap right, but.
Speaker 1: Uh, that was kind of wild to me.
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 2: Have you run into like an even strength trash talk
Speaker 2: or is there anyone who can match your energy?
Speaker 3: Nay's pretty good. I think Nay's not bad. Djn A Carrington, Okay,
Speaker 3: AT's not bad either, Melyssa Thomas. Yeah, yeah, I mean
Speaker 3: there's other people that will like talk and stuff like,
Speaker 3: but honestly, I don't really say that much unless you
Speaker 3: say something wild. Like usually I hear them say something first,
Speaker 3: and I'm like what, Like, like even last night, I
Speaker 3: was like, oh, so you wanted me to hear that,
Speaker 3: like you know, so like if you wanted me to
Speaker 3: hear it, then I'm definitely gonna right right, and then
Speaker 3: I'm gonna have something great to say back. And also
Speaker 3: I get that from like my I grew up in
Speaker 3: a family that was like I mean, it's an aggressive family.
Speaker 3: Like whenever we like could have argument or something like
Speaker 3: we're arguing to win. We're not effing around with these arguments.
Speaker 3: So like our siblings, we used to like unhinged things
Speaker 3: to each other like crazy. So sometimes like I get
Speaker 3: in that mode and I'm like, oh yeah, all right,
Speaker 3: well say something back. Yeah, so it's really like that
Speaker 3: that I get it from.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean you talk about how like when you're at home,
Speaker 2: you're playing one on one with all your sisters who
Speaker 2: played college ball at Notre Dame, and like you guys
Speaker 2: get after it.
Speaker 3: Like when I would lose, like to them, they would
Speaker 3: like tell me I'm adopted.
Speaker 2: And stuff, like the oldest trick in the book, the
Speaker 2: oldest trick.
Speaker 3: You're gonna get kicked off the family because you.
Speaker 1: I Meanwhile, you guys look exactly the same. No one's mind.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you mentioned talking trash about a dog.
Speaker 1: It's actually funny. So you are a certified dog.
Speaker 2: We have had conversations on the show trying to talk
Speaker 2: and like figure out exactly what constitutes a dog.
Speaker 1: What makes a dog? Who's a dog?
Speaker 2: Can you be a dog and a glue gal at
Speaker 2: the same time. We've had all of those and one
Speaker 2: of the things everyone agreed upon was that you are,
Speaker 2: in fact a dog. How do you characterize a dog?
Speaker 3: I feel like someone that has like toughness on the court,
Speaker 3: like not like a punk, gonna get back up and
Speaker 3: try again, like play with physicality, like have that mentality
Speaker 3: of like we're down but like I'm still gonna come back.
Speaker 3: We're still gonna come back. Like we're gonna make a play,
Speaker 3: We're gonna get a stop, get a block, do make
Speaker 3: do something, make something shake Like I always think about
Speaker 3: like Candace Parker when I was on LA I was
Speaker 3: only on there for a year, but it was almost
Speaker 3: like she never thought she was gonna lose, like and
Speaker 3: like as a rookie sometimes I'm like, oh gosh, we're
Speaker 3: playing bad. I think we're gonna lose, you know, like
Speaker 3: you don't know any better when you're not playing, like
Speaker 3: and she's always saying like, okay, just do something for
Speaker 3: somebody else. Then just do this. Oh, then just do this.
Speaker 3: And it's like she always found a way to to
Speaker 3: and we didn't always win every game, but we won
Speaker 3: a lot of games. And Candace is always saying, do this,
Speaker 3: we can just do this. Oh, I'm to take it
Speaker 3: upon myself. I'm going to take the ball up the
Speaker 3: court injurbble all the way up and score, like just
Speaker 3: stuff like that, or time out, we need to reverse
Speaker 3: the ball this way. You don't see how she's guarding you,
Speaker 3: Just stuff where she's making everyone else around her better
Speaker 3: and tougher and like challenging their ceiling. Yeah, and that's
Speaker 3: kind of like how I see it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so dogs like what you do, but also how
Speaker 2: you make other people do things. I'm putting you on
Speaker 2: the spot here, but I'm gonna need your top five
Speaker 2: dogs currently playing in the WNBA.
Speaker 3: Oh damn, I only have top five. Yeah, this doesn't
Speaker 3: mean best player? What does dog mean? Well?
Speaker 2: You just now yeah, see you just defined it though,
Speaker 2: Like I'll give you a couple of mine. I'm not
Speaker 2: gonna like be held to this because it's off the
Speaker 2: top of my head.
Speaker 1: But Skyler Diggins.
Speaker 2: Kelsey Plum uh, Courtney Williams.
Speaker 3: A shout out, Courtney Colia Copper ha yeah huh yeah, Like.
Speaker 2: I think at Alissa Thomas is one. I mean, Angel
Speaker 2: Reese is a dog in certain ways for sure.
Speaker 3: All Right, so you wouldn't categorize like, so what do
Speaker 3: you guys think about like Satu everyque and then like
Speaker 3: what is that categorize as I.
Speaker 1: Think Satu's a baby dog, She's a pup.
Speaker 2: Satu's a puppy an angry pop, but pop I'm not
Speaker 2: sure about ari K.
Speaker 1: I think like ari Arik is a bucket more than
Speaker 1: a dog to me.
Speaker 3: I mean I feel like she's like dog. You out,
Speaker 3: like you really out there on the island with her, right, Like, Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's not fine.
Speaker 1: I feel like Chelsea Gray is a dog. Okay, you
Speaker 1: don't agree.
Speaker 3: No, I mean she's a four time champion dog. Like.
Speaker 3: That's why it's complicated, is the way this conversation is horrid.
Speaker 2: That's what I got in a fight at the Final
Speaker 2: four about whether Page Beckers is a dog. I say dog,
Speaker 2: but she just looks like a little kid, Like she's
Speaker 2: so cute that people mistake that she's a dog.
Speaker 1: Okay, who am I missing?
Speaker 3: I'm with Ka for sure.
Speaker 1: I'm with Ka at Courtney Williams.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I definitely got Courtney in there. Asia like Asia.
Speaker 1: It's just it's just a dog.
Speaker 2: It's just hard because she's also like the best, So
Speaker 2: it's like you don't first think dog, you think MVP
Speaker 2: and then later dogs.
Speaker 3: Yeah facts, I hear that, But yeah, I mean, yeah,
Speaker 3: we got a lot of there's there's a lot.
Speaker 2: Tell me about coach Mezzanine does see how does he
Speaker 2: handle your temperament?
Speaker 1: How does he get the best at you?
Speaker 3: I think right now he's still trying to figure out
Speaker 3: what to say to me, which rightfully so I understand
Speaker 3: I wouldn't know what to say to me either. Sometimes
Speaker 3: I sometimes you just be looking at me like I
Speaker 3: need you to calm down together, Are you okay? But
Speaker 3: sometimes you just like grab my hand on the way
Speaker 3: out the game and be like, you know, like come
Speaker 3: right here, right here, you know, little little little, just
Speaker 3: little subtle things like not to try to embarrass me
Speaker 3: or anything, you know, like just to reel me back in.
Speaker 3: But like Ron really like Ron and Chavante have been
Speaker 3: like hands on about it. Like Ron like the other
Speaker 3: day we were playing Atlanta and she just got up
Speaker 3: and we were like they were shooting a free throw
Speaker 3: and she just gave me a hugs.
Speaker 1: Oh that's good.
Speaker 3: Let me calm down, yeaheah.
Speaker 2: They're like they're figuring out how to regulate you different tactics,
Speaker 2: like yeah.
Speaker 3: Z sometimes will be like so are you going to
Speaker 3: bitch or are you going to play? Are you going
Speaker 3: to bitch? Or are you going to have thirty points?
Speaker 3: Because you can't wait who says this? And I'm just like, okay,
Speaker 3: Chavante is amazing.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 3: And like even sometimes like the rookies like they've been
Speaker 3: like like I know she just flipped you over, but
Speaker 3: like what are we running? And you know, like what
Speaker 3: are we doing? I need you to like or just
Speaker 3: like it's okay, like they called the foul. They called it,
Speaker 3: you know, so like they see it, like they see
Speaker 3: like why they don't they see, like why I get
Speaker 3: paid sometimes like this is crazy. She just hate me.
Speaker 3: Like yesterday I was driving up the court and she
Speaker 3: literally like someone that literally is like this in the
Speaker 3: back of my head and straight in the back of
Speaker 3: the head. And I'm literally just like I don't know,
Speaker 3: I didn't see right, but like I'm standing right in
Speaker 3: front of you and I have the ball, so like
Speaker 3: I don't know what else you're watching.
Speaker 2: To be honest, if I were a therapist, I would
Speaker 2: tell you to control what you can control and understand
Speaker 2: that they're always going to miss things and that it
Speaker 2: takes you out of your game when you get mad.
Speaker 1: But like, how do you miss that right?
Speaker 3: Like right the head the head knock in the back
Speaker 3: of the head, you missed right?
Speaker 1: Tell yourself a story in your head.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I can't believe a fly flew directly
Speaker 2: into the ref's eye right when that happened and they
Speaker 2: were incapable of literally couldn't see it.
Speaker 3: Ah, I will not be lying to myself.
Speaker 2: Sometimes those stories help us get through those moments, even
Speaker 2: if they're blatant lies. You know, you had to adjust
Speaker 2: to this new coach and they had to adjust to you.
Speaker 2: And this isn't the first time that's happened in your career.
Speaker 2: You've been in a bunch of different spots. So I wonder, like,
Speaker 2: when you find out you're being traded, do you remember
Speaker 2: the moment of each of those teams, like actually hearing
Speaker 2: the news and what your immediate reaction was.
Speaker 3: I mean, my rookie year, I got traded because they
Speaker 3: were trying to win a championship right away. They traded
Speaker 3: me for like Simone Augustus and Christy Tolliver decent like that.
Speaker 3: So they were trying to they were trying to win
Speaker 3: right away, and Dallas was the sign was like I
Speaker 3: was restricted for agent, so I could leave anyway. It
Speaker 3: wasn't really like, oh we're getting rid of you or
Speaker 3: anything that's part of the deal. I think the first
Speaker 3: real trade honestly was Chicago. I mean it was what
Speaker 3: it was. I knew it was coming like, you know,
Speaker 3: things weren't working out. It wasn't I came to play
Speaker 3: for James Wade. When he left, it just wasn't the
Speaker 3: same for me. I wasn't playing the same POSI I
Speaker 3: signed in Chicago for three years to be a point
Speaker 3: guard and that just wasn't it. And then we weren't
Speaker 3: winning either, and it just wasn't really going that well.
Speaker 3: So it was better off to go and try to
Speaker 3: win a championship with Connecticut, and obviously, although we fell short,
Speaker 3: Like I'm really grateful for my time in both places, honestly,
Speaker 3: because like Connecticut showed me how to win, even though
Speaker 3: it's not happening right now, Like it showed me what
Speaker 3: you have to do to win, and how at had
Speaker 3: that team winning for so long at a consistent, really
Speaker 3: high level, Like there were so many things that stood
Speaker 3: out to me that I was like, oh, Okay, you
Speaker 3: have to have that to win. You have to have that.
Speaker 3: You can't have this. And then also in Chicago when
Speaker 3: we weren't winning, it was like, Okay, I'm the leader
Speaker 3: of his team and I'm not doing a good job
Speaker 3: and I don't know, w what is it that I'm
Speaker 3: not doing? So once I got to see what I
Speaker 3: wasn't doing in Connecticut. Now I feel like I've become
Speaker 3: a such a better leader.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's really interesting.
Speaker 2: It does make such a difference too, like the expectations,
Speaker 2: Like the same thing with the Sun though, Like you
Speaker 2: signed a two year deal after being traded there, but
Speaker 2: then they basically traded away all the players and the
Speaker 2: coach left. So now you're in a completely different position
Speaker 2: on a team that's starting more fresh than the one
Speaker 2: that you got there, which was like on the verge
Speaker 2: of a championship multiple years in a row. When you
Speaker 2: asked them out and you said you wanted out, Like
Speaker 2: what was the conversation?
Speaker 1: Like how did that go?
Speaker 3: You know, I built relationships in Chicago where, you know,
Speaker 3: they understood that I wasn't in a good place there,
Speaker 3: Like my mind wasn't good. Things were really tough there
Speaker 3: for a little while. We weren't winning. You couldn't figure
Speaker 3: it out, And they knew I came to play for
Speaker 3: James Wade. So when they figured out that they could
Speaker 3: get a couple pieces back, that they'd be able to
Speaker 3: get a couple of their picks back, we came to
Speaker 3: an understanding of you know, we want her to be happy.
Speaker 3: We've built a really good relationship with her. We don't
Speaker 3: want to keep someone here that maybe doesn't belong here
Speaker 3: right now, doesn't fit on this team anymore. Where Whereas
Speaker 3: when we had me Courtney and Ka I did fit.
Speaker 3: I fit perfectly, Like I had my best year in numbers.
Speaker 3: So it was really mutual and like I still talk
Speaker 3: with them like all the people there all the time.
Speaker 3: So I'm grateful that they did let me go because
Speaker 3: it was just a mutual agreement of like, you know,
Speaker 3: we get it. Obviously, we love you and we want
Speaker 3: you to be here, but we do get it. So
Speaker 3: I appreciate them a lot for that, for understanding that
Speaker 3: when there's a player that doesn't want to be somewhere,
Speaker 3: really isn't happy anymore, you know, you want them to
Speaker 3: go and be be themselves somewhere else.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So if that doesn't happen and you end up
Speaker 2: somewhere that maybe the situation is different than what you'd hope.
Speaker 1: What's your approach?
Speaker 2: How do you get your self back focused on the
Speaker 2: job at hand, getting the most out of your year
Speaker 2: or making it work well.
Speaker 3: Obviously you know this wasn't exactly in our plans, Like
Speaker 3: you know, I would have thought in twenty six, if
Speaker 3: Connecticut didn't win the finals that maybe then at the
Speaker 3: new CBA reset, maybe it would you know, the pieces
Speaker 3: would change. I didn't know that it was going to
Speaker 3: happen in twenty five right before it. I think I
Speaker 3: just had to come to a realization that Like I
Speaker 3: feel like, I know it's cliche, but I feel like
Speaker 3: for some reason, I keep getting put in the same position.
Speaker 3: And is it because God has a plan for me
Speaker 3: to grow into something way bigger than I even thought
Speaker 3: I could be. Can I carry a team somewhere that
Speaker 3: nobody thinks can go anywhere? Like I feel like the
Speaker 3: answer is yes, because why else I keep getting put
Speaker 3: in this position? Like what's the odds that everybody's gone?
Speaker 3: That's insane, Like no one would have guessed that. So
Speaker 3: now I'm just trying to figure out a way to
Speaker 3: be that leader that I obviously can be, or else
Speaker 3: I wouldn't keep put in this position, and I just
Speaker 3: have to work through it instead of trying to trying
Speaker 3: to go somewhere where I think where I think it's
Speaker 3: going to be perfect, where I think I can do
Speaker 3: what I want to do, and maybe I need to
Speaker 3: just make it work, and that's where and that's where
Speaker 3: everything that I think I can become comes. Yeah, because
Speaker 3: I'm not sure anymore. Like it's obviously everybody has a
Speaker 3: different journey, but my journey has been insane, So i
Speaker 3: wouldn't trade it for the world because I'm grateful to
Speaker 3: be here. I was the nineteenth pick and now I'm
Speaker 3: considered one of the best players in the world, so
Speaker 3: I never saw that coming. But I still think I
Speaker 3: have so much more to offer. And if I can
Speaker 3: kind of be where my feet are and not always
Speaker 3: think that maybe there's something better, I will get everything
Speaker 3: that I think that I can be.
Speaker 1: That's such a good perspective.
Speaker 2: It really is like, if I keep getting the same
Speaker 2: result when I ask out, maybe I have to go
Speaker 2: through exactly and figure out what it means to go
Speaker 2: through this thing that I don't know that I want
Speaker 2: or I don't know if it's the right fit, and
Speaker 2: then make it work well enough to know that anywhere
Speaker 2: you go you can make it work. And I love
Speaker 2: the perspective of putting that weight on your shoulders because
Speaker 2: you are this incredible story of a second round pick
Speaker 2: that's made it great and becomes the centerpiece of a team,
Speaker 2: and you have a real opportunity. It's been a tough start,
Speaker 2: but you get to help this next generation of players,
Speaker 2: and you already are bringing them such good perspective. And
Speaker 2: there's so many I mean, next year's the league's in
Speaker 2: a blow up, the Sun might get sold to a
Speaker 2: different owner. I mean, there is just so much that
Speaker 2: we don't know and can't control that. All you have
Speaker 2: is like, what can I do for this team right
Speaker 2: now in this moment, which is awesome.
Speaker 1: I love to hear that.
Speaker 2: Well, hopefully we'll have you back down later in the season.
Speaker 2: We'll ask you how that's going. It sounds like you've
Speaker 2: got a great perspective on it.
Speaker 3: It's going to be going better.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's got to be right. I mean, listen, sky fans.
Speaker 2: So I'm like, okay, progress. We had a sixteen point lead.
Speaker 2: We blew it and we lost, but at one point
Speaker 2: we were leading a game by a significant number of points.
Speaker 1: Maybe next time they'll keep it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we were beating Minnesota the other day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that was baby steps, baby steps.
Speaker 2: Well, thanks so much for hopping on with us. Get
Speaker 2: some cooking with Maybury going. We want to see those
Speaker 2: cookies and some more. We need more proof that you've
Speaker 2: figured out the spices, if not just for us, but
Speaker 2: for DJA. I know that's important to her. So thanks
Speaker 2: so much for the time.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: We got to take another quick break when we come
Speaker 2: back a lacrosse What the fact that'll make you want
Speaker 2: to get called for slashing welcome back slices. It's time
Speaker 2: for another What the fact? You might remember earlier in
Speaker 2: the week we told you about UNC winning Sun d's
Speaker 2: Division One College Lacrosse National championship, completing their undefeated season
Speaker 2: in front of a record fourteen thousand, four hundred twenty
Speaker 2: three fans, and we mentioned that that tally knocked off
Speaker 2: the previous record from twenty seventeen. Well, when you dig
Speaker 2: into the history of NCUBLEA lacrosse championships, breaking a twenty
Speaker 2: seventeen record makes sense. First, let's go back to twenty
Speaker 2: twenty one. You may recall that the NCAA commissioned a
Speaker 2: big investigation into gender equity following outrage over the disparities
Speaker 2: between the men's and women's basketball tournaments. While the law
Speaker 2: firm that conducted the investigation, Kaplan, Hecker and Fink, dug
Speaker 2: into the NCAA's treatment of lots of other championships too,
Speaker 2: including lacrosse, and the findings were very curious. So historically,
Speaker 2: men's lacrosse has hosted its D one, D two, and
Speaker 2: D three championships at the same venue, usually using NFL
Speaker 2: facilities that can see tens of thousands of fans at
Speaker 2: the same time, the D one, D two, and D
Speaker 2: three women's events have been held separately in smaller venues
Speaker 2: fewer resources. For example, the KHF report outlines how in
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, quote men's lacrosse sold twenty eighty, one hundred
Speaker 2: and sixty tickets to the Division one men's final in
Speaker 2: a stadium with a capacity for sixty seven thousand and
Speaker 2: five ninety four, while women's lacrosse sold nine and seventeen
Speaker 2: tickets to the Division one women's final in a stadium
Speaker 2: with a capacity for eighty five hundred end Quote. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you heard that right. They sold over nine thousand tickets
Speaker 2: for a stadium with a capacity of eighty five hundred.
Speaker 2: You got to assume that standing room only. Either way,
Speaker 2: Clearly the venue not big enough. So where was that
Speaker 2: twenty seventeen championship that had the previous record Gillette Stadium. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so it's not like people suddenly became more interested in
Speaker 2: women's across this year than last year or the year before.
Speaker 2: It's just that more of them were able to fit
Speaker 2: in the venue again. Now, it's worth noting that the
Speaker 2: women's D one Championship was held at Gillette this year,
Speaker 2: along with the men's D one, two, and three championships,
Speaker 2: but the D two when D three women's Championships were
Speaker 2: all still held elsewhere. Tous lacrosse coach courtney' shoot actually
Speaker 2: called the NCAA out after this year's D three championship game,
Speaker 2: which the Jumbos lost ten to nine to Middlebury.
Speaker 1: Take a listen.
Speaker 4: You know, Salem does a great job with this championship,
Speaker 4: So I hope anything I'm going to say doesn't come
Speaker 4: across offensive. But this is a hard place to get
Speaker 4: to and the NCAA needs to do something about accessibility
Speaker 4: of the championship. We had an incredible crowd, but our
Speaker 4: men are playing for a national championship in front of
Speaker 4: all there alarms tonight and that's an issue. And I
Speaker 4: was hoping to say this when we won. I have
Speaker 4: notes prepared because I think it's a real thing we
Speaker 4: got to talk about. I promise these girls that if
Speaker 4: we want a national championship, I was going to fight
Speaker 4: for equity. I'm going to do it either way. It
Speaker 4: deserves some attention and against Salem Rono College do a
Speaker 4: fantastic job once we're here, but this is a hard
Speaker 4: place to get to. We had four A launs here today.
Speaker 4: I had one hundreds reach out that would have been
Speaker 4: there in a major city. Our men get to do that.
Speaker 4: And there's an accessibility issue for the Division III Lacrosse
Speaker 4: Championships that is inequitable.
Speaker 2: And get this so per the KHF report, multiple sources
Speaker 2: said when planning ahead for the twenty twenty five championships,
Speaker 2: Jillette Stadium was willing to host all three women's competitions,
Speaker 2: but the D one Men's Lacrosse Committee was concerned about
Speaker 2: hosting too many championships and teams at one venue.
Speaker 1: Here's a snippet of the report quote.
Speaker 2: The D one Men's Committee expressed concern about the significant
Speaker 2: scale of hosting six championships with at least sixteen teams
Speaker 2: over one weekend for an outdoor sport. There were also
Speaker 2: concerns with, among other things, the scheduling of the championships,
Speaker 2: including because the Division two and three women and their
Speaker 2: season a week before the men, and the ability to
Speaker 2: provide sufficient practice times for the teams competing in all
Speaker 2: six championships.
Speaker 1: End quote yeah totally so just.
Speaker 2: You know, giving the women's D two and D three
Speaker 2: champs their time to shine right, must be about logistics nonsense.
Speaker 2: Kudos to Gillette Stadium's operation folks for caring more about
Speaker 2: women's lacrosse than the NCAA Division one men's lacrosse committee does.
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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, y'all. See you next week. Good Game, Marina,
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Speaker 2: Two books you technical fouls for harmless shit. Talking Good
Speaker 2: Game with Sarah Spain is an iheartwomen's sports production in
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Speaker 2: us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 2: get your podcasts. Production by Wondermedia Network, our producers are
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Speaker 2: associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm your host Sarah
Speaker 2: Spain