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

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Speaker 1: to believe in the power of Steph White's red leather Jacket.

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Speaker 1: The Jacket's undefeated streak continues. It's Monday, September twenty ninth

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Speaker 1: that on today's show, we'll be talking with Las Vegas

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Speaker 1: Review Journal reporter Kelly Finn about the Aces Fever series

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Speaker 1: going to a decisive game five, how the Fever have

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Speaker 1: pushed the Aces to the brink, and a dramatic season

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Speaker 1: in the desert for Becky Hammond's squad. Plus, the Red

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Speaker 1: Roses are in full bloom. WNBA semi final sagas and

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Speaker 1: the NWSL playoffs have got the spirit. It's all coming

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Speaker 1: up right after this. Welcome Max Slice's Happy Monday. Here's

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Speaker 1: what you need to know today to the WNBA, where

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Speaker 1: the Indiana Fever are not done yet. The Scrappy Bunch

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Speaker 1: continued to defy the odds, tying up their best of

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Speaker 1: five series with the Las Vegas Aces two games apiece

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Speaker 1: on Sunday with a ninety to eighty three win. Kelsey Mitchell,

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Speaker 1: Eliah Boston, and Odyssey Simms were a three headed monster

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Speaker 1: for the Fever, offensively scoring twenty five, twenty four and

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Speaker 1: eighteen points, respectively. Boston also added fourteen rebounds and five

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Speaker 1: assists in the win. Asia Wilson posted thirty one points

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Speaker 1: in the loss. Jackie Young had eighteen. The series now

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Speaker 1: shifts locations one last time with Game five Tuesday night

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Speaker 1: at Vegas's michelob Ultra Arena. We'll talk more about the

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Speaker 1: series with Callie Finn in just a few minutes.

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Speaker 2: In the other.

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Speaker 1: WNBA semifinal, the short handed Minnesota Links put up a

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Speaker 1: hell of a fight, but they couldn't get past Alyssa

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Speaker 1: Thomas and the Phoenix Mercury, who took Game four eighty

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Speaker 1: six to eighty one to win the series and advanced

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Speaker 1: to the WNBA Finals for the first time since twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one. Kyle McBride put up a heroic effort for

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Speaker 1: the Links, straining six threes to the tune of a

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Speaker 1: new career playoff high thirty one points, and Jessica Shephard

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Speaker 1: was clutch in place of the injured Nafisa Collier with

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Speaker 1: fourteen points in seven boards in an increased role, but

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Speaker 1: the Mercury Stars shone too bright. Alyssa Thomas had a

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Speaker 1: near triple double twenty three points, ten assists and eight rebounds.

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Speaker 1: Satu Sobly put up twenty one and Dwana Bonner struggled

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Speaker 1: early but found her shot when it mattered most, hitting

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Speaker 1: a couple late threes that helped seal the deal. This

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Speaker 1: will be Thomas's third trip to the finals. Her previous

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Speaker 1: appearances were losses in twenty nineteen and twenty twenty two

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Speaker 1: with the Connecticut Sun and her fiance. Bonner's fourth time

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Speaker 1: making the finals. She was a part of that Sun

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Speaker 1: losing team in twenty twenty two, and she won championships

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Speaker 1: with the Mercury in twenty nine and twenty fourteen. Congrats

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Speaker 1: to the Mercury. They outperformed most expectations from experts at

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Speaker 1: the start of the season, especially after losing Dinah Trossi

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Speaker 1: to retirement and Britney Griner to free agency. They'll watch

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Speaker 1: Tuesday Nights aces Fever game five to see who their

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Speaker 1: finals opponent will be. As for the Links, a heartbreaking

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Speaker 1: end to a season in which they were the wire

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Speaker 1: to wire favorites and my heart sunk watching the FISA.

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Speaker 1: Collier have to sit on the bench for the last game.

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Speaker 2: In case you missed it.

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Speaker 1: At the end of Game three, of the series, Thomas

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Speaker 1: jumped a pass intended for Collier, making incidental contact that

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Speaker 1: caused the Link star to injure her left ankle. She

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Speaker 1: was in a boot and forced to miss the game,

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Speaker 1: and the Links were without head coach Cheryl Reeve as well.

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Speaker 1: Reeve became incensed after seeing Collier go down on the

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Speaker 1: Thomas Steele late in Game three. She stormed the court,

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Speaker 1: shouting at officials, had to be held back by Links personnel,

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Speaker 1: was assessed a technical foul her second of the game

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Speaker 1: and ejected. She continued to argue, didn't immediately leave the court,

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Speaker 1: screamed at a few fans even as she eventually left

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Speaker 1: the arena, and in the postgame presser, she didn't take

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Speaker 1: any questions. She instead used the time to make her

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Speaker 1: frustration with the officiating known. Here's a bit of what

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Speaker 1: she had to say.

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Speaker 3: I want to call for a change of leadership at

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Speaker 3: the league level when it comes to officiating. It's bad

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Speaker 3: for the game. The officiating crew that we had to

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Speaker 3: for the leadership to deem those three people semi finals

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Speaker 3: playoff worthy is ol practice.

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Speaker 1: Associate head coach Eric Tebo got a technical for yelling

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Speaker 1: at the refs as well that game, and both he

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Speaker 1: and Reeve were also fined. Assistant coach and Links legend

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Speaker 1: Rebecca Brunson was fined as well for a post on

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Speaker 1: X after the game that read quote, yeah this happened.

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Speaker 2: Take out one of the.

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Speaker 1: Best players in the league because you have no control

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Speaker 1: of the game.

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Speaker 2: End quote.

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Speaker 1: It ended up being Tibo took the lead on the

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Speaker 1: sidelines for the Links in Game four in Reeves's absence.

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Speaker 1: He had the team up by as much as thirteen

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Speaker 1: in the final quarter, but like much of the series,

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Speaker 1: the Mercury closed much stronger than Minnesota and they erased

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Speaker 1: another late lead to grab the win. In rugby news,

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Speaker 1: England are the twenty twenty five Women's Rugby World Cup champs.

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Speaker 1: The Red Roses won the final thirty three to thirteen

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Speaker 1: over Canada on Saturday, stretching their unbeaten run to thirty

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Speaker 1: three matches and securing the trophy for the first time

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Speaker 1: since twenty fourteen, when they also beat Canada in the final.

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Speaker 1: This marks England's third World Cup trophy all time, and

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Speaker 1: a record eighty one thousand, eight hundred and eighty five

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Speaker 1: people were inside ali On Stadium in Twickenham, England, to

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Speaker 1: witness It. Sadilla Cobeya was named player of the game,

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Speaker 1: coming up huge with twenty tackles in the match to Soccer.

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Speaker 1: The Washington Spirit clinched their spot in the NWSL playoffs

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Speaker 1: on Sunday with a four nail win over the Houston Dash.

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Speaker 1: This is the Spirit's second straight playoff berth and sixth

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Speaker 1: all time. The win also extended the team's unbeaten streak

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Speaker 1: to six games.

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Speaker 2: Gift Monday was.

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Speaker 1: The star of the show for Washington, scoring a hat

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Speaker 1: trick in the first half. The performance catabolted her up

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Speaker 1: to fourth place in the Golden Boot Race. She's now

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Speaker 1: got eight goals this season. Speaking of the Golden Boot Race,

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Speaker 1: ten Washaweinga took control of the top spot over the weekend,

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Speaker 1: scoring once in the Kansas City Current's for to one

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Speaker 1: win over the Chicago Stars on Friday. Sheweinga's now got

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Speaker 1: fourteen goals in twenty one games and has scored in

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Speaker 1: three straight matches. Showinga's teammate Debinia notched a goal for

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Speaker 1: Casey as well in that one. She's now got seventy

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Speaker 1: eight total tallies, tied with Sam Kerr for the third

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Speaker 1: most goals in league history. Lynn bian Doolo leads the

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Speaker 1: way with eighty two, followed by Christine Sinclair's seventy nine.

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Speaker 1: Low Labanta netted one for the Current in that contest

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Speaker 1: against the Stars as well, and was from the penalty spot,

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Speaker 1: her fourteenth penalty kick goal. She's now tied with Megan

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Speaker 1: Rapino for the most in NWSL history. Friday Has Went

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Speaker 1: over the Stars was the Current's eighteenth regular season dub,

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Speaker 1: extending the club's single season record and matching the NWSL

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Speaker 1: record for most wins in a single regular season, and

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Speaker 1: their fifty six points are a new club record for points.

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Speaker 2: In a single season.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 1: Chicago's lone goal in that one did snap the Currents

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Speaker 1: NWSL record streaks of nine shutout matches and eight hundred

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Speaker 1: and sixty nine shutout minutes, but that's a small consolation

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Speaker 1: for the Stars, who are officially out of playoff contention

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Speaker 1: After the loss and the NWSL Got Them FC continued

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Speaker 1: its own unbeaten streak with a three nail win over

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Speaker 1: the Portland Thorns. Friday Night Got Them has now won

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Speaker 1: its last six games and is unbeaten in its last nine.

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Speaker 1: For Portland, the loss was the team's largest defeat of

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Speaker 1: the season, and they've now got just one win in

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Speaker 1: their last seven games. The Thorns dropped a spot in

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Speaker 1: the standings. They're now sitting at fifth with four games

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Speaker 1: left to play. There are still a lot of potential

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Speaker 1: scenarios for the Thorns. They could still host a playoff game,

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Speaker 1: or they could miss the postseason entirely. The team is

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Speaker 1: only three points ahead of the ninth place North Carolina

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Speaker 1: Courage More on WSL. On Friday, the Orlando Pride earned

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Speaker 1: a two to one win over the San Diego Wave,

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Speaker 1: earning a full three points in a game for the

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Speaker 1: first time since June thirteenth. Not a lot of time

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Speaker 1: to celebrate for the Pride, though. They'll take the pitch

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Speaker 1: again on Tuesday in Mexico for a match against Club

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Speaker 1: America Feminil in CONCACAF W Champions Cup. That game will

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Speaker 1: be the pride first ever against Club America Menil.

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Speaker 2: More Soccer.

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Speaker 1: On Saturday, and Louisville Racing FC beat Angel City one

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Speaker 1: nil notch in a club record eighth win this season.

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Speaker 1: Louisville's twenty nine points are the most in the team's

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Speaker 1: five year history.

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Speaker 2: They're on a.

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Speaker 1: Mission to make the playoffs for the first time in

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Speaker 1: franchise history, and as of this recording, they're currently hanging

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Speaker 1: on in eighth place. Also, huge congratulations to the Utah

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Speaker 1: Royals Aisha soler Zano, who buried the first goal of

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Speaker 1: her NWSL career in the royals two nil win over

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Speaker 1: BAFC on Saturday. She also became the first Guatemalan player

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Speaker 1: to score a goal in NWSL history. In gymnastics news,

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Speaker 1: Team USA's World selection camp begins today, but Olympic gold medalist,

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Speaker 1: reigning US champion and heavy favorite Hesley Rivera will not

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Speaker 1: be participating due to an ankle injury. This means she

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Speaker 1: will not be available for selection to the Gymnastics World

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Speaker 1: Championships team, set to compete next month. Rivera announced her

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Speaker 1: withdrawal from selection camp via Instagram story on Friday afternoon, writing,

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Speaker 1: in part quote, after talking through with my doctors and coaches,

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Speaker 1: I've decided the best thing right now is to sit

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Speaker 1: out of the World Selection camp. I'm definitely bummed about

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Speaker 1: the timing, but I'm excited to cheer on my teammates

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Speaker 1: and TEMUSA from home. My focus is on recovery and

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Speaker 1: coming back stronger in twenty twenty six end quote. Tmusa's

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Speaker 1: four member squad will buy for the World Championships in

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Speaker 1: Indonesia from October nineteenth to twenty fifth.

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Speaker 2: We got to take a quick break.

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Speaker 1: When we come back, we're talking Las Vegas Aces with

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Speaker 1: Callie Finn. We caught up with her on Sunday night,

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Speaker 1: following Indiana's Game four win, but ahead of the Links

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Speaker 1: Mercury contest that's next joining us for a second time.

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Speaker 1: She's a Las Vegas Aces and UNLV sports reporter for

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Speaker 1: the Las Vegas Journal Review, with previous stops at Yahoo Sports, ESPN,

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Speaker 1: Front Office Sports and The Sacramento Observer. She was a

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Speaker 1: college track athlete at UC Riverside in San Francisco State.

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Speaker 1: She just celebrated her one year wedding anniversary, and she

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Speaker 1: recently paused her Insta hiatus to share snaps from Beyonce's

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Speaker 1: Cowboy Carter Tour.

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Speaker 2: I am very jellyfish. It's Calli Finn, Hi.

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Speaker 4: Cali Hi, Sarah. How's it going? Highlight of that show,

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Speaker 4: Destiny's Child's I couldn't believe my eyes. I literally just

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Speaker 4: stood there in awe because you know, I grew up

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Speaker 4: on Destiny's Child. That's like my generation, So to see

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Speaker 4: them all on stage at once, I don't think that

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Speaker 4: happens very often.

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Speaker 2: Ah, very jellyfish. Okay, you're joining us.

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Speaker 1: Just a couple hours after Game four of the Aces

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Speaker 1: Fever series. We are going to five a big win

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Speaker 1: for Indiana to send the series back to Vegas on

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Speaker 1: Tuesday night. Asia Wilson great again third fastest player to

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Speaker 1: a thousand playoff points, behind only Brianna Stewart and Dina

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Speaker 1: Trossi her seven to thirty plus point playoff game, but

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Speaker 1: it wasn't enough. I want to hear from you how

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Speaker 1: you think the Indiana Fever stumped the Aces and how

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Speaker 1: much do you think pace of play is coming in

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Speaker 1: to play in this series?

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Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I mean I think of play was

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Speaker 4: huge in this game. It was clear in the first

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Speaker 4: half to me that the Aces were not prepared for

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Speaker 4: the speed at which the Fever were playing with, and

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Speaker 4: so I think that was huge, and I think that's

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Speaker 4: how you saw some of the turnovers and things like

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Speaker 4: that that put them at the early deficit. I do

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Speaker 4: think though towards you know, in that fourth quarter, there

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Speaker 4: were opportunities for the Aces to still win and some

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Speaker 4: of that I think came down to coaching today, which

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Speaker 4: is not something that you can always say about the ACES.

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Speaker 4: I think Becky Hammond's a great coach, and she normally

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Speaker 4: once she wents out that clipboard, she's making great decisions.

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Speaker 4: But tonight she tried to call a timeout that she

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Speaker 4: didn't have, and even before that, there were just some

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Speaker 4: questionable rotational decisions in my opinion, that really costed the Aces.

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Speaker 1: Are you of an age where your brain immediately goes

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Speaker 1: Chris Webber, because that's what mine does.

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Speaker 2: If you call a time out you don't have.

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Speaker 4: That's what I thought. I mean, I know that that's

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Speaker 4: like when he was in college. I'm pretty here, but

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Speaker 4: I'm from Zacramento, so the Chris Webber lore is like

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Speaker 4: embedded into my brain. And so that was literally my

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Speaker 4: first thought. I'm like, no way, she's pulling a Chris

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Speaker 4: Webber with a shot to go to the finals on

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Speaker 4: the line here and they kind of I mean, I'm

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Speaker 4: covering it remotely. I'm still in Las Vegas. So there

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Speaker 4: was some foreshadowing because ESPN had a camera in the

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Speaker 4: huddle and she says she goes, I have two timeouts

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Speaker 4: in a reset, and in my head. I'm like, no,

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Speaker 4: you don't, please, do not try to do that. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: and Ryan Ruco was like, no, you don't exactly exactly.

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Speaker 4: So that was that was wild, And Chris Webber definitely

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Speaker 4: was the thought.

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Speaker 1: I want to ask about roster decisions for the next

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Speaker 1: one based solely on pace, because you look at a

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Speaker 1: player like Megan Gustafson, who's got fifteen minutes in this game.

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Speaker 1: She looked winded to me early, I'm wondering if you

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Speaker 1: think they need to consider the lineup they're going with,

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Speaker 1: because I imagine that the Fever are going to come

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Speaker 1: right back with that same approach of trying to race

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Speaker 1: them off the court.

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Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean. I asked Becky Hammond about the rotation's

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Speaker 4: postgame and her whole thing was like, I played who

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Speaker 4: I thought was best in the moment, and of course

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Speaker 4: Melissa Smith was in foul trouble, so I guess that's

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Speaker 4: what informed her decision to roll with Main Gussisen down

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Speaker 4: the stretch. But Melissa Smith was an eighth and second

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Speaker 4: leading scorer in that last game that win, and I

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Speaker 4: think maybe that I would have thought that that would

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Speaker 4: have urged her kind of the benefit of the doubt

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Speaker 4: to like maybe take that risk and even have her

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Speaker 4: foul out. At least she's on the court, you know

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Speaker 4: what I mean. So that's like the way that I

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Speaker 4: viewed it. But I agree. I mean, I've I've asked

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Speaker 4: a lot about the lineups because you know, Kirsten Bell

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Speaker 4: has been in the starting lineup since Jule Lloyd decided,

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Speaker 4: I mean kind of forced Becky Hanmon to push her

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Speaker 4: to the bench. And Kirsten Bell has moments. I mean,

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Speaker 4: she had a moment today where she she hit a

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Speaker 4: really crucial three pointer and so this is no knock

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Speaker 4: on her, but I do think when you're trying to

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Speaker 4: put together like a faster lineup, somebody like Dana Evans,

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Speaker 4: I thought she'd have gotten a lot more minutes tonight

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Speaker 4: or today. And you know, Becky kind of just mentioned

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Speaker 4: that she didn't feel like Dana was impactful getting downhill

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Speaker 4: in this game as she was in the last one.

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Speaker 4: So I guess, you know, there are lots of things

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Speaker 4: that she probably needs to take into account. There's a

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Speaker 4: reason why I'm not a Hall of Fame coach and

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Speaker 4: she is. But like you know, maybe part of that

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Speaker 4: is that, you know, like there's a size aspect of

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Speaker 4: it too. If you have Dana on the court with

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Speaker 4: some of the other people you probably want to have

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Speaker 4: out there, then you have a smaller lineup than maybe

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Speaker 4: you want against the Fever, so interesting, interesting decisions to

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Speaker 4: be made.

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Speaker 1: You're leading me right into my next question, which is

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Speaker 1: beyond pace. The other thing that really worked for Indiana

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Speaker 1: was their inside game, particularly Aliah Boston twenty four points,

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Speaker 1: fourteen rebounds.

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Speaker 2: What did you see from her today?

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Speaker 4: I mean, I thought, and this is gonna sound bad,

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Speaker 4: but she's played so physical like she is, and that's

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Speaker 4: really a strength to her game. And so it's funny

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Speaker 4: because afterward Asia Wilson kind of pointed out the free

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Speaker 4: throw discrepancy. I think that alia A Boston made it

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Speaker 4: to the line a lot more his game than Asia did.

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Speaker 4: But what I thought is that, you know, she was

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Speaker 4: just really aggressive from the start and that's what really

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Speaker 4: played to her benefit. And of course, like it's just

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Speaker 4: going to be interesting to keep watching Aliah Boston and

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Speaker 4: Asia Wilson battle. They're both former game Cocks, and I

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Speaker 4: know Don Staley is somewhere probably like just eating popcorn,

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Speaker 4: enjoying herself. But it's it's a really it's it's a

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Speaker 4: tense matchup. You know, you can tell that they're really wanting,

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Speaker 4: you know, to do their best against one another. And

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Speaker 4: so that's what Ali Austin did tonight.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you mentioned the free throws.

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Speaker 1: The specific quote from Asia Wilson was Aliah did say,

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Speaker 1: I have a special whistle, which is cool. We've just

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Speaker 1: got to play better defense, make her looks difficult and

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Speaker 1: go from there. So she seemed to say the she

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Speaker 1: was on the other foot in this game. As you mentioned,

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Speaker 1: thirteen free throws for Aleiah Boston this one, she was

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Speaker 1: ten or thirteen from the line.

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Speaker 2: Overall.

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Speaker 1: She had eleven free throws in the third quarter alone.

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Speaker 1: But it didn't look like foul played to me. It

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Speaker 1: looked like to your point, she was just very aggressive.

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Speaker 1: And we know that this is a Fever team that

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Speaker 1: needs to feast inside. They finished the regular season second

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Speaker 1: in the league in points in the paint. They had

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Speaker 1: been stymied inside through the games that the Aces won

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Speaker 1: in this series, So safe to say that the Aces

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Speaker 1: getting tough inside again will be key to their success

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Speaker 1: in Game.

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Speaker 4: Five oh one hundred percent. I think that's going to

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Speaker 4: be a huge part of it. And also I think

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Speaker 4: controlling the pace of the game. They're going to need

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Speaker 4: to slow things down and look a lot more controlled

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Speaker 4: to win, but they'll have the home court advantage, which

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Speaker 4: I think will go a long way.

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Speaker 1: What are the weaknesses in this Aces team that you've

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Speaker 1: seen the Fever exposed, because it did feel like we've

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Speaker 1: got before blowout and after blowout BB and AB for

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Speaker 1: this Aces team. They changed their season after that fifty

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Speaker 1: three point loss to the Links and they became a

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Speaker 1: new team and that seemed like.

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Speaker 2: The quote unquote real Aces.

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Speaker 1: So if we're talking just about that team, what are

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Speaker 1: the weaknesses that still exist even in a team that

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Speaker 1: can go on a win streak like that that the

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Speaker 1: Fever have found a way to expels.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think ball movement is a key one.

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Speaker 4: If the ball's not popping for the Aces, then things

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Speaker 4: are not going to go well. And I think that

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Speaker 4: there were lots of times where they just weren't able

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Speaker 4: to move the ball and ways that we've seen them

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Speaker 4: during that wind streak. So that's one. And then I

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Speaker 4: also think, just like defense, if you can if you

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Speaker 4: can get the Aces to look a step behind defensively

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Speaker 4: and start to look a little bit discombobulated defensively. Then

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Speaker 4: you've got the pre But what were we saying pre

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Speaker 4: bb like before blowout team, that's B.

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Speaker 2: B and a B before blown and after a blowout.

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Speaker 4: Exactly like that's that's a huge part of it is defense,

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Speaker 4: and so tonight I thought their defense was lacking and

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Speaker 4: there were lots of times where the ball movement just

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Speaker 4: wasn't there. And it's unfortunate because when the ball's moving,

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Speaker 4: the ace st are so fun to watch, but that

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Speaker 4: really wasn't the case today.

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Speaker 1: It's interesting you mentioned that because defense and sort of

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Speaker 1: just energy have been the two I think points of

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Speaker 1: contention for Becky Hammond all season and Game one of

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Speaker 1: this had that familiar feeling and aces team that didn't

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Speaker 1: have what Hammond called pep, which sometimes is just another

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Speaker 1: word for Asia Wilson having an off night and sometimes

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Speaker 1: is the whole team just not showing up, not being

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Speaker 1: consistently ready to put in the effort on defense, missing

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Speaker 1: layups like the fundamentals.

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Speaker 2: Can you get a feeling after.

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Speaker 1: Covering this team all season long why they sometimes have

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Speaker 1: those lapses and why it happened so often, particularly in

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Speaker 1: the first half of the season.

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Speaker 4: Oh, that's a good question. I mean, I think the

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Speaker 4: game that you're talking about, I think that was you know,

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Speaker 4: they opened the series game one without some pep, and

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Speaker 4: I think that one was a little bit more obvious

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Speaker 4: to me because Ajia Wilson is going through all these emotions,

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Speaker 4: the team's going through these emotions because she's being presented

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Speaker 4: with an unprecedented fourth MVP award. You know, that's a

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Speaker 4: big deal, even though she'd already received it. It's like

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Speaker 4: she's reliving the emotions again. And so I like anticipated that.

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Speaker 4: I had a feeling that they were just going to

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Speaker 4: be off, and they were, And so I think that

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Speaker 4: sometimes that's maybe that's like oversimplifying it, but a lot

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Speaker 4: of times it seems like when there are things going

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Speaker 4: on off the court, they might leach on to the

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Speaker 4: court for the ases. Now I'm not saying that that

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Speaker 4: was the case for the uh entirety of the rough

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Speaker 4: first half of the season. I think, you know, in

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Speaker 4: terms of like their energy and effort, a lot of

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Speaker 4: that was just like they're just trying to find some

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Speaker 4: cohesive flow and they were doing a lot of like

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Speaker 4: you know, storming, norming and performing. I guess this is

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Speaker 4: what they had going on, like it was, it was

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Speaker 4: just a process for them at first. But I do think,

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Speaker 4: you know, just for Game one, that one was pretty

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Speaker 4: obvious to me, like, Okay, they're gonna be off, and

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Speaker 4: they were.

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Speaker 1: I'm not familiar with storming, norming, and performing. Will you

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Speaker 1: tell me what each of those mean in basketball context?

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Speaker 4: Okay, well that's really even stocking storming. This is a

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Speaker 4: term that I learned, like in high school. I think

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Speaker 4: it's it's used in like corporate settings a lot like

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Speaker 4: it's it's when teams are you know, it's the phases

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Speaker 4: of becoming a cohesive team. You got a storm norm

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Speaker 4: until you can perform for the aces. I think the

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00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,719
Speaker 4: storming was a lot of like figuring out people's roles

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Speaker 4: and also learning the defense. And I don't think and

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Speaker 4: to be honest, I still I've done a lot of

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Speaker 4: thought about the defense because they were they were incorporating

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Speaker 4: new things with new assistance, so that that's it was stormy.

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Speaker 4: It was a storm. Things were rough, nobody knew what

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Speaker 4: was going on, but then people found their roles and

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Speaker 4: then they found their norms, you know, like Joel Lloyd

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Speaker 4: really fit into her role, yes, and like they kind

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Speaker 4: of they got accustomed to a new defense. They also

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Speaker 4: threw out some of the things that they were trying

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Speaker 4: to do defensively that weren't working and all. Then they

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Speaker 4: incorporated these like you know, player led defensive scouts. Like

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Speaker 4: that's storming and normy in a corporate sense. Yeah, and

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Speaker 4: so now they're performing.

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Speaker 1: You're really teaching me here, Yeah, you're really teaching me here.

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Speaker 1: I just looked it up. Apparently there's a man by

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Speaker 1: the name of Bruce Tuckman who in nineteen sixty five

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Speaker 1: proposed a model of group development called forming, storming, norming, performing,

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Speaker 1: and he said all those faces are necessary and inevitable

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Speaker 1: for a team to grow, face up to challenges, tackle problems,

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Speaker 1: find solutions, and deliver results.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's known as the Tuckman ladder.

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Speaker 1: So look at you, just grabbing some random ass Bruce

434
00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:22,520
Speaker 1: Tuckman development model from nineteen sixty five and definitely applying

435
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:23,040
Speaker 1: it to the team.

436
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:24,480
Speaker 2: You cover something I've never heard of.

437
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,600
Speaker 1: I have learned enough already for this interview to be

438
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,960
Speaker 1: a success. Let's talk the most important thing, which is

439
00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:35,239
Speaker 1: Steph White's red leather jacket is allegedly undefeated. Someone at

440
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:36,639
Speaker 1: the ACE has got to tie that thing up at

441
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:37,560
Speaker 1: the dry cleaner's. Huh.

442
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,400
Speaker 2: Someone's got to get that out of her clutches.

443
00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:42,960
Speaker 4: Yes, I just learned that today. I saw to me

444
00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,320
Speaker 4: about the red leather jacket. I had no idea. Apparently

445
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:47,480
Speaker 4: this stretches back. This is stretched back to the Connecticut sun.

446
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,199
Speaker 4: Even like this is a real thing. All I know

447
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,880
Speaker 4: is the Aces have something similar. It's not I don't

448
00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,720
Speaker 4: think it's as well documented. But when the whole team

449
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,639
Speaker 4: wears the like Hammond blazer hoodie, I call it the

450
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,320
Speaker 4: Blizziti combo. When there's like this red one and black

451
00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:07,960
Speaker 4: one with the whole staff will wear, they have a

452
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,080
Speaker 4: pretty good record when they unite. In that sense. That

453
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:12,960
Speaker 4: means that beck and Hammond also has to wear the

454
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,480
Speaker 4: black blazer with the red hoodie. Somebody's gonna have to

455
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,200
Speaker 4: actually do. Like the stats, I don't know, but I'm

456
00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,240
Speaker 4: sure that number is good because it doesn't happen very often,

457
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,919
Speaker 4: and I normally notice it in wins when they're like

458
00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:24,119
Speaker 4: united with the Blazziti.

459
00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,080
Speaker 1: Would help if they were united both with the Blizzuriti

460
00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:29,280
Speaker 1: but also in how many timeouts they have, because I'm

461
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,720
Speaker 1: pretty sure that's also one of her assistant coaches and

462
00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 1: staff members responsibility to make sure she knows exactly how

463
00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,720
Speaker 1: many they have. I want to ask you, Cheryl Reeve

464
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:42,159
Speaker 1: after Game three of that series accuse the League of

465
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:46,159
Speaker 1: quote unquote malpractice for assigning the certain officials.

466
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:48,040
Speaker 2: She had a lot of criticism of how the game

467
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 2: was called.

468
00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:51,919
Speaker 1: That same group of officials worked today's game four between

469
00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,160
Speaker 1: the Aces and fever. You got a grade for them.

470
00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:55,679
Speaker 1: What did you think of the call today? Did it

471
00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:56,440
Speaker 1: feel right?

472
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:57,360
Speaker 2: How things went?

473
00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:59,840
Speaker 4: Did it feel right? You know what? To be honest,

474
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,199
Speaker 4: I was watching the game and thinking, I don't know

475
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,600
Speaker 4: about some of these calls. I'm a little bit confused

476
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:07,680
Speaker 4: by some of them. And I think, I mean, there

477
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,200
Speaker 4: was one where, like I think it was like Leah

478
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,159
Speaker 4: Boston felt to the floor and then somehow like Melissa

479
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,159
Speaker 4: Smith got called for a foul and I was like,

480
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 4: wait a minute, this doesn't even make sense. But you know,

481
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:22,359
Speaker 4: obviously Becky has been quite vocal about the officiating. He

482
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 4: knew what she was walking into. Because Cheryl, like Becky,

483
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:28,840
Speaker 4: has been so vocal about the officiating that Cheryl Reeve

484
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,719
Speaker 4: referenced Becky in her comments that helped her get suspended.

485
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:35,920
Speaker 4: So clearly like Becky knows what she's going into. It

486
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,520
Speaker 4: shouldn't really come has to come down to officiating. But

487
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:41,400
Speaker 4: the differential tonight was significant. I think the Aces had

488
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 4: like eleven free throw attempts as a team and the

489
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,600
Speaker 4: Fever had something closer to like thirty something. You have

490
00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 4: to check my math on. I don't know the numbers.

491
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:53,920
Speaker 1: Aces had eleven and the Fever had thirty four. Ooh, yeah,

492
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,479
Speaker 1: it was a big difference. I personally watching it with

493
00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 1: the eye test, there were a couple that I was like,

494
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,359
Speaker 1: that didn't seem right, But for the most part, it

495
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,080
Speaker 1: just felt like there was a much more aggressive game,

496
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,040
Speaker 1: both in terms of pace and approach from the Fever.

497
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 1: So sometimes those discrepancies are decided by style of play.

498
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,000
Speaker 1: There were a couple that were a little head scratching,

499
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:18,760
Speaker 1: but certainly nothing to get ejected and suspended over tonight.

500
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:20,800
Speaker 4: Right, No, definitely nothing like that.

501
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:26,840
Speaker 1: What do you need to see from the Aces on

502
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:28,679
Speaker 1: Tuesday night to get a win in Game five in

503
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:30,720
Speaker 1: advance to the WNBA Finals.

504
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,000
Speaker 4: Well, they're gonna need what they got from Asia, like

505
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,040
Speaker 4: a bare minimum. I know that. You know, you talk

506
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,480
Speaker 4: a lot about how like she can have an off

507
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:42,719
Speaker 4: night and this type of thing, but like she cannot

508
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:46,960
Speaker 4: afford to have any kind of off night and this

509
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,320
Speaker 4: this really important game five, So I think that's going

510
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:51,840
Speaker 4: to be a huge part of it. But also they're

511
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,719
Speaker 4: supporting cast, Like I think the Guard play tonight. There

512
00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 4: were some moments where I was just like, I don't

513
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,240
Speaker 4: really understand what's going on, So that's gonna have to

514
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:04,080
Speaker 4: be super And then like we talked about defense, that's

515
00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:07,000
Speaker 4: going to be huge and just controlling the pace. I

516
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,120
Speaker 4: don't think that you can get caught into the type

517
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,080
Speaker 4: of game that the Fever are gonna want to play,

518
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:12,800
Speaker 4: because they're going to want to get you in transition

519
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,080
Speaker 4: and do all these different things, and the Aces can't

520
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:17,679
Speaker 4: really keep up with that unfortunately, so they got to

521
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,400
Speaker 4: just stay composed and keep the game controlled.

522
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:22,560
Speaker 1: I want to zoom out just a little, because you're

523
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 1: about as close to this Aces team as someone can get.

524
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:26,600
Speaker 2: You been covering them all season long.

525
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,360
Speaker 1: What did you notice about them before and after that

526
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:34,600
Speaker 1: big blowout BB and AB that marked that season pivot point?

527
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 1: Could you tell by going to practice or games or

528
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,280
Speaker 1: interviewing players or talking to Becky was there a shift

529
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,280
Speaker 1: that was noticeable because that was an incredible.

530
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,720
Speaker 2: Season saving change for them.

531
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:50,679
Speaker 1: Whatever it was that happened after they got blown them out,

532
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:52,240
Speaker 1: they came back and they were different.

533
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,480
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a really good question. I don't I don't

534
00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,359
Speaker 4: know if I've thought about it in that sense, because

535
00:25:58,359 --> 00:25:59,720
Speaker 4: to me, I'm mean, I hite to go back to

536
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:01,760
Speaker 4: the story ignorming before me. But I really think it

537
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,880
Speaker 4: was like a gradual process. I think I've even seen

538
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:08,560
Speaker 4: people try to point to these like player led defensive

539
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:10,480
Speaker 4: scouts the days that started doing and being like, well,

540
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,520
Speaker 4: that was the turning point, but it was not the

541
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 4: turning point because they actually started that before they took

542
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,960
Speaker 4: their historic fifty three point loss to the Minnesota Links.

543
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,199
Speaker 4: They were like they were doing well with that for

544
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,919
Speaker 4: like two games before the loss of the Links, they

545
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,720
Speaker 4: were still doing the defensive scout, you know. Dir Like

546
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,199
Speaker 4: with that loss happened, but they continued, you know. So

547
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,960
Speaker 4: I don't think it's as simple as a lot of

548
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:34,000
Speaker 4: people try to make it seem. I do think Asian

549
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 4: Wilson's leadership is something that has really just stood out

550
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,840
Speaker 4: to me throughout and I think definitely kind of ratshet

551
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:45,720
Speaker 4: it up. Like when things started turning around. So I think, absolutely,

552
00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,000
Speaker 4: she's this is her team and we all know that,

553
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:52,600
Speaker 4: and she's i think consistentlycently been a vocal leader. But

554
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,960
Speaker 4: I think especially this year, like the links that she's

555
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,679
Speaker 4: gone to, Like I've had players tell me that she

556
00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 4: sends them like individualized text message is and it's like

557
00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,040
Speaker 4: pulling them aside and doing all these different things. And

558
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:05,600
Speaker 4: so that is something that I think stands out to me,

559
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,520
Speaker 4: is like Asia Wilson really stepping into her role as

560
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 4: a leader. And but again I don't think that that

561
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:14,800
Speaker 4: was like before and after losing streak. It just kind

562
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:16,480
Speaker 4: of it was something she had to kind of grow

563
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 4: into just s gradual.

564
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:20,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, what about Becky Hammond? Did you see her shift

565
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,560
Speaker 1: style at all, whether it's approach to the game plan,

566
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,479
Speaker 1: whether it's approached to how she handled her players and

567
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:28,400
Speaker 1: talked to them to get the most out of this

568
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 1: particular group.

569
00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 4: I think, you know, last year was my first season

570
00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 4: covering this team, and last year was a different group,

571
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,359
Speaker 4: and I watched her yell a lot, and I watched

572
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:40,840
Speaker 4: her be really tough with that group, and so I

573
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,920
Speaker 4: think that that's kind of what I came to expect

574
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 4: from her. And I've spoken about this before, but this

575
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 4: year I saw I've seen a lot less of that.

576
00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,359
Speaker 4: Just it's been a completely different Becky. Like, obviously, yes,

577
00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:55,399
Speaker 4: she is gonna yell because she's Becky Hammond. That's like

578
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,560
Speaker 4: part of what she's going to do. But so much

579
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,960
Speaker 4: of what I've seen from her seemed a lot more

580
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,840
Speaker 4: like gentle, you know, she's really trying to like understand

581
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:08,720
Speaker 4: what everybody needs and be you know, really receptive. And

582
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:13,680
Speaker 4: I do think that Becky Hammond is someone who, I mean, respectfully,

583
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:15,880
Speaker 4: she seems like she could be a little bit stubborn.

584
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,520
Speaker 4: I think that she has like a way that she

585
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 4: wants things to be, and I think that this year

586
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,879
Speaker 4: she's been forced out of that a little bit, even

587
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 4: with Joel Lloyd not being like the you know, star

588
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 4: starter that maybe we all imagined that she would be

589
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:33,760
Speaker 4: when she was traded to the Aces. So I think

590
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,639
Speaker 4: that that's part of it. But like, I don't know,

591
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:39,200
Speaker 4: I think she just seems a lot more flexible, and

592
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,800
Speaker 4: she's like pouring into these players a lot more as people.

593
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:43,680
Speaker 4: Not to say that she didn't do that in the past,

594
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,880
Speaker 4: but like, you know, she's giving gifts to people, she

595
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:49,760
Speaker 4: gave plants to people at the start of the season,

596
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,640
Speaker 4: with like individualized messages and all these different things that

597
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 4: I never heard of her doing last year. She's going

598
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,080
Speaker 4: to one on one dinners with Ricky's like Leah and

599
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,840
Speaker 4: I to get them out of shooting slumps. And these

600
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,800
Speaker 4: are all things that are new to me and seem

601
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,320
Speaker 4: like they were just kind of because of what this

602
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 4: group required.

603
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 1: Sign of a good leader to know that everybody is

604
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,440
Speaker 1: going to be motivated differently and to say I am

605
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,640
Speaker 1: stubborn about what I think works, but if it's not work,

606
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:17,240
Speaker 1: and then I got to figure out if these people

607
00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:21,240
Speaker 1: need something else. Last quick question for you. I know

608
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 1: certain WNBA reporters across the last couple of seasons in particular,

609
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,240
Speaker 1: have faced the wrath of some very rabid fans. How

610
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:30,360
Speaker 1: has the season been for you covering this team that

611
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:32,920
Speaker 1: has had such highs and lows. I don't know if

612
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:34,960
Speaker 1: you were critical of them in any of your stories

613
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 1: midway through when that things looked really dire, and just

614
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,479
Speaker 1: has it been an enjoyable, interesting season for you because

615
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,160
Speaker 1: of the highs and lows or more like pulling your

616
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 1: hair out.

617
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 4: Oh my goodness, that's a great question. I don't know

618
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:50,800
Speaker 4: if this is like directly what you're asking, but I

619
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,840
Speaker 4: will say last year I struggled more with like the

620
00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 4: feedback and things like that that I received than I

621
00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,640
Speaker 4: have this year, because I think last year not only

622
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:01,640
Speaker 4: was I new to the job, but it was also

623
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:04,360
Speaker 4: just like an unprecedented time we were dealing with, like

624
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 4: the influx of fans and kind of newcomers. I think

625
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:13,280
Speaker 4: to the league that company, the arrival of all All

626
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,280
Speaker 4: Star rookie Kayln Clark, you know, that was that was

627
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,680
Speaker 4: a really huge thing that impacted my experience, and I

628
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,480
Speaker 4: think I dealt with a lot of negativity covering the

629
00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:27,080
Speaker 4: ass I think Asia Wilson was positioned almost as like

630
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,240
Speaker 4: an anti I don't even it wasn't even just Asia,

631
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,600
Speaker 4: it was like the whole team. But there was just

632
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,360
Speaker 4: a lot of negativity that I dealt with last year.

633
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 4: And then I think that this year it's been different,

634
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,640
Speaker 4: you know, like you said, it's more like this team

635
00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,640
Speaker 4: is struggling more than it has in the past. And

636
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,480
Speaker 4: so sure, I definitely wrote critical stories, but that's like

637
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,640
Speaker 4: part of the job, and I never really I never

638
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 4: really had issues with that. I think, even like having

639
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 4: one on one interviews with Nikki Fargus, who's the president

640
00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,800
Speaker 4: and almost like acting GM of the the team, and

641
00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:01,600
Speaker 4: how I mean to ask questions like hey, like why

642
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 4: did you guys do this? Why did you treat a

643
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:05,960
Speaker 4: first round pick for Melissa Smith? And kind of having

644
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,080
Speaker 4: to be a little bit harder like that didn't bother

645
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 4: me at all. Having to be like the only one

646
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 4: asking questions and after losses and things like that, that's

647
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 4: like normal struggles. So I appreciate these struggles versus the

648
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:18,920
Speaker 4: ones that I had last year.

649
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,880
Speaker 1: Agreed, I just like keeping tabs on how things are going.

650
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 1: I'm very fascinated by this inflection point in the league,

651
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 1: and very empathetic to the folks, especially newbies in the

652
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:30,080
Speaker 1: business that are like what I'm like.

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00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,200
Speaker 2: Sit down, youngster, let me talk to you about the Internet.

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00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:36,520
Speaker 4: I should have probably reached out to you during the

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00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:39,320
Speaker 4: time like I had like last year of people I

656
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,239
Speaker 4: had people calling me Bracis were like, you know, if

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00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,960
Speaker 4: if I didn't, it's just crazy wild things about like

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00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,720
Speaker 4: just the way that like Kaitlyn Park was covered and

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00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 4: I wasn't even really directly covering her. It only be

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00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 4: like the games that I had to cover where the

661
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,640
Speaker 4: Fever were playing with the Aces and it was just

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00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:56,200
Speaker 4: really crazy. It was a crazy time.

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00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:58,360
Speaker 2: Onward and upboard hopefully.

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00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,040
Speaker 1: And speaking of that, we've now reached the final stage

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00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:05,680
Speaker 1: added actually by Tuckman in nineteen seventy seven, adjourning, which

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00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 1: is when you break the group up after they have performed.

667
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:11,600
Speaker 2: So we have to adjourn this interview anyway. I will

668
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:12,400
Speaker 2: never break up with you.

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00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: We hope the Aces aim to avoid that on Tuesday

670
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,800
Speaker 1: night and continue performing by making it to the finals.

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00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:20,280
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for the time, Calli appreciate it.

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00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:21,160
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me.

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00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:26,680
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to Calli for joining us. We got

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00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:38,080
Speaker 1: to take another break when we come back. Superstar side quests.

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00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:40,720
Speaker 2: Welcome Backslics.

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00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:42,640
Speaker 1: You know that we love when you listen, but we

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00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:44,240
Speaker 1: want you to get in the game every day too.

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00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:46,680
Speaker 1: So here's our good game play of the day. It's

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00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:50,000
Speaker 1: an easy one. Follow Calli if you aren't already. She's

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00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,480
Speaker 1: pretty awesome and her work is excellent. We'll link to

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00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,280
Speaker 1: our social media accounts in our show notes. We always

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00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:56,680
Speaker 1: love to hear from you, so hit us up on

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00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:59,880
Speaker 1: email Good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us

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00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:02,000
Speaker 1: a joy smail at eight seven two two o four

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00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:06,440
Speaker 1: fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review slaces.

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00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,480
Speaker 2: I tell you every time, it's so easy.

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00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:14,040
Speaker 1: Watch Hooper's proven that they're more than just basketball players,

688
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,800
Speaker 1: rating ten out of ten. Impressive side Quests review, no

689
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,480
Speaker 1: shutting up and dribbling here. Women's hoopstars are showing up

690
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:25,560
Speaker 1: off the court in some incredible ways, including the Las

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00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,920
Speaker 1: Vegas Aces, Megan Gustafson releasing a children's book called Pancakes

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00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:34,120
Speaker 1: Passport about her adventures with her Corgie Pancake, and the

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00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:38,720
Speaker 1: Chicago Sky's Angel Reese making her feature film debut alongside

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00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:42,120
Speaker 1: Idris Elba in Catherine Bigelow's A House of Dynamite, which

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00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:45,200
Speaker 1: you can watch now on Netflix. College bawlers are getting

696
00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,280
Speaker 1: in on the action two with the Queen of side

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00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:51,480
Speaker 1: Quests herself, Flage Johnson, adding cover Girl to her titles,

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00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,040
Speaker 1: gracing the September cover of Teen Vogue. We're glad she

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00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 1: found some time to glam up in between running wind sprints.

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00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 1: If you haven't seen Flage playful Beef with LSU coach

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00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,080
Speaker 1: Kim Moulke, we'll link to the instaclips in the show

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00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 1: notes Now it's your turn slices, rate and review. Thanks

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00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:11,719
Speaker 1: for listening, See you tomorrow. Good Game CALLI Good Game

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00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:16,840
Speaker 1: England Red Roses few incidental contact. It's no one's fault, really,

705
00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:19,360
Speaker 1: but damn it, it sucks when it results in injuries.

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00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,760
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports

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00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:28,960
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You

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00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,120
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,760
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,

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00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,440
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive

711
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:43,880
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.

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00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,719
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and

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00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:52,240
Speaker 1: Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistance

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00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,440
Speaker 1: from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain