Speaker 1: In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
Speaker 1: and Entertainment. What's Up, everyone, Welcome back to another special
Speaker 1: edition of In Case You Miss It with Christina Williams.
Speaker 1: Here on the iHeartRadio app and the WNBA Finals are
Speaker 1: underway and heading back to Minnesota where the series is
Speaker 1: tied between the Liberty and the Links. At one apiece,
Speaker 1: joining me to break it all down. His friend to
Speaker 1: the show and co host of the Dunker Spot podcast,
Speaker 1: Maikaias Duncan Macaias, Welcome back to the show.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. I'm glad I didn't bomb my
Speaker 2: first appearance. I could come back excited to talk to
Speaker 2: hoop with you now.
Speaker 1: You always are invited on this show. You're like one
Speaker 1: of my favorite basketball minds. All right, Nikaias Liberty Links
Speaker 1: finals are tied the series one one? What have you
Speaker 1: been seeing throughout this series that stands out to you?
Speaker 2: I have been seeing a whole lot of defense in
Speaker 2: this series, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
Speaker 2: These were the two best teams in the league. These
Speaker 2: were two of the top four defenses in the league,
Speaker 2: and because of the versatility that they have in the
Speaker 2: front court, in particular John quel Abreonna Stewart with New York,
Speaker 2: Lafisa Collier, and Atlanta Smith with Minnesota, they can execute
Speaker 2: so many different coverages. And I think the series through
Speaker 2: the first two games has really been how Sabrindi and
Speaker 2: Escuo is going to respond to the coverages that she
Speaker 2: seing and looking at the game too, how Courtney Wiams
Speaker 2: is going to respond to the coverages that she's seen.
Speaker 2: Like something that's popped for me. Through the first two games,
Speaker 2: we saw a high volume of switching in that game
Speaker 2: one against Sabrinia and Escue to something that she talked about,
Speaker 2: something that Sandy Brundello talked about not want the offense
Speaker 2: to get too stagnant. The emphasis on making quick decisions
Speaker 2: and swinging the ball were necessary. And we saw a
Speaker 2: much better job and a much better start from Sabrina
Speaker 2: in Game two, twelve or fifteen points coming in that
Speaker 2: first quarter, and she just looked much more decisive than
Speaker 2: she did in that first game. And we look at
Speaker 2: the other side of the floor with Courtney Williams making
Speaker 2: big shots, making big plays, specifically towards the end of
Speaker 2: that game one. The in game two it is Minnesota
Speaker 2: saying actually, or New York saying, actually, this is flatting
Speaker 2: us out. Will switch John Quell out on, you, will
Speaker 2: blitz John Quyll Sometimes we're gonna switch Stewarie on, you
Speaker 2: gonna mess with the matchups, and watching Courtney Williams kind
Speaker 2: of cycle through that and figure out what New York's
Speaker 2: trying to do became a fun little game within the game.
Speaker 2: So I'm it's been a lot of fun defense so
Speaker 2: far for me through too.
Speaker 1: Listen, and how about Brandon Stewart in game two, it's
Speaker 1: seven steals. I mean, Stueie is just putting a defensive
Speaker 1: master class on display, as is Nafisa Collier, Who's the
Speaker 1: defensive player of the year. Okay, so in your opinion,
Speaker 1: who's been the best player throughout the first two games?
Speaker 2: You know, I was thinking about this earlier today because
Speaker 2: I wanted to tweet out like a premature finals MVP,
Speaker 2: like power ranking type fit, and I was like, you, actually,
Speaker 2: I really don't know, Like I probably lean Brianna Stewart,
Speaker 2: like she hasn't had much success going inside the York
Speaker 2: so far. We'll see if some of those short jumpers fall,
Speaker 2: but like the threes have mostly been there, particularly in
Speaker 2: that game too. The defense has been outstanding, not just
Speaker 2: in this series but throughout the entire season. Really, I
Speaker 2: think she had a really rate the Defensive Player of
Speaker 2: the Year case this year, like I think some of
Speaker 2: like the on court ratings are slightly better. Again, it's
Speaker 2: a two game sample, so how much does that really matter?
Speaker 2: But you could argue Courtney Wims. You could arguing in
Speaker 2: the Feasta Collier. I think we are in for some
Speaker 2: fun and trying to figure out who the finals VP's
Speaker 2: actually gonna be as the series goes on.
Speaker 3: Listen, I agree and New York.
Speaker 1: This is a must win game obviously for both teams
Speaker 1: because the series is tied. I know that Leoni Thievich
Speaker 1: has been playing phenomenally in this postseason. She hit that
Speaker 1: three pointer and everyone had their hands like, what are
Speaker 1: you doing? Ba's the ball with Stewie, She's open. But
Speaker 1: who do you think has been the biggest X factor
Speaker 1: for each team throughout the series.
Speaker 2: I guess if we're removing the obvious characters, it could
Speaker 2: just be Benije Lady Hamilton. Honestly, like that just broke
Speaker 2: out with the twenty point game. That was her first
Speaker 2: double digit scoring game since I believe game one of
Speaker 2: the Atlanta series. So naturally getting that scoring punch, but
Speaker 2: the decision making for her is going to be important.
Speaker 2: How quickly is she decided to shoot, how quickly is
Speaker 2: he deciding to drive? What are those entry passes to
Speaker 2: look like when she's trying to feed John Quill. But ultimately,
Speaker 2: the defense has been really strong throughout this entire postseason run.
Speaker 2: I think her early ball pressure on Courtney Winias in
Speaker 2: particular has been impactful, making Minnesota work deep into the clock.
Speaker 2: And so when she has a game like she did
Speaker 2: in Game two, where she's hitting corner threes on top
Speaker 2: of the defense and on top of the you know
Speaker 2: everything else, she provides like, it's such a swing for
Speaker 2: New York. So I guess I would go with Benija
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And if you look at the series from last
Speaker 1: year against the Aces, it was also Benija and Landy
Speaker 1: Hamilton who was sort of that X factor.
Speaker 3: Because people are so.
Speaker 1: Help bent on what she can do defensively, they almost
Speaker 1: forget that she's a bucket on offense as well, and
Speaker 1: so just to see her just overcome a lot of
Speaker 1: adversity with getting back into the swing of things post
Speaker 1: injury and surgery this season.
Speaker 3: I think it's great to see.
Speaker 1: I think she needed that game, that twenty point game,
Speaker 1: just for a confidence booster for herself going into Games
Speaker 1: three and four Minnesota, they're gonna need to win on
Speaker 1: the road if they want.
Speaker 3: To win this championship.
Speaker 1: Which player did you expect to see step up for
Speaker 1: the rest of the series. I mean, we talked about
Speaker 1: Jolane Hamilton, but on the Minnesota ink side, for me,
Speaker 1: I think it's kill and McBride.
Speaker 3: I would like to see her, you know, be a
Speaker 3: little bit more consistent. But what do you think, because.
Speaker 2: I also go to the Minnesota's side, I think Kayla
Speaker 2: is shooting the leather off the ball right now, but
Speaker 2: to your point, it hasn't been a consistent wave of
Speaker 2: production for her, so you would love to see that.
Speaker 2: If you're Minnesota, I probably go to Bridget Carlton. I
Speaker 2: think because of the year that she's had and because
Speaker 2: of the postseason run that she's had, the three point
Speaker 2: shooting hasn't hit quite the same, but she is still
Speaker 2: someone that can knock down big shots when they matter.
Speaker 2: I think a little bit more from her offensively be helpful.
Speaker 2: They have used her a little bit as an initiator
Speaker 2: just to counter some of the full court pressure that
Speaker 2: we seen from New York, so she's able to get
Speaker 2: some of the pull up two's going, she's able to
Speaker 2: knock down those crucial threes, and ultimately her defense both
Speaker 2: on the perimeter and when she's been asked to switch
Speaker 2: on to some of the bigger players for the Liberty, Like,
Speaker 2: if that continues to hold up, like I think Minnesota
Speaker 2: could be in good shape. But I do think as
Speaker 2: the serious shifts back to Minnesota, they're going to need
Speaker 2: a big Bridget game, give me an eighteen point out
Speaker 2: and or something like that to really put an exclamation
Speaker 2: point on the type of season that she's had.
Speaker 1: All Right, Nikias, before we stop talking about the playoffs,
Speaker 1: you know, I gotta ask you, who do you have?
Speaker 1: What is your playoff predictions for this series against the
Speaker 1: Liberty Links, Who do you have poisoning up that trophy
Speaker 1: at the end of the series.
Speaker 2: I had the Liberty in five ahead of the series.
Speaker 2: We are now tied, Like, I haven't seen enough to
Speaker 2: shift off of that, so I will stick with the
Speaker 2: Liberty getting their first championship in franchise history. But I
Speaker 2: do think this goes to distance. This has been a
Speaker 2: fun series so far and I don't anticipate that changing all.
Speaker 1: Right, Leakaias has Liberty in five. So Nikayas the Golden
Speaker 1: State Valkyries announced this week their new head coach and
Speaker 1: Natalie Nikowski from the Las Vegas Aces.
Speaker 3: So what do you think about this hire?
Speaker 2: In particular, it feels like a slam dunk to me,
Speaker 2: like as someone that does W coverage, But I'm also
Speaker 2: around the Aces quite a bit, both virtually and in
Speaker 2: person when I can get out there. Like the players
Speaker 2: lover Becky Hammond has a great deal of respect for her.
Speaker 2: She obviously has experience underneath this a staff, she has
Speaker 2: previous NBA experience and so like she already brings a
Speaker 2: wealth of basketball notlice. She's a former player in her
Speaker 2: day on top of that, so she just brings a
Speaker 2: wealth of knowledge verse in terms of diverse backgrounds and
Speaker 2: learning and coaching, her own playing background and the consistent
Speaker 2: message that you hear from Becky from the player like,
Speaker 2: she just has a way of building relationships. And I
Speaker 2: think as we are in this era of not just basketball,
Speaker 2: but in sports like I do think that human connection
Speaker 2: is even more important as people have become more aware
Speaker 2: on how you treat people, what the effects are in
Speaker 2: terms of performance and things like that. So I believe
Speaker 2: the basketball knowledge kind of speaks for herself. The basketball
Speaker 2: experience speaks for herself, but the way she connects with people,
Speaker 2: and like reading the messages that players will tweeting out
Speaker 2: Chelsea Gray, Sidney Colson and others, you could kind of
Speaker 2: see there's a genuine love there beyond the basketball respect.
Speaker 2: So I believe you're to go to State Valkyries, you
Speaker 2: want to make a snap dunk higher. This fits the outline.
Speaker 2: Someone that's been there, that's done that, can connect with
Speaker 2: people and has the actor type to build something from
Speaker 2: the ground up.
Speaker 1: Sad to see that ass coaching staff kind of break
Speaker 1: up a little bit, but I'm excited to see how
Speaker 1: Natalie prospers with the Golden State Valkyries, and also looking
Speaker 1: ahead to the expansion draft that is happening in December. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the Golden State Valkyries are going to you know, have
Speaker 1: the one up on other teams in terms of you know,
Speaker 1: forming their team ahead of the twenty twenty five draft,
Speaker 1: when you look at you know, the hires in the
Speaker 1: front office paired with you know, the players that may
Speaker 1: become available.
Speaker 3: Who can we look.
Speaker 1: To see with the Golden State Valkyries in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 1: And are the rumors about Kelsey Plumb true?
Speaker 2: I understand the rumblings of Kelsey Plum, you are a
Speaker 2: Golden State Valkyrie because she is a free agent, and
Speaker 2: naturally Natalie Nicasse was just there. But with the Aces
Speaker 2: having the core designation available, I would imagine that the
Speaker 2: Aces just core Kelsey Plumb, even if it turns into
Speaker 2: them eventually moving on, Like, it just makes more sense
Speaker 2: to me, Hey, let's core and then let's work on
Speaker 2: a trade destination if that's where it's gonna go, versus
Speaker 2: Kelsey just being an unprotected player and the Valkyries have
Speaker 2: and the ability selector. Like I, I guess, crazier things
Speaker 2: have happened, but like, I just don't foresee something like
Speaker 2: that happening Beyond that, I am just generally curious on
Speaker 2: what the player pool is going to look like. I
Speaker 2: think the rule is you can protect up to six.
Speaker 2: You don't have to protect six players for each team,
Speaker 2: and so I would imagine we're going to see some
Speaker 2: interesting rookie scale players available, Like even if we stick
Speaker 2: with the Aces, I would imagine they're going to keep
Speaker 2: their core for again, I would guess that Kelsey Plum
Speaker 2: gets the court designation and then from there, like does
Speaker 2: Kate Martin become available? Does Kirsten Bell come available? Actually
Speaker 2: didn't have much of a role because of injury, Like
Speaker 2: I would be looking at players or on those lines
Speaker 2: for someone that they may want to pick up. Beyond
Speaker 2: that interesting thing, like I look at Atlanta like I
Speaker 2: would be no reporting here, Like I would be surprised
Speaker 2: if Shyanne Parker Tias is back in Atlanta next season.
Speaker 2: So like, does that become like a primary free agency
Speaker 2: pick up for the Goal Stay Valkyries or just an
Speaker 2: expansion pick for them as they designate, like they're one
Speaker 2: under straight to free agency selection in the draft, Like
Speaker 2: that's probably where I go. And then going to Indiana,
Speaker 2: I guess we would just keep an eye on what
Speaker 2: the Melissa Smith situation is gonna be. I would guess
Speaker 2: they protect her and if nothing else, if they do
Speaker 2: decide to move on, it's going to be a trade
Speaker 2: from there.
Speaker 3: Kensley Mitchell is also going to be a free agent too, so.
Speaker 2: This is true. I believe she I'll have to check
Speaker 2: her who stats, but I believe she still has core eligibility.
Speaker 2: So they made core Kelsey Mitchell as well. So like
Speaker 2: Melissa Smith, will be a player that would keep an
Speaker 2: eye on if she becomes available. That's someone that has
Speaker 2: proven that they can score and grab boards and they
Speaker 2: can be a financial, a foundational scoring piece for you.
Speaker 2: And just curious what she would look like in a
Speaker 2: different situation altogether if this was an up and down
Speaker 2: season for her, But those would probably be the names
Speaker 2: that come to mind first for me.
Speaker 1: Sticking on the Aces, what do you think they need
Speaker 1: next season in order to get better?
Speaker 2: I think, well, one just an off season to recharge
Speaker 2: and fully heal. As you get the reporting on Chelsea Gray,
Speaker 2: the Aces had their docu series on her and she
Speaker 2: went into in detail what she was dealing with, what
Speaker 2: she was coming back from. So I think one just
Speaker 2: rest will help them quite a bit in terms of
Speaker 2: the actual roster needs, like a little bit more versatility
Speaker 2: in the front court is probably where I would want
Speaker 2: to go. I think they have found money over the
Speaker 2: past few years with being able to go smaller with
Speaker 2: Asia at the five and Alicia Clark at the four.
Speaker 2: Having Asia next to another big last year it was
Speaker 2: lights out with Kia Stokes. This year not so much.
Speaker 2: They wanted to stretch element with Meghan Goustason that was
Speaker 2: hit or miss throughout the season. So if they can
Speaker 2: find a big that pairs better with Asia, I think
Speaker 2: that's probably where I go. I mean, entering last season,
Speaker 2: they were hoping that was still going to be Campus Parker,
Speaker 2: and right before training camp she announces the retirement, so
Speaker 2: they still had their Roston ultimately still had a really
Speaker 2: good season. But I think that's probably the one thing
Speaker 2: that I look at. Can you find a big that,
Speaker 2: even if they aren't a pure stretch five, someone would
Speaker 2: size that you could utilize as a handoff hub or
Speaker 2: just a passer so you can still space them out
Speaker 2: and give Asia all that room inside yard to work with.
Speaker 2: Just a better fitting five is probably where I would look.
Speaker 1: Can I did you Natasha Howard? She's a three time
Speaker 1: WNBA champion. She is a for her Instagram posts. After Dallas,
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to a new city and new team
Speaker 1: next season.
Speaker 2: I must say one that might be the quickest goodbye
Speaker 2: message I have from SO and on the w side,
Speaker 2: she hey, I appreciate the fans and my teammates. I
Speaker 2: can't wait to see what's what's gonna happen with my
Speaker 2: new team. It's like, okay, fair enough, but her next
Speaker 2: to Asia is interesting to me. I think naturally she's
Speaker 2: sloped more in as a four than a five next
Speaker 2: to Asia. But like I think, if you are going
Speaker 2: to continue to ramp things up with Asia and pick
Speaker 2: a roll in particular and have her at the level,
Speaker 2: having someone like Natata Howard in a situation where the
Speaker 2: defensive ecosystem and the expectation is higher, I think she
Speaker 2: can get back to playing high level defense. We mostly
Speaker 2: saw flashes of that last season. She had her own
Speaker 2: entry stuff to deal with earlier in the year, but
Speaker 2: I would just say it was an adventure watching the
Speaker 2: Dallas Wings play defense this past season. So I would
Speaker 2: imagine one year deal because I don't think anyone's taking
Speaker 2: a multi year deal this offseason, but one year deal
Speaker 2: in a championship situation, I think you could see a
Speaker 2: rebounding effort and overall intensity from Natasha Howard. I think
Speaker 2: I like that fit.
Speaker 1: Oh, okay, we'll keep our eyes out for it. Also,
Speaker 1: if the WNBA announced that starting next season, there will
Speaker 1: be a new playoff format and so you know, the
Speaker 1: finals would go to a best of seven series and
Speaker 1: then round one would go to that one one one
Speaker 1: format where the home team will get home court. Then
Speaker 1: you'll go on away game and go back home potentially.
Speaker 1: What do you think about this new playoff format? And
Speaker 1: do you think that the WNBA reinforced this change because
Speaker 1: teams like the Indiana Fever didn't get a home game
Speaker 1: in round one and was pretty much out.
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts on that in terms of the finals,
Speaker 2: going to seven like that feels long overdue and it
Speaker 2: makes sense if you're going to implement that change to
Speaker 2: do so not in an Olympic year where the season
Speaker 2: is already more spread out than you want it to be.
Speaker 2: So I love that portion. As far as going to
Speaker 2: one one one, that felt more like a we got
Speaker 2: charters now and we can afford to do more travel
Speaker 2: and so now we can do this. Because I understand
Speaker 2: the noise about, hey, the league changed just because of
Speaker 2: the Fever, and like I won't say it wasn't any
Speaker 2: kind of accelerant on this, but this is something that
Speaker 2: I've been complaining about for years or when they made
Speaker 2: the change, I'm just like, just from a league perspective,
Speaker 2: why would you have a playoff format to where a
Speaker 2: team doesn't get playoff game? Yeah, like that, just as
Speaker 2: you're trying to go to the league financially that that
Speaker 2: didn't make much sense to me. Now, granted, you know,
Speaker 2: we didn't get full blown charts into this year, sprinkled
Speaker 2: in last year, so trying to get the travel together.
Speaker 2: But I was very much unpopular opinion, but I was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: well then just let the road team start at home
Speaker 2: since they only getting one game, and then the higher
Speaker 2: seed you just get too crackit to go. So that's
Speaker 2: where I landed all that, and again I recognized I
Speaker 2: was very much in the minority on that flot. But
Speaker 2: now that you have the flights, it makes sense that
Speaker 2: you go one to one one because I do believe
Speaker 2: again both teams should just have a home game, if
Speaker 2: for no other reason, then for a financial reason. Where
Speaker 2: it gets interesting for me though, considering we don't have
Speaker 2: like the Western Conference in the Eastern Conference when it
Speaker 2: comes to the playoffs, is if we mess around and
Speaker 2: get Seattle and the Liberty in round one, like we
Speaker 2: just got aces Storm in round one for the four
Speaker 2: or five what happens if the Liberty have like an
Speaker 2: injury real season or something. They're the four seed, Seattle's
Speaker 2: to five seed. Now you're going cross country in the
Speaker 2: first round, Like, are you prepared to deal with that? Like?
Speaker 2: I wonder what the safeguard is going to be. Do
Speaker 2: we get an extra day between you know, games one
Speaker 2: and game two to account for that travel? Yeah, there
Speaker 2: has to be something in place to kind of counter
Speaker 2: that potential thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I absolutely agree with that.
Speaker 1: Like, if there's two teams that are completely opposite sides
Speaker 1: of the country and they have to travel, that could
Speaker 1: definitely be hell for a team in terms of rest
Speaker 1: and recovery and less of a fear playing field advantage
Speaker 1: when you think about that one one one format. But
Speaker 1: I love that the finals are going to the best
Speaker 1: of seven series round.
Speaker 3: I do think it's.
Speaker 1: Fair to give you know, in a way team a
Speaker 1: game in the playoffs as well, as you mentioned, as
Speaker 1: the game continues to rise and grow, so I think
Speaker 1: I like it could there be more for improvement. Maybe
Speaker 1: this should have been implemented when the team moved to
Speaker 1: seat team teams, and you could probably do the conferences,
Speaker 1: as you said, but I'm looking forward to seeing this.
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like the league is very receptive
Speaker 1: to the players and teams in terms of changing the
Speaker 1: playoff format. A couple of years ago, Sue Berd made
Speaker 1: a lot of noise when Seattle was said in the
Speaker 1: playoffs and it was the single game elimination, and then
Speaker 1: they changed it to the best of three, like after
Speaker 1: she was really vocal about it. And now we see
Speaker 1: teams and players talking about this, and so I like
Speaker 1: that we're seeing the change happen immediately, but it'll be
Speaker 1: interesting to say the least. Nikaias, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us this week. And Casey missed it with
Speaker 1: Christina Williams. It's been such a pleasure to chat with
Speaker 1: you this week.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me a game and continue doing what
Speaker 2: you're doing in the space, Christina.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: You two keep killing it all right. When we come back,
Speaker 1: it's going to be the things that I loved this week.
Speaker 3: More from and Casey missed it with Christine Williams.
Speaker 1: Will we returned, Welcome back to and Casey missed it
Speaker 1: with Christina Williams, and I just want to thank my
Speaker 1: guy Niicaius again for coming in to talk about all
Speaker 1: things w playoffs and the latest news.
Speaker 3: Around the league. Now it's time for my favorite segment.
Speaker 1: It's time for the things that I loved this week.
Speaker 1: And I'm super excited about this because, one, I've had
Speaker 1: so much fun this week. But the one thing that
Speaker 1: I loved that I did this week was I hosted
Speaker 1: a finals watch party in collaboration with The Flagrant magazine
Speaker 1: and the sports Bras. Shout out to Jenny, And it
Speaker 1: was so much fun. WNBA champion and Phoenix Mercury guard
Speaker 1: Natasha Cloud came through. My guy Juju Gotti from the
Speaker 1: Dan LeBatard Show was there.
Speaker 3: It was great vibes all around.
Speaker 1: We had good food, good eats, and of course I
Speaker 1: got to interact with some of the fans and the
Speaker 1: people who loved this show. And so that was such
Speaker 1: a fun time because it meant so much to me
Speaker 1: to just be there in person and get to meet
Speaker 1: and talk to new people in the women's basketball community.
Speaker 1: All Right, that's gonna do it for this episode of
Speaker 1: In Case you missed It with Christina Williams.
Speaker 3: Don't forget to rate, review and.
Speaker 1: Subscribe to the podcast, and on the next episode we
Speaker 1: have law J.
Speaker 3: Johnson coming through. Peace Out.
Speaker 1: In case you missed it with Christina Williams is an
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
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