Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're revved
Speaker 1: up and ready for the start of the WNBA season.
Speaker 1: We're using one of those like real physical calendars because
Speaker 1: we remember the world before paper and pencils went out
Speaker 1: of style, and we're actually crossing off the days till
Speaker 1: opening night May sixteenth. It's Thursday, May eighth, and today's
Speaker 1: episode is the first of our WNBA season preview shows.
Speaker 1: We're calling this the shoot around, getting you prepped for
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty five WNBA season. Whether you're tuning in
Speaker 1: for the very first time this summer or you've been
Speaker 1: rocking W gear since ninety seven, We're going to give
Speaker 1: you everything you need to know about every team before
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty five w campaign starts, starting today with
Speaker 1: the New York Liberty and the Connecticut Sun.
Speaker 2: We'll get you prepped with the star steaks, stats and.
Speaker 1: Stories, a little history, a little lower, a little gossip,
Speaker 1: and a little more.
Speaker 2: It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices.
Speaker 1: Here there's which you need to know about the WNBA
Speaker 1: as it enters its twenty ninth season. The WNBA the
Speaker 1: Women's National Basketball Association, the w for short, thirteen teams
Speaker 1: are going to take the court this season thanks to
Speaker 1: the addition of the Golden State Valkyries, the first expansion
Speaker 1: franchise since the Atlanta Dream joined the league back in
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. Now you're also likely hearing a
Speaker 1: lot about the Toronto Tempo. They're another expansion team, but
Speaker 1: they won't be tipping off until twenty twenty six. Same
Speaker 1: for the as yet unnamed Portland franchise, also set to
Speaker 1: tip off next season. This year, each squad will play
Speaker 1: forty four regular season games starting May sixteenth and concluding
Speaker 1: September eleventh. That's up from forty regular season games per
Speaker 1: team the last two seasons. At the end of the
Speaker 1: regular season, the eight teams with the best records in
Speaker 1: the w earn a spot in the postseason. The first
Speaker 1: playoff round is best of three, semi finals shift to
Speaker 1: a best of five format, and the finals are best
Speaker 1: of seven. If you're an OG fan scratching your head,
Speaker 1: some things have changed, let me explain. So first, going
Speaker 1: back to the first round, Starting this season, the series
Speaker 1: will be a one to one one structure instead of
Speaker 1: two to one, So the new way means the higher
Speaker 1: seed will host Game one the lower seed will host
Speaker 1: Game two, back to the higher seeds home floor for
Speaker 1: Game three if necessary. This ensures that each team gets
Speaker 1: at least one home playoff game. I've been yelling about
Speaker 1: this for years, but a lot more people started yelling
Speaker 1: about it last year when the Indiana Fever didn't get
Speaker 1: a home playoff game.
Speaker 2: They lost in the first two. They were done all right.
Speaker 1: Also, starting this season, the finals expand from a best
Speaker 1: of five to a best of seven, and that'll be
Speaker 1: a two to two one one one structure, So the
Speaker 1: higher seed hosts games one, two, five, and seven, and
Speaker 1: the opponent hosts games three, four, and six. While the
Speaker 1: W is split into an Eastern and Western conference as
Speaker 1: of twenty sixteen, playoff seeding is based solely on win
Speaker 1: loss record. The top eight teams are seeded by record,
Speaker 1: regardless of conference, So when we talk conferences, it's really
Speaker 1: just for organizational purposes and for the Commissioner's Cup. Speaking
Speaker 1: of the postseason, isn't the only time teams can win hardware,
Speaker 1: because there's an in season tournament to look forward to
Speaker 1: as well, called the Commissioner's Cup. Each season, a select
Speaker 1: number of games count toward the Cup run. This year,
Speaker 1: it's thirty six games running from June first to June seventeenth.
Speaker 1: Conferences don't count when playoff time rolls around, but they
Speaker 1: do apply here. Each team will play one game against
Speaker 1: each of the other teams in its conference, and the
Speaker 1: team from each conference with the best record in those
Speaker 1: games face off for the Commissioner's Cup Championship on July first.
Speaker 1: The team with the better winning percentage in Cup play
Speaker 1: gets to host that game. The two squads are competing
Speaker 1: for a five one hundred thousand dollars prize pool, including
Speaker 1: five thousand in cryptocurrency for each player in the championship game.
Speaker 1: That's thanks to a one hundred and twenty thousand dollars
Speaker 1: contribution from the tournament's presenting sponsor, coinbase Now. Last year,
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Links won the franchise's first Commissioners Cup and
Speaker 1: star forward Nafisa Collier one Cup MVP, but come playoff time,
Speaker 1: the Links lost the WNBA Finals to the New York Liberty,
Speaker 1: with the Liberties jonqwell Jones winning Finals MVP after leading
Speaker 1: the squad to its first ever title. Regular season MVP
Speaker 1: last season went to the Las Vegas Aces. Asia Wilson,
Speaker 1: her third time winning the honor. Other winners were the
Speaker 1: Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark, who nabbed Rookie of the Year,
Speaker 1: the aforementioned Nafisa Collier, who earned Defensive Player of the Year,
Speaker 1: and Links coach Cheryl Reeve, who was named Coach of
Speaker 1: the Year.
Speaker 2: Okay, what else? What else? Oh?
Speaker 1: This year's All Star Game is set to take place
Speaker 1: in Indianapolis on July nineteenth at Gainbridge field House, home
Speaker 1: of the Indiana Fever, and it's already sold out, so
Speaker 1: hopefully you already got your tickets. WNBA season tips off
Speaker 1: on Friday, May sixteenth with a trio of games, including
Speaker 1: the Golden State Valkyrie's first ever regular season game, hosting
Speaker 1: same states soon to be.
Speaker 2: Rivaled the Los Angeles Sparks.
Speaker 1: Lots more to come on opening night and the first
Speaker 1: weekend of games, but for now, let's start digging into
Speaker 1: the previews for each of the w's thirteen teams as
Speaker 1: they get ready for tip off. That's right, it's the
Speaker 1: shoot around getting you prep for the twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: WNBA season, one team at a time. Let's start with
Speaker 1: the defending champs, the New York Liberty. This squad notched
Speaker 1: a league best thirty two regular season wins in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four, and they stayed on top of the postseason
Speaker 1: two defeating the Minnesota Links in the finals to win
Speaker 1: it all. Let's start with your need to know team history.
Speaker 1: Founded in nineteen ninety seven, the Liberty are one of
Speaker 1: the eight original franchises of the WNBA. Past greats include
Speaker 1: Teresa Weatherspoon, Rebecca Lobo, Becky Hammond, Cappie Pondexter, and Tina Charles.
Speaker 1: They've qualified for the postseason in nineteen of their twenty
Speaker 1: eight seasons, and after five trips to the finals that
Speaker 1: all ended in losses, they won their first ever WNBA
Speaker 1: title last season. Their twenty twenty five tagline kind of
Speaker 1: like the ladies on Real Housewives, It's got to be
Speaker 1: run it Now. Let's talk off season losses and additions
Speaker 1: for the Liberty. Point Guard Courtney Vanderslute, who started all
Speaker 1: thirty one games in which she played last year, said
Speaker 1: goodbye to the Liberty after the championship, leaving in free
Speaker 1: agency to go back to her former team, the Chicago Sky.
Speaker 1: Kayla Thornton also gone. The forward who started eleven games
Speaker 1: last season, was selected by the Valkyries.
Speaker 2: In the expansion draft.
Speaker 1: The team will also likely be without major contributor Benijah
Speaker 1: Laney Hamilton. Liberty GM Jonathan Colbe said recently the team
Speaker 1: will quote more likely than not be suspending Lady Hamilton's
Speaker 1: contract for the twenty twenty five season. She said to
Speaker 1: miss most if not all, of the season after undergoing
Speaker 1: knee surgery in March for a tornmentiscus suffered while she
Speaker 1: was playing and unrivaled. Meantime, the Liberty did add Natasha Cloud,
Speaker 1: who spent eight years with the Mystics and last season
Speaker 1: with the Mercury, and Isabel Harrison, who last played with
Speaker 1: the Sky. Former Liberty player Marine Johannes is also back
Speaker 1: after taking a year off.
Speaker 2: Plenty of stars on this squad.
Speaker 1: Two time League MVP, three time Finals MVP and three
Speaker 1: time champion Brianna Stewart leads the way. Twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: League MVP and last year's Finals MVP jon Quell Jones
Speaker 1: and three time All Star Sabrina Yanescu round things out.
Speaker 1: Also keep an eye on twenty twenty one All Rookie
Speaker 1: team member Leoni Phoebich, who came up big in last
Speaker 1: season's finals game. Five and could break into the starting
Speaker 1: lineup and another Game five standout Niara Sabeli, who's entering
Speaker 1: her third season with the team. And of course, we
Speaker 1: can't forget the real MVP, the Liberty's iconic mascot, Ellie
Speaker 1: the Elephant. Head coach Sandy Bardello is also entering her
Speaker 1: fourth season with the team. So what are the stakes
Speaker 1: this season for New York After losing to the Aces
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three and defeating the Links in twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Four, the Liberty will look to be the sixth.
Speaker 1: Team in WNBA history to make a third straight trip
Speaker 1: to the WNBA Finals, and if they can repeat as champs,
Speaker 1: they'll be just the fourth team in league history to
Speaker 1: do so. Also, in addition to last year's title, head
Speaker 1: coach Sandy Brondello let the twenty fourteen Mercury to a championship,
Speaker 1: so she's trying to be the fourth head coach in
Speaker 1: w history to win a third title.
Speaker 2: Let's chalk stats.
Speaker 1: Last year, the Liberty led the league in both three
Speaker 1: point makes and three point attempts for the fourth straight season,
Speaker 1: so they're clutched from outside, but they also had the
Speaker 1: league's best field goal percentage in the restricted area, the
Speaker 1: area right beneath the basket, and they finished third best
Speaker 1: in the rest of the paint, where they took the
Speaker 1: fourth most attempts. So basically, the inside outside game is
Speaker 1: key to this team. The Liberty also came up big
Speaker 1: on the boards. They led the league last year in
Speaker 1: total rebounding rate and finished second in defensive rebounding rate.
Speaker 1: As for stories, the biggest story for the Liberty this
Speaker 1: year is, of course, can they repeat. They'll start their
Speaker 1: season with all the excitement of raising a title banner,
Speaker 1: so can they stay hungry enough and not get lazy
Speaker 1: with those big, sparkly championship rings on their fingers. Also
Speaker 1: worth noting they'll probably have to go without some stars
Speaker 1: for a stretch. Germany's Niarasaboli and Leoni Phoebich and France's
Speaker 1: Marin Johannis are all expected to be out for part
Speaker 1: of June to play in this year's euro Basket. Fun
Speaker 1: fact about the Liberty, we got some hoops and gay shit.
Speaker 1: New Liberty acquisitions Natasha Cloud and Isabel Harrison are an item.
Speaker 1: Fellow WNBA player Satu Sabai. Nara's sister accidentally hard launched
Speaker 1: them while doing an in game interview for Unrivaled, revealing
Speaker 1: that Natasha Cloud was missing her girlfriend isbel Harrison's high
Speaker 1: school jersey retirement ceremony for that day's game. Ever since
Speaker 1: the leak, there's been some real cute shit on social
Speaker 1: media posted by the couple, and now they're suiting up
Speaker 1: for the same squad. Love all right, I think that's it.
Speaker 1: But producer Mesh, keep me honest here, what did I miss?
Speaker 1: What's the biggest story you're watching for with the Liberty Sarah.
Speaker 3: I think he did a pretty damn good job, if
Speaker 3: I do say so myself. But the one question mark
Speaker 3: I have heading into the season for the Libs. Brianna
Speaker 3: Stewart okay, three time WNBA Champs, six time All Star,
Speaker 3: two time Finals MVP. The resume is long, okay, But
Speaker 3: watching Unrivaled, the league start and founded by she and
Speaker 3: the FISA Collier, it was a little a little rough
Speaker 3: for her in my opinion. She was the league's sixth
Speaker 3: best scorer, which you know, that's not bad, but it
Speaker 3: looked like maybe she was tired or just maybe not
Speaker 3: at full strength during the season. A lot of times
Speaker 3: there were things she did or frankly didn't do like
Speaker 3: beat fellow husky Elia Edwards in the first game of
Speaker 3: the one on one tournament that she played. Get knocked
Speaker 3: out in the first round was crazy perplexed to me
Speaker 3: for sure, But come to find out after Unrivaled, she
Speaker 3: did have a scope done on her right meniscus, so
Speaker 3: there was something going on. But I'm just curious as
Speaker 3: to what the beginning of the season looks like for her,
Speaker 3: like what type of play?
Speaker 2: Be careful what you mean? I want you to know.
Speaker 2: I want you to know.
Speaker 1: A prominent writer mentioned her age ahead of last season,
Speaker 1: and she proceeded to make very clear that at thirty
Speaker 1: years old, just because her resume is long, doesn't mean
Speaker 1: she's long in the tooth, okay, And it sounds like
Speaker 1: you might be hit to get her being passed her prime.
Speaker 2: And I'm just saying, look out, So no, oh, that
Speaker 2: has done it before.
Speaker 3: That is not how I feel about her, because I
Speaker 3: had a debate with a friend of mine who did
Speaker 3: say those exact things. I'm saying, she's still got time
Speaker 3: on the clock, and so I think this will be
Speaker 3: a hiccup for her. I think it obviously affects the
Speaker 3: way the rest of the team performs because she's one
Speaker 3: of the heads of that monster, right, But yeah, I'm not.
Speaker 2: Let's don't give me wrong. It's more about health than
Speaker 2: age for you. Yes, okay, yeah, I'll give you that.
Speaker 1: I do think she's probably benefited from this break, obviously
Speaker 1: playing an entire season all the way through the finals,
Speaker 1: and then the work that went into getting Unrivaled ready
Speaker 1: behind the scenes and then playing in it. Hopefully this
Speaker 1: little stretch has been beneficial to her any other storylines
Speaker 1: you're watching for other than obviously the hoops engag shit, I.
Speaker 2: Mean, duh hoops and gay shit.
Speaker 3: But one of the members that we discussed in the
Speaker 3: Hoops Engagshit Natasha Cloud at point guard, bringing a completely
Speaker 3: different dynamic to that position for New York. She's longer,
Speaker 3: has more height at five to ten, more attack minded offensively,
Speaker 3: and frankly more versatile defensively than Courtney vander.
Speaker 2: Slut was no t no shade to salute.
Speaker 3: I love me some salute, but just also bolsters that
Speaker 3: defense at the guard position, and a league that we
Speaker 3: know is full of long, talented.
Speaker 2: Explosive, big guards.
Speaker 3: So I think that's gonna be a big change. And
Speaker 3: I'm frankly as a dmver not to make it about
Speaker 3: the mystics, something I tend to say every time I
Speaker 3: have to. Like these days, I'm looking for her to
Speaker 3: return to the form she was in in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3: That was the highest scoring average she had in her career,
Speaker 3: her last year with DC before she was traded to Phoenix.
Speaker 3: So I just feel like she was coming into her own.
Speaker 3: Last season was maybe, you know, an outlier, not necessarily
Speaker 3: crazy bad in terms of stats, but just felt a
Speaker 3: little bit different vibe wise. And I think New York
Speaker 3: is just a great place for her. So I got
Speaker 3: my eyes on Tosh Cloud.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think she's just a fan favorite and
Speaker 1: a show favorite.
Speaker 2: So we want to see her doing well.
Speaker 1: If you haven't seen her first video meeting Ellie and
Speaker 1: having a little mini dance off with Ellie personality for days,
Speaker 1: so fun to root for.
Speaker 2: So we'll be watching for that. All right.
Speaker 1: Well, now you're basically a liberty expert, So after the break,
Speaker 1: we're going to move northeast and prep you for a
Speaker 1: season of Connecticut Sun hoops. Keep it here, Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1: Let's talk Connecticut Sun their twenty eight and twelve record
Speaker 1: last season was third best in the league, but this
Speaker 1: year's squad looks nothing like the team that suited up
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four. Here's your quick Suns need to
Speaker 1: know team history. So this team was established in nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety nine as the Orlando Miracle, part of the WNBA's
Speaker 1: expansion from ten to twelve teams, and they were originally
Speaker 1: affiliated with the mnba's Orlando Magic. Now with the team
Speaker 1: in financial dress, in two thousand and three, the Mohegan
Speaker 1: Indian Tribe bought it, renamed it, and moved it to Connecticut.
Speaker 1: The team has qualified for the postseason in fifteen of
Speaker 1: twenty one seasons, but they've never won it all. In fact,
Speaker 1: they're the oldest remain team in the w without a title.
Speaker 1: Some great players in Sun history include Margodideck, Lindsay Whalen,
Speaker 1: Katie Douglas, Nakisha Sales, Karl Lawson, and Tina Charles. And yes,
Speaker 1: Tina Charles was also a great player in New York
Speaker 1: liberty history.
Speaker 2: She bent around the.
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty five tagline for the Sun proved the doubters wrong.
Speaker 1: Why are there so many doubters? Let's talk about it.
Speaker 1: Additions and losses for this team. Buckle up because the
Speaker 1: Sun became the first team in WNBA history to dismantle
Speaker 1: their entire starting five after a playoff appearance. During this
Speaker 1: pass offseason, six time All Star Dewana Bonner left in
Speaker 1: free agency to sign with the Indiana Fever. The Phoenix
Speaker 1: Mercury acquired five time All Star Alissa Thomas an assignment trade.
Speaker 1: Three time All Star Breanna Jones left in free agency
Speaker 1: to sign with the Atlanta Dream, and twenty twenty four
Speaker 1: WNBA Most Improved Player and All Defensive First Team selection
Speaker 1: djon A Carrington was traded to the Dallas Wings. The
Speaker 1: team also lost their head coach, Stephanie White, who was
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty three WNBA Coach of the Year. She
Speaker 1: went to the Indiana Fever. They hired coach Rashid Mezzain
Speaker 1: in December. He previously coached the Belgian national team and
Speaker 1: several pro teams in France. That's a lot of losses.
Speaker 1: As for additions, the team is welcoming back.
Speaker 2: Guess who.
Speaker 1: Tina Charles, the eight time All Star and former League
Speaker 1: MVP back in her first run with the Sun, is back.
Speaker 1: Charles is the WNBA's all time leader in rebounds, and
Speaker 1: she's second all time in points, behind only recently retired
Speaker 1: Dinah Trossi. Charles spent her first four seasons of the
Speaker 1: W in Connecticut, and she returns now as a fourteen
Speaker 1: year vet. The Son also added Diamond Deshields and Lindsay Allen,
Speaker 1: and they drafted LSU double double queen Anissa Morrow and
Speaker 1: guard Sanaia Rivers, who won a title with South Carolina
Speaker 1: before transferring to NC State, where she helped the Wolfpack
Speaker 1: to the Final four in the twenty twenty three twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four season. Did you keep up with all that?
Speaker 1: I can't blame you if you did. The point is
Speaker 1: this team looks nothing like it did last year, So
Speaker 1: the stars mostly left. I mean, Tina Charles always going
Speaker 1: to be a name. Despite having her lowest scoring seasons
Speaker 1: the last two years she's played, she was still averaging
Speaker 1: nearly fifteen points a game last season for the Atlanta Dream.
Speaker 1: So Tina Charles always to be Tina Charles. She's getting
Speaker 1: a little older. Marina Maybray was traded to the Sun
Speaker 1: mid season last year, but after the team cleaned house,
Speaker 1: she requested to be traded away again.
Speaker 2: She was denied, so.
Speaker 1: She might not be happy in Connecticut, but she's going
Speaker 1: to be a big part of their success or failure.
Speaker 1: All the same, the stakes for this team relatively low.
Speaker 1: They've got really low expectations, but their history would demand
Speaker 1: a lot from them.
Speaker 2: The Sun have won at least twenty five.
Speaker 1: Games for four straight seasons, and they've made six straight
Speaker 1: appearances and at least the semi finals. But like I said,
Speaker 1: expectations will need to be reset for this rebuilding season.
Speaker 1: Getting a look at young players and figuring out who
Speaker 1: they could build around is probably going to be the
Speaker 1: biggest focus of this year. Not a lot of last
Speaker 1: year's Sun's stats are going to be meaningful this year
Speaker 1: because you got a whole new roster of players, but
Speaker 1: it is worth pointing out the stat line of one
Speaker 1: of their newbies. I mentioned draft pick Anissa Moro. Now,
Speaker 1: she finished her college career with one hundred and four
Speaker 1: double doubles. That's second all time in D one history,
Speaker 1: and her seventeen hundred and fourteen career rebounds are third
Speaker 1: all time. So if she can translate that game to
Speaker 1: the pros, she could be a big piece for this
Speaker 1: rebuilding team. Stories how about some Suns stories and lore,
Speaker 1: like the one about the kid's birthday party. Okay, so,
Speaker 1: the Sun's roster exodus and their struggle to draw free
Speaker 1: agents is in part due to their small market, but
Speaker 1: also their outdated facilities.
Speaker 2: While the rest of the league.
Speaker 1: Is having facility wars putting millions and millions of dollars
Speaker 1: into amazing new spaces right now, the Sun split their
Speaker 1: practice time between their arena and the Mohegan Tribe Community Center,
Speaker 1: where they sometimes have to share gym space with a
Speaker 1: workout class where folks playing pickup, and at least once
Speaker 1: with a birthday party.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: In a particularly memorable incident, the team was prepping for
Speaker 1: the playoffs right next to a two year old's birthday party.
Speaker 2: Now listen.
Speaker 1: This is important because after a sold out game at
Speaker 1: ted Garden in Boston last season, fans started asking if
Speaker 1: the team might move to Boston. They were relieved to
Speaker 1: hear that the Sun are committed to Uncasville, Connecticut and
Speaker 1: committed to the Mohegan Tribe. But it is well past
Speaker 1: time for the Sun to step into the modern WNBA,
Speaker 1: or their championship drought will no doubt continue.
Speaker 2: Fun fact, by.
Speaker 1: The way, the Connecticut Sun Arena that I mentioned, that's
Speaker 1: Mohegan Sun Arena and it's inside the Mohegan Sun Resort
Speaker 1: in casino.
Speaker 2: Playing games at a casino is wild to me. You
Speaker 2: just like finish hooping and then put it all on black, your.
Speaker 1: Jump shots dropping all games, so you go see if
Speaker 1: your luck continues at the craps table. I'm just picturing
Speaker 1: like showering after a game, thrown on some warm ups,
Speaker 1: and just walking through a bunch of people letting it
Speaker 1: all ride on twenty three.
Speaker 2: Oh the Sun? Meish? What did I have forget about
Speaker 2: the Sun? What's the biggest storyline for you? What are
Speaker 2: you watching for?
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, I have to say it is remote,
Speaker 3: the Mohigan Sun Arena and resort and casino. I've been
Speaker 3: there myself. It's a good time as a spectator, for sure.
Speaker 3: But it's very remote, very very remote. So that part
Speaker 3: very much rings true, and it's part of what I'm
Speaker 3: keeping an eye on. This season for me in Connecticut
Speaker 3: has nothing to do with the X's and o's right.
Speaker 3: Rebuilding is rebuilding is rebuilding. It's gonna be tough. They're
Speaker 3: on their third different head coach and four seasons for
Speaker 3: this franchise. It just feels like they're kind of grasping
Speaker 3: at straws right now. But that's, like I said, to
Speaker 3: be expected. But it's it's the extreme to which they've
Speaker 3: taken it that stresses me out. You mentioned it the
Speaker 3: first team in WNBA history to dismantle their entire starting five,
Speaker 3: So you said, I don't even need ingredients. I'm just
Speaker 3: gonna I'm just gonna vibe like that to me is terrifying.
Speaker 3: I do not envy their new head coach. But that's
Speaker 3: also a change, right, He's probably got an entire different systems.
Speaker 3: Stephanie White well respected in the WNBA already, not to
Speaker 3: say that you know Rashid isn't because he's done his
Speaker 3: own thing. But steph White, you know, players know her,
Speaker 3: and players are used to what she wants to do
Speaker 3: and have a better expectation for what she comes with.
Speaker 3: So that's an adjustment. But I do think there are
Speaker 3: some bright spots here. You mentioned Anissa Morrow, and you
Speaker 3: mentioned Sanaia Rivers, two rookies, two draft picks that I
Speaker 3: think have unbelievable upside in the WNBA, and on this
Speaker 3: roster specifically that lacks some proven veteran leadership outside of
Speaker 3: Tina Charles, outside of Marina Maybury, outside of Lindsay Allen.
Speaker 3: This could be an awesome opportunity for both of them
Speaker 3: to make names for themselves, improved why they belong in
Speaker 3: the w and whether or not they stay with the son.
Speaker 2: Who knows.
Speaker 3: But that foundation that you set your rookie year, the
Speaker 3: things you learn, the things you overcome, can be really
Speaker 3: really important and vital to the rest of your career.
Speaker 3: So for me, it's not even x's and o's, it's
Speaker 3: what's gonna happen off the court with this franchise, and
Speaker 3: then keep my eyes on those two rookies.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think off the court. For me, what stands
Speaker 1: out is that history. I mentioned. They don't have the
Speaker 1: titles and the banners, but they are one of the
Speaker 1: most successful teams in this league and have been for
Speaker 1: quite some time. And it is going to be slip
Speaker 1: sliding away if they don't fix the facilities issue and
Speaker 1: the investment side, because they are not going to be
Speaker 1: able to keep up and draw players.
Speaker 2: No one's going to want to play for them if
Speaker 2: they don't. All right, you're caught up on the sun.
Speaker 2: We got to take another break. When we come back,
Speaker 2: why do you slices out of question? So we've got
Speaker 2: an answer. Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1: We asked you to tell us what WNBA related questions
Speaker 1: you have prior to the start of the season, and
Speaker 1: of course you all delivered.
Speaker 2: So let's take a sec to talk through one slice.
Speaker 1: Kaylee Beard emailed us asking, can you explain the difference
Speaker 1: between a flagrant fowl and a technical foul in the WNBA?
Speaker 2: I'm so confused.
Speaker 1: Well, Kaylee, when we crack open the WNBA's official rulebook
Speaker 1: for twenty twenty five, we'll link to it in the
Speaker 1: show notes because it's a little hard to find. The
Speaker 1: league puts flagrant fouls into two tiers, flagrant one or
Speaker 1: a flagrant two. So flagrant one is any contact committed
Speaker 1: against a player with or without the ball that referees
Speaker 1: interpret to be unnecessary and in that case, personal foul
Speaker 1: charged to the offender and a team foul charged as well.
Speaker 1: Player who took the contact shoots two free throws their
Speaker 1: team gets to inbound the ball. If you commit two
Speaker 1: flagrant ones in a game, you get ejected. Flagrant two
Speaker 1: is a little more serious. These are called if refs
Speaker 1: think contact against a player with or without the ball
Speaker 1: is unnecessary and excessive. Just like a flagrant one, the
Speaker 1: player who fouled earns a personal foul for themselves and
Speaker 1: a team foul for their squad, and the player who
Speaker 1: got fouled shoots two free throws and their team gets
Speaker 1: the ball. The difference here is that a player who
Speaker 1: commits a flagrant two is also ejected from the game,
Speaker 1: and because of this higher penalty, refs have to go
Speaker 1: to the monitor to review cases where a flagrant two
Speaker 1: might be called. So both of those, basically, you didn't
Speaker 1: just foul some you fouled someone unnecessarily, or you fouled
Speaker 1: them unknown necessarily and excessively, and you're out.
Speaker 2: How do these differ from technical fouls?
Speaker 1: Techs are basically, in a nutshell, more about procedure and behavior.
Speaker 1: So coaches, teams, and individual players can be given tees
Speaker 1: for a range of things, including putting the wrong number
Speaker 1: of players on the court, taking more timeouts than they're
Speaker 1: allowed with sub Chris Weber, delaying the game, or something
Speaker 1: like hanging on the rim. But what I think you're
Speaker 1: getting at is this kind of tech players can get
Speaker 1: texts without any prior warning from refs when their conduct
Speaker 1: on the court or on the bench is deemed detrimental
Speaker 1: to the game, and if the conduct is poor enough
Speaker 1: according to the refs. Individuals can be ejected after a
Speaker 1: single technical, but if you get two in a contest,
Speaker 1: you're automatically out of there. Conduct that falls under the
Speaker 1: scope of a technical foul includes things typically considered unsportsmanlike,
Speaker 1: like talking to a ref, disrespectfully, giving a ref physical contact,
Speaker 1: taking overt actions in protest of a call, using profanity,
Speaker 1: throwing elbows deliberately, or taunting. See Diana Tarassi's entire catalog.
Speaker 1: There's more to all this, but we recommend taking to
Speaker 1: spin through the rule book if you've still got questions.
Speaker 2: Hopefully that helps. Thanks for hitting us up, Kaylee.
Speaker 1: We love that you're listing, but we want all of
Speaker 1: you to get in the game just like Kaylee did.
Speaker 1: So here's our good gameplay of the day. If you're
Speaker 1: rocking with the Liberty or the Sun this season, hit
Speaker 1: us up and tell us why. What kind of year
Speaker 1: are you predicting? Who are your favorite hoopers? All that
Speaker 1: good stuff? Send it to us Email good game at
Speaker 1: wondermedianetwork dot com.
Speaker 2: And don't forget to subscribe a rate and review, y'all.
Speaker 1: It's easy watch Jonquell Jones singing like sing Singing, rating
Speaker 1: fifteen out of ten. Voice of an Angel review. I
Speaker 1: don't even think my words will do JJ justice here,
Speaker 1: so you just got to listen for yourself. Here's some
Speaker 1: audio from the New York Liberties instagram page where they
Speaker 1: asked players to share a song that they love that
Speaker 1: folks might not expect, and Johnqwell Jones didn't just say
Speaker 1: on my Mind by Georgia Smith.
Speaker 2: She sang it fine, found the Father, So y'all check
Speaker 2: it out.
Speaker 1: I mean, come on, it is not fair to be
Speaker 1: that talented and that good at basketball.
Speaker 2: Speaking of can we get a JJ R and B
Speaker 2: album maybe.
Speaker 1: After she retires. Now it's your turn, rate and review.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, y'all. See you tomorrow when we dish
Speaker 1: everything you need to know about the Atlanta Dream and
Speaker 1: the Indiana Fever. Good game, New York, Good game, Connecticut.
Speaker 1: You making my exes on my calendar and being reminded
Speaker 1: my schedule changes so much. I can't use a paper
Speaker 1: planner anymore. I miss my color pens and my stickers.
Speaker 1: Google cows just Don't Hit the Same Good Game with
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership
Speaker 1: with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are
Speaker 1: Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett,
Speaker 1: Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are
Speaker 1: Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer
Speaker 1: is Lucy Jones and I'm Your host Sarah Spain.