Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're cleaning
Speaker 1: bird shit out of our eye and remembering well, life
Speaker 1: comes at you fast. It's Monday, May twelfth, and truly
Speaker 1: shout out to that bird yesterday that shipped directly into
Speaker 1: my eyeball. That's got to be double the good luck. No.
Speaker 1: On today's show, we'll be continuing with the shoot around
Speaker 1: our team by team WNBA season preview, getting you slices
Speaker 1: ready for tip off with all the stars, steaks, stats
Speaker 1: and stories, a little history, a little lore, a little gossip,
Speaker 1: and a little more. Today we're info dumping on my
Speaker 1: Chicago Sky and producer Mish's Washington Mystics. So break out
Speaker 1: your note, Pats. It's all coming up right after this
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Happy Monday. Before we get to the Sky
Speaker 1: and the Mystics, here's what you need to know today.
Speaker 1: Let's start with the end and the game. I told
Speaker 1: y'all I was out in La to attend last week
Speaker 1: Angel City FC versus the Utah Royals, and let's talk
Speaker 1: about the good stuff. First, legendary forward Kristin Press scored
Speaker 1: less than thirty seconds after subbing into the second half,
Speaker 1: her first goal at home at Bemo Stadium since tearing
Speaker 1: her ACL in June twenty twenty two, and it was
Speaker 1: in absolute bete. She juked a defender in the box
Speaker 1: and then put the perfect lefty touch on it to
Speaker 1: curl it up and in over Royals keeper Mandy McGlynn.
Speaker 1: Angel City went on to win the game two nothing
Speaker 1: thanks to a goal by Alyssa Thompson in the ninety
Speaker 1: seventh minute, her fourth on the season that ties are
Speaker 1: for third most in the league. The game, like most
Speaker 1: ACFC games, was an incredible game day experience full of celebs,
Speaker 1: including New Los Angeles resident Kelsey Plumb and her La
Speaker 1: Sparks teammate Deerica hamby John Lovett from the Crooked Media Pods,
Speaker 1: one of my favors, in particular Pod Save America, Friend
Speaker 1: of the Show, comedian Aaron Foley, team owner Lily Singh,
Speaker 1: and Will Ferrell, who I got to chat with and
Speaker 1: thank for the very meaningful and very powerful doc Will
Speaker 1: and Harper. I also thanked him for as less meaningful
Speaker 1: and less powerful but always entertaining Harry Carey impression. I'm
Speaker 1: a Cubs fan, I couldn't resist. While ACFC got the win,
Speaker 1: the final score was the last thing on most people's
Speaker 1: minds by the end of the game, because fans and
Speaker 1: players alike were waiting for an update on ACFC defender
Speaker 1: Savvy King. She's a twenty year old defender second pick
Speaker 1: in the twenty twenty four NWSL draft by BFC, but
Speaker 1: she's been a starter all season after joining Angel City
Speaker 1: in February. You may have seen this story, but in
Speaker 1: the seventy fourth minute of the game, Savvy King collapsed
Speaker 1: on the field. Medical staff raced out to a ten
Speaker 1: tour and immediately I saw them frantically waving their arms
Speaker 1: to the sideline, and then I was terrified as I
Speaker 1: watched this one trainer sprint to the sideline to retrieve
Speaker 1: what appeared to be an AED machine. This is the
Speaker 1: defibrillator device that's used to revive someone who's experiencing sudden
Speaker 1: cardiac arrest. Now, King was surrounded by trainers the whole time,
Speaker 1: but at one point we could see one individual who
Speaker 1: look like they were doing CPR and chess compressions on
Speaker 1: her before she was ultimately taken off the field on
Speaker 1: a cart. Now, for the entire ten minutes that she
Speaker 1: was down, the crowd was completely silent, the players from
Speaker 1: both teams were visibly emotional. It was really terrifying to
Speaker 1: witness this in person, and it immediately reminded me of
Speaker 1: those awful, awful minutes watching NFL player Damar Hamlin when
Speaker 1: he was revived on the field in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: If you remember, he suffered a blow to the chest
Speaker 1: that caused cardiac arrest, and my mind immediately went there.
Speaker 1: I was so glad to see her get put on
Speaker 1: the cart, so glad to hear her taken to the hospital,
Speaker 1: and the NWSL confirmed after the game that she was
Speaker 1: in stable condition at the hospital. Then they issued a
Speaker 1: statement on Saturday saying in part that she'll be undergoing
Speaker 1: more evaluation and that quote league protocols were followed from
Speaker 1: both a medical and game operations perspective. We are grateful
Speaker 1: to the Angel City medical staff as well as to
Speaker 1: local paramedics, who handled this difficult situation seamlessly. As always,
Speaker 1: the NWSL will review and de term and if changes
Speaker 1: to that protocol need to be made end quote yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean shout out to the medics and the trainers
Speaker 1: who acted in that moment with incredible speed and bravery
Speaker 1: and potentially saved her life. I don't know that, we
Speaker 1: don't know exactly what happened, but it certainly seemed like
Speaker 1: a very dire situation. After the game, some players and
Speaker 1: coaches questioned why the match was allowed to continue, and
Speaker 1: Utah coach Jimmy Kunratz, who has undergone multiple heart surgeries himself,
Speaker 1: said in his postgame press conference quote, in those moments,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if we should have continued the game.
Speaker 1: You're emotionally, not only them, but also our players were
Speaker 1: just scared. That's not the right situation to be in.
Speaker 1: But in the end we played on. That's the decision
Speaker 1: other people have taken, which is fine. It was a
Speaker 1: really tough moment. End quote. We'll link to a story
Speaker 1: from the Athletic in our show notes that dives into
Speaker 1: the decision to continue the game. In the meantime, we're
Speaker 1: sending all of our best to Savvy King and her
Speaker 1: recovery to hockey. Game three of Minnesota Frost Toronto scepters
Speaker 1: a high scoring affair in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with the
Speaker 1: Frost grabbing this set seven five win and taking a
Speaker 1: two games to one lead in the five game series.
Speaker 1: Two goals apiece for michaela Cova and Brooke mcquig in
Speaker 1: the win for the defending Walter Cup champs. The Frost
Speaker 1: had evened the series with the Scepters on Friday Night,
Speaker 1: winning five to three behind a monster night from Lee's deckline,
Speaker 1: who had two goals and an assist. Polarizing Frost player Brita.
Speaker 1: Curl Selemi was suspended for that Game two after an
Speaker 1: illegal head check on Toronto's were not a fast in
Speaker 1: Game one. This was Carl Selem's third suspension of the season.
Speaker 1: Interesting note, so one of Carl Selemi's Frost teammates, Taylor Heisei,
Speaker 1: liked a Jackson Jill's Instagram post announcing curl Sleme's suspension
Speaker 1: very intriguing. Plenty of others have had thoughts on curl
Speaker 1: Slemi being a repeat offender this season, including Alyssa Turner
Speaker 1: of the Icegarden dot Com, whose opinion column argues that
Speaker 1: a one game suspension was not enough. We'll link to
Speaker 1: that story in the show notes. We'll also link to
Speaker 1: the league's official explanation video of the punishment. We do
Speaker 1: really appreciate how transparent the PWHL are about these issues
Speaker 1: to the other series, The Ottawa Charge up one game
Speaker 1: to none on the Montreal Victoire heading into Sunday's Game two,
Speaker 1: which turned out to be the longest game in PWHL history,
Speaker 1: Catherine Dubois scoring at fifteen thirty three of the fourth
Speaker 1: overtime to lift the Victoire to a three to two
Speaker 1: win and even the series at a game. Apiece and
Speaker 1: Renee Deben made sixty two saves in the win for Montreal.
Speaker 1: In fact, Roade Slice Dana Holtbert on Blue Sky quote
Speaker 1: the epic in Quebec took over five and a half
Speaker 1: hours with four overtimes at Sarah, Spain. Please give a
Speaker 1: good game to both Debn and Phillips, the goalies in
Speaker 1: this game. End quote done. Good game, Debn, Good game,
Speaker 1: Gwyneth Phillips. The series shifts to Ottawa for the next
Speaker 1: two games, with Game three tomorrow night at TD Place.
Speaker 1: Speaking of hockey, Slice, Ava g reached out to ask
Speaker 1: why the Athletic and the ESPN app don't have the
Speaker 1: PWHL on their scores tab. We've actually mentioned this before.
Speaker 1: ESPN claims adding new leagues to the app is far
Speaker 1: more complicated than one might think, but we are told
Speaker 1: to ask is in so maybe hopefully they're working on
Speaker 1: it behind the scenes for next season. Also, the great
Speaker 1: Meg Linahan not just the host of the full Time podcast,
Speaker 1: but also the women's sports lead at the Athletics, so
Speaker 1: I reached out to her and she let me know
Speaker 1: they're pushing for it there too, but she doesn't think
Speaker 1: the site's stats provider currently supports them. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: Alex says you could check out an app called flash Score,
Speaker 1: which has scores for all of the leagues PWHL, WNBA, NWSL, PVF.
Speaker 1: We'll link to it in our show notes. Thanks for
Speaker 1: the question, Ava, and also shout out to your cute
Speaker 1: pup Zuggie. To Volleyball News, the twenty twenty five Pro
Speaker 1: Volleyball Federation season is over and the Orlando Valkyries are champions.
Speaker 1: Orlando beat the India ig Nite three sets to one
Speaker 1: to secure the title and the one million dollars in
Speaker 1: bonus money that came with it. Opposite hitter Britney Abercrombie
Speaker 1: led the way with thirty one of her team seventy
Speaker 1: points in those four sets. Also got to give a
Speaker 1: huge shout out to Abercrombie for being named opposite Hitter
Speaker 1: of the Year and PVFMVP on Saturday before the final match,
Speaker 1: both honors well deserved, as Abercrombie set league records with
Speaker 1: four hundred and sixty two kills, forty three point six
Speaker 1: kills per set, twelve hundred and eight attacks, and five
Speaker 1: hundred three points Dominance to Hoops where the New York
Speaker 1: Liberty playned the WNBA's last preseason game tonight at Matthew
Speaker 1: Knight Arena on the University of Oregon campus. It'll be
Speaker 1: a homecoming for former Ducks niar Aesabili and sabrinian Escu,
Speaker 1: who never really got to say a proper goodbye as
Speaker 1: Nunescu's senior year was interrupted by COVID, no senior night,
Speaker 1: no ncaattorney. So when New York takes on the Toyota
Speaker 1: Antelopes of the Women's Japan Basketball League tonight, it will
Speaker 1: be a chance for the Oregon Faithful to finally give
Speaker 1: Sabrina her flowers for an incredible career with the Ducks.
Speaker 1: And she hooked them up too, because she brought her
Speaker 1: Liberty squad to Rennie's Landing a bar on campus on
Speaker 1: Saturday night, buying fans beer and hanging out in advance
Speaker 1: of tonight's game. Pretty cool. You can catch that one
Speaker 1: live at seven pm Eastern tonight on WNBA League Pass
Speaker 1: for zero dollars and zero cents. More hoops and more
Speaker 1: heartbreaking WNBA cuts Ole miss guard forward Madison Scott, drafted
Speaker 1: number fourteen overall by the Dallas Wings, has been waved.
Speaker 1: Also last week, the Indiana Fever waved the number twenty
Speaker 1: overall pick Bree Haul out of South Carolina. Finally in
Speaker 1: hoops more Chicago baby news A baby vander Quiggs. Chicago's
Speaker 1: Sky supercuple Courtney vander Slute and Ali Quigley announced the
Speaker 1: arrival of their little girl, Jana Christine vander Slute Quiggly,
Speaker 1: born on April eighth. Vander Slute returned to the Sky
Speaker 1: this season after two seasons with the Liberty, including winning
Speaker 1: a title with them last year, and Quigley played for
Speaker 1: the Sky from twenty thirteen to twenty twenty two. One
Speaker 1: of my favorite sports moments ever was watching vander Slute
Speaker 1: absolutely lose her mind cheering for Quigley in her final
Speaker 1: All Star three point contest in Chicago over All Star Week,
Speaker 1: and a couple of years ago, it was her record
Speaker 1: fourth three point contest win, and just watching Courtney go
Speaker 1: was so fun. The sweetest couple. We're so happy for them.
Speaker 1: To the Diamond, where college softball conference championships took place
Speaker 1: over the weekend, including an unprecedented double champ So bad
Speaker 1: weather in Athens, Georgia resulted in the cancellation of Saturday's
Speaker 1: SEC Softball Championship game between Oklahoma and Texas A and M.
Speaker 1: And because it was deemed a no contest, the Sooners
Speaker 1: and Aggies are co champions of the twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: SEC Softball Tournament, first time they've been co champions since
Speaker 1: it began in nineteen ninety seven. Sunday night, the live
Speaker 1: NCAA Tournament selection show took place on ESPN two, and
Speaker 1: the sixty fourteen field is set for the first time
Speaker 1: in program history. Texas A and M was named the
Speaker 1: number one overall seed in the twenty twenty five NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma,
Speaker 1: winners of the last four College World Series, are right
Speaker 1: behind them at number two. In fact, the SEC bost
Speaker 1: seven of the top eight national seeds for the tournament.
Speaker 1: Fourteen of the league's fifteen teams made the Ncuba tournament,
Speaker 1: with only Missouri getting left out. We'll share a link
Speaker 1: to the sixty fourteen field and the schedule in our
Speaker 1: show notes. Want to send out a quick shout out
Speaker 1: to the boss Lady Laura Correnti, founder of Deep Blue
Speaker 1: Sports and Entertainment, who announced she's expecting a baby with
Speaker 1: her husband this November. Kingratz goes out to Laura, We're
Speaker 1: gonna take a quick break when we come back. How's
Speaker 1: my Chicago Sky looking entering the twenty twenty five WNBA season.
Speaker 1: We'll discuss the deets you need to know stick around
Speaker 1: Welcome back Splices. The first of today's pair of previews
Speaker 1: is my hometown squad, the Chicago Sky, who finished with
Speaker 1: a thirteen and twenty seven record last season, losing Angelries
Speaker 1: to injury in early September and missing the playoffs for
Speaker 1: the first time since twenty eighteen. Here's your need to
Speaker 1: know Sky history. Founded in two thousand and five, the
Speaker 1: team played its first season in two thousand and six.
Speaker 1: They've made the finals twice, losing to the Phoenix Mercury
Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen and beating the Phoenix Mercury in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one to capture their first and only title. Great
Speaker 1: players in Sky history are plenty, including Candace Dupre, Sylvia Fowls,
Speaker 1: Christy Tolliver, Epiphany Prince, Tischa Pennicero, Ruth Riley, Swin Cash,
Speaker 1: Elena Deladon, and Candace Parker. Colia Copper, who's still active
Speaker 1: in now playing with the Mercury, was Finals MVP when
Speaker 1: the Sky won that title. Twenty twenty five tagline for
Speaker 1: the team, the Sky's the Limit. Let's talk additions and
Speaker 1: losses for this team. They lost Marina Maybury via trade
Speaker 1: midway through last season, and she was responsible for forty
Speaker 1: six percent of their three point attempts before the trade.
Speaker 1: They also sent another sharpshooter, Dana Evans, to the Las
Speaker 1: Vegas Aces and assign and trade over the off season,
Speaker 1: and they chose not to re sign last year's leading
Speaker 1: scorer Kennedy Carter. They did add quite a few contributors, though,
Speaker 1: including bringing back two time WNBA champion, five time All Star,
Speaker 1: and seven time WNBA assists leader Courtney Van der Slut,
Speaker 1: who spent the first twelve seasons of her career in Chicago.
Speaker 1: They also added former All Star Kia Nurse and free
Speaker 1: agency as well. Making the Sky Nurses fifth WNBA team.
Speaker 1: She most recently played with the Sparks last season. The
Speaker 1: Sky acquired WNBA champion and two time All Star Ariel Atkins,
Speaker 1: the Washington Mystics leading scorer last season, via trade, same
Speaker 1: with three point threat Rebecca Allen acquired from Connecticut. They
Speaker 1: also made a change at coach, hiring new head coach
Speaker 1: Tyler Marsh in November after beloved former Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: player Teresa Weatherspoon effectually known as t Spoon, was fired
Speaker 1: after just one season at the Helm. Marsh spent ten
Speaker 1: years coaching on the men's side before joining the Las
Speaker 1: Vegas Aces for the last three seasons as an assistant,
Speaker 1: helping them to titles in twenty twenty two and twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three. Marsh has also hired former Atlanta Dream head
Speaker 1: coach Tanisha Wright as an assistant coach. Wright was let
Speaker 1: go by the Dream at the end of last season.
Speaker 1: Some notable draft picks for the Sky this year include
Speaker 1: TCU standout Hayley van Litt at number eleven and Notre
Speaker 1: Dames Matty Westbelt at sixteen. The team also took Slovenian
Speaker 1: player Aisha Sievka tenth overall, but the nineteen year old
Speaker 1: doesn't look like she'll come to the WNBA this season.
Speaker 1: As for the stars on this team, a few shining
Speaker 1: stars alongside the quiet veteran Van der Slute, who's not
Speaker 1: just a fan favorite but also a legendary dime dealer.
Speaker 1: Only eight times has the player averaged at least eight
Speaker 1: assists per game in WNBA history, and she accounts for
Speaker 1: six of those eight. She's quiet, though she does her
Speaker 1: work on the court. The biggest star not so quiet,
Speaker 1: Angel Reese, the seventh overall pick in the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four draft. Reese is already a mini mogul after leading
Speaker 1: LSU to its first ever national championship in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three and averaging the most rebounds per game in SEC
Speaker 1: history her senior year. She entered the w with a
Speaker 1: question mark next to her name. Would her game translate?
Speaker 1: And she answered with a resounding yes. We'll get to
Speaker 1: the records that she broke in a minute. She did
Speaker 1: so in style, too, though, as one of the most
Speaker 1: popular players in the league, attending met galas, hosting her
Speaker 1: own podcast, and hawking a ton of products from Reese's
Speaker 1: pieces to McDonald's Kamilla Cardoso, also a star. A highly
Speaker 1: touted rookie in last year's draft, she was selected third
Speaker 1: overall by the Sky out of South Carolina. She missed
Speaker 1: the first six games of last season with the shoulder
Speaker 1: injury and the last two games of the season as well,
Speaker 1: but this year hoping for an injury free campaign. Her
Speaker 1: game translated extremely well last season, in part thanks to
Speaker 1: the preparation she did with the game Cocks in three
Speaker 1: years of her college hoops under Don Staley and how
Speaker 1: battle tested she was. She was a big reason the
Speaker 1: game Cocks won NCAA titles in twenty twenty two and
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. So what are the stakes for this
Speaker 1: team after missing the postseason last year? Due to the
Speaker 1: talent on this squad, I wouldn't be surprised if fans
Speaker 1: think a championship is attainable this year. As for me,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of things would have to go
Speaker 1: right for them to compete with the likes of the
Speaker 1: Liberty and the Lynx. This team's got new pieces that'll
Speaker 1: need some time to mesh, and they need to adjust
Speaker 1: to what expects to be a very different approach under
Speaker 1: new head coach Marsh playoffs are a goal, but I
Speaker 1: don't think they're ready to win it all. Let's talk stats,
Speaker 1: because a couple of Sky players filled up the box
Speaker 1: score last year, but the team has some pretty big
Speaker 1: statistical holes to fill. First, the good Angel Rees set
Speaker 1: a new WNBA record for consecutive double doubles, notching one
Speaker 1: in fifteen straight games and finishing with twenty six on
Speaker 1: the season, the most ever by a rookie. She also
Speaker 1: averaged a league record thirteen point one rebounds per game
Speaker 1: and broke the league's single season rebounding record with four
Speaker 1: hundred and forty six rebounds before missing the end of
Speaker 1: the season to injury and getting passed by the Aces
Speaker 1: Asia Wilson. Despite missing early games to injury, Reese's classmate,
Speaker 1: Cardoso still came close to averaging a double double in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. Her nine point eight points were third
Speaker 1: most among rookies and seven point nine rebounds per game
Speaker 1: were second among newcomers, behind only Reese. Also, per her Hoopstats,
Speaker 1: Cardoso was one of just nine players in the league
Speaker 1: last year who averaged at least nine points per game
Speaker 1: and seven rebounds per game while shooting at least fifty
Speaker 1: percent on field goal attempts. Now, remember that good shooting,
Speaker 1: because here comes the bad. The Sky attempted a league
Speaker 1: low fourteen point nine threes per game last season and
Speaker 1: averaged only four point eight. Makes the next closest team,
Speaker 1: the Connecticut Sun, took at least eighteen threes per game,
Speaker 1: and the league leading Liberty boasted twenty nine attempts per game,
Speaker 1: draining ten plus per game. Now, the additions of Nurse
Speaker 1: Alan and Atkins should help them improve beyond the arc,
Speaker 1: where new coach Marsh has given them the green light
Speaker 1: to quote let it fly. Their issues weren't just from
Speaker 1: deep though the team ranked eleventh in field goal percentage,
Speaker 1: twelfth in restricted area field goal percentage, and dead last
Speaker 1: in free throw percentage. Their dominance on the offensive boards
Speaker 1: gave them second and third chances, but they need to
Speaker 1: tighten things up when it comes to their shooting. Now.
Speaker 1: I know what some of you are thinking, are all
Speaker 1: those numbers due to Angel Reese struggling to finish inside? No,
Speaker 1: but that's certainly part of it. Reese committed to working
Speaker 1: on her layups over the offseason, working with Lisa Leslie
Speaker 1: Wilett unrivaled, and she should also benefit from a much
Speaker 1: better offense, hopefully less clogged, less predictable, less dependent on
Speaker 1: her to make things happen inside since defenders will hopefully
Speaker 1: need to respect the perimeter guards this year. Now, with
Speaker 1: Angel Reese on your squad, you're never short of stories.
Speaker 1: Beyond the constant media battles debating Angel versus Caitlin, Beyond
Speaker 1: the content creation and headline generating she did with her
Speaker 1: podcast and her endorsements. Beyond the nearly five million followers
Speaker 1: on Instagram alone, Angel also sold tickets and put butts
Speaker 1: in seats. Last year, Producer Misch went to the Washington
Speaker 1: Mystic Chicago Sky game. They got moved to Capitol One Arena,
Speaker 1: a twenty thousand plus seat venue, and when Reese was
Speaker 1: announced in the starting lineup, the screams were deafening. Cardoso
Speaker 1: came off the bench in that game and during the
Speaker 1: dead ball she got more of the same. Both players
Speaker 1: carried over huge fan bases from college, and that makes
Speaker 1: sense considering the national championships they each brought to their schools.
Speaker 1: You also got van der Slute returning not only to
Speaker 1: a team that she won a championship with, but a
Speaker 1: team that she used to plan with her wife, who
Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier in the show, Ali Quigley, who was
Speaker 1: a knocked down three point shooter. Now Quigley has sat
Speaker 1: out the last two WNBA seasons, and as I mentioned,
Speaker 1: they've got a new baby to care for. But for
Speaker 1: my hoops and gay shit lovers, she's technically not officially retired,
Speaker 1: so you'd never know. Fun fact about the Sky. They
Speaker 1: finally dumped their lay mass excuse for a mascot, Sky Guy,
Speaker 1: near the end of last season, and introduced Sky the Lioness,
Speaker 1: sort of an Ellie the Elephant disciple. She was built
Speaker 1: by the same mascot designer now. Naming her Sky with
Speaker 1: an E at the end, which makes it tough to
Speaker 1: distinguish when you're talking whether you're talking about the team
Speaker 1: or the mascot was a choice. Also, no one knows
Speaker 1: why her head is yellow and her body is blue.
Speaker 1: But whatever, Literally, anything is better than Sky Guy, and
Speaker 1: I'm going to give Sky the Lioness a year or
Speaker 1: so to really get into her groove. All right, me,
Speaker 1: I know you're sitting in the airport waiting to fly home,
Speaker 1: But what did I miss?
Speaker 2: I don't want to get you too excited, Okay, but
Speaker 2: I think that the sky might be problem this year.
Speaker 2: They've got just I know, yeah, I know it hurts
Speaker 2: me to say this to you, but they've got an
Speaker 2: excellent mix of that rookie sophomore fresh energy and vets
Speaker 2: who've been there and done that in different situations. So
Speaker 2: there's just no doubt in my mind that they're gonna
Speaker 2: come out strong this season. I think angel Rees Camillacardos
Speaker 2: so obviously are gonna step their game up on both ends.
Speaker 2: But then you add Courtney Vanderslut's ability to orchestrate her
Speaker 2: championship experience to the mix. You've got Elizabeth Williams, She's
Speaker 2: a steady interior presence, then Rebecca Allen who can shoot
Speaker 2: that thing, defensive lockdown capabilities, and then Ariel Atkins the
Speaker 2: same great perimeter defender, also a playmaker, also can shoot it.
Speaker 2: Rachel Banham can shoot, Hayley Ben Like, there's just up
Speaker 2: and down the roster. You got folks who can play
Speaker 2: the hell out of their roles. But I'm interested to
Speaker 2: see who the go to is gonna be on this
Speaker 2: squad though, because there isn't a Kennedy Carter esque player
Speaker 2: who can get them a bucket at will in my
Speaker 2: humble opinion, but on the flip, that might not matter
Speaker 2: as much as it could on other squads because defensively,
Speaker 2: long story short, for this guy, they're going to be
Speaker 2: really really hard to score on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think it almost is like instead of
Speaker 3: the certified bucket getter, you have the certified setter upper
Speaker 3: in slute where you can make an Angel Reese or
Speaker 3: a Camiale or somebody like that be getting the buckets
Speaker 3: and points you need by just setting them up right.
Speaker 3: And salute is the master the all time, right. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I do think I'm curious to see how they use
Speaker 1: Camilla and Angel in a first full season with both healthy.
Speaker 1: I think it looks like Camila has gotten in better
Speaker 1: shape in the offseason, and if she has a full
Speaker 1: season playing, plus the experience from last year getting used
Speaker 1: to the pro game, I think we really are going
Speaker 1: to see a lot more from her, and that inside
Speaker 1: out game is going to be really necessary to take
Speaker 1: advantage of those two bigs inside. If they don't hit
Speaker 1: from three, which they have not in the past couple
Speaker 1: of seasons, it really makes it easy to focus inside.
Speaker 1: And that's why I think to your point, those three
Speaker 1: point shooters are going to be huge. All right, We
Speaker 1: got to take another break when we come back. Time
Speaker 1: to dive into Mesh's Mystics. All right, slices, let's talk
Speaker 1: the Washington Mystics. Mish's team, who finished fourteen to twenty
Speaker 1: six last season. Finishing ninth and missing the playoffs actually
Speaker 1: a decent mark, considering they started the season oh to twelve,
Speaker 1: the worst start in franchise history. Here's what you need
Speaker 1: to know about the Mystics history. The team was one
Speaker 1: of the first two expansion teams to join the league
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety eight, one year after the original eight
Speaker 1: began play, and they share an owner with the MNBA
Speaker 1: Washington Wizards. They've made the postseason in thirteen of twenty
Speaker 1: three seasons, reaching the finals for the first time in
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, losing to the Seattle Storm, but winning their
Speaker 1: first and only title the next year over the Connecticut Sun.
Speaker 1: Top players in Mystics team history include Shamiqua Holdshaw, Elena Beard,
Speaker 1: Crystal Langhorne, Christy Tolliver, and Elena Deladon. The team's twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five tag line, come for the Brunch, Suffer through
Speaker 1: the basketball. Sorry, Mesh. Let's talk additions and losses and
Speaker 1: why I think fans might be more excited about those
Speaker 1: bottomless mimosas during the brunch and basketball promo than they
Speaker 1: will be about the team's postseason chances. First, the goodbyes.
Speaker 1: Elena Deladon announced her retirement this offseason after electing to
Speaker 1: sit out last year, and the team can now officially
Speaker 1: move on without wondering if she'll ever be able to return.
Speaker 1: The team also traded last year's leading scorer Ariel Atkins
Speaker 1: to the Sky, sent Carly Samuelson to the Links, and
Speaker 1: let shatory Walker Kimberle leave for the Atlanta Dream. After
Speaker 1: mutually agreed to part ways with both head coach Eric
Speaker 1: Tebow and general manager Mike Tebow, who had been with
Speaker 1: the team for over a decade, they hired longtime college
Speaker 1: coach Sidney Johnson and named former WNBA player Jamila Wideman
Speaker 1: as the team's new GM. Johnson's experience is mainly in
Speaker 1: men's college basketball, though he was an assistant with Chicago
Speaker 1: last season. The Mystics added some major talent in the draft,
Speaker 1: and number three pick Sonya Citron out of Notre Dame
Speaker 1: and number four pick Kiki Eriafen out of USC. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: number six pick Georgia Amore has already suffered an ACL
Speaker 1: injury in preseason camp and she'll be out for the season.
Speaker 1: Let's talk the stars of this squad. Britney Sykes, the
Speaker 1: runner up for Rookie of the Year back in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: was second in scoring to the departed Atkins last season,
Speaker 1: and in the offseason she helped roseby C win the
Speaker 1: first Unrivaled championship, leading the team in scoring and sinking
Speaker 1: the title winning free throw. Eliah Edwards, a Yukon product
Speaker 1: who was selected sixth and last year's draft, also turned
Speaker 1: heads and Unrivaled this offseason, making it to the finals
Speaker 1: of the inaugural one v one competition, where she fell
Speaker 1: to Champ No Fisa Collier. She could be primed for
Speaker 1: a breakout year. The stakes for this team, To quote
Speaker 1: producer mish Lo, this team just doesn't have the firepower
Speaker 1: to compete with the best in the league, and they're
Speaker 1: going to need time to get youngsters Citron and Eriafen
Speaker 1: up to speed. This season is all about growth, figuring
Speaker 1: out who to build around for the future, and finding
Speaker 1: their way back into the playoffs. Sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1: As for stats, the Mystics have finished seventh or worse
Speaker 1: in offensive rating every season since they won the title
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, and they slid on defense last year too.
Speaker 1: After leading the league in defensive rating in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: they dropped to fifth in twenty twenty three and fell
Speaker 1: even further down to seventh last season. When they're healthy,
Speaker 1: Psychs and Shakira Austin are effective defenders, so if they
Speaker 1: can stay in the game, they'll look to help the
Speaker 1: Mystics fix their defensive woes. As for stories and Laura,
Speaker 1: on this team, Steph Dolson aka Big Mama Steph can
Speaker 1: be counted on for solid social content, often showing off
Speaker 1: her fantastic fits and flaunting her unique fashion sense, and
Speaker 1: rookies amor Ereafen and Citron also showed some stylish sides
Speaker 1: at the draft, so we'll see if that keeps up
Speaker 1: during the season. Fun fact about the Mystics, Misha's parents
Speaker 1: used to take them to Mystics games when she was
Speaker 1: a wee babe, and at one game against the Houston Comets,
Speaker 1: who else but WNBA legend RYL Swoops came over to
Speaker 1: hold infant Mesh. There's a super cute picture of the
Speaker 1: two of them on Misha's Insta. We'll link to it
Speaker 1: in our show notes. All right back to airport, Mesh,
Speaker 1: What I forget about your squad? Oh?
Speaker 2: You didn't forget anything. You didn't forget anything. I am
Speaker 2: just these rookies. I was at the WNBA Draft and
Speaker 2: when I tell you, I was so free excited to
Speaker 2: see them get Kiki Area fen In, Sonya Citron and
Speaker 2: Georgia Amore. Of course we're sending our love to her
Speaker 2: with a knee injury, but those two, my eyes are
Speaker 2: on them. I mean they It's gotta be iron sharpening
Speaker 2: iron all over the place in that training camp.
Speaker 1: But the two of them could.
Speaker 2: Develop into real, true solid pieces that fill in gaps
Speaker 2: for DC for Sonia Citron. She's excellent without the ball,
Speaker 2: moving off ball. She said as much herself during the preseason,
Speaker 2: and that bene fits her as a rookie big time,
Speaker 2: because chances are head coach Sidney Johnson won't be asking
Speaker 2: her to be a go to player, not at all.
Speaker 2: He'll be asking her to capitalize on the opportunity she
Speaker 2: gets off the ball when Britney Sykes or Elia Edwards
Speaker 2: or Shakira Austin gets shut down.
Speaker 1: And then you add the fact that she can defend.
Speaker 2: Extremely well already, which is going to keep her on
Speaker 2: the floor and make her reliable.
Speaker 1: You could call me crazy.
Speaker 2: All y'all out there could call me crazy, but I
Speaker 2: think she could have a sleeper Rookie of the Year campaign.
Speaker 1: I'm saying it right now, and I'm saying it with
Speaker 1: my whole chest.
Speaker 2: As for Kiki iriafin with the combination she has of quickness, strength,
Speaker 2: and explosiveness her size, she could be another weapon that
Speaker 2: gives DC a different kind of dynamic in the post.
Speaker 2: I'm curious to see how things shake out for the
Speaker 2: rest of preseason, though, because the Mystics have a lot
Speaker 2: of bigs in camp right now. They've got her, Shakira Austin,
Speaker 2: as I mentioned, Eliah Edwards, as I mentioned Stephanie Dolson,
Speaker 2: and Sika Kone at the time we're recording this, and unfortunately,
Speaker 2: as we know, everybody can't make the team, or maybe
Speaker 2: they can, you know, maybe they can.
Speaker 1: I'm not a GM. I love the enthusiasm that you have.
Speaker 1: I'll be rooting for Sonya Stron She's on my fantasy team.
Speaker 1: I'm for the first time playing WNBA fantasy auction draft
Speaker 1: style and friend of the show claim Connikin and Aaron
Speaker 1: Foley have a team, and then I teamed up with
Speaker 1: my friend ty Duncan. Our team name is Skyler's Old Pussy.
Speaker 1: If you don't understand that.
Speaker 3: Reference, we will link to it in our show notes.
Speaker 1: Good, but Sonya is on our team, so I'm hoping
Speaker 1: that she can go off. I also love that we
Speaker 1: got two signature W moments from them. Already. Sonya had
Speaker 1: her Welcome to the W moment getting absolutely flattened by
Speaker 1: a screen from Gritney brutt Britney Griner Britney Grinder, although
Speaker 1: I like calling her Gritney Briner when she's like extra
Speaker 1: gritty Gritney Briner. And then also we already saw Kegy
Speaker 1: like getting in a verbal altercation on the court, so
Speaker 1: we know she's ready for the bros. Kiki, she don't
Speaker 1: love you, She don't Kiky, don't you love me? We
Speaker 1: love that you're listening, but we want you to get
Speaker 1: in the game every day too. Like listener CJ, who
Speaker 1: left us this voicemail.
Speaker 4: Hey, big Ciris, this is CJ from Atlanta. I appreciate
Speaker 4: y'all doing a spotlight on the Atlantic Dream and all
Speaker 4: the WNBA teams right before the season starts. I just
Speaker 4: want to say that one of the interesting things about
Speaker 4: the Atlanta Dream y'all mentioned the lack of noise around
Speaker 4: the Dreams team. It could be because the Dreams play
Speaker 4: in one of the smallest arenas in all of professional sports,
Speaker 4: with only about three thousand speeks, and that could be
Speaker 4: an issue since they're playing outside of the city, and
Speaker 4: that impact their revenue and everything else about the team. Honestly,
Speaker 4: so we're very intrigued here in Atlanta, here at the
Speaker 4: Dream We're going to move to a big arena at
Speaker 4: some point. Besides for the Kaling card games. Thanks for
Speaker 4: all of y'all do Sears.
Speaker 1: You know that's a great point, CJ. And absolutely that
Speaker 1: impacts the team's ability to draw revenue so that they
Speaker 1: can break through the noise with big activations or marketing campaigns,
Speaker 1: with the kind of things that fans like me might
Speaker 1: notice amid the noise the rest of the league. They
Speaker 1: are in fact on the hunt for a bigger arena.
Speaker 1: So there was a recent interview with front office Sports
Speaker 1: and team president Morganshaw Parker said the team is looking
Speaker 1: for a new home that would fit about twelve thousand
Speaker 1: to fourteen thousand fans, whether that's via a new build
Speaker 1: or by partnering with an existing stadium. So we'll link
Speaker 1: to that story in our show notes if you want
Speaker 1: to check it out. Also want to shout out our
Speaker 1: resident Connecticut Sun correspondent who was back with thoughts on
Speaker 1: our preview of that team, including thoughts on Mish's comments
Speaker 1: about the team's arena. Matt Douglass wrote, quote, I heard
Speaker 1: what Mesh said about Mohegan being remote. That's a hard
Speaker 1: hear and we don't use that word around here. We
Speaker 1: prefer scenic surroundings, bucolic and yeah, it's a casino, but
Speaker 1: it has great food options too. End quote, Ha, scenic surroundings.
Speaker 1: You should be a realtor, Matt. It's not small, it's cozy,
Speaker 1: it's not dated, it's charming. Thanks for writing in. We
Speaker 1: always love to hear from you. Also hit us up
Speaker 1: on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave
Speaker 1: us a voicemail at eight seven to two two oh
Speaker 1: four fifty seventy. Don't forget to subscribe. Rate and Review.
Speaker 1: Y'all seriously, go now leave us five stars. Say something nice.
Speaker 1: It's easy watch calling Trump's bluff. Rating ten out of
Speaker 1: ten review. The Trump administration and the USDA has agreed
Speaker 1: to restore federal funding for education programs in the state
Speaker 1: of Maine, ending a freeze that stemmed from the President's
Speaker 1: stance on transgender athletes. Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins had frozen
Speaker 1: funds for nutrition programs in Maine after Trump threatened the
Speaker 1: state over their refusal to ban trans athletes from participating
Speaker 1: in women's sports. Now, you might remember back in February
Speaker 1: when the President threatened main Governor Janet Mills at the
Speaker 1: White House, and she responded, quote, we'll see you in court. Well,
Speaker 1: after suing the USDA and getting the funds restored, Mills said,
Speaker 1: quote I told them I'd see him in court. Well,
Speaker 1: we did see him in court and we won. End quote. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Now it's your turn. Rate and Review slcenes. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: See you tomorrow when we up. You for the Minnesota
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Speaker 1: Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie
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