Valkyries' 8-Game Win Streak, Title Contender Talk & Caitlin Clark's Firestorm | Podhalla

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[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to Pod Hala, we are here, and it's kind of crazy to be talking about which is the main topic of whether or not the valkers are actually title contenders.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We've been leaning towards this conversation.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like I feel like we've had a few of these like, are they for real?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Should we take them seriously?

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[SPEAKER_00]: And yet, here we are, both two games for the All Star Break and they sit in second place and they just beat the Indiana fever.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That game was probably a little bit closer than it needed to be.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Some of that is playing in that environment.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But I thought they kind of handled them.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Fairly easily there was never a moment where I thought that they were going to Really give the game away and I don't haven't felt that way every time that they've had a close game But let's start here Because I think there's a real conversation and some of this I don't know if anybody believes in power rankings or whatever, but both ESPN and the athletic Had the Valkyries number one in their power poles

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[SPEAKER_00]: kind of ridiculous to me because they haven't beat Minnesota or Las Vegas, but if you're looking at it from the perspective of what the order is and how hot teams are and I know power polls aren't really scientific.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Like, what do you, what do you feel?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Are you still, do you still feel like this is not?

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[SPEAKER_00]: really how they're going to be as we get to the end of the season, there's still things that can happen or do you feel like this team can contend and now the expectation is got to win one or two playoff series is or it's kind of like a disappointment.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think maybe the mentality changed for me was a little bit through the road trip where

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[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it was a relatively like easy road trip in terms of who they played right like I have the skill to write here.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It was That Atlanta game to start it

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[SPEAKER_01]: It was Washington, Toronto, Connecticut, Indiana, and then that was the road tripping.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's not that tough.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's what you know, I feel like they've kind of figured something out against Atlanta where now Atlanta has kind of been on a skid.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And then Indiana's a little bit of a test too, but otherwise it relatively easy road tripping.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I think the fact that they were just kind of handling business on the road, where it's, you know, we see it on the NBA side, where it's like,

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[SPEAKER_01]: feels like the warriors can play down or up to their competition, uh, but the Valkyries just kind of like you're the better team.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So you should win.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And that's kind of feels like what they're doing right now.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So to me, they are 100% a contender.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I still don't feel, you know, I've been on this.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Uh,

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[SPEAKER_01]: of this opinion for the past since they keep losing to the ACEs and the links, but I'm up the opinion they still can't beat those teams.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But I mean, there is a world where you get to the one seed and you could hypothetically dodge both of those teams until the finals, but you can't tell me that they're not a contender if they can literally beat up on 90% of the league.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it feels like it feels like it feels a little bit like they're going to run into

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[SPEAKER_00]: And the fan expectation is like any fan expectation.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's just on a win, you want to win, win, win, win, win, win, win.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But what may be the outcome, the truest outcome, the most helpful outcome, the most learning outcome, is that they just take these teams to the max, and these teams have championship DNA, or best player in the league DNA,

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[SPEAKER_00]: and that's what helps them overcome and you learn a little bit about what the team is and then the front office learns a little bit about okay what is that one player that maybe puts us over the top that's where I'm leaning like if I'm trying to predict where this season goes now we have a whole second half the season but I don't think it's too premature to talk like this because you have to give them the credit which is their beating

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[SPEAKER_00]: these teams that I think these teams think that they should be beating the Valkyries like you you look at that game in Indiana last night and we're recording this on Thursday.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think it'll I think most people hear this on Friday.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But you look at that game and it was almost immediate.

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[SPEAKER_00]: that they took the life out of the crowd.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Like the fever crowd does this thing where they stand up until the other until their team scores.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think the Valkyries are up like 8 to 0 and the fans were, you know, the fans probably had a little bit of heavy legs from standing so much.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like right away, they just look like, nope, this is who we are.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We are defensive team.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We're not going to make it easier for y'all to score and here we're putting our stamp on this immediately.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, they had the same third quarter, such issues that they seemingly always have for whatever reason.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why the third quarter is so much harder than say the first quarter.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But they still put it on Indiana right away.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And you could kind of see it.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Not to say that Caitlyn Clark is the only temperature gauge on that team, but she is the point guard.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And you started to see the frustration kind of kind of bubble a little bit.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And then there was the big moment, which we'll talk about later, just because we kind of have to.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Everything Caitlyn does seemingly as a story.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But I looked at that going like, oh, like their mentality was, let's just make it hard on them.

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[SPEAKER_00]: defensively because we don't want them to get to get the crowd into it.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And they were able to do that almost immediately, which is kind of the opposite of the Connecticut game, which tells you kind of the difference in how they see those teams, like Connecticut, Connecticut's the one who got up in that game the other day.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And the Vakers like, yeah, okay, just wait, we're gonna figure this thing out.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And they did very easily.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But that is that is kind of their stamp is that defensive, it's almost like, you know, it's like lay it out there.

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[SPEAKER_00]: come at us.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We got this and Indiana seemed befuddled pretty much from tip off and that is just a fantastic way to be able to do that immediately in somebody's house in a arena that is so loud.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I thought that was tremendous and if you can do that,

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[SPEAKER_00]: In games on the road against good teams, like you set the tone and you give yourself a chance to win these games and who's to say that they can't do that in bigger games my only thought is they just don't have the reps yet and you have to build those reps in In order to do it and that that's where they don't they just don't have enough of the experience yet so for me to go oh yeah they could win it all like maybe if they went through this last year then I would go like oh yeah they have those reps they don't have them yet.

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[SPEAKER_01]: yeah like playoff basketball is for sure like a different beast right like the defensive intensity you know even more of like a that type of fever crowd scattered throughout whatever away arena you're gonna be playing in but I feel like this this road trip was like kind of a good indicator that I think there are way ahead of schedule like you know role players are supposed

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[SPEAKER_01]: You know, shoot, not as good on the road.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And maybe that was, you know, the case, but the fact that they're still able to win these games and, you know, the, what Caitlin Chen's been able to do coming off the bench and just being able to get to the hole and make some layups when they need and just the starters being like one of the greatest defensive units I've ever seen in my life, you know, I feel like there's no who Vinnie, do you know who Vinnie Johnson is?

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[SPEAKER_01]: They've heard definitely heard the name.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, his nickname was the microwave.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, and it's because he would come off the bench, he would immediately provide a scoring punch.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And then you get him out of there, you know, when you needed to, so that you could use him again.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And Kale and Chad has become the Vinny Johnson of the Valkyries, like the way that Natalie uses her is like, okay, your job right now is to break down this defense.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't, I don't exactly understand the defensive strategy on Caitlyn like they're I would just want her to shoot three's exactly my opinion to but they press her and I'm guessing.

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[SPEAKER_00]: it's because they kind of disrespect her.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They don't think that it's real.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, who's this little girl coming out here trying to try and to play?

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[SPEAKER_00]: And then she goes cross over boom.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And she's in the paint, whether it's floater or she gets all the way into that left-handed lab or all the way to the bucket for that little right-handed hook shot, scoop shot,

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[SPEAKER_00]: like it is it is amazing watching how Natalie employees her in these moments where they need a little bit of a joke like I was like who would have thought that Caitlyn Chen is your microwave score for the Valkyries right and that's taken a lot of the pressure off a tip because that was like tip last year and you know a little bit of this year to come off the bench and kind of be that quick first step get to the whole player and Caitlyn's kind of just

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[SPEAKER_01]: taken over that uh from uh like game plan perspective like she just I mean that third quarter alone was just what gave them the comfortable lead that I was like okay the feet were aren't coming back it's going to like 14 straight or something like that but I think I almost think this this Valkyrie's team is built to

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[SPEAKER_01]: like, I don't know, stay in close games in the playoffs, like they've only really been blown out one time this year and it was against the the aces other than that, it's all been close games.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, I think there was a stat out there by Jane or Kenza, one of the two put out a stat of like they are like six and five in close games if it's like within a certain amount of time, within a certain amount of points, like they still haven't really figured out like that

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[SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, I feel like, you know, we all know what those five losses were there against teams that I kind of think are better than them.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But in the Minnesota links in the Vegas Aces, but their defense is just so good that I, you know, even against the links, that first game was in last year's playoffs, that first game was not that close, but that second game was really close.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that this Valkyrie's team is definitely better than last year's team, the defense is better than number one defense in the league.

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[SPEAKER_01]: and I just think they're meant they're going to be in tight games.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I personally believe you can give them any series.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure I'm a little still a little worried about the links.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not the link, I'm sorry.

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[SPEAKER_01]: The liberty, like a little bit, but I mean we kind of took care of business against them.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They're probably more worried about the Valkyrus just because the Valkyrus can speed them up.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and make them uncomfortable in that way.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And we've only seen Dallas once, but for the most part, give them anyone that's not the aces or the links, and they're putting themselves in a position to not have to see any of those teams in the first round, but you give them any team, like I feel confident in a first round win.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Now maybe when we get to the second round is play a better team and we'll see, but this is a team that hangs their hat on defense.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's defense turns into offense and that's how they are able to build momentum off of fast breaks and stuff and defense is, to me, is one of the two most important things in the playoffs, the other being just having that.

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[SPEAKER_01]: kind of silencer that score or that can just get that bucket when you need it.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like those are the two most important things and they have, you know, one of those and they have it in an elite fashion.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So they are just, you know, if looking at the stats right now, I think Minnesota is the number two defense.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Minnesota is the number two defense.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Washington surprisingly is the number three defense at Lanna's four and then the

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[SPEAKER_01]: mm-hmm like the links are definitely the most well-rounded team because their links are three on offense to on defense But and that's from a defense rating offense of rating perspective But no, I'm I feel like you kind of got to say contender like we're we're watching the same games they are handling business against these teams

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[SPEAKER_01]: like literally like what do you I kind of feel like they're going to, you know, beat the mystics twice before this long break.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's it's their home games.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Um, I guess the Chicago sky I made a comment that I feel like it's kind of rain true that I'm worried when they play good defenses that can maybe score a little bit better than them.

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[SPEAKER_01]: because when they played Chicago, it looked like they were just stalemating at defense.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But Chicago was able to just get some or key adjacent buckets in the second half, and that's how they won.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like, yeah, Skylar was making, just like a little bit.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But it was like, we didn't have really anyone to guard Ricky in the second half of the first half.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But you're also talking about a game that was like so long ago now.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So long ago, but I feel like after that game I said,

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[SPEAKER_01]: I feel really confident against teams that are opposite Valkyries, teams that hang their hats on offense, but aren't that good at defense.

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[SPEAKER_01]: The fever is literally opposite Valkyries.

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[SPEAKER_01]: They are a really good offensive team, not as good of a defensive team.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm confident when the Valkyries play teams like that.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But when it comes to teams that can kind of hang in there with them defensively and just have a few players, like an area of fin and a sidetrone that kind of score, you know, how that is.

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[SPEAKER_01]: kind of get their get their shot how they want to.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I'd be a little worried about that.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm only saying that because I didn't realize how good Washington was a defense, but that's how I felt after the Chicago game.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And I mean, that's just been the ACEs.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I know from a rating perspective, we're a better defensive team.

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[SPEAKER_01]: The ACEs are a little bit opposite.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Valkyries from a rating perspective, but they just match up against us so well.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And we have no one.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's also pretty sneaky there.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think people realize that they're like 12 and 10 right now and better have a better record

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, they've, they've played extremely well, and they're seven out of the last 10.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So they're actually playing.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So the Valkyries winning both of those games would be very impressive because you are playing another team that is also playing good basketball.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I guess what I'm saying is I just kind of wrote those in as two W's and now I'm kind of like wondering how they're going to be.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's, it's it, but every game and I know Valkyries fans probably don't like to think of the season as this way, but to me,

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[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like every game is a new test and you want to see how they handle certain things.

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[SPEAKER_00]: How do you handle success?

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[SPEAKER_00]: How do you handle expectation?

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[SPEAKER_00]: How do you handle playing a team that is not as good as you?

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[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe you are not yourself at your best and how do you get over that hump and still win those games?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Like those are these are all things that the voucher is going to go through.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They're not going to win.

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[SPEAKER_00]: the rest of the games for the rest of the season, right?

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[SPEAKER_00]: They're not gonna win, you know, the next 20 games and have a 28 game winning streak or whatever that looks like.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But you want to see how they measure against possible hurdles.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, you have going into the break, you have this nice nine game layoff or nine day layoff.

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[SPEAKER_00]: If you're the Valkyries, let's say you win those two games.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not saying they're winning the next two games.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So let's say you win.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You go into the break with a 10 game winning streak.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Who wants to take nine days off if you want to get back in there and play more basketball?

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[SPEAKER_00]: But it's stuff like that where you, as a team, they haven't had to deal with that as a coach, a head coach, Natalie hasn't had to prepare them like that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So these are all like little experiments about who this team is and where they're going to be.

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[SPEAKER_00]: let's point out that the elephant in the room.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Kevin had any real integer issues all year long.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They did have

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[SPEAKER_00]: repair missing the season at the beginning.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That was a big set.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That and but I aren't you glad that that happened in the beginning of the season because then you can you can shape your team.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Right from that day on knowing okay we're not going to have her for the whole season.

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[SPEAKER_00]: She's.

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[SPEAKER_00]: doing her thing and we're giving her that grace to live her life and and to have this child and and all that and then when she comes back we'll we'll be we'll be waiting for her but we're going to take care of business while she's away and so they've had that opportunity to do that now you know if I'm if I'm thinking like how a coach would think like you go into this all-star break and if you're Natalie you're like okay

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[SPEAKER_00]: we're good.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, how do we come back from the break and not miss a step?

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[SPEAKER_00]: How do we come back from the break and not act like we're hot stuff?

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[SPEAKER_00]: And that and that so that would be another challenge.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I thought the comments about their road trip were really interesting.

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[SPEAKER_00]: what's a road trip?

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's you and your teammates and nothing else.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You don't kind of, you don't have a car.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have people nearby, your friends are nearby, whatever.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You just have each other.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And you saw a lot of those photos of them all together.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And that was interesting.

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[SPEAKER_00]: An interesting way to look at that road trip is your coach.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine

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[SPEAKER_00]: Dreyman and Steve Kerr and you know, whomever else just on a road trip and they're just hanging out in the park.

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[SPEAKER_00]: No, these guys are like got commitments from sponsorships or they're visiting people.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They got people in every city to that wants a piece of their time, right?

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[SPEAKER_00]: And this is a little bit different.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe the WMBA gets there at some point.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You would be hope that they get there because that means the the business is booming.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They're just like, it's kind of like a college road trip is what it seemed like to be just getting to know each other, vibing with each other, continuing to have that team chemistry.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And in this case, it worked out really well for them.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, what's the next little hurdle that they have that Natalie can say?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, how do we get through this?

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[SPEAKER_00]: This is a test.

18:45.417 --> 18:46.097
[SPEAKER_00]: All those things.

18:46.117 --> 18:49.080
[SPEAKER_00]: So I love looking at sports in that way.

18:50.081 --> 18:57.008
[SPEAKER_00]: Because you're what in again going back to the beginning of this podcast, the history of this podcast, we wanted to see the origin story.

18:57.108 --> 19:04.935
[SPEAKER_00]: And now here we are near to and they're already near the the top of the league, at least record wise at the all start break of their second season.

19:05.035 --> 19:06.396
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I just I just don't.

19:07.301 --> 19:12.689
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I know you're not saying this entirely, but like I don't think this is just like a cute season.

19:12.729 --> 19:13.750
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, what a cute story.

19:13.790 --> 19:20.620
[SPEAKER_01]: This is like I genuinely think like you say they can't win 20 straight and I know that's, you know, they probably won't, but.

19:21.439 --> 19:23.220
[SPEAKER_01]: you know, like there hasn't been any injuries.

19:24.001 --> 19:37.610
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like they have a good culture and chemistry, like you and karate we're talking about on the last podcast, we're like, you know, they had the Connecticut sun coming up and Nikosate doesn't want to like, you know, look down on the opponent or something.

19:37.630 --> 19:41.253
[SPEAKER_01]: They're, you know, I feel like that's like the good mentality to have and preach and

19:41.833 --> 19:43.374
[SPEAKER_01]: you know, they haven't won a championship yet.

19:43.414 --> 19:50.479
[SPEAKER_01]: So like, you know, I feel like when you have a one championship, the championship fatigue, it's like, okay, well, do I really have to show up on Tuesday against the impact of the Pacers?

19:50.759 --> 19:51.379
[SPEAKER_01]: They haven't had that.

19:51.399 --> 19:51.920
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't have that.

19:51.940 --> 19:53.901
[SPEAKER_01]: So why not go and try to win 20 straight?

19:54.161 --> 19:58.944
[SPEAKER_01]: Why not try, like, I think there is a possibility where they are the one seed by the end of the year.

19:59.565 --> 20:06.469
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, and if that's the case, how can you not say that it's, it's, you have to, like, expectation should be in the final.

20:06.489 --> 20:07.189
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't say that to

20:10.412 --> 20:14.315
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna, I'm gonna try to get in a piece on, and the piece that needs to be on the galleries next year.

20:14.575 --> 20:20.159
[SPEAKER_01]: Imagine if the Valkyries had an a piece of, I feel like she fits perfectly in this environment, and they just be like a dynasty.

20:21.640 --> 20:30.146
[SPEAKER_00]: They would just, she'd be the center of this incredible, like wheel, and they just move off of her.

20:30.927 --> 20:35.810
[SPEAKER_00]: By the way, you mentioned Jane, who's, you've interviewed for on this show.

20:36.070 --> 20:38.152
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you talked to Kenzo before?

20:39.445 --> 21:04.800
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I have not, we need to get those guys back on the pod because I feel like, you know, we have, we have, we have, and, and I don't think I'm speaking at a turn here that we're, we're going to try and bring conrado on much more and we may even do some other things as far as what this feed is like, I, Brian has always wanted to branch the pod hola feed outside of the BSPN feed and this may be a good time to do it.

21:05.618 --> 21:09.959
[SPEAKER_00]: especially if we can get more time with Conrado to help with getting more shows up.

21:10.400 --> 21:19.502
[SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, I feel like the Valkyries have such a great community of reporters and podcasters and

21:21.603 --> 21:25.344
[SPEAKER_00]: folks just covering the team like we need to get more of those folks on.

21:25.544 --> 21:31.145
[SPEAKER_00]: You said you met somebody during summer league who covers batberry basketball.

21:31.165 --> 21:31.565
[SPEAKER_00]: Who was that?

21:31.585 --> 21:31.785
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

21:31.945 --> 21:32.185
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

21:32.205 --> 21:45.727
[SPEAKER_01]: I met Noah Dijkas who hosts the podcast with Kenzo with Nathan with Jane with Marissa and they do that they kind of do like the all 82 for the for the Warriors plus minus but instead of for the

21:51.562 --> 21:53.464
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sorry Joseph Joseph okay.

21:53.484 --> 21:53.644
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

21:53.764 --> 21:54.385
[SPEAKER_00]: I was confused.

21:54.405 --> 21:54.865
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like wait.

21:54.885 --> 21:56.387
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got like a brother like what?

21:57.988 --> 22:07.777
[SPEAKER_01]: He he he he he put his name he asked me to I told them who I was and I told them we did the show and I told them like oh like we've had some of the people on your podcast on our show Mm-hmm.

22:07.937 --> 22:10.219
[SPEAKER_01]: And it was just that NBA summer league is kind of funny.

22:10.319 --> 22:11.901
[SPEAKER_01]: I was every year

22:13.911 --> 22:36.544
[SPEAKER_01]: Some of these gotten more and more increasingly popular, which is, I mean, it feels like less and less ability to kind of just bounce between gems at your leisure, it feels like if you leave a seat in the main gym, you're just going to kind of lose it and maybe lose a good quality seat for a really high potential game being like that Darren Peterson and AJ debons the game that was this year.

22:37.205 --> 22:40.567
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I think, me and my group, we kind of got there a little late,

22:43.128 --> 23:05.206
[SPEAKER_01]: Right from the get go because there's like 10 of us and we all want to sit by each other and so we tried to go to the the upper deck one of the second level and there were these people standing in front of the exits and they're the we're you just can't go up there today and we're like dude like we've done this for so many years now it is going to overflow and you're telling us that we can't go up.

23:05.966 --> 23:32.442
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we ended up just kind of circling and then there was just this one entrance to the top that wasn't guarded and was didn't have like a blocked off science or like okay I guess we can go up and we go up and we're like one of five people that have gone up this entrance and the only people in the lower bowl and so we just kind of like then backtrack and go back to the best seat in the house that if you go down that exit there it is blocked off but we got up and we went to our perfect seats that down.

23:33.162 --> 23:40.728
[SPEAKER_01]: Then one of the ladies who told us we couldn't come up here came up again and said, you guys can't come up here and then we said, look, there is now 50 people up here.

23:40.888 --> 23:43.229
[SPEAKER_01]: How are you going to enforce this?

23:43.690 --> 23:44.310
[SPEAKER_01]: Look down.

23:45.091 --> 23:45.671
[SPEAKER_01]: It's full.

23:45.972 --> 23:47.252
[SPEAKER_01]: How are you going to enforce this?

23:47.593 --> 23:48.714
[SPEAKER_01]: Every year we've ever been here.

23:49.054 --> 23:51.436
[SPEAKER_01]: This gets packed because of the Wimbledon Yama game.

23:51.956 --> 23:52.596
[SPEAKER_01]: It's packed.

23:52.656 --> 23:53.957
[SPEAKER_01]: The Cooper Flag game gets packed.

23:54.017 --> 23:55.218
[SPEAKER_01]: This is going to be packed.

23:55.499 --> 23:58.661
[SPEAKER_01]: How can you say that this is not open and they gave up and it was packed?

24:00.075 --> 24:01.616
[SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, that's where I met Joseph.

24:01.636 --> 24:06.182
[SPEAKER_01]: He'd he'd he'd like sat right in front of us in like a media seat and I was like, no way.

24:06.222 --> 24:07.504
[SPEAKER_01]: Like it's the one guy I know here.

24:07.524 --> 24:11.148
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, one of the one guys are so different.

24:11.168 --> 24:12.450
[SPEAKER_00]: So I would have gone.

24:12.970 --> 24:15.934
[SPEAKER_00]: It's it's probably been over 10 years since the one time that I went.

24:17.095 --> 24:18.177
[SPEAKER_00]: And back then.

24:19.687 --> 24:42.717
[SPEAKER_00]: like it was scattered is it was almost like if you would imagine what a pandemic seeding would it look like like everyone's like five seats away from each other like that's how full it was and mean my buddy were there and we were kind of doing a little bit of ear hustling because we noticed like some guys were talking about like I think it was the pulp ears in Kevin Garnett whenever they were traded to the to the Brooklyn Nets whatever that time frame was.

24:43.417 --> 24:48.745
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the guy was talking about, you know, whether or not pulp here still has it and they're talking about pulp here.

24:48.765 --> 24:52.771
[SPEAKER_00]: So then I noticed his name tag said Tommy Shepherd on it.

24:54.154 --> 24:55.436
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he was working.

24:56.141 --> 24:57.882
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't remember which team he was working with.

24:57.982 --> 25:05.446
[SPEAKER_00]: But in 2018, he becomes the Washington Wizards General Manager.

25:05.466 --> 25:11.770
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, uh, just listening to Tommy Shepherd talk hoop, just that summary hanging out just randomly.

25:11.850 --> 25:15.372
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's it's much more popular than now than it was then.

25:15.412 --> 25:25.158
[SPEAKER_01]: So now it's like the guy we were sitting behind had like 80,000 followers, just being one of those pages that posts highlights.

25:26.128 --> 25:46.253
[SPEAKER_01]: and he had a really nice camera and I was watching him like take footage with this incredible zoom lens from our second deck and he got the AJ debons to kind of poster in that game and he got it perfectly and I watched him take out the SD card put it in his computer real time edit real time like slowmo ramp and

25:46.253 --> 25:51.576
[SPEAKER_01]: And just was like said that I think he said something like DeBont still was going to pay him for it or something like that.

25:51.956 --> 25:52.896
[SPEAKER_01]: That he was hired by him.

25:52.956 --> 25:56.278
[SPEAKER_01]: But he had like a million, like a hundred million something views.

25:56.298 --> 25:56.978
[SPEAKER_01]: He got the O.G.

25:56.998 --> 26:00.780
[SPEAKER_01]: and an open one or tip at the, at the finals finals.

26:01.200 --> 26:03.542
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was just like, dude, like, you made a living out of this.

26:04.582 --> 26:12.849
[SPEAKER_01]: just going to any any getting credentialed for every single MBA event and just getting incredible footage because he has an incredible camera with a $3,000 lens.

26:13.930 --> 26:17.133
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's real time editing it real time posting it like it's pretty impressive.

26:17.494 --> 26:18.254
[SPEAKER_01]: That's amazing.

26:18.374 --> 26:19.195
[SPEAKER_01]: What was I going to say though?

26:19.415 --> 26:21.777
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, so that's where we met Joseph and then I told him.

26:22.538 --> 26:28.822
[SPEAKER_01]: you know who we were and and I think he wasn't familiar at first and I was like by the way, like I've had Jane on this podcast.

26:28.942 --> 26:33.664
[SPEAKER_01]: I know Konrado and talked him a lot and I have had Nathan on this podcast and he's like, wait, who are you again?

26:33.684 --> 26:43.150
[SPEAKER_01]: And then I told him, I'm familiar with you guys and he took down my contact information and usually I don't add when I when people at least like in that I've

26:43.810 --> 27:09.292
[SPEAKER_01]: been aware of or been exposed to is whenever it's someone takes down your contact information it's just a quick little text and be like hey it's so and so and then I'll pop up on my phone as an empty contact then I could fill the contact he just took down my contact number he just has mine I don't know he's talking to Roda as he told me he's a man out there he's out there in the social media so if we need to reach out to him but no I basically my point was is that

27:10.778 --> 27:22.919
[SPEAKER_00]: We, you know, you see, I subscribe to Marissa's Valkyrie's Beat website and, you know, it's not like I get to every post exactly what happens, but I want to support her journey.

27:23.998 --> 27:38.008
[SPEAKER_00]: in covering this team, being a journalist and doing a lot of the independent work that she does like, I think she covers the sparks for the LA newspaper, but then does other work for other newspapers and then has her own thing.

27:38.548 --> 27:50.256
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I love supporting that, that hustle that she has, but also the hustle of, you know, these other folks that are out and about, no different from

27:51.523 --> 28:20.668
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, us except that they're actually working their inability, and they're working in the media as media, and you know, I've been in those shoes back in when I was a lot younger, and it's a really cool space to be, and we we have Konrado and Konrado's at practices and he's at games and so he's in the mix, so I just love the ecosystem of the reporters for the valkers and to an extent for the warriors because you hear.

28:21.690 --> 28:28.916
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you know, I'm sure Konrado covering both teams, uh, Nathan is covering both teams.

28:29.356 --> 28:29.716
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a thing.

28:29.736 --> 28:30.557
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think it's Kanzo.

28:31.137 --> 28:32.859
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, is it Kanzo covering both?

28:33.379 --> 28:39.944
[SPEAKER_00]: So, um, but like just the idea of like we're all kind of connected in this way that I think is cool.

28:39.984 --> 28:49.931
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just want I, you know, I want us to be able to bring on more folks and get their takes and their thoughts because, you know, our thoughts might be similar and Konrado has some

28:50.892 --> 28:54.815
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's just nice to get more voices in that on it.

28:55.235 --> 29:01.519
[SPEAKER_00]: And like Nathan's got this great opportunity to do the Valkyries Wednesday podcast with Marcus Thompson on that feed.

29:01.539 --> 29:03.201
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a fantastic opportunity.

29:03.241 --> 29:05.943
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just love it when I see that stuff happen for people.

29:06.983 --> 29:13.007
[SPEAKER_00]: OK, let's veer and talk a little bit about the Caitlin situation because that became the talk of the game.

29:14.020 --> 29:18.342
[SPEAKER_00]: more so even than that the velcro is kind of handled them like it was kind of on.

29:19.263 --> 29:32.489
[SPEAKER_00]: And so there's a moment in the game, Caitlyn finishes a layup and I think she kind of gets a left hand to use as her guide to kind of classic Caitlyn.

29:32.670 --> 29:34.851
[SPEAKER_00]: Keep, keep, keep a keyest jokes at bay.

29:35.691 --> 29:42.396
[SPEAKER_00]: and Kia Stokes is coming over and Katelyn kind of gets there's a momentum.

29:42.416 --> 29:50.242
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I couldn't actually tell if Kia had had fouled her or if it was Katelyn putting her hand out that cause the content.

29:50.262 --> 29:51.223
[SPEAKER_01]: That was, that was the content.

29:51.243 --> 29:52.664
[SPEAKER_01]: That's how yeah, he's sorry, keep going.

29:53.224 --> 29:59.709
[SPEAKER_00]: But then so Katelyn makes the layup and she goes down and she kind of goes down awkwardly.

29:59.729 --> 30:02.131
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't like a graceful hit the floor like she hit the

30:05.708 --> 30:16.079
[SPEAKER_00]: And you could tell she was really mad and then she's limping limping back and so then a foul happens on the other end and she just blows up at this referee.

30:17.345 --> 30:22.967
[SPEAKER_01]: And it was it was a missed box out on Burton that was her box out and she just like didn't try at all.

30:23.067 --> 30:30.310
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm assuming that you know, there was probably a legitimate limp and that maybe it was a temporary limp where she was kind of hurting for a little bit.

30:30.350 --> 30:44.896
[SPEAKER_01]: Because that was a obviously mixed missed box out Burton gets the rebound and then Alia Boston falzer and then she just goes right up into the ref's face and her explanation of what happened.

30:45.774 --> 30:50.758
[SPEAKER_00]: does not jive with what the, with what the I test, right?

30:51.258 --> 31:02.526
[SPEAKER_00]: Like she got need and there wasn't any contact and in that specific moment that I'm thinking of there wasn't any contact with Caitlin and Kiestokes neighing her.

31:02.966 --> 31:10.912
[SPEAKER_00]: So what what was she complaining about because there wasn't a moment where she got need because she said, well, the referee can't miss that.

31:10.972 --> 31:12.193
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you can't miss that.

31:12.213 --> 31:14.254
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, what there was nothing there as far

31:15.055 --> 31:30.760
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think she's completely wrong when she says the referee can't miss that because you look at the clip and it just looks like kind of a bang bang like normal lay up And I feel like you can go either way on that you can call the foul or you can't but you won't call the foul on any knee contact you call the foul because she initiated with her arm

31:31.220 --> 31:37.487
[SPEAKER_01]: he is kind of coming into the arm and that's where you call the foul, but you don't call it on what she thinks they should have been called.

31:37.527 --> 31:38.248
[SPEAKER_01]: We're a knee.

31:38.749 --> 31:39.870
[SPEAKER_01]: That's just basketball.

31:39.890 --> 31:42.493
[SPEAKER_01]: That's just, I think that was just like unfortunate accident.

31:42.793 --> 31:46.817
[SPEAKER_01]: I think she probably did get kneaded, but it's not like it was a flying knee.

31:46.837 --> 31:50.522
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just like she went to go contestor and I think there might have been a little bit of a bump.

31:51.302 --> 32:05.508
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, but that's that's not something, you know, 12 times at a 10 that will never get called that's a nothing that's that's just an accident that happens as a result of playing a high contact quick, quick, quick movement sport, you know, it's like someone stepped on my foot.

32:05.548 --> 32:10.450
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like that's not, that's just happens on an off ball play, you know, like so.

32:12.853 --> 32:14.034
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, I think she was frustrated.

32:14.095 --> 32:21.242
[SPEAKER_01]: I kind of listened a little bit to the spirit podcast with I think they she had on vocal for ESPN and they kind of talked about it too.

32:21.302 --> 32:24.225
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think they kind of just were like, yeah, I think she's frustrated.

32:24.365 --> 32:27.968
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think they wanted to go much further than that on on it.

32:28.369 --> 32:33.314
[SPEAKER_00]: But that that was my and that's kind of why what I said or at the top is.

32:34.872 --> 32:38.274
[SPEAKER_00]: I just sensed that they could tell immediately.

32:38.414 --> 32:41.877
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, this game is not gonna be an easy one and it's not going our way.

32:42.057 --> 32:48.381
[SPEAKER_00]: And so what I think Caitlin's frustration is about, it's not really that play necessarily.

32:49.161 --> 32:57.606
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the one for 16 shooting or whatever from three or whatever her number is, because she did make one, but I think she was one for nine or one for eight from three in that game.

32:58.187 --> 33:00.028
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing was easy, she had,

33:00.508 --> 33:05.711
[SPEAKER_00]: She had some really nice layups, she had some really nice passes, not all those passes that led to assist because they missed layups.

33:06.171 --> 33:15.316
[SPEAKER_00]: But the whole, it's an interesting conversation to have because you have two sides of this conversation that feels like to me.

33:15.916 --> 33:21.439
[SPEAKER_00]: So we heard Bill Simmons and Chuck Closterman on their podcast, on Bill Simmons' podcast.

33:21.999 --> 33:26.922
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, they're not really following the WMBAs closely as we are, especially one specific team.

33:28.005 --> 33:44.358
[SPEAKER_00]: And Bill's thought was, Caitlin's the most popular player in the league, and any time she does anything, it creates lots of controversy, and she gets fouled really hard, and the players don't seem to like her.

33:45.099 --> 33:52.125
[SPEAKER_00]: And the overall story is that she's kind of a whiny baby.

33:54.544 --> 34:08.787
[SPEAKER_00]: Are we going to talk more about that because I have some thoughts about what she she she she does complain a lot right She she that she just has a temper like that and I always call what do I call her I call her Dreyman because that's how Dreyman is Dreyman could go from

34:09.799 --> 34:29.102
[SPEAKER_00]: frustrated because he thought he played good on this call and then he didn't get it frustrated because he got called for a ticket attack file and he's like I'm playing good defense frustrated because on the other end he doesn't get a foul call himself when he thinks he got felt and then one more thing and he just blows up like crazy and you're like how does this guy not get like two technicals immediately and get kicked out.

34:29.753 --> 34:31.875
[SPEAKER_00]: That's kind of how I see her blowups.

34:32.716 --> 34:37.462
[SPEAKER_00]: And in the game last night, they did not even give her a tech.

34:37.582 --> 34:40.045
[SPEAKER_00]: She got right up in the referee's face, started screaming.

34:40.986 --> 34:47.634
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's that side who thinks that Caitlyn is kind of a target for the some fans and the players.

34:47.694 --> 34:50.898
[SPEAKER_00]: And then there's the other side who's just like,

34:53.015 --> 35:02.097
[SPEAKER_00]: she is a little bit of a dog whistle for a certain part of the country in this crazy political environment.

35:02.137 --> 35:09.639
[SPEAKER_00]: Like there are people who really believe that she is and you know that she's co-opted in some ways.

35:10.440 --> 35:16.981
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think she can win there because I think she's been very gracious in her commentary but at the same time.

35:17.001 --> 35:19.322
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'm sure some people

35:20.438 --> 35:38.893
[SPEAKER_00]: probably think hey can you call off the other side can you tell them to stop and she's trying to she's a young person as well by the way she's not savvy in this way of being a professional basketball player for you know many many years and so like I don't know I've never seen this before really in sports

35:41.019 --> 35:50.447
[SPEAKER_00]: But it just seems like she's kind of damned if she does and damned if she doesn't and however you feel about her it's kind of how you feel about the situation.

35:52.149 --> 35:58.294
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, she's like, yeah, she's she's the maga parties kind of.

36:00.003 --> 36:00.683
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't know.

36:01.084 --> 36:07.047
[SPEAKER_01]: That's who's I haven't really been paying too much attention to like I think since Caitlin's rookie year.

36:07.127 --> 36:09.629
[SPEAKER_01]: I've already I was just like, okay, I get what's happening here.

36:10.329 --> 36:15.092
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think nothing's really changed Caitlin herself hasn't done anything to change it.

36:15.132 --> 36:26.139
[SPEAKER_01]: If anything, she's kind of been even maybe even a little more demonstrative with how she it's like it's like she's dream on with her on court personality.

36:27.071 --> 36:39.129
[SPEAKER_01]: with like, you know, getting upset at referees and yelling at them and some questionable actions to like teammates and coaches that have been captured on camera and then she's like Bronson and Shea with like flopping a little bit.

36:40.163 --> 36:43.486
[SPEAKER_01]: that's like the worst combination ever and she's still an incredible player.

36:43.506 --> 36:51.634
[SPEAKER_01]: She's still someone who I think is going to be a great player, but just that combination is a rough one for people to like throw your naysayers to like you at all.

36:52.074 --> 37:00.042
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and then on top of it, the Twitter thing now is going back to her college days when she was doing all the flopping and showing that you know, this is not a new thing.

37:00.102 --> 37:00.903
[SPEAKER_00]: She's always been

37:01.443 --> 37:11.276
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, look, it really, you're trying to get calls, and that's how people get calls, whether it's popular or not, you're trying to win games, and that's ultimately her goal.

37:11.596 --> 37:18.265
[SPEAKER_00]: And so you're gimmicking the WMBA rules into your favor, but at the same time,

37:19.086 --> 37:37.263
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you do see a lot of the demonstrativeness and I don't think like if you are a Caitlyn fan, you probably like yes, she's a great she she just wants to win so badly she's being Kobe, you know, but if you're not a fan, you're like, oh, what a cry baby, you know, she's just trying to use her popularity to gain X, Y and Z.

37:37.564 --> 37:39.385
[SPEAKER_00]: So she literally like,

37:40.206 --> 38:04.217
[SPEAKER_00]: it's going to be the same no matter what, like she's not changing the direction of either side of the fan base, which I just find to be kind of sad, like in a way, like you're almost like again, you're kind of co-opted in a way by a political side that you haven't even, I don't know who she voted for, I don't know where she stands on certain issues, you know, she her favorite player of all time is

38:09.039 --> 38:34.484
[SPEAKER_01]: that existence, but that doesn't mean that Katelyn has to be the same as a man we've talked about this like she she just she's not really educated on I don't know her but it seems like the way that she decides to you know not speak out and not say anything is that she probably doesn't know much about I don't know maybe the whole political side of one party trying to

38:39.250 --> 38:59.756
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think I had said once like last year I was like she just seems like she yeah she's like privileged growing up and she's never had to kind of worry about anything like that and she's in her adult life is chosen to kind of shut up and dribble in a sense or and she's a brand or she is there or she knows everything and and if so that don't make me sad.

39:01.456 --> 39:03.017
[SPEAKER_01]: But I feel like we got to be careful.

39:03.917 --> 39:16.547
[SPEAKER_01]: Closterman, especially when I heard him say this, I was so turned off by it, but he said something like Caitlyn Clark is having the single most like singular sports experience in history or something like that.

39:16.567 --> 39:20.129
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, there was a point where black athletes could not play.

39:20.790 --> 39:28.576
[SPEAKER_01]: Like we have to be really careful when we say that she is having this singular experience because she could say something

39:32.859 --> 39:51.805
[SPEAKER_00]: I know what he means as a white player that that's essentially what he means because like you said if you thought about it and he is so thoughtful so if you thought about it from like a Jackie Robinson point of view you're like come on dude like it's not even close like it's not even close to

39:53.550 --> 40:00.932
[SPEAKER_00]: Like my thought process when it comes to that is when I was a kid and it was Larry Bird or Magic Johnson.

40:01.192 --> 40:14.037
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that was cut directly between racial tensions, either you were a white person on the Larry side or, and if you were in Boston, obviously, or you were everybody else and you were on the magic side.

40:14.197 --> 40:18.038
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that's kind of what it felt like back then when I first started watching basketball.

40:18.518 --> 40:26.180
[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't even think it's to that level because the WNBA is not that popular as it was as the NBA was in 1984.

40:27.581 --> 40:45.046
[SPEAKER_00]: But I see what he's saying from the perspective of we've never seen the most popular player in the league have the worst possible experience of being the most popular player.

40:47.506 --> 40:50.269
[SPEAKER_00]: which is how we should have said it instead of the way that you said it.

40:51.630 --> 41:00.279
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, just the way you said it, I was just like, holy, you've been so thoughtful this entire podcast and like made peeked my interest and then you say some headline and stuff like that about the WMBA and then I was like, oh, it's.

41:01.509 --> 41:05.512
[SPEAKER_01]: She just needs to bring on, see her build has like a, but it didn't be that minded.

41:05.652 --> 41:08.034
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't see how social media reacted to that comment.

41:08.054 --> 41:08.574
[SPEAKER_00]: How did they reach out?

41:08.594 --> 41:09.635
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think you got aggregated.

41:09.675 --> 41:10.195
[SPEAKER_01]: I just heard it.

41:10.235 --> 41:11.236
[SPEAKER_01]: I haven't looked at Twitter.

41:11.256 --> 41:14.098
[SPEAKER_01]: I just heard it myself and I was like, I think I'm going to turn off this podcast now.

41:14.398 --> 41:17.000
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just not interested in hearing what else these guys have to say.

41:18.541 --> 41:29.750
[SPEAKER_01]: But no, so yeah, how do I say every time we talk about Caitlin, I don't want to talk about Caitlin anymore, but I feel like it's like the thing about it is, she is obviously still.

41:31.543 --> 41:47.704
[SPEAKER_00]: The most popular player in the league like she bring now it doesn't mean the the most popular player among hardcore fans that isn't that is that's not household name she's more the most largest household name in the league she brings the general public.

41:48.788 --> 41:58.912
[SPEAKER_00]: awareness around the WMBA, but because of the way that she's co-opted, it also brings negative stereotypical conversation.

41:58.972 --> 42:01.093
[SPEAKER_01]: I think we're going mostly negative.

42:01.133 --> 42:03.775
[SPEAKER_01]: I guess that I'm just unfortunately on Twitter too much.

42:04.835 --> 42:06.816
[SPEAKER_00]: It's also not necessarily her fault.

42:06.856 --> 42:10.938
[SPEAKER_00]: There could be things that you blame her for, which is maybe she could come out harder,

42:11.758 --> 42:18.843
[SPEAKER_00]: against the Elisatama stuff like but Elisatama did punch her in the neck during this moment so she deserves some of that blame too.

42:19.483 --> 42:26.427
[SPEAKER_00]: But the Chelsea Gray stuff where we saw the Chelsea Gray get really hammered on social media for these racially insensitive things.

42:28.068 --> 42:36.374
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what I don't know if anyone's going to ask Caitlin about those things but if she's going to be the most popular point in the league and going to be a bit of a spokesperson

42:37.356 --> 42:40.958
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, maybe it is under her responsibility to answer for some of that.

42:40.998 --> 42:41.618
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it is.

42:41.778 --> 42:42.879
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I think it is.

42:43.019 --> 42:45.500
[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, but what do I know?

42:45.560 --> 42:48.661
[SPEAKER_01]: I am not worth millions and millions and dollars and has to.

42:48.741 --> 42:49.682
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have your own shoe.

42:50.502 --> 42:51.583
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't got my own shoe.

42:51.823 --> 42:53.463
[SPEAKER_00]: But I feel like, yeah, that's you.

42:54.924 --> 42:55.364
[SPEAKER_01]: I like it.

42:55.424 --> 42:56.005
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a nice shoe.

42:56.325 --> 42:57.685
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's, I think it's a cool shoe, too.

42:57.765 --> 42:58.886
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know that I would buy it.

42:58.946 --> 43:00.947
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think it's, I like the silhouette.

43:01.440 --> 43:04.241
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm cool with that, shoot, but yeah, shoot me.

43:04.261 --> 43:10.582
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, she has all the power to educate herself on what's going on and just kind of be like, okay, I see what's going on now.

43:10.682 --> 43:12.643
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't claim any of that, like, don't do that.

43:12.703 --> 43:13.903
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't use my name for that.

43:14.203 --> 43:14.903
[SPEAKER_01]: She's not gonna do that.

43:15.504 --> 43:20.845
[SPEAKER_01]: Either not gonna educate herself or she's not gonna do that because Republicans by sneakers too, right?

43:20.865 --> 43:27.427
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, there is a Kobe Bryant mentality to a lot of what you see, right?

43:28.867 --> 43:50.104
[SPEAKER_00]: if you're just in the gym 20 hours a day and you have tunnel vision about your game that shows your gamer and you don't worry about anything else and you can be this angry person on the court but as long as you put in the work and like there's this mamba mentality to a lot of athletes where it was a little bit different from liberal from liberal on, right?

43:50.845 --> 43:53.006
[SPEAKER_00]: LeBron's a little bit too sensitive.

43:53.066 --> 43:54.966
[SPEAKER_00]: Why does he think about this other stuff?

43:55.386 --> 44:01.008
[SPEAKER_00]: Why is he you know, why is he showing himself reading books?

44:01.448 --> 44:03.449
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe these might not be reading much.

44:03.789 --> 44:09.770
[SPEAKER_00]: But LeBron is a little bit more of a thoughtful and sensitive person than I would imagine that Kobe Bryant was.

44:09.830 --> 44:14.572
[SPEAKER_00]: At least two hour eyes, Kobe Bryant was like very focused on like one thing.

44:15.992 --> 44:20.776
[SPEAKER_00]: because of his what he likes to do definitely seems to be a little bit more well-rounded of a person.

44:20.836 --> 44:25.059
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Steph a little bit more of a well-rounded person in that sense.

44:25.439 --> 44:32.605
[SPEAKER_00]: So maybe the next generation of athletes kind of lean a little bit more towards them instead of this kind of mamba mentality ideal.

44:35.567 --> 44:56.778
[SPEAKER_01]: But it kind of also seems like literally all of her peers even her Caucasian peers in Cambrink and Paige Beckers have done the thing where they're like we don't claim this we're not cool with this they've done that and then of course all you know the top black athletes like Asia Wilson and Angel Reese they for sure done it to she's like the only one she's the only one here here's the thing about page

44:58.768 --> 45:01.909
[SPEAKER_00]: page is not straight and white.

45:01.929 --> 45:05.530
[SPEAKER_00]: So page has to deal with her own thing.

45:05.550 --> 45:19.135
[SPEAKER_00]: She has a minority in that sense where Caitlin, like the White House is never going to co-opt or try and co-opt page backers because they don't stand for the community that page beckers lives in.

45:19.575 --> 45:21.216
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's the other thing about this.

45:23.043 --> 45:27.605
[SPEAKER_00]: I, I would never want to be kind of color right now.

45:27.666 --> 45:28.426
[SPEAKER_00]: That is for sure.

45:28.926 --> 45:41.632
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure there are so many great things about being Caitlin Clark, but there are so many crazy things that I'm sure she's got to think about that none of us would ever, ever have to think about just because I honestly my opinion is that I don't know how much thinking is going on.

45:42.813 --> 45:50.477
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I mean, I would, I would hope for herself that she, that she is up to speed on a lot of the stuff and not just because of she is then it's nasty.

45:51.819 --> 45:52.180
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

45:52.240 --> 46:07.080
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's move on to the end of this discussion, which is I wanted to talk a little bit about the draft for the all star game because for the first time in history, a Valkyries player is starting in the all star game.

46:07.100 --> 46:08.041
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'm kind of bummed.

46:09.045 --> 46:21.750
[SPEAKER_00]: Veronica Burton doesn't have the numbers for sure, but I was kind of hoping that, you know, maybe if somebody got hurt or something, you could sneak Veronica in because, you know, Veronica is part of the Gabby experience.

46:21.830 --> 46:23.330
[SPEAKER_00]: Like Gabby is not Gabby.

46:23.410 --> 46:25.871
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think without Veronica as her back court mate.

46:26.772 --> 46:31.654
[SPEAKER_00]: And, and so unfortunate that, you know, Veronica, hopefully Veronica just continues to

46:38.717 --> 46:42.260
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think you said Gabby got drafted last of the starters.

46:42.881 --> 46:55.152
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think I was trying to turn on like the World Cup game because they did it literally right next to on the same time slot as like Argentina versus England yesterday or was the day before, but no, yeah, as the yesterday.

46:55.873 --> 46:58.255
[SPEAKER_01]: And I just my TV turned on to that.

46:58.295 --> 46:59.936
[SPEAKER_01]: So I just kind of stayed on it for a little bit.

47:00.017 --> 47:02.719
[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, Gabby was not taken by team.

47:04.020 --> 47:04.721
[SPEAKER_01]: teaspoon.

47:04.961 --> 47:08.565
[SPEAKER_01]: She I forgot the was she on team Cooper.

47:08.585 --> 47:15.732
[SPEAKER_01]: I forgot who who what team I wasn't paying attention to who was drafting, but yeah, the last pick of the starters.

47:16.193 --> 47:18.295
[SPEAKER_01]: I think Jessica Shepherd went right before her.

47:19.216 --> 47:20.597
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, man, I'm cool with him.

47:20.617 --> 47:24.581
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm cool with it because that's keep the underdog story for the Valks going on.

47:25.082 --> 47:26.103
[SPEAKER_01]: No one wants to pick us first.

47:28.259 --> 47:30.101
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you interested in it all in the All-Star game?

47:30.182 --> 47:31.643
[SPEAKER_00]: Last year's All-Star game sucked.

47:32.004 --> 47:35.569
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I've never Really been interested in many All-Star games.

47:36.029 --> 47:40.175
[SPEAKER_00]: Team USA versus the rest of the The All-Star stars was really good.

47:40.195 --> 47:40.816
[SPEAKER_00]: I would watch that.

47:40.976 --> 47:43.039
[SPEAKER_00]: I would watch when it becomes an international battle.

47:43.059 --> 47:43.659
[SPEAKER_00]: I will watch that

47:44.838 --> 48:01.809
[SPEAKER_00]: I wonder what they're going to do for all star weekend or the like the day for some reason they don't really make the three point shoot out and all that stuff that big of a deal I feel like that thing needs to be a bigger part of that weekend totally it should I don't even really know what other events they do.

48:03.411 --> 48:12.597
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what we got to get you know them through point shoot out and she'll that would be Oh god, I run out of time so run out of time before she gets the last rack.

48:13.438 --> 48:21.500
[SPEAKER_00]: but man, she's putting those things up and, you know, might have to have someone go close out when she's shooting.

48:21.520 --> 48:27.502
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, she starts her shot right on the line and then takes a step back to shoot it.

48:27.602 --> 48:29.082
[SPEAKER_00]: That's also part of the process.

48:29.122 --> 48:34.983
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm actually thinking this thing's gonna go in almost every time she shoots now.

48:36.244 --> 48:39.024
[SPEAKER_00]: That was not the case at the beginning of the season.

48:41.787 --> 48:42.708
[SPEAKER_00]: Why are you shooting this?

48:42.908 --> 48:43.988
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, good shot.

48:44.369 --> 48:47.070
[SPEAKER_00]: No, the beginning of the season wasn't was she not like crazy.

48:47.250 --> 48:51.393
[SPEAKER_00]: No, she was crushing it, but I was like, oh, he just feels it's fake.

48:51.473 --> 48:52.734
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think this is real.

48:53.294 --> 48:55.255
[SPEAKER_00]: And we talked to Konrado about it.

48:55.275 --> 48:56.516
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, I think this is real.

48:56.556 --> 49:05.522
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, okay, if this is real, this is an absolute skill that almost no other player in this league has just the ability to shoot

49:10.198 --> 49:36.569
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I feel like if I mean thinking too far in ahead and but like if there is ever like a personnel issue, I wonder if it's Janelle being like I need to be starting because she's like leading in like the six woman of the year stuff she's having an incredible season, no way more efficiencies in them last year, you know, as equal as of equal importance as she was last year, I wonder if there's ever going to be I hope not, yeah.

49:37.378 --> 49:46.942
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it'd have to be Kayla willing to come off the bench, which she probably is, but I think Natalie likes the, I personally like how it is right now.

49:46.962 --> 49:47.842
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's how it should be.

49:48.222 --> 49:52.924
[SPEAKER_01]: Just with the current, we're all circumstruction that they have, like it's Jenelle's best suited off the bench.

49:54.005 --> 50:04.509
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you think that, do you think if they have a little bit of, let's say they go on a losing streak?

50:05.475 --> 50:09.057
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you think that would be a change that Natalie's kind of keeping under back pocket?

50:10.218 --> 50:11.598
[SPEAKER_01]: Janelle is starting to let it up.

50:13.159 --> 50:15.360
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, are you sure that it would for sure be?

50:16.901 --> 50:19.502
[SPEAKER_01]: KT, I guess it would be because yeah, she plays the four.

50:19.542 --> 50:20.383
[SPEAKER_01]: She plays the four.

50:20.543 --> 50:25.125
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, um, no, I don't think that Janelle will be entering the starting lineup.

50:25.966 --> 50:27.627
[SPEAKER_00]: So even if they start struggling,

50:28.992 --> 50:34.719
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and they lose a few games here and there and the offense kind of is a little wacky and KT struggles.

50:34.739 --> 50:37.642
[SPEAKER_00]: You think that they will pretty much keep the starting line up the same.

50:37.782 --> 50:39.544
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that Chetchi spot can still move.

50:41.483 --> 50:50.729
[SPEAKER_01]: But Janelle can't be in that jet you spot because they, I think Sarah was talking about it on her show how they've kind of done this thing where they start with Stoke's clothes with salon at the center.

50:51.189 --> 50:52.770
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you can't do that of Janelle starts.

50:52.950 --> 50:55.912
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you just don't can't space that out as cleanly.

50:56.252 --> 51:00.315
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you think you could adjust that you could adjust the minutes and whatever way that you want.

51:00.375 --> 51:03.297
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you're just changing up the groupings, I guess.

51:03.657 --> 51:03.977
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

51:04.077 --> 51:04.338
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

51:04.698 --> 51:07.940
[SPEAKER_01]: So, but no, I think Katie's kind of,

51:09.836 --> 51:16.182
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they want that starting line up to set the tone defensively and KT is by far a better defender than Janelle in my opinion.

51:16.662 --> 51:17.724
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's what makes it better.

51:17.744 --> 51:19.806
[SPEAKER_00]: Your two, though, Janelle has rebounded better.

51:19.846 --> 51:20.626
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

51:20.707 --> 51:23.549
[SPEAKER_00]: I trust KT to go get that rebound more than Janelle.

51:24.290 --> 51:28.012
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think the change is always going to be the Kylo Charles Chetchy spot.

51:28.052 --> 51:33.054
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, is there anyone else that can, you know, I can't think of anyone that can jump in that spot?

51:33.074 --> 51:40.958
[SPEAKER_01]: Because to me, it's you stay, but you don't just like go to you stay after basically DMPing her for as long as they've done.

51:41.118 --> 51:48.941
[SPEAKER_01]: But I don't know, the kid Chen can't play that spot unless you move Gabby down to the three, but I kind of like how it's Burton and Gabby at the

51:55.374 --> 52:06.564
[SPEAKER_00]: If you need, if let's say that you're down, and you need buckets, you obviously have Veronica and Gabby in the game.

52:07.005 --> 52:16.433
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you find a way to get Caitlyn in a three guard lineup in some of these games, just to test it out, to see if you can actually

52:17.626 --> 52:25.072
[SPEAKER_00]: play for a certain amount of minutes with those three as guards and I don't even know who the four words would be or who the state.

52:25.092 --> 52:35.720
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, they did a lot earlier in the year like that one Chicago game was like 20 minutes of Gabby Burton and Chen and they couldn't figure it out but Chen's but that wasn't that wasn't Caitlyn broken like she did.

52:35.740 --> 52:43.766
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, they did it yesterday with a with a they did like Burton tip and and Chen so I don't they're not opposed by any means to do that three guard line up.

52:44.106 --> 52:46.068
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to see more of it because I want to see

52:47.576 --> 53:07.273
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to see Caitlyn because so the reason why the reason I'm saying this is because if Gabby's on the floor and Veronica's on the floor, I think it even creates more one-on-one opportunities for Caitlyn and I think it just keeps the defense on their toes like imagine you're like okay like

53:08.418 --> 53:09.658
[SPEAKER_00]: we can't lay off of anybody.

53:10.118 --> 53:16.520
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe you even do something unique where, you know, Chechie plays the four and you got a shooter in the corner.

53:17.200 --> 53:19.361
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, you know, whomever is at the five.

53:19.521 --> 53:30.323
[SPEAKER_00]: And like you play this really test kind of experimental line-up specifically there to open up the floor and to either get a drive or a driving kick.

53:30.583 --> 53:31.964
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I think it'd be interesting to play with.

53:31.984 --> 53:35.524
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that was my dream with the you stay line-up, but I know that's not going to happen.

53:37.847 --> 53:42.273
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so next two games, Washington, I'm trying to get to the to the Saturday game.

53:42.293 --> 53:46.839
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll see my wife Crystal came down with a little bit of something today.

53:46.899 --> 53:50.564
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm glad I didn't buy tickets yet, so we maybe wait and see.

53:50.584 --> 53:52.306
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm hoping to get there haven't been out there yet.

53:53.327 --> 53:57.309
[SPEAKER_00]: But Saturday and Monday are the next two games for the All Star Break.

53:57.729 --> 53:59.149
[SPEAKER_00]: Then they're offer nine days.

53:59.730 --> 54:03.931
[SPEAKER_00]: So we will figure out what our rhythm is here.

54:03.951 --> 54:12.975
[SPEAKER_00]: But like I said, you know, I think we're thinking of ways to possibly expand the pod and I would love to do more like post game stuff.

54:13.255 --> 54:16.416
[SPEAKER_00]: But I know that's a little bit harder on schedules for folks.

54:16.476 --> 54:18.057
[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll see about that.

54:18.137 --> 54:21.058
[SPEAKER_00]: I would love to try and figure out how to do it.

54:21.598 --> 54:38.705
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, you know, we'll keep putting them up and we appreciate everybody who who comes through and if you want to join the discord the links are in the show notes of both the audio and the video feeds and if you ever need to reach out to me for anything if you have any feedback if you have any ideas if you yourself.

54:39.982 --> 54:48.381
[SPEAKER_00]: are a content creator and you want to come with us, hit me up gg at bspnmedia.com.

54:48.842 --> 54:49.203
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

54:49.604 --> 54:50.486
[SPEAKER_00]: That is it from here.

54:50.626 --> 54:52.210
[SPEAKER_00]: For Brian, I am WG.

54:52.270 --> 54:53.553
[SPEAKER_00]: We will see you when we see you.

54:53.673 --> 54:54.816
[SPEAKER_00]: Peace out.