April 3, 2024 • 50 mins
Hosts Terrika Foster-Brasby, Chris Williamson, and Sharí Nycole are back with all the March Madness! The Final 4 is set for both Men’s and Women’s, and the ultimate question is: Who will win it all?
Also, special guest Justin Tinsley discusses the star power in the Women’s NCAA tournament. Plus, Terrika declares she’s ready for Lebron to hang it up, Chris refuses to be bullied, and SharÍ just wants to say it's okay to be strong and wrong... sometimes... All on this week’s episode of 3 on 3!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of the three
on three Pod. I'm one of your co hosts, Chris
Williamson and y'all. We got final four week upon us
got my girl Tarika Foster Bradsby in the house to Rika.
How you feeling.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm feeling great. I could use a little assistance as
it relates to some of these folks on social media,
but we'll talk about that.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Oh yeah, we're gonna have time. We're gonna have time
for them. And I know, Charen Nicole, what's going on?
How we feel? I know you got time to them
because you.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Meto Rica.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm getting We're getting hit from all sides. I have
band aids all up and down both my arms. But
the Lord is good and I am here today. I
am grateful and the haters will not stop me. Hello, everybody,
grateful to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I know that's right. I hear that all day. But
it's crazy though, after Monday night, just the level of
excellence from all four teams with USC, Yukon, Iowa and LSU.
How much fun, Shari did you have just watching this
(01:23):
brilliance on display?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I had a blast. I'll be honest with you. I
think it was an incredible few days of games. I
will say though LSU was a disappointment, mainly in that
second half. I don't think there's been enough conversation about
how Kim Molky just got completely out coached and did
not make adjustments, especially on the defensive end, so I
(01:45):
was a bit disappointed. Overall. They also looked out of shape,
which was very weird. They weren't getting back on defense,
just uncharacteristic in some ways of what I used to
see from LSU, So that was a bit disappointing. But overall,
the excitement obviously that led into that LSU I would
match up was there. I was sitting in front of
the TV like everybody else. I was hoping that they
would go down to the wire. It didn't happen, but again,
great season overall by LSU Iowa. Caitlin Clark, she did
(02:08):
her thing. She she was a superhero during that game.
So she earned it. She earned every right to be
where she's going. On the other side, page Becker's juju.
Who doesn't want to see that? I just am so
impressed with both of their versatility packages. There's two of
the most well rounded players this college game has ever seen.
(02:29):
So I had a blast watching the game. And also
just you know, we talk about connectivity and culture and
how these games are bringing families together.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
They're bringing little girls in front of the TV.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Nobody's playing video games and on social media unless they're
live tweeting. So I just like the way that these
particular games are creating community, and the women's game overall.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So I had a blast.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
It was great, Tarika, what about him?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, one, I also very much enjoyed full transparency. I
missed the first quarter because I was in a meeting,
so and I was like, y'all, I need to hurry
this because I'm late for a very important date. So
there is that, But no, I just want to use
(03:13):
this moment if I can have a point of privilege. Okay,
I just like to take a point of privitage to
say I need people to understand that there is a
difference between offering criticism in a way that is conducive
to your job and conducive to what you do, versus
actively praying on the downfall of an athlete. Those are
(03:37):
two very different things, and I would hope that no
one in our profession does that. But to say that,
I think a team is better to say that I
think a team will win. To say that I think
this team has issues that needs to be fixed does
not mean that I hate you. I hate your team,
I hate this player, and I hope this team never
does anything well and for some odd reasons, tend to
(04:00):
get that miscin screwed.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
So here's my verbal here.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Everybody knows I do not hate Iowa fans. Stop tweeting
me that I do not hate Caitlyn Clark fans. Stop
tweeting me that I believe Caitlin Clark is the best
player in the country right now. Stop acting like I don't.
I also believe that Caitlyn Clark needs help, and she
got help. She got twenty one points from from Kate Martin.
(04:27):
He got help. She had twelve assists because her teammates
stepped up when they needed to. She got help because
O'Grady came off the bench and held down the center
of that paint so that Angel Reice couldn't go off.
So as spectacular as Caitlyn Clark was, she did exactly
what we knew she would do, and her teammates did
exactly what we had been asking agreed, point blanket, period.
(04:52):
So stop coming at us talking about y'all. I hate Ioli,
y'all hate Caitlyn Clark. Nobody hates Iowa. Nobody, nobody. They're
a phenomenal basketball team. Shout out to Reyna Harmon. She's
one of my loves holding down DETROITCE. He's wanted to
the assistant coaches on the squad like, I want nothing
but success for her. I want to see the best
(05:13):
teams in the in the that's left in the tournament.
Those are the teams that I want to see compete.
Iowa has proven to be that there's no hate this way, y'all. Relaxing,
Tarika Chris Can, I just can I just just dip my.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Toe in the water really quickly.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Because I just want to piggyback off of what she said.
You all forget we know this game. We're not just
here with no experience. You're dealing with journalists, you're dealing
with former athletes. This is what sports is about. And
actually what's happened with Iowa is what march madness is about.
It's totally okay to be strong and wrong. It happens
all the time. Mind you. There have been plenty of
(05:49):
other analysts who have said the same things we have said,
some of them in a different way, some of them
more subtly.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
But this is not something brand new.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I've had people say on social media that we're saying
things to clout, chase and get bags, and I'm like, guys, we.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Love this game.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Nobody's sitting around trying to think of something extreme to
say to get clicks. Were gonna do it anyway, just
because of our chemistry is lit, Okay, that's why. So everybody,
I just want to echo what Tarika said. We're having
a good time talking about basketball. There's a lot of
great basketball happening, and teams are stepping up, and that's
what it's about. And if you pay attention to our
timelines at all, we totally say we were wrong. We
(06:29):
got it wrong, and actually, how about.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
This, we were right.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
But to Tarika's point, players that we didn't account for
because they weren't accounting for themselves on the court all season,
all of a sudden they're stepping up. So that's what
it's about. So I will just echo what Terka said.
I think Caitlin Clark is phenomenal. I think she's changed
this game for the better forever, and she is the
best one person walking on the court right now. I'm
not an Iowa fan, but I don't dislike it either.
(06:56):
Whoever the best team is, let them win. I got
South Carolina and that's what I'm thing with. Winna lose.
That's what I want to see, and that's why I
believe the best team. But if I were wins, godspeed.
Shout out to them right, leave us alone or get
your smoke, whichever one you choose.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Ready, watch the whole shouts exactly, exactly, the whole pie baby,
Come on now and look, we got so much to
get into in this show. You know, Troll's come up
for Tarika and Jerii. We got Justin Tinseley, senior culture
writer for Ndscape, coming on later. But hey, here's the thing.
We have Caitlyn Clark against Page Beckers in one of
(07:39):
the final four matchups. Then we have South Carolina, a
team that not a lot of people thought would even
get to the final four this year, let alone go undefeated.
And then NC State they were unranked. Tarika, they were
unranked to start the year. Because there were so many questions,
you had transfers, You're not sure how the chemistry's gonna work.
(08:00):
And then boom Asiah James ballin', Sinaia Rivers, balling, Memi Collins,
all of them. So I'm so so jacked to see
how this final four is going to be in Tarika.
It's just do you think this is the year that
Caitlin is able to get it all done? Because there's
(08:25):
so much pressure around her right now and it seems
like she keeps rising to the moment each and every time.
And I know u CON's gonna be tough, But what
do you think about that angle as we look ahead
to the final four?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah, you know, I y'all know I had LSU and
USC moving on to the final four out of that
side of the bracket, and so I kind of enjoy
having a fresh slate to evaluate, like teams at are fresh.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Level, right.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
But I will say that if the Iowa team that
showed up yes yesterday shows up against Yukon, Yukon gonna
have a little bit of a problem. They are playing
seven players deep, that's it. So that was honestly the
reason that I thought they would struggle against USC, not
because they weren't gonna good enough to match up, not
(09:18):
because they didn't have the experience, because they are clearly
way more experience, which is what we ended up seeing
later down the stretch. But I just felt like, wow, injuries,
tired people will be gassed. That'd be an opportunity for
USC to kind of take advantage, and they didn't. And
so I cannot wait to see these two, like prolific
scores clash and go head to head. But I think
(09:41):
if that Iowa team that shows up, that showed up
in the Elite eight, shows up in the Final four,
it will be a daunting task to stop them. We
know that Caitlin Clark gonna go off. And what's funny
is I was reading a tweak from Devro Peters, right.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Devro's my Girls.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
She played at nor to Day, also played for the
Minnesota Link they won. She won some championships with Minnesota,
so she know what deaf know what she's talking about, right,
And she was just it was funny reading her tweet
where she was like listen, me and Scott would have
just straight up been like listen, Maya could go off,
referring to Maya Moore. Maya can go off. Let Maya
(10:17):
get hers. But nobody else on this team period, nobody
else is making no noise period. And I feel like
that is how you have to approach Iowa. Kaitlyn gonna
do her. It's nothing you gonna do about it. Because
Hailey Van Lift was getting eight up so bad yesterday.
Oh my goodness, Hailey couldn't even block the shade. Do
(10:40):
you mean she couldn't block nothing, couldn't stop nothing. And
at that point, I feel like, you, look, Kaitlyn just
gonna get hers. Let Caitlyn do her. There's nothing you
can do about Caitlyn doing her, but you better stop
everybody else like that, not an another individual sport out here.
That's not where number twenty two Like, That's how I
(11:01):
would have approached it. So if that Iowa team brings
what they brought yesterday, yukhn't gonna be in for a handful. Yeah,
I'm gonna I'm gonna echo what Terreka said with a
little bit of a twist. I do think that defensively,
you need to throw some different things at Caitlin Clark. Obviously,
she is going to score, she's a score, She's gonna
find a way. But she's also an incredible facilitator and
(11:23):
you know, we talk about you know, her passing ability
to me, it's it likens her scoring ability. I don't
even know why we don't talk about it as much.
So we understand that eighty percent of the offense basically
goes through her at some in some level, whether that's
assists or whether that's scoring. So for me, it's a
pride thing. And I'm not trying to hamper on Lsu.
(11:44):
But I didn't see any defensive adjustments. Throwbox in one
at her, trap off the screens. You don't have to
do it every time. Be more physical, and like Treka saying.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
No, we saw it, stop, No, we did see it.
We did see it with like three minutes ago in
the fourth quarter, because before.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Then all I saw was this.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I just kept seeing this the whole game, Like, I
don't know, that's where's your pride.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
We're not doing this all night.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
So my thing is this, be physical if you're gonna
play it, like defend, as to Rika saying defend against
the other players, you cannot.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
I don't like going in with the attitude.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Oh we even Kim Monkey said, well we done got her
last year, and you know.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I don't agree with that. I personally don't agree with that.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I think you have to challenge someone like Caitlyn Clark Clark,
you have to be physical with her, you have to
be physical with her teammates. I think that's how you
beat them. To Tarika's point, I'm seeing an Iowa team
that I said two weeks ago, they look beatable or vulnerable.
They look unbeatable right now. That is the reality, and
that's that's what march is about. As I mentioned earlier,
so defensively, I'm I'm really looking forward to seeing if
(12:47):
Connecticut can hang. Because of their depth, it is an issue.
If they can, they have a great chance. I'm excited
about seeing Page Beckers and Caitlyn go head to head.
I do think that Page is a better all around score.
She brings the other facets of versatility to the game. Offensively,
Caitlyn's gonna get what Kaitlyn's gonna get. But you can't
go into the game like well shrugging. Like the whole
(13:09):
shrug syndrome needs to go away. I just want to
see some I just want to see some pride and
if you do, if they do that, I think Yu
Kon has a chance. I'm also interested to see what
happens on the block. That's gonna be an interesting dynamic
that's happening down there.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
That inside game may.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Be the X factor to see to get connected over
the hump. We shall see, but I'm excited to see it. Nonetheless,
somebody you mess around to see something. If I see
another shrug, I'm turning off the TV. You will go
with damn.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Mind gin gonna take them out and put it one
of the injured player like he may go out himself.
You know what I'm saying. And you saw but here
the day you know, you know they ain't gonna happen
because you saw the way Yu Khan blitched you. You
the start and even though you got hers, you know,
(14:02):
it took her a lot of shots.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Whatever.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I don't care about that. She needed to do what
she needed to do to keep her team in the game.
But the offense or the strategy from Yukon was there
from the beginning defensively, and they made it tough on
her Lsu for whatever reason. Somebody said, I don't know
if kim Okie got a gruduate Haley van Lift or
what you know the fact that she just let her
(14:25):
out there, she.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Threw the fired her, she shot a cond her. I'm
at a lost with a t. I don't understand it.
I don't understand how you do that the whole game.
You throw this girl out to the wolves. I don't
understand it.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Sorry, and you know you know that she isn't your
best defender. I know got in some foul trouble last year, poet,
but still you have to try something different and adjust,
whether it's blitzing, switching on the pick and rolls or
you know, boxing one whatever.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yes, because at the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
It was like, Okay, we tried everything. We tried everything,
but then we can't forget about I know we won't
go too long, but can't go out of South Carolina
into state that that right there. I'm really interested to
see the guard play because I know South Carolina has
the edge on the inside. Kamila Cardosa, Ashton Watkins, Chloe Kitch, Sinai,
(15:22):
Fagan River, Baldwin is fine, me me calming, me mean,
Collins is fine. But it's really about Azaiah James, Snaia Rivers, Brooks,
Raven Johnson to the power pal Tessa Johnson. So I know,
I'm pretty sure I know what you're gonna say, Trika,
Like South Carolina is gonna win, but it's going to
be tough. It ain't gonna be a cake walk. We
(15:43):
are in the final, I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I know.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I didn't mean to cut you off, but I agree
with you one hundred percent, just because I think in
the matchup that we saw and I don't know why
is escaping me who they just played, but in that
matchup you could see that at moments there were some
defensive breakdowns, and I think that is where it gets
scary because this is the same as Ziah James. Dad
(16:08):
gave us twenty one points in the first half. You
can't afford to have a defensive breakdown against a player
like that. So while I do ultimately think that South
Carolina will win, I don't think there are any more
cake walks in the rest of this year. Like nobody's
getting blue out in the rest of this series. Like
you're gonna have to earn every single win that you get.
(16:29):
I think Dawn realizes that too, she kind of mentioned
it a little bit in her postgame conference. So yeah,
I fully think that this is going to be a
fun matchup. I love seeing NC State here. NC State
men are also here, same like Yukon men are also here,
so I think that's a really cool and incredible thing
that you're going to the final four alongside your male counterparts.
(16:50):
But I love to see how Aziah James steps up
in this moment. I think this does so much for
a young junior when you get to really show out
as a as a in the NCAA tournament. And I
really love this for Wes Moore. I feel like he's
someone who really has worked very hard over the last
few years to keep NC State relevant, to keep NC
(17:11):
State at the top of the ACC. So this is
a moment that I really appreciate. And I think anyone
who loves basketball understands that when you think about NC State,
you think about coach Ku and how much she meant
the team and the last time that they were there,
the part that she played in getting this team there.
So all around, this is really good. This is the
Cinderella that no one really thought would me a Cinderella.
(17:33):
So I love this for NC State, but I do
believe that South Carolina will be the ones to win
an end. Yeah, I'm aligned here, I do want to
add I think this game is going to go down
to the wire. I also think It's gonna come down
to defense that ultimately would be facilitated from players like
Ashton Watkins. We saw what had what she did against
Oregon State, how she bounced back from the game before
blocking shots. Giving your team momentum in that way helpside.
(17:55):
Defense is going to be crucial, and it'll be about
who can make the big shots. We've seen NC State
knockdown big shot after big shots, so South Carolina will
have to match that.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
And I don't think you.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Know, anybody that gets out on a real run, I
can see them running away with the game or at
least solidifying a win. So I'm expecting it to go
down to the wire. I'm still pulling for South Carolina,
but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if NC State pulled
another miracle. Hopefully they don't, just as an SC fan,
but it's I'm looking forward to a really great game
and some really incredible guard players.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
You guys mentioned, Yeah, it's gonna be sensational, and I'm
with y'all. South Carolina. I think, yes, we know they
have vulnerability aspects to their team, but they're just so
long in terms of their length but also their depth.
So if one person or two players are not on
their game that day, somebody else is gonna step up,
(18:44):
like to heat the pop out. Not one of the
best games of the season. Tessa Johnson freshman, came in
there and was cooking defensively and also on the offense
to really provide a spark when they were struggling to
find Ashton Watkins, as you said, just doing her dang thing.
But look, we talk about the women a lot, as
we should, we also got to talk about the men
(19:08):
final four. Are we gonna get to that after the break?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
All right?
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Friends?
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I know that a lot of us have acted as
if we've forgotten that there is a men's basketball tournament
going on, but there is. Indeed, men men do for basketball.
Isn't it crazy?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Said we were acting, I'm not active, We're.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Not paying attention because there we just kind of feel
that Yukon is going to dominate on the men's side.
But I've got to give some love to Alabama. Nobody
saw Alabama getting to this point. I think that that
is a great story. We think of Alabama as the
football school. We saw them play earlier in the College
football playoffs. So you've got to feel good if you're
(19:53):
Alabama that both your football program and now your men's
basketball program has made it to the Final four first
time in school history. That says a lot. Also shout
out to Purdue. And I'm gonna tell you why I'm
shouting out Purdue because the Big Ten let me down
every single tournament. They are always the schools that have
ten people represented, the conference that has ten people represented
(20:14):
in the Dagon Tournament, and by the time we get
the final four, all of them lost his assistance a
right every single year, So perdue, thank you for holding
it down for the Big Ten. Zach Edy is probably
about the only guy that we know from the man's
tournament because we know he's probably gonna be the one
going to the NBA. Everybody else, Honey, put your name
(20:36):
on the list. Were gonna read about your Google about
your one vote first, Okay, But at any rate, U
khon Alabama NC State DJ Burns. He has really been
the dude that like has put the team on his back.
He's put everybody on notice, and quite honestly, I just
(20:56):
like the fact that he talks shit on the side
like he ain't even on the sideline. He's on court one.
In his mouth, they're about to go home. Shari, what
in the wild is when we look at the men's tournament,
what stands out to you and who do you have
planned in the National champ One of the things that
stand out to me is swag and that's what we
get from n C State. So you know, again we
(21:18):
talk about storylines, They're a great one, and then you
can trace this right back to Jimmy V which is
another powerful story. So with that in mind, I'm really
I really want to see NC State do it just
for that reason alone. Like I'm totally invested in them
from a cultural standpoint and just what it took for
them to get here. That is a true Cinderella story.
(21:39):
So anytime I see a Cinderella story, I get behind.
I'm getting behind NCY State. But I'm also a realist.
I think Connecticut Like, for me, it's not even worth
talking about the final four. Connecticut's is gonna win the
National Championship.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
They just look.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I mean, I haven't seen a team this look, this dominant,
this lady to the tournament, and I felt so confident
about it in quite some time.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
They're just clicking on all cylinders, I don't.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I mean, any any team is beatable in any given night,
But I'm just not clear on what it would take
to beat this team. They're playing with such confidence and consistency.
They're so well coached, so I really think they're gonna
They're gonna take it all this year. But I think
teams like Purdue, teams like NC State, teams like Alabama
have made this a more exciting tournament because a lot
of people weren't expecting some of them to be here.
(22:25):
So Connecticut for me, but NC State honorable mention. If
they can make it happen, that'd be great.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
I got int State. I want Into State to win.
My brain tells me Yukon based on the way they played,
But my heart is saying, nah, this is the first
time in the final fours. It's nineteen eighty three. We
know what happened when INC State went to the final
four that year, Tommy v and all that. I just
love the story age the guys are saying, but yeah,
you have to shoot lights out against Yukon in order
(22:53):
for them to be beat right, you have to get
them out of their zone, which is very hard to do.
The fact that it was like twenty eight tween three
I think at halftime Illinois Yukon, and then they went
on a twenty five oh run. Actually they went on
a thirty year run from the first.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Like it in my life.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
I kept scoring thirty points.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
It was ridiculous because I was watching the Yukon duke
game right and that was a struggle fast and I
kept I had the two, I had the multiview screen
and I kept looking, Okay, it's a close game. They're
not scoring a lot. And then every time looked back,
I was like, wait, why is it Illinoy have the
same amount of points as they did five minutes ago.
And then it just kept going it going wrong. You
thought that was thing I did. I was like, hold on,
(23:40):
I know this ain't right, but they just have so
many off went lord.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
About the question, CBS like explaining.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
They now for real though they are Juggernaut donovand clinging
you know, Stefan cast Or, Tristan Newton, camp Spincher, all
these guys. I was caravan. They are so well coached,
the cuts that they made the offense at then early runs.
But yes, I'm going to say Anti State does it
because I'm a Syracuse slum and I will never root
for Yukon period. Let's go. I appreciate their greatness.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
I want to throw this at you, Chris. I just
want to throw out a little bit of history here
because I'm a bit of a history nerd. The last
time that the University of Connecticut men and women were
in the Final four together, they won a championship. That
was in two thousand and four. That was in twenty fourteen,
and now it's twenty twenty four. So it seems like
every ten years Yukon runs the table.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Forget it, Hey, look that is true, but you can't
ignore that. Candas Parker Curve right after what happened on
that Living team. Do you know argument? Can't forget that,
can't forget that. Yeah, we are so happy to bring
on this new guest for our show, The one and
only Justin Tinsley, a senior culture and sports writer for Landscape,
(24:58):
also is a con rive on around the Horn. The
man has done some phenomenal work, wrote a great book,
was All a Dream about Biggie Small's and Justin, you
have been paying attention so closely to the women's tournament specifically,
and the other night leading into the Final four, we
(25:20):
saw some crazy electric basketball and I just got to know, man,
when you were watching Caitlyn Clark go off for forty
page and Juju going back and forth, Like what resonated
with you the most from those games?
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Man? You know, you know what it really reminded me of.
It reminded me of twelve thirteen year old me in
my living room watching like Monday Night Raw and you
never knew what was going to happen. Then out of nowhere,
like Stone Cold Steve Auston's music coming up, like oh man,
what's going on? Like LSU was just up eight then
you know, I was just storm back. And there's so
(25:56):
many storylines within the game, and I think that that's
the most beautiful part of it because obviously you focus
on the artistry that is just you know, getting up
and down the court, playing defense, setting up your offense,
but you know that their stories within the game. You
know that like Caitlyn Clark came back for this moment
to get back to the Final four, and to get
(26:17):
to the final four, she has to beat the team
or her team has to beat the team that beat
them in the National Championship last year. So I just
remember watching it and my wife was watching it with
me too, and she was full for LSU. But if
you know my wife, she feels like every time I
watch a team that I like, they end up losing.
So like LSU was up eighth, and then she looked
(26:37):
at the TV against she was like, yeah, I'm going
to bed because they're down six. There's been like a
fourteen point turnaround. So it was for me, it was
just watching the stars of today, which is obviously you
know the names like Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese and
Flage is already a star. But I'm I'm calling it right.
I'm not even a better I don't even gamble like that.
Flauger is All American next year, she's gonna be Season
(27:00):
All American. Next She's gonna be one of the great
players to follow out of so many. So for me,
it was just Chris. It was just like, I'm watching
beautiful basketball. But I also watch like a lot of
Bravo TV with my wife, and I love some pettiness.
I loves I love some storylines within the storyline. So
(27:20):
it's just it's just beautiful, man. And I know y'all
have talked about it plenty of times before, and I'll
just say it It's like the women's game has always
been beautiful. It's always been really like watching art paint
itself in real time. But now you see the collective investment.
And I'm not just talking about TV. I look at
over the course of this tournament. You know, Caitlyn's been
(27:41):
in commercials with Nike and you know State Farm. You know,
Juju's been in the AT and T commercial with Jalen Brunton,
and like, you see all these women just being like
marketed as you know, women outside of the game, and
that endears people to the game. We see it all
the time with with you know, the men's side in
pro basketball. So I know that's my very long, exasperated
(28:02):
way of saying, like I was on the edge of
my seat the entire night, regardless of what the outcomes
I wanted to be. It was just beautiful basketball. And
now we got a hell of a Final four on
our hands.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
We do justin first off, I'm super excited to have
you on the show. I've seen in like the last
week and so I don't know why, but you know
I loved the the essay that you that you canned
(28:34):
and voiced for Juju Watkins. I've watched it a few times, right,
and more so than what you discussed in the essay,
what's the fact that you decided to do what? I
think that the one of the things that has plagued
this this league is not the competition. It's not the
(28:55):
ability for these women to play at the highest level,
even collegiately. It's just that no one sees them, no
one writes about them, no one talks about them, not
to the level that they do their male counterparts. And
so it was great to see so much effort and
everything that you do. You know, you you put your
best into but it was just great to see something
(29:15):
about a player on the women's side, but more so Juju,
because she's amazing, Right, So if you can just kind
of talk a little bit about what that process was
in terms of why Juju Watkins and I know that
you have a history with LA, I know your relationship
to La, but just kind of talk a little bit
about why that and as a two parter to that,
(29:38):
how that plays a role in the coverage that we're
seeing with women's basketball.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
I mean, I think that's a that's a really beautiful
question both of them, honestly, So you know, I've been
doing the essays for like Sports Center and maybe like
College Game because I've always I'll answer your second question
first and then I'll go back to Juju. So you
remember growing up and it used to be like NBA
on NBC, and it'd be like Bulls versus Nicks on
your Sunday afternoon game. But like right before the game,
(30:06):
like Marv Albert or Bob Costas would give like this
dramatic intro. You'd be like, damn, I knew the game
was important, but now I want to follow like each dribble.
I want to follow the story within the game. And
at ESPN, I found that there was a lane for that.
Like storytelling still matters. The storytelling is how you get
people to embrace the sport at large and the people
(30:30):
within the sport. So you know, I've always been doing that,
And like Juju, I remember you mentioned that I used
to live out in LA So I got a lot
of homies to still live out there in LA And
like one of my homeboys from like Crenshaw area, like
really from that area. You know what I'm getting getting
that when I say that, he called me one day
maybe about like two years ago. He was like, Yo, Tens,
(30:53):
you need to come out to La and do this
story on this young girl out here. She'd be killing cats.
I'm like, what's her name? He was like, her name
is Juju Watkins. Like she goes, she go to see
Erra Kane. She there with like Brianni and like all
the other people, Like you need to come see her, Couz,
you know what neighborhood's from if you're talking to me
like that. So and I was like, all right, let
me let me look it up. And I'm like, damn,
(31:15):
Like she can hoop like and I was like, yo,
her game is like really like silky smooth. It's like
you know a lot of people, you know. Dame tweeted
last night like, yo, she's like Carmelo in college. Just
get her a ball if you want to win. Like
if you go back and watch Carmelo at syracusetill one
year he was there and you put him side by side,
It's almost ridiculous how much they mirror each other. And
(31:36):
I was like yeah, And I've just been following her
since then. And obviously she she broke a record like
very early on in the season. I think it was
like Lisa Leslie's freshman scoring record for like most thirty
point games or something like that. And I remember I tweeted.
I was like, look, if you don't know her name,
just give it till March. Just give it till March.
She will make an introduction. And you know, I've just
(31:58):
been following her and I following the different storylines throughout
the game. And i went to my guy over at
Sports Center and I'm like, Yo, I'm actually working on
a written piece on Juju, but I would love to
add like a video component, And I just wanted to
tell people that, like, yes, she's an incredible basketball player,
but the more she's in this national spot, like we're
(32:20):
gonna see that her importance matters beyond the game. And
for me, when I look at Juju, and this may
be like a weird comparison, but like for me, it's
hard to think of March Madness without Nipsey Hustle anymore,
because you know his lad the day before he died,
he was at I believe it was Texas Tech Gonzaga
for the Elite Eight. They were going to the Final four.
(32:42):
And for me, it's just really hard to think about
March Madness without thinking about him, and he was somebody
who was so obviously invested in his community and like
really poured into this community. And if you really peel
back the layers on Juju, she's only eighteen, but she
has that same sort of mindset. It's the reason why
she stayed at USC when she could have went to
South Carolina And oh my god, can you imagine Juju
(33:04):
on South Carolina? Like they wouldn't even be a need
to play the final fours. But but again that's just
my way of saying, like I wanted to highlight her. Yes,
she's incredible on the court, but there's so much about
Juju Watkins that's gonna matter so much more as the
years go along, because she's going to continue to import
to pour this investment into her community. And obviously she's
(33:27):
gonna she's moving to the Big Ten next year. So
so Kaitlin Clark's going to the w n b A
And that just replaced her with Juju Watkins. That's literally
an embarrassment of Richard.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
I'm really excited about that.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
I bet you aren't miss Michigan State.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Okay, Michigan State.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
I think it's interesting. I don't think it's fair.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
If you want fair, go to the carnival. Okay, go
to the fair. How about that.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I'll give you that.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Chris and Justin, you know, and you talk. You talk
a lot about storylines and connectivity, and you know, in
watching these games, I've been chatting even with my own
village about just how some of these great games translate
at the next level. You talk about a Juju who
I think is just finally ready right now if she
went to the league to be one of the best
when we think about her, when we think about Taylor Clark,
(34:22):
Page Beckers. We'll see what Angers decides to do with
these top tier players that are getting so much attention.
Who's the player you're most excited to see at the
next level. Whose game do you think it's going to
translate best?
Speaker 3 (34:32):
And what's gone?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Would you say, Hey, they're turning up here at the
collegiate level, but at the professional level they may struggle.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
You know that, y'a. I'll be asking some really good questions,
and I think the beautiful thing about the women's game
is that, And of course this gets into all entirely
other conversations around you know, pay inequality and when they
can go to the pros and when they can't. But
the beautiful thing about the women's game, especially right now,
(34:59):
is they can invest in their college stars because they
can't go to the pros like one year after they're there.
So you buy into their storylines, you buy into their
style of play while they are in college, and by
the time they get to the w NBA, they're already
ready made superstars. And I think when you look at
the NBA, that's where they kind of struggle because their
stars and their storylines are manufactured within the league. Obviously,
(35:23):
every now and then you get like a Zion Williamson
to come out and obviously you know who he is.
But like as you you just named the names, like,
we could be looking at three of the top four
being obviously Caitlyn Clark being number one cardozas she just
announced that she's going pro. She selected projected to go
forth over off Angel Reese decides to go, like, do
(35:43):
you have three legitimate top tier superstars going into the
league and then you have that investment of COO. Yeah,
the Caitlin Clark Angel Reese game. So whatever you know,
Indiana and whatever team Angel Reese ends up on, those
games are going to be a pointment. If you win,
those games are going to be on primetime television and
the game will continue to grow after that. So that's
(36:05):
my way of saying that I think all of them
will translate. Well, now, I think Kaitlyn Clark playing with
Leah Boston and Indy that's gonna like that's an inside
outside game that is going to be hell for opponents.
Just that, because you can double Leah Boston, you're gonna
leave Kaitlyn Clark wide open. And keep in mind, Kaitlyn
Clark's court vision may be her most underrated aspect of
(36:26):
her game. So you know, I have.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
So many thoughts on that Indian because you know me,
I'm probably the one up here that's gonna present the
most questions as it relates to that roster. That's just me,
like me looking at it from a let's keep it
a buck here. Now, three ball hogs on that roster
(36:49):
gonna get the ball.
Speaker 4 (36:52):
You know what, Look, here's the thing we ain't.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Gonna go here today. Well, just so that we're clear,
I don't mean ball hall in a negative way. I
just mean you have players on that team who perform
incredibly well with the ball in their hands, and so
I'm concerned with how that roster is going to function. Here,
where's the thing touch players?
Speaker 4 (37:17):
I'm rewatching the wire right now, right, And one of
my favorite quotes from the wire is Marlowe. He was like,
that sounded like one of them good problems. You give
me them the team, we will figure it out. You
may average thirty, you may average twenty five, but you
also get eleven twelve cents out of the team, So
(37:40):
it's okay, And so okay. I think you said the
one player whose game.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
May have may may struggle a bit, They may need
a little bit more time to adjust at the next level.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
I think she's I think if you put Andrew Reese
on a team that still needs like a point guard
to facil illitate the office. Now, obviously Angel Reese used
to play point guard when she was in high school
before gros Spurt, of course, but I think Angel Reese
it would best benefit her to be on a team
that already has like a floor general out there. Like Angel,
you get right there, you get right there. She's gonna
(38:15):
be a star, and she's just she's gonna have so
much star power going into the league that like, I
hope these front offices. And this isn't just the w NBA.
We talk about the NFL, we talk about it in
the NBA whatever, Like these front officers have to do
their job. Like if you're going to get a star
of this level, you can't just get a star at
this level, be like, oh, well, she'll figure out the rest,
(38:35):
Like no, like you she used a cross sports example.
You see what the Bears are trying to do for
presumably Caleb Williams, Like this is the best team that
a number one pick is going to go to, at
least in my memory. So when we look at Angel Rees,
I just hope she goes to a team that has,
you know, that floor general already in place, because if so,
(38:57):
I mean, that's she a dog. She's gonna get you
fifteen and ten off the humble, you get her a
dog point guard up that like twenty and twenty and twelve.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
So all day. I mean we saw that with Alexis Morris,
you know last year how well they were able to
work together. Now, something you touched on though earlier Justin
was about the coverage disparity, right and how women have
not gotten their proper respect. I mean we're at a time, right,
now where these players are getting their due, but I
still feel like they need more balanced coverage and more respect.
(39:32):
And we saw that with the La Times nasty article
that was written about US CLA versus LSU and it
was good versus Evil, the Milk and Cookies team versus
Louisiana Hot Sauce, the dirty Debutantes, And I think it's
incredibly We all know how racist and sexist it was,
(39:53):
But what does it say about where we need to
go for the media coverage to make sure things like
that don't happen. And you're not painting these eighteen to
twenty two year olds in such negative lights where you're
disrespecting their humanity.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
Man, it's really it's not surprising, but it's still upsetting
that we're still having these sorts of conversations. You remember,
back in the day, there was that really good thirty
for thirty documentary Catholics Versus Convicts where they were talking
about Miami. You know what I'm saying, and this is
literally the same thing. This is literally the same thing.
(40:29):
And that speaks to so much of society's viewpoint of
how we view dominance, dominance that we're comfortable with dominance.
You know, it depends on who's coming from. And yes,
that's an issue in sports, but that's an issue in
society at large. Like you turn on the news at
any given night, we're having similar conversations as to what
(40:52):
we're doing with UCLA, LSU this column, but like in
that column in particular. Man, obviously we know that the
issues that The Times have been having recently, a bunch
of great reporters, you know, have unfortunately moved on. And
I look at like the editorial process of something like that,
and I'm like, well, you don't just publish your first
(41:15):
draft of anything like it has to go through a
line edit several. You know, if it's a really good process,
then it's several. Man. I just like what you didn't
add anything. And sometimes I'm very worried about like criticizing
journalists because we're all in this and we understand how
quickly things can like go awright. But nah, bro dirty
(41:37):
debutantes like you said good versus evil, like all if
you black, you know cody language.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Not a single.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
Editor, That's what I didn't get, not a single.
Speaker 4 (41:50):
One, Not a single person saying like, hey, let's try
to reword this sentence, or how about we just take
this out because look, there's nothing wrong with trying to
play up a big matchup and U c L a
versus LSU obviously two of the better teams all season
that was gonna hype itself up regardless, you didn't need
(42:10):
to add in such incendiary language. So I you know,
I hope as you know this, this interest in this
popularity and the surge and like insatiability and desire to
see this women's game and grow, I hope the responsibility
of talking about it continues to evolve. Now granted, it's
(42:34):
not always like that in sports, because we understand we're
dealing with the human element and human emotions and but
it's just to your point, though, Chris, as the game
continues to evolve, we have to be willing to up
our critiques, and not just of the game, but the
people actually doing the critiquing as well, because none of
us are above reproach. None of us are. So that's
(42:57):
what I hope to see, man. But it's it's just
beautiful to see, you know, just And what I really
love about the women's game is just that they're they're
supporting each other. And we go back to Juju and
you see how Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie and like
the ogs and the predecessors who laid this this framework.
(43:18):
You know, when Cheryl Miller and all of them were
at their peak, Juju wasn't even born yet, you know, Juju.
The only USC women's basketball program that Juju knew was
basically dormant. And she could have been like, oh, I'm
the one that resurrected this, I'm the one that did that,
but she's like, no, Like, I'm here because of people
like Cheryl Miller. I'm here because of people like Tina Thompson,
(43:40):
Cynthia Cooper, you know, Lisa Leslie, so on and so forth.
And I want to bring them back in because this
moment doesn't feel like this moment without what they did.
And you can tell, like Cheryl Miller has already said, like, Yo,
we felt shut out of the program for so long,
and y'all brought us back in. It just revived not
just the program, but you can see like the smiles
(44:03):
on their faces, and that's just beautiful because what they
did for the game is exactly why there's so much
hoopla around it right now, and it's so many other ladies.
Of course, too, but just using that.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
An example, Yeah, I remember getting to interview them on
their anniversary and it was surreal. First of all, to
be in a room with Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper
and the McGee twins.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
I'm like, oh man, oh wow.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
It was crazy. But justin I know you didn't think
you was gonna slide about of here without unscathed. I'm
gonna need some predictions out of use. First of all,
I'm gonna need you to do me one quick thing
first before you Before we get to these quick predictions,
I need one thing. Can you name me five players
in the men's tournament right now? I'm joking, don't name
me mint five minutes.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Meant so, Michael Jordan had a big shot in nineteen
eighty two, was a great junk.
Speaker 2 (44:56):
All right, So we need your predictions for the final
four where you don't gotta spoil it and tell us
who you think is gonna win the national championship. But
I would love to know who you think at least
is going to be playing in the National Championship for
the women.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
Oh look, it's been building up to this all year.
We see it like I love page. I'm so glad
that she's coming back next year to really like she
missed out on some good time. Excuse me due to injuries.
But nah, man, this is South Carolina, this is Iowa, Iowa.
This is the unstoppable force and the immovable object. I
don't know which one is which, but in that game
(45:32):
will be there's a pointment viewing and then there's that.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
You know.
Speaker 4 (45:37):
So I got, I got South Carolina and Iowa in
the championship game. I got I got South Carolina winning
it Carolina. He said, no, don't follow me on Twitter.
I'm scared of Don.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Ain't done when the coach is pobib you like I.
Speaker 4 (46:04):
Had to delete some tweet them lap No, Don followed me.
I was about to. I was about to be reckless
on Twitter whatever it's called nowadays. But I really got
South Carolina and Iowa. And it feels like this is
Caitlyn Clark's year, but like it also feels like every
year is Don Staley's year, and she missed out on
it and she lost to Iowa last year. It's just
(46:27):
you look, Caitlyn got her get back against LSU. You know,
eventually commerce finds the block and I'm hoping this block
is almost done being spun.
Speaker 1 (46:39):
I hear that, man, Justin you have been such a
joy to talk with her in our show. We appreciate
you keep doing the great work. We look forward to
seeing your more amazing essays on Juju walk Ins and
so many other talent players appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (46:53):
Man, appreciate y'all. Thank y'all so much for having me.
This was a lot of fun. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (47:00):
I want us to talk about people who you know
could be close to retirement, because some say that Candae
Parker could be close to retirement. Lebron James, he you know,
mentioned that he doesn't have long left in this game,
and this happened after he recently passed a record from
(47:20):
Michael Jordan, and I would love for Lebron and Cities
ass down. I mean, that's just the Pistons fan in
me will always look at that man as a cavalier.
I don't care what team he plays for.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
I don't care what.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Uniform he puts on. Respect them, respect what he does.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
In the community.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
But you're a cavalier for everybody sits you as now.
But Chris, what do you think about the idea of
my Lebron James retiring.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
I mean, it's it's scary because we I feel like
we haven't appreciated him as much as we should as
a collective base where collective how are you? It mean?
I'm not talking about us. We appreciate him, we give
(48:11):
him his glory, we give him his praise, we give
him respect. But a lot of people try to shoot
on this man day in and day out. They're they're
sick of him. And you know what, go ahead, because
I am about to be bullied by y'all. I am
about to be I am about.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
To buy will never bully you, but never we're anti bullying.
Speaker 3 (48:30):
Were never ever?
Speaker 4 (48:33):
Ok?
Speaker 3 (48:34):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (48:35):
I mean, I don't know who these people are that
are spending their time ensuring that Lebron James doesn't get
any more attention. God forbid, I'm not I'm gonna aware
of these people.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
Don't confuse attention with appreciation.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Let me attention and appreciation. I think this generation adorns him.
I think he's King James. All these concepts. I'm just
just unclear. I guess I can try to really to
your opinion, but I do on aligne. I think that
Lebron James can stay as long as he would like,
because that's what he's going to do. Anyway, I'm more
(49:09):
confused about the fact that the man drops forty and
this is what you're asking him in the locker room.
Why now? Why is this a question to ask right now?
I think bright a little off putting, Like to your point. Now,
I can see why don't you just celebrate? Why are
we talking about the man not playing anymore after he
just turned up that part? I get Chris, but overall,
I feel like Lebron James has gotten an exuberant amount
(49:29):
of praise and celebratory opportunities during his tenure. But again,
that is my opinion. I understand that yours is different,
and I respect yours as well. This is also coming
from a world fan and a business fan. Chris.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Yes, well, let me tell you something that's not sarcastic.
Though we have to wrap up the show. We are
at a time for this episode of the three on
three Pod. Make sure to follow us on x at
the three on three pod and on Instagram at the
three at three on three pod to get all the
(50:04):
latest exclusives and soundbites that we're gonna give you day
in and day out for Driika Foster brasby Serena Cole.
I'm Chris Williamson. We will see y'all next time.
What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of the three
on three Pod. I'm one of your co hosts, Chris
Williamson and y'all. We got final four week upon us
got my girl Tarika Foster Bradsby in the house to Rika.
How you feeling.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm feeling great. I could use a little assistance as
it relates to some of these folks on social media,
but we'll talk about that.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Oh yeah, we're gonna have time. We're gonna have time
for them. And I know, Charen Nicole, what's going on?
How we feel? I know you got time to them
because you.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Meto Rica.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm getting We're getting hit from all sides. I have
band aids all up and down both my arms. But
the Lord is good and I am here today. I
am grateful and the haters will not stop me. Hello, everybody,
grateful to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I know that's right. I hear that all day. But
it's crazy though, after Monday night, just the level of
excellence from all four teams with USC, Yukon, Iowa and LSU.
How much fun, Shari did you have just watching this
(01:23):
brilliance on display?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I had a blast. I'll be honest with you. I
think it was an incredible few days of games. I
will say though LSU was a disappointment, mainly in that
second half. I don't think there's been enough conversation about
how Kim Molky just got completely out coached and did
not make adjustments, especially on the defensive end, so I
(01:45):
was a bit disappointed. Overall. They also looked out of shape,
which was very weird. They weren't getting back on defense,
just uncharacteristic in some ways of what I used to
see from LSU, So that was a bit disappointing. But overall,
the excitement obviously that led into that LSU I would
match up was there. I was sitting in front of
the TV like everybody else. I was hoping that they
would go down to the wire. It didn't happen, but again,
great season overall by LSU Iowa. Caitlin Clark, she did
(02:08):
her thing. She she was a superhero during that game.
So she earned it. She earned every right to be
where she's going. On the other side, page Becker's juju.
Who doesn't want to see that? I just am so
impressed with both of their versatility packages. There's two of
the most well rounded players this college game has ever seen.
(02:29):
So I had a blast watching the game. And also
just you know, we talk about connectivity and culture and
how these games are bringing families together.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
They're bringing little girls in front of the TV.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Nobody's playing video games and on social media unless they're
live tweeting. So I just like the way that these
particular games are creating community, and the women's game overall.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So I had a blast.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
It was great, Tarika, what about him?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, one, I also very much enjoyed full transparency. I
missed the first quarter because I was in a meeting,
so and I was like, y'all, I need to hurry
this because I'm late for a very important date. So
there is that, But no, I just want to use
(03:13):
this moment if I can have a point of privilege. Okay,
I just like to take a point of privitage to
say I need people to understand that there is a
difference between offering criticism in a way that is conducive
to your job and conducive to what you do, versus
actively praying on the downfall of an athlete. Those are
(03:37):
two very different things, and I would hope that no
one in our profession does that. But to say that,
I think a team is better to say that I
think a team will win. To say that I think
this team has issues that needs to be fixed does
not mean that I hate you. I hate your team,
I hate this player, and I hope this team never
does anything well and for some odd reasons, tend to
(04:00):
get that miscin screwed.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
So here's my verbal here.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Everybody knows I do not hate Iowa fans. Stop tweeting
me that I do not hate Caitlyn Clark fans. Stop
tweeting me that I believe Caitlin Clark is the best
player in the country right now. Stop acting like I don't.
I also believe that Caitlyn Clark needs help, and she
got help. She got twenty one points from from Kate Martin.
(04:27):
He got help. She had twelve assists because her teammates
stepped up when they needed to. She got help because
O'Grady came off the bench and held down the center
of that paint so that Angel Reice couldn't go off.
So as spectacular as Caitlyn Clark was, she did exactly
what we knew she would do, and her teammates did
exactly what we had been asking agreed, point blanket, period.
(04:52):
So stop coming at us talking about y'all. I hate Ioli,
y'all hate Caitlyn Clark. Nobody hates Iowa. Nobody, nobody. They're
a phenomenal basketball team. Shout out to Reyna Harmon. She's
one of my loves holding down DETROITCE. He's wanted to
the assistant coaches on the squad like, I want nothing
but success for her. I want to see the best
(05:13):
teams in the in the that's left in the tournament.
Those are the teams that I want to see compete.
Iowa has proven to be that there's no hate this way, y'all. Relaxing,
Tarika Chris Can, I just can I just just dip my.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Toe in the water really quickly.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Because I just want to piggyback off of what she said.
You all forget we know this game. We're not just
here with no experience. You're dealing with journalists, you're dealing
with former athletes. This is what sports is about. And
actually what's happened with Iowa is what march madness is about.
It's totally okay to be strong and wrong. It happens
all the time. Mind you. There have been plenty of
(05:49):
other analysts who have said the same things we have said,
some of them in a different way, some of them
more subtly.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
But this is not something brand new.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I've had people say on social media that we're saying
things to clout, chase and get bags, and I'm like, guys, we.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Love this game.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Nobody's sitting around trying to think of something extreme to
say to get clicks. Were gonna do it anyway, just
because of our chemistry is lit, Okay, that's why. So everybody,
I just want to echo what Tarika said. We're having
a good time talking about basketball. There's a lot of
great basketball happening, and teams are stepping up, and that's
what it's about. And if you pay attention to our
timelines at all, we totally say we were wrong. We
(06:29):
got it wrong, and actually, how about.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
This, we were right.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
But to Tarika's point, players that we didn't account for
because they weren't accounting for themselves on the court all season,
all of a sudden they're stepping up. So that's what
it's about. So I will just echo what Terka said.
I think Caitlin Clark is phenomenal. I think she's changed
this game for the better forever, and she is the
best one person walking on the court right now. I'm
not an Iowa fan, but I don't dislike it either.
(06:56):
Whoever the best team is, let them win. I got
South Carolina and that's what I'm thing with. Winna lose.
That's what I want to see, and that's why I
believe the best team. But if I were wins, godspeed.
Shout out to them right, leave us alone or get
your smoke, whichever one you choose.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Ready, watch the whole shouts exactly, exactly, the whole pie baby,
Come on now and look, we got so much to
get into in this show. You know, Troll's come up
for Tarika and Jerii. We got Justin Tinseley, senior culture
writer for Ndscape, coming on later. But hey, here's the thing.
We have Caitlyn Clark against Page Beckers in one of
(07:39):
the final four matchups. Then we have South Carolina, a
team that not a lot of people thought would even
get to the final four this year, let alone go undefeated.
And then NC State they were unranked. Tarika, they were
unranked to start the year. Because there were so many questions,
you had transfers, You're not sure how the chemistry's gonna work.
(08:00):
And then boom Asiah James ballin', Sinaia Rivers, balling, Memi Collins,
all of them. So I'm so so jacked to see
how this final four is going to be in Tarika.
It's just do you think this is the year that
Caitlin is able to get it all done? Because there's
(08:25):
so much pressure around her right now and it seems
like she keeps rising to the moment each and every time.
And I know u CON's gonna be tough, But what
do you think about that angle as we look ahead
to the final four?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah, you know, I y'all know I had LSU and
USC moving on to the final four out of that
side of the bracket, and so I kind of enjoy
having a fresh slate to evaluate, like teams at are fresh.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Level, right.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
But I will say that if the Iowa team that
showed up yes yesterday shows up against Yukon, Yukon gonna
have a little bit of a problem. They are playing
seven players deep, that's it. So that was honestly the
reason that I thought they would struggle against USC, not
because they weren't gonna good enough to match up, not
(09:18):
because they didn't have the experience, because they are clearly
way more experience, which is what we ended up seeing
later down the stretch. But I just felt like, wow, injuries,
tired people will be gassed. That'd be an opportunity for
USC to kind of take advantage, and they didn't. And
so I cannot wait to see these two, like prolific
scores clash and go head to head. But I think
(09:41):
if that Iowa team that shows up, that showed up
in the Elite eight, shows up in the Final four,
it will be a daunting task to stop them. We
know that Caitlin Clark gonna go off. And what's funny
is I was reading a tweak from Devro Peters, right.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Devro's my Girls.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
She played at nor to Day, also played for the
Minnesota Link they won. She won some championships with Minnesota,
so she know what deaf know what she's talking about, right,
And she was just it was funny reading her tweet
where she was like listen, me and Scott would have
just straight up been like listen, Maya could go off,
referring to Maya Moore. Maya can go off. Let Maya
(10:17):
get hers. But nobody else on this team period, nobody
else is making no noise period. And I feel like
that is how you have to approach Iowa. Kaitlyn gonna
do her. It's nothing you gonna do about it. Because
Hailey Van Lift was getting eight up so bad yesterday.
Oh my goodness, Hailey couldn't even block the shade. Do
(10:40):
you mean she couldn't block nothing, couldn't stop nothing. And
at that point, I feel like, you, look, Kaitlyn just
gonna get hers. Let Caitlyn do her. There's nothing you
can do about Caitlyn doing her, but you better stop
everybody else like that, not an another individual sport out here.
That's not where number twenty two Like, That's how I
(11:01):
would have approached it. So if that Iowa team brings
what they brought yesterday, yukhn't gonna be in for a handful. Yeah,
I'm gonna I'm gonna echo what Terreka said with a
little bit of a twist. I do think that defensively,
you need to throw some different things at Caitlin Clark. Obviously,
she is going to score, she's a score, She's gonna
find a way. But she's also an incredible facilitator and
(11:23):
you know, we talk about you know, her passing ability
to me, it's it likens her scoring ability. I don't
even know why we don't talk about it as much.
So we understand that eighty percent of the offense basically
goes through her at some in some level, whether that's
assists or whether that's scoring. So for me, it's a
pride thing. And I'm not trying to hamper on Lsu.
(11:44):
But I didn't see any defensive adjustments. Throwbox in one
at her, trap off the screens. You don't have to
do it every time. Be more physical, and like Treka saying.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
No, we saw it, stop, No, we did see it.
We did see it with like three minutes ago in
the fourth quarter, because before.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Then all I saw was this.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I just kept seeing this the whole game, Like, I
don't know, that's where's your pride.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
We're not doing this all night.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
So my thing is this, be physical if you're gonna
play it, like defend, as to Rika saying defend against
the other players, you cannot.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
I don't like going in with the attitude.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Oh we even Kim Monkey said, well we done got her
last year, and you know.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I don't agree with that. I personally don't agree with that.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I think you have to challenge someone like Caitlyn Clark Clark,
you have to be physical with her, you have to
be physical with her teammates. I think that's how you
beat them. To Tarika's point, I'm seeing an Iowa team
that I said two weeks ago, they look beatable or vulnerable.
They look unbeatable right now. That is the reality, and
that's that's what march is about. As I mentioned earlier,
so defensively, I'm I'm really looking forward to seeing if
(12:47):
Connecticut can hang. Because of their depth, it is an issue.
If they can, they have a great chance. I'm excited
about seeing Page Beckers and Caitlyn go head to head.
I do think that Page is a better all around score.
She brings the other facets of versatility to the game. Offensively,
Caitlyn's gonna get what Kaitlyn's gonna get. But you can't
go into the game like well shrugging. Like the whole
(13:09):
shrug syndrome needs to go away. I just want to
see some I just want to see some pride and
if you do, if they do that, I think Yu
Kon has a chance. I'm also interested to see what
happens on the block. That's gonna be an interesting dynamic
that's happening down there.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
That inside game may.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Be the X factor to see to get connected over
the hump. We shall see, but I'm excited to see it. Nonetheless,
somebody you mess around to see something. If I see
another shrug, I'm turning off the TV. You will go
with damn.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Mind gin gonna take them out and put it one
of the injured player like he may go out himself.
You know what I'm saying. And you saw but here
the day you know, you know they ain't gonna happen
because you saw the way Yu Khan blitched you. You
the start and even though you got hers, you know,
(14:02):
it took her a lot of shots.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Whatever.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I don't care about that. She needed to do what
she needed to do to keep her team in the game.
But the offense or the strategy from Yukon was there
from the beginning defensively, and they made it tough on
her Lsu for whatever reason. Somebody said, I don't know
if kim Okie got a gruduate Haley van Lift or
what you know the fact that she just let her
(14:25):
out there, she.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Threw the fired her, she shot a cond her. I'm
at a lost with a t. I don't understand it.
I don't understand how you do that the whole game.
You throw this girl out to the wolves. I don't
understand it.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Sorry, and you know you know that she isn't your
best defender. I know got in some foul trouble last year, poet,
but still you have to try something different and adjust,
whether it's blitzing, switching on the pick and rolls or
you know, boxing one whatever.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yes, because at the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
It was like, Okay, we tried everything. We tried everything,
but then we can't forget about I know we won't
go too long, but can't go out of South Carolina
into state that that right there. I'm really interested to
see the guard play because I know South Carolina has
the edge on the inside. Kamila Cardosa, Ashton Watkins, Chloe Kitch, Sinai,
(15:22):
Fagan River, Baldwin is fine, me me calming, me mean,
Collins is fine. But it's really about Azaiah James, Snaia Rivers, Brooks,
Raven Johnson to the power pal Tessa Johnson. So I know,
I'm pretty sure I know what you're gonna say, Trika,
Like South Carolina is gonna win, but it's going to
be tough. It ain't gonna be a cake walk. We
(15:43):
are in the final, I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I know.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I didn't mean to cut you off, but I agree
with you one hundred percent, just because I think in
the matchup that we saw and I don't know why
is escaping me who they just played, but in that
matchup you could see that at moments there were some
defensive breakdowns, and I think that is where it gets
scary because this is the same as Ziah James. Dad
(16:08):
gave us twenty one points in the first half. You
can't afford to have a defensive breakdown against a player
like that. So while I do ultimately think that South
Carolina will win, I don't think there are any more
cake walks in the rest of this year. Like nobody's
getting blue out in the rest of this series. Like
you're gonna have to earn every single win that you get.
(16:29):
I think Dawn realizes that too, she kind of mentioned
it a little bit in her postgame conference. So yeah,
I fully think that this is going to be a
fun matchup. I love seeing NC State here. NC State
men are also here, same like Yukon men are also here,
so I think that's a really cool and incredible thing
that you're going to the final four alongside your male counterparts.
(16:50):
But I love to see how Aziah James steps up
in this moment. I think this does so much for
a young junior when you get to really show out
as a as a in the NCAA tournament. And I
really love this for Wes Moore. I feel like he's
someone who really has worked very hard over the last
few years to keep NC State relevant, to keep NC
(17:11):
State at the top of the ACC. So this is
a moment that I really appreciate. And I think anyone
who loves basketball understands that when you think about NC State,
you think about coach Ku and how much she meant
the team and the last time that they were there,
the part that she played in getting this team there.
So all around, this is really good. This is the
Cinderella that no one really thought would me a Cinderella.
(17:33):
So I love this for NC State, but I do
believe that South Carolina will be the ones to win
an end. Yeah, I'm aligned here, I do want to
add I think this game is going to go down
to the wire. I also think It's gonna come down
to defense that ultimately would be facilitated from players like
Ashton Watkins. We saw what had what she did against
Oregon State, how she bounced back from the game before
blocking shots. Giving your team momentum in that way helpside.
(17:55):
Defense is going to be crucial, and it'll be about
who can make the big shots. We've seen NC State
knockdown big shot after big shots, so South Carolina will
have to match that.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
And I don't think you.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Know, anybody that gets out on a real run, I
can see them running away with the game or at
least solidifying a win. So I'm expecting it to go
down to the wire. I'm still pulling for South Carolina,
but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if NC State pulled
another miracle. Hopefully they don't, just as an SC fan,
but it's I'm looking forward to a really great game
and some really incredible guard players.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
You guys mentioned, Yeah, it's gonna be sensational, and I'm
with y'all. South Carolina. I think, yes, we know they
have vulnerability aspects to their team, but they're just so
long in terms of their length but also their depth.
So if one person or two players are not on
their game that day, somebody else is gonna step up,
(18:44):
like to heat the pop out. Not one of the
best games of the season. Tessa Johnson freshman, came in
there and was cooking defensively and also on the offense
to really provide a spark when they were struggling to
find Ashton Watkins, as you said, just doing her dang thing.
But look, we talk about the women a lot, as
we should, we also got to talk about the men
(19:08):
final four. Are we gonna get to that after the break?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
All right?
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Friends?
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I know that a lot of us have acted as
if we've forgotten that there is a men's basketball tournament
going on, but there is. Indeed, men men do for basketball.
Isn't it crazy?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Said we were acting, I'm not active, We're.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Not paying attention because there we just kind of feel
that Yukon is going to dominate on the men's side.
But I've got to give some love to Alabama. Nobody
saw Alabama getting to this point. I think that that
is a great story. We think of Alabama as the
football school. We saw them play earlier in the College
football playoffs. So you've got to feel good if you're
(19:53):
Alabama that both your football program and now your men's
basketball program has made it to the Final four first
time in school history. That says a lot. Also shout
out to Purdue. And I'm gonna tell you why I'm
shouting out Purdue because the Big Ten let me down
every single tournament. They are always the schools that have
ten people represented, the conference that has ten people represented
(20:14):
in the Dagon Tournament, and by the time we get
the final four, all of them lost his assistance a
right every single year, So perdue, thank you for holding
it down for the Big Ten. Zach Edy is probably
about the only guy that we know from the man's
tournament because we know he's probably gonna be the one
going to the NBA. Everybody else, Honey, put your name
(20:36):
on the list. Were gonna read about your Google about
your one vote first, Okay, But at any rate, U
khon Alabama NC State DJ Burns. He has really been
the dude that like has put the team on his back.
He's put everybody on notice, and quite honestly, I just
(20:56):
like the fact that he talks shit on the side
like he ain't even on the sideline. He's on court one.
In his mouth, they're about to go home. Shari, what
in the wild is when we look at the men's tournament,
what stands out to you and who do you have
planned in the National champ One of the things that
stand out to me is swag and that's what we
get from n C State. So you know, again we
(21:18):
talk about storylines, They're a great one, and then you
can trace this right back to Jimmy V which is
another powerful story. So with that in mind, I'm really
I really want to see NC State do it just
for that reason alone. Like I'm totally invested in them
from a cultural standpoint and just what it took for
them to get here. That is a true Cinderella story.
(21:39):
So anytime I see a Cinderella story, I get behind.
I'm getting behind NCY State. But I'm also a realist.
I think Connecticut Like, for me, it's not even worth
talking about the final four. Connecticut's is gonna win the
National Championship.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
They just look.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I mean, I haven't seen a team this look, this dominant,
this lady to the tournament, and I felt so confident
about it in quite some time.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
They're just clicking on all cylinders, I don't.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I mean, any any team is beatable in any given night,
But I'm just not clear on what it would take
to beat this team. They're playing with such confidence and consistency.
They're so well coached, so I really think they're gonna
They're gonna take it all this year. But I think
teams like Purdue, teams like NC State, teams like Alabama
have made this a more exciting tournament because a lot
of people weren't expecting some of them to be here.
(22:25):
So Connecticut for me, but NC State honorable mention. If
they can make it happen, that'd be great.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
I got int State. I want Into State to win.
My brain tells me Yukon based on the way they played,
But my heart is saying, nah, this is the first
time in the final fours. It's nineteen eighty three. We
know what happened when INC State went to the final
four that year, Tommy v and all that. I just
love the story age the guys are saying, but yeah,
you have to shoot lights out against Yukon in order
(22:53):
for them to be beat right, you have to get
them out of their zone, which is very hard to do.
The fact that it was like twenty eight tween three
I think at halftime Illinois Yukon, and then they went
on a twenty five oh run. Actually they went on
a thirty year run from the first.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Like it in my life.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
I kept scoring thirty points.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
It was ridiculous because I was watching the Yukon duke
game right and that was a struggle fast and I
kept I had the two, I had the multiview screen
and I kept looking, Okay, it's a close game. They're
not scoring a lot. And then every time looked back,
I was like, wait, why is it Illinoy have the
same amount of points as they did five minutes ago.
And then it just kept going it going wrong. You
thought that was thing I did. I was like, hold on,
(23:40):
I know this ain't right, but they just have so
many off went lord.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
About the question, CBS like explaining.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
They now for real though they are Juggernaut donovand clinging
you know, Stefan cast Or, Tristan Newton, camp Spincher, all
these guys. I was caravan. They are so well coached,
the cuts that they made the offense at then early runs.
But yes, I'm going to say Anti State does it
because I'm a Syracuse slum and I will never root
for Yukon period. Let's go. I appreciate their greatness.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
I want to throw this at you, Chris. I just
want to throw out a little bit of history here
because I'm a bit of a history nerd. The last
time that the University of Connecticut men and women were
in the Final four together, they won a championship. That
was in two thousand and four. That was in twenty fourteen,
and now it's twenty twenty four. So it seems like
every ten years Yukon runs the table.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Forget it, Hey, look that is true, but you can't
ignore that. Candas Parker Curve right after what happened on
that Living team. Do you know argument? Can't forget that,
can't forget that. Yeah, we are so happy to bring
on this new guest for our show, The one and
only Justin Tinsley, a senior culture and sports writer for Landscape,
(24:58):
also is a con rive on around the Horn. The
man has done some phenomenal work, wrote a great book,
was All a Dream about Biggie Small's and Justin, you
have been paying attention so closely to the women's tournament specifically,
and the other night leading into the Final four, we
(25:20):
saw some crazy electric basketball and I just got to know, man,
when you were watching Caitlyn Clark go off for forty
page and Juju going back and forth, Like what resonated
with you the most from those games?
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Man? You know, you know what it really reminded me of.
It reminded me of twelve thirteen year old me in
my living room watching like Monday Night Raw and you
never knew what was going to happen. Then out of nowhere,
like Stone Cold Steve Auston's music coming up, like oh man,
what's going on? Like LSU was just up eight then
you know, I was just storm back. And there's so
(25:56):
many storylines within the game, and I think that that's
the most beautiful part of it because obviously you focus
on the artistry that is just you know, getting up
and down the court, playing defense, setting up your offense,
but you know that their stories within the game. You
know that like Caitlyn Clark came back for this moment
to get back to the Final four, and to get
(26:17):
to the final four, she has to beat the team
or her team has to beat the team that beat
them in the National Championship last year. So I just
remember watching it and my wife was watching it with
me too, and she was full for LSU. But if
you know my wife, she feels like every time I
watch a team that I like, they end up losing.
So like LSU was up eighth, and then she looked
(26:37):
at the TV against she was like, yeah, I'm going
to bed because they're down six. There's been like a
fourteen point turnaround. So it was for me, it was
just watching the stars of today, which is obviously you
know the names like Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese and
Flage is already a star. But I'm I'm calling it right.
I'm not even a better I don't even gamble like that.
Flauger is All American next year, she's gonna be Season
(27:00):
All American. Next She's gonna be one of the great
players to follow out of so many. So for me,
it was just Chris. It was just like, I'm watching
beautiful basketball. But I also watch like a lot of
Bravo TV with my wife, and I love some pettiness.
I loves I love some storylines within the storyline. So
(27:20):
it's just it's just beautiful, man. And I know y'all
have talked about it plenty of times before, and I'll
just say it It's like the women's game has always
been beautiful. It's always been really like watching art paint
itself in real time. But now you see the collective investment.
And I'm not just talking about TV. I look at
over the course of this tournament. You know, Caitlyn's been
(27:41):
in commercials with Nike and you know State Farm. You know,
Juju's been in the AT and T commercial with Jalen Brunton,
and like, you see all these women just being like
marketed as you know, women outside of the game, and
that endears people to the game. We see it all
the time with with you know, the men's side in
pro basketball. So I know that's my very long, exasperated
(28:02):
way of saying, like I was on the edge of
my seat the entire night, regardless of what the outcomes
I wanted to be. It was just beautiful basketball. And
now we got a hell of a Final four on
our hands.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
We do justin first off, I'm super excited to have
you on the show. I've seen in like the last
week and so I don't know why, but you know
I loved the the essay that you that you canned
(28:34):
and voiced for Juju Watkins. I've watched it a few times, right,
and more so than what you discussed in the essay,
what's the fact that you decided to do what? I
think that the one of the things that has plagued
this this league is not the competition. It's not the
(28:55):
ability for these women to play at the highest level,
even collegiately. It's just that no one sees them, no
one writes about them, no one talks about them, not
to the level that they do their male counterparts. And
so it was great to see so much effort and
everything that you do. You know, you you put your
best into but it was just great to see something
(29:15):
about a player on the women's side, but more so Juju,
because she's amazing, Right, So if you can just kind
of talk a little bit about what that process was
in terms of why Juju Watkins and I know that
you have a history with LA, I know your relationship
to La, but just kind of talk a little bit
about why that and as a two parter to that,
(29:38):
how that plays a role in the coverage that we're
seeing with women's basketball.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
I mean, I think that's a that's a really beautiful
question both of them, honestly, So you know, I've been
doing the essays for like Sports Center and maybe like
College Game because I've always I'll answer your second question
first and then I'll go back to Juju. So you
remember growing up and it used to be like NBA
on NBC, and it'd be like Bulls versus Nicks on
your Sunday afternoon game. But like right before the game,
(30:06):
like Marv Albert or Bob Costas would give like this
dramatic intro. You'd be like, damn, I knew the game
was important, but now I want to follow like each dribble.
I want to follow the story within the game. And
at ESPN, I found that there was a lane for that.
Like storytelling still matters. The storytelling is how you get
people to embrace the sport at large and the people
(30:30):
within the sport. So you know, I've always been doing that,
And like Juju, I remember you mentioned that I used
to live out in LA So I got a lot
of homies to still live out there in LA And
like one of my homeboys from like Crenshaw area, like
really from that area. You know what I'm getting getting
that when I say that, he called me one day
maybe about like two years ago. He was like, Yo, Tens,
(30:53):
you need to come out to La and do this
story on this young girl out here. She'd be killing cats.
I'm like, what's her name? He was like, her name
is Juju Watkins. Like she goes, she go to see
Erra Kane. She there with like Brianni and like all
the other people, Like you need to come see her, Couz,
you know what neighborhood's from if you're talking to me
like that. So and I was like, all right, let
me let me look it up. And I'm like, damn,
(31:15):
Like she can hoop like and I was like, yo,
her game is like really like silky smooth. It's like
you know a lot of people, you know. Dame tweeted
last night like, yo, she's like Carmelo in college. Just
get her a ball if you want to win. Like
if you go back and watch Carmelo at syracusetill one
year he was there and you put him side by side,
It's almost ridiculous how much they mirror each other. And
(31:36):
I was like yeah, And I've just been following her
since then. And obviously she she broke a record like
very early on in the season. I think it was
like Lisa Leslie's freshman scoring record for like most thirty
point games or something like that. And I remember I tweeted.
I was like, look, if you don't know her name,
just give it till March. Just give it till March.
She will make an introduction. And you know, I've just
(31:58):
been following her and I following the different storylines throughout
the game. And i went to my guy over at
Sports Center and I'm like, Yo, I'm actually working on
a written piece on Juju, but I would love to
add like a video component, And I just wanted to
tell people that, like, yes, she's an incredible basketball player,
but the more she's in this national spot, like we're
(32:20):
gonna see that her importance matters beyond the game. And
for me, when I look at Juju, and this may
be like a weird comparison, but like for me, it's
hard to think of March Madness without Nipsey Hustle anymore,
because you know his lad the day before he died,
he was at I believe it was Texas Tech Gonzaga
for the Elite Eight. They were going to the Final four.
(32:42):
And for me, it's just really hard to think about
March Madness without thinking about him, and he was somebody
who was so obviously invested in his community and like
really poured into this community. And if you really peel
back the layers on Juju, she's only eighteen, but she
has that same sort of mindset. It's the reason why
she stayed at USC when she could have went to
South Carolina And oh my god, can you imagine Juju
(33:04):
on South Carolina? Like they wouldn't even be a need
to play the final fours. But but again that's just
my way of saying, like I wanted to highlight her. Yes,
she's incredible on the court, but there's so much about
Juju Watkins that's gonna matter so much more as the
years go along, because she's going to continue to import
to pour this investment into her community. And obviously she's
(33:27):
gonna she's moving to the Big Ten next year. So
so Kaitlin Clark's going to the w n b A
And that just replaced her with Juju Watkins. That's literally
an embarrassment of Richard.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
I'm really excited about that.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
I bet you aren't miss Michigan State.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Okay, Michigan State.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
I think it's interesting. I don't think it's fair.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
If you want fair, go to the carnival. Okay, go
to the fair. How about that.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I'll give you that.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Chris and Justin, you know, and you talk. You talk
a lot about storylines and connectivity, and you know, in
watching these games, I've been chatting even with my own
village about just how some of these great games translate
at the next level. You talk about a Juju who
I think is just finally ready right now if she
went to the league to be one of the best
when we think about her, when we think about Taylor Clark,
(34:22):
Page Beckers. We'll see what Angers decides to do with
these top tier players that are getting so much attention.
Who's the player you're most excited to see at the
next level. Whose game do you think it's going to
translate best?
Speaker 3 (34:32):
And what's gone?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Would you say, Hey, they're turning up here at the
collegiate level, but at the professional level they may struggle.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
You know that, y'a. I'll be asking some really good questions,
and I think the beautiful thing about the women's game
is that, And of course this gets into all entirely
other conversations around you know, pay inequality and when they
can go to the pros and when they can't. But
the beautiful thing about the women's game, especially right now,
(34:59):
is they can invest in their college stars because they
can't go to the pros like one year after they're there.
So you buy into their storylines, you buy into their
style of play while they are in college, and by
the time they get to the w NBA, they're already
ready made superstars. And I think when you look at
the NBA, that's where they kind of struggle because their
stars and their storylines are manufactured within the league. Obviously,
(35:23):
every now and then you get like a Zion Williamson
to come out and obviously you know who he is.
But like as you you just named the names, like,
we could be looking at three of the top four
being obviously Caitlyn Clark being number one cardozas she just
announced that she's going pro. She selected projected to go
forth over off Angel Reese decides to go, like, do
(35:43):
you have three legitimate top tier superstars going into the
league and then you have that investment of COO. Yeah,
the Caitlin Clark Angel Reese game. So whatever you know,
Indiana and whatever team Angel Reese ends up on, those
games are going to be a pointment. If you win,
those games are going to be on primetime television and
the game will continue to grow after that. So that's
(36:05):
my way of saying that I think all of them
will translate. Well, now, I think Kaitlyn Clark playing with
Leah Boston and Indy that's gonna like that's an inside
outside game that is going to be hell for opponents.
Just that, because you can double Leah Boston, you're gonna
leave Kaitlyn Clark wide open. And keep in mind, Kaitlyn
Clark's court vision may be her most underrated aspect of
(36:26):
her game. So you know, I have.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
So many thoughts on that Indian because you know me,
I'm probably the one up here that's gonna present the
most questions as it relates to that roster. That's just me,
like me looking at it from a let's keep it
a buck here. Now, three ball hogs on that roster
(36:49):
gonna get the ball.
Speaker 4 (36:52):
You know what, Look, here's the thing we ain't.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Gonna go here today. Well, just so that we're clear,
I don't mean ball hall in a negative way. I
just mean you have players on that team who perform
incredibly well with the ball in their hands, and so
I'm concerned with how that roster is going to function. Here,
where's the thing touch players?
Speaker 4 (37:17):
I'm rewatching the wire right now, right, And one of
my favorite quotes from the wire is Marlowe. He was like,
that sounded like one of them good problems. You give
me them the team, we will figure it out. You
may average thirty, you may average twenty five, but you
also get eleven twelve cents out of the team, So
(37:40):
it's okay, And so okay. I think you said the
one player whose game.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
May have may may struggle a bit, They may need
a little bit more time to adjust at the next level.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
I think she's I think if you put Andrew Reese
on a team that still needs like a point guard
to facil illitate the office. Now, obviously Angel Reese used
to play point guard when she was in high school
before gros Spurt, of course, but I think Angel Reese
it would best benefit her to be on a team
that already has like a floor general out there. Like Angel,
you get right there, you get right there. She's gonna
(38:15):
be a star, and she's just she's gonna have so
much star power going into the league that like, I
hope these front offices. And this isn't just the w NBA.
We talk about the NFL, we talk about it in
the NBA whatever, Like these front officers have to do
their job. Like if you're going to get a star
of this level, you can't just get a star at
this level, be like, oh, well, she'll figure out the rest,
(38:35):
Like no, like you she used a cross sports example.
You see what the Bears are trying to do for
presumably Caleb Williams, Like this is the best team that
a number one pick is going to go to, at
least in my memory. So when we look at Angel Rees,
I just hope she goes to a team that has,
you know, that floor general already in place, because if so,
(38:57):
I mean, that's she a dog. She's gonna get you
fifteen and ten off the humble, you get her a
dog point guard up that like twenty and twenty and twelve.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
So all day. I mean we saw that with Alexis Morris,
you know last year how well they were able to
work together. Now, something you touched on though earlier Justin
was about the coverage disparity, right and how women have
not gotten their proper respect. I mean we're at a time, right,
now where these players are getting their due, but I
still feel like they need more balanced coverage and more respect.
(39:32):
And we saw that with the La Times nasty article
that was written about US CLA versus LSU and it
was good versus Evil, the Milk and Cookies team versus
Louisiana Hot Sauce, the dirty Debutantes, And I think it's
incredibly We all know how racist and sexist it was,
(39:53):
But what does it say about where we need to
go for the media coverage to make sure things like
that don't happen. And you're not painting these eighteen to
twenty two year olds in such negative lights where you're
disrespecting their humanity.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
Man, it's really it's not surprising, but it's still upsetting
that we're still having these sorts of conversations. You remember,
back in the day, there was that really good thirty
for thirty documentary Catholics Versus Convicts where they were talking
about Miami. You know what I'm saying, and this is
literally the same thing. This is literally the same thing.
(40:29):
And that speaks to so much of society's viewpoint of
how we view dominance, dominance that we're comfortable with dominance.
You know, it depends on who's coming from. And yes,
that's an issue in sports, but that's an issue in
society at large. Like you turn on the news at
any given night, we're having similar conversations as to what
(40:52):
we're doing with UCLA, LSU this column, but like in
that column in particular. Man, obviously we know that the
issues that The Times have been having recently, a bunch
of great reporters, you know, have unfortunately moved on. And
I look at like the editorial process of something like that,
and I'm like, well, you don't just publish your first
(41:15):
draft of anything like it has to go through a
line edit several. You know, if it's a really good process,
then it's several. Man. I just like what you didn't
add anything. And sometimes I'm very worried about like criticizing
journalists because we're all in this and we understand how
quickly things can like go awright. But nah, bro dirty
(41:37):
debutantes like you said good versus evil, like all if
you black, you know cody language.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Not a single.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
Editor, That's what I didn't get, not a single.
Speaker 4 (41:50):
One, Not a single person saying like, hey, let's try
to reword this sentence, or how about we just take
this out because look, there's nothing wrong with trying to
play up a big matchup and U c L a
versus LSU obviously two of the better teams all season
that was gonna hype itself up regardless, you didn't need
(42:10):
to add in such incendiary language. So I you know,
I hope as you know this, this interest in this
popularity and the surge and like insatiability and desire to
see this women's game and grow, I hope the responsibility
of talking about it continues to evolve. Now granted, it's
(42:34):
not always like that in sports, because we understand we're
dealing with the human element and human emotions and but
it's just to your point, though, Chris, as the game
continues to evolve, we have to be willing to up
our critiques, and not just of the game, but the
people actually doing the critiquing as well, because none of
us are above reproach. None of us are. So that's
(42:57):
what I hope to see, man. But it's it's just
beautiful to see, you know, just And what I really
love about the women's game is just that they're they're
supporting each other. And we go back to Juju and
you see how Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie and like
the ogs and the predecessors who laid this this framework.
(43:18):
You know, when Cheryl Miller and all of them were
at their peak, Juju wasn't even born yet, you know, Juju.
The only USC women's basketball program that Juju knew was
basically dormant. And she could have been like, oh, I'm
the one that resurrected this, I'm the one that did that,
but she's like, no, Like, I'm here because of people
like Cheryl Miller. I'm here because of people like Tina Thompson,
(43:40):
Cynthia Cooper, you know, Lisa Leslie, so on and so forth.
And I want to bring them back in because this
moment doesn't feel like this moment without what they did.
And you can tell, like Cheryl Miller has already said, like, Yo,
we felt shut out of the program for so long,
and y'all brought us back in. It just revived not
just the program, but you can see like the smiles
(44:03):
on their faces, and that's just beautiful because what they
did for the game is exactly why there's so much
hoopla around it right now, and it's so many other ladies.
Of course, too, but just using that.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
An example, Yeah, I remember getting to interview them on
their anniversary and it was surreal. First of all, to
be in a room with Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper
and the McGee twins.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
I'm like, oh man, oh wow.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
It was crazy. But justin I know you didn't think
you was gonna slide about of here without unscathed. I'm
gonna need some predictions out of use. First of all,
I'm gonna need you to do me one quick thing
first before you Before we get to these quick predictions,
I need one thing. Can you name me five players
in the men's tournament right now? I'm joking, don't name
me mint five minutes.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Meant so, Michael Jordan had a big shot in nineteen
eighty two, was a great junk.
Speaker 2 (44:56):
All right, So we need your predictions for the final
four where you don't gotta spoil it and tell us
who you think is gonna win the national championship. But
I would love to know who you think at least
is going to be playing in the National Championship for
the women.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
Oh look, it's been building up to this all year.
We see it like I love page. I'm so glad
that she's coming back next year to really like she
missed out on some good time. Excuse me due to injuries.
But nah, man, this is South Carolina, this is Iowa, Iowa.
This is the unstoppable force and the immovable object. I
don't know which one is which, but in that game
(45:32):
will be there's a pointment viewing and then there's that.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
You know.
Speaker 4 (45:37):
So I got, I got South Carolina and Iowa in
the championship game. I got I got South Carolina winning
it Carolina. He said, no, don't follow me on Twitter.
I'm scared of Don.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Ain't done when the coach is pobib you like I.
Speaker 4 (46:04):
Had to delete some tweet them lap No, Don followed me.
I was about to. I was about to be reckless
on Twitter whatever it's called nowadays. But I really got
South Carolina and Iowa. And it feels like this is
Caitlyn Clark's year, but like it also feels like every
year is Don Staley's year, and she missed out on
it and she lost to Iowa last year. It's just
(46:27):
you look, Caitlyn got her get back against LSU. You know,
eventually commerce finds the block and I'm hoping this block
is almost done being spun.
Speaker 1 (46:39):
I hear that, man, Justin you have been such a
joy to talk with her in our show. We appreciate
you keep doing the great work. We look forward to
seeing your more amazing essays on Juju walk Ins and
so many other talent players appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (46:53):
Man, appreciate y'all. Thank y'all so much for having me.
This was a lot of fun. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (47:00):
I want us to talk about people who you know
could be close to retirement, because some say that Candae
Parker could be close to retirement. Lebron James, he you know,
mentioned that he doesn't have long left in this game,
and this happened after he recently passed a record from
(47:20):
Michael Jordan, and I would love for Lebron and Cities
ass down. I mean, that's just the Pistons fan in
me will always look at that man as a cavalier.
I don't care what team he plays for.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
I don't care what.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Uniform he puts on. Respect them, respect what he does.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
In the community.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
But you're a cavalier for everybody sits you as now.
But Chris, what do you think about the idea of
my Lebron James retiring.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
I mean, it's it's scary because we I feel like
we haven't appreciated him as much as we should as
a collective base where collective how are you? It mean?
I'm not talking about us. We appreciate him, we give
(48:11):
him his glory, we give him his praise, we give
him respect. But a lot of people try to shoot
on this man day in and day out. They're they're
sick of him. And you know what, go ahead, because
I am about to be bullied by y'all. I am
about to be I am about.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
To buy will never bully you, but never we're anti bullying.
Speaker 3 (48:30):
Were never ever?
Speaker 4 (48:33):
Ok?
Speaker 3 (48:34):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (48:35):
I mean, I don't know who these people are that
are spending their time ensuring that Lebron James doesn't get
any more attention. God forbid, I'm not I'm gonna aware
of these people.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
Don't confuse attention with appreciation.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Let me attention and appreciation. I think this generation adorns him.
I think he's King James. All these concepts. I'm just
just unclear. I guess I can try to really to
your opinion, but I do on aligne. I think that
Lebron James can stay as long as he would like,
because that's what he's going to do. Anyway, I'm more
(49:09):
confused about the fact that the man drops forty and
this is what you're asking him in the locker room.
Why now? Why is this a question to ask right now?
I think bright a little off putting, Like to your point. Now,
I can see why don't you just celebrate? Why are
we talking about the man not playing anymore after he
just turned up that part? I get Chris, but overall,
I feel like Lebron James has gotten an exuberant amount
(49:29):
of praise and celebratory opportunities during his tenure. But again,
that is my opinion. I understand that yours is different,
and I respect yours as well. This is also coming
from a world fan and a business fan. Chris.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Yes, well, let me tell you something that's not sarcastic.
Though we have to wrap up the show. We are
at a time for this episode of the three on
three Pod. Make sure to follow us on x at
the three on three pod and on Instagram at the
three at three on three pod to get all the
(50:04):
latest exclusives and soundbites that we're gonna give you day
in and day out for Driika Foster brasby Serena Cole.
I'm Chris Williamson. We will see y'all next time.
Hosts And Creators
Shari Nycole
Terrika Foster-Brasby
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