September 3, 2025 • 45 mins
On this episode, Lexie Brown is here for a solo episode to break down the upcoming playoffs and the end of season awards. She dives into who’s in, who’s out, and who is still playing for their chances. Are the Liberty strong enough to defend their title or will injuries rob them of a chance at a repeat? Have the Indiana Fever finally found the lineup they need to make a strong playoff push? Next, Lexie gives her thoughts on our end of season awards. Is it still a 3 player race for MVP? Plus, her thoughts on Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Coach of the Year.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Full Circle is an iheartwoman's sports production and partnership with
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Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, everybody, Welcome back to another episode of the Full
Circle Podcast. I am Lexi Brown. I am doing another
solo episode today, guys. Surprise. Mariah had some scheduling conflicts
today and honestly, I just wanted to get this episode
out for you guys, so I decided to give another
(00:34):
solo vibe check a try. So this episode is not
gonna be very long. I know we say that all
the time, but I actually mean that. This is funny.
You know. I'm just like talking to myself in the
camera right now. But there's a lot to get into.
We are in the last nine days of the WNBA season.
If you can even believe that the month of August
(00:57):
for me personally, flew by didn't really play a lot.
I'm still not to a thousand points, guys. I'm still
four points away. We have two regular season games left,
and I do not know if that four points is
gonna happen for me, But I'm keeping hope alive. I'm
(01:18):
excited about it. The fact that I'm even this close
to a thousand points in my career is an accomplishment
within itself. There's a lot of players that I have
played in this league, a lot of great players that
didn't get to a thousand points. So you know, that's
something that I'm gonna be proud of and be excited about.
Whether anybody else thinks it's important or impressive or whatever
(01:41):
or not. I think a thousand points or a thousand
if anything, is impressive and something that I should be
proud of. So we're still on the hunt for the
one thousandth point. We're close, but let's get into this
playoff push. We are, like I said, nine days away
from the end of the regular season, so today, if
(02:02):
playoffs started, these will be the teams in the playoffs.
It would be the Links, the Aces, the Dream, the Mercury,
the Liberty, the Valkyries, the Fever, and the Storm. So
we officially have four teams eliminated from playoff contention, The Mystics,
the Sun, the Sky, and the Wings. So they are done.
(02:24):
There's nothing that they can do but mess up other
people's playoffs hopes, which can be kind of fun if
you frame it that way. I watched Dallas play yesterday
before our game. You know, gave Minnesota a game for
about three three quarters and you know, Minnesota did their
Minnesota thing and pulled away in one I think by
(02:45):
twenty twenty points. Kyle McBride did not play in that game,
and that just shows the depth that we continue to
see in the Minnesota Links that they're able to, you know,
win games that they're supposed to win large margin without
one of their stars, one of their all stars playing.
So the Links won their game. Yesterday. We had a
(03:06):
game against the Sparks that was a must win for us,
and I say it almost every episode. Every game that
we're about to play is like a must win, and
we were not able to get it done. We lost
ninety one to eighty five to the Sparks last night.
We had a seventeen point lead and we were not
able to get that win last night at home, which
(03:29):
for us, that was a game that we needed to
ensure that we would be in the postseason. So, like
I said, we have two games left. A lot of
teams have four or five games left, so we're still
in control of our destiny. But a little bit less
now with that loss that we had last night, and
then the Dream took care of the Sun. Like I said,
(03:51):
the Sun our team that can come in and mess
up some seeding. So the Sun, like those teams are
gonna get teams best because yes, they don't have anything
to play for, but there's a lot of seating that's
still in flux right now. And I will tell you
what teams can still move up and down in the playoffs.
(04:14):
So you have the Links that are just very comfortable
at number one, at thirty two and eight, they're gonna
they have secured home court for the first rounds and
they are comfy, cozy in first place. Now where it
gets a little sticky. So we got two parts of
the playoffs that are sticky. So the first part of
(04:34):
the playoffs right now that are sticky is the second
place through fifth place. So you have two teams that
are twenty six and fourteen, one team that is twenty
five and fourteen, and another team that is twenty four
and sixteen. And these teams still have a few more
games to play left in their regular season. The second
(04:57):
part that's a little sticky is the six through eight seed,
where we have twenty one in eighteen twenty one and
nineteen twenty two and twenty Then the Sparks, you know,
is the team that is going to give people some
(05:18):
issues like they gave us last night. They have a
very difficult schedule ahead of them to continue their playoff hopes.
They have the dream twice, they have the Wings, they
have Phoenix, and then they have the Aces. So by
no means do they have a cake walk to the playoffs.
But it is still very, very possible for them to
make the postseason, which selfishly I'm like they but overall,
(05:45):
like I've said earlier in the year, when the Sparks
are on the postseason, when the Sparks are playing good basketball,
that's a good thing for the WNBA. So another thing
that I feel like is going to be really important
for the playoffs is what teams can stay healthy. This
entire year, we have been dealing with stars getting injured,
(06:07):
super important role players getting injured, and it devastatingly affecting
some of the teams. The team that I'm looking at
in particular, as far as health is a liberty, they
are currently sitting in fifth place in the WNBA standings.
This is their tithe This is like their WNBA title
defense year, and I feel like that is not being
(06:29):
said enough about this Liberty team, Like they're literally the
defending champions, and they're not looking very championship contending at
the moment from what our standards are of what the
Liberty should look like. But you're going to have to
credit that to their injuries that they've been dealing with
all season long. You know, they went a significant amount
(06:49):
of time without jj, significant amount of time without Stewie.
They missed Tosh Cloud, I think she broke her nose,
Isabelle Harrison was out the concussion, Kennedy Burke was out
for a significant amount of time. Like, they have not
been able to put a full healthy team together for
most of this season, So we really don't even know
(07:10):
what the Liberty look like. Sabrina's missed some games, you know.
I feel like they are still one of the favorites
to win a WNBA title because they have such a
talented roster and they have better in experience, they have
championship experience, and then they have the confidence from last
season being the WNBA champs. So I feel like even
(07:30):
though they're in fifth place right now, they still can
definitely secure home court for the first round. But if
they don't, I mean, that's a hard matchup for anybody
in the first round. Is a liberty. Honestly, all of
these teams is a hard matchup for the first round.
I feel like this playoffs is going to be so exciting,
It's going to be so much fun. But home court,
(07:52):
I think is most important, the most important thing. I've
never seen a postseason that home court is so important
in the last few seasons since we left the single
elimination format. If y'all didn't know, when I first got
into the league, the playoffs were single elimination in the
first round, like college, like March madness. So my first
(08:17):
two seasons in the WNBA, I was eliminated in a
single elimination game in the first round. First year, my
rookie year I was in Connecticut, we got upset at
home by Phoenix, I want to say. And then my
second year in Minnesota, we lost in Seattle first round,
(08:38):
and that was hard, Like that's not you don't work
your whole season to get eliminated in the first in
one game. So I'm glad that that no longer exists
in the WNBA because postseason basketball is fun, and teams
worked too hard all year long with these long seasons
to get bounced in one game. So I'm so happy
(08:58):
that they took that single elimination game off. Like I said,
a lot of the teams are very similar in record,
and if you guys do not know how tiebreakers work,
I didn't know that there was a whole process with
multiple tiers of how to do tiebreakers. So in the
event that a team finishes with a similar record, this
(09:20):
is how they decide who advances. So first you go
head to head matchups, and if that doesn't settle anything,
then they go to the team's records versus teams that
are above five hundred, so team their record against the
better teams in the league, which for us is every
(09:40):
team that would make the playoffs. If that doesn't work,
you go to point differential head to head of the
two teams that are tied. If that doesn't work, you
go to overall point differential I guess from all of
the games in the season, and then finally, if that
doesn't work, then you coin toss it. So that's worst
(10:03):
case last resort. I would hate to make the playoffs
or miss the playoffs. From a coin flip. That would
be horrible, horrifying that my whole season hangs in the
balance of a coin flip that we probably don't even
get to see. What if they don't, is this even
a real coin flip? Do they use a computer? Is
(10:23):
it like randomized?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Like?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I don't know, but I don't think we've ever gotten
to that point before. But there could be a lot
of tiebreakers at the end of the season, so I'm
very very interested to see how that shakes out. Our
team is absolutely included in one of those situation scenarios
where we could be in a tiebreak. And if we're
(10:45):
talking realistically, we talk in numbers. Y'all know I'm a
numbers girl. The odds are not in our favor when
it comes to tiebreakers with the teams that I am
looking at that we could potentially be tied up with,
And that's really disheartening. It's it's sad when you, like
(11:06):
I said, work your entire season to get so close
to the playoffs and then you have to wait and
see what other teams do, wait and hope that other
teams lose instead of just winning games being in control
of your own destiny. But that's what it's like sometimes
(11:27):
and that's you know, the beauty and you know the
heartbreak of sports, and that's why everyone loves sports. The
last thing that I will say about playoffs that I'm
looking at is if one if the Fever make the postseason,
which right now they are in seventh place at twenty
one and nineteen, and if they do make the playoffs,
(11:47):
will Caitlyn Clark return from her injury to play in
the WNBA playoffs? I think one for storylines, narratives, whatever,
that would be great for the league, it would be
great for the Fever, it would be great for her.
She just unveiled her new logo with Nike. We actually
(12:08):
we played in Indiana. They if that was the day
that it got like unveiled. So the whole arena had
T shirts with the logo all over. The whole arena
filled with Kaitlyn Clark logos, which actually was really cool.
I've never seen anything like that before, So I thought
that was a really cool gesture that Nike did that
the Fever did for her, even though she's not playing.
(12:30):
I think it's dope that she got a logo. I
think it's dope that she's dropping a signature shoe line.
Whatever she's doing with Nike, I think it's also fire.
They proceeded to bailt to ask us as well in
that game, but we don't got to talk about that.
But I had already said in a previous episode that
we struggle with the Fever because of how fast they play,
(12:53):
and that's basically exactly what happened. Like their their pace
was insane. Honestly, let me let me let me back
up real quick and talk about the Fever real quick,
because y'all know this is the Kelsey Mitchell standpod, of course,
but what the Fever have been able to do without
(13:18):
their all star point guard, with all of the season
ending injuries, with all of the new players coming in
and out of the roster, and for them to be
able to still be in playoff contention, it's very impressive.
And I do will continue to give Kelsey Mitchell her
flowers every chance I can, because she deserves them. She
(13:41):
just broke another thing that happened while we were there.
She broke the franchise record for most points in this
season and they still have a few more games left.
She's the first player this season to get to one
hundred and may to three pointers, which is great. I
think I just looked. I think Kaylea McBride is right
behind her at ninety nine or something like that. So
we'll have two players at least break the threshold of
(14:05):
one hundred and may threes, which I think is awesome.
I think that just is just showing what direction the
WNBA is going in as far as style of play,
a lot of outside shooting. There is still a lot
of paint production. We got sixty points put on our
head last night in the paint, so there's very much
paint points being scored still, But there also is three
pointers being shot at a high clip and at a
(14:27):
high level. So I think that the trend of women's
basketball is mirroring the NBA, not as dramatic. I don't
think we'll ever get to that style of play completely
as far as the outside shooting, but we're heading in
that direction. I think that Indiana has found a lineup
(14:52):
that has worked started working for them. I think the
season is kind of taking a toll on them physically
a mentally. It's a lot. It's a long game, it's
a lot of minutes being played. But the addition of
aerial powers and Odyssey Sims Like, those were two really
really good pickups for them. Aerial Powers has been a
(15:13):
staple in this league for years and years, and she's
left her mark and she has the respect of her peers,
So that was a great pick up for her. A
lot of people were really happy when they saw that
she signed there. Now she's getting significant minutes, making an impact, scoring,
rebounding the ball, being a playmaker. I think that she
was a great sign for them, and then Odyssey as well, Like,
that's an All Star, that's a national champ. That's what
(15:40):
else has Odyssey done? Like, I don't know, I just
don't feel like this new wave of fandom even realizes
what type of player Odyssey Simms is. So even for
her getting her opportunity in Indiana after being in LA
getting waves unexpectedly, her coming back and making an impact,
leaving her mark and helping a team get to the
(16:00):
postseason hopefully, I think that's, you know, a really good
look for Odyssey. She signed back to Athletes Unlimited. You know,
she's been playing with US for the last few seasons,
so seeing her get her spark back, her confidence back,
and bringing that to the WNBA has been really, really amazing.
To see. So Indiana Fever is a team that I'm
looking at for playoffs, and the Valkyries, And we'll get
(16:21):
into the Valkyries a little bit later, because I know
I was really high on coach s Mesco. I think
that's how you say his name from the dream being
coach of the Year, not even thinking consider I was
so hyper focused on how good like the Valkyri's team
has been, how good their organization has been, how good
their fans have been. Like Coach nat like didn't even
(16:45):
cross my mind, like she's the reason for all of that.
So we'll get into that conversation a little bit later
when it comes to Coach of the Year, because I
absolutely think that Coach Natalie can win and deserves to
win Coach of the Year. Before we get into that,
(17:08):
we have some other postseason things to get into. I
think the first one obviously we're gonna get into is MVP,
And last week we said it was a three player race.
Is it still a three player race? We'll say yes,
(17:28):
because I want the voters to actually have to make
a real decision and use their basketball brains and not
let their bias ruin another MVP vote. So we'll still
say it's a three player race between Asia Wilson, the
FISA Collier, and Alyssa Thomas. But my two front runners
(17:50):
right now are Asia and Fee, and Asia is currently
averaging twenty four and ten, Fee averaging twenty four and eight.
Asia has powered the A to the second seed, but
they are also tied with Atlanta at twenty six and fourteen,
and Phoenix is right behind them at twenty five and fourteen,
(18:11):
and New York is right behind them at twenty four
and sixteen. So, like I discussed earlier, there is a
lot of change that still can happen in these playoff seedings.
I don't I don't have a favorite. I really don't.
I think it's going to come down to preference. I
(18:31):
think it's going to come down to who values team
success versus what will this team look like without this player.
I saw a clip from my girl Jordan on her
page and she was like, if you put Asia on
the links, what would the links look like? And if
(18:53):
you put feet on the aces, what would the aces
look like? And I don't think that's a necessarily fair
thing to use as a comparison because these teams are
literally built around Fee, built around Asia, so you're going
to bring players in that are suitable for the way
that they play basketball. So, although it is a fun
(19:15):
way to get people to have meaningful discourse about the
MVP race, I don't necessarily like that approach to who's
more valuable to what team because they're not on those teams.
Those are not the teams that they're on. So like,
let's not use that as a way to determine who's
gonna win MVP. Let's look at the numbers, let's look
(19:38):
at the wins. Let's pass the eye test. There is
a level of eye test that needs to be passed.
So yes, it is fair to be like, well, well,
what would this team look like? I think the more
fair way to frame that type of conversation is what
would the team look like without that player? And we've
seen both teams without Asia. She was out for a
little bit. And we've seen the Links without Fee and
(20:01):
the Links were still very much the Minnesota Links. The
Aces struggled a little bit without Asia. So again, it's
going to really come down to the numbers, which I
think that's first and foremost what do the numbers look like?
And then team's success and overall, like what that player
means to that team, like what would that what would
(20:22):
that team look like without them? And again that is
so relative to the person that you're asking. That is
a very like opinionated stance. And you know, it's like
that like everything, Yes, numbers and analytics and data is
all very important, but there is a level of bias
and opinions that come in when it comes to making
(20:42):
decisions and giving out postseason awards. So I'm still very
very very much intrigued about how this MVP race is
going to shake out because I can't wait to see
what that voting tally looks like. Who gets the most
first place votes, who gets a random fourth place vote,
which I hope doesn't happen because I was absolutely ridiculous.
(21:03):
I hope that person never gets to vote again. Whoever
you are, we will find you, mister or missus fourth
place voter. I promise we gonna get to the bottom
of that at some point. I hope that maybe in
like ten years, the person will like come out like
anonyestly on Twitter. No, Anonyestly, say what is just guys?
I was a fourth place voter, and I hope that
(21:24):
they at least explain why, because they could have a
very valid reason and if that's the case, which it
won't be, but in the rare case that they do
have a very valid reason why they gave Asia Wilson
a fourth place vote, I would like to hear it.
I love hearing people's different opinions. I love hearing why
people think the way they do. I love hearing it
(21:46):
all as long as it makes sense, make it make
sense to me. That's like my motto of life. Make
it make sense. Make it make sense to me, so
I can understand you, so we can understand each other.
And I think more people need to have that logic
when they're making decisions, voting for stuff whatever. Okay, so MVP.
(22:07):
One award that we have not talked about yet at
all actually is Defensive Player of the Year. As a
defensive Player of the Year winner back in college, back
in my back in my heyday, Duke, it is very
interesting to see what people value on the defensive side
of the floor. We talk about it all the time
on gills one. How hard it is for guards to
(22:30):
even sneak into the conversation for Defensive Player of the
Year because a lot of the metrics that are used
for rating a defender. Are front court player metrics, rebounds, blocks, gravity,
like at the rim, like we always talk about it
(22:51):
with like when Rudy Gobert was winning his Defensive Player
of the Years, Like how he all like he might
not always get a block shot, but like he's the
anchor of the defense. He alters shots. He makes people
not want to drive to the basket or get to
the rim because he's so big down there. So it's
like a level of fear that you think that this
(23:11):
player instills into the other team's offense, which for a
smaller frontcore player, that's not fair because we have no
gravity down there. We're small, we're not blocking shots, we're
not preventing people from getting into the lane because we're
not even down there. So last year and if he's
to call your one defensive player of the Year, which
(23:32):
definitely was an award that she deserved this year, I
think she has a case for winning it again. But
also her teammate Alana Smith definitely has a case for
Defensive Player of the Year. Fee leads a team of
rebounding followed by Jessica Shepherd. They both average seven and
Alta Smith averages five, So I saw a post that
(23:56):
was predicting postseason awards and they put Alana Smith, And
I think it is because she's such a versatile defender.
She's like sneakily athletic as hell, like she is super athletic,
like you would look at her, and not like she's
fast as shit. She could jump a little bit. She
(24:18):
got long arms, like she's her body is like she's
way taller though you think she is. Like she has
a great body for the position that she plays, especially
on that Links team. She leads the team in blocks
at one point nine, Fees right behind her at one
point six. The b Links are the top defensive team
(24:39):
in the league, so their defensive rating is number one.
I think that they could give Defensive Player of the
Year to Fee. Again, I think Smith has a great case.
You know who else has a great case, Wilson. She
(25:03):
could sweep MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. And
I don't think that's a problem because the numbers don't lie.
She's top two in rebounding and she's number one in blocks.
The only thing that is hindering her from being a
front runner of Defense Player of the Year is that
her team is not top five in defensive rating. But again,
(25:26):
defense is a team offense is a team thing. So again,
the moving of the goalpost continues in all aspects for everybody.
My dark horse for defensive Player of the Year was
my teammate Gabby Williams. But as I previously mentioned how
hard it is for guards to get into the conversation
(25:50):
for defensive player of the year. She is leading the
league in steals at two point three per game, and
that's something that all coaches, all players are so high
on about Gabby is her presence defensively. And there's so
many things that you do on defense that cannot be counted,
that cannot be put on a stat sheet. Can You
(26:11):
won't see it in a box score. And some of
the best defenders, if you ask any of the players
in the league, like you're not going to be able
to pinpoint something specific that they do stat wise that
makes them a good defender. It's they have good instincts.
They are in help side, They're always where they need
(26:32):
to be, they make timely plays, they will go rebound
if they absolutely need to. I'm talking about guards. I'm
talking about guards here. They could defend multiple positions. So
I think if our record was better, Gabby would definitely
be more in the conversation for defensive play of their year. Also, Ezzie,
my other teammate, who is second in the league in blocks,
(26:55):
She's probably one of the best posts of that I've
played with. Her feel for the game, the way she
can track the ball in block shots, her communication, her
understanding of the game has been really fun and enjoyable
to be around. I wish that we had more time
together on the court because I really do like playing
(27:18):
with her in the minutes that we have had together,
especially on the defensive side of the ball. So I
think I don't know if both of them can make
first team All Defense considering our record being what it is,
but I do think that Ezie and Gabby should both be,
you know, considered for first and second all defensive teams
(27:39):
in the WNBA. But defensive player of the Year, I
think that is going to be between Asia fe and
Alana Smith if the If the voters aren't getting voter fatigue,
I don't know why I feel like voter fatigue, Like
I just don't know why that exists, Like why people
get tired of people being great at what they do,
especially if it's something that they work really really hard at.
(28:02):
I just have never understood that if you think someone
is really great at something and they've work really hard
and you can tell that they've worked really hard, then
they should be rewarded for that, and they should be
applauded for that, and they should win all the awards
that they deserve. I don't understand why there's ever any
back and forth as to why great players shouldn't continue
to get all of their things. So MVP race is
(28:23):
going to be tight. I do think the Defensive Player
of the Year race is also going to be tight,
but front runner from what I've been reading up on
is Alana Smith for the Minnesota Lenk, So we shall
see how that shakes out. Sixth Player of the Year.
(28:45):
It's not as Hillman and nobody else. Unfortunately. I have
looked far and why to see anybody that could give
her a run for her money as far as sixth
Player of the Year, and I have not found a
single player in the league that has the impact that
she has off the bench as consistently as she has
(29:09):
done it all year, and now she's starting. And that's
the thing about a six player, like your six players
of the year, can probably start on almost any team
in the league. So her coming into the starting lineup
when Beigi was injured. In her sticking in the starting
(29:30):
lineup is a credit to her, her work ethic, her readiness,
but also a credit to that Atlanta Dream coach like
he you know, Bgi got healthy, but Nas was hooping
and he was like, you know what, I'm just gonna
keep her in the lineup because we're finding success in it.
So shout out to Nas. I think she's gonna win
six Player of the Year. She's averaging eight points, six rebounds,
(29:52):
two assists, shooting thirty percent from three. She's shooting almost
four threes a game. The last three years combined, she
didn't even take one to three a game, and now
she's taking four her game and making them at a
high level. And she's making tough shots like these aren't
just like wide open. Oh, we're just gonna let her
(30:15):
shoot shots like she's coming off of action shooting. She's
winning games. She's shooting go ahead buckets from the three
point line. Last night, actually she went five to seven
from three. So it's something that she has been worth.
Last night, her stat oh, let me look at her stats.
Last night, fifteen seventeen, six and six, and that that's
(30:37):
that's our that's your six, your six man. Put it
up numbers like that in the starting lineup. That's what
I keep telling y'all, Like, there's so much talent just
sitting around in our league right now. Like I really
do not think y'all really understand the level of talent
that is sitting on these benches. I'm gonna preach it
(30:59):
from the mountaintop because I am now one of those
players sitting on the bench, not playing, and I just
look around sometimes going back to the Dallas game that
I was watching last night, there was a moment in
that Dallas game in the first half that they had
three players on the floor, four players on the court.
(31:23):
Was it for no three players on the court that
were not on the roster? Like ten days ago, they
were at home and they found themselves on a WNBA roster,
playing the number one team in the league, getting meaningful
(31:45):
minutes and giving Minnesota a hard time for three quarters.
So when I say that there's talent not being utilized
all over this league, I'm not just saying that because
of my current situation. Even when I was playing, I
felt the same way I told y'all, like, I've never
(32:06):
surpassed thirty minutes per game ever, Like in the one
year I did that, I was right at thirty and
it was very early in the season, and that was
right before I got six. So I'm sure that would
have either went up or it would have leveled out
to my twenty twenty five minutes that I was usually playing.
So I will continue to say how many All Stars
(32:30):
are on benches, how many scoring threats, how many just
really amazing talented players are just sitting on the benches
right now. So now as Hillman right now is the
front runner for most I mean for sixth player of
the Year, the person that I would now give as
(32:53):
her competition is Juwel Lloyd, who is now coming off
the bench for the Aces. But she has started too
many games to even be in contention. I think she
started twenty five games, so if she had started less
than half, you just have to you have to play
(33:17):
more games coming off the bench than starting. So if
Jewel Lloyd was put into the six player role sooner,
then I don't know if they would have given it
to Jewel given her resume, But sixth player is nothing
to be frowned upon. So I think it actually would
(33:38):
have been a good thing if Jewel was eligible for
that award and she maybe won, even though I think
nas absolutely deserves it and she's gonna win it. I
think it would have been really interesting to see how
the conversation about the sixth player role would change if
Jewel Lloyd was able to win it this season. I
think it should have changed when Kelsey Plumb won it,
(33:59):
because that is an All Star who won six Player
of the Year. But even Deerica winning it back to
back years, she's now an All Star and killing it
in LA I hope the dialogue continues to change when
it comes to utilizing your bench players. When you have
a six player, that is a role, that is something
(34:21):
that you do. I'm not sure if I did a
good job of explaining like what the six man actually is,
so I'm like going to quickly just blow through that.
What I think is six player is you have a rotation.
Teams have a rotation. You know, you have the substitutions,
your patterns, but your sixth man is like your secret weapon.
It's like your X factor. And in certain situations that
(34:46):
is and for certain players that's like the best situation
and role that you can be in. You pretty much
get to go in the game and just do you.
So typically when you have a six man, a very
consistent six man, like when this person checks in the game,
the other team's like, ah shit, here go this person
(35:08):
coming in. You're scouted for, you have play calls, you
have offenses ran for you, and you typically can change
the whole flow of a game with your presence. That's
what a sixth player is. It's not the first person
that gets checked in, like, because that could be anybody,
depending on how the game is going. If someone gets
(35:28):
in foul trouble, like a different player could get subbed
in earlier, depending on who the player is that is
in foul trouble. When you have a designated six man,
when they come in, it's their time to shine. They
gonna get a play call almost immediately, and their presence
is going to be felt almost immediately. So I think
(35:51):
that the role of the six players should be uplifted
more and it should be utilized more. I just don't
think that enough team teams have that role carved out appropriately.
But I also think that's because there's been so much
movement in rosters and teams haven't been together long enough
(36:12):
to find that dynamic that works long term, because everybody
been on a new team every year for the last
like two three years. So not Selman's gonna win six
Man of the Year, six Women of the Year. Excuse me,
last two. We'll get into most Improved. I have already
(36:32):
said that Veronica Burton deserves most improved. It's not even close.
The only person that was giving her a run for
her money was her own teammate Kayla Thorn, who has
been out since All Star breaks. So since Kayla Thorn
has been injured, Veronica Burton has absolutely stepped up her
game even more. She she is averaging twelve points, four rebounds,
(36:54):
and six assists two turnovers, so her sister turnover ratio
is two point nine, which is super high, super good,
and she's playing twenty nine minutes per game. So I mean,
I don't think that there has to be much to
be said about why Veronica Burton deserves most improved. She
has the highest point and assist differential from last season
to this season. She's averaging nine more points per game
(37:17):
from last year, and she's averaging almost four more assists
per game. Earlier this season, she had a absolutely ridiculous
stat line twenty five thirteen assists, five rebound and four
block game. Did you guys hear that? Twenty five points,
(37:37):
thirteen assists, five rebounds, and four blocks. Yeah. And that
is a player that was sitting on a WNBA bench
for the last few years waiting for her opportunity, and
she was given an opportunity and she has thrived in it.
(37:58):
She has taken full advantage of this new Valkyries team,
which has surprised everybody with their success. They are in
sixth place right now, well could potentially be the first
expansion team to make it to the postseason. They're twenty
one and eighteen. They are our last game of the
season and if y'all have been following us or this show,
(38:21):
the Valkyris have had our number all season long, and
again in a must win scenario, we have to beat them.
We have New York first, then we finish up the
season with the Valkyries, both at home. But I will
use this to segue into the Coach of the Year
conversation and more about the Valkyries, So shout outs of
(38:43):
Ronica Burton. I think She's gonna win Most Improved. She
deserves it. She's been a star in Bajalla. That's where
the Valkyris play. If you guys didn't know, Balhalla most
turns up arena in the league. I'm sorry to everyone
that might think otherwise, but that was probably the most
fun environment I've ever played in the league since I've
(39:06):
been in the league. But anyway, Coach of the Year,
I was very very set on the Atlanta coach, but
once I dialed it back a little bit, I realized
that the Valkyries coach should actually win Coach of the Year.
What the coach at Atlanta has done with that team
(39:29):
is very good, very impressive. But he has multiple All Stars,
a Hall of Famer in BG. Not taking anything away
from his coaching the success that they've had, but that
is a very very good team that he has over there.
Not saying that the Valkyries are not a very very
good team, but they don't have anybody on their team
(39:51):
averaging over twelve points per game. I don't even know
the amount of roster spots that they've had lost. They've
lost Tiffany Hayes the injury, They've lost Cayla Thorne the injury.
They had Monique Billings out with injury. I think she
is now reactivated, So shout out to my girl Mo
for getting reactivated for the last push of the season.
(40:15):
But I don't know if I've given coach nat enough
credit for her role in the success of the Valkyries
as a team, as an organization. And if you guys
don't know much about coach Natalie, she was the Las
Vegas Aces assistant coach from twenty twenty two to twenty
twenty four. Helped them win those back to back championships
(40:36):
by being Becky's right hand. She was such an important
part to the success of that Vegas team winning those
back to back championships. So when she got the head
coaching job, everyone was like, duh. She absolutely deserves to
be a head coach in this league and she's proving
it every single day with what she's done with this
(40:59):
Vokyri's team. Like I said, no players are averaging over
twelve points per game, they have a top five defense.
They still shoot the most threes in the league, but
they now make the most. You know, their percentage is
not great, but they are making the most threes at
ten per game. They take thirty three per game, which
is outrageous, but I love it and their top three
(41:21):
and rebounding. So she has had this roster not only
buy into her philosophy, but buy into each other. And
I think that's what makes them so dangerous, and that's
what makes them so good, is that they all genuinely
believe in one another. They all genuinely want to see
(41:42):
each other succeed. There's no ego over there at all,
at least from the outside looking in and playing against them. Like, yeah,
there's whatever regular team drama and end game back and forth,
but like, outside of that, what that Valkyrie's team has
done this season was not expected at all. Nobody had
them in the postseason. I mean, there's a chance that
(42:05):
they fall out. There's a chance that a few teams
can fall out of the of the playoffs, if we're
being honest, But the fact that they're sitting in sixth
place right now at the end of the year was
something that no one was expecting. I don't want anybody
to lie and say that they thought that the expansion
team was going to be in the playoffs, because even
we said that they weren't going to be in the
playoffs and we were wrong and I was quickly proven
(42:29):
wrong the first time we went there and they punched
us in the mouth. So I want to give a
shout out to coach nat because I feel like she
should win Coach of the Year. And are there are
a few coaches that I think that could be in
the conversation for Coach of the year. Like there's been
some really really good basketball being played, there's some really
(42:49):
not so good basketball being played, But I think that
it's a good thing to focus on the good basketball,
the good hoop, the good stories, the good healthy competition
that's been going on in the league all season long.
I'm really excited for these last nine days. I want
to shout out to y'all for rocket with me for
the whole season. I can't believe this season is about
(43:11):
to end. I cannot believe that we did this show
every week. I really thought that it was going to
be a lot harder than it was to keep up
with this show while the season was going on, especially
when the season kind of took a turn for me
personally the way it did. But I will say, like
I see y'all's comments, I see y'all commenting on my tiktoks.
(43:33):
I see y'all commenting on the YouTube. I really appreciate
the listeners and the viewers of this show because this,
like literally has been the outlet that I have needed
to get through this season, and I'm just really grateful
to have it. I'm really grateful to have y'all. I'm
grateful that you guys show up for me every single week.
(43:56):
That's why I always want to show up for y'all
every single week and help y'all stay hip and in
tune to everything going on in women's basketball. So with
all of that being said, thank you guys for tuning
in to this week's episode. Next week we will be
back full strength. Mariah will be back. I hope y'all
enjoyed my second single Vibe out show. I love y'all.
(44:22):
Wish us luck good vibes. We need these last two
wins to keep our playoff hopes alive. Hopefully next week
I will be telling y'all how we are preparing for
the playoffs. So fingers across to that. Love y'all. Again.
Appreciate y'all, and this has been another episode of Full
Circle Podcasts. We will see y'all next week. Bye.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Thanks for listening to Full Circle. We'll be back next
week with more basketball for the Girls by the girls.
We want to hear from you. Leave us a review
on Apple Podcasts, and tell us what you want us
to talk about. Full Circle is hosted by Lexi Brown
and Mariah Rose. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz. Our
supervis producer is Grace Fused. Our producer is Zoe dan
klab Listen to Full Circle on America's number one podcast network,
(45:07):
iHeart open your free iHeart app and search full Circle
with Lexi Brown and Mariah Rose and start listening
Full Circle is an iheartwoman's sports production and partnership with
Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, everybody, Welcome back to another episode of the Full
Circle Podcast. I am Lexi Brown. I am doing another
solo episode today, guys. Surprise. Mariah had some scheduling conflicts
today and honestly, I just wanted to get this episode
out for you guys, so I decided to give another
(00:34):
solo vibe check a try. So this episode is not
gonna be very long. I know we say that all
the time, but I actually mean that. This is funny.
You know. I'm just like talking to myself in the
camera right now. But there's a lot to get into.
We are in the last nine days of the WNBA season.
If you can even believe that the month of August
(00:57):
for me personally, flew by didn't really play a lot.
I'm still not to a thousand points, guys. I'm still
four points away. We have two regular season games left,
and I do not know if that four points is
gonna happen for me, But I'm keeping hope alive. I'm
(01:18):
excited about it. The fact that I'm even this close
to a thousand points in my career is an accomplishment
within itself. There's a lot of players that I have
played in this league, a lot of great players that
didn't get to a thousand points. So you know, that's
something that I'm gonna be proud of and be excited about.
Whether anybody else thinks it's important or impressive or whatever
(01:41):
or not. I think a thousand points or a thousand
if anything, is impressive and something that I should be
proud of. So we're still on the hunt for the
one thousandth point. We're close, but let's get into this
playoff push. We are, like I said, nine days away
from the end of the regular season, so today, if
(02:02):
playoffs started, these will be the teams in the playoffs.
It would be the Links, the Aces, the Dream, the Mercury,
the Liberty, the Valkyries, the Fever, and the Storm. So
we officially have four teams eliminated from playoff contention, The Mystics,
the Sun, the Sky, and the Wings. So they are done.
(02:24):
There's nothing that they can do but mess up other
people's playoffs hopes, which can be kind of fun if
you frame it that way. I watched Dallas play yesterday
before our game. You know, gave Minnesota a game for
about three three quarters and you know, Minnesota did their
Minnesota thing and pulled away in one I think by
(02:45):
twenty twenty points. Kyle McBride did not play in that game,
and that just shows the depth that we continue to
see in the Minnesota Links that they're able to, you know,
win games that they're supposed to win large margin without
one of their stars, one of their all stars playing.
So the Links won their game. Yesterday. We had a
(03:06):
game against the Sparks that was a must win for us,
and I say it almost every episode. Every game that
we're about to play is like a must win, and
we were not able to get it done. We lost
ninety one to eighty five to the Sparks last night.
We had a seventeen point lead and we were not
able to get that win last night at home, which
(03:29):
for us, that was a game that we needed to
ensure that we would be in the postseason. So, like
I said, we have two games left. A lot of
teams have four or five games left, so we're still
in control of our destiny. But a little bit less
now with that loss that we had last night, and
then the Dream took care of the Sun. Like I said,
(03:51):
the Sun our team that can come in and mess
up some seeding. So the Sun, like those teams are
gonna get teams best because yes, they don't have anything
to play for, but there's a lot of seating that's
still in flux right now. And I will tell you
what teams can still move up and down in the playoffs.
(04:14):
So you have the Links that are just very comfortable
at number one, at thirty two and eight, they're gonna
they have secured home court for the first rounds and
they are comfy, cozy in first place. Now where it
gets a little sticky. So we got two parts of
the playoffs that are sticky. So the first part of
(04:34):
the playoffs right now that are sticky is the second
place through fifth place. So you have two teams that
are twenty six and fourteen, one team that is twenty
five and fourteen, and another team that is twenty four
and sixteen. And these teams still have a few more
games to play left in their regular season. The second
(04:57):
part that's a little sticky is the six through eight seed,
where we have twenty one in eighteen twenty one and
nineteen twenty two and twenty Then the Sparks, you know,
is the team that is going to give people some
(05:18):
issues like they gave us last night. They have a
very difficult schedule ahead of them to continue their playoff hopes.
They have the dream twice, they have the Wings, they
have Phoenix, and then they have the Aces. So by
no means do they have a cake walk to the playoffs.
But it is still very, very possible for them to
make the postseason, which selfishly I'm like they but overall,
(05:45):
like I've said earlier in the year, when the Sparks
are on the postseason, when the Sparks are playing good basketball,
that's a good thing for the WNBA. So another thing
that I feel like is going to be really important
for the playoffs is what teams can stay healthy. This
entire year, we have been dealing with stars getting injured,
(06:07):
super important role players getting injured, and it devastatingly affecting
some of the teams. The team that I'm looking at
in particular, as far as health is a liberty, they
are currently sitting in fifth place in the WNBA standings.
This is their tithe This is like their WNBA title
defense year, and I feel like that is not being
(06:29):
said enough about this Liberty team, Like they're literally the
defending champions, and they're not looking very championship contending at
the moment from what our standards are of what the
Liberty should look like. But you're going to have to
credit that to their injuries that they've been dealing with
all season long. You know, they went a significant amount
(06:49):
of time without jj, significant amount of time without Stewie.
They missed Tosh Cloud, I think she broke her nose,
Isabelle Harrison was out the concussion, Kennedy Burke was out
for a significant amount of time. Like, they have not
been able to put a full healthy team together for
most of this season, So we really don't even know
(07:10):
what the Liberty look like. Sabrina's missed some games, you know.
I feel like they are still one of the favorites
to win a WNBA title because they have such a
talented roster and they have better in experience, they have
championship experience, and then they have the confidence from last
season being the WNBA champs. So I feel like even
(07:30):
though they're in fifth place right now, they still can
definitely secure home court for the first round. But if
they don't, I mean, that's a hard matchup for anybody
in the first round. Is a liberty. Honestly, all of
these teams is a hard matchup for the first round.
I feel like this playoffs is going to be so exciting,
It's going to be so much fun. But home court,
(07:52):
I think is most important, the most important thing. I've
never seen a postseason that home court is so important
in the last few seasons since we left the single
elimination format. If y'all didn't know, when I first got
into the league, the playoffs were single elimination in the
first round, like college, like March madness. So my first
(08:17):
two seasons in the WNBA, I was eliminated in a
single elimination game in the first round. First year, my
rookie year I was in Connecticut, we got upset at
home by Phoenix, I want to say. And then my
second year in Minnesota, we lost in Seattle first round,
(08:38):
and that was hard, Like that's not you don't work
your whole season to get eliminated in the first in
one game. So I'm glad that that no longer exists
in the WNBA because postseason basketball is fun, and teams
worked too hard all year long with these long seasons
to get bounced in one game. So I'm so happy
(08:58):
that they took that single elimination game off. Like I said,
a lot of the teams are very similar in record,
and if you guys do not know how tiebreakers work,
I didn't know that there was a whole process with
multiple tiers of how to do tiebreakers. So in the
event that a team finishes with a similar record, this
(09:20):
is how they decide who advances. So first you go
head to head matchups, and if that doesn't settle anything,
then they go to the team's records versus teams that
are above five hundred, so team their record against the
better teams in the league, which for us is every
(09:40):
team that would make the playoffs. If that doesn't work,
you go to point differential head to head of the
two teams that are tied. If that doesn't work, you
go to overall point differential I guess from all of
the games in the season, and then finally, if that
doesn't work, then you coin toss it. So that's worst
(10:03):
case last resort. I would hate to make the playoffs
or miss the playoffs. From a coin flip. That would
be horrible, horrifying that my whole season hangs in the
balance of a coin flip that we probably don't even
get to see. What if they don't, is this even
a real coin flip? Do they use a computer? Is
(10:23):
it like randomized?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Like?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I don't know, but I don't think we've ever gotten
to that point before. But there could be a lot
of tiebreakers at the end of the season, so I'm
very very interested to see how that shakes out. Our
team is absolutely included in one of those situation scenarios
where we could be in a tiebreak. And if we're
(10:45):
talking realistically, we talk in numbers. Y'all know I'm a
numbers girl. The odds are not in our favor when
it comes to tiebreakers with the teams that I am
looking at that we could potentially be tied up with,
And that's really disheartening. It's it's sad when you, like
(11:06):
I said, work your entire season to get so close
to the playoffs and then you have to wait and
see what other teams do, wait and hope that other
teams lose instead of just winning games being in control
of your own destiny. But that's what it's like sometimes
(11:27):
and that's you know, the beauty and you know the
heartbreak of sports, and that's why everyone loves sports. The
last thing that I will say about playoffs that I'm
looking at is if one if the Fever make the postseason,
which right now they are in seventh place at twenty
one and nineteen, and if they do make the playoffs,
(11:47):
will Caitlyn Clark return from her injury to play in
the WNBA playoffs? I think one for storylines, narratives, whatever,
that would be great for the league, it would be
great for the Fever, it would be great for her.
She just unveiled her new logo with Nike. We actually
(12:08):
we played in Indiana. They if that was the day
that it got like unveiled. So the whole arena had
T shirts with the logo all over. The whole arena
filled with Kaitlyn Clark logos, which actually was really cool.
I've never seen anything like that before, So I thought
that was a really cool gesture that Nike did that
the Fever did for her, even though she's not playing.
(12:30):
I think it's dope that she got a logo. I
think it's dope that she's dropping a signature shoe line.
Whatever she's doing with Nike, I think it's also fire.
They proceeded to bailt to ask us as well in
that game, but we don't got to talk about that.
But I had already said in a previous episode that
we struggle with the Fever because of how fast they play,
(12:53):
and that's basically exactly what happened. Like their their pace
was insane. Honestly, let me let me let me back
up real quick and talk about the Fever real quick,
because y'all know this is the Kelsey Mitchell standpod, of course,
but what the Fever have been able to do without
(13:18):
their all star point guard, with all of the season
ending injuries, with all of the new players coming in
and out of the roster, and for them to be
able to still be in playoff contention, it's very impressive.
And I do will continue to give Kelsey Mitchell her
flowers every chance I can, because she deserves them. She
(13:41):
just broke another thing that happened while we were there.
She broke the franchise record for most points in this
season and they still have a few more games left.
She's the first player this season to get to one
hundred and may to three pointers, which is great. I
think I just looked. I think Kaylea McBride is right
behind her at ninety nine or something like that. So
we'll have two players at least break the threshold of
(14:05):
one hundred and may threes, which I think is awesome.
I think that just is just showing what direction the
WNBA is going in as far as style of play,
a lot of outside shooting. There is still a lot
of paint production. We got sixty points put on our
head last night in the paint, so there's very much
paint points being scored still, But there also is three
pointers being shot at a high clip and at a
(14:27):
high level. So I think that the trend of women's
basketball is mirroring the NBA, not as dramatic. I don't
think we'll ever get to that style of play completely
as far as the outside shooting, but we're heading in
that direction. I think that Indiana has found a lineup
(14:52):
that has worked started working for them. I think the
season is kind of taking a toll on them physically
a mentally. It's a lot. It's a long game, it's
a lot of minutes being played. But the addition of
aerial powers and Odyssey Sims Like, those were two really
really good pickups for them. Aerial Powers has been a
(15:13):
staple in this league for years and years, and she's
left her mark and she has the respect of her peers,
So that was a great pick up for her. A
lot of people were really happy when they saw that
she signed there. Now she's getting significant minutes, making an impact, scoring,
rebounding the ball, being a playmaker. I think that she
was a great sign for them, and then Odyssey as well, Like,
that's an All Star, that's a national champ. That's what
(15:40):
else has Odyssey done? Like, I don't know, I just
don't feel like this new wave of fandom even realizes
what type of player Odyssey Simms is. So even for
her getting her opportunity in Indiana after being in LA
getting waves unexpectedly, her coming back and making an impact,
leaving her mark and helping a team get to the
(16:00):
postseason hopefully, I think that's, you know, a really good
look for Odyssey. She signed back to Athletes Unlimited. You know,
she's been playing with US for the last few seasons,
so seeing her get her spark back, her confidence back,
and bringing that to the WNBA has been really, really amazing.
To see. So Indiana Fever is a team that I'm
looking at for playoffs, and the Valkyries, And we'll get
(16:21):
into the Valkyries a little bit later, because I know
I was really high on coach s Mesco. I think
that's how you say his name from the dream being
coach of the Year, not even thinking consider I was
so hyper focused on how good like the Valkyri's team
has been, how good their organization has been, how good
their fans have been. Like Coach nat like didn't even
(16:45):
cross my mind, like she's the reason for all of that.
So we'll get into that conversation a little bit later
when it comes to Coach of the Year, because I
absolutely think that Coach Natalie can win and deserves to
win Coach of the Year. Before we get into that,
(17:08):
we have some other postseason things to get into. I
think the first one obviously we're gonna get into is MVP,
And last week we said it was a three player race.
Is it still a three player race? We'll say yes,
(17:28):
because I want the voters to actually have to make
a real decision and use their basketball brains and not
let their bias ruin another MVP vote. So we'll still
say it's a three player race between Asia Wilson, the
FISA Collier, and Alyssa Thomas. But my two front runners
(17:50):
right now are Asia and Fee, and Asia is currently
averaging twenty four and ten, Fee averaging twenty four and eight.
Asia has powered the A to the second seed, but
they are also tied with Atlanta at twenty six and fourteen,
and Phoenix is right behind them at twenty five and fourteen,
(18:11):
and New York is right behind them at twenty four
and sixteen. So, like I discussed earlier, there is a
lot of change that still can happen in these playoff seedings.
I don't I don't have a favorite. I really don't.
I think it's going to come down to preference. I
(18:31):
think it's going to come down to who values team
success versus what will this team look like without this player.
I saw a clip from my girl Jordan on her
page and she was like, if you put Asia on
the links, what would the links look like? And if
(18:53):
you put feet on the aces, what would the aces
look like? And I don't think that's a necessarily fair
thing to use as a comparison because these teams are
literally built around Fee, built around Asia, so you're going
to bring players in that are suitable for the way
that they play basketball. So, although it is a fun
(19:15):
way to get people to have meaningful discourse about the
MVP race, I don't necessarily like that approach to who's
more valuable to what team because they're not on those teams.
Those are not the teams that they're on. So like,
let's not use that as a way to determine who's
gonna win MVP. Let's look at the numbers, let's look
(19:38):
at the wins. Let's pass the eye test. There is
a level of eye test that needs to be passed.
So yes, it is fair to be like, well, well,
what would this team look like? I think the more
fair way to frame that type of conversation is what
would the team look like without that player? And we've
seen both teams without Asia. She was out for a
little bit. And we've seen the Links without Fee and
(20:01):
the Links were still very much the Minnesota Links. The
Aces struggled a little bit without Asia. So again, it's
going to really come down to the numbers, which I
think that's first and foremost what do the numbers look like?
And then team's success and overall, like what that player
means to that team, like what would that what would
(20:22):
that team look like without them? And again that is
so relative to the person that you're asking. That is
a very like opinionated stance. And you know, it's like
that like everything, Yes, numbers and analytics and data is
all very important, but there is a level of bias
and opinions that come in when it comes to making
(20:42):
decisions and giving out postseason awards. So I'm still very
very very much intrigued about how this MVP race is
going to shake out because I can't wait to see
what that voting tally looks like. Who gets the most
first place votes, who gets a random fourth place vote,
which I hope doesn't happen because I was absolutely ridiculous.
(21:03):
I hope that person never gets to vote again. Whoever
you are, we will find you, mister or missus fourth
place voter. I promise we gonna get to the bottom
of that at some point. I hope that maybe in
like ten years, the person will like come out like
anonyestly on Twitter. No, Anonyestly, say what is just guys?
I was a fourth place voter, and I hope that
(21:24):
they at least explain why, because they could have a
very valid reason and if that's the case, which it
won't be, but in the rare case that they do
have a very valid reason why they gave Asia Wilson
a fourth place vote, I would like to hear it.
I love hearing people's different opinions. I love hearing why
people think the way they do. I love hearing it
(21:46):
all as long as it makes sense, make it make
sense to me. That's like my motto of life. Make
it make sense. Make it make sense to me, so
I can understand you, so we can understand each other.
And I think more people need to have that logic
when they're making decisions, voting for stuff whatever. Okay, so MVP.
(22:07):
One award that we have not talked about yet at
all actually is Defensive Player of the Year. As a
defensive Player of the Year winner back in college, back
in my back in my heyday, Duke, it is very
interesting to see what people value on the defensive side
of the floor. We talk about it all the time
on gills one. How hard it is for guards to
(22:30):
even sneak into the conversation for Defensive Player of the
Year because a lot of the metrics that are used
for rating a defender. Are front court player metrics, rebounds, blocks, gravity,
like at the rim, like we always talk about it
(22:51):
with like when Rudy Gobert was winning his Defensive Player
of the Years, Like how he all like he might
not always get a block shot, but like he's the
anchor of the defense. He alters shots. He makes people
not want to drive to the basket or get to
the rim because he's so big down there. So it's
like a level of fear that you think that this
(23:11):
player instills into the other team's offense, which for a
smaller frontcore player, that's not fair because we have no
gravity down there. We're small, we're not blocking shots, we're
not preventing people from getting into the lane because we're
not even down there. So last year and if he's
to call your one defensive player of the Year, which
(23:32):
definitely was an award that she deserved this year, I
think she has a case for winning it again. But
also her teammate Alana Smith definitely has a case for
Defensive Player of the Year. Fee leads a team of
rebounding followed by Jessica Shepherd. They both average seven and
Alta Smith averages five, So I saw a post that
(23:56):
was predicting postseason awards and they put Alana Smith, And
I think it is because she's such a versatile defender.
She's like sneakily athletic as hell, like she is super athletic,
like you would look at her, and not like she's
fast as shit. She could jump a little bit. She
(24:18):
got long arms, like she's her body is like she's
way taller though you think she is. Like she has
a great body for the position that she plays, especially
on that Links team. She leads the team in blocks
at one point nine, Fees right behind her at one
point six. The b Links are the top defensive team
(24:39):
in the league, so their defensive rating is number one.
I think that they could give Defensive Player of the
Year to Fee. Again, I think Smith has a great case.
You know who else has a great case, Wilson. She
(25:03):
could sweep MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. And
I don't think that's a problem because the numbers don't lie.
She's top two in rebounding and she's number one in blocks.
The only thing that is hindering her from being a
front runner of Defense Player of the Year is that
her team is not top five in defensive rating. But again,
(25:26):
defense is a team offense is a team thing. So again,
the moving of the goalpost continues in all aspects for everybody.
My dark horse for defensive Player of the Year was
my teammate Gabby Williams. But as I previously mentioned how
hard it is for guards to get into the conversation
(25:50):
for defensive player of the year. She is leading the
league in steals at two point three per game, and
that's something that all coaches, all players are so high
on about Gabby is her presence defensively. And there's so
many things that you do on defense that cannot be counted,
that cannot be put on a stat sheet. Can You
(26:11):
won't see it in a box score. And some of
the best defenders, if you ask any of the players
in the league, like you're not going to be able
to pinpoint something specific that they do stat wise that
makes them a good defender. It's they have good instincts.
They are in help side, They're always where they need
(26:32):
to be, they make timely plays, they will go rebound
if they absolutely need to. I'm talking about guards. I'm
talking about guards here. They could defend multiple positions. So
I think if our record was better, Gabby would definitely
be more in the conversation for defensive play of their year. Also, Ezzie,
my other teammate, who is second in the league in blocks,
(26:55):
She's probably one of the best posts of that I've
played with. Her feel for the game, the way she
can track the ball in block shots, her communication, her
understanding of the game has been really fun and enjoyable
to be around. I wish that we had more time
together on the court because I really do like playing
(27:18):
with her in the minutes that we have had together,
especially on the defensive side of the ball. So I
think I don't know if both of them can make
first team All Defense considering our record being what it is,
but I do think that Ezie and Gabby should both be,
you know, considered for first and second all defensive teams
(27:39):
in the WNBA. But defensive player of the Year, I
think that is going to be between Asia fe and
Alana Smith if the If the voters aren't getting voter fatigue,
I don't know why I feel like voter fatigue, Like
I just don't know why that exists, Like why people
get tired of people being great at what they do,
especially if it's something that they work really really hard at.
(28:02):
I just have never understood that if you think someone
is really great at something and they've work really hard
and you can tell that they've worked really hard, then
they should be rewarded for that, and they should be
applauded for that, and they should win all the awards
that they deserve. I don't understand why there's ever any
back and forth as to why great players shouldn't continue
to get all of their things. So MVP race is
(28:23):
going to be tight. I do think the Defensive Player
of the Year race is also going to be tight,
but front runner from what I've been reading up on
is Alana Smith for the Minnesota Lenk, So we shall
see how that shakes out. Sixth Player of the Year.
(28:45):
It's not as Hillman and nobody else. Unfortunately. I have
looked far and why to see anybody that could give
her a run for her money as far as sixth
Player of the Year, and I have not found a
single player in the league that has the impact that
she has off the bench as consistently as she has
(29:09):
done it all year, and now she's starting. And that's
the thing about a six player, like your six players
of the year, can probably start on almost any team
in the league. So her coming into the starting lineup
when Beigi was injured. In her sticking in the starting
(29:30):
lineup is a credit to her, her work ethic, her readiness,
but also a credit to that Atlanta Dream coach like
he you know, Bgi got healthy, but Nas was hooping
and he was like, you know what, I'm just gonna
keep her in the lineup because we're finding success in it.
So shout out to Nas. I think she's gonna win
six Player of the Year. She's averaging eight points, six rebounds,
(29:52):
two assists, shooting thirty percent from three. She's shooting almost
four threes a game. The last three years combined, she
didn't even take one to three a game, and now
she's taking four her game and making them at a
high level. And she's making tough shots like these aren't
just like wide open. Oh, we're just gonna let her
(30:15):
shoot shots like she's coming off of action shooting. She's
winning games. She's shooting go ahead buckets from the three
point line. Last night, actually she went five to seven
from three. So it's something that she has been worth.
Last night, her stat oh, let me look at her stats.
Last night, fifteen seventeen, six and six, and that that's
(30:37):
that's our that's your six, your six man. Put it
up numbers like that in the starting lineup. That's what
I keep telling y'all, Like, there's so much talent just
sitting around in our league right now. Like I really
do not think y'all really understand the level of talent
that is sitting on these benches. I'm gonna preach it
(30:59):
from the mountaintop because I am now one of those
players sitting on the bench, not playing, and I just
look around sometimes going back to the Dallas game that
I was watching last night, there was a moment in
that Dallas game in the first half that they had
three players on the floor, four players on the court.
(31:23):
Was it for no three players on the court that
were not on the roster? Like ten days ago, they
were at home and they found themselves on a WNBA roster,
playing the number one team in the league, getting meaningful
(31:45):
minutes and giving Minnesota a hard time for three quarters.
So when I say that there's talent not being utilized
all over this league, I'm not just saying that because
of my current situation. Even when I was playing, I
felt the same way I told y'all, like, I've never
(32:06):
surpassed thirty minutes per game ever, Like in the one
year I did that, I was right at thirty and
it was very early in the season, and that was
right before I got six. So I'm sure that would
have either went up or it would have leveled out
to my twenty twenty five minutes that I was usually playing.
So I will continue to say how many All Stars
(32:30):
are on benches, how many scoring threats, how many just
really amazing talented players are just sitting on the benches
right now. So now as Hillman right now is the
front runner for most I mean for sixth player of
the Year, the person that I would now give as
(32:53):
her competition is Juwel Lloyd, who is now coming off
the bench for the Aces. But she has started too
many games to even be in contention. I think she
started twenty five games, so if she had started less
than half, you just have to you have to play
(33:17):
more games coming off the bench than starting. So if
Jewel Lloyd was put into the six player role sooner,
then I don't know if they would have given it
to Jewel given her resume, But sixth player is nothing
to be frowned upon. So I think it actually would
(33:38):
have been a good thing if Jewel was eligible for
that award and she maybe won, even though I think
nas absolutely deserves it and she's gonna win it. I
think it would have been really interesting to see how
the conversation about the sixth player role would change if
Jewel Lloyd was able to win it this season. I
think it should have changed when Kelsey Plumb won it,
(33:59):
because that is an All Star who won six Player
of the Year. But even Deerica winning it back to
back years, she's now an All Star and killing it
in LA I hope the dialogue continues to change when
it comes to utilizing your bench players. When you have
a six player, that is a role, that is something
(34:21):
that you do. I'm not sure if I did a
good job of explaining like what the six man actually is,
so I'm like going to quickly just blow through that.
What I think is six player is you have a rotation.
Teams have a rotation. You know, you have the substitutions,
your patterns, but your sixth man is like your secret weapon.
It's like your X factor. And in certain situations that
(34:46):
is and for certain players that's like the best situation
and role that you can be in. You pretty much
get to go in the game and just do you.
So typically when you have a six man, a very
consistent six man, like when this person checks in the game,
the other team's like, ah shit, here go this person
(35:08):
coming in. You're scouted for, you have play calls, you
have offenses ran for you, and you typically can change
the whole flow of a game with your presence. That's
what a sixth player is. It's not the first person
that gets checked in, like, because that could be anybody,
depending on how the game is going. If someone gets
(35:28):
in foul trouble, like a different player could get subbed
in earlier, depending on who the player is that is
in foul trouble. When you have a designated six man,
when they come in, it's their time to shine. They
gonna get a play call almost immediately, and their presence
is going to be felt almost immediately. So I think
(35:51):
that the role of the six players should be uplifted
more and it should be utilized more. I just don't
think that enough team teams have that role carved out appropriately.
But I also think that's because there's been so much
movement in rosters and teams haven't been together long enough
(36:12):
to find that dynamic that works long term, because everybody
been on a new team every year for the last
like two three years. So not Selman's gonna win six
Man of the Year, six Women of the Year. Excuse me,
last two. We'll get into most Improved. I have already
(36:32):
said that Veronica Burton deserves most improved. It's not even close.
The only person that was giving her a run for
her money was her own teammate Kayla Thorn, who has
been out since All Star breaks. So since Kayla Thorn
has been injured, Veronica Burton has absolutely stepped up her
game even more. She she is averaging twelve points, four rebounds,
(36:54):
and six assists two turnovers, so her sister turnover ratio
is two point nine, which is super high, super good,
and she's playing twenty nine minutes per game. So I mean,
I don't think that there has to be much to
be said about why Veronica Burton deserves most improved. She
has the highest point and assist differential from last season
to this season. She's averaging nine more points per game
(37:17):
from last year, and she's averaging almost four more assists
per game. Earlier this season, she had a absolutely ridiculous
stat line twenty five thirteen assists, five rebound and four
block game. Did you guys hear that? Twenty five points,
(37:37):
thirteen assists, five rebounds, and four blocks. Yeah. And that
is a player that was sitting on a WNBA bench
for the last few years waiting for her opportunity, and
she was given an opportunity and she has thrived in it.
(37:58):
She has taken full advantage of this new Valkyries team,
which has surprised everybody with their success. They are in
sixth place right now, well could potentially be the first
expansion team to make it to the postseason. They're twenty
one and eighteen. They are our last game of the
season and if y'all have been following us or this show,
(38:21):
the Valkyris have had our number all season long, and
again in a must win scenario, we have to beat them.
We have New York first, then we finish up the
season with the Valkyries, both at home. But I will
use this to segue into the Coach of the Year
conversation and more about the Valkyries, So shout outs of
(38:43):
Ronica Burton. I think She's gonna win Most Improved. She
deserves it. She's been a star in Bajalla. That's where
the Valkyris play. If you guys didn't know, Balhalla most
turns up arena in the league. I'm sorry to everyone
that might think otherwise, but that was probably the most
fun environment I've ever played in the league since I've
(39:06):
been in the league. But anyway, Coach of the Year,
I was very very set on the Atlanta coach, but
once I dialed it back a little bit, I realized
that the Valkyries coach should actually win Coach of the Year.
What the coach at Atlanta has done with that team
(39:29):
is very good, very impressive. But he has multiple All Stars,
a Hall of Famer in BG. Not taking anything away
from his coaching the success that they've had, but that
is a very very good team that he has over there.
Not saying that the Valkyries are not a very very
good team, but they don't have anybody on their team
(39:51):
averaging over twelve points per game. I don't even know
the amount of roster spots that they've had lost. They've
lost Tiffany Hayes the injury, They've lost Cayla Thorne the injury.
They had Monique Billings out with injury. I think she
is now reactivated, So shout out to my girl Mo
for getting reactivated for the last push of the season.
(40:15):
But I don't know if I've given coach nat enough
credit for her role in the success of the Valkyries
as a team, as an organization. And if you guys
don't know much about coach Natalie, she was the Las
Vegas Aces assistant coach from twenty twenty two to twenty
twenty four. Helped them win those back to back championships
(40:36):
by being Becky's right hand. She was such an important
part to the success of that Vegas team winning those
back to back championships. So when she got the head
coaching job, everyone was like, duh. She absolutely deserves to
be a head coach in this league and she's proving
it every single day with what she's done with this
(40:59):
Vokyri's team. Like I said, no players are averaging over
twelve points per game, they have a top five defense.
They still shoot the most threes in the league, but
they now make the most. You know, their percentage is
not great, but they are making the most threes at
ten per game. They take thirty three per game, which
is outrageous, but I love it and their top three
(41:21):
and rebounding. So she has had this roster not only
buy into her philosophy, but buy into each other. And
I think that's what makes them so dangerous, and that's
what makes them so good, is that they all genuinely
believe in one another. They all genuinely want to see
(41:42):
each other succeed. There's no ego over there at all,
at least from the outside looking in and playing against them. Like, yeah,
there's whatever regular team drama and end game back and forth,
but like, outside of that, what that Valkyrie's team has
done this season was not expected at all. Nobody had
them in the postseason. I mean, there's a chance that
(42:05):
they fall out. There's a chance that a few teams
can fall out of the of the playoffs, if we're
being honest, But the fact that they're sitting in sixth
place right now at the end of the year was
something that no one was expecting. I don't want anybody
to lie and say that they thought that the expansion
team was going to be in the playoffs, because even
we said that they weren't going to be in the
playoffs and we were wrong and I was quickly proven
(42:29):
wrong the first time we went there and they punched
us in the mouth. So I want to give a
shout out to coach nat because I feel like she
should win Coach of the Year. And are there are
a few coaches that I think that could be in
the conversation for Coach of the year. Like there's been
some really really good basketball being played, there's some really
(42:49):
not so good basketball being played, But I think that
it's a good thing to focus on the good basketball,
the good hoop, the good stories, the good healthy competition
that's been going on in the league all season long.
I'm really excited for these last nine days. I want
to shout out to y'all for rocket with me for
the whole season. I can't believe this season is about
(43:11):
to end. I cannot believe that we did this show
every week. I really thought that it was going to
be a lot harder than it was to keep up
with this show while the season was going on, especially
when the season kind of took a turn for me
personally the way it did. But I will say, like
I see y'all's comments, I see y'all commenting on my tiktoks.
(43:33):
I see y'all commenting on the YouTube. I really appreciate
the listeners and the viewers of this show because this,
like literally has been the outlet that I have needed
to get through this season, and I'm just really grateful
to have it. I'm really grateful to have y'all. I'm
grateful that you guys show up for me every single week.
(43:56):
That's why I always want to show up for y'all
every single week and help y'all stay hip and in
tune to everything going on in women's basketball. So with
all of that being said, thank you guys for tuning
in to this week's episode. Next week we will be
back full strength. Mariah will be back. I hope y'all
enjoyed my second single Vibe out show. I love y'all.
(44:22):
Wish us luck good vibes. We need these last two
wins to keep our playoff hopes alive. Hopefully next week
I will be telling y'all how we are preparing for
the playoffs. So fingers across to that. Love y'all. Again.
Appreciate y'all, and this has been another episode of Full
Circle Podcasts. We will see y'all next week. Bye.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Thanks for listening to Full Circle. We'll be back next
week with more basketball for the Girls by the girls.
We want to hear from you. Leave us a review
on Apple Podcasts, and tell us what you want us
to talk about. Full Circle is hosted by Lexi Brown
and Mariah Rose. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz. Our
supervis producer is Grace Fused. Our producer is Zoe dan
klab Listen to Full Circle on America's number one podcast network,
(45:07):
iHeart open your free iHeart app and search full Circle
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Hosts And Creators
Lexie Brown
Mariah Rose
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