October 10, 2025 • 34 mins
Analyst, host and reporter Terrika Foster-Brasby joins Sarah to talk about the chances the Aces finish off a WNBA Finals sweep tonight, Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts’ failure to make adjustments, and the dramatic WNBA offseason that awaits. Plus, the tennis elites are thriving in the Wuhan Open, the LPGA continues to make history, and Angel Reese lives up to her name.
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Listen to Terrika’s podcast “Levels to This” – which she co-hosts with Sheryl Swoopes – here
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Listen to Sarah’s appearance on Katie Nolan’s podcast “Casuals” here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to good Game of Sarah Spain, where we're rewatching
Asia Wilson's game winner over.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And over again.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Did you see the elevation, the torque of her body
twisting the square up to the rim chef's kiss. It's Friday,
October tenth, Happy Friday Slices. On today's show, we'll be
hanging out with analyst, host and reporter Treika Foster Brasby.
We chatted about the scene in Phoenix for Game three
Wednesday night, and the chances that the Aces will close
it out tonight with a sweep, and the dramatic offseason
(00:29):
that awaits.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
The w as well.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Plus the tennis elites are thriving in the Wuhan Open,
the LPGA continues to make history, and Angel Rehes lives
up to her name. It's all coming up right after
this Welcome Back Slices. Here's what you need to know today,
(00:56):
starting with hoops. Game four of the WNBA Finals between
the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury is tonight
and we could see a sweep. Vegas leads the league's
first ever best of seven series three games to none
and could secure the third championship in franchise. History this
evening on the road at Pachech's Arena. Sorry mortgage matchup center,
(01:20):
new name mid Playoffs, No big deal. We're trying to
stay caught up, just like y'all are now. If you
missed Game three Wednesday night, what looked like a blowout
for a while turned into a nail bier. Phoenix overcame
a seventeen point deficit heading into the fourth quarter to
tie the game at eighty eight with a minute left
in regulation.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Then, with two point.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Two seconds visible on the clock, number twenty two Aces,
superstar Asia Wilson hit a tough turnaround jump shot over
Alyssa Thomas and i Wanna Bonner's outstretched arms. The ball
switched through the hoop with just a fraction of a
second left, and Vegas secured the ninety to eighty eight
dub Wilson finished with thirty four points points and fourteen
rebounds to lead the Aces, followed by Jackie Young's twenty
(02:03):
one points and nine assists. It was Wilson's ninth career
thirty point playoff game, passing Brianna Stewart and Diana Trossi
for the most all time. Alyssa Thomas had another near
triple double for the Mercury with fourteen points, twelve rebounds,
and nine assists, while her fiancee to want To Bonner
went off high scorer with a team high twenty five
points and ten rebounds. Also of note, Mercury star Satu
(02:26):
Sabli scored twenty four points in this contest, but she
left the game with just over four minutes left in
the fourth quarter after she got tangled up on a
play and hit her head. It was a scary couple minutes,
as Sabley was down on the court for a while
and needed assistance walking off. On Thursday afternoon, Phoenix announced
that sably has been diagnosed with a concussion and is
out for tonight's Game four. Tough news for the Mercury,
(02:48):
and we're sending Soably our best.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
The home team's backs will.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Be against the Wall tonight, so tune in to see
if Phoenix can make things interesting and send the series
back to Sin City. This one tips off at eight
pm Eastern on e S Meantime, a whole lot of
folks got to be disappointed if this series ends on Friday.
A couple million folks to be exact. This year's Game
one boasted an average of one point nine million viewers
(03:11):
on ESPN and peaked at two point five million, up
sixty two percent over last year's finals opener. Game one
of this WNBA Finals was the most watched Game one
since the very first WNBA Finals back in ninety seven,
a single elimination game that saw two point eight million
tune in to see the Houston Comets beat the New
York Liberty on NBC. So you know, all those fans
(03:32):
and all the execs that the TV networks are hoping
this series continues some more. W gott to say congratulations
to the players who made the league's All defensive teams.
Members were finally announced on Wednesday, and the five first
team honorees are Alisa Thomas and Asia Wilson, the Minnesota
Lynxis Deafisa Collier and Alana Smith and Gabby Williams of
(03:52):
the Seattle Storm. Second team includes Eliah Boston from the
Indiana Fever, Veronica Burton of the Golden State Valkyries, Ryan
Howard from the Atlanta Dream, Asie mag mcgore from the Storm,
and Brianna Stewart from the New York Liberty. Even More,
w the Chicago Sky's Angel Reese is stacking up the partnerships.
We just told you about her collab with Juicy cou Tour,
and now Reese has announced a global partnership with Victoria's
(04:15):
Secret and that she'll be walking in the Victoria's Secret
Fashion show on October fifteenth, making her the first pro
athlete to ever walk the runway.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Angel of Victoria's Secret, Angel.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
The script writes itself, y'all, when I think about all
the money moves that Angels made since entering the league,
I cannot wait.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
To see what comes next. Angel's envy, whiskey, Angel soft
toilet paper.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Also, Angel, can I borrow a dollar?
Speaker 1 (04:43):
To the NWSL, where the regular season is getting down
to the wire, including this weekend. There are four match
weeks left, and oh boy, there are a lot of
playoff implications to watch out for in the coming days.
Got them Portland, Seattle, Orlando, and Louisville all have a
chance to clinch a playoffs this weekend. Now, some of
those scenarios are pretty straightforward. Gotham, for example, just needs
(05:04):
to win and they're in. Meanwhile, the other four teams
are dependent on both their own result and the results
from the rest of the league to clinch this weekend,
and down at the bottom of the table, Houston, Utah,
and Angel City will all be fighting to stave off elimination.
It all gets underway tonight with three games and will
link to the full NWSL schedule in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
A little more.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
NWSL news, Caleb Williams, quarterback for My Chicago Bears, has
joined the ownership group Nope, not for the Chicago Color
Neutral Stars, but for the Boston Legacy NWSL expansion team.
Williams joins gymnast Ali Raisman and hooper Aliah Boston, who
are among the other athlete investors back.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
In the Swan to tennis and the hard courts.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
The Wuhan Open is well underway and as of this recording,
a handful of top ten players are onto the quarterfinals.
By the time you hear this, we'll know the winners
of the following matchups. World number one Arena Sbline and
number eight Elena Rebakina, Number six Jessica Bagula and Katerina Senyakova,
Number three Coco Golf and Laura Siegemond and number two
(06:09):
Egos Fiantec and number seven Jasmin Pallini for Sabalanka There's
a win streak on the line as well, one that's
spanned nineteen straight matches at the Wuhan Open and includes
winning every title there since twenty eighteen. In golf, we're
continuing to monitor a historic season in the LPGA that
has seen a different winner at every single tournament stops
so far. Last week, twenty two year old Yu min
(06:32):
Huang took home her first LPGA title, winning the LOTE
Championship in Hawaii and becoming the twenty sixth different athlete
to win in twenty twenty five, tying the record for
most different winners in a single season. Will we see
that record broken with a twenty seventh winner this weekend.
The Buick LPGA Shanghai teed off yesterday and a dozen
players carded bogie free rounds in round one. We'll see
(06:55):
if they can stay hot as play continues through Sunday
with coverage on the Golf Channel. Finally, in Vibes, the
US and Canada are set to co host the twenty
twenty seven Women's Volleyball World Championships. It's the first time
in history that a Volleyball World Championship will be staged
in the US and Canada. And it'll take place just
in time to ramp up excitement for the sport in
the twenty twenty eight Olympic.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Games in LA.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The final rounds of the twenty twenty seven World Championship
will be held at Honda Center and OC Vibe in Anaheim, California,
and both pool play and the Round of sixteen will
take place across four different host cities in the US
and Canada.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
We got to take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
When we come back, we chop it up with Tarika
Foster Brasby. We talked to her Thursday afternoon before the
Sauble News sit Tight, returning to the show solo this time.
She's an analyst, host and reporter for CBS Sports and
(07:54):
NBC Sports, and reporter and analyst for The Connecticut Sun.
You heard her for years on ESPN's Around the Rice
Show and have seen or read her on ESPN, Nscape,
The New York Times, and w Slam Magazine. She reps
the Detroit Tigers and the Indianapolis Colts, and sometimes the
Detroit Lions too. She rocks a red wig and has
a closet full of royal blue and antique gold to
wrap her beloved sorority Sigma Gammerow, it's Jerrika Foster Brasby.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Hi to Rika.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Hey Sarah, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Does it not feel like a million years ago that
you were my producer of my podcast back at ESPN.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
First of all, it feels like a million years ago
that we were both at ESPN, and like producing is
just an icing on the cake. So yes, that's what
she said, that was our show.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
That's what she said.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Well, now as you were then aspiring to do more
of you are full time the boss bitch who is
on the sidelines doing the analysis, reporting on games. And
you were there in Phoenix for Game three of the
WNBA Finals at the recently renamed PHX Arena now the
Mortgage Matchup Center. It's hard to keep track of this,
but what were the vibes of the crowd.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
In Phoenix before the game? Did they feel hopeful? Did
they feel nervous?
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Yes, the scene in Phoenix was phenomenal. Honestly it was.
This probably was the second place I've ever woken up
to local news and they're literally talking about Gang three
and I was very excited, like this is what's leading
local news around here. So the businesses had all types
of Mercury stuff hanging up in the crowd, came in
just thoroughly excited. Of course, towards the end of the
(09:28):
game all the air kind of set down arena by
someone named Asia Wilson, but leading into that moment you
could tell they were just ready to explode and incredibly
excited about where their team was at that point.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
That's impressive because I have to say, this has been
such a disappointing series so far that if I were
a Mercury fan, I would be deflated entering that arena,
like feeling like, here we go again. We're about to
get our ass beat by a team that has had
our number all season. And part of that is the
woman you mentioned, Asia Wilson, no answers for her. Mercury
coach Nate Tibbitts tried to throw a few different bodies
at her, Natasha Mac first half a whole lot of
(10:01):
Duana Bonner and the second Did you see anything that
seemed to work, any strategy, any player, any defense that
seemed to slower down other.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Than Alyssa Thomas, who really couldn't do it much because
she was in foul trouble. There was a couple of
possessions towards the end in the fourth quarter, where Alyssa
was able to get with her and that made it
a bit more difficult. Didn't stop her, but at least
challenged her and made the shot selection a little bit
harder for her to take. But there is no answer
for Agia Wilson, and there is no defensive matchup that
(10:30):
you can throw at Ajia Wilson with this Phoenix lineup
that can truly stop her. But I do think Nativis
has done a terrible job of trying to mix up
the rotations, utilizing his bench, giving Becky something. I mean,
Becky is out coaching him right now, and he really am.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
In my mind.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
I'm just like fight back Nate, fight back gifts, throw
something out there at the wall and see if it sticks.
And I just had not seen any of those adjustments
games one, two, or three.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
But I want to go back.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
To something because coming into Mortgage Matchup Center, you know
Phoenix that played incredibly well at home, and on top
of that, this was the first time and Dewana Bonner
mentioned this too in a previous interview, this is the
first time in WNBA history that that team or the
away team or the lower seated team has two guaranteed
games at home. So if you are a fan, you
(11:21):
feel good about your team coming back home because we
play well at home, home court advantage, and we know
we at least got two in this building. The problem
is you ain't been able to stop this team in
their building or any other building, and so now they're
looking at Emmitation feeling very differently.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Yeah, yeah, you mentioned Nate tibbets. I was watching Game
three at an event with a whole bunch of WNBA
experts and happened to be standing next to a former
college coach who was just venting to me about the
failures of Nate Tibbett's all game and she said, nice, guys,
she's met him, she likes him a lot, She does
(11:58):
not understand a lick of his play calling, doesn't think
he's making any adjustments, and Becky is running him off
the court. And I think she also says, frustrating how
many people are reacting to his success with this team
and saying it's about Nate when she says it's about
the GM who put together the talent on this team,
and he hasn't actually been the one doing much with it.
(12:19):
They've just been succeeding because of the players out there,
and I think that's going to be interesting to have
a post mortem if the series especially ends in a sweep,
to look at what they could have done and how
they could have been more created, particularly when you look
at teams that were decimated by injury or shorthanded in
terms of talent, whether that's the Valkyries and the regular
season who outperformed the talent on the court, or the
(12:40):
Indiana Fever in the postseason, who didn't have their stars
and still put up much more.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Of a fight.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
The Mercury haven't put up much of a fight in
this series, despite having enough talent that they should be
keeping it closer.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
See.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
I would argue that I think that the Mercury should
have won Game one and Game three. In Game one,
they were dominated for the majority of the time and
they were shooting very well, but defensively they had lapses,
and that defensive lapse was just enough to allow Asia
Wilson to come back in in Game one, who by
the way, the bench was already doing what they needed
to do, but you got no real production from your starters,
(13:12):
and that was a moment that you needed to take
advantage of if you're the opposition. Asia Wilson didn't give
me nothing to the fourth quarter. How do I mess
this up? How do I not come away with a win?
Second game? Very different story, dominant performance from beginning to end. However,
it has been interesting to me that in every single
one of these matchups in the first quarter, Phoenix has
started off doing what they do well offensively, shooting the ball,
(13:35):
getting on in transition, trying to make it difficult for
the Aces to get in defensive sets, and then sure
enough they just let it go and then they also
forget to play defense on the other side, and that
to me has been the big difference. Yesterday, they had
an opportunity, an unfortunate one, but they had an opportunity
to rally around u saw Tooth Sobbly who.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Went down with an injury.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And when she went down with the injury, it felt
like it galvanized the team. Khaliah Copper took that as
a moment to go on an eleven o'er run by
herself in a minute and twenty seconds. Like to me,
that's the pedigree of a player and of a team
that can truly make some things happen and can turn
around and pull away, which they did to close a
seventeen point gap. The problem is your coach is not
(14:18):
giving you the keys to make the adjustments necessary. If
they are not shooting threes, what does this team do? Well,
that's the thing. If they're not shooting threes, what else
can they do and how else can they score? And
you want to say, well, you've got an at who
truly knows how to ram through any opponent ever and
get to the basket. But she's so focused on facilitating
(14:41):
that she's not focused enough on putting the ball on
the ground and going up and get it. It's just
so interesting to see how this team has switched from
what made them so successful in the regular season to
what they're doing now.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
I also think her handles have affected how she wants
to play because of that injury.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I actually think you're right.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
And I think I'm just angry and disappointed in the series.
So I'm calling out the Mercury for not putting up
a fight. They have put up a fight at times.
It just if you look at the statistics of the
team in clutch time against the Aces, they are absolutely
getting their asspet They're zero to six against the team
all season when Ajia Wilson plays. But they lost three
of those games by three points and one of those
(15:22):
games by two points. So they are in the game
and they cannot finish. So what do you see from
the Mercury down the stretch where the Aces are always
getting the better of them?
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Yeah, well, the Aces have a closer. They have a
bona fide guaranteed go to closer. You know, when the
game is on the line, the first person that you're
going to give the ball to, the problem is nothing
that anybody can do about it because you can't stop her.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
And that's Ajia Wilson.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
But when I look at Phoenix, who is my guarantee closer,
Who's the person that I can give this ball to
and say here go get me a w And it
feels like that could be a bevy of people, right,
it could be Khalia Copper satuply but as well as
Kyllia played in those final minutes, we had not seen
Kylia do anything before the end. She was complete, a
(16:08):
complete ghost town and Statu was pretty much handling the
production on her own. Doana Bonner was hit or miss.
She finally got it going, but it was hit or miss.
There as many vets as there are on that team,
there is not a single person that you can say,
I'm gonna give you the ball and I need you
to finish it for me. And I think that is
the difference. You have to have that vet that can
(16:29):
do that down the stretch. Las Vegas has it, Phoenix doesn't.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Asia Wilson.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
End of the game, tied at eighty eight, she dribbles,
pulls up, elevates, adjusts, and hits over an entire household
minus Douanna's kids, Calli and Demi. They weren't there, but
the rest of the household was there, arms up and
she hit over both of them, an instantly iconic shot.
And I think it was hilarious because before the game
(16:55):
I read somebody's social media posts that was like, one
nice thing about Asia Wilson's continued ascent in the upper
echelons of the history of the sport is we're not
spending all day arguing if she's the greatest of all
time and if she's better than this person or that person,
and then boom, today I open up the social media
and there's multiple articles that are like, is Asia Wilson
(17:16):
already the greatest of all time, So I think that
shot that moment is only gonna fuel those conversations. She's
only twenty nine, like, is can we say that already?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Tariko?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Okay? So I have a rule.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
So my rule is I do not put players and
true goat conversations until they're done playing.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Son.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
I like to wait until your career is over to
compare because you're still doing stuff right, and I can't
make a good argument if there's still other things that
you could possibly do to make my argument even stronger.
And so I think there's a very strong argument for
Asia Wilson, but I want to wait until she's done.
The good thing about that is that this ain't gonna
be done for the ten years. So like we still
(18:02):
get more championships, we still get more MVPs, there are
more records that are going to be broken, and I
think by the time her career is done, we absolutely
will be calling her the greatest player to ever play
this game. But for now, I'm gonna let people argue
between Maya Moore and Diana Tarazny and Zoomer and Cheryl
Swoops and all of those folks.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
It's wild, though it's wild how much she's accomplished and
what we're watching right now, and I think I am
really grateful that over the last couple of years it
does feel like people get it. If this was a
couple of years ago, I think we still would have
been urging people to understand and get what they were watching.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
And I think between.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Her sneakers and her MVPs and the push from real
w fans and media to tell people, hey, wake up,
know what you're watching here, we are seeing something incredible
that people are appreciating instead of missing out them, which
is just really cool. I want to talk about Game
four because Ace's first two franchise.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Titles twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three came on
the road.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I'm sure they would love to win one at home
in front of their fans. They could kind of take
a dive on Friday, try to, you know, not play
their hardest win back in Vegas. But I feel like
even if they take their foot off the gas, it's
still sort of hard to imagine Phoenix winning because, as
I mentioned Alyssa Thomas's injury, her handles aren't there. Because
of that hand injury, Sato sably went down We're still
(19:25):
waiting on word of her status.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Sammy Witcomb is hobbled. Is this series over Friday Night?
I know.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Nate Tibbets said, We've got a really hard road in
front of us. We've never seen a team obviously the
NBA is where we've had these seven game series before,
come back from down three to zero, very few even
force it to go to seven.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
What are the chances this ends in a sweep Friday?
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Yeah, the chances are very high.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
I'd say ninety five percent, but I'm going to give
Phoenix that five percent because they.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Are a professional basketball team.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
I actually asked a listing after Game three in the
press conference. I asked her, you know, I know that
when it comes to face and elimination, you're going to say,
I'm playing for my team.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
We're playing together, we know what we got to do.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
But personally, because you have a personal goal of winning
a championship, what's that additional motivation for you? And she's like,
I just can't pass up these moments, Like I can't
let these moments pass me by because they're few and
far between. So I know what I gotta do. I
know that I have to go out there and play
different better than we're playing right now. So they get
it like they're realistic of the whole that they find
(20:29):
themselves in, and they are even more realistic that they
put themselves there and they know tomorrow it's do or die.
They have to get it done. I think that in
itself is enough to force this team to want to
play with some pride right to not want to say,
but you are a franchise, whether or not you've been
there or not, your franchise that has three championships, do
(20:50):
Wanna Bonner has one of them to her own name
that's hanging up in that rafter. There's a sense of
pride that you feel when you play for this Phoenix
Mercury team. And I don't think they want to disappoint
their franchise or them sealed by saying that they've been swept.
Neither of them were swept, yeah the playoffs before. So
I do think there's a small chance that they can
(21:11):
win Game four, and it would be great for Las
Vegas to go home and have a shot at winning
a championship at the on their home court. But also
they might be like, listen, we tied, we got trips
to take, you know, NBA get ready to start.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Asia want to go support Bam, you know what I'm saying,
So she might be ready.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
There is some pride in getting that sweep, and I
do think you know, every single.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Season, you hear either the winning teams.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Say we're so glad we got it done with this group,
or a team that loses expressing their sadness that we
know we're never going to have this locker room again.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
We're proud of what we did.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
We accomplished what we did, but we're not coming back
with these exact people. Never more accurate than this season
because of what's expected in the offseason. They're between the
expansion teams and the negotiations for the CBA that may
shake things up and send veterans all over the place.
There's like two veterans on a contract right now to
(22:05):
go back to where they're playing, and so we could
see completely different looking teams, and so I think that's
an extra weight on Alyssa Thomas's shoulders that even more
so than any other year, it's hard to imagine coming
back and being able to fight with these seam players.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Interesting note.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
If the Aces win tomorrow, Jewel Lloyd would have a
perfect ten to zero finals record and three championships. Like,
clearly there's other people out on the court with her,
but talk about someone who has come up big when
it matters most.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
She has never lost a finals game.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
She's never lost.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
And it's the funniest thing because Asia was talking about
playing Seattle in the twenty twenty finals and you know,
you look at Jewel. She has the nickname of gold Mama,
and she said, you know, Jewel, when you showed up
in them gold shoes, I knew what time it was, right,
I knew you were channeling Kobe and swept Las Vegas
out the finals. So it's such a one to eighty
(22:59):
moment that now she's playing in the finals in at
Las Vegas, Aces Jersey. But it is incredible to think
that there are a few players out there who don't
know what it's like to not be successful in the finals, and.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
There are others who have never seen a.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
W NBA finals, And I think, to me, that is
one thing that makes playing in the era of Asia
Wilson such a bittersweet moment.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Right.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
It's great that we get to see Asia play for
so many opportunities to win a championship, but it makes
you think, like, for players like the FISA and Alyssa
Thomas and others that are coming up, are you guys
going to get an opportunity to actually win one as
long as this one. It's like the Michael Jordan era,
like you know, and so it's tough. It's a bitter
(23:43):
sweet thing. We really want to see other players win,
but we can't deny what we're seeing out of players
like Asia Wilson and having the Batman the Robbins like
Jackie Young's and Jewel Lloyd just kind of adds a
little bit of more sentimental value to this win.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Yeah, and it is cool for ass fans that there
is that core group that they've been able to root
for across multiple championships. As a Bulls fan, as a
Jordan Stan like, having those teams that we remember, the
pieces that stayed kind of current throughout is really fun.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
You mentioned.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I mean, Asia hit that game winning shot. First player
in WNBA history to have back to back twenty five
plus point and ten plus rebound games in the finals,
holds the record for most thirty point postseason games. Like
the stats go on and on of what she's been
able to accomplish and It is a great story because
Asia is a great story, because the Aces as a franchise,
ever since they've been in existence, have been a great
(24:32):
story and a great proof of what happens when you
invest in a team, resources, facilities, etc.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
But for the w.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Between Kathy Engelbert getting roasted on a spit and a
sweep in the finals right into business talk around the CBA.
This is about the worst possible thing that could happen
to them is a four games and done final in
the first year of a best of seven and nothing
more good to talk about, just the business of the
(25:02):
business this is, I mean, this is bad for the
league in my opinion.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
If the Aces get the sweep on.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Friday, see I would actually been to differ.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
I think that we were starting to see the numbers
come out that shows that this has been one of
the most watched finals up the Game one was the
most watched finals in twenty eight years. I think that
it shows how strong and how valuable the product is
on the floor, especially with a team like a team
like Asia Wilson, with a team like the Las Vegas Aces,
(25:33):
because if right, She's I think it just continues to
show how valuable this product is and how superstars can
drive this league. She is a superstar of this league,
and you have to know that people are gonna want
more of her, and they're gonna look at Mark Davis
and say, Mark Davis, you bought this team for how
much and it's value now and how much?
Speaker 3 (25:55):
And you are doing what you got three championships in
five years.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Like I think oppositely, people are gonna say, there has
to be some additional value to what the people are
saying versus what we're actually seeing about the WNBA.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
And it may even.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Cause if this series ends early, it may cause us
a speed up of some things in this process. Folks
have been talking about Kathy Engelberton whether or not she's
gonna resign. She says that she's not gonna resign, but
if the owners or you know, the board of governors decide,
maybe it'll help speed up negotiations if we look at
someone else to be in the commissioner. What better time
(26:32):
to do that now with the finals being well behind you.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
It still gives you two weeks before the.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Actual deadline of the CBA, which is October thirty first,
But I mean it does kind of give you a
bit more room to really focus on that business part,
so you can look at twenty twenty six, because right now, Sarah,
it's so hard to look at twenty twenty six. Networks
don't know what games they're gonna have, free agents, don't
know where they're gonna go. Expansion Draft, we don't know
(26:57):
when that's gonna take place. Like maybe ending the finals
early gives more room to kind of iron those things out.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I agree on the business size, there is a bonus
to it. I think what would be better for the
league is have the storyline of the Ace's success, but
have more finals games for TV purposes, revenue of that
for interest's sake, for storyline's sake.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
I think.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
You're right about the stories that can be written about
the dynastic run of the Aces, but I think they
can happen with a few more games.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
I want to before I let you go.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Ask you quickly about the CBA negotiations in Kathy Engelbert,
I've been trying to figure out and I can't find
an apples to apples comparison because the other commissioners in
the other leagues that are essentially a meat shield for
the owners taking the slings and arrows of everybody else
and protecting their bag. We can't really compare her to
them because she answers to someone else, and that's Adam Silver,
(27:55):
and Adam Silver ultimately could be the one who decided
to agree to a better revenue split, who decided to
be more transparent about financials, who decided to quit what
it looks like, which is using the WNBA has potentially
a tack shield or a write off for the successes
of his other league. And so we can't really point
(28:18):
everything at Kathy. And we have an expectation, I feel
like in women's leagues for the commissioner to get along
with the players or to play a more representative role
in the league than we do.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
For the men's side.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
So what do you make of the complication of Kathy
actually answering to someone else even though she's allegedly at
the head of the league.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Yeah, it's a very it's a very slippery slope here
as relates to her job. Now, I do think that
there has to be a human element that is associated
with serving as a commissioner. You need to understand your league,
you need to understand the players of your league. You
need to resonate with them in some way, even if
you aren't directly representing them, even though you represent a
(28:56):
different side, a different ownership, you still need to have
some of a relationship. It reminds me of you know,
we always give crap to Roger Goodell, rightfully so, but
when Damar Hamlin had his accident a couple of years ago,
he said, Roger came to see me in the hospital.
Roger came to check on me to see how I
was doing. That's a human element that has nothing to
(29:17):
do with who you work for, who you answer to.
That's just simply being a human being and being kind.
And what I've seen way too much over the last
couple of weeks is people giving examples of that human
element missing from Kathy Engelbert and I think that in
itself is something that's incredibly important when you're in the
middle of a negotiation of what you are now. Sometimes
in a negotiating and I'm sure you've been in negotiation
(29:39):
rooms where it's like, listen, personal relationships may have helped
movements along more so than it would have had that
personal relationship not been there. And for you to have
one of the superstar players of this league who rarely
says anything about anybody in this way come out in
a very calculated statement to say the things that she said.
(30:00):
I think that just further shows that while the business
has certainly elevated over the last six years in various ways,
the human element is still incredibly important. Elena delladd made
a comment about not hearing, and again, this is a
player who never says nothing about nobody, and for her
to come out and make a statement that human element
(30:21):
is something that is important, and so I hate that
it comes along with this notion that you know, women
are emotional and passionate.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
I don't think that's the case at all.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
I just think that you want to feel respected, and
that is something that the players are seemingly saying that
they don't feel with Kathy, And regardless of who Kathy
answers to, that's an individual characteristic that needs to be fixed.
I just don't think at this point it can be
like I just don't think at this point there's anything
that she can do to kind of shift that narrative
(30:52):
about her. So really it becomes Adam Silver, Now you
need to stop telling people this is going to get done,
this is going to happen to really just step in
and do it, and you haven't gotten a lot of
smoke for not having done this yet.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah, I completely agree, and I do think whether it
feels tinged with misogyny or not, there is a reality
that the nature of women's sport, the intersectionality of it,
the fact that there are political and social issues that
are connected to women's sport at all times, whether we
like it or not, means that the role of a
commission for a women's league is different than for men's.
(31:26):
There is something about a relationship and understanding of the
experience of the players that matters more. I think, particularly
at these very important inflection points for women's leagues where
it can't just be business. It can and is business,
and at the same time, there is a demand for
the person at the head to understand the players that
they represent in the league that they represent, and I
(31:47):
think that's where this conflict is coming from. Treca, we
could talk all day, but I got to take a
nap and you got to go out. I don't know,
is it at eight thousand degrees in Phoenix you got
to go out and get your face burned off your skull?
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Would you believe that it was actually just raining a
moment ago.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Wow, get outside and dance in the rain, girl, I
know appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Thanks as always, Thanks so much to here, Thanks so
much to Tarika for joining us.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
We got to take another break when we come back.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
A dope fall activity for the fam.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Welcome back slices.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. First, follow Tarika on
social media. We'll link to her accounts in our show notes.
And check out Katie Nolan's podcast Casuals. I sat down
with her in New York for an episode that hit
on Thursday. We talk lots of WNBA and WSL and more.
We'll put the link to the show in our show notes.
(32:50):
We always love to hear from you, so hit us
up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or
leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh
four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Rate and review It's easy.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Watch my wedding venue come and correct, rating ten out
of ten stalks a corn in his Airness's image review
The Apple Orchard slash Giant Barn where I got married
nearly a decade ago. Wow has revealed its annual Fall
Corn Maze, and I've never seen a cornstalk look better,
y'all because this year's theme is none other than the
(33:24):
Goat himself, Michael Jordan. The corn Maze is the Jumpman logo,
and there are even hidden MJ funbacks embedded in all
the twists and turns now. If you can't make it
to an MJ Mays, look around and find somewhere near
you better find some time to make some fall fun
because winter is coming.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you next week for Mish's last show.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Good Game Tarika, Good Game, Angel Reese, Few Head Injuries,
Heal Fast Satu. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sport.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
It's in entertainment.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rutterer.
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistants
(34:24):
from Avery LOFTUS and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to good Game of Sarah Spain, where we're rewatching
Asia Wilson's game winner over.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And over again.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Did you see the elevation, the torque of her body
twisting the square up to the rim chef's kiss. It's Friday,
October tenth, Happy Friday Slices. On today's show, we'll be
hanging out with analyst, host and reporter Treika Foster Brasby.
We chatted about the scene in Phoenix for Game three
Wednesday night, and the chances that the Aces will close
it out tonight with a sweep, and the dramatic offseason
(00:29):
that awaits.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
The w as well.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Plus the tennis elites are thriving in the Wuhan Open,
the LPGA continues to make history, and Angel Rehes lives
up to her name. It's all coming up right after
this Welcome Back Slices. Here's what you need to know today,
(00:56):
starting with hoops. Game four of the WNBA Finals between
the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury is tonight
and we could see a sweep. Vegas leads the league's
first ever best of seven series three games to none
and could secure the third championship in franchise. History this
evening on the road at Pachech's Arena. Sorry mortgage matchup center,
(01:20):
new name mid Playoffs, No big deal. We're trying to
stay caught up, just like y'all are now. If you
missed Game three Wednesday night, what looked like a blowout
for a while turned into a nail bier. Phoenix overcame
a seventeen point deficit heading into the fourth quarter to
tie the game at eighty eight with a minute left
in regulation.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Then, with two point.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Two seconds visible on the clock, number twenty two Aces,
superstar Asia Wilson hit a tough turnaround jump shot over
Alyssa Thomas and i Wanna Bonner's outstretched arms. The ball
switched through the hoop with just a fraction of a
second left, and Vegas secured the ninety to eighty eight
dub Wilson finished with thirty four points points and fourteen
rebounds to lead the Aces, followed by Jackie Young's twenty
(02:03):
one points and nine assists. It was Wilson's ninth career
thirty point playoff game, passing Brianna Stewart and Diana Trossi
for the most all time. Alyssa Thomas had another near
triple double for the Mercury with fourteen points, twelve rebounds,
and nine assists, while her fiancee to want To Bonner
went off high scorer with a team high twenty five
points and ten rebounds. Also of note, Mercury star Satu
(02:26):
Sabli scored twenty four points in this contest, but she
left the game with just over four minutes left in
the fourth quarter after she got tangled up on a
play and hit her head. It was a scary couple minutes,
as Sabley was down on the court for a while
and needed assistance walking off. On Thursday afternoon, Phoenix announced
that sably has been diagnosed with a concussion and is
out for tonight's Game four. Tough news for the Mercury,
(02:48):
and we're sending Soably our best.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
The home team's backs will.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Be against the Wall tonight, so tune in to see
if Phoenix can make things interesting and send the series
back to Sin City. This one tips off at eight
pm Eastern on e S Meantime, a whole lot of
folks got to be disappointed if this series ends on Friday.
A couple million folks to be exact. This year's Game
one boasted an average of one point nine million viewers
(03:11):
on ESPN and peaked at two point five million, up
sixty two percent over last year's finals opener. Game one
of this WNBA Finals was the most watched Game one
since the very first WNBA Finals back in ninety seven,
a single elimination game that saw two point eight million
tune in to see the Houston Comets beat the New
York Liberty on NBC. So you know, all those fans
(03:32):
and all the execs that the TV networks are hoping
this series continues some more. W gott to say congratulations
to the players who made the league's All defensive teams.
Members were finally announced on Wednesday, and the five first
team honorees are Alisa Thomas and Asia Wilson, the Minnesota
Lynxis Deafisa Collier and Alana Smith and Gabby Williams of
(03:52):
the Seattle Storm. Second team includes Eliah Boston from the
Indiana Fever, Veronica Burton of the Golden State Valkyries, Ryan
Howard from the Atlanta Dream, Asie mag mcgore from the Storm,
and Brianna Stewart from the New York Liberty. Even More,
w the Chicago Sky's Angel Reese is stacking up the partnerships.
We just told you about her collab with Juicy cou Tour,
and now Reese has announced a global partnership with Victoria's
(04:15):
Secret and that she'll be walking in the Victoria's Secret
Fashion show on October fifteenth, making her the first pro
athlete to ever walk the runway.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Angel of Victoria's Secret, Angel.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
The script writes itself, y'all, when I think about all
the money moves that Angels made since entering the league,
I cannot wait.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
To see what comes next. Angel's envy, whiskey, Angel soft
toilet paper.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Also, Angel, can I borrow a dollar?
Speaker 1 (04:43):
To the NWSL, where the regular season is getting down
to the wire, including this weekend. There are four match
weeks left, and oh boy, there are a lot of
playoff implications to watch out for in the coming days.
Got them Portland, Seattle, Orlando, and Louisville all have a
chance to clinch a playoffs this weekend. Now, some of
those scenarios are pretty straightforward. Gotham, for example, just needs
(05:04):
to win and they're in. Meanwhile, the other four teams
are dependent on both their own result and the results
from the rest of the league to clinch this weekend,
and down at the bottom of the table, Houston, Utah,
and Angel City will all be fighting to stave off elimination.
It all gets underway tonight with three games and will
link to the full NWSL schedule in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
A little more.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
NWSL news, Caleb Williams, quarterback for My Chicago Bears, has
joined the ownership group Nope, not for the Chicago Color
Neutral Stars, but for the Boston Legacy NWSL expansion team.
Williams joins gymnast Ali Raisman and hooper Aliah Boston, who
are among the other athlete investors back.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
In the Swan to tennis and the hard courts.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
The Wuhan Open is well underway and as of this recording,
a handful of top ten players are onto the quarterfinals.
By the time you hear this, we'll know the winners
of the following matchups. World number one Arena Sbline and
number eight Elena Rebakina, Number six Jessica Bagula and Katerina Senyakova,
Number three Coco Golf and Laura Siegemond and number two
(06:09):
Egos Fiantec and number seven Jasmin Pallini for Sabalanka There's
a win streak on the line as well, one that's
spanned nineteen straight matches at the Wuhan Open and includes
winning every title there since twenty eighteen. In golf, we're
continuing to monitor a historic season in the LPGA that
has seen a different winner at every single tournament stops
so far. Last week, twenty two year old Yu min
(06:32):
Huang took home her first LPGA title, winning the LOTE
Championship in Hawaii and becoming the twenty sixth different athlete
to win in twenty twenty five, tying the record for
most different winners in a single season. Will we see
that record broken with a twenty seventh winner this weekend.
The Buick LPGA Shanghai teed off yesterday and a dozen
players carded bogie free rounds in round one. We'll see
(06:55):
if they can stay hot as play continues through Sunday
with coverage on the Golf Channel. Finally, in Vibes, the
US and Canada are set to co host the twenty
twenty seven Women's Volleyball World Championships. It's the first time
in history that a Volleyball World Championship will be staged
in the US and Canada. And it'll take place just
in time to ramp up excitement for the sport in
the twenty twenty eight Olympic.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Games in LA.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The final rounds of the twenty twenty seven World Championship
will be held at Honda Center and OC Vibe in Anaheim, California,
and both pool play and the Round of sixteen will
take place across four different host cities in the US
and Canada.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
We got to take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
When we come back, we chop it up with Tarika
Foster Brasby. We talked to her Thursday afternoon before the
Sauble News sit Tight, returning to the show solo this time.
She's an analyst, host and reporter for CBS Sports and
(07:54):
NBC Sports, and reporter and analyst for The Connecticut Sun.
You heard her for years on ESPN's Around the Rice
Show and have seen or read her on ESPN, Nscape,
The New York Times, and w Slam Magazine. She reps
the Detroit Tigers and the Indianapolis Colts, and sometimes the
Detroit Lions too. She rocks a red wig and has
a closet full of royal blue and antique gold to
wrap her beloved sorority Sigma Gammerow, it's Jerrika Foster Brasby.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Hi to Rika.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Hey Sarah, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Does it not feel like a million years ago that
you were my producer of my podcast back at ESPN.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
First of all, it feels like a million years ago
that we were both at ESPN, and like producing is
just an icing on the cake. So yes, that's what
she said, that was our show.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
That's what she said.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Well, now as you were then aspiring to do more
of you are full time the boss bitch who is
on the sidelines doing the analysis, reporting on games. And
you were there in Phoenix for Game three of the
WNBA Finals at the recently renamed PHX Arena now the
Mortgage Matchup Center. It's hard to keep track of this,
but what were the vibes of the crowd.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
In Phoenix before the game? Did they feel hopeful? Did
they feel nervous?
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Yes, the scene in Phoenix was phenomenal. Honestly it was.
This probably was the second place I've ever woken up
to local news and they're literally talking about Gang three
and I was very excited, like this is what's leading
local news around here. So the businesses had all types
of Mercury stuff hanging up in the crowd, came in
just thoroughly excited. Of course, towards the end of the
(09:28):
game all the air kind of set down arena by
someone named Asia Wilson, but leading into that moment you
could tell they were just ready to explode and incredibly
excited about where their team was at that point.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
That's impressive because I have to say, this has been
such a disappointing series so far that if I were
a Mercury fan, I would be deflated entering that arena,
like feeling like, here we go again. We're about to
get our ass beat by a team that has had
our number all season. And part of that is the
woman you mentioned, Asia Wilson, no answers for her. Mercury
coach Nate Tibbitts tried to throw a few different bodies
at her, Natasha Mac first half a whole lot of
(10:01):
Duana Bonner and the second Did you see anything that
seemed to work, any strategy, any player, any defense that
seemed to slower down other.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Than Alyssa Thomas, who really couldn't do it much because
she was in foul trouble. There was a couple of
possessions towards the end in the fourth quarter, where Alyssa
was able to get with her and that made it
a bit more difficult. Didn't stop her, but at least
challenged her and made the shot selection a little bit
harder for her to take. But there is no answer
for Agia Wilson, and there is no defensive matchup that
(10:30):
you can throw at Ajia Wilson with this Phoenix lineup
that can truly stop her. But I do think Nativis
has done a terrible job of trying to mix up
the rotations, utilizing his bench, giving Becky something. I mean,
Becky is out coaching him right now, and he really am.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
In my mind.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
I'm just like fight back Nate, fight back gifts, throw
something out there at the wall and see if it sticks.
And I just had not seen any of those adjustments
games one, two, or three.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
But I want to go back.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
To something because coming into Mortgage Matchup Center, you know
Phoenix that played incredibly well at home, and on top
of that, this was the first time and Dewana Bonner
mentioned this too in a previous interview, this is the
first time in WNBA history that that team or the
away team or the lower seated team has two guaranteed
games at home. So if you are a fan, you
(11:21):
feel good about your team coming back home because we
play well at home, home court advantage, and we know
we at least got two in this building. The problem
is you ain't been able to stop this team in
their building or any other building, and so now they're
looking at Emmitation feeling very differently.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Yeah, yeah, you mentioned Nate tibbets. I was watching Game
three at an event with a whole bunch of WNBA
experts and happened to be standing next to a former
college coach who was just venting to me about the
failures of Nate Tibbett's all game and she said, nice, guys,
she's met him, she likes him a lot, She does
(11:58):
not understand a lick of his play calling, doesn't think
he's making any adjustments, and Becky is running him off
the court. And I think she also says, frustrating how
many people are reacting to his success with this team
and saying it's about Nate when she says it's about
the GM who put together the talent on this team,
and he hasn't actually been the one doing much with it.
(12:19):
They've just been succeeding because of the players out there,
and I think that's going to be interesting to have
a post mortem if the series especially ends in a sweep,
to look at what they could have done and how
they could have been more created, particularly when you look
at teams that were decimated by injury or shorthanded in
terms of talent, whether that's the Valkyries and the regular
season who outperformed the talent on the court, or the
(12:40):
Indiana Fever in the postseason, who didn't have their stars
and still put up much more.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Of a fight.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
The Mercury haven't put up much of a fight in
this series, despite having enough talent that they should be
keeping it closer.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
See.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
I would argue that I think that the Mercury should
have won Game one and Game three. In Game one,
they were dominated for the majority of the time and
they were shooting very well, but defensively they had lapses,
and that defensive lapse was just enough to allow Asia
Wilson to come back in in Game one, who by
the way, the bench was already doing what they needed
to do, but you got no real production from your starters,
(13:12):
and that was a moment that you needed to take
advantage of if you're the opposition. Asia Wilson didn't give
me nothing to the fourth quarter. How do I mess
this up? How do I not come away with a win?
Second game? Very different story, dominant performance from beginning to end. However,
it has been interesting to me that in every single
one of these matchups in the first quarter, Phoenix has
started off doing what they do well offensively, shooting the ball,
(13:35):
getting on in transition, trying to make it difficult for
the Aces to get in defensive sets, and then sure
enough they just let it go and then they also
forget to play defense on the other side, and that
to me has been the big difference. Yesterday, they had
an opportunity, an unfortunate one, but they had an opportunity
to rally around u saw Tooth Sobbly who.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Went down with an injury.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And when she went down with the injury, it felt
like it galvanized the team. Khaliah Copper took that as
a moment to go on an eleven o'er run by
herself in a minute and twenty seconds. Like to me,
that's the pedigree of a player and of a team
that can truly make some things happen and can turn
around and pull away, which they did to close a
seventeen point gap. The problem is your coach is not
(14:18):
giving you the keys to make the adjustments necessary. If
they are not shooting threes, what does this team do? Well,
that's the thing. If they're not shooting threes, what else
can they do and how else can they score? And
you want to say, well, you've got an at who
truly knows how to ram through any opponent ever and
get to the basket. But she's so focused on facilitating
(14:41):
that she's not focused enough on putting the ball on
the ground and going up and get it. It's just
so interesting to see how this team has switched from
what made them so successful in the regular season to
what they're doing now.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
I also think her handles have affected how she wants
to play because of that injury.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I actually think you're right.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
And I think I'm just angry and disappointed in the series.
So I'm calling out the Mercury for not putting up
a fight. They have put up a fight at times.
It just if you look at the statistics of the
team in clutch time against the Aces, they are absolutely
getting their asspet They're zero to six against the team
all season when Ajia Wilson plays. But they lost three
of those games by three points and one of those
(15:22):
games by two points. So they are in the game
and they cannot finish. So what do you see from
the Mercury down the stretch where the Aces are always
getting the better of them?
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Yeah, well, the Aces have a closer. They have a
bona fide guaranteed go to closer. You know, when the
game is on the line, the first person that you're
going to give the ball to, the problem is nothing
that anybody can do about it because you can't stop her.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
And that's Ajia Wilson.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
But when I look at Phoenix, who is my guarantee closer,
Who's the person that I can give this ball to
and say here go get me a w And it
feels like that could be a bevy of people, right,
it could be Khalia Copper satuply but as well as
Kyllia played in those final minutes, we had not seen
Kylia do anything before the end. She was complete, a
(16:08):
complete ghost town and Statu was pretty much handling the
production on her own. Doana Bonner was hit or miss.
She finally got it going, but it was hit or miss.
There as many vets as there are on that team,
there is not a single person that you can say,
I'm gonna give you the ball and I need you
to finish it for me. And I think that is
the difference. You have to have that vet that can
(16:29):
do that down the stretch. Las Vegas has it, Phoenix doesn't.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Asia Wilson.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
End of the game, tied at eighty eight, she dribbles,
pulls up, elevates, adjusts, and hits over an entire household
minus Douanna's kids, Calli and Demi. They weren't there, but
the rest of the household was there, arms up and
she hit over both of them, an instantly iconic shot.
And I think it was hilarious because before the game
(16:55):
I read somebody's social media posts that was like, one
nice thing about Asia Wilson's continued ascent in the upper
echelons of the history of the sport is we're not
spending all day arguing if she's the greatest of all
time and if she's better than this person or that person,
and then boom, today I open up the social media
and there's multiple articles that are like, is Asia Wilson
(17:16):
already the greatest of all time, So I think that
shot that moment is only gonna fuel those conversations. She's
only twenty nine, like, is can we say that already?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Tariko?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Okay? So I have a rule.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
So my rule is I do not put players and
true goat conversations until they're done playing.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Son.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
I like to wait until your career is over to
compare because you're still doing stuff right, and I can't
make a good argument if there's still other things that
you could possibly do to make my argument even stronger.
And so I think there's a very strong argument for
Asia Wilson, but I want to wait until she's done.
The good thing about that is that this ain't gonna
be done for the ten years. So like we still
(18:02):
get more championships, we still get more MVPs, there are
more records that are going to be broken, and I
think by the time her career is done, we absolutely
will be calling her the greatest player to ever play
this game. But for now, I'm gonna let people argue
between Maya Moore and Diana Tarazny and Zoomer and Cheryl
Swoops and all of those folks.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
It's wild, though it's wild how much she's accomplished and
what we're watching right now, and I think I am
really grateful that over the last couple of years it
does feel like people get it. If this was a
couple of years ago, I think we still would have
been urging people to understand and get what they were watching.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
And I think between.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Her sneakers and her MVPs and the push from real
w fans and media to tell people, hey, wake up,
know what you're watching here, we are seeing something incredible
that people are appreciating instead of missing out them, which
is just really cool. I want to talk about Game
four because Ace's first two franchise.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Titles twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three came on
the road.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I'm sure they would love to win one at home
in front of their fans. They could kind of take
a dive on Friday, try to, you know, not play
their hardest win back in Vegas. But I feel like
even if they take their foot off the gas, it's
still sort of hard to imagine Phoenix winning because, as
I mentioned Alyssa Thomas's injury, her handles aren't there. Because
of that hand injury, Sato sably went down We're still
(19:25):
waiting on word of her status.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Sammy Witcomb is hobbled. Is this series over Friday Night?
I know.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Nate Tibbets said, We've got a really hard road in
front of us. We've never seen a team obviously the
NBA is where we've had these seven game series before,
come back from down three to zero, very few even
force it to go to seven.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
What are the chances this ends in a sweep Friday?
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Yeah, the chances are very high.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
I'd say ninety five percent, but I'm going to give
Phoenix that five percent because they.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Are a professional basketball team.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
I actually asked a listing after Game three in the
press conference. I asked her, you know, I know that
when it comes to face and elimination, you're going to say,
I'm playing for my team.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
We're playing together, we know what we got to do.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
But personally, because you have a personal goal of winning
a championship, what's that additional motivation for you? And she's like,
I just can't pass up these moments, Like I can't
let these moments pass me by because they're few and
far between. So I know what I gotta do. I
know that I have to go out there and play
different better than we're playing right now. So they get
it like they're realistic of the whole that they find
(20:29):
themselves in, and they are even more realistic that they
put themselves there and they know tomorrow it's do or die.
They have to get it done. I think that in
itself is enough to force this team to want to
play with some pride right to not want to say,
but you are a franchise, whether or not you've been
there or not, your franchise that has three championships, do
(20:50):
Wanna Bonner has one of them to her own name
that's hanging up in that rafter. There's a sense of
pride that you feel when you play for this Phoenix
Mercury team. And I don't think they want to disappoint
their franchise or them sealed by saying that they've been swept.
Neither of them were swept, yeah the playoffs before. So
I do think there's a small chance that they can
(21:11):
win Game four, and it would be great for Las
Vegas to go home and have a shot at winning
a championship at the on their home court. But also
they might be like, listen, we tied, we got trips
to take, you know, NBA get ready to start.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Asia want to go support Bam, you know what I'm saying,
So she might be ready.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
There is some pride in getting that sweep, and I
do think you know, every single.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Season, you hear either the winning teams.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Say we're so glad we got it done with this group,
or a team that loses expressing their sadness that we
know we're never going to have this locker room again.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
We're proud of what we did.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
We accomplished what we did, but we're not coming back
with these exact people. Never more accurate than this season
because of what's expected in the offseason. They're between the
expansion teams and the negotiations for the CBA that may
shake things up and send veterans all over the place.
There's like two veterans on a contract right now to
(22:05):
go back to where they're playing, and so we could
see completely different looking teams, and so I think that's
an extra weight on Alyssa Thomas's shoulders that even more
so than any other year, it's hard to imagine coming
back and being able to fight with these seam players.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Interesting note.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
If the Aces win tomorrow, Jewel Lloyd would have a
perfect ten to zero finals record and three championships. Like,
clearly there's other people out on the court with her,
but talk about someone who has come up big when
it matters most.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
She has never lost a finals game.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
She's never lost.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
And it's the funniest thing because Asia was talking about
playing Seattle in the twenty twenty finals and you know,
you look at Jewel. She has the nickname of gold Mama,
and she said, you know, Jewel, when you showed up
in them gold shoes, I knew what time it was, right,
I knew you were channeling Kobe and swept Las Vegas
out the finals. So it's such a one to eighty
(22:59):
moment that now she's playing in the finals in at
Las Vegas, Aces Jersey. But it is incredible to think
that there are a few players out there who don't
know what it's like to not be successful in the finals, and.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
There are others who have never seen a.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
W NBA finals, And I think, to me, that is
one thing that makes playing in the era of Asia
Wilson such a bittersweet moment.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Right.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
It's great that we get to see Asia play for
so many opportunities to win a championship, but it makes
you think, like, for players like the FISA and Alyssa
Thomas and others that are coming up, are you guys
going to get an opportunity to actually win one as
long as this one. It's like the Michael Jordan era,
like you know, and so it's tough. It's a bitter
(23:43):
sweet thing. We really want to see other players win,
but we can't deny what we're seeing out of players
like Asia Wilson and having the Batman the Robbins like
Jackie Young's and Jewel Lloyd just kind of adds a
little bit of more sentimental value to this win.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Yeah, and it is cool for ass fans that there
is that core group that they've been able to root
for across multiple championships. As a Bulls fan, as a
Jordan Stan like, having those teams that we remember, the
pieces that stayed kind of current throughout is really fun.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
You mentioned.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I mean, Asia hit that game winning shot. First player
in WNBA history to have back to back twenty five
plus point and ten plus rebound games in the finals,
holds the record for most thirty point postseason games. Like
the stats go on and on of what she's been
able to accomplish and It is a great story because
Asia is a great story, because the Aces as a franchise,
ever since they've been in existence, have been a great
(24:32):
story and a great proof of what happens when you
invest in a team, resources, facilities, etc.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
But for the w.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Between Kathy Engelbert getting roasted on a spit and a
sweep in the finals right into business talk around the CBA.
This is about the worst possible thing that could happen
to them is a four games and done final in
the first year of a best of seven and nothing
more good to talk about, just the business of the
(25:02):
business this is, I mean, this is bad for the
league in my opinion.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
If the Aces get the sweep on.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Friday, see I would actually been to differ.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
I think that we were starting to see the numbers
come out that shows that this has been one of
the most watched finals up the Game one was the
most watched finals in twenty eight years. I think that
it shows how strong and how valuable the product is
on the floor, especially with a team like a team
like Asia Wilson, with a team like the Las Vegas Aces,
(25:33):
because if right, She's I think it just continues to
show how valuable this product is and how superstars can
drive this league. She is a superstar of this league,
and you have to know that people are gonna want
more of her, and they're gonna look at Mark Davis
and say, Mark Davis, you bought this team for how
much and it's value now and how much?
Speaker 3 (25:55):
And you are doing what you got three championships in
five years.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Like I think oppositely, people are gonna say, there has
to be some additional value to what the people are
saying versus what we're actually seeing about the WNBA.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
And it may even.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Cause if this series ends early, it may cause us
a speed up of some things in this process. Folks
have been talking about Kathy Engelberton whether or not she's
gonna resign. She says that she's not gonna resign, but
if the owners or you know, the board of governors decide,
maybe it'll help speed up negotiations if we look at
someone else to be in the commissioner. What better time
(26:32):
to do that now with the finals being well behind you.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
It still gives you two weeks before the.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Actual deadline of the CBA, which is October thirty first,
But I mean it does kind of give you a
bit more room to really focus on that business part,
so you can look at twenty twenty six, because right now, Sarah,
it's so hard to look at twenty twenty six. Networks
don't know what games they're gonna have, free agents, don't
know where they're gonna go. Expansion Draft, we don't know
(26:57):
when that's gonna take place. Like maybe ending the finals
early gives more room to kind of iron those things out.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I agree on the business size, there is a bonus
to it. I think what would be better for the
league is have the storyline of the Ace's success, but
have more finals games for TV purposes, revenue of that
for interest's sake, for storyline's sake.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
I think.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
You're right about the stories that can be written about
the dynastic run of the Aces, but I think they
can happen with a few more games.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
I want to before I let you go.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Ask you quickly about the CBA negotiations in Kathy Engelbert,
I've been trying to figure out and I can't find
an apples to apples comparison because the other commissioners in
the other leagues that are essentially a meat shield for
the owners taking the slings and arrows of everybody else
and protecting their bag. We can't really compare her to
them because she answers to someone else, and that's Adam Silver,
(27:55):
and Adam Silver ultimately could be the one who decided
to agree to a better revenue split, who decided to
be more transparent about financials, who decided to quit what
it looks like, which is using the WNBA has potentially
a tack shield or a write off for the successes
of his other league. And so we can't really point
(28:18):
everything at Kathy. And we have an expectation, I feel
like in women's leagues for the commissioner to get along
with the players or to play a more representative role
in the league than we do.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
For the men's side.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
So what do you make of the complication of Kathy
actually answering to someone else even though she's allegedly at
the head of the league.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Yeah, it's a very it's a very slippery slope here
as relates to her job. Now, I do think that
there has to be a human element that is associated
with serving as a commissioner. You need to understand your league,
you need to understand the players of your league. You
need to resonate with them in some way, even if
you aren't directly representing them, even though you represent a
(28:56):
different side, a different ownership, you still need to have
some of a relationship. It reminds me of you know,
we always give crap to Roger Goodell, rightfully so, but
when Damar Hamlin had his accident a couple of years ago,
he said, Roger came to see me in the hospital.
Roger came to check on me to see how I
was doing. That's a human element that has nothing to
(29:17):
do with who you work for, who you answer to.
That's just simply being a human being and being kind.
And what I've seen way too much over the last
couple of weeks is people giving examples of that human
element missing from Kathy Engelbert and I think that in
itself is something that's incredibly important when you're in the
middle of a negotiation of what you are now. Sometimes
in a negotiating and I'm sure you've been in negotiation
(29:39):
rooms where it's like, listen, personal relationships may have helped
movements along more so than it would have had that
personal relationship not been there. And for you to have
one of the superstar players of this league who rarely
says anything about anybody in this way come out in
a very calculated statement to say the things that she said.
(30:00):
I think that just further shows that while the business
has certainly elevated over the last six years in various ways,
the human element is still incredibly important. Elena delladd made
a comment about not hearing, and again, this is a
player who never says nothing about nobody, and for her
to come out and make a statement that human element
(30:21):
is something that is important, and so I hate that
it comes along with this notion that you know, women
are emotional and passionate.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
I don't think that's the case at all.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
I just think that you want to feel respected, and
that is something that the players are seemingly saying that
they don't feel with Kathy, And regardless of who Kathy
answers to, that's an individual characteristic that needs to be fixed.
I just don't think at this point it can be
like I just don't think at this point there's anything
that she can do to kind of shift that narrative
(30:52):
about her. So really it becomes Adam Silver, Now you
need to stop telling people this is going to get done,
this is going to happen to really just step in
and do it, and you haven't gotten a lot of
smoke for not having done this yet.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah, I completely agree, and I do think whether it
feels tinged with misogyny or not, there is a reality
that the nature of women's sport, the intersectionality of it,
the fact that there are political and social issues that
are connected to women's sport at all times, whether we
like it or not, means that the role of a
commission for a women's league is different than for men's.
(31:26):
There is something about a relationship and understanding of the
experience of the players that matters more. I think, particularly
at these very important inflection points for women's leagues where
it can't just be business. It can and is business,
and at the same time, there is a demand for
the person at the head to understand the players that
they represent in the league that they represent, and I
(31:47):
think that's where this conflict is coming from. Treca, we
could talk all day, but I got to take a
nap and you got to go out. I don't know,
is it at eight thousand degrees in Phoenix you got
to go out and get your face burned off your skull?
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Would you believe that it was actually just raining a
moment ago.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Wow, get outside and dance in the rain, girl, I
know appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Thanks as always, Thanks so much to here, Thanks so
much to Tarika for joining us.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
We got to take another break when we come back.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
A dope fall activity for the fam.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Welcome back slices.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. First, follow Tarika on
social media. We'll link to her accounts in our show notes.
And check out Katie Nolan's podcast Casuals. I sat down
with her in New York for an episode that hit
on Thursday. We talk lots of WNBA and WSL and more.
We'll put the link to the show in our show notes.
(32:50):
We always love to hear from you, so hit us
up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or
leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh
four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Rate and review It's easy.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Watch my wedding venue come and correct, rating ten out
of ten stalks a corn in his Airness's image review
The Apple Orchard slash Giant Barn where I got married
nearly a decade ago. Wow has revealed its annual Fall
Corn Maze, and I've never seen a cornstalk look better,
y'all because this year's theme is none other than the
(33:24):
Goat himself, Michael Jordan. The corn Maze is the Jumpman logo,
and there are even hidden MJ funbacks embedded in all
the twists and turns now. If you can't make it
to an MJ Mays, look around and find somewhere near
you better find some time to make some fall fun
because winter is coming.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you next week for Mish's last show.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Good Game Tarika, Good Game, Angel Reese, Few Head Injuries,
Heal Fast Satu. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sport.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
It's in entertainment.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rutterer.
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistants
(34:24):
from Avery LOFTUS and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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