August 19, 2024 • 35 mins
Grand Slam Champion and super fan of NY Liberty, Rennae Stubbs agrees with Khristina that Sabrina Ionescu should be in the most improved conversation but friend of the show and Winsidr journalist Myles Ehrlich doesn't agree. Join their conversation live from Fanatics Festival to find out why.
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CREDITS
Executive Producers:
Nikki Ettore
Jessie Katz
Tyler Klang
Jonathan Strickland
Supervising Producer:
Peter Coughter
Producer & Editor:
Tari Harrison
Host:
Khristina Williams
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment. Welcome to another episode of In Case You
Missed It with Christina Williams here on the iHeartRadio app.
And it's been a long week. Firstly, I had a
(00:23):
huge weekend up at the Fanatics Festival and it was
a three day event at the Jacob Javitz Center. We
did our first live show. Miles Earlick, friend to the show,
joined us and Renee Stubbs, six time Grand Slam champion,
So that was cool to have a little reunion because
I used to be on Renee stubs Amazon Prime talk
show last year as a WNBA contributor, and I always
(00:45):
see her at the Liberty Games, so it was fun
to be able to chat with her and see all
that she's up to, but also talk New York Liberty
and she is one of the super fans of the WNBA.
If you've ever been to Barclay Center, I'm pretty sure
you've seen Renee Stubbs on the sideline court side, screaming
her lungs out and cheering on the team. So it
(01:07):
was fun to catch up with her in Top All
Things Liberty, but also at the Fanatics Fest, I was
able to go into the exclusive forty forty Club. It
was like this secret party within the whole festival, and
we got to rub shoulders with some cool people. Michael Rubin,
jay Z Gail King told me she loves the name
(01:30):
of the podcast. I met Stephen A. Smith. It was
like a dream come true for any sports reporter. But
outside of that, I want to get into the headlines
this week because there's been some huge waves across the
women's basketball space. We know that the Aces and in
the La Sparks they played each other on Sunday, but
(01:50):
it was the postgame press conference that made huge waves.
Head coach Becky Hammond addressed media in a postgame conference
denying the wrongdoing of treatment of de yerk Hanby. Here's
what Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammond had to
say on de erk and Hamby's recent lawsuit bowed against
the Aces and the WNBA.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Here's some facts. I've been in either the WNBA or
the NBA for now twenty five years. I've never had
an HR complaint, never, not once. I still didn't actually
because Dereka didn't file any she didn't file with the
players union, she didn't file with the WNBA. Those are facts.
It's also factual that nobody made a call about trading
her until Atlanta called us in January. That's a fact, okay,
(02:39):
And so to me, I mean, there's it just didn't happen.
I'm sorry the bullying. I spoke with her every day.
If she wanted to practice, she practiced. If she didn't,
she didn't over the top care, actually over the top care.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
That's the facts.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
So I was kind of shocked to see Becky address
this situation head on because it is still a pending
federal lawsuit, and I'm not sure if I'm her lawyers
or part of the acest organization that I would be
happy that my head coach spoke out about this situation.
(03:22):
I'm prompted now. On the other side, I do understand
Becky and wanting to get ahead of it and just
address it head on, But I think that this was
an interesting statement to release when an investigation is still
pending and the lawsuit was just about last week. Now,
if you listen to our previous bonus episode here on
(03:44):
in case you missed it, with Christina Williams. Jerka Hampy
actually came onto the show and she shared some of
her thoughts on the changes she would like to see
implemented in this CBA for mothers and families. She didn't
address the actual lawsuit, but she did tell us about
her experience as a mother and as someone who is
a family working as an athlete in the w NBA.
(04:07):
And so we'll keep our ears close to this situation
between Deerka Hanby and the Las Vegas Aces and the WNBA.
So we're gonna take a quick little break, but when
we get back, we're gonna hear from Grand Slam champion
Renee Stubs and we're gonna learn more about her new
podcast debuting here on iHeart Women's Sports Audio Network, The
(04:28):
Renee Stubs Tennis Podcast plus Miles erlerch WNBA Windsider reporter
joins the conversation as well. So, Renee, have you been
(04:50):
able to like explore the grounds here at the festival?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
What do you like? Wow? I was just saying on
my podcast. Honestly, this Fanatics fest is just unreal. I
mean when people think that about sports. Obviously, Fanatics has
done such an amazing job over the last few years,
just promoting sports, promoting the fans, I mean, hence the name,
and just giving them what they want. I mean, and
(05:14):
obviously iHeart radio. What I Heeart are doing now with
the Women's Sports Audio Network has been awesome, just you know,
giving you people like you and me and males a
chance to be on you know, a network like this
and promote the sports that we love. And so I've
just done my podcast clearly with tennis. But obviously you
guys both know how much I love the WNBA. So
(05:37):
for me to sit here and just talk about it
in even in the smallest way, is so fun.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I love that, and I love that you're a super
fan of the w NBA. At least I love seeing
you at the Barclay Center and the front Road, just
sharing going hard for the team. I also know that
you're friends with Sandy Brundella, who's the coach of the
New York Liberty and an Australian national team. What's their
favorite part about just being a fan of the New
York Liberty and that energy and spirit that they bring
to the city.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
You know, I'm going to tell you something like I've
been to a lot of great sporting events in my life.
I've been a lot of great atmospheres in my life,
but I have to say, as a sporting moment a
couple of hours, when you go to a WNBA game,
particularly the Liberty Like, the atmosphere is some of the
best atmosphere I've ever been to in any sporting arena.
So I've taken friends of mine that have floor seats
(06:23):
at Boston Celtics games, and one of them, Julie, I'm
going to shout out, said to me, the atmosphere at
this Liberty game is better than the Boston Celtics and
people are going to go, what are you talking about?
But it's honestly, it's the fans, it's the community around WNBA,
and it's also Ellie the Elephant to the dancers, to
Ellie is unbelievable. I mean Ellie. It's also the timeless tortures,
(06:48):
Like there's just such a fun environment at the Liberty Games.
I just cannot tell you. And for anyone that hasn't
gone to them, please go because you will know exactly
what I'm talking about when you go to them.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Absolutely, And I would also say that there are a
lot of sports that I feel like there are women,
especially or and queer women that don't feel welcome at
so many sporting events. And I've got a lot of
friends that have gone to W games and say, oh,
I get the appeal. I understand why everybody just wears
these jerseys, why everybody goes with their families, why they
riote hard for these athletes. And it almost felt like
(07:20):
that was a gate kept from me my whole life.
And now I'm understanding that. So I think that the
W provides that, and it's a you can have sports
without the toxic masculinity. You can have sports without everybody
fighting in the stands or cursing at each other or
whatever it is and kind of just.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Suppressing going on out there.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Well yeah, and a lot of it happening on the court.
It's not the sanitized thing that is not competitive. At
the same time, you can have that without some of
that toxicity.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
One thing that I really want to stress with people
out there that don't or haven't been to a WNBA game,
I cannot believe how unbelievably physical the game of basketball is.
And it's something that I've discovered over the last year
and a half of going to these games. I'm really
lucky that I get tickets really close to the court,
and because I pay for them. Okay, but sitting there
(08:09):
that close to the games, now I know why players
wear sleeves. People like, why are wearing a sleeve? It's
because they get cut, you know, fingernails, arms hitting them.
They are hitting each other all the time, not you know, literally,
but like trying to get to the ball, you know,
trying to get into position, like all of the stuff
that goes on and when you sit and really I
emphasize the people watch the players away from the ball,
(08:31):
see what is happening away from the ball, And I'm like,
I have such a new found love for the sport
of basketball because I never realized how physical and people are.
Probably like, of course it's physical, what are you not watching?
But no, there's a lot of people that don't realize.
They just think they're throwing the ball to each other.
They're not really hitting each other. It's not like football.
But guess what. They are so physical these games, and
these players must wake up the next day and feel
(08:53):
like they've been through a fight.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I think we saw a glimpse of that physicality in
the Olympics, right, Yeah, the parody of women's basketball in
general around the world, not only here in New York
or in the United States, but around the world. I
mean France and the USA. That game came pretty close.
It came down to one point. Gabby Williams foot was online, obviously,
And we're happy, well Australians, I don't know if you're
(09:16):
happy that.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
No, we're happy because we won a bronze. I thought
that we probably were the second best team, you know,
if we hadn't lost in Nigeria. And I have to
give Sandy Brondelo a lot of credit because I know
how much stress was on her shoulders to get a
medal for Australia because we are arguably one of the
best teams in the world, and so to lose that
opening game against Nigeria. Kudos to Nigeria. They played amazing,
(09:38):
they won two games. But when Australia did lose that
opening game, that was stress personified to get through to
getting an opportunity to play for a medal. So I
just want to give kudos to Sandy, to the entire team,
to even players like Lauren Jackson, who is arguably one
of the greatest players of all times. We just sit
on the bench the way she had to. Maybe she
(10:00):
didn't fit into certain schemes, maybe she didn't match up
with certain players, and Sandy had to sit LJ a lot,
and you know, Lj's sitting there going, yeah, I have
to do this, and I'll do what I what I
need to do for us to get a medal. And
that's a great teammate. That's a great legend to also know,
because there was including myself, who flew over there for
(10:21):
forty eight hours. I wanted to see her play, you know,
and I saw her play for like three minutes, but
the objectivity was to win a medal.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Going back to just being here at Fanatics first and
the spirit of fandom. Are you a collector?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I'm not a collector, although I'm starting to think that
maybe I'm missing out on something because there seems to
be a lot of collections going on, especially the cards.
I mean, I'm Australian, so we didn't really grow up
with that sort of history and that it's a very
American thing, right to have the little playing cards with
baseball cards and things. We didn't really grow up with
that in Australia, so I don't really have that in
(10:55):
my history. But certainly just seeing all the love honestly
for sports here is it makes me really happy because
sports is healthy in this country.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
So going back to the New York Liberty, I mean,
obviously they play tonight against the Las Vegas Asies and
we're going to see a rematch of that finals game. Miles, First,
what have you seen from this New York Liberty team
that you enjoy? They are the number one team currently
in the standings overall with the WNBA. But what do
you like about this New York Liberty team?
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Well, what's not to like?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
They're twenty two and four, they're four games clear of
the rest of the standings at this point, and we're
seeing that year two chemistry that we were expecting coming
into this season. I hope this isn't a jinx. But
the last time I was on your show, Renee, was
right after Game four of the finals last year. We
were breaking down where the Liberty were at that point,
and we broke down that last possession some of the
overpassing that we saw that led that Courtney Vanderslot miss
(11:48):
from the corner. But looking now, especially even the other night,
coming back that Sparks game, they win by thirty five points,
and the chemistry they just pick right up from where they.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Left over no practice, no practice.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Sandy had gotten there the day before, Stewie and sab
did not practice the day before at all, So like
all of this was going on, they still were getting together.
The assistant coaches and the players that hadn't gone overseas
were still like getting together the last couple of weeks.
But it looked so fluid, and there's a trust there,
there's a love there, There's a chemistry there that takes
(12:21):
a while to jail. That's not something that you can force,
that's not something you can think. And when at the
end of the day you look at the standings, all
of that is really evident.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah. I mean for me watching that game the other night,
I was like, Wow, they look like they've been playing
together for ten years, and certainly in the first year.
I know that there was some you know, who's the lead,
who's the captain of this team? There's all this sort
of stuff, And Sabrina had been there for a couple
of years already, so she was like the face of
the Liberty, and then Stewie was coming in. It was
this like whole super team, and I think they had
(12:52):
a little bit of pressure on them to be perfect
and it was always gonna be difficult, and considering they
did pretty well, you know, they did come very close.
Maybe you know that shot goes in from slute. We're
in game five against a team that have been playing
together a lot in the aces. But I thought seeing
them the other night, not practicing together, not all the things,
and they just looked like they were flowing, like it
(13:13):
was no problem. And I thought seeing JJ come out
immediately knowing that she'd been rasted and had some time off,
I thought JJ came out with a lot of energy
and all the players that weren't at the Olympics came
out and said we got you.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
There was absolutely no Olympic fatigue in between at all.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I mean, it was great. That's the best I've seen
them play, I think, ever, and that's telling you that
they are in tune. I think Stewie and Sabrina are
the backbone of the team as far as Sabrina's played
so well this year, and I think that she is
finally calmed down into feeling like she has to be
perfect and know that she's part of a really potentially
(13:51):
great team here.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Miles kits on me because I said that Sabrina should
be in the most improved conversation for sure.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Now, thank you for a grand one hundred. Because you know,
there was.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
A lot of people that said, oh, she was a
former number one pick, this is what's expected of Yeah,
but I feel like the first couple of years of
her playing professional basketball, she struggled a lot one because
of injury. People questioned her defense. She's gotten better on
all all Paresser defense, She's become a three level scorer.
Files is like, no, she shouldn't be in the conversation,
but I definitely sabrintian Escue should be in that conversation.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
I agree team right now.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
The reason why I say that is because I think
that it dismisses how great she already was. I think
that that ignores the fact that she was already second
team All w NBA last year and the year before that,
and that she she on.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
The first team this year. I think she is. But
is that not improvement?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Is improvement? Is that most of the coma wait wait, wait, wait.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So the when you're I'm a voter, one of the
voters or whatever it is, we voted and the rule
is for most improved, you vote for a player who
has improved over one season or seasons. That is the critia.
So as you said, did she not improve over one.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Season or I will say that she regressed from beyond
the three, But she became a three level scorer, right.
She became everything that the Liberty said they needed out
of her. They put the ball into her hands more
this year, especially with Courtney vanderslooping now for a while.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
I mean there was amazing. I thought, you know, she's
a shooting guard. Yeah, she's not a point guard. Yeah,
And I can say that out of somebody that really
knows his mouth said she's one of the best point
guards in that period of time. She's one of the
best point guards, if not the best point guard in
the league. First of all, that I know of itself
is incredible to go from not being the leader, not
(15:38):
being the ball handler, to somebody who's like, I got you, Courtney,
I'll be the ball handler. And one of the things
that she, you know, isn't great at sometimes is distributing. Yeah,
that's that's what she's done so well. And that's where
I think her and Stewie have They're so into connected now,
and Stewie must feel like she's getting a little bit
more of a Sue Bird type of player in Sabrina.
(16:00):
We all know that Sue Bird could shoot the three point.
We know that Sue could suit anything from anywhere, but
that was not her role. Her role was to get
the ball to Stewey, was to get the ball to
others and then hey, listen, when the game's on the
line and you need me to shoot a three, I'll
shoot a three. And that's what Sabrina will do when
it comes down to it as well. But I thought,
I think that Sabrina's improvement in her defense this year
hasn't been spoken about enough because we all know her
(16:21):
defense was terrible. She'll be the first to tell you,
I'll love sad and you know that that's also what
you get taught at college, what you get taught growing up.
She wasn't taught fundamentally great defense, and you can sort
of see it in her wear, her hands are and
all this. And I'm not a basketball expert, but I
speak to enough of them to hear what they say,
and her improvement in that side, as well as her
ball distributing and her point guard it's been amazing. I mean,
(16:44):
Courtney must feel great too, knowing that if something happens
and she has to have a rest, so she can
put someone in there that can distribute the ball as
well as she can. And I mean even her little
lob shot, that little rift shot, whatever you call it.
But she's unbelievable that now. So it's just great to
see her, I mean her little her little Kareem abdul
(17:05):
dba like Lefty the other day. I'm like, she's improved
in every aspect of the game. So I disagree with you. Mom,
thank you. I'm with you. Christina, thank you, I thank you.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
So I feel like I'm being positioned by being anti
Sabrina here. I'm just saying she was already buscuit. I
think that that is that's where we are are dividing.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
We go, we go. We're just giving you, but you're wrong.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
The other player that I wanted to shout out in
Sabrina's improvement is her chemistry with John Quell. Jones has
gone to another level this year. The fact that Sabrina
has assisted to John Quell more than the rest of
the team combined.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
But one thing that I like about this Liberty Team,
and that Brianna Stewart told me is that they're interchangeable.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I think that in even that.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Article we were just talking about off air, but the
ESPN article that came out and said the question if
Stuwie's aging on our Prime, I don't think she's aging
out of crime.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
That's just ridiculous. I's thinking that Prime. They understand the goal.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
They want to bring the first championship to this franchise,
and so that may mean a adapting and doing things
differently than last season. And so I think that everyone's
kind of bought in and you.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Everybody eats, everybody eats. Yeah, that's what we've seen. And
when you say that this is a switch up from
last year, they're running the exact same sets. What has
changed is that Sandy Brondelo is just deploying her personnel differently.
That used to be Sabrina and Stewie and now it's
Sabrina and JJ. And when JJ came here in twenty
(18:26):
twenty two, with her last year at the Connecticut Son,
she was thirty seventh percentile in pick and roll as
the roller last year was eighty first. This year it's
ninety eighth and the two of them combined have just
unlocked something. And that's also that's not just Sabrina finding her.
That's also JJ passing, drawing the defense making these correct decisions.
Her high low with Stewie is also fantastic because they
(18:48):
can flip. It could be JJ at the high post
and Stewie posting up, or you can flip them and
get JJ onto that low block, and there's that versatility.
And I think that that's what we saw mostly in
Courtney Vanderslot's since is that helps Sabrina's defense too, because
now you're putting in a calab Thornton or a Lao
feebish or that I can't tire. Everybody can switch.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
But I do want to go back to that one
moment when you know Sabrina did give JJ a hard
time and you know a lot of it has you know,
she didn't want to ball to be past here. To me,
that's a moment as an athlete, and also in team sports,
is that the best person to call you out is
your teammate, right, so when the coach calls you out,
(19:30):
like get your head out of your ass, or sit
down on the bench, or I'm not playing you, whatever
it is, it's kind of like me, but when your
teammate says get your head out of your ass, You're like, what,
it's different, and then they can then have that relationship
to say, Okay, you're right. Maybe maybe Sabrina goes, dude,
I'm sorry, and maybe shouldn't have said whatever it is,
(19:51):
but it's that moment. It's like, I got your back,
And I feel like since that moment, they've had each
other's backs and they understand each other now. And I
think that's what we're seeing from the two of them
above above it all. Can I ask the two of you,
because I'm here on your pod Chris Loop in the script,
why aren't the Aces having the year that we Okay,
(20:13):
Chelsea Gred. We know Chelsea Gray is back, but is
that the only reason? Do you feel like you know?
Them giving her one hundred team one hundred thousand each
and all the sort of like tell me your thoughts,
both of you on that.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
First of all, they're ten and two since Chelsea Gray
has been inserted back into the lineup, and so obviously
be know that Chelsea Gray is that anchor for this
Las Vegas Aces Team's one she is, She's the Billy
the best point guard in the league. So you take
her out of that equation and you get what we
saw on the first half of the season. For the easiest,
Asia Wilson cannot do it alone, and I think that
(20:47):
sometimes Kelsey Plumb is a little bit inconsistent. And so
if Kelsey's Plumb is off her rocker of Jackie Young,
and they only have Asia Wilson doing everything, that's not
a winning ACES team. Also, they improved their bench, Meghan
Gustafson and obviously drafting Kate Martin, and so there's a
lot of chemistry to.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
What Liberty to lost.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
You Tip Hays too, the addition of Tip Hays Hay.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
As well coming out of retirement to play for the Aces.
So I think that is more than anything chemistry. I
think that also the first half of the season, they
saw what they looked like without Chelsea Gray. Maybe that's
a learning moment for the Aces where if they get
into that position again, they know what they have to
do in order to turn the page.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Yeah, I agree, Chelsea Gray is maybe not their second
best player. I think Jackie Young is their second best player,
but Chelsea Gray is their second most important player. Yeah,
she just makes everything function and Asia was putting up
thirty five and fifteen a night. It felt like those
first dozen games when they started six and six, but
(21:46):
because they didn't have Chelsea just getting everybody else into
the right spots, it didn't look the same. It's looked
great since she came back. I think that the one
hundred thousand dollars thing. I think there are eleven teams
that should be upset that they didn't come up with
it first, because these players need to be paid more,
and I think that we're we're inching towards that, and
(22:07):
right before a new CBA, right before a new TV deal,
nobody wants to blink because they want to hold onto
all the leverage they possibly can. So I'm of the
opinion that, like shout out Mark Davis and everything that he's.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Done, he's finding a way they players paid. I do
think the liberty will continue to roll on the momentum
from not only the Olympic break, but that when in
Los Angeles. I just think that they are a team
that's clicking on all cylinders right now, and the chemistry
is there. So that was the issue last year, the chemistry.
Now they understand each other's spots, and so I think
(22:40):
that right now they're the most dangerous team in the league.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Here's the other team that you feel like is probably
the best. I love that I've turned into the interview
in here, Christina.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, I know, I know, I love this. I think
Minnesota is definitely right there. There's the team that surprised
me so far this season, but after but I think
he's been Minnesota and Connecticut necking net because after watching
Marina Mayberry's first game on the Connecticut Sun, I'm like,
I get it. I understand why are they traded for
her and added her to the team she addd Dewana
(23:08):
Bonner was able to have a little sense of relief
now because they don't have to rely on her scoring.
They now have another score and so we know what
they can do defensively. Links is a great defensive team
as well. I think that I have those two teams
on the same tier as the dark horse. But Connectic
has been there right like, this is a new Minnesota
Lynks team, post Sylvia Bows, post Maya more Posts dynasty,
(23:31):
and they're trying to find their identity, and so I
think that Connecticut has the edge in terms of experience together.
They've been to the semi finals, They've been to the finals.
This is a group that's in a win now situation
and I think that's worth something.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I'll say they've been there, they haven't been there.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
The brides maid, the bride.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Yeah, So Minnesota under Cheryl Reeve has one championships and.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Not this group. I'm saying not this group.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
But what has impressed me the most about the Links
is that they look like they're playing playoff basketball every
single night. And it's because they're a little bit undersized,
but the rotations on that team are so clean. They're
just constantly playing defense on a string and they just
cause mismatches on the other end of the floor because
they've got that quickness. They have some of that versatility
(24:15):
that we talk about the Liberty having too, and I
think that's why they've given the Liberty trouble. The Sun
haven't beaten the Liberty in the last two regular seasons,
and New York won three or four to beat them
in the semifinal last year. So it's yes, I agree
those teams. I would say Seattle because of their experience
also is in the conversation. But Marina Maybray is a
(24:38):
difference maker. It's so difficult to make trades in the
WNBA mid season, but to get exactly what you need,
which is pressure off of dbat that was an easy
twenty nine for her last night she was coasting and
then to be able to stretch the defense that really
checks off a lot of what they need. And when
you talk about her intensity, putting her next to Alyssa Thomas, yeah,
(25:01):
and she just fits right in with that group.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Like it's like kind of like going into a boxing
ring and you're like, oh, no, thanks, yeah exactly, that's
what they wanted to too.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Real quick. As a former athlete, how have you handled
those high pressure situations and moments? I mean you've fund
six grants lamb, Yeah, you know something about winning and
handling those moments.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Just being prepared, Like honestly, like people are like, oh,
wean't you nervous? When I look back on some of
the matches, Like if I put it on YouTube or something,
I'm like, oh my god, I'm so nervous watching this.
How did I do this? You know, like this is
so it's because you're not you don't think that way.
When you're in it, You're really in it. You're you're prepared,
You've done the work, you've you've been playing a lot,
(25:39):
so it just comes so naturally to like get out
on the court and do your thing. And I used
to say, in big moments, do what you do. And
I knew what I did really well, and I didn't
let the things that I want it didn't do well,
affect the things that I knew I was good at.
So I think when you get into these moments, and
obviously look, when you're on a team, it's a little
different because you could be playing the game of your
life and your teammate it could be screwing up left
(26:01):
and right. They could be terrible passes, you know, missing everything,
and so you are relying on your teammates. But you know,
in doubles, where I won a lot of you know
I had most of my success, there were times where
I had bad days or my partner had bad days.
You just have to keep supporting each other. And I
think that's the difference in particular for the Liberty team
this year there their chemistry is so much better after
(26:23):
being together for a year, and even with the new
players coming in the Europeans, particularly the Europeans are so
used to playing real good team basketball and great defense,
and they fit in really well in that system. You know,
for me, it was just like you just be prepared
and believe in yourself and be really positive and never
think about the disasters, like detached from the outcome. And
(26:44):
that's what you would tell yourself in those moments. And
I think that that's what all these teams if they
want to win the WNBA, that's what they have to do.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
So I'm going to take on we're all just passing
around the host hat real quick. So I'm going to
ask you a question, Renee, when you asked about the
Aces struggling in the regular seat and how that's going
to affect them down the line. When you were in
a tournament and might have struggled a bit early on,
but then we're then able to go on and win,
how important was it to be at your best every
(27:12):
step along the way or is it just about that
building to get to the ultimate goal.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Yeah. I mean when you look at a team like Vegas,
they know what they need to do to win, and
they had a massive missing cog from that team. So
I think that they were all like survive and advance
and even in tournament play for me, I could play
the worst and often my worst match was the first one,
you know, because you're nervous, you're trying to get in,
(27:37):
and then you get to the second round, you're like okay,
you know, you get through the second round, then you
get into the round of sixteen, you're like, okay, you know,
you know you've got to get better. Right as the
tournament goes on, you know you have to get better.
And as the WNBA teams know when it comes down
to now the seedings and the nitty gritties and the
home games and who were they going to play, and
then eventually winning the WNBA, it's like they know they
(27:58):
just have to keep getting surviving and getting better. It's
great if you can peek at the first game of
the year. Great, if I've won my first round love
and love, I was like, great, but how is that
going to help me going forward? Because it's only going
to get tougher. So, in actual fact, if you had
a bad start to the tournament and then all of
a sudden you found yourself in the semis and finals,
you're like, all right, now I know how to do this.
(28:20):
I know how to win. So I think for someone
like a team like Vegas, they would be so not
panicking because their whole goal is get to the playoffs.
We have our full team back, we know how to win.
So I think they're all in a very calm state
and maybe one of the reasons why they haven't had
the success. Clearly we know because of Chelsea, but also
they're like, we know how to do this. Like everyone
(28:42):
calm down, Like as I say, calm the farm, everybody,
Everything's going to be fine. So I think when you
get through early matches in tournaments and you haven't played
your best, you're like, yeah, but I've played crappy and
I'm still here and I know how much better I
can be. So that's an amazing thing to have up
your sleeve, knowing that you are going to get better.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
There's no reason to hit the panic. But no one
of the last Vegas easies but Renee. But before you get
out of here, in the spirit of being a fanatics
past here live in New York City.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Who are you a fan of? Well, I mean, listen,
I just finished watching the Olympics, so every fan there,
and you know clearly the Aussie swim team, the women,
they won everything. We had one guy when a gold
way to go picking up the Olympics Regang. Yeah, I
don't think Raygan Old definitely. I'm not sure if she's
going to carry the flag in the next Olympics, but
(29:31):
she won't. I have a feeling she's done with her career.
I love all sports. I mean, I'm such a big
fan of the w NBA. You guys know how I
feel about it. I love watching women's basketball, watch it
all the time. Now you know, I'm a big skier.
I love skiing. Mikayla Schiffer and what she did last year,
to me is one of the great feats that doesn't
get talked about enough, of the most World Cup wins
(29:52):
by anyone, men or women. So I'm a big skier.
I love the beach, you know, surfing and all kinds
of stuff. But for me, the Olympics was just the
epitome of I don't know if you guys saw, but
you know, in Australia we have sixty minutes Australia as
well as you have here. And we had an interview
with a girl called Molly O'Callaghan, which who won the
two hundred meter freestyle and beat around Titmus, who was
(30:14):
another great Australian who has this great rivalry, friendly rivalry
with Katie Ladecki and Molly did this interview and got
quite emotional and kind of sad that she didn't win
the hundred because everyone expected her to win the hundred
meters and she didn't even meddle. I'd believe I think
she came forward. So it was a big disappointment for
I point oh one of a second she missed out
on the metal. It's like, ridiculous. I could never do
(30:35):
a sport that was based on time. I'd be like,
what could have put my finger a little bit harder?
You know. But it's like she was crying in this
interview because she was like, I hope I didn't let
my parents down, and I was just like, I felt this.
I felt this unbelievable emotion listening to her thinking, oh
my god, you think you're a failure because she didn't
(30:57):
win everything, and you know, and to listen to Nova
Djokovic after you won the gold medal and the Olympics say,
you know, he was asked, do you feel like you've
put the puzzle together? That was the last piece in
the puzzle was to win a gold medal. At the
Olympics because he's done everything else and he said, yeah,
he said, I'm always I always think, am I enough?
Have I done enough in my career? And I'm thinking
(31:18):
even these great athletes like Molly and Novak, they're always
thinking they're not good enough. They haven't done enough for
people to say you're worthy. And man, I just I
hope that the kids out there that are listening. I
know myself I felt the same way. You know, when
you would lose, it was like the worst thing in
the world. But it's about the journey, and it's also
(31:39):
about the effort. And if you've put in one hundred
percent effort, like I said, are you prepared? Were you
prepared to win that match or that game? Maybe it
just wasn't your day. Just always remember that it's about
the process and about the journey and about the work.
And if you do all of those things and you
can sit back at night and go, I actually gave
one hundred percent, that's your bad, that's good enough. You
(32:02):
might not win the gold medal, you might not win
the Grand Slam, you might not win the title, but
you know, in the end, I hope they feel fulfilled
enough to know that They've done enough, and so these
athletes stop trolling them on Twitter, stop giving them a
hard time on Instagram, stop telling them they suck. They
trust me are their biggest critics, so you don't need
to pile on and add that. So I just I
(32:23):
hope that you know fans are the sport. Before you
send something that's so derogatory and so hurtful to it, athlete,
just think twice about it and try and imagine that
person that you're about to send that tweet to. And
a lot of them are gamblers, so they're the worst.
But if you're not a gambler, even if you're a gambler,
think about sending that if that's going to go to
your child or your sister or your brother, because you
(32:46):
wouldn't do it if it was your kid or your
family member. So I would just that's my PSA to
forge like.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
That, And I really need that because sometimes I think
that as humans, we forget that our best is going
to look different every single day, and we just put
so much pressure on our selves to be perfect. But
Renee Stubbs, thank you so much for it.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
It was a pleasure miss anytime. Anytime, I'm gonna watch
it tonight, get out of here. No, you gotta plug
your show. Yeah, my show, the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Rene Stubs Tennis Podcast, will launch on August nineteenth.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Yes, Monday, on iHeart Radio.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
So make sure you follow all things Renee Stubs and
any sneak peaks about your show.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
What can you tell us? No, we just did. We
did our live one here with Caitlin. We just did
a little Olympics wrap up. Cincinnati is going on the
hardcourt season and we're going into the US Open. I'll
have a I'll have a US Open fully, you know,
go over the drawer and all of that sort of
stuff will be released next Monday, the Monday after so
the Monday of the US Open, and catch me on
(33:45):
ESPN obviously during the US Open. So I'm just I'm pumped.
I love this time of the year. It's super crazy
busy for me, but I'm here for it. So thanks, yep,
thank you, Renee. Thanks guys.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
So we're gonna pause right here, but we'll have more
for you after the break. Welcome back to In case
you missed it with Christina Williams. I just want to
(34:17):
thank Renee Stubbs and MOUs Erlick again for joining us
this week on the show.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
And here are my final thoughts.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
So New York Liberty are definitely still the team at
the top. They still stand at number one overall in
the standings. And when we talk about Olympic fatigue, this
team had four Olympians and they have not missed a
beat with a huge win over the Las Vegas Aces,
I feel like this is indicative of a team that
we can possibly see in the finals and contending for
(34:47):
a championship. And here are some of the latest transactions
from around the league. The Phoenix Mercury released Celeste Taylor.
She then signed to the Connecticut Son. Jalen Sharrod assigned
seven day contract with the New York Liberty Odyssey. Sims,
who was released by the Dallas Wings, has signed a
seven day contract with the Los Angeles Sparks. Monique Billings
(35:09):
has also signed a seven day contract with the Phoenix Mercury.
And the Seattle Storm released Keanu Williams on Sunday. Our
eyes is still on whether or not Gabby Williams will
decide to return to the WNBA, and also the trade
deadline is August twentieth, so make sure that you like
and subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date
with the latest transactions, including the latest on the Deerica
(35:32):
Hanby federal lawsuit against the Las Vegas Aces and the WNBA.
That's all for now, We'll see you back here next
week in case you missed it with Christina Williams is
an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment. Welcome to another episode of In Case You
Missed It with Christina Williams here on the iHeartRadio app.
And it's been a long week. Firstly, I had a
(00:23):
huge weekend up at the Fanatics Festival and it was
a three day event at the Jacob Javitz Center. We
did our first live show. Miles Earlick, friend to the show,
joined us and Renee Stubbs, six time Grand Slam champion,
So that was cool to have a little reunion because
I used to be on Renee stubs Amazon Prime talk
show last year as a WNBA contributor, and I always
(00:45):
see her at the Liberty Games, so it was fun
to be able to chat with her and see all
that she's up to, but also talk New York Liberty
and she is one of the super fans of the WNBA.
If you've ever been to Barclay Center, I'm pretty sure
you've seen Renee Stubbs on the sideline court side, screaming
her lungs out and cheering on the team. So it
(01:07):
was fun to catch up with her in Top All
Things Liberty, but also at the Fanatics Fest, I was
able to go into the exclusive forty forty Club. It
was like this secret party within the whole festival, and
we got to rub shoulders with some cool people. Michael Rubin,
jay Z Gail King told me she loves the name
(01:30):
of the podcast. I met Stephen A. Smith. It was
like a dream come true for any sports reporter. But
outside of that, I want to get into the headlines
this week because there's been some huge waves across the
women's basketball space. We know that the Aces and in
the La Sparks they played each other on Sunday, but
(01:50):
it was the postgame press conference that made huge waves.
Head coach Becky Hammond addressed media in a postgame conference
denying the wrongdoing of treatment of de yerk Hanby. Here's
what Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammond had to
say on de erk and Hamby's recent lawsuit bowed against
the Aces and the WNBA.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Here's some facts. I've been in either the WNBA or
the NBA for now twenty five years. I've never had
an HR complaint, never, not once. I still didn't actually
because Dereka didn't file any she didn't file with the
players union, she didn't file with the WNBA. Those are facts.
It's also factual that nobody made a call about trading
her until Atlanta called us in January. That's a fact, okay,
(02:39):
And so to me, I mean, there's it just didn't happen.
I'm sorry the bullying. I spoke with her every day.
If she wanted to practice, she practiced. If she didn't,
she didn't over the top care, actually over the top care.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
That's the facts.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
So I was kind of shocked to see Becky address
this situation head on because it is still a pending
federal lawsuit, and I'm not sure if I'm her lawyers
or part of the acest organization that I would be
happy that my head coach spoke out about this situation.
(03:22):
I'm prompted now. On the other side, I do understand
Becky and wanting to get ahead of it and just
address it head on, But I think that this was
an interesting statement to release when an investigation is still
pending and the lawsuit was just about last week. Now,
if you listen to our previous bonus episode here on
(03:44):
in case you missed it, with Christina Williams. Jerka Hampy
actually came onto the show and she shared some of
her thoughts on the changes she would like to see
implemented in this CBA for mothers and families. She didn't
address the actual lawsuit, but she did tell us about
her experience as a mother and as someone who is
a family working as an athlete in the w NBA.
(04:07):
And so we'll keep our ears close to this situation
between Deerka Hanby and the Las Vegas Aces and the WNBA.
So we're gonna take a quick little break, but when
we get back, we're gonna hear from Grand Slam champion
Renee Stubs and we're gonna learn more about her new
podcast debuting here on iHeart Women's Sports Audio Network, The
(04:28):
Renee Stubs Tennis Podcast plus Miles erlerch WNBA Windsider reporter
joins the conversation as well. So, Renee, have you been
(04:50):
able to like explore the grounds here at the festival?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
What do you like? Wow? I was just saying on
my podcast. Honestly, this Fanatics fest is just unreal. I
mean when people think that about sports. Obviously, Fanatics has
done such an amazing job over the last few years,
just promoting sports, promoting the fans, I mean, hence the name,
and just giving them what they want. I mean, and
(05:14):
obviously iHeart radio. What I Heeart are doing now with
the Women's Sports Audio Network has been awesome, just you know,
giving you people like you and me and males a
chance to be on you know, a network like this
and promote the sports that we love. And so I've
just done my podcast clearly with tennis. But obviously you
guys both know how much I love the WNBA. So
(05:37):
for me to sit here and just talk about it
in even in the smallest way, is so fun.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I love that, and I love that you're a super
fan of the w NBA. At least I love seeing
you at the Barclay Center and the front Road, just
sharing going hard for the team. I also know that
you're friends with Sandy Brundella, who's the coach of the
New York Liberty and an Australian national team. What's their
favorite part about just being a fan of the New
York Liberty and that energy and spirit that they bring
to the city.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
You know, I'm going to tell you something like I've
been to a lot of great sporting events in my life.
I've been a lot of great atmospheres in my life,
but I have to say, as a sporting moment a
couple of hours, when you go to a WNBA game,
particularly the Liberty Like, the atmosphere is some of the
best atmosphere I've ever been to in any sporting arena.
So I've taken friends of mine that have floor seats
(06:23):
at Boston Celtics games, and one of them, Julie, I'm
going to shout out, said to me, the atmosphere at
this Liberty game is better than the Boston Celtics and
people are going to go, what are you talking about?
But it's honestly, it's the fans, it's the community around WNBA,
and it's also Ellie the Elephant to the dancers, to
Ellie is unbelievable. I mean Ellie. It's also the timeless tortures,
(06:48):
Like there's just such a fun environment at the Liberty Games.
I just cannot tell you. And for anyone that hasn't
gone to them, please go because you will know exactly
what I'm talking about when you go to them.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Absolutely, And I would also say that there are a
lot of sports that I feel like there are women,
especially or and queer women that don't feel welcome at
so many sporting events. And I've got a lot of
friends that have gone to W games and say, oh,
I get the appeal. I understand why everybody just wears
these jerseys, why everybody goes with their families, why they
riote hard for these athletes. And it almost felt like
(07:20):
that was a gate kept from me my whole life.
And now I'm understanding that. So I think that the
W provides that, and it's a you can have sports
without the toxic masculinity. You can have sports without everybody
fighting in the stands or cursing at each other or
whatever it is and kind of just.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Suppressing going on out there.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Well yeah, and a lot of it happening on the court.
It's not the sanitized thing that is not competitive. At
the same time, you can have that without some of
that toxicity.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
One thing that I really want to stress with people
out there that don't or haven't been to a WNBA game,
I cannot believe how unbelievably physical the game of basketball is.
And it's something that I've discovered over the last year
and a half of going to these games. I'm really
lucky that I get tickets really close to the court,
and because I pay for them. Okay, but sitting there
(08:09):
that close to the games, now I know why players
wear sleeves. People like, why are wearing a sleeve? It's
because they get cut, you know, fingernails, arms hitting them.
They are hitting each other all the time, not you know, literally,
but like trying to get to the ball, you know,
trying to get into position, like all of the stuff
that goes on and when you sit and really I
emphasize the people watch the players away from the ball,
(08:31):
see what is happening away from the ball, And I'm like,
I have such a new found love for the sport
of basketball because I never realized how physical and people are.
Probably like, of course it's physical, what are you not watching?
But no, there's a lot of people that don't realize.
They just think they're throwing the ball to each other.
They're not really hitting each other. It's not like football.
But guess what. They are so physical these games, and
these players must wake up the next day and feel
(08:53):
like they've been through a fight.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I think we saw a glimpse of that physicality in
the Olympics, right, Yeah, the parody of women's basketball in
general around the world, not only here in New York
or in the United States, but around the world. I
mean France and the USA. That game came pretty close.
It came down to one point. Gabby Williams foot was online, obviously,
And we're happy, well Australians, I don't know if you're
(09:16):
happy that.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
No, we're happy because we won a bronze. I thought
that we probably were the second best team, you know,
if we hadn't lost in Nigeria. And I have to
give Sandy Brondelo a lot of credit because I know
how much stress was on her shoulders to get a
medal for Australia because we are arguably one of the
best teams in the world, and so to lose that
opening game against Nigeria. Kudos to Nigeria. They played amazing,
(09:38):
they won two games. But when Australia did lose that
opening game, that was stress personified to get through to
getting an opportunity to play for a medal. So I
just want to give kudos to Sandy, to the entire team,
to even players like Lauren Jackson, who is arguably one
of the greatest players of all times. We just sit
on the bench the way she had to. Maybe she
(10:00):
didn't fit into certain schemes, maybe she didn't match up
with certain players, and Sandy had to sit LJ a lot,
and you know, Lj's sitting there going, yeah, I have
to do this, and I'll do what I what I
need to do for us to get a medal. And
that's a great teammate. That's a great legend to also know,
because there was including myself, who flew over there for
(10:21):
forty eight hours. I wanted to see her play, you know,
and I saw her play for like three minutes, but
the objectivity was to win a medal.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Going back to just being here at Fanatics first and
the spirit of fandom. Are you a collector?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I'm not a collector, although I'm starting to think that
maybe I'm missing out on something because there seems to
be a lot of collections going on, especially the cards.
I mean, I'm Australian, so we didn't really grow up
with that sort of history and that it's a very
American thing, right to have the little playing cards with
baseball cards and things. We didn't really grow up with
that in Australia, so I don't really have that in
(10:55):
my history. But certainly just seeing all the love honestly
for sports here is it makes me really happy because
sports is healthy in this country.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
So going back to the New York Liberty, I mean,
obviously they play tonight against the Las Vegas Asies and
we're going to see a rematch of that finals game. Miles, First,
what have you seen from this New York Liberty team
that you enjoy? They are the number one team currently
in the standings overall with the WNBA. But what do
you like about this New York Liberty team?
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Well, what's not to like?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
They're twenty two and four, they're four games clear of
the rest of the standings at this point, and we're
seeing that year two chemistry that we were expecting coming
into this season. I hope this isn't a jinx. But
the last time I was on your show, Renee, was
right after Game four of the finals last year. We
were breaking down where the Liberty were at that point,
and we broke down that last possession some of the
overpassing that we saw that led that Courtney Vanderslot miss
(11:48):
from the corner. But looking now, especially even the other night,
coming back that Sparks game, they win by thirty five points,
and the chemistry they just pick right up from where they.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Left over no practice, no practice.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Sandy had gotten there the day before, Stewie and sab
did not practice the day before at all, So like
all of this was going on, they still were getting together.
The assistant coaches and the players that hadn't gone overseas
were still like getting together the last couple of weeks.
But it looked so fluid, and there's a trust there,
there's a love there, There's a chemistry there that takes
(12:21):
a while to jail. That's not something that you can force,
that's not something you can think. And when at the
end of the day you look at the standings, all
of that is really evident.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah. I mean for me watching that game the other night,
I was like, Wow, they look like they've been playing
together for ten years, and certainly in the first year.
I know that there was some you know, who's the lead,
who's the captain of this team? There's all this sort
of stuff, And Sabrina had been there for a couple
of years already, so she was like the face of
the Liberty, and then Stewie was coming in. It was
this like whole super team, and I think they had
(12:52):
a little bit of pressure on them to be perfect
and it was always gonna be difficult, and considering they
did pretty well, you know, they did come very close.
Maybe you know that shot goes in from slute. We're
in game five against a team that have been playing
together a lot in the aces. But I thought seeing
them the other night, not practicing together, not all the things,
and they just looked like they were flowing, like it
(13:13):
was no problem. And I thought seeing JJ come out
immediately knowing that she'd been rasted and had some time off,
I thought JJ came out with a lot of energy
and all the players that weren't at the Olympics came
out and said we got you.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
There was absolutely no Olympic fatigue in between at all.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I mean, it was great. That's the best I've seen
them play, I think, ever, and that's telling you that
they are in tune. I think Stewie and Sabrina are
the backbone of the team as far as Sabrina's played
so well this year, and I think that she is
finally calmed down into feeling like she has to be
perfect and know that she's part of a really potentially
(13:51):
great team here.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Miles kits on me because I said that Sabrina should
be in the most improved conversation for sure.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Now, thank you for a grand one hundred. Because you know,
there was.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
A lot of people that said, oh, she was a
former number one pick, this is what's expected of Yeah,
but I feel like the first couple of years of
her playing professional basketball, she struggled a lot one because
of injury. People questioned her defense. She's gotten better on
all all Paresser defense, She's become a three level scorer.
Files is like, no, she shouldn't be in the conversation,
but I definitely sabrintian Escue should be in that conversation.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
I agree team right now.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
The reason why I say that is because I think
that it dismisses how great she already was. I think
that that ignores the fact that she was already second
team All w NBA last year and the year before that,
and that she she on.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
The first team this year. I think she is. But
is that not improvement?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Is improvement? Is that most of the coma wait wait, wait, wait.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So the when you're I'm a voter, one of the
voters or whatever it is, we voted and the rule
is for most improved, you vote for a player who
has improved over one season or seasons. That is the critia.
So as you said, did she not improve over one.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Season or I will say that she regressed from beyond
the three, But she became a three level scorer, right.
She became everything that the Liberty said they needed out
of her. They put the ball into her hands more
this year, especially with Courtney vanderslooping now for a while.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
I mean there was amazing. I thought, you know, she's
a shooting guard. Yeah, she's not a point guard. Yeah,
And I can say that out of somebody that really
knows his mouth said she's one of the best point
guards in that period of time. She's one of the
best point guards, if not the best point guard in
the league. First of all, that I know of itself
is incredible to go from not being the leader, not
(15:38):
being the ball handler, to somebody who's like, I got you, Courtney,
I'll be the ball handler. And one of the things
that she, you know, isn't great at sometimes is distributing. Yeah,
that's that's what she's done so well. And that's where
I think her and Stewie have They're so into connected now,
and Stewie must feel like she's getting a little bit
more of a Sue Bird type of player in Sabrina.
(16:00):
We all know that Sue Bird could shoot the three point.
We know that Sue could suit anything from anywhere, but
that was not her role. Her role was to get
the ball to Stewey, was to get the ball to
others and then hey, listen, when the game's on the
line and you need me to shoot a three, I'll
shoot a three. And that's what Sabrina will do when
it comes down to it as well. But I thought,
I think that Sabrina's improvement in her defense this year
hasn't been spoken about enough because we all know her
(16:21):
defense was terrible. She'll be the first to tell you,
I'll love sad and you know that that's also what
you get taught at college, what you get taught growing up.
She wasn't taught fundamentally great defense, and you can sort
of see it in her wear, her hands are and
all this. And I'm not a basketball expert, but I
speak to enough of them to hear what they say,
and her improvement in that side, as well as her
ball distributing and her point guard it's been amazing. I mean,
(16:44):
Courtney must feel great too, knowing that if something happens
and she has to have a rest, so she can
put someone in there that can distribute the ball as
well as she can. And I mean even her little
lob shot, that little rift shot, whatever you call it.
But she's unbelievable that now. So it's just great to
see her, I mean her little her little Kareem abdul
(17:05):
dba like Lefty the other day. I'm like, she's improved
in every aspect of the game. So I disagree with you. Mom,
thank you. I'm with you. Christina, thank you, I thank you.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
So I feel like I'm being positioned by being anti
Sabrina here. I'm just saying she was already buscuit. I
think that that is that's where we are are dividing.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
We go, we go. We're just giving you, but you're wrong.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
The other player that I wanted to shout out in
Sabrina's improvement is her chemistry with John Quell. Jones has
gone to another level this year. The fact that Sabrina
has assisted to John Quell more than the rest of
the team combined.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
But one thing that I like about this Liberty Team,
and that Brianna Stewart told me is that they're interchangeable.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I think that in even that.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Article we were just talking about off air, but the
ESPN article that came out and said the question if
Stuwie's aging on our Prime, I don't think she's aging
out of crime.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
That's just ridiculous. I's thinking that Prime. They understand the goal.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
They want to bring the first championship to this franchise,
and so that may mean a adapting and doing things
differently than last season. And so I think that everyone's
kind of bought in and you.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Everybody eats, everybody eats. Yeah, that's what we've seen. And
when you say that this is a switch up from
last year, they're running the exact same sets. What has
changed is that Sandy Brondelo is just deploying her personnel differently.
That used to be Sabrina and Stewie and now it's
Sabrina and JJ. And when JJ came here in twenty
(18:26):
twenty two, with her last year at the Connecticut Son,
she was thirty seventh percentile in pick and roll as
the roller last year was eighty first. This year it's
ninety eighth and the two of them combined have just
unlocked something. And that's also that's not just Sabrina finding her.
That's also JJ passing, drawing the defense making these correct decisions.
Her high low with Stewie is also fantastic because they
(18:48):
can flip. It could be JJ at the high post
and Stewie posting up, or you can flip them and
get JJ onto that low block, and there's that versatility.
And I think that that's what we saw mostly in
Courtney Vanderslot's since is that helps Sabrina's defense too, because
now you're putting in a calab Thornton or a Lao
feebish or that I can't tire. Everybody can switch.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
But I do want to go back to that one
moment when you know Sabrina did give JJ a hard
time and you know a lot of it has you know,
she didn't want to ball to be past here. To me,
that's a moment as an athlete, and also in team sports,
is that the best person to call you out is
your teammate, right, so when the coach calls you out,
(19:30):
like get your head out of your ass, or sit
down on the bench, or I'm not playing you, whatever
it is, it's kind of like me, but when your
teammate says get your head out of your ass, You're like, what,
it's different, and then they can then have that relationship
to say, Okay, you're right. Maybe maybe Sabrina goes, dude,
I'm sorry, and maybe shouldn't have said whatever it is,
(19:51):
but it's that moment. It's like, I got your back,
And I feel like since that moment, they've had each
other's backs and they understand each other now. And I
think that's what we're seeing from the two of them
above above it all. Can I ask the two of you,
because I'm here on your pod Chris Loop in the script,
why aren't the Aces having the year that we Okay,
(20:13):
Chelsea Gred. We know Chelsea Gray is back, but is
that the only reason? Do you feel like you know?
Them giving her one hundred team one hundred thousand each
and all the sort of like tell me your thoughts,
both of you on that.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
First of all, they're ten and two since Chelsea Gray
has been inserted back into the lineup, and so obviously
be know that Chelsea Gray is that anchor for this
Las Vegas Aces Team's one she is, She's the Billy
the best point guard in the league. So you take
her out of that equation and you get what we
saw on the first half of the season. For the easiest,
Asia Wilson cannot do it alone, and I think that
(20:47):
sometimes Kelsey Plumb is a little bit inconsistent. And so
if Kelsey's Plumb is off her rocker of Jackie Young,
and they only have Asia Wilson doing everything, that's not
a winning ACES team. Also, they improved their bench, Meghan
Gustafson and obviously drafting Kate Martin, and so there's a
lot of chemistry to.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
What Liberty to lost.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
You Tip Hays too, the addition of Tip Hays Hay.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
As well coming out of retirement to play for the Aces.
So I think that is more than anything chemistry. I
think that also the first half of the season, they
saw what they looked like without Chelsea Gray. Maybe that's
a learning moment for the Aces where if they get
into that position again, they know what they have to
do in order to turn the page.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Yeah, I agree, Chelsea Gray is maybe not their second
best player. I think Jackie Young is their second best player,
but Chelsea Gray is their second most important player. Yeah,
she just makes everything function and Asia was putting up
thirty five and fifteen a night. It felt like those
first dozen games when they started six and six, but
(21:46):
because they didn't have Chelsea just getting everybody else into
the right spots, it didn't look the same. It's looked
great since she came back. I think that the one
hundred thousand dollars thing. I think there are eleven teams
that should be upset that they didn't come up with
it first, because these players need to be paid more,
and I think that we're we're inching towards that, and
(22:07):
right before a new CBA, right before a new TV deal,
nobody wants to blink because they want to hold onto
all the leverage they possibly can. So I'm of the
opinion that, like shout out Mark Davis and everything that he's.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Done, he's finding a way they players paid. I do
think the liberty will continue to roll on the momentum
from not only the Olympic break, but that when in
Los Angeles. I just think that they are a team
that's clicking on all cylinders right now, and the chemistry
is there. So that was the issue last year, the chemistry.
Now they understand each other's spots, and so I think
(22:40):
that right now they're the most dangerous team in the league.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Here's the other team that you feel like is probably
the best. I love that I've turned into the interview
in here, Christina.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, I know, I know, I love this. I think
Minnesota is definitely right there. There's the team that surprised
me so far this season, but after but I think
he's been Minnesota and Connecticut necking net because after watching
Marina Mayberry's first game on the Connecticut Sun, I'm like,
I get it. I understand why are they traded for
her and added her to the team she addd Dewana
(23:08):
Bonner was able to have a little sense of relief
now because they don't have to rely on her scoring.
They now have another score and so we know what
they can do defensively. Links is a great defensive team
as well. I think that I have those two teams
on the same tier as the dark horse. But Connectic
has been there right like, this is a new Minnesota
Lynks team, post Sylvia Bows, post Maya more Posts dynasty,
(23:31):
and they're trying to find their identity, and so I
think that Connecticut has the edge in terms of experience together.
They've been to the semi finals, They've been to the finals.
This is a group that's in a win now situation
and I think that's worth something.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I'll say they've been there, they haven't been there.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
The brides maid, the bride.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Yeah, So Minnesota under Cheryl Reeve has one championships and.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Not this group. I'm saying not this group.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
But what has impressed me the most about the Links
is that they look like they're playing playoff basketball every
single night. And it's because they're a little bit undersized,
but the rotations on that team are so clean. They're
just constantly playing defense on a string and they just
cause mismatches on the other end of the floor because
they've got that quickness. They have some of that versatility
(24:15):
that we talk about the Liberty having too, and I
think that's why they've given the Liberty trouble. The Sun
haven't beaten the Liberty in the last two regular seasons,
and New York won three or four to beat them
in the semifinal last year. So it's yes, I agree
those teams. I would say Seattle because of their experience
also is in the conversation. But Marina Maybray is a
(24:38):
difference maker. It's so difficult to make trades in the
WNBA mid season, but to get exactly what you need,
which is pressure off of dbat that was an easy
twenty nine for her last night she was coasting and
then to be able to stretch the defense that really
checks off a lot of what they need. And when
you talk about her intensity, putting her next to Alyssa Thomas, yeah,
(25:01):
and she just fits right in with that group.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Like it's like kind of like going into a boxing
ring and you're like, oh, no, thanks, yeah exactly, that's
what they wanted to too.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Real quick. As a former athlete, how have you handled
those high pressure situations and moments? I mean you've fund
six grants lamb, Yeah, you know something about winning and
handling those moments.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Just being prepared, Like honestly, like people are like, oh,
wean't you nervous? When I look back on some of
the matches, Like if I put it on YouTube or something,
I'm like, oh my god, I'm so nervous watching this.
How did I do this? You know, like this is
so it's because you're not you don't think that way.
When you're in it, You're really in it. You're you're prepared,
You've done the work, you've you've been playing a lot,
(25:39):
so it just comes so naturally to like get out
on the court and do your thing. And I used
to say, in big moments, do what you do. And
I knew what I did really well, and I didn't
let the things that I want it didn't do well,
affect the things that I knew I was good at.
So I think when you get into these moments, and
obviously look, when you're on a team, it's a little
different because you could be playing the game of your
life and your teammate it could be screwing up left
(26:01):
and right. They could be terrible passes, you know, missing everything,
and so you are relying on your teammates. But you know,
in doubles, where I won a lot of you know
I had most of my success, there were times where
I had bad days or my partner had bad days.
You just have to keep supporting each other. And I
think that's the difference in particular for the Liberty team
this year there their chemistry is so much better after
(26:23):
being together for a year, and even with the new
players coming in the Europeans, particularly the Europeans are so
used to playing real good team basketball and great defense,
and they fit in really well in that system. You know,
for me, it was just like you just be prepared
and believe in yourself and be really positive and never
think about the disasters, like detached from the outcome. And
(26:44):
that's what you would tell yourself in those moments. And
I think that that's what all these teams if they
want to win the WNBA, that's what they have to do.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
So I'm going to take on we're all just passing
around the host hat real quick. So I'm going to
ask you a question, Renee, when you asked about the
Aces struggling in the regular seat and how that's going
to affect them down the line. When you were in
a tournament and might have struggled a bit early on,
but then we're then able to go on and win,
how important was it to be at your best every
(27:12):
step along the way or is it just about that
building to get to the ultimate goal.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Yeah. I mean when you look at a team like Vegas,
they know what they need to do to win, and
they had a massive missing cog from that team. So
I think that they were all like survive and advance
and even in tournament play for me, I could play
the worst and often my worst match was the first one,
you know, because you're nervous, you're trying to get in,
(27:37):
and then you get to the second round, you're like okay,
you know, you get through the second round, then you
get into the round of sixteen, you're like, okay, you know,
you know you've got to get better. Right as the
tournament goes on, you know you have to get better.
And as the WNBA teams know when it comes down
to now the seedings and the nitty gritties and the
home games and who were they going to play, and
then eventually winning the WNBA, it's like they know they
(27:58):
just have to keep getting surviving and getting better. It's
great if you can peek at the first game of
the year. Great, if I've won my first round love
and love, I was like, great, but how is that
going to help me going forward? Because it's only going
to get tougher. So, in actual fact, if you had
a bad start to the tournament and then all of
a sudden you found yourself in the semis and finals,
you're like, all right, now I know how to do this.
(28:20):
I know how to win. So I think for someone
like a team like Vegas, they would be so not
panicking because their whole goal is get to the playoffs.
We have our full team back, we know how to win.
So I think they're all in a very calm state
and maybe one of the reasons why they haven't had
the success. Clearly we know because of Chelsea, but also
they're like, we know how to do this. Like everyone
(28:42):
calm down, Like as I say, calm the farm, everybody,
Everything's going to be fine. So I think when you
get through early matches in tournaments and you haven't played
your best, you're like, yeah, but I've played crappy and
I'm still here and I know how much better I
can be. So that's an amazing thing to have up
your sleeve, knowing that you are going to get better.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
There's no reason to hit the panic. But no one
of the last Vegas easies but Renee. But before you get
out of here, in the spirit of being a fanatics
past here live in New York City.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Who are you a fan of? Well, I mean, listen,
I just finished watching the Olympics, so every fan there,
and you know clearly the Aussie swim team, the women,
they won everything. We had one guy when a gold
way to go picking up the Olympics Regang. Yeah, I
don't think Raygan Old definitely. I'm not sure if she's
going to carry the flag in the next Olympics, but
(29:31):
she won't. I have a feeling she's done with her career.
I love all sports. I mean, I'm such a big
fan of the w NBA. You guys know how I
feel about it. I love watching women's basketball, watch it
all the time. Now you know, I'm a big skier.
I love skiing. Mikayla Schiffer and what she did last year,
to me is one of the great feats that doesn't
get talked about enough, of the most World Cup wins
(29:52):
by anyone, men or women. So I'm a big skier.
I love the beach, you know, surfing and all kinds
of stuff. But for me, the Olympics was just the
epitome of I don't know if you guys saw, but
you know, in Australia we have sixty minutes Australia as
well as you have here. And we had an interview
with a girl called Molly O'Callaghan, which who won the
two hundred meter freestyle and beat around Titmus, who was
(30:14):
another great Australian who has this great rivalry, friendly rivalry
with Katie Ladecki and Molly did this interview and got
quite emotional and kind of sad that she didn't win
the hundred because everyone expected her to win the hundred
meters and she didn't even meddle. I'd believe I think
she came forward. So it was a big disappointment for
I point oh one of a second she missed out
on the metal. It's like, ridiculous. I could never do
(30:35):
a sport that was based on time. I'd be like,
what could have put my finger a little bit harder?
You know. But it's like she was crying in this
interview because she was like, I hope I didn't let
my parents down, and I was just like, I felt this.
I felt this unbelievable emotion listening to her thinking, oh
my god, you think you're a failure because she didn't
(30:57):
win everything, and you know, and to listen to Nova
Djokovic after you won the gold medal and the Olympics say,
you know, he was asked, do you feel like you've
put the puzzle together? That was the last piece in
the puzzle was to win a gold medal. At the
Olympics because he's done everything else and he said, yeah,
he said, I'm always I always think, am I enough?
Have I done enough in my career? And I'm thinking
(31:18):
even these great athletes like Molly and Novak, they're always
thinking they're not good enough. They haven't done enough for
people to say you're worthy. And man, I just I
hope that the kids out there that are listening. I
know myself I felt the same way. You know, when
you would lose, it was like the worst thing in
the world. But it's about the journey, and it's also
(31:39):
about the effort. And if you've put in one hundred
percent effort, like I said, are you prepared? Were you
prepared to win that match or that game? Maybe it
just wasn't your day. Just always remember that it's about
the process and about the journey and about the work.
And if you do all of those things and you
can sit back at night and go, I actually gave
one hundred percent, that's your bad, that's good enough. You
(32:02):
might not win the gold medal, you might not win
the Grand Slam, you might not win the title, but
you know, in the end, I hope they feel fulfilled
enough to know that They've done enough, and so these
athletes stop trolling them on Twitter, stop giving them a
hard time on Instagram, stop telling them they suck. They
trust me are their biggest critics, so you don't need
to pile on and add that. So I just I
(32:23):
hope that you know fans are the sport. Before you
send something that's so derogatory and so hurtful to it, athlete,
just think twice about it and try and imagine that
person that you're about to send that tweet to. And
a lot of them are gamblers, so they're the worst.
But if you're not a gambler, even if you're a gambler,
think about sending that if that's going to go to
your child or your sister or your brother, because you
(32:46):
wouldn't do it if it was your kid or your
family member. So I would just that's my PSA to
forge like.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
That, And I really need that because sometimes I think
that as humans, we forget that our best is going
to look different every single day, and we just put
so much pressure on our selves to be perfect. But
Renee Stubbs, thank you so much for it.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
It was a pleasure miss anytime. Anytime, I'm gonna watch
it tonight, get out of here. No, you gotta plug
your show. Yeah, my show, the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Rene Stubs Tennis Podcast, will launch on August nineteenth.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Yes, Monday, on iHeart Radio.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
So make sure you follow all things Renee Stubs and
any sneak peaks about your show.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
What can you tell us? No, we just did. We
did our live one here with Caitlin. We just did
a little Olympics wrap up. Cincinnati is going on the
hardcourt season and we're going into the US Open. I'll
have a I'll have a US Open fully, you know,
go over the drawer and all of that sort of
stuff will be released next Monday, the Monday after so
the Monday of the US Open, and catch me on
(33:45):
ESPN obviously during the US Open. So I'm just I'm pumped.
I love this time of the year. It's super crazy
busy for me, but I'm here for it. So thanks, yep,
thank you, Renee. Thanks guys.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
So we're gonna pause right here, but we'll have more
for you after the break. Welcome back to In case
you missed it with Christina Williams. I just want to
(34:17):
thank Renee Stubbs and MOUs Erlick again for joining us
this week on the show.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
And here are my final thoughts.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
So New York Liberty are definitely still the team at
the top. They still stand at number one overall in
the standings. And when we talk about Olympic fatigue, this
team had four Olympians and they have not missed a
beat with a huge win over the Las Vegas Aces,
I feel like this is indicative of a team that
we can possibly see in the finals and contending for
(34:47):
a championship. And here are some of the latest transactions
from around the league. The Phoenix Mercury released Celeste Taylor.
She then signed to the Connecticut Son. Jalen Sharrod assigned
seven day contract with the New York Liberty Odyssey. Sims,
who was released by the Dallas Wings, has signed a
seven day contract with the Los Angeles Sparks. Monique Billings
(35:09):
has also signed a seven day contract with the Phoenix Mercury.
And the Seattle Storm released Keanu Williams on Sunday. Our
eyes is still on whether or not Gabby Williams will
decide to return to the WNBA, and also the trade
deadline is August twentieth, so make sure that you like
and subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date
with the latest transactions, including the latest on the Deerica
(35:32):
Hanby federal lawsuit against the Las Vegas Aces and the WNBA.
That's all for now, We'll see you back here next
week in case you missed it with Christina Williams is
an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Khristina Williams
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