August 20, 2025 • 34 mins
USA Today's Meghan Hall joins to discuss the Atlanta Dream's impressive season, Allisha Gray's MVP candidacy, and Coach Karl Smesko's impact. They delve into the challenges and successes faced by the Dream. Additionally, they explore the competitive Coach of the Year race and the significance of Sue Bird’s statue and rivalry week.
Want more women’s basketball scoop? Follow the show on Instagram @ICYMIwithKW and X @ICYMIwithKW and for more on Khristina, follow her on Instagram @khristinawilliams
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CREDITS
Executive Producers:
Nikki Ettore
Jessie Katz
Tyler Klang
Jonathan Strickland
Producer:
Buffy Gorrilla
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. Happy Wednesday, and welcome to another episode of
In Case You missed It with Christina Williams here on
iHeart Women's Sports Network and in case you missed it
(00:23):
ging The w NBA season is still winding now, so
we have a lot to get into this week in
terms of headlines across the w We're gonna talk about
the Atlanta Dream because this is a team that you know,
was kind of in the middle of the pack last season,
but now they stand in the top three. So we're
going to talk about the Atlanta Dream and Alicia Gray.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Her MVP candidate race.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
We're gonna get into the Coach of the Year race
because I feel like it's a very, very tough race
this year out of all of the categories for regular
season postseason awards.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
And then we're gonna dive into Sue Berg.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Who who is the first WNBA player to get a statue. So,
without further ado, I want to introduce today's guest. She
is a staff writer for USA Today's For the Win
and a beat reporter for the Advance Dream.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
First time guests on the show.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I want to welcome in Meghan Hall to in case
you missed it, Meghan, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I appreciate you coming, So Meghan.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Before we get started into the headlines and all things
Atlanta Dream, I like to ask every guest to share
what was a win for them this week personally. So,
what would you say it was a win for you
this week?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Oh, that's a good question. I'm gonna say it hasn't
come out yet, but I'm gonna like bang on everything
possible that it comes out tomorrow. I'm officially at the
ninety nine percent yard line for a really big feature
story I've been working on. I usually do one a season,
and this is my one for the season. I've been
working on it since May and we are at that
(02:00):
at that line, so I'm hoping that it will come
out yeah this week.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So congratulations on your big story. I want to share
a win that I had this week. I would say,
if I had to choose, what a win for me
this week was just I've been all in this, like
living the moment, kind of thing for the last month,
and I think a win for me this week.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I recently, I went to a funeral on.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Friday and it was someone that I had known for
quite a long time and she passed at the age
of twenty nine from like a freak accident.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
And I would have to.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Say that, you know, all those funerals and like someone
passing is sad. I actually came out of it thinking
very clearly of how we should just you know, learn
to appreciate life. And it kind of went with the
theme of like the month for me of just finding
balance between work life and you know, just your regular life.
And so I want to dedicate today's shown to Giselle Johnson.
(03:00):
She lived an incredible life. She was amazing to all
of the people who had known her. And you know,
I'm so happy that I was able to cross paths
with Giselle and she had a very positive impact on
my life. So I know people are usually sad after funerals,
but you know, I feel like, in a strange way,
just go into a funeral and like hearing other testones
(03:22):
about how she impacted everyone else, it kind of made
me feel good about this season.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Of my life.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So that was a win.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I know it's kind of morbid, but like it was,
it was a win for me this week to just
experience that. So yeah, all right, I know this is
kind of a weird time Beswitch years, but I want.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
To dive into today's show.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
So the Atlanta's read This is a team that I
wasn't so sure about coming into this season in terms
of fit of some of the acquisitions in Brittany Grinder
and bree Zones and having a new head coach and Smesco.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
But this is a well old machine.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Of even overcome his adversities with team injuries. What's your
take on how coach Costs Mesco has been able to
get this Atlanta Dream team going.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, So I'll be real honest with you. When we
went to Smesco's introductory press conference, this is a guy
that just does not He's not a fan of doing media.
So he was very, very reserved, very laid back, and
I remember making a joke with him after the presser
was over. I said, hey, you can breathe now, Carl.
He was like, oh, thank you. And you could just
(04:35):
tell that this guy is like he was. I mean,
obviously he knew you knew a lot, and obviously he's
super experienced more than two decades at the college level,
but just that sort of like, hey, I'm very unsure
of here, like what I'm stepping into, sort of vibe.
That's kind of the initial vibe that I got from
Carl seemed very sure of himself, but definitely unsure of
what this w journey may bring. But I'll say this,
(04:57):
from the moment that we started training camp, it was
very evident that like everyone was bought in on Carl.
Every player that we talked to said, hey, this is
different from than what I'm used to, but I'm here.
Bree Jones was one in particular who is particularly vocal. Obviously,
she came over in the off season with Atlanta and
she said, yeah, I'm not used to shooting threes, but
(05:19):
I'm shooting them, and she, you know, she was fine
with that. Tory Walker Kimber was another that we talked
to that hey, off season acquisition. Also different system, not
used to it. But I would say this, I think
very early on you saw what Atlanta could be, this
five out system, everyone around the perimeter shooting, and then
as the season went on, you went into injuries, you
(05:40):
went into oh, can they finish out games that sort
of thing. But they've hit a stride recently. You know,
you win eight of the last ten games, which was
fantastic for this portion of the year, and they really
hit this I would say almost this like uphill battle
that you were hoping they would get to to now
being second in the standings, which is super impressive for
a first your coach, and for a roster or half
(06:02):
the people that are on it. We're not here last season.
So I think a lot of it just attributes to
Carl encourages his team to continue shooting through what's happening.
They focus on the little details, and he gives them
grace to continue to figure it out on their own.
He mentioned something, I think it was a couple of
weeks ago, about not bailing out his team with early
timeouts and things like that, and I thought that that
(06:23):
was actually really particularly poignant, even though it was a
small moment of saying like, hey, I trust my team
to be able to get there. They're full of superstar,
full of quality depth here and that they can do it.
So the fact that Atlanta has kind of somewhat put
it together now is super impressive. Twenty plus wins in
his first season.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
And this is something that I think for the Atlanta
dream and credit to Dan patover Right. It's been in
the works for a couple of years now in terms
of the turnover of the franchise, having new owners, having
a new g income coming in and figuring out the
right roster and the right coach to be able to
have a successful teams. And the Landiship was an expansion
(07:03):
team in two thousand and eight, and so they're on
a hut for you know, a championship. And I think
that what Dan has been able to do is quite impressive,
especially with just how much turnover this band, with the
Atlanta's Dreaming in particular, You've been covering this team for
quite some time and this season in particular, this team
(07:24):
is dealt with a lot of adversity in terms of injury.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
What has been the most consistent thing throughout all of
this for this year?
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Yeah, that's a good question. I would say, honestly, just
their resilience. And I know that sounds very cliche, but
I mean you've had Jordan Canada olt, Ryan Howard out,
Brittany Grinder out, and everyone has stepped up. Everyone from
the rookies to Haina Powpow has been fantastic in her minutes,
and really everyone just kind of buying in. Ali Sha
Gray has kind of made it a conversation now about
(07:54):
who is typically one or two in Atlanta because her
play is stepped up under Smesco. So I think, really
everyone's just bought in. And I would also say this,
I know that she probably is not used to or
we're not seeing the production we're used to from Britney Griner,
but her presence on the Dream has made a big
difference as well. Her leadership early on from training camp.
Beg speaks, everybody listens, and that sort of calming presence
(08:17):
has added to this team and being able to kind
of not you know, of course, get not to get
too high with the highs and not get too low
with the lows. I think more than anything, they've been
able to push past some of those those moments that
like in the years before, yeah just pack it up,
like this team is not is not going getting past it.
I think the other thing for them is Atlanta really
(08:39):
hasn't been blown out in any games, which is just
insane to me. They've I mean, they've put up with
some really tough teams, and they they've been in every
game that they had, even the games that they've lost,
I felt like all of those were easily winnable, and
sometimes it just came down to like just losing focus
down the stretch or these little moments. But I think
that they've just been resilient throughout the whole thing. They've
never let anything really rattle them, and I think that's
(09:01):
really awesome for what is arguably a young team, you know,
still trying to figure it out.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
It's been so interesting to watch the growth imaturation of
Alisha Gray. You know, I followed her career when she
played in Dallas and ever since she's gotten to Atlanta,
and we should see her turn it up notch year
over year, and this is a year where she's in
those conversations for MVP. What separates Alisha Gray from the
(09:29):
rest of the MVP candidates right now?
Speaker 3 (09:32):
I'm so glad you asked this question. I've been banging
the table about Alisha Gray for probably three seasons now.
I think that she is a super underrated player in
terms of she's just disruptive on both sides of the ball.
I think what's been particularly nice this season in spectacular
is that she's a hand and glove fit first MESCO system.
(09:52):
It allows her to do a lot of free movement,
a lot of Captain shoot threes. She can just be
herself and I think that that has really helped her
kind of blossom. She's also been doing some really good
work with Chelsea Lyles, which is an assistant coach on
the Dream and Chelsea Lyles has been i mean every
home game she's out there shooting with with Chelsea, and
I think it's just fantastic to see Leish also believe
(10:14):
in herself too. I think that's probably been part of
the other things she had to have the confidence. She
told us a while ago that SMESCO told her like, hey,
this will be the best year of your career, and
she said, okay, Carol, like, I'm gonna see what you're about, right,
And it has been. I think it's just she's got
to believe that too. She you know, revived, so to speak,
parts of her career when she came to Atlanta. I
(10:34):
think that, you know, every year she's taken a step
and this has been the biggest one, and it's now
gotten her into MVP conversations all w conversations like it's
it's hard to deny her being a I would say
top five player in the league. This I don't think
that's a stretch to say, Like there have been times
where Leisha has been in that that conversation. So I
(10:56):
really think a lot of it is due to confidence
her ability to not only be the number one option,
but be that consistently for Atlanta. And we've realized, and
I say we, those of us who are covering, you know,
the wid regular and those of us on the beat,
that like alic Sha, Gery's kind of become the life
and soul. She's become the engine for the dream, right,
Like she's become that person.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
If Leish is.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Having an off night, then you know, like, okay, it
might be an uphill battle. And I think the biggest
example is the Valkyries game just the other night. I mean,
Leish was not great in that first time. I think
there were several players who didn't score a field goal, right,
so they had that kind of grind through that. But
as she started hitting some shots in the second half, Okay,
now we've got Ryan Howard throwing down three. Now we
got to Tina Palpal coming with floaters, like everything started,
(11:37):
you know, kind of clicking there, and I think it's
been really nice to see her just kind of rally
around that and her team come behind her too.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
And we think about the MVP conversations. Obviously the FISA,
Collier was the front runner and following in anyway still
is the front runner. But I think in the absence
of the fesas in Minnesota, when you think about, like
what qualifies a person to be named MVP, A lot
of people are saying, well, Minnesota hasn't missed the beat
(12:06):
without the visa.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I mean, they are.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Still winning games. They are still at the top of
the standings. So a lot of people quantify like an
MVP with you know, if you take this player out,
will the team be worse? And and so I guess
my question is, in the absence of the visa, we've
been given an opportunity to look at some of the
other candidates who are being considered for the MVP race.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
And when you think about, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Ali Sha you just mentioned her production on the court,
doesn't matter that they are number two in the standings
and that they're winning these games. What what are you
looking at in terms of what qualifies.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
You know someone to be named an MVP.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, I think these conversations are so funny, to be
honest with you, Like, I don't I don't know a
world in which someone says, oh, your team's win without you,
that discredits her MVP like conversation. So the thing is,
you would hope that a team would be able to
win without their best player, right, that's really good coaching,
that's really good adjusting. Like at some point, this team
(13:13):
should be able to win several games. Now, granted, Minnesota
hasn't really missed a beat, but they've had some close
games as well where they could have used the presence
of ANFISA collier. So I think this conversation of like, oh, well,
if the team's doing well without them, then like they
shouldn't be considered as an MVP. No, because the difference
between the Links with and without a visa callier is
two different things. And I think you get a very
(13:35):
good team and now you get a contending team, a
team that could potentially win a championship. That's the difference
that the visa collier makes. Like, to be honest with you,
if you were to say, oh, this Minnesota Links team
could go all the way to the WNBA Finals without
in a Visa Collier. Then I could probably say, all right, sure,
I'll listen to that sort of argument, But I don't
think that's the case. I think everybody, if we're thinking
(13:55):
clearly about it and deeply about it, knows that Anfisa
Collier is the engine behind the Links. With that said, like, yes,
while she's out right now, it really makes you have
this conversation about, all right, well is she really valuable?
Or it makes you have a conversation about, well, who
else should we be looking at? And I think it's
a fair conversation to have. But I also would say that,
like every situation is different, fee on and off the
(14:17):
Links is different if you take at on and off Phoenix,
different situation, right, same thing for Alisha Gray on and
off the Dream. So I just think that that conversation
is a bit disingenuous because why does why does the
team have to fail in order for you to consider
their MVP case legitimate. That's where I just I don't know,
maybe it's just me, and but I just I don't buy.
(14:38):
I don't buy that argument. So I would say that
right now, yeah, you're getting a good look at Alisha Gray.
Maybe she comes in second, maybe she's first for some
people as well. At is another one. Maybe she was
second and maybe she's now first for a lot of people.
I think this MVP race is probably not as cut
and dry as we thought it was before fees injury.
I think that Fee was the by and large, the front,
(15:00):
and now I'm not so sure. Like I really think
eighty is a strong case out in Phoenix. I do
think Alicia Gray has a case as well, and even more,
I'll give you one more like Asia Wilson has also
kind of throwing herself into that conversation. So if Asia
Wilson's able to continue at the tear that she's at,
and let's say that Vegas sneaks into i don't know,
top four, three, two, Yeah, then this becomes a very
(15:21):
interesting conversation in the last like three weeks of the season.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Absolutely, And you know, I think that it's also beneficial
as the Dream continued to push for keeping at second
place spot that Ryan Howard is back in the fold,
you know, the franchise star who you know missed some
games due to her injury.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
What has it been like for this team to have
Ryan back?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Ryan's always just one first and foremost a bucket getter,
game changer. She I thought that she had an all defense,
first team defense case going before her injury. I still
think Ryan's a great, fantastic defender. The game that they
played against Seattle where she scored nine points and thirty
second and I was like, what in the world I
just witnessed? But that's Ryan Howard. That's the ability that
(16:05):
she brings, that that extra that extra bucket when you
need it, that separation ability. I think for Atlanta, it's
good to see Ryan healthy again. Right She's now playing
without her brace that she had before for much of
the season, So good to see that. And also it
helps it helps a three point shooting as well. Atlanta,
you know, pride itself on being a three point attacking team,
(16:26):
and when Ryan takes that, I guess that leadership role,
the rest of the team just follows three start falling.
And so I think Atlanta is probably like smiling right
now about Ryan being back.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
So the Coach of the Year race I think is
pretty tight. There's a lot of coaches who we could
make the case for in my opinion. You know, people
were saying, well, the links are expected to be good,
so she'll reeve shit not get coaching beer. And like,
as we mentioned with the MVP race, it's like, what
are we doing? If you're the best coach the best
(17:09):
team in the league, you should definitely be considered an
in the conversation considering you know, people are like, oh,
the Links need to make ross moves. Well, I mean
they added dej n Carrington in the fold, they offloaded
some players, made some offster changes, and they are a
team who have been able to adjust without their star
(17:30):
and franchise player. So I think absolutely shol Reeve deserves
to be in the conversation. And then Col Smesto, of
course he deserves to be in the conversation for MVP
because he's the first year head coach with the new
team in this league and the team is currently at
second overall the standings. You can make a case for
Natathan Nicasse, who is also a first year head coach
(17:54):
on an expansion team. They have what eighteen wins right now,
the most for you know, team in league history. What
she's been able to do creeping up on keep positioning
in a playoff spot as well, So you can make
a case for Natalie. And then you can make a
coach for Date in Phoenix as well. What was their
(18:14):
take on the Coach of the Year race. It's the same,
It's the same, It's definitely the same. I just there
are a lot of times I just spend my days
shaking my head at some of the stuff I see. Yes,
by and large, you expect the Charl Reeves squad to
be better, right, You expected them to be good.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
They just lost the in the WNBA finals, and you
would hoe that they would, you know, essentially come back better.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Right.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
So I think for everything that we've seen, it tracks right,
and Carol Reeves should get credit for that. Like, it's
still they still had to win these games. It's not
to play them. You still have to, you know, do
the things you need to. Same thing for Carl, same
thing for Natalie. Fully on board with that. Nate Tibbets
is another one who I think, yes, by and large,
also deserves consideration.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
And I'll give you one more.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
I think we're not talking about it as much, but
I would give Stephanie White at least some credit for
what she's dealing with. The Fever are dealing with an
unholy amount of injuries and for them to keep fighting,
I think is really respectable. I'm not sure that it
will get her enough boost in the conversation, but I
at least think it's worth considering because that, I mean,
that is just brutal losing so many guards. Their point
guard depth is very very thin. So I think overall,
(19:21):
this coach of your conversation will get really interesting down
the stretch. If Atlanta maintains its second overall position. Yeah,
you think Smesco probably you know, could get a NOD
there if not, in the case if they make the playoffs, right,
definitely probably getting a NOD eighteen plus wins if the
if the Valkyries get to twenty wins or more like, yeah,
(19:41):
I think we might have to have that conversation about
Natalie the casse and the job that she's doing. I
just think that it's not over right. We still want
three plus weeks of the season, and I as a voter,
I really am just stressed already, seem right like we
are just stressed already because I'm I'm like, there's so
many good things happening you want me to choose, Like what? So,
(20:05):
I mean, it's great for Hooped, like I love all this,
but as a voter. I'm like, absolutely not. I don't
want to play news. It's too much. Too much, is
way too much.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah, I think that for me, this is one of
the categories outside of MVP, where it's just like WHOA
like you gotta he'll wait to the very last day
to submit your vote because there's so much to think about,
so much to go over in terms of this Coach
of the Year race.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
And I know that a.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Lot of fans are like, well, you know, voting fatigued,
like if you win so much, then you don't deserve
this and that, And it's just like, no, that is
not when I think about what I'm considering who she,
you know, received some of these awards. But switching gears
a little bit, I want to talk about Super, who
was recently honored by the Seattle Storm, which she played
(20:50):
over two decades.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
For that team.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
She was honored with the statue, the first w NBA
player to receive a statue.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
I absolutely love it. Shout out to my kind of boss,
Super because you know she's part of Deep Blue, but
shout out to Sue.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
You deserve all great things and I absolutely love a statue.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
But what was your reaction to seeing Sue's statue. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
So, first of all, it's really really cool. I love
the details on it. The shoes are fantastic. The layup
I actually when she explained it, I was like, Okay,
all right, I'm here for the layup. I'm really here
for it first and last points all being a layup,
I think it's great. I think I was worried about
it being and I'm so sorry de Weight if you're
listening to this, but I was worried about it being
(21:37):
a way situation where like, you know, you kind of
smile and like, oh, it's so nice, it's so lovely,
but it's terrible and I can't say anything like I
was hoping it wouldn't be that. But it looks great,
and honestly, it looks great. I love that they gave
it a wider bass as well. There's lights on it
with descriptions like they they did a really good job there.
And I really love that she's the first player that
(21:58):
got it. I think we'll see more, which I'm hoping
that we'll see more. We need a maya more statue.
I'm probably gonna start the train for that, please and
thank you, and yeah, whoever comes after that, for sure,
but yeah, maya more I think should be should be
nextural swoops of course, Like I could keep going, but
like there are some folks that deserve some statues.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, no, for sure, and you were mentioning all goats.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
And their respective eras. For sure, Candice Parker deserves Lisa Leslie.
But no, you bring up something interesting in terms of
the look in the statue, because we've seen some terrible
statues on the men's side, and I feel like Sue
was involved in the process of, you know, the design
of it, so that probably helped, right, And I think
(22:41):
for what it is worth, all of the statues that
I've seen of some of the women's basketball players, they
all have exceeded expectations and look at Asian Wilson's statue
as small than Gustus's statue and now Sue words. But
I think more more than anything, it's great to see
these women athletes get the respect that they deserve for
or you know, helping to not only build these franchises,
(23:03):
but put the leagues on their back. When you think
about the path that Super took in her career, she
kind of laid the foundation to what it means to
be a professional women's basketball player. Like she mentioned in
her documentary that for her generation of players, they kind
of show what it meant to, you know, have a
career in terms of getting drafted into the w whereas
(23:26):
Cyril's era was the era where you know, laying the foundation.
But this is the first generation in SUPERB and DTAs
is first generation we saw a clear path to become
a professional player from college to getting tracteds in pros.
And I love as s is actively involved in her
retirement and helping to continue to build the league, whether.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
It's through media, whether it's through her ownership and business portfolio.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
So I think that Sue is kind of like the
blueprint to what athletes can be, not only in their
career but in their post careers. So thank you, Sue,
and congratulations on your statue. Moving along to the next
(24:19):
topic in headlines across the.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
W the latest on WNBA expansion.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Now, there was a story that was reported I believe
by Annie Gospel at Front Office Sports that kind of
laid out the latest in terms of the Connecticut Sun
and what's going on with their relocation. It seems like
the WNBA wants to create some sort of relocation fee
and I talked to Ben Pickman about this recently on
(24:49):
the show, or not even Ben Pickman. I think it
was Natalie s Fire we talked. We talked, it was
Natalie Spire. We talked about this topic in terms of
the league releasing that stage about.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
An expansion bid that had nothing to do with the
relocation of the Connecticut Sun. But that's the latest development
that you know, they're considering some sort of relocation fee,
and it kind of feels like they are making up
things on a go on the fly as the league
continues to expand, And this is just not reporting for me,
(25:25):
It's just my opinion of based off what I'm reading
in terms of the statements being provided and the information
network getting. It feels like they're just making things up
at this point. Is what's your thoughts on that. I
know Annie's reporting said that you know they're thinking about Houston, Boston,
(25:45):
Hartford as some of the relocation things. But I feel like, one,
you should not relocate the Connecticut Sun to Houston because
there's so much history there and the Connecticut Sun franchise
they have there, Oh yesterday, Like you want to move
a team to Houston, then you should create a new.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Expansive team in art of a comments and you know,
in that sense, but you should not relocate. I think
that this is a team that needs to stay in
a New England region. But what are your thoughts on
the latest developments.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah, it's really messy, that's the That's the best word
I got for It's really messy. And I I admire
the league for saying like, hey, we want to push
the league for we want to, you know, look at
all options. But it's very hard to delineate what their
priorities are right now and where they want to go.
I think that there have been a lot of fans
(26:42):
who have been pushing to your point, hey, bring Houston back,
right we want we want a team back in Houston.
There are other big cities that you know, could be
deserving of a team as well, and so I think
it's it needs to be clear about what the league's
priorities are. Where are you going?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
What? What makes sense?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Uh? This situation in Connecticut really interesting because you get
one side of like, hey, we have this bid that
we accepted and it was an exclusivity window, and then
the window suddenly disappeared and it was never presented to
the Board of Governors. Suddenly it becomes again very My
question is what are your priorities? What's happening? Are we
how are we operating here? And I don't think that's
(27:19):
very clear. And I think this is okay, this is
not reporting, they're just my opinion, and my opinion is
that it feels a lot like the League is still
figuring out how to fly the airplane of growth.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Right.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
It's a lot like building it while trying to fly
at the same time, they don't quite know exactly how
they're going to make that happen. So I think until
we get there, until we get the infrastructure that meets
the moment, so to speak, like, we're going to continue
to have somewhat messy situations like this. And I honestly
don't know what's going to happen in Connecticut. I'm not
(27:52):
quite sure, but I think it begs the question of like, yeah,
what's the priority now? Where do you want these teams
to go? It's very clear I would think from the
last seven role bids that like, hey, the WNBA wants,
you know, teams in big cities, they want teams with
the infrastructure, they want the practice reuility. Those sorts of things.
I think if you're going to do that, then that's fine,
(28:12):
but like we can't be blurring the lines of a
relocation slash expansion team. But like there's just there's too
much happening there. Like I just, yeah, it feels very
very messy, and so I've been keeping a pulse on it,
try to like just kind of let the situation play
out a little bit. But yeah, I'm just not sure
of which way this is gonna go. And I think
(28:33):
the league has also been very like quiet about it too,
Like you know, shout out to those of us in
the space who were you know, doing the work and
doing reporting, because yeah, otherwise you might not know what's
happening with the inner workings on it. But yeah, the
league's been very quiet about it. Not that they owe
us anything, but they've been very quiet about it. And
then this comes out, I'm like, what is even happen? Like,
what's happening? What's going on? So I I think my
(28:54):
thought process is, if you want a team to be
in Houston, what a team in Houston? Like you've already
made uh with the announcement of Cleveland, Philly and Detroit,
that like Houston was next Houston's only can put a
team in Houston, right, Like, we could bring it back.
If you're going to bring back these other you know,
teams back to cities that previously had teams, it can
very much, I think be done in Houston as well.
(29:16):
So I'm just curious about what that looks on. I
think the other thing is which we're you know, we
haven't talked about, is if you move Connecticut, Like, what
does that look like? And then if you does that,
does that delay their start to the next season? If
you move them, you know, if you have a separate
team in Houston, like, when would they come on? Obviously
it's gonna be passed probably twenty thirty now at this
(29:37):
point because I think the last expansion team that we
mentioned was, you know, twenty thirty was when they'll start.
So yeah, you gotta start thinking about in that sort
of situation. Is the league considering that? I don't know,
but yeah, just keep coming back to this. It's messy
and I have zero idea what's happening, what's going on,
So yeah, we're you know, I'm probably waiting to see
(29:58):
what's going on, what's what's happening forward, But yeah, well
we'll see where this where this goes.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Yeah, we'll definitely certainly keep our pulse on the latest
development with the Connecticut son Megan. Before you get out
of here, I want to talk about some season predictions,
but I also want to get into WNBA Rivalry Week,
which is kind of ending right now. We've seen some
(30:24):
great matchups throughout the week. What's been your favorite matchup
from Rivalry Week?
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Yeah, I kinda say it's Liberty Links, right, Like, I
think that's probably the most obvious one. You know, Corny
Willians was pretty much like, yeah, we don't like them
and they don't like us, and that's cool, Like it's fine,
Like everything's cool, you know, off the court, like we
don't hate each other. But like in between these lines
like yeah, I'm not dealing with you like sort of thing.
And I think that's fine. I think we should lean
into the healthy rivalries. And I keep saying it, but like, yeah,
(30:53):
the Links have not forgotten about the WNBA Finals, And
if that's any motivation for them, said, that's more than enough.
Like that's enough quote unquote hate right there for them
to like, you know, be motivated. I have zero issue
with Courty Williams talking trash. I had zero issue with
Sandy Brundello, you know, responding to like I have a
zero issue with any of that. That's the fun type
(31:14):
of like, so that's the good old, you know, clean,
old fashioned hate as some of us in the South
like to say, Like that's fine. That's been my favorite
just because it's spicy, right, I think it's good. I
can't wait to see once Stewie comes back, Fee comes back,
we get these teams a little bit more healthy, Like, yeah,
this matchup is not going away, and I and I
(31:35):
fully am here for all the chaos, all the drama.
I think people forget just how good that WNBA Finals
was last year and for all the talk about like hey,
we're not we're not, We're not sure what this matchup
is gonna bring. Like that was the best basketball the
entire season, and I was thrilled to be able to
watch it. And I think that, like again, this Minnesota
(31:56):
League team is motivated, and New York is standing in
their way, and so is New York or New York's motivated.
They don't want anybody coming for their crown, and so
I think that everybody is now bringing their best basketball
and I'm here for the rivalries. I'm here for the
trash talk, like I'm here for the memes. You got
to be in your your burken bag. Now it's out
of your target bag. Like, I'm totally for all of that.
(32:16):
I love those sorts of things. I think the other thing,
and maybe it's we haven't really talked about it as much,
but there's somewhat it feels somewhat of a rivalry. I
would think anytime that like the LA teams or the
Bay Area teams sort of play, you know, the Valkyries
that are making a reputation for themselves of playing hard
notes like gritty basketball. They are just frustrating anybody that
(32:40):
they play. But I think it particularly comes together when
they play like the Sparks or things like that. And
so I look forward to those kinds of matchups in
the future. Obviously it's not really a rivalry like now,
but I think that we'll see that, you know, the
better the more the Valkyries get better, the more that
they start winning more if they win a playoff game,
if they you know, they win a series, and the
future or things like that, Yeah, we'll start to see
(33:02):
some more rivalries there.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
I like that West Coast rivalries, but also I'm here
for the Links Liberty build up and what that can become.
I know it's like, well, the Aces is more of
a rivalry because the finals, but I'm like the Links
lost to the Liberty lessers.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
So this is the start of a new rivalry, especially
with you know, teams sort of still being the same
rosters and you know that's the fmilarity there. I think
that this can definitely be a rivalry for years to come,
barring any changes in twenty twenty six when half the
league becomes free agents. Megan, I want to thank you
(33:38):
for joining us on in case you missed it this
week to talk all things at.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
A Dream break down, the latest Withved Rivalry week and
shouting out super for her statue.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Extremely appreciate you. Yeah, thank you for having me on.
And before we go, I will say you've been doing
fantastic work. So if I haven't said, I'm saying it
now is that you have absolutely made a name for yourself,
carved out of space in this w space, in this
women's sports space. Your podcast is fantastic. I do watch,
even though I probably don't tweet about it as much.
I'm still watching still to keeping tabs, so I've been
watching and keeping up with those things. So I just
(34:10):
wanted to say thank you for having me on. It's
a pleasure and it's a privilege.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Thank you, Magan.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Those words be so much coming from you, and I
love how you've been able to establish yourself in this space.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
And I follow your work, the national work and the
Atlanta screen work very closely.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
So keep killing it, and you guys can check out
Megan's work on USA Today's.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
For the Win.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Make sure you guys give her a follow across her
social media platforms and ask him to do it for
this week's episode.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
We'll see you all next time.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
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 podcast, 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. Happy Wednesday, and welcome to another episode of
In Case You missed It with Christina Williams here on
iHeart Women's Sports Network and in case you missed it
(00:23):
ging The w NBA season is still winding now, so
we have a lot to get into this week in
terms of headlines across the w We're gonna talk about
the Atlanta Dream because this is a team that you know,
was kind of in the middle of the pack last season,
but now they stand in the top three. So we're
going to talk about the Atlanta Dream and Alicia Gray.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Her MVP candidate race.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
We're gonna get into the Coach of the Year race
because I feel like it's a very, very tough race
this year out of all of the categories for regular
season postseason awards.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
And then we're gonna dive into Sue Berg.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Who who is the first WNBA player to get a statue. So,
without further ado, I want to introduce today's guest. She
is a staff writer for USA Today's For the Win
and a beat reporter for the Advance Dream.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
First time guests on the show.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I want to welcome in Meghan Hall to in case
you missed it, Meghan, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I appreciate you coming, So Meghan.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Before we get started into the headlines and all things
Atlanta Dream, I like to ask every guest to share
what was a win for them this week personally. So,
what would you say it was a win for you
this week?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Oh, that's a good question. I'm gonna say it hasn't
come out yet, but I'm gonna like bang on everything
possible that it comes out tomorrow. I'm officially at the
ninety nine percent yard line for a really big feature
story I've been working on. I usually do one a season,
and this is my one for the season. I've been
working on it since May and we are at that
(02:00):
at that line, so I'm hoping that it will come
out yeah this week.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So congratulations on your big story. I want to share
a win that I had this week. I would say,
if I had to choose, what a win for me
this week was just I've been all in this, like
living the moment, kind of thing for the last month,
and I think a win for me this week.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I recently, I went to a funeral on.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Friday and it was someone that I had known for
quite a long time and she passed at the age
of twenty nine from like a freak accident.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
And I would have to.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Say that, you know, all those funerals and like someone
passing is sad. I actually came out of it thinking
very clearly of how we should just you know, learn
to appreciate life. And it kind of went with the
theme of like the month for me of just finding
balance between work life and you know, just your regular life.
And so I want to dedicate today's shown to Giselle Johnson.
(03:00):
She lived an incredible life. She was amazing to all
of the people who had known her. And you know,
I'm so happy that I was able to cross paths
with Giselle and she had a very positive impact on
my life. So I know people are usually sad after funerals,
but you know, I feel like, in a strange way,
just go into a funeral and like hearing other testones
(03:22):
about how she impacted everyone else, it kind of made
me feel good about this season.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Of my life.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So that was a win.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I know it's kind of morbid, but like it was,
it was a win for me this week to just
experience that. So yeah, all right, I know this is
kind of a weird time Beswitch years, but I want.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
To dive into today's show.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
So the Atlanta's read This is a team that I
wasn't so sure about coming into this season in terms
of fit of some of the acquisitions in Brittany Grinder
and bree Zones and having a new head coach and Smesco.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
But this is a well old machine.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Of even overcome his adversities with team injuries. What's your
take on how coach Costs Mesco has been able to
get this Atlanta Dream team going.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, So I'll be real honest with you. When we
went to Smesco's introductory press conference, this is a guy
that just does not He's not a fan of doing media.
So he was very, very reserved, very laid back, and
I remember making a joke with him after the presser
was over. I said, hey, you can breathe now, Carl.
He was like, oh, thank you. And you could just
(04:35):
tell that this guy is like he was. I mean,
obviously he knew you knew a lot, and obviously he's
super experienced more than two decades at the college level,
but just that sort of like, hey, I'm very unsure
of here, like what I'm stepping into, sort of vibe.
That's kind of the initial vibe that I got from
Carl seemed very sure of himself, but definitely unsure of
what this w journey may bring. But I'll say this,
(04:57):
from the moment that we started training camp, it was
very evident that like everyone was bought in on Carl.
Every player that we talked to said, hey, this is
different from than what I'm used to, but I'm here.
Bree Jones was one in particular who is particularly vocal. Obviously,
she came over in the off season with Atlanta and
she said, yeah, I'm not used to shooting threes, but
(05:19):
I'm shooting them, and she, you know, she was fine
with that. Tory Walker Kimber was another that we talked
to that hey, off season acquisition. Also different system, not
used to it. But I would say this, I think
very early on you saw what Atlanta could be, this
five out system, everyone around the perimeter shooting, and then
as the season went on, you went into injuries, you
(05:40):
went into oh, can they finish out games that sort
of thing. But they've hit a stride recently. You know,
you win eight of the last ten games, which was
fantastic for this portion of the year, and they really
hit this I would say almost this like uphill battle
that you were hoping they would get to to now
being second in the standings, which is super impressive for
a first your coach, and for a roster or half
(06:02):
the people that are on it. We're not here last season.
So I think a lot of it just attributes to
Carl encourages his team to continue shooting through what's happening.
They focus on the little details, and he gives them
grace to continue to figure it out on their own.
He mentioned something, I think it was a couple of
weeks ago, about not bailing out his team with early
timeouts and things like that, and I thought that that
(06:23):
was actually really particularly poignant, even though it was a
small moment of saying like, hey, I trust my team
to be able to get there. They're full of superstar,
full of quality depth here and that they can do it.
So the fact that Atlanta has kind of somewhat put
it together now is super impressive. Twenty plus wins in
his first season.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
And this is something that I think for the Atlanta
dream and credit to Dan patover Right. It's been in
the works for a couple of years now in terms
of the turnover of the franchise, having new owners, having
a new g income coming in and figuring out the
right roster and the right coach to be able to
have a successful teams. And the Landiship was an expansion
(07:03):
team in two thousand and eight, and so they're on
a hut for you know, a championship. And I think
that what Dan has been able to do is quite impressive,
especially with just how much turnover this band, with the
Atlanta's Dreaming in particular, You've been covering this team for
quite some time and this season in particular, this team
(07:24):
is dealt with a lot of adversity in terms of injury.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
What has been the most consistent thing throughout all of
this for this year?
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Yeah, that's a good question. I would say, honestly, just
their resilience. And I know that sounds very cliche, but
I mean you've had Jordan Canada olt, Ryan Howard out,
Brittany Grinder out, and everyone has stepped up. Everyone from
the rookies to Haina Powpow has been fantastic in her minutes,
and really everyone just kind of buying in. Ali Sha
Gray has kind of made it a conversation now about
(07:54):
who is typically one or two in Atlanta because her
play is stepped up under Smesco. So I think, really
everyone's just bought in. And I would also say this,
I know that she probably is not used to or
we're not seeing the production we're used to from Britney Griner,
but her presence on the Dream has made a big
difference as well. Her leadership early on from training camp.
Beg speaks, everybody listens, and that sort of calming presence
(08:17):
has added to this team and being able to kind
of not you know, of course, get not to get
too high with the highs and not get too low
with the lows. I think more than anything, they've been
able to push past some of those those moments that
like in the years before, yeah just pack it up,
like this team is not is not going getting past it.
I think the other thing for them is Atlanta really
(08:39):
hasn't been blown out in any games, which is just
insane to me. They've I mean, they've put up with
some really tough teams, and they they've been in every
game that they had, even the games that they've lost,
I felt like all of those were easily winnable, and
sometimes it just came down to like just losing focus
down the stretch or these little moments. But I think
that they've just been resilient throughout the whole thing. They've
never let anything really rattle them, and I think that's
(09:01):
really awesome for what is arguably a young team, you know,
still trying to figure it out.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
It's been so interesting to watch the growth imaturation of
Alisha Gray. You know, I followed her career when she
played in Dallas and ever since she's gotten to Atlanta,
and we should see her turn it up notch year
over year, and this is a year where she's in
those conversations for MVP. What separates Alisha Gray from the
(09:29):
rest of the MVP candidates right now?
Speaker 3 (09:32):
I'm so glad you asked this question. I've been banging
the table about Alisha Gray for probably three seasons now.
I think that she is a super underrated player in
terms of she's just disruptive on both sides of the ball.
I think what's been particularly nice this season in spectacular
is that she's a hand and glove fit first MESCO system.
(09:52):
It allows her to do a lot of free movement,
a lot of Captain shoot threes. She can just be
herself and I think that that has really helped her
kind of blossom. She's also been doing some really good
work with Chelsea Lyles, which is an assistant coach on
the Dream and Chelsea Lyles has been i mean every
home game she's out there shooting with with Chelsea, and
I think it's just fantastic to see Leish also believe
(10:14):
in herself too. I think that's probably been part of
the other things she had to have the confidence. She
told us a while ago that SMESCO told her like, hey,
this will be the best year of your career, and
she said, okay, Carol, like, I'm gonna see what you're about, right,
And it has been. I think it's just she's got
to believe that too. She you know, revived, so to speak,
parts of her career when she came to Atlanta. I
(10:34):
think that, you know, every year she's taken a step
and this has been the biggest one, and it's now
gotten her into MVP conversations all w conversations like it's
it's hard to deny her being a I would say
top five player in the league. This I don't think
that's a stretch to say, Like there have been times
where Leisha has been in that that conversation. So I
(10:56):
really think a lot of it is due to confidence
her ability to not only be the number one option,
but be that consistently for Atlanta. And we've realized, and
I say we, those of us who are covering, you know,
the wid regular and those of us on the beat,
that like alic Sha, Gery's kind of become the life
and soul. She's become the engine for the dream, right,
Like she's become that person.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
If Leish is.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Having an off night, then you know, like, okay, it
might be an uphill battle. And I think the biggest
example is the Valkyries game just the other night. I mean,
Leish was not great in that first time. I think
there were several players who didn't score a field goal, right,
so they had that kind of grind through that. But
as she started hitting some shots in the second half, Okay,
now we've got Ryan Howard throwing down three. Now we
got to Tina Palpal coming with floaters, like everything started,
(11:37):
you know, kind of clicking there, and I think it's
been really nice to see her just kind of rally
around that and her team come behind her too.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
And we think about the MVP conversations. Obviously the FISA,
Collier was the front runner and following in anyway still
is the front runner. But I think in the absence
of the fesas in Minnesota, when you think about, like
what qualifies a person to be named MVP, A lot
of people are saying, well, Minnesota hasn't missed the beat
(12:06):
without the visa.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I mean, they are.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Still winning games. They are still at the top of
the standings. So a lot of people quantify like an
MVP with you know, if you take this player out,
will the team be worse? And and so I guess
my question is, in the absence of the visa, we've
been given an opportunity to look at some of the
other candidates who are being considered for the MVP race.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
And when you think about, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Ali Sha you just mentioned her production on the court,
doesn't matter that they are number two in the standings
and that they're winning these games. What what are you
looking at in terms of what qualifies.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
You know someone to be named an MVP.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, I think these conversations are so funny, to be
honest with you, Like, I don't I don't know a
world in which someone says, oh, your team's win without you,
that discredits her MVP like conversation. So the thing is,
you would hope that a team would be able to
win without their best player, right, that's really good coaching,
that's really good adjusting. Like at some point, this team
(13:13):
should be able to win several games. Now, granted, Minnesota
hasn't really missed a beat, but they've had some close
games as well where they could have used the presence
of ANFISA collier. So I think this conversation of like, oh, well,
if the team's doing well without them, then like they
shouldn't be considered as an MVP. No, because the difference
between the Links with and without a visa callier is
two different things. And I think you get a very
(13:35):
good team and now you get a contending team, a
team that could potentially win a championship. That's the difference
that the visa collier makes. Like, to be honest with you,
if you were to say, oh, this Minnesota Links team
could go all the way to the WNBA Finals without
in a Visa Collier. Then I could probably say, all right, sure,
I'll listen to that sort of argument, But I don't
think that's the case. I think everybody, if we're thinking
(13:55):
clearly about it and deeply about it, knows that Anfisa
Collier is the engine behind the Links. With that said, like, yes,
while she's out right now, it really makes you have
this conversation about, all right, well is she really valuable?
Or it makes you have a conversation about, well, who
else should we be looking at? And I think it's
a fair conversation to have. But I also would say that,
like every situation is different, fee on and off the
(14:17):
Links is different if you take at on and off Phoenix,
different situation, right, same thing for Alisha Gray on and
off the Dream. So I just think that that conversation
is a bit disingenuous because why does why does the
team have to fail in order for you to consider
their MVP case legitimate. That's where I just I don't know,
maybe it's just me, and but I just I don't buy.
(14:38):
I don't buy that argument. So I would say that
right now, yeah, you're getting a good look at Alisha Gray.
Maybe she comes in second, maybe she's first for some
people as well. At is another one. Maybe she was
second and maybe she's now first for a lot of people.
I think this MVP race is probably not as cut
and dry as we thought it was before fees injury.
I think that Fee was the by and large, the front,
(15:00):
and now I'm not so sure. Like I really think
eighty is a strong case out in Phoenix. I do
think Alicia Gray has a case as well, and even more,
I'll give you one more like Asia Wilson has also
kind of throwing herself into that conversation. So if Asia
Wilson's able to continue at the tear that she's at,
and let's say that Vegas sneaks into i don't know,
top four, three, two, Yeah, then this becomes a very
(15:21):
interesting conversation in the last like three weeks of the season.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Absolutely, And you know, I think that it's also beneficial
as the Dream continued to push for keeping at second
place spot that Ryan Howard is back in the fold,
you know, the franchise star who you know missed some
games due to her injury.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
What has it been like for this team to have
Ryan back?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Ryan's always just one first and foremost a bucket getter,
game changer. She I thought that she had an all defense,
first team defense case going before her injury. I still
think Ryan's a great, fantastic defender. The game that they
played against Seattle where she scored nine points and thirty
second and I was like, what in the world I
just witnessed? But that's Ryan Howard. That's the ability that
(16:05):
she brings, that that extra that extra bucket when you
need it, that separation ability. I think for Atlanta, it's
good to see Ryan healthy again. Right She's now playing
without her brace that she had before for much of
the season, So good to see that. And also it
helps it helps a three point shooting as well. Atlanta,
you know, pride itself on being a three point attacking team,
(16:26):
and when Ryan takes that, I guess that leadership role,
the rest of the team just follows three start falling.
And so I think Atlanta is probably like smiling right
now about Ryan being back.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
So the Coach of the Year race I think is
pretty tight. There's a lot of coaches who we could
make the case for in my opinion. You know, people
were saying, well, the links are expected to be good,
so she'll reeve shit not get coaching beer. And like,
as we mentioned with the MVP race, it's like, what
are we doing? If you're the best coach the best
(17:09):
team in the league, you should definitely be considered an
in the conversation considering you know, people are like, oh,
the Links need to make ross moves. Well, I mean
they added dej n Carrington in the fold, they offloaded
some players, made some offster changes, and they are a
team who have been able to adjust without their star
(17:30):
and franchise player. So I think absolutely shol Reeve deserves
to be in the conversation. And then Col Smesto, of
course he deserves to be in the conversation for MVP
because he's the first year head coach with the new
team in this league and the team is currently at
second overall the standings. You can make a case for
Natathan Nicasse, who is also a first year head coach
(17:54):
on an expansion team. They have what eighteen wins right now,
the most for you know, team in league history. What
she's been able to do creeping up on keep positioning
in a playoff spot as well, So you can make
a case for Natalie. And then you can make a
coach for Date in Phoenix as well. What was their
(18:14):
take on the Coach of the Year race. It's the same,
It's the same, It's definitely the same. I just there
are a lot of times I just spend my days
shaking my head at some of the stuff I see. Yes,
by and large, you expect the Charl Reeves squad to
be better, right, You expected them to be good.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
They just lost the in the WNBA finals, and you
would hoe that they would, you know, essentially come back better.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Right.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
So I think for everything that we've seen, it tracks right,
and Carol Reeves should get credit for that. Like, it's
still they still had to win these games. It's not
to play them. You still have to, you know, do
the things you need to. Same thing for Carl, same
thing for Natalie. Fully on board with that. Nate Tibbets
is another one who I think, yes, by and large,
also deserves consideration.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
And I'll give you one more.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
I think we're not talking about it as much, but
I would give Stephanie White at least some credit for
what she's dealing with. The Fever are dealing with an
unholy amount of injuries and for them to keep fighting,
I think is really respectable. I'm not sure that it
will get her enough boost in the conversation, but I
at least think it's worth considering because that, I mean,
that is just brutal losing so many guards. Their point
guard depth is very very thin. So I think overall,
(19:21):
this coach of your conversation will get really interesting down
the stretch. If Atlanta maintains its second overall position. Yeah,
you think Smesco probably you know, could get a NOD
there if not, in the case if they make the playoffs, right,
definitely probably getting a NOD eighteen plus wins if the
if the Valkyries get to twenty wins or more like, yeah,
(19:41):
I think we might have to have that conversation about
Natalie the casse and the job that she's doing. I
just think that it's not over right. We still want
three plus weeks of the season, and I as a voter,
I really am just stressed already, seem right like we
are just stressed already because I'm I'm like, there's so
many good things happening you want me to choose, Like what? So,
(20:05):
I mean, it's great for Hooped, like I love all this,
but as a voter. I'm like, absolutely not. I don't
want to play news. It's too much. Too much, is
way too much.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah, I think that for me, this is one of
the categories outside of MVP, where it's just like WHOA
like you gotta he'll wait to the very last day
to submit your vote because there's so much to think about,
so much to go over in terms of this Coach
of the Year race.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
And I know that a.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Lot of fans are like, well, you know, voting fatigued,
like if you win so much, then you don't deserve
this and that, And it's just like, no, that is
not when I think about what I'm considering who she,
you know, received some of these awards. But switching gears
a little bit, I want to talk about Super, who
was recently honored by the Seattle Storm, which she played
(20:50):
over two decades.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
For that team.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
She was honored with the statue, the first w NBA
player to receive a statue.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
I absolutely love it. Shout out to my kind of boss,
Super because you know she's part of Deep Blue, but
shout out to Sue.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
You deserve all great things and I absolutely love a statue.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
But what was your reaction to seeing Sue's statue. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
So, first of all, it's really really cool. I love
the details on it. The shoes are fantastic. The layup
I actually when she explained it, I was like, Okay,
all right, I'm here for the layup. I'm really here
for it first and last points all being a layup,
I think it's great. I think I was worried about
it being and I'm so sorry de Weight if you're
listening to this, but I was worried about it being
(21:37):
a way situation where like, you know, you kind of
smile and like, oh, it's so nice, it's so lovely,
but it's terrible and I can't say anything like I
was hoping it wouldn't be that. But it looks great,
and honestly, it looks great. I love that they gave
it a wider bass as well. There's lights on it
with descriptions like they they did a really good job there.
And I really love that she's the first player that
(21:58):
got it. I think we'll see more, which I'm hoping
that we'll see more. We need a maya more statue.
I'm probably gonna start the train for that, please and
thank you, and yeah, whoever comes after that, for sure,
but yeah, maya more I think should be should be
nextural swoops of course, Like I could keep going, but
like there are some folks that deserve some statues.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, no, for sure, and you were mentioning all goats.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
And their respective eras. For sure, Candice Parker deserves Lisa Leslie.
But no, you bring up something interesting in terms of
the look in the statue, because we've seen some terrible
statues on the men's side, and I feel like Sue
was involved in the process of, you know, the design
of it, so that probably helped, right, And I think
(22:41):
for what it is worth, all of the statues that
I've seen of some of the women's basketball players, they
all have exceeded expectations and look at Asian Wilson's statue
as small than Gustus's statue and now Sue words. But
I think more more than anything, it's great to see
these women athletes get the respect that they deserve for
or you know, helping to not only build these franchises,
(23:03):
but put the leagues on their back. When you think
about the path that Super took in her career, she
kind of laid the foundation to what it means to
be a professional women's basketball player. Like she mentioned in
her documentary that for her generation of players, they kind
of show what it meant to, you know, have a
career in terms of getting drafted into the w whereas
(23:26):
Cyril's era was the era where you know, laying the foundation.
But this is the first generation in SUPERB and DTAs
is first generation we saw a clear path to become
a professional player from college to getting tracteds in pros.
And I love as s is actively involved in her
retirement and helping to continue to build the league, whether.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
It's through media, whether it's through her ownership and business portfolio.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
So I think that Sue is kind of like the
blueprint to what athletes can be, not only in their
career but in their post careers. So thank you, Sue,
and congratulations on your statue. Moving along to the next
(24:19):
topic in headlines across the.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
W the latest on WNBA expansion.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Now, there was a story that was reported I believe
by Annie Gospel at Front Office Sports that kind of
laid out the latest in terms of the Connecticut Sun
and what's going on with their relocation. It seems like
the WNBA wants to create some sort of relocation fee
and I talked to Ben Pickman about this recently on
(24:49):
the show, or not even Ben Pickman. I think it
was Natalie s Fire we talked. We talked, it was
Natalie Spire. We talked about this topic in terms of
the league releasing that stage about.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
An expansion bid that had nothing to do with the
relocation of the Connecticut Sun. But that's the latest development
that you know, they're considering some sort of relocation fee,
and it kind of feels like they are making up
things on a go on the fly as the league
continues to expand, And this is just not reporting for me,
(25:25):
It's just my opinion of based off what I'm reading
in terms of the statements being provided and the information
network getting. It feels like they're just making things up
at this point. Is what's your thoughts on that. I
know Annie's reporting said that you know they're thinking about Houston, Boston,
(25:45):
Hartford as some of the relocation things. But I feel like, one,
you should not relocate the Connecticut Sun to Houston because
there's so much history there and the Connecticut Sun franchise
they have there, Oh yesterday, Like you want to move
a team to Houston, then you should create a new.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Expansive team in art of a comments and you know,
in that sense, but you should not relocate. I think
that this is a team that needs to stay in
a New England region. But what are your thoughts on
the latest developments.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah, it's really messy, that's the That's the best word
I got for It's really messy. And I I admire
the league for saying like, hey, we want to push
the league for we want to, you know, look at
all options. But it's very hard to delineate what their
priorities are right now and where they want to go.
I think that there have been a lot of fans
(26:42):
who have been pushing to your point, hey, bring Houston back,
right we want we want a team back in Houston.
There are other big cities that you know, could be
deserving of a team as well, and so I think
it's it needs to be clear about what the league's
priorities are. Where are you going?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
What? What makes sense?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Uh? This situation in Connecticut really interesting because you get
one side of like, hey, we have this bid that
we accepted and it was an exclusivity window, and then
the window suddenly disappeared and it was never presented to
the Board of Governors. Suddenly it becomes again very My
question is what are your priorities? What's happening? Are we
how are we operating here? And I don't think that's
(27:19):
very clear. And I think this is okay, this is
not reporting, they're just my opinion, and my opinion is
that it feels a lot like the League is still
figuring out how to fly the airplane of growth.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Right.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
It's a lot like building it while trying to fly
at the same time, they don't quite know exactly how
they're going to make that happen. So I think until
we get there, until we get the infrastructure that meets
the moment, so to speak, like, we're going to continue
to have somewhat messy situations like this. And I honestly
don't know what's going to happen in Connecticut. I'm not
(27:52):
quite sure, but I think it begs the question of like, yeah,
what's the priority now? Where do you want these teams
to go? It's very clear I would think from the
last seven role bids that like, hey, the WNBA wants,
you know, teams in big cities, they want teams with
the infrastructure, they want the practice reuility. Those sorts of things.
I think if you're going to do that, then that's fine,
(28:12):
but like we can't be blurring the lines of a
relocation slash expansion team. But like there's just there's too
much happening there. Like I just, yeah, it feels very
very messy, and so I've been keeping a pulse on it,
try to like just kind of let the situation play
out a little bit. But yeah, I'm just not sure
of which way this is gonna go. And I think
(28:33):
the league has also been very like quiet about it too,
Like you know, shout out to those of us in
the space who were you know, doing the work and
doing reporting, because yeah, otherwise you might not know what's
happening with the inner workings on it. But yeah, the
league's been very quiet about it. Not that they owe
us anything, but they've been very quiet about it. And
then this comes out, I'm like, what is even happen? Like,
what's happening? What's going on? So I I think my
(28:54):
thought process is, if you want a team to be
in Houston, what a team in Houston? Like you've already
made uh with the announcement of Cleveland, Philly and Detroit,
that like Houston was next Houston's only can put a
team in Houston, right, Like, we could bring it back.
If you're going to bring back these other you know,
teams back to cities that previously had teams, it can
very much, I think be done in Houston as well.
(29:16):
So I'm just curious about what that looks on. I
think the other thing is which we're you know, we
haven't talked about, is if you move Connecticut, Like, what
does that look like? And then if you does that,
does that delay their start to the next season? If
you move them, you know, if you have a separate
team in Houston, like, when would they come on? Obviously
it's gonna be passed probably twenty thirty now at this
(29:37):
point because I think the last expansion team that we
mentioned was, you know, twenty thirty was when they'll start.
So yeah, you gotta start thinking about in that sort
of situation. Is the league considering that? I don't know,
but yeah, just keep coming back to this. It's messy
and I have zero idea what's happening, what's going on,
So yeah, we're you know, I'm probably waiting to see
(29:58):
what's going on, what's what's happening forward, But yeah, well
we'll see where this where this goes.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Yeah, we'll definitely certainly keep our pulse on the latest
development with the Connecticut son Megan. Before you get out
of here, I want to talk about some season predictions,
but I also want to get into WNBA Rivalry Week,
which is kind of ending right now. We've seen some
(30:24):
great matchups throughout the week. What's been your favorite matchup
from Rivalry Week?
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Yeah, I kinda say it's Liberty Links, right, Like, I
think that's probably the most obvious one. You know, Corny
Willians was pretty much like, yeah, we don't like them
and they don't like us, and that's cool, Like it's fine,
Like everything's cool, you know, off the court, like we
don't hate each other. But like in between these lines
like yeah, I'm not dealing with you like sort of thing.
And I think that's fine. I think we should lean
into the healthy rivalries. And I keep saying it, but like, yeah,
(30:53):
the Links have not forgotten about the WNBA Finals, And
if that's any motivation for them, said, that's more than enough.
Like that's enough quote unquote hate right there for them
to like, you know, be motivated. I have zero issue
with Courty Williams talking trash. I had zero issue with
Sandy Brundello, you know, responding to like I have a
zero issue with any of that. That's the fun type
(31:14):
of like, so that's the good old, you know, clean,
old fashioned hate as some of us in the South
like to say, Like that's fine. That's been my favorite
just because it's spicy, right, I think it's good. I
can't wait to see once Stewie comes back, Fee comes back,
we get these teams a little bit more healthy, Like, yeah,
this matchup is not going away, and I and I
(31:35):
fully am here for all the chaos, all the drama.
I think people forget just how good that WNBA Finals
was last year and for all the talk about like hey,
we're not we're not, We're not sure what this matchup
is gonna bring. Like that was the best basketball the
entire season, and I was thrilled to be able to
watch it. And I think that, like again, this Minnesota
(31:56):
League team is motivated, and New York is standing in
their way, and so is New York or New York's motivated.
They don't want anybody coming for their crown, and so
I think that everybody is now bringing their best basketball
and I'm here for the rivalries. I'm here for the
trash talk, like I'm here for the memes. You got
to be in your your burken bag. Now it's out
of your target bag. Like, I'm totally for all of that.
(32:16):
I love those sorts of things. I think the other thing,
and maybe it's we haven't really talked about it as much,
but there's somewhat it feels somewhat of a rivalry. I
would think anytime that like the LA teams or the
Bay Area teams sort of play, you know, the Valkyries
that are making a reputation for themselves of playing hard
notes like gritty basketball. They are just frustrating anybody that
(32:40):
they play. But I think it particularly comes together when
they play like the Sparks or things like that. And
so I look forward to those kinds of matchups in
the future. Obviously it's not really a rivalry like now,
but I think that we'll see that, you know, the
better the more the Valkyries get better, the more that
they start winning more if they win a playoff game,
if they you know, they win a series, and the
future or things like that, Yeah, we'll start to see
(33:02):
some more rivalries there.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
I like that West Coast rivalries, but also I'm here
for the Links Liberty build up and what that can become.
I know it's like, well, the Aces is more of
a rivalry because the finals, but I'm like the Links
lost to the Liberty lessers.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
So this is the start of a new rivalry, especially
with you know, teams sort of still being the same
rosters and you know that's the fmilarity there. I think
that this can definitely be a rivalry for years to come,
barring any changes in twenty twenty six when half the
league becomes free agents. Megan, I want to thank you
(33:38):
for joining us on in case you missed it this
week to talk all things at.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
A Dream break down, the latest Withved Rivalry week and
shouting out super for her statue.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Extremely appreciate you. Yeah, thank you for having me on.
And before we go, I will say you've been doing
fantastic work. So if I haven't said, I'm saying it
now is that you have absolutely made a name for yourself,
carved out of space in this w space, in this
women's sports space. Your podcast is fantastic. I do watch,
even though I probably don't tweet about it as much.
I'm still watching still to keeping tabs, so I've been
watching and keeping up with those things. So I just
(34:10):
wanted to say thank you for having me on. It's
a pleasure and it's a privilege.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Thank you, Magan.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Those words be so much coming from you, and I
love how you've been able to establish yourself in this space.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
And I follow your work, the national work and the
Atlanta screen work very closely.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
So keep killing it, and you guys can check out
Megan's work on USA Today's.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
For the Win.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Make sure you guys give her a follow across her
social media platforms and ask him to do it for
this week's episode.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
We'll see you all next time.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
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 podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Khristina Williams
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