August 15, 2025 • 33 mins
For this Fan Out Friday, Khristina is joined by Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve to break down the team’s dominant run to the top of the WNBA standings and becoming the first team to clinch a playoff spot. They dive into Napheesa Collier’s MVP-caliber season, the rise of the Studbudz duo of Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman and their growing impact on the team, the addition of Dijonai Carrington at the trade deadline, and the real story behind Diana Taurasi’s absence from the 2024 Olympic gold medal game.
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
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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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 Iheartwomen's Sports Network
and in Case you missed It Gang. The WNBA season
(00:24):
is of flinding down, but things are just heating up
for the Minnesota Links, who have clinched officially a playoff spot,
and with the Vista Collier as the front runner for
MVP this season, I figured why not invite a friend
to the show back to break all things Links down. Please,
Welcome to the show, head Coach Cheryl Reid. Thank you.
(00:48):
Welcome to the show, Coach, Cheryl Oh.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
It's great to be back on. I appreciate you thinking
of us.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
You know, it's officially kind of been like a year.
The last time we had you on, you had just
led Team USA to their eighth straight gold medal, and
so I am so happy to have you back here.
So let's dive right into the conversation. The Links currently
stand at number one overall on the w NBA standings
and have officially clenched a playoff spot. Just talk about
(01:15):
the success of the team this season, carrying over from
kind of that loss in the finals last season. What's
been different about this season?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah, you know, you never know, you know, we had
such a special season last year, as we know, culminated
in the finals and you know, seconds away from you know,
accomplishing a goal that they had, and you never know
if you're going to be able to you know, you
have it largely the same group back, but you never
know does it going to go as well? And so
(01:46):
they've sort of proven that what we had was repeatable.
And I think that we're a little better in terms
of our experiences together. Right we were kind of making
that climb together. Now we're in it. We're the the
knowledge that we have for each other, the way that
(02:07):
I coach them, things that happen in a game, how
they quickly get to their solutions, and because we've experienced
it all before. So I'm thrilled that we've been able
to sustain that success. I think it also has helped
that the league went through so much change and we
didn't go through much change. I think that's been a factor.
(02:29):
And I just think they're hungry. I think there I'm
not big into the words I don't want to hear
about you know that you want to avenge you know,
something that didn't go I don't like the words. I
like the work you know that kind of go into it.
And they've they've put in the work and they've kind
of shown how they feel about this team and how
(02:50):
special that they know that they are and trying to
reach the ultimate goal together.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I mean, there's so many positives to pull from this
Minnesota Links team, and I think that it starts with
the FISA Collier. She's having one incredible season, the front
runner this year for MVP. What's been different in terms
of her growth? And you've been able to coach her
into this MVP like player. I mean, in Minnesota drafted
(03:16):
the FSA Collier. It's so interesting, Cheryl, because I saw
something online and it was, you know, Twitter trolls trying
to say, oh, coach leave, she doesn't develop players. And
I'm like, and I responded back personally because I'm like,
you guys don't watch basketball, But did you forget the
Links actually drafted Fisa and now she's an MVP front runner.
(03:37):
But anyways, I want from your own words, the growth
in the Visa Collier. What have you seen from your
view as her head coach?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, I mean you go way back to the beginning.
I mean there's been great evolutions she every year we say, Okay,
come back, you got to add this, et cetera. She
just has a tremendous work ethic and talent. She has
this immense talent. The really the last two years, so
twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four, leading into twenty twenty five,
(04:07):
I've seen this like step in her in her mindset,
in that the older she's gotten, the more she's thinking
of herself in a championship space. When she first got here,
I think maybe she's you know, in twenty nineteen, twenty twenty,
we were you know, we were in the semifinals. In
twenty twenty down in the bubble. Twenty twenty one, we
finished third. She's kind of gotten to this space where
(04:31):
she's now been in the finals and has tasted it,
has felt it. It's tangible to her now and I've
seen a difference, and Fee has voiced what that difference is.
But she is like, I want it. I want to
win it. And that's not to say that that wasn't
a feeling she had before, but it's different and when
(04:52):
you get to the finals. So her first trip to
the finals and now she understands like that championship space
and she's on a mission. She's like, I want to
win it, and yeah, I'm a sore loser and that's
something that we should own and her improvement that is
taking to get there. From a basketball standpoint, there's nothing
(05:15):
that she can't do. She's really an incredible basketball player.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
When I think about her growth and trajectory, it kind
of trickles down to the success of what this team
has been able to do this season in terms of
the separation of the Minnesota Links right now versus the
entire league and then the FISA. When it comes to
being a top MVP candidate, You've coached so many Hall
of Famers in your career. When you think about what
(05:42):
she can do in her ceiling in this game, what
stands out to.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
You the most that same possibility that the players that
became Hall of Famers and Lindsay Wale and and Samona Gustus,
they were all in the same space that fees been
in and once they reach their pinnacle, right it is
about championships and that's what she's capable of. She's capable
of more than one championship. Whatever team Fee is on
(06:09):
has a chance to win a championship. And and so
I think that's her. That's what's next for her, the
same way it was for Lindsay Whale and Augustus Small
and Augustus's first five years, you know, let the league
in scoring or had all these great things. But team's success,
uh and and doing it repeatedly that that fees talent.
(06:29):
It's how much more can she add to her game?
There's always something to add. Great players know that they're
never satisfied. And I just think that her ability to
propel teammates around her, that's what makes her really special
and unique. She is a selfless star, which we love
to have here in Minnesota. And uh, you know, like
(06:50):
playing with her is special. Teammates will tell you that.
And just her talent. You know, her talent's incredible, and
you know her ability to now repeat this and over again,
be in the finals again, you know, compete for a
championship again, you win a championship. That's what's next for her.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
When I think about, you know, the success of this team,
it also starts with the moves that you've been able
to do right on your bench with adding someone like
Lindsay Whalin, adding Eric Tibo junior coaching staff, and you've
had an incredible coaching tree throughout the history of your
career in the w n b A. But when you
think about what you've been able to put together this
(07:28):
season in particular, what do those new additions add in
terms of you know, the success that you guys been
happening this season.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, great additions. You know, Katie Smith was somebody I
really enjoyed having on the bench with me, and you
know that was you know, sort of a big loss
for us because of what she gave her connection to
the players and our ads of of Whalen back in
the fold and Eric Tibo. The the ability to uh transition,
(08:01):
you know, from somebody that was so beloved in Katie
to be able to still be in this great space
speaks a lot to Eric's overall basketball knowledge, his demeanor,
you know, his his pouring into players every day. He
loves the player development space and the breaking things down
and certainly loves you know, in game. You know, I've
(08:23):
I've enjoyed his contributions and and timeouts and halftimes and
even game prep. Lindsey Whalen. Uh, there's you know, just
being a round way and having her back. Having her
as a fan was cool, but having her on the
sideline with us, her her wittiness, her her knowledge, her
(08:46):
point guard play that she has offered, like she's I
have to worry very little about point guard play. I
hand it off to Whey and and she's the one.
She's like, I got him, Coach, I got him. You know,
I'll get him on that. And that's been That's just
been really tremendous for the growth of Courtney and for Natitia.
So I'm happy with our ads on the bench. We
(09:08):
certainly miss Katie and any Lane Powell, but you know,
we like where we landed.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
More about a week removed or so from the trade
deadline and you made a huge acquisition and being able
to get Djna Carrington, but also you had to give
something up in Diamond Miller. Why was that a strategic
move for the Minnesota Links in terms of the goal
of getting back to the finals and wanting to you know,
(09:47):
compete for a championship.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Well, we certainly have felt for a long time all
of our off season decisions were centered around keeping our
starting five together. We felt very confident in that group.
We love who they are together. They're hard to play against,
but to be highly successful and winning championship, you need
more than those five. So the development and the progress
of Natisha Heideman has been big for US. Courtney and
(10:12):
t playing together has been some of our best lineups.
So we've enjoyed that Jessica Shephard you know, back in
the in the fold for us and playing such an
important role for us. So we feel really good about
the top seven. And obviously we're seeing that play out without,
(10:32):
you know, with Fee with us and our ability to
sort of get through that, and we felt like Diamond
Miller is good of a players. We think that she
is the timeline for Diamond and us were different that
it's a longer play and we were in this space
of feeling like if if a player like Djna was
(10:52):
going to be available, that that might be putting our
best put forward for twenty twenty five, and we did
not want to leave twenty twenty five feeling like there
was something we could have done and didn't, and so
we felt like that was the best player to provide
us our most fullest version of ourselves to be able
to have the depth in spaces and also the variety
(11:15):
of skill sets that this group possesses. DJNE gives you
something different than what BC and Matt give you. And
then also the commitment to the defensive end that we
feel like has made us special. And so we just
felt like if that was available and that could come
to fruition, that it would behoove us to take a
swing at that.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Even so much change that's forthcoming in the league, with
expansion drafts and half the league being free agents next season,
did you feel like you have to take everything kind
of like season by season currently because of the new
CBA coming and everything in terms of you can't really
think long term right now because you just don't know
(11:56):
what the makeup of the league will be even next season.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, you know, Uh, sitting in the seat of the executive,
it's you always have to try to consider the impact
of your moves on the future, even though we don't
know everything that's going to happen. As you're as you're
alluding to, I think the nature of the free agency
probably put us our team in a space of saying,
(12:23):
we know what's here and now we don't know what's
in twenty twenty six. Like to think that we have
a group that would like to stay together, but we
don't have any idea of the dynamics of all of that. Uh.
And they'll tell you that. And and you know what
is the make what is the salary cap, and what
is the you know what all what are all the
moving parts that that could be uh the CBA. And
(12:46):
so I think even the players, our players are saying
twenty twenty five, let's lock in on twenty twenty five.
And so we try to balance that, you know, short
term with you know, with with the long term. And
that we weren't interested in dealing with first round pick.
We were we were simply not going to do that.
We don't have one for twenty twenty six. We were
not going to start playing in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
So we did factor that in that there was a
there was a limit to what we were willing to do.
So to be able to accomplish what we needed to
do within our limits, you know that that felt reasonable
to us.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
I want to talk about Courtney Williams and Aatisha Heideman
because they've been taking the Internet by storm, I mean
the seventy two hour live stream at w NBA All
Star and what they've been able to build with this
stud Buds brand. And I saw you a couple of
times to pair throughout the stream.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I heard I heard about that. Yeah, I told you
to be careful with the AI stuff.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You know, that's crazy. But the team chemistry has just
been unmatched. What has it been like to see that
relationship develop between Court and Tisha Hidaman and just being
able to feel comfortable being them there on the TAE
selves and building the stud Bug brand.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, happy, you know, I think I think initially, I
remember we were going to shoot around and and they're
always cutting up, you know, and I love it. I
I worry if they're not because their energy is really
special to our team, and you know, they they bring,
you know a lot of levity to things and and uh,
and I've learned so much. There's a lot of a
(14:20):
lot of spaces I didn't have the knowledge that I
have now. But but uh, they they say, hey, coach,
we're gonna we're gonna start you know this, They were
they were doing their activation stuff. They were going to
start this podcast. Guess what we're gonna call it and
they said the stud buzz right, so we you know,
we laughed about it. I was like, okay, cool talk podcast,
you know podcasts. Well, I had no idea what this
(14:42):
was going to become. And and we were actually, I
believe we were in Dallas and they have had dj
and A on their show and are on their stream,
and I'm I'm I'm not real knowledgeable in the space,
and I don't have a lot of time for you know,
just being able to watch a stream that's three four hours,
(15:02):
five hours, seventy two hours, that's not really my thing.
My attention span isn't isn't enough. But the morning we
came to our film session, Courtney had a concerned tone
of voice and she's like, hey, coach, and I might
have put a battery on the back of, you know,
our opponent. And I said, what are you talking about?
And she said, well, you know on the stream, I
(15:26):
said something you know about DJNA and who they beat.
And I was like, oh damn it, Courtney, we can't
do that, you know, like, we can't, you know. She's
so we leave and they messaged me. Courtney and team
messaged me. He said, Coach, can we connect and I
was like, yeah, cool. So I said, you know, it's
my phone. They're like, no, we want to do it
in person. Come in person. And they said this stud
(15:50):
butt thing like where it's it's going great. You know,
we're enjoying it. She's like, but we're worried you're not
going to be okay with it. And I said, why
you worried about me? Well, because we don't want you know,
we don't want you to think, you know that we
don't have the main thing, the main thing. And I said, look,
all I want you to worry about is your teammates.
Are your teammates good? You know, me like, hey, you
(16:12):
have to evolve. I you know, I wasn't doing this
with Lindsay Whale and the Smallning Gusts and those guys.
You know, I'm saying like, we didn't have this. This
is a new world. And so you know, like for me,
I'm getting with it. Whatever, whatever's happening, whatever's going down.
That's what you got to do. And I'm different than
what I was, you know, with those guys. And but
I just said to them, I'm only worried about your teammates.
(16:34):
If your teammates are good, and they're like, they're loving it.
You know, they're on the stream with us. And I said, cool,
I said, main thing becomes the main thing, always the
main thing. Do whatever you want outside of basketball, and
you know, just always consider your teammates first. And I
am thrilled for them that this has gotten to the
space that it has, you know, for you know, players
(16:57):
that make what they make, you know, a chance to
supplement their income. You know, Courtney's on the other side
of thirty. You know, Tea is Tea is in a
space where you know, every year, contractually, maybe it's not
enough once more, maybe they'll have to go overseas, maybe
they don't have to. Like, it's a great opportunity that
we can monetize the greatness of female athletes these days,
(17:20):
the ways that we can. I'm thrilled for them. And
our fans love it. Our our fans are you know, uh.
And and we're going into other arenas and we're getting
the pink you know, wigs and you know, like it's
it's it's fun for them. I don't pay too much attention.
I'm glad. I don't want to. I did I did
hear a little bit about the uh, the barstool. Uh
(17:43):
you know, uh that guy. But and that's also said
that too. Hey, when you've got the mic and you're
saying things you know you did, you're gonna get a
little more scrutinized when you're that popular. And uh, that's
there's a great responsibility with that.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah, I saw that, came back, added a pink braid
to her hair and devn djn A Carrington she wore
the pink wig and she says she's a fin bud.
So I love that the teammates are embracing it, and
the fans they want to know, will the Links host
a stud Buds Night and have pink fikes on every
seat at Arkansas?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
A great idea, it's a great idea. I'm not involved
in those decisions.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
All right, guys, like you heard that. She says she's
not involved in decisions, but it is a great idea,
So coach. There was recently a viral video after a
team win where the entire team, you know, they do
the traditional electric slide dance after when but Djona Carrington
she said, I have boundaries. I don't want to do
actually slide. So firstly, how did this all start? Like
(18:45):
when did you all start to do the electric slide
after wins, and is it she's all a mandatory for
players to participate.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Well, this was long before my arrival. The Minnesota length
says a franchise, and I don't know who it was
starting by. I should know the history of this. I
think it was written about. But this started a long
time ago that when the Links would win, they would
do a postgame celebration that included dancing. I know there's
been an evolution to it. The song that the song
(19:17):
choice for a long time was Apaches jump on it right,
and so they would do that dance, and then there
was you know, like we do a lot now historically,
there are some things that that maybe we have supported
that you kind of go, have we listened to the
lyrics of this song and maybe this isn't the best song,
and so some of that has has come into play,
and and so here we are now in today's iteration
(19:40):
of our postgame celebration is electric slide. I have only
heard I am gone out of the arena, so I
don't ever see, and so I have only heard that
there has been maybe in Djna's case, maybe there's an
adjustment period as to transitioning into a space of that celebration.
(20:06):
I I I am not in that and nothing is mandatory.
I'm not in it. I'm hopeful that Djna, in her
own way can participate with her teammates.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Uh, that's just something that's that everyone's always embraced as uh,
you know, a very valued part of our culture. And uh,
you know what, we'll see what how this transpires. You know,
May is claiming peer pressure. I don't dance, you know whatever,
but whatever version of dancing that they can participate in,
that would be great.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I think now that the stud buds are popular, I
think the theme song is now like Pink Pony, the
Chapel Alone song its like been now with the team
is I certainly think the whole w community is like
kind of latching onto that song.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Maybe. So maybe you guys can never know. You never know.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Going back to the basketball things, in terms of the
Links and what you all been able to do. Uh,
we brought up djn A Carrington and how important it
was for you all to just put the team in
a position to win. Now, what do you think separates
the Links from every other team right now in the league.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
That's hard for me because when I'm in it, uh,
I see all of our a worts. Uh, you know,
I know, I know what the you know stats say,
et cetera. What separates us? I think maybe the continuity
piece has been really helpful, So I think that would
be a separator, you know, certainly our commitment to the
defensive end. You know, we've gotten some separation there, but
(21:43):
I don't I don't think there's a lot that separates us.
I think there's a lot of great teams in our league,
and uh, I've enjoyed the you know, for our team,
how successful they've been together. But we haven't done anything yet.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
So the Tarazi film came out to recently in Alio.
Did you watch the documentary Coach?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Anybody that knows me knows I don't do those things. Uh,
I'm hearing all these great shows, and people don't believe
I'm not a watcher of those things or any thing
I'm watching is next Opponent video. I love, but it's real.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
But I do want to get your response to something
that DT said, because the last time you were on
the show, you guys won, you know, a gold medal
in Paris. And yeah, within the documentary, she talked about,
you know, that Gold Medal game and being confused as
to what happened in terms of not being able to
play and and your decision to go in that direction.
(22:40):
How do you how do you sort of respond to
her reaction? I guess and I didn't, And I think
her reaction was more and so in hindsight like oh okay,
like I'm gonna do what's better for the team, But
in hindsight I was kind of confused as to why
I did get the playing time.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, So not so much of a response to to Diana,
more of sharing a mindset, you know. And I said
this on other podcasts that I've done about the Gold
Medal game, the experience in general. When we went into
that game, we went into the game as we did
(23:17):
with all the other games, that you don't have a
mindset of not playing someone or a group of people.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
It is.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
It is the hardest coaching job that there is in
that whether it's the whether it's Steve Kerr on the
men's national team or whether it's Cheryl Reeve but the
women's national team, You're you're gonna piss a lot of
people off because there's a lot of great players that
aren't playing like they want to play. They're great players
for their team, they're great players in the league, but
not everybody can be the great player on the national team, right,
(23:47):
you have to make a choice, and that's unpopular, and
I get that, but you know when you sign up
for it. And I can honestly tell you that going
into that game, there was every reintention of playing Diana
Trossi and and others. And this is not just a
DT thing. When we got to the space that we
(24:10):
did in the middle of the third quarter and we
were down ten, right, it's what you do as a coach.
You go in survival mode and and those are the things,
you know, the decisions that we made that we felt
like were the best decisions to get us to the
place to to to to win the game. I certainly
understand anyone that says that Diana could have helped you win,
(24:34):
BG could have helped you win. Any player that didn't
play could have helped you win. There's there's always an
argument to be made. You can't argue with that. They're
all really good players. But what you do is what
you know at that time and what you feel like
is best. That's the space I live in when the
game is over and Diana TROSSI didn't play in particular
Diana because knowing the dynamics around you know, that be
(24:56):
her last Olympics. That felt the worst. That some feel
very good, but I had to prioritize what I thought
was needed to win, and that's what happened. It's unfortunate.
I feel terrible about it. Certainly wasn't anything intentional for
any of them, you know, but all of our jobs,
you know, as coaching staff were trying to win, win
(25:17):
the game, win the gold medal, and complete the mission,
which was not easy to do.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Were you able to talk to her in the last year,
especially with her retiring from the w NOP that's fairy So,
I mean I saw her then, but we were her last.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
No.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Looking ahead to twenty twenty eight, you know, super was
named the Team USA director and she's going to be
responsible for constructing that roster. But you mentioned how hard
it was for Team USA to sort of win that
gold medal game. Do you feel like the rest of
the world is finally catching up to you know, the
(25:56):
talent of Team USA.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yeah, I mean, I think every Olympic coach so I've
I got involved. My first Olympics was twenty sixteen, and
then with Dawn and what became the twenty twenty one Olympics.
Every Olympic coach has been saying this for as long
as I've been involved, right, So now you know what
better part of twelve fourteen years that that has been happening, right,
(26:20):
And what we saw in Paris was a France team
that is saying absolutely, we are we are much further
as a country in the sport. I thought they did
an incredible job constructing their roster to compete with the USA.
They had a lot of things that we had, right
(26:40):
or have They had depth, they had athleticism, they had size.
Those are all things that were always a luxury for us.
And they were the closest team to being able to
compete with us, and they were the host country. I'm
super proud that we were able to overcome. If you
go back myself and I actually recently watched the game,
(27:01):
the gold medal game, and it was the first time
I had watched and and uh, our defense was terrific.
And that's the other thing, that's what the identity of
our team, Olympic team under my leadership, was going to be.
We were gonna play defense, and defense is what what
got us through. And and uh, I think that for
(27:23):
the next you know, the next these next years, if
we are of the mindset that you know that the
gap has closed. And I am thrilled that USA Basketball
made this decision and that you know, Sue and much
like the men have, the timing was right. The timing
wasn't right before this, the timing is right now for
(27:45):
what they did. And I'm excited for Sue. I don't know, uh,
you know, like it's quite a task that she's taking on.
I'm I'm here for it, and I you know, like
she reached out and I reached out to her whatever,
and like, hey, you know, this is a team effort.
You know we're here. We're all if you've been a
part of us A B, you know, like you're always
(28:06):
be a part of USA B. And I want it
to be extremely successful and I'm excited for what lies
ahead under suits leadership.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I'm curious to know where that goal chain is that
I sed out bling chain that you got.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Oliver loves is. I know that I know that, but
we all haven't worn it in quite some time.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
When you think about you know, the decades that you've
been coaching and just all of your success, how do
you view what success looks like for you personally? Now?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
I think it's been this way for a while. The
players that I'm involved with, that their ability to reach
their greatest heights. It drives me every single day. What
can we do? What needs to be done? What can
our franchise do to be all that we can be
(29:13):
support wise what they want to be as people? How
do we amplify those spaces? How So that's that's the drive.
That's the success is can we can we get them?
Can we get them there their stated goals? And that's
that's uh, you know, I think that's the it's not
really the success kind of comes with after you do
(29:35):
all those things. It's kind of like what we say,
we don't talk about winning and losing games. You talk
about winning possessions and how do you win possessions? What
do you got to do? That's kind of that same
mindset that helping them reach their greatest heights? Okay, so
then what does that mean on a daily basis? What
does our franchise need to do for them? What is
our whether it's our ownership group, whether it's our coaching staff,
(29:55):
whether it's capital investments, just all those things that you
try to think of that we can be the very
best for them to help them succeed.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
So thinking about all the change that's forthcoming and the
w especially with the CBA, and I think back to
All Star when the players were the pay is what
you owe asserts. Just what's a reaction to you, you know,
that sort of solidarity between the players. I mean, you've
been a coach for a very long time in this
league and the w NBA has been at the forefront
(30:24):
of change Minnesota Link's organization, especially with some of your
players over time. What's your reaction to that.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
I mean, I am really excited. I know there's the
idea of the actual negotiations, let's put that aside, and
what they're going to fight for, et cetera, and what,
you know, what's going to happen. This is such an
incredibly exciting time for someone like myself, who you've mentioned
now twice. I have been in this league a long
time decades and so I can remember a time where
(30:57):
there was like no leverage and valuations of franchise were
loosely ten million. People that could come in and buy
it and really not to pay ten million, and you
know it was over time, and it was whatever, this
is such a this is what we've all wanted, right,
that we've all believed in for so long. When I
was a part of a team in two thousand and
(31:20):
three that ceased operations was a second team in three
years for me, and we weren't welcome in our facility,
and it was like I said, I'm going down with
this ship. Whatever's going to happen. This is what I
always believed we could be that if we invent and
we treated the right way, we invested in it. Societal
(31:42):
norms have changed in that time as well. Women are
running for president, you know, so this was all. You know,
sports are a microcosm of society and right, so that's
all what was happening. And this is where there's a
precedent that's been said with the women's national team soccer soccer,
women's national team. The visuals I have of them being
(32:02):
in our nation's capital at the Capitol building, not just them,
but fans around them supporting them, saying yes, women deserve more.
And so this is our inflection moment for those of
us that have been so involved in a WNBA, and
I believed in it wholeheartedly and have been told repeatedly
(32:22):
that that's cute, but it'll never be a mainstream thing.
And here we are, and so I'm excited for them.
I mean, I don't know what's going to happen in negotiations,
but I do know this. I know Kathy Engelbert is
the commissioner of our league, who was a female athlete,
has been a female executive, has fought the same things
(32:42):
that we have fought. I know that she wants to
do right by the players, what they land on and
what's right. There's a business aspect to this, right, I
get all of that. I am just excited that here
we are. This is huge. Look at the Wright steal.
Look at what's happening. The CBA is gonna, it's gonna,
(33:04):
it's gonna it's gonna land where uh where this excitement
is and this inflection point. The CBA is going to
reflect the inflection point. What the exact numbers are, I
don't know, but I have strong belief in both the
players and the United Front of the Players, and I
have strong belief in the league's understanding of how important
this is. That this is going to end well for everybody.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
I'm gonna have to agree with that, and Coach Serah,
I just want to thank you for joining us this
week on In Case you missed it here on iHeart
Omens Sports Network, and I wish you and the Minnesota
Links the best of luck for the rest of the
season in postseason as well.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Thank you so much, great to see you again.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
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 Iheartwomen's Sports Network
and in Case you missed It Gang. The WNBA season
(00:24):
is of flinding down, but things are just heating up
for the Minnesota Links, who have clinched officially a playoff spot,
and with the Vista Collier as the front runner for
MVP this season, I figured why not invite a friend
to the show back to break all things Links down. Please,
Welcome to the show, head Coach Cheryl Reid. Thank you.
(00:48):
Welcome to the show, Coach, Cheryl Oh.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
It's great to be back on. I appreciate you thinking
of us.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
You know, it's officially kind of been like a year.
The last time we had you on, you had just
led Team USA to their eighth straight gold medal, and
so I am so happy to have you back here.
So let's dive right into the conversation. The Links currently
stand at number one overall on the w NBA standings
and have officially clenched a playoff spot. Just talk about
(01:15):
the success of the team this season, carrying over from
kind of that loss in the finals last season. What's
been different about this season?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah, you know, you never know, you know, we had
such a special season last year, as we know, culminated
in the finals and you know, seconds away from you know,
accomplishing a goal that they had, and you never know
if you're going to be able to you know, you
have it largely the same group back, but you never
know does it going to go as well? And so
(01:46):
they've sort of proven that what we had was repeatable.
And I think that we're a little better in terms
of our experiences together. Right we were kind of making
that climb together. Now we're in it. We're the the
knowledge that we have for each other, the way that
(02:07):
I coach them, things that happen in a game, how
they quickly get to their solutions, and because we've experienced
it all before. So I'm thrilled that we've been able
to sustain that success. I think it also has helped
that the league went through so much change and we
didn't go through much change. I think that's been a factor.
(02:29):
And I just think they're hungry. I think there I'm
not big into the words I don't want to hear
about you know that you want to avenge you know,
something that didn't go I don't like the words. I
like the work you know that kind of go into it.
And they've they've put in the work and they've kind
of shown how they feel about this team and how
(02:50):
special that they know that they are and trying to
reach the ultimate goal together.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I mean, there's so many positives to pull from this
Minnesota Links team, and I think that it starts with
the FISA Collier. She's having one incredible season, the front
runner this year for MVP. What's been different in terms
of her growth? And you've been able to coach her
into this MVP like player. I mean, in Minnesota drafted
(03:16):
the FSA Collier. It's so interesting, Cheryl, because I saw
something online and it was, you know, Twitter trolls trying
to say, oh, coach leave, she doesn't develop players. And
I'm like, and I responded back personally because I'm like,
you guys don't watch basketball, But did you forget the
Links actually drafted Fisa and now she's an MVP front runner.
(03:37):
But anyways, I want from your own words, the growth
in the Visa Collier. What have you seen from your
view as her head coach?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, I mean you go way back to the beginning.
I mean there's been great evolutions she every year we say, Okay,
come back, you got to add this, et cetera. She
just has a tremendous work ethic and talent. She has
this immense talent. The really the last two years, so
twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four, leading into twenty twenty five,
(04:07):
I've seen this like step in her in her mindset,
in that the older she's gotten, the more she's thinking
of herself in a championship space. When she first got here,
I think maybe she's you know, in twenty nineteen, twenty twenty,
we were you know, we were in the semifinals. In
twenty twenty down in the bubble. Twenty twenty one, we
finished third. She's kind of gotten to this space where
(04:31):
she's now been in the finals and has tasted it,
has felt it. It's tangible to her now and I've
seen a difference, and Fee has voiced what that difference is.
But she is like, I want it. I want to
win it. And that's not to say that that wasn't
a feeling she had before, but it's different and when
(04:52):
you get to the finals. So her first trip to
the finals and now she understands like that championship space
and she's on a mission. She's like, I want to
win it, and yeah, I'm a sore loser and that's
something that we should own and her improvement that is
taking to get there. From a basketball standpoint, there's nothing
(05:15):
that she can't do. She's really an incredible basketball player.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
When I think about her growth and trajectory, it kind
of trickles down to the success of what this team
has been able to do this season in terms of
the separation of the Minnesota Links right now versus the
entire league and then the FISA. When it comes to
being a top MVP candidate, You've coached so many Hall
of Famers in your career. When you think about what
(05:42):
she can do in her ceiling in this game, what
stands out to.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
You the most that same possibility that the players that
became Hall of Famers and Lindsay Wale and and Samona Gustus,
they were all in the same space that fees been
in and once they reach their pinnacle, right it is
about championships and that's what she's capable of. She's capable
of more than one championship. Whatever team Fee is on
(06:09):
has a chance to win a championship. And and so
I think that's her. That's what's next for her, the
same way it was for Lindsay Whale and Augustus Small
and Augustus's first five years, you know, let the league
in scoring or had all these great things. But team's success,
uh and and doing it repeatedly that that fees talent.
(06:29):
It's how much more can she add to her game?
There's always something to add. Great players know that they're
never satisfied. And I just think that her ability to
propel teammates around her, that's what makes her really special
and unique. She is a selfless star, which we love
to have here in Minnesota. And uh, you know, like
(06:50):
playing with her is special. Teammates will tell you that.
And just her talent. You know, her talent's incredible, and
you know her ability to now repeat this and over again,
be in the finals again, you know, compete for a
championship again, you win a championship. That's what's next for her.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
When I think about, you know, the success of this team,
it also starts with the moves that you've been able
to do right on your bench with adding someone like
Lindsay Whalin, adding Eric Tibo junior coaching staff, and you've
had an incredible coaching tree throughout the history of your
career in the w n b A. But when you
think about what you've been able to put together this
(07:28):
season in particular, what do those new additions add in
terms of you know, the success that you guys been
happening this season.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, great additions. You know, Katie Smith was somebody I
really enjoyed having on the bench with me, and you
know that was you know, sort of a big loss
for us because of what she gave her connection to
the players and our ads of of Whalen back in
the fold and Eric Tibo. The the ability to uh transition,
(08:01):
you know, from somebody that was so beloved in Katie
to be able to still be in this great space
speaks a lot to Eric's overall basketball knowledge, his demeanor,
you know, his his pouring into players every day. He
loves the player development space and the breaking things down
and certainly loves you know, in game. You know, I've
(08:23):
I've enjoyed his contributions and and timeouts and halftimes and
even game prep. Lindsey Whalen. Uh, there's you know, just
being a round way and having her back. Having her
as a fan was cool, but having her on the
sideline with us, her her wittiness, her her knowledge, her
(08:46):
point guard play that she has offered, like she's I
have to worry very little about point guard play. I
hand it off to Whey and and she's the one.
She's like, I got him, Coach, I got him. You know,
I'll get him on that. And that's been That's just
been really tremendous for the growth of Courtney and for Natitia.
So I'm happy with our ads on the bench. We
(09:08):
certainly miss Katie and any Lane Powell, but you know,
we like where we landed.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
More about a week removed or so from the trade
deadline and you made a huge acquisition and being able
to get Djna Carrington, but also you had to give
something up in Diamond Miller. Why was that a strategic
move for the Minnesota Links in terms of the goal
of getting back to the finals and wanting to you know,
(09:47):
compete for a championship.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Well, we certainly have felt for a long time all
of our off season decisions were centered around keeping our
starting five together. We felt very confident in that group.
We love who they are together. They're hard to play against,
but to be highly successful and winning championship, you need
more than those five. So the development and the progress
of Natisha Heideman has been big for US. Courtney and
(10:12):
t playing together has been some of our best lineups.
So we've enjoyed that Jessica Shephard you know, back in
the in the fold for us and playing such an
important role for us. So we feel really good about
the top seven. And obviously we're seeing that play out without,
(10:32):
you know, with Fee with us and our ability to
sort of get through that, and we felt like Diamond
Miller is good of a players. We think that she
is the timeline for Diamond and us were different that
it's a longer play and we were in this space
of feeling like if if a player like Djna was
(10:52):
going to be available, that that might be putting our
best put forward for twenty twenty five, and we did
not want to leave twenty twenty five feeling like there
was something we could have done and didn't, and so
we felt like that was the best player to provide
us our most fullest version of ourselves to be able
to have the depth in spaces and also the variety
(11:15):
of skill sets that this group possesses. DJNE gives you
something different than what BC and Matt give you. And
then also the commitment to the defensive end that we
feel like has made us special. And so we just
felt like if that was available and that could come
to fruition, that it would behoove us to take a
swing at that.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Even so much change that's forthcoming in the league, with
expansion drafts and half the league being free agents next season,
did you feel like you have to take everything kind
of like season by season currently because of the new
CBA coming and everything in terms of you can't really
think long term right now because you just don't know
(11:56):
what the makeup of the league will be even next season.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, you know, Uh, sitting in the seat of the executive,
it's you always have to try to consider the impact
of your moves on the future, even though we don't
know everything that's going to happen. As you're as you're
alluding to, I think the nature of the free agency
probably put us our team in a space of saying,
(12:23):
we know what's here and now we don't know what's
in twenty twenty six. Like to think that we have
a group that would like to stay together, but we
don't have any idea of the dynamics of all of that. Uh.
And they'll tell you that. And and you know what
is the make what is the salary cap, and what
is the you know what all what are all the
moving parts that that could be uh the CBA. And
(12:46):
so I think even the players, our players are saying
twenty twenty five, let's lock in on twenty twenty five.
And so we try to balance that, you know, short
term with you know, with with the long term. And
that we weren't interested in dealing with first round pick.
We were we were simply not going to do that.
We don't have one for twenty twenty six. We were
not going to start playing in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
So we did factor that in that there was a
there was a limit to what we were willing to do.
So to be able to accomplish what we needed to
do within our limits, you know that that felt reasonable
to us.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
I want to talk about Courtney Williams and Aatisha Heideman
because they've been taking the Internet by storm, I mean
the seventy two hour live stream at w NBA All
Star and what they've been able to build with this
stud Buds brand. And I saw you a couple of
times to pair throughout the stream.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I heard I heard about that. Yeah, I told you
to be careful with the AI stuff.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You know, that's crazy. But the team chemistry has just
been unmatched. What has it been like to see that
relationship develop between Court and Tisha Hidaman and just being
able to feel comfortable being them there on the TAE
selves and building the stud Bug brand.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, happy, you know, I think I think initially, I
remember we were going to shoot around and and they're
always cutting up, you know, and I love it. I
I worry if they're not because their energy is really
special to our team, and you know, they they bring,
you know a lot of levity to things and and uh,
and I've learned so much. There's a lot of a
(14:20):
lot of spaces I didn't have the knowledge that I
have now. But but uh, they they say, hey, coach,
we're gonna we're gonna start you know this, They were
they were doing their activation stuff. They were going to
start this podcast. Guess what we're gonna call it and
they said the stud buzz right, so we you know,
we laughed about it. I was like, okay, cool talk podcast,
you know podcasts. Well, I had no idea what this
(14:42):
was going to become. And and we were actually, I
believe we were in Dallas and they have had dj
and A on their show and are on their stream,
and I'm I'm I'm not real knowledgeable in the space,
and I don't have a lot of time for you know,
just being able to watch a stream that's three four hours,
(15:02):
five hours, seventy two hours, that's not really my thing.
My attention span isn't isn't enough. But the morning we
came to our film session, Courtney had a concerned tone
of voice and she's like, hey, coach, and I might
have put a battery on the back of, you know,
our opponent. And I said, what are you talking about?
And she said, well, you know on the stream, I
(15:26):
said something you know about DJNA and who they beat.
And I was like, oh damn it, Courtney, we can't
do that, you know, like, we can't, you know. She's
so we leave and they messaged me. Courtney and team
messaged me. He said, Coach, can we connect and I
was like, yeah, cool. So I said, you know, it's
my phone. They're like, no, we want to do it
in person. Come in person. And they said this stud
(15:50):
butt thing like where it's it's going great. You know,
we're enjoying it. She's like, but we're worried you're not
going to be okay with it. And I said, why
you worried about me? Well, because we don't want you know,
we don't want you to think, you know that we
don't have the main thing, the main thing. And I said, look,
all I want you to worry about is your teammates.
Are your teammates good? You know, me like, hey, you
(16:12):
have to evolve. I you know, I wasn't doing this
with Lindsay Whale and the Smallning Gusts and those guys.
You know, I'm saying like, we didn't have this. This
is a new world. And so you know, like for me,
I'm getting with it. Whatever, whatever's happening, whatever's going down.
That's what you got to do. And I'm different than
what I was, you know, with those guys. And but
I just said to them, I'm only worried about your teammates.
(16:34):
If your teammates are good, and they're like, they're loving it.
You know, they're on the stream with us. And I said, cool,
I said, main thing becomes the main thing, always the
main thing. Do whatever you want outside of basketball, and
you know, just always consider your teammates first. And I
am thrilled for them that this has gotten to the
space that it has, you know, for you know, players
(16:57):
that make what they make, you know, a chance to
supplement their income. You know, Courtney's on the other side
of thirty. You know, Tea is Tea is in a
space where you know, every year, contractually, maybe it's not
enough once more, maybe they'll have to go overseas, maybe
they don't have to. Like, it's a great opportunity that
we can monetize the greatness of female athletes these days,
(17:20):
the ways that we can. I'm thrilled for them. And
our fans love it. Our our fans are you know, uh.
And and we're going into other arenas and we're getting
the pink you know, wigs and you know, like it's
it's it's fun for them. I don't pay too much attention.
I'm glad. I don't want to. I did I did
hear a little bit about the uh, the barstool. Uh
(17:43):
you know, uh that guy. But and that's also said
that too. Hey, when you've got the mic and you're
saying things you know you did, you're gonna get a
little more scrutinized when you're that popular. And uh, that's
there's a great responsibility with that.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah, I saw that, came back, added a pink braid
to her hair and devn djn A Carrington she wore
the pink wig and she says she's a fin bud.
So I love that the teammates are embracing it, and
the fans they want to know, will the Links host
a stud Buds Night and have pink fikes on every
seat at Arkansas?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
A great idea, it's a great idea. I'm not involved
in those decisions.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
All right, guys, like you heard that. She says she's
not involved in decisions, but it is a great idea,
So coach. There was recently a viral video after a
team win where the entire team, you know, they do
the traditional electric slide dance after when but Djona Carrington
she said, I have boundaries. I don't want to do
actually slide. So firstly, how did this all start? Like
(18:45):
when did you all start to do the electric slide
after wins, and is it she's all a mandatory for
players to participate.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Well, this was long before my arrival. The Minnesota length
says a franchise, and I don't know who it was
starting by. I should know the history of this. I
think it was written about. But this started a long
time ago that when the Links would win, they would
do a postgame celebration that included dancing. I know there's
been an evolution to it. The song that the song
(19:17):
choice for a long time was Apaches jump on it right,
and so they would do that dance, and then there
was you know, like we do a lot now historically,
there are some things that that maybe we have supported
that you kind of go, have we listened to the
lyrics of this song and maybe this isn't the best song,
and so some of that has has come into play,
and and so here we are now in today's iteration
(19:40):
of our postgame celebration is electric slide. I have only
heard I am gone out of the arena, so I
don't ever see, and so I have only heard that
there has been maybe in Djna's case, maybe there's an
adjustment period as to transitioning into a space of that celebration.
(20:06):
I I I am not in that and nothing is mandatory.
I'm not in it. I'm hopeful that Djna, in her
own way can participate with her teammates.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Uh, that's just something that's that everyone's always embraced as uh,
you know, a very valued part of our culture. And uh,
you know what, we'll see what how this transpires. You know,
May is claiming peer pressure. I don't dance, you know whatever,
but whatever version of dancing that they can participate in,
that would be great.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I think now that the stud buds are popular, I
think the theme song is now like Pink Pony, the
Chapel Alone song its like been now with the team
is I certainly think the whole w community is like
kind of latching onto that song.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Maybe. So maybe you guys can never know. You never know.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Going back to the basketball things, in terms of the
Links and what you all been able to do. Uh,
we brought up djn A Carrington and how important it
was for you all to just put the team in
a position to win. Now, what do you think separates
the Links from every other team right now in the league.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
That's hard for me because when I'm in it, uh,
I see all of our a worts. Uh, you know,
I know, I know what the you know stats say,
et cetera. What separates us? I think maybe the continuity
piece has been really helpful, So I think that would
be a separator, you know, certainly our commitment to the
defensive end. You know, we've gotten some separation there, but
(21:43):
I don't I don't think there's a lot that separates us.
I think there's a lot of great teams in our league,
and uh, I've enjoyed the you know, for our team,
how successful they've been together. But we haven't done anything yet.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
So the Tarazi film came out to recently in Alio.
Did you watch the documentary Coach?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Anybody that knows me knows I don't do those things. Uh,
I'm hearing all these great shows, and people don't believe
I'm not a watcher of those things or any thing
I'm watching is next Opponent video. I love, but it's real.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
But I do want to get your response to something
that DT said, because the last time you were on
the show, you guys won, you know, a gold medal
in Paris. And yeah, within the documentary, she talked about,
you know, that Gold Medal game and being confused as
to what happened in terms of not being able to
play and and your decision to go in that direction.
(22:40):
How do you how do you sort of respond to
her reaction? I guess and I didn't, And I think
her reaction was more and so in hindsight like oh okay,
like I'm gonna do what's better for the team, But
in hindsight I was kind of confused as to why
I did get the playing time.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, So not so much of a response to to Diana,
more of sharing a mindset, you know. And I said
this on other podcasts that I've done about the Gold
Medal game, the experience in general. When we went into
that game, we went into the game as we did
(23:17):
with all the other games, that you don't have a
mindset of not playing someone or a group of people.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
It is.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
It is the hardest coaching job that there is in
that whether it's the whether it's Steve Kerr on the
men's national team or whether it's Cheryl Reeve but the
women's national team, You're you're gonna piss a lot of
people off because there's a lot of great players that
aren't playing like they want to play. They're great players
for their team, they're great players in the league, but
not everybody can be the great player on the national team, right,
(23:47):
you have to make a choice, and that's unpopular, and
I get that, but you know when you sign up
for it. And I can honestly tell you that going
into that game, there was every reintention of playing Diana
Trossi and and others. And this is not just a
DT thing. When we got to the space that we
(24:10):
did in the middle of the third quarter and we
were down ten, right, it's what you do as a coach.
You go in survival mode and and those are the things,
you know, the decisions that we made that we felt
like were the best decisions to get us to the
place to to to to win the game. I certainly
understand anyone that says that Diana could have helped you win,
(24:34):
BG could have helped you win. Any player that didn't
play could have helped you win. There's there's always an
argument to be made. You can't argue with that. They're
all really good players. But what you do is what
you know at that time and what you feel like
is best. That's the space I live in when the
game is over and Diana TROSSI didn't play in particular
Diana because knowing the dynamics around you know, that be
(24:56):
her last Olympics. That felt the worst. That some feel
very good, but I had to prioritize what I thought
was needed to win, and that's what happened. It's unfortunate.
I feel terrible about it. Certainly wasn't anything intentional for
any of them, you know, but all of our jobs,
you know, as coaching staff were trying to win, win
(25:17):
the game, win the gold medal, and complete the mission,
which was not easy to do.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Were you able to talk to her in the last year,
especially with her retiring from the w NOP that's fairy So,
I mean I saw her then, but we were her last.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
No.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Looking ahead to twenty twenty eight, you know, super was
named the Team USA director and she's going to be
responsible for constructing that roster. But you mentioned how hard
it was for Team USA to sort of win that
gold medal game. Do you feel like the rest of
the world is finally catching up to you know, the
(25:56):
talent of Team USA.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yeah, I mean, I think every Olympic coach so I've
I got involved. My first Olympics was twenty sixteen, and
then with Dawn and what became the twenty twenty one Olympics.
Every Olympic coach has been saying this for as long
as I've been involved, right, So now you know what
better part of twelve fourteen years that that has been happening, right,
(26:20):
And what we saw in Paris was a France team
that is saying absolutely, we are we are much further
as a country in the sport. I thought they did
an incredible job constructing their roster to compete with the USA.
They had a lot of things that we had, right
(26:40):
or have They had depth, they had athleticism, they had size.
Those are all things that were always a luxury for us.
And they were the closest team to being able to
compete with us, and they were the host country. I'm
super proud that we were able to overcome. If you
go back myself and I actually recently watched the game,
(27:01):
the gold medal game, and it was the first time
I had watched and and uh, our defense was terrific.
And that's the other thing, that's what the identity of
our team, Olympic team under my leadership, was going to be.
We were gonna play defense, and defense is what what
got us through. And and uh, I think that for
(27:23):
the next you know, the next these next years, if
we are of the mindset that you know that the
gap has closed. And I am thrilled that USA Basketball
made this decision and that you know, Sue and much
like the men have, the timing was right. The timing
wasn't right before this, the timing is right now for
(27:45):
what they did. And I'm excited for Sue. I don't know, uh,
you know, like it's quite a task that she's taking on.
I'm I'm here for it, and I you know, like
she reached out and I reached out to her whatever,
and like, hey, you know, this is a team effort.
You know we're here. We're all if you've been a
part of us A B, you know, like you're always
(28:06):
be a part of USA B. And I want it
to be extremely successful and I'm excited for what lies
ahead under suits leadership.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I'm curious to know where that goal chain is that
I sed out bling chain that you got.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Oliver loves is. I know that I know that, but
we all haven't worn it in quite some time.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
When you think about you know, the decades that you've
been coaching and just all of your success, how do
you view what success looks like for you personally? Now?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
I think it's been this way for a while. The
players that I'm involved with, that their ability to reach
their greatest heights. It drives me every single day. What
can we do? What needs to be done? What can
our franchise do to be all that we can be
(29:13):
support wise what they want to be as people? How
do we amplify those spaces? How So that's that's the drive.
That's the success is can we can we get them?
Can we get them there their stated goals? And that's
that's uh, you know, I think that's the it's not
really the success kind of comes with after you do
(29:35):
all those things. It's kind of like what we say,
we don't talk about winning and losing games. You talk
about winning possessions and how do you win possessions? What
do you got to do? That's kind of that same
mindset that helping them reach their greatest heights? Okay, so
then what does that mean on a daily basis? What
does our franchise need to do for them? What is
our whether it's our ownership group, whether it's our coaching staff,
(29:55):
whether it's capital investments, just all those things that you
try to think of that we can be the very
best for them to help them succeed.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
So thinking about all the change that's forthcoming and the
w especially with the CBA, and I think back to
All Star when the players were the pay is what
you owe asserts. Just what's a reaction to you, you know,
that sort of solidarity between the players. I mean, you've
been a coach for a very long time in this
league and the w NBA has been at the forefront
(30:24):
of change Minnesota Link's organization, especially with some of your
players over time. What's your reaction to that.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
I mean, I am really excited. I know there's the
idea of the actual negotiations, let's put that aside, and
what they're going to fight for, et cetera, and what,
you know, what's going to happen. This is such an
incredibly exciting time for someone like myself, who you've mentioned
now twice. I have been in this league a long
time decades and so I can remember a time where
(30:57):
there was like no leverage and valuations of franchise were
loosely ten million. People that could come in and buy
it and really not to pay ten million, and you
know it was over time, and it was whatever, this
is such a this is what we've all wanted, right,
that we've all believed in for so long. When I
was a part of a team in two thousand and
(31:20):
three that ceased operations was a second team in three
years for me, and we weren't welcome in our facility,
and it was like I said, I'm going down with
this ship. Whatever's going to happen. This is what I
always believed we could be that if we invent and
we treated the right way, we invested in it. Societal
(31:42):
norms have changed in that time as well. Women are
running for president, you know, so this was all. You know,
sports are a microcosm of society and right, so that's
all what was happening. And this is where there's a
precedent that's been said with the women's national team soccer soccer,
women's national team. The visuals I have of them being
(32:02):
in our nation's capital at the Capitol building, not just them,
but fans around them supporting them, saying yes, women deserve more.
And so this is our inflection moment for those of
us that have been so involved in a WNBA, and
I believed in it wholeheartedly and have been told repeatedly
(32:22):
that that's cute, but it'll never be a mainstream thing.
And here we are, and so I'm excited for them.
I mean, I don't know what's going to happen in negotiations,
but I do know this. I know Kathy Engelbert is
the commissioner of our league, who was a female athlete,
has been a female executive, has fought the same things
(32:42):
that we have fought. I know that she wants to
do right by the players, what they land on and
what's right. There's a business aspect to this, right, I
get all of that. I am just excited that here
we are. This is huge. Look at the Wright steal.
Look at what's happening. The CBA is gonna, it's gonna,
(33:04):
it's gonna it's gonna land where uh where this excitement
is and this inflection point. The CBA is going to
reflect the inflection point. What the exact numbers are, I
don't know, but I have strong belief in both the
players and the United Front of the Players, and I
have strong belief in the league's understanding of how important
this is. That this is going to end well for everybody.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
I'm gonna have to agree with that, and Coach Serah,
I just want to thank you for joining us this
week on In Case you missed it here on iHeart
Omens Sports Network, and I wish you and the Minnesota
Links the best of luck for the rest of the
season in postseason as well.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Thank you so much, great to see you again.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
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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