Khristina is joined by women’s basketball analyst and co-host of the “Levels to This” podcast Terrika Foster-Brasby to talk about South Carolina getting their 43-game winning streak snapped by UCLA, and how Notre Dame took down JuJu Watkins and USC. Plus the Unrivaled coaches and teams are being announced, but still no sign of Caitlin Clark, and with Dallas winning the WNBA Draft Lottery will Paige Bueckers really be playing for the Wings next season…
Then Khristina welcomes in the new Head Coach of the Chicago Sky, Tyler Marsh to discuss his difficult decision to leave the Las Vegas Aces, how his connections to Becky Hammon and Jackie Young have changed his coaching style, what he plans to do to build around Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, and the responsibility of being the only African-American male coach in the WNBA.
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
Let us know what you think of the show by leaving a rating and a review!
CREDITS
Executive Producers:
Nikki Ettore
Jessie Katz
Tyler Klang
Jonathan Strickland
Supervising Producer:
Peter Coughter
Producer & Editor:
Tari Harrison
Host:
Khristina Williams
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment. Welcome back to another episode of In Case
You Missed It with Christina Williams, and today is a
big show. So our first guest. She's one of my homegirls.
(00:24):
She's a friend to the show. She is a women's
basketball reporter for CBS Sports and you may know her
podcast Levels to this with Sheryl Swoops. It's my girl.
Terka Klausser brasby t what it do?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hey, what's going on? You know?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Another day, another day in women's basketball.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Listen, there's so much to break down, and I'm glad
that you are the one here with me this week
to break it all down.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So all right, we.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Have a lot to get into. Tetty. How about Sunday
UCLA South Carolina game. I mean that was definitely a
headliner this weekend in women's college basketball, namely because UCLA
snapped South Carolina's forty three game win Street. This is
a team that hasn't lost in about three years in
regular season. And I know that you are an AP voter,
(01:20):
so break it all down for me right now.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah, well, I mean it was certainly it was certainly
all in favor of UCLA. Like, there really wasn't much
that you could criticize about UCLA's performance because they owned everything.
They owned the boards, They made life a living hell
for Chloe Kitts and Sinaia Fagan on the inside. Like
they battled and really asserted their dominance early on into
(01:48):
the matchup, and so after the half, when South Carolina
did try to battle back a little bit, it was
a little bit too late at that point because UCLA
had already you know, done damage. They were already down
by twenty five, and UCLA certainly didn't put their foot
off the gas. But I just think this speaks to
the kind of program that Chloe excuse me, that Corey
Close has continued to run at UCLA.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Year after year after year.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
I think South Carolina had begun to set the standard
for women's basketball, and everybody else was tasked with living
up to that standard, and Corey Close has been doing it.
And like having a performance like they had on Sunday
on the national stage against the number one team, where
Lauren Bett's and London Jones really set the tone. I
(02:35):
just really think it's a statement win. So they made
it very difficult for me and I'm sure the other
voters as well with who was going to be number one,
And the AP results are out at this point, and
so Ucla is the new number one, with Yukon remaining
at number two. I personally had put Yukon number one
(02:56):
with UCLA number two. And granted I know that UCLA
had two ranked wins, where Ucla, excuse me, where you
kinda only had one ranked win over North Carolina. I
just didn't think that personally, I just didn't think that
Yukon had done anything enough for me to drop them.
But I certainly understand the voters who wanted to just
(03:16):
keep them at the number two line, looking to see more.
They get another ranked opponent coming up in the next
couple of weeks, So I'm okay with UCLA be at
number one. They've certainly earned it.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So what does this loss mean to a team like
South Carolina and the defendant champs? This loss against Ucla,
I think that, for one, we see how much of
an impact Camilla Cardozo made last season in the years
and all of the bigs that they had Leah Boston
the year prior just howly have to reconfigure everything in
their roster. But from your standpoint, what do you see?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I think that is the hugest thing to me.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
It's just that, you know, offense is few and far between, right,
and you need to have a consistent person And for
as you mentioned, having bigs like a Leah Boston, having
a player like Camilla Cardoso who is where of their
offense came from last season, you don't have that player now,
and so you haven't quite figured out who's going to
be that consistent go to offensively.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
And one thing that I think.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
UCLA did really well was they really closed off the
interior offensive game for South Carolina. Remember Ashland Watkins just
got back. To be honest, she missed, you know, the
beginning part due to a suspension, so getting her reacclimated
is going to take a little time as well. But
also Malaysia full Wiley like, I don't know what happened.
(04:31):
Don don put her on a bench in the first
quarter and sist didn't play anymore for the rest of
the game. And that's not really you know, I'm not
really gonna delve much into that because I don't think
that it's worth reading into in that way, you know
what I mean, Like I think that don is a
very very smart head coach and if she puts you
on a benches for a reason. But at the same time,
it's Novembers, you know what I mean, Like, it's November,
(04:54):
and I know there's this big thing about South Carolina
not losing a game in the regular season for a
few years now, But ultimately we know that November is
still very early for a lot of teams, and come March,
come to by not even March. By the time we
get into conference play SEC play, this team is not
(05:16):
even gonna be thinking about this particular loss back at
here in November. So I don't think it says much
this early on. But I do think that the one
thing South Carolina will need to figure out is who's
gonna be that consistent player that they can continually get
scoring an efficiency from, and who can be that player
(05:37):
on the inside, Like what's gonna be their go to,
who's going to be their go too big, that's going
to be completely solid, who's gonna close, who's gonna finish? Like,
that's what they got to figure out.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So a huge weekend for women's college basketball Notre Dame
defeating USC and so we we saw a lot of
highs and lows in that game as well. That that
court of Olivia Mouth and Hannah Hildigo I think is great.
I mean, we know why Notre Dame is called point
guard University or guard university. Some of the best guards play,
(06:08):
play or come from Notre Dame. But what were some
things that stood out to you about that matchup?
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Honestly, I think those were the biggest things that stood
out to me. It's just that for at least the
last couple of years, we've been saying we can't wait
to see what it's going to look like when Olivia
Miles is healthy, when Hannah Hidalgo has like her partner
in crime sort of speak along with her. And I
think we've got a great opportunity to see that Notre
Dame played very well even in the opening matchup, right,
(06:35):
I mean literally the opening game of the season in Paris,
we had a glimpse of what this could do. Now
we're only just going to see that continue to get better,
and so to me, I think that's what stood out
the most, and it made it very difficult for me
as a voter to even decide where to put an
Order Dame right, because quite honestly, I think they might be.
You know, I don't want to say a sleeper because
(06:57):
I think everybody knows it.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But they in a team like really the team to be.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
At this point in the season, like they are the
team that I feel is scary good. Neil Ivey has
really coached them to play the up tempo place that
she wants and has won it over the last couple
of years, and it's flowing for them, So Notre Dame
is scary y'all.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Definitely a trust the process situation with them over the
last few years. And I mean, obviously some of the
players were injury proneen and now it's started to click.
You're starting to see, as you said, that fire comes
out when you look at USC with Kiki and Juju.
I mean, the expectations are so high for this team.
Once stood out to you about those two players specifically
(07:38):
in that matchup, Well.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
I think one thing that I noticed is that we
have to understand that basketball is still a team sport,
even though it has its individual moments. And even within
that matchup, Juju still played well. Juju still had twenty
four points, you know what I mean. So it's not
as if she individually didn't do what was needed to do.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
She did. But it's not an individual sport.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's a team sport, right, And when you get a
player like Kiki ari Fn who is coming in from
a different program in Stanford, who's coming in, I don't
want to say learning, because it feels like she's done
a great job with adjusting to their offensive system. But
it's more than just understanding the playbook. It's also about
learning how to play with each other and understanding the
chemistry with each other. And I don't feel like that
(08:23):
is going to be a continual issue. I just think
that every once in a while you'll get bumps in
a road where you look at Notre Dame, who has
that chemistry built, who has that continuity already they just
really did a plug and play with putting Olivia back
in and dealing with how you know, her injury hasn't
really necessarily messed up the flow of what Notre Dame
(08:44):
has And so to me, that's what it's all about,
specifically with them too, just once they find that continuity,
find that chemistry, find that rhythm, little things, little mistakes,
won't be you know, huge, huge things, won't be you know,
huge problems for their team overall, And to me, that's
just the biggest thing. It's just finding chemistry, finding continuity,
(09:05):
and being able to play together. But individually, I think
Juju is still one of the best players in the country,
if not the best. I think you might get people
to argue between her and Page Becker's at this point
as it relates to that position. But yeah, I don't, girl,
you ain't about to hear me say a thing about
Juju even in the loss, because I think she's still
(09:25):
that good.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
She's still that girl very much, that girl, all right.
Moving right along, the Dallas Wings has secured the number
one pick in the twenty twenty five draft. The team
also announced that Kurt Miller will be their general manager
and president of basketball operations. First and foremost, congrats to
Kurt Miller. I think that that was a great pickup
(09:48):
for Dallas to get someone who's experienced in the front
office in addition to a winning coach. I think that
that will play a major part in attracting free agents,
where Dallas has been an destination when people may have
been hesitant in the past because of the front office.
So I'm excited to see what they will do. All right,
So the question is, Paige Beeckers, how do you see
(10:11):
her potentially fitting to the downswings should she go number
one in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
That is such a tough question, And I'm gonna tell
you why. I think it's a tough question, And that's
because we don't know how anyone is gonna fit without
a head coach. And to say that you can just
determine who's gonna play where, how someone's gonna move.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
You know, who we're gonna.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Add throughout the rest of the draft, and whether or
not players like say to Sobi, decide to stay even
though it feels like Sadetwo was out, feels like Natasha
Howard may be out, but we you know, haven't officially,
you know, heard whether or not they're gone or not.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
It's so Natasha said, I'm looking.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
For She definitely did. She definitely did.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
She like, don't protect me, I ain't gonna beat her
magic she.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Basically she definitely did. Magic. Johnson me, I ain't gonna
be here.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
But I say all that to say, it is hard
to see how this team is specific is going to
play with a Page Beckers when we don't know who
the coach is. And that is so important because different
coaches have different styles, they run different schemes, they have
different levels of importance. Is it going to be an
offensive coach or a defensive coach? And I can solely
(11:23):
rely on what Kurt Miller and how he coaches or
what he does when he's making decisions, because even when
you look at his track record, what he was doing
at Connecticut is not what he was doing at LA.
He had different person nail in both places. Yeah, I
mean clearly, or maybe he wouldn't have been fired, right, Like,
let's keep.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It a buck.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
So it's very difficult to say how Page can fit.
I know what Page will bring. She certainly brings. She
certainly brings quickness at that position. She brings the ability
to score on all three levels because she is going
to attack the rim, but she can also pull up
and shoot it. I think that she brings a level
of star power that will want other free agents to
(12:04):
play alongside her, just to have that opportunity to play
with Page Beckers. And I think that's something that Dallas
is really going to hone in on in something that
Dallas really needs, and so obviously this is something that
she's going to bring to no matter what team would
have picked her up or what team would have gotten
this number one spot. But I think that that alone
is something that's going to be critically important because Dallas
(12:25):
has had number one picks multiple times over the.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Last few years.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
They've had top players or at least top draft players
multiple times over the last few years, and last year
I think was a year that we saw what Dallas
could achieve, right. I think adding a Page Beckers to
that can actually give them a bit more, But it
will absolutely depend on who is going to be the coach.
Having a good coaches fit is just as important as
(12:50):
having great pieces to fit. You've got to get someone
who's going to be able to coach the player in
the personnel or at least know how to bring the
players in personnel that you need for them to be success,
but with their coaching style.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
So that's gonna be critical.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
And multiple reports that came out once Dallas got that
number one pick that you know, Page preferred Los Angeles
to get to we all, we all, and then people
start to putting all doctor strange, all the different possibilities
of how she could dodge the twenty twenty five draft,
or how she can go number two with whatever the
situation is. I do think that you know, this league
(13:25):
is ready for a player like Paige Beckers. You see
Dallas making improvements. They've already sold out season tickets, they're
building the practice facility, They're going to move downtown in
twenty twenty six, and so you see them taking accountability
for things that they've been criticized with over the last
few years. Now that fans are certainly excited to possibly
(13:45):
see her peered up with a player like Ari got Goombaballe.
How would her game adjusting change with a guard like
Page coming in, who could provide that score and who
could provide defense, who could open up the floor and
get the players involved as well. So it's certainly going
to be interesting. I think you can I just say
(14:06):
the new CBA is getting you know, you have the
new CBA. So she decides that she can okay. One
of the possibilities that was explored was she could potentially
go back to Yukon because she's still eligible for another
year and play and then come in twenty six with
the new CBA et cetera, et cetera. That is a possibility,
(14:27):
right her play.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Well, here's the thing with that. That is a scenario
for a player that would be dependent upon money, and
I just don't feel that Paige Beckers is dependent upon money.
I feel like Paige Beckers is one of those players
who has done well as it relates to nil and endorsements,
that she ain't worried about getting paid, right, And that
(14:51):
is not to say that she does not care. I
ain't talk to Page. I don't know what she cared about.
So I'm not saying she don't care about, you know,
having a lucrative new CBA contractor deal, or a lucrative
deal under the new CBA. But I am also saying
that I think there are certain things that motivate players,
and I don't think money is always the number one
thing that motivates a player. I think sometimes money plays
(15:14):
a role, but so do other factors. And doing that
runs the risk of going to a team that may
be less preferred than Dallas. Right, because you can't avoid
the draft. You still have to declare for the draft.
So it's like, you know, what do the old people say?
It's the devil? You know, versus the devil. You don't, right,
(15:35):
so you might as well just go ahead and go.
And most of the time players are at least this
is what they say, that they are very appreciative to
even be drafted, They are very appreciative to play in
the league. Page Becker strikes me as the type of
player who will give one hundred percent to whatever team
drafts her and will want to make that team better.
(15:57):
And so I don't think that's the smartest move to
stay in school because you.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Just really don't know.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
You might get a better rookie contract, but you might
be playing and who knows, you know, and it might
not be And we don't know what this season is
gonna look like for a team, right, so this could
be the year that you know, Dallas is a top four,
top three team and we don't know, you know what
I mean. Like, so it's it's not to me, it's
(16:24):
just simply not worth the risk. But let me just
also add this really quick before you move on, is
that I think it is the most ridiculous thing to say.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Page Becker's preferred La. Duh. Everybody prefer like what you mean?
Number one, it's La who don't prefer LA.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Right number two, you would get to play with cam
Brick and Rakia Jackson, you got an already ready made
MVP and Deerica Hanby. Literally that team was a point
guard away from being one of the top teams in
this league. And when you think about how they started
the season, when you think about even how they play
to finish the season, it just didn't reflect that in
(17:02):
the record.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
So does she wanted to go to LA, Like, stop
using that.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
As a conspiracy theorist to say something or to mean
something like you'd have to be out your mind and
not want to go to LA.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
ALRT And last headline for this week, Unrivaled has announced
their coaching staff headline by Phil Handy, who was a
former Los Angeles Laker assistant coach, and Teresa Brutherspoon. And
also we have the rosters. No Caitlin clarkrom roster. What
are your thoughts about the head coaching and you know
(17:34):
the athlete rosters as well.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I am so excited for Unarrivaled, Like I was on
Blue Sky the other day and I was just like,
the more I think about it, I'm seeing women's college basketball.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Then we go to WNBA, then we have unrivaled, then.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
We have au and then we are back to the
women's college basketball Final four. It's just so much women's
basketball right now, and I love that. So I love
that these women are taking advantage of an opportunity to
play here at home, They're taking advantage to make a
little bit of extra money, and I love that all
of the players who have joined are competitive players. So
(18:11):
it definitely feels like there's going to be a true
sense of competition in this league right not like just
something that players are doing to kind of bypass the time.
They've spent, to me, a very good amount of time
putting in the effort of making sure that the team
that the excuse me, the games can be seen with
(18:31):
a T and T partnership, getting a you know, a
state farm sponsor, like they are serious and so I
am excited to see that. And even from the way
that they've announced the teams and the drafts, that to
me seems like they're very serious about this league, and
I love that, so I'm very excited. I found it
incredibly interesting that these coaches had to put this team
(18:53):
together before knowing which team would be theirs, So there
was an effort in ensuring that each team was to
be competitive based on personnel and the coaching staff as well.
I love seeing, you know, coaches like Teresa Witherspoon get
an opportunity to get back at that, get back out
there after what happened to her. Feel Handy, I mean,
come on, a man is a legend with the Lakers,
(19:16):
one of the you know, one of the most notable
assistant coaches from the NBA.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So love seeing that.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
But also I look at some other coaches and I'm
just thinking to myself, like, this is a great opportunity
to kind of be preparing yourself for what could be
a head coaching opportunity in the w at some point
in time. Right, this could certainly lead to that opportunity.
So I love exactly what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I would have to agree with that. I love to
see tea Spoon back out there. Obviously, Phil Handy has
had a hand you know, in the NBA, but he's
worked closely with some women's basketball players, Drew Wood being
one of them, and he's going to be able to
coach her throughout the season. So definitely we'll keep my
eyes on that. But you talked about having you know,
more options in the off season, and I can't help
(20:02):
but think about, you know, the au to Unrivaled, Pipeline
and dj A Karents and Cordy Williams, Lexi Hall, Jordan Canada,
Alisha Gray. You know, the list goes on and so
now players are even you know, making the jump and
move to other leagues in the off season, and so
I'm super excited for one as someone who covers women's basketball,
you know, we have more things to do with a yes,
(20:24):
or more basketball to look forward to. And then of course,
there was multiple reports about Caitlyn Clark. ESPN reported that
she will not be playing and Unrivaled in the off season.
There was a report that said that Unrivaled will leave
the door open should she want to play. And I
think that one of the interesting parts of Unrivaled is
that they are true wild cards. And during the team selections, uh,
(20:47):
it was pointed out instead of the team would have
a hand in recruiting that player. And so who knows
who she could be Unrivaled. You mean, she has her
friends in Fever teammate and Lexi Hall playing, she has
former teammate Kate Martin playing, who's all the same team.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
They start recruiting they could.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
I also would not be upset if Caitlyn said I
would like to actually have an off season, right Like,
I just think that the biggest thing. And you know,
I'm gonna call this betas babe because that's what I do.
But I think so many people think that saying that
is oh, she's being a hater.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
They don't want to hear about.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
No, the girl has balled for the last two years,
from the off season of losing in the National Championship
in twenty twenty three, all the way through just this
past you know, playoff season with the WNBA. She's worked
and worked and worked and worked. At some point, you
(21:47):
have to give your body rest. At some point, you
have to give your mind rest, enjoy life a little bit.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
She's a very successful young woman. She's doing a lot
of things off the court. I just saw a couple
of days go that she was holding something for our
foundation where she got money donated towards her foundation. Those
are incredible things and sometimes you just really need to
take your mind off of basketball for a little bit.
So if she decides that she wants to play, that
(22:14):
will be amazing. People will flock to see her and
flock to see this unrivaled lead because of the interest
that she continues to bring to women's basketball. But if
she decides she wants to just chill, she's earned that.
She's honestly earned that, Like she needs to give her
body a rest, and she just needs to give herself
some time to do something other than play basketball.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
And I know that we have to respect it. We
just have to respect.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Say I personally like watching her side quest of being
a golf player. She played it right LP LP LGPGA
and that little tournament where she received the twenty two
thousand dollars grants in partnership with Gamebridge Sports for their
parody Week, And so I'm excited to see when she
(23:00):
does an off season I completely agree that you know,
she needs rush and let her gear up, get that
time off, and then be better in her sex a NBA.
You know who I would like to see in unrival
maybe Sabrinioscuem. Sabrina hasn't played off season basketball since she
(23:21):
came into the league, and you know that's also her
personal choice as well. But I mean, just want a
WNBA championship. What do you look like in three on three?
I mean there's two spots open right now, so.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Listen.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Sabrina is another one. Sabrina is another one who like listen,
I love it. I think this is another one, And
I think Sabrina makes the case for Caitlyn right because
she took this off season to step away for a
little bit, and then when she did get back into basketball,
she worked on her and worked on her game, and
you could see it instantly all season long. You could
(23:57):
see it instantly. And I think that's a perfect example
of what Caitlin could end up doing, or could elect
to do, which is, let me take my few months
to chill, and then when I get in a gym,
I'm gonna go hard. And now she's got Stephanie White
as the head coach who's going to ensure success for
that Indiana team. So there's a lot to be motivated for.
(24:18):
But take a Breakcess, You're good.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Right, t That's gonna wrap up these headlines for this week.
But we don't have November. It's a month with gratitude,
and when this episode airs, it will be a day
before Thanksgiving for all who celebrates. So I want to
know what, Tea, what, tou Rika, You're grateful for? This here.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Oh, that's such a great question.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
I am god grateful for life, honestly, Like this year,
quite a few of us have experienced a lot of loss,
and people who we have seen just really feel like
they've departed way too soon. So I am incredibly grateful
for life, for friendships you one of them, just having
p in your corner, and honestly, just you know, grateful
(25:04):
that we're able to do what we do. It's a
privilege to be able to cover women's basketball. It is
a privilege to have this kind of platform and have
this kind of boys, and we don't take that for
granted at all. We really appreciate the trust that the
fans and the audience put in us to listen to
what we have to say and the things that we
report and all of that. So life, career, family, friends,
(25:25):
I am grateful for it all.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
No, I couldn't agree with you more. I want to
know what's on your table for Thanksgiving dinner?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
What I now? Let me tell you you don't even wait.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Your husband is a chef, by the way.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
So yes, which is why I'm probably gonna be the
person that if I cook at all, because my husband
being a chef, means he has to work on Thanksgiving Day.
All the lazy folks who don't want to eat at
home are gonna come to the restaurant that he's gonna
have to run. Right, So I'm probably gonna pop up
(25:58):
at a few friend's house because it'll just be I'm
not going home to Detroit this year, so I will
be here in Connecticut. But if I do cook, I'm
definitely gonna have some mac and cheese and some yams,
dressing and some greens for sure. Though I love like dressing.
(26:18):
I love me some dressing. But yeah, that's that's definitely
going down. I don't know about meat, though, I might,
you know, may do turkey wings or it's no point
of being a big turkey. It's literally just me and
then when my husband comes home, it's just us too,
So like what we're gonna do with a what a turkey?
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Right? Ultimate question? Are you a sweet potato pie girl
or a pumpkin pie?
Speaker 3 (26:38):
The fact that you even had to ask me that, Christina,
makes me question our friendship because you know.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
That I am absolutely picking sweet potato pie.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
I just wanted to put that out there. No, of course,
you got you gotta do the sweet potato. You gotta Thanksgiving, No,
but that's that's so awesome, And thank you for coming
through this week on In Case you missed It with
Christina Williams. It's always a pleasure to get up with
you girl. Likewise, all right, y'all are gonna take a
(27:12):
quick break, and coming up next, we have Chicago sky
Head coach ty Marsh.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Joining us to talk about his new role. Welcome back
to In Case you missed It with Christina Williams, and
(27:40):
I'm excited about the guests. This week, we have newly
named Chicago sky head coach Tyler Marsh joining us.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Tyler, what's up?
Speaker 5 (27:49):
What's going on? Christina?
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Thanks for having me now, I know it's been a
busy couple weeks for you. First and foremost, congratulations on
your new job as the Chicago Sky head coach and
appreciate you being here. So I'm curious, how did this
opportunity with the sky come about?
Speaker 6 (28:04):
Yeah, it was kind of I'm not going to say random,
but it was a little bit unexpected, you know. For
for me, it was just a matter of I've always
been someone who kind of just stays planned and where
they're at and rooted in what, you know, the job
that I'm that I have and doing the best that
I came there. And so I wasn't really actively pursuing
(28:25):
head coaching opportunities, but knew of those opportunities or interviews
came my way that I would at least take a
look at it.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
I felt like I.
Speaker 6 (28:31):
Kind of owed it to myself just for you know,
the journey that I've been on in my career, and
so I wanted to go on on interviews just to
kind of get that experience and go through that process
and see what it was like. And it was a
couple of teams that they reached out, but Chicago. On
that visit, I had a great conversation with with Jeff
our GM and certainly sold with the vision and the
(28:52):
direction that the skuy wanted to go in in a
positive way. And so there was something I felt connected to.
And then once I you know, kind of went on
my visit there and went through the interview process, I
felt like it was a good opportunity to take advantage of.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
It's very interesting that you described that process and experience
as random and unexpected. I mean, from the outside looking in,
you would think that with all of the head coaching
vacancies available that you know, people will look to a
team like the Las Vegas Aces who won back to
back championships to field those roles, like those assistant coaches
to field those roles. So it's very interesting that you
described that process like that. But what was it about
(29:26):
the Chicago skuy that stood out to you? Because this
is an organization that has been rebuilding post James Wade,
had a lot of transition for the last couple of years.
But what was it about this guy that stood out
to you from the other candidates that you may have
talked to or fielded interest from.
Speaker 6 (29:41):
Honestly, I think it was the connection with Jeff. I
think that once he reached out, it was pretty intentional
in terms of why they felt like I would be
a good fit for the organization and for the roster.
And that's something that I felt that I appreciated and
something that I felt really connected to, and it gave
me similar feeling to win. I met Becky for the
first time and going through that interview process, and it
(30:03):
was more as it was less about basketball and just
more about what our ideals were and how I fit
into that mold and into that vision. And how what
they thought I brought to the table was a good
mess into the direction that they wanted to go. And
so it just kind of brought back those memories and
it felt like, you know, something that I wanted to
be a part of.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
You mentioned the process or the talk being similar to
that process when you were recruited by Becky for going
to the Las Vegas Aces. How it's similar to this
experience with the Chicago's guys. What have you taken away
from that experience of Becky and coming from her coach
and tree that you'll bring with you onto the Chicago's guy.
Speaker 6 (30:39):
Man, It's it's it's more than words can can kind
of say. I think that, you know, my relationship with
with with Becky is a special one, is something that
like we are, we are connected, and we are tied
for eternity, Like she's someone who helped my career immensely,
something someone who made such a positive impact on me
(30:59):
as a coach and allowed me. I think the most
important thing is she allowed myself and I think I
could speak for the rest of the staff in Las
Vegas and the players as well as she allows you
to be yourself in the most natural way. Possible and
still allows you to do the job without micromanaging or
looking over your shoulder, like she trusts you. She trusted
me with the responsibility that she gave me in my
(31:19):
role and she just allowed me to grow. And so
that's something that I hope to instill with my perspective
staff in Chicago and as well as the player. So
I hope that that's something that the organization can continue
to embrace.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You come from an extensive coaching tree or byproduct of
like Nick Nurse and Rick as well. Which one out
of all of the coaches that you've learned from, even
maybe your dad who also was a coach as well,
which one do you think you've taken the most from
into your personal coaching style.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
All of them? I think that you know.
Speaker 6 (31:51):
With Carlisle, it was I was only around him for
a year, But all you need to do is be
around him for a year to see how smart he
is and how how he thinks the game. So I
was only around him for a year, but I think
that I can speak a little bit more to the other,
to the other three and my dad. For me, it
was was about impact and how he can impact younger
(32:14):
lives and and and people through basketball. He's what made
me want to coach. He's, uh, you know kind of
how has Creched created and shaped how I view coaching
and more than just what happens on the court, but
how you're able to impact people off the court. And
that's something that continues to drive me. And so, uh,
that would be the main thing that I've taken from
(32:35):
from him. Uh, from Coach Nurse, it's about the the
the way to adapt and to think outside the box.
He is someone who has coached on many different levels,
from G League to internationally to college to so from
so our trajectory has kind of been the same, and
that from that standpoint and just coaching different levels and
as you do that, you you learn how to adapt
(32:59):
on the fly.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Uh you know.
Speaker 6 (33:01):
I know in the G League when I was in there,
it was only sixteen teams at the time, and so
there will be times where I'd watch Coach Nurse and
we go into a game with a game plan and
a roster that we think set in thirty minutes before
a game, our best player gets called up to the NBA,
and now that changes things, and so you have to
learn how to adapt on the fly. Would be the biggest,
biggest thing that I've learned from from from him, and
(33:24):
then Becky it's it's it's about empowering people, about empowering
your staff and your players and building those relationships with them.
And I think she is the best that I've been
around at knowing when to turn on and off that switch.
Speaker 5 (33:39):
She can.
Speaker 6 (33:40):
You've seen all the videos go around of her dancing
with the team and hanging out with them like she's
like she's a player. And then uh, then you've seen
the clips where she's getting on them in the huddles
and she's getting on them in practice and things like that.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
So she has a great.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
Balance of of when the flip that switch on and
off with the players and the players I've learned to
uh to respect that and that aspect of her because
she was I mean, she was one of the best
to ever do it as a player, and now she's
one of the best to ever do it as a coach.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
And so.
Speaker 6 (34:07):
Certainly all three have all four have have really been
instrumental in UH in my career as a coach.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
One of the words that continuously keeps coming up so
far as conversation is connectedness. When it was announced that
you were going to be the next head coach of
the Chicago's guys. Some of those Aces players got on Twitter,
said Ali Sha Clark. They got on Twitter and talked about,
you know, their connection to you and how they were
going through it. Yeah, how did you relay that message
to you know, the players that you've coached for the
(34:33):
last couple of years with the Las Vegas Aces about
this next chapter?
Speaker 6 (34:36):
First and foremost, it's I think that the back and
forth on Twitter and whatnot, thought the banter and everything,
I think that's that's a symbolism of what our of
what our relationship is. It's a truly you know, you
hear the cliche turns the family environment, family atmosphere like,
that's truly what it was in Vegas and continues to be.
Like my relationships with them are everlasting as well. And
so for me, it was once I knew that the
(34:57):
decision was going to be made, I kind of kept
them in the loop of the process a little bit
as it was going, just because I didn't want any
of them to be caught off guard with anything. And
so I was very transparent with our players and our
staff and the organization in Vegas. But I made sure
to reach out to each one of them individually, whether
that was over the phone, in person, or on FaceTime
or what have you, and just kind of let them
know what was you know, what was happening as it
(35:17):
was happening, and there were tough conversations to have. It's
been a mixed bag of emotions, kind of just with
the you know, the sadness of leaving everything that we
built in Vegas and everything I was a part of here,
and then you know, starting something mixed with the excitement
of starting something new in Chicago. And so those relationships
again with all those players and all of our staff
in Vegas is something that I'll always hold on to.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
We're credited for improving and developing Jackie Young. I mean
it was a day night difference between her twenty twenty
one season twenty twenty two season. I call her the
Silent Assassin because she just gets it done. How are
you able to just bring out the best in Jackie?
Speaker 6 (35:52):
Yeah, that was a tough conversation to have with jack
our relationship. He was the first person that worked out
joining the Vegas, joining the Aces, so and the last
workout that I had once before I left and so
it was kind of symbolic, but no, our relationship grew
with trust. Again, I think that we have similar personalities.
You've seen moments where she kind of she's out there
(36:15):
and she can get turned up if you turn her up,
and so but again she kind of stays on that
little that even even playing for is a quiet confidence
about her that she has. And I just think the
way that we communicate. I tried to study and figure out,
like how you know how to communicate with her the
best way, and then once I've understood her personality, it
matched my personality and so it was easy to kind
(36:36):
of build that relationship and build that trust. And the
basketball part, to me is always secondary. It comes afterwards
after you've been able to build that relationship. That's kind
of my fundamental player development philosophy is anyone can run
a drill, but can how do you connect to the
players and how much can they buy into you and
to trust you as as a coach and know that
(36:56):
you mean the best and want the best for them.
And so that was under stood and developed early between
myself and Jackie, and then you know, it just kind
of pushed us forward. But none of that works without
her work ethic and well without her determination and motivation
and drive to be better and not be content into
who she is. And that was that was one of
the big messages that I had to ur is you
(37:16):
were you were a great way before me.
Speaker 5 (37:18):
I just helped.
Speaker 6 (37:19):
I just helped in some areas, but you were great
and you're destined to do great things after me. And
so I'm confident in her ability to continue to move
forward and to grow in her game.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Did you begin to have that conversation with your family
as well? What was those conversations like to be like, Okay,
we're going ahead over to the east. We've been on
the West coast for a little bit, now we're going
east for early chapters.
Speaker 6 (37:39):
Yeah, you know, my wife is from the Midwest, She's
from Milwaukee, and so there's a little bit excitement there
about getting back closer to her family. But she's built
a little community here in Vegas. So that was a
tough conversation to have too, because she's kind of built
a group of friends here and certainly connected to the
staff and the.
Speaker 5 (37:55):
Players here with the Aces as well.
Speaker 6 (37:56):
And so I think the overall message, whether it was
from my parents or Kiara or anyone that I can
fide in and trusted, And it was more about making
sure that I'm accepting what I'm worth, making sure that
I'm you know, being true to myself and staying true
to what I believe in and the values that I've
that are instilled in me and you know, kind of
how I've been raised and so and not steering away
from that. So I think that's how overall I'm approaching
(38:17):
this job, is to be as true to myself as possible.
And I think even in the process and talking to Chicago,
I was very open with like, I need to know
that you that you guys are committed to not just
the organization's success, but these players success and and my
success as well.
Speaker 5 (38:33):
And so because all of that I've I felt in Vegas.
Speaker 6 (38:35):
And so it was something that you know, again that
I felt grateful for the opportunity coming my way, but
I wasn't in a rush to be a head coach.
I didn't know the situation. The opportunity had to feel
right and be the right fit for me to take
that jump, and so I did with Chicago.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
So I absolutely love the two scenes connectedness, commitment. We
rode our role here with the Seeds. Okay, So, I
know it's been a busy couple of weeks for you,
and you know, we just completed the w NBA Lottery
Draft looking ahead for the draft expansion. How has it
been for these last couple of weeks to just determine
what other coaches are gonna work with alongside you to
(39:12):
shape out, you know, this new rebuild for Chicago.
Speaker 6 (39:15):
Yeah, that's definitely been the priority for me and for
Jeff and I think that, you know, it's one of
the most important things that I'll take away from Vegas
as well, is just how important it is to have
a good staff that supports you and that you're able
to uh to instill trust in and rely on, because
a lot of times the interaction that they have with
the players and people around is more than you have
as a head coach. And so I got to feel
(39:36):
comfortable with the personalities that I'm bringing in and their
ability to do the job. But I think most importantly
it's about finding the right people that align with kind
of what I believe in, both basketball wise and just
kind of you know, out off the court as well.
And so that's been a heavy priority and in terms
of the search of finding you know who those candidates are,
and I feel good about a few people that we've
(39:57):
reached out to, and so looking forward to kind of
continuing to build that out and surrounding our players with
the best possible staff so that they're able to be
the best version of.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Themselves outside of yourself. A lot of teams have looked
at college to find, you know, coaches to fill a bench.
I mean, Becky, she's looking at the NBA. How are
you determining that fit for the people that will work
alongside you. I know that you're an offensive minded coach.
You get credited for your player development and your ability
to analyze the game, But what are you looking for?
(40:25):
What pieces are you looking forward to complete this puzzle
when it comes to the coaching staff.
Speaker 6 (40:29):
I joked with Becky a little bit after ty Gott,
and I's like, man, it took you two days to
find another tie and replace another tie now, but it's
He's going to be great. I've known Time for a while.
We connected in the G League. We were both in
the G League together, so I know he'll he'll be
a great addition for the Aces. But to answer your question,
I think we want to be well rounded. We want
to have all areas covered with offense, defense, call special teams,
(40:51):
which is you know, kind of sideline out of bounds,
basedline out of bounds after timeouts, those kind of things,
and player development of course, and so I think that,
you know, great coaches can come from anywhere. That can
be high school, college internationally, from the w from the NBA,
and so we're not limiting ourselves to where we're you know,
the candidate pool that we're looking at. But at the
same time, I think that, you know, sometimes there's there's
(41:12):
coaches that are right underneath our nose that we got
to pay attention to. And so, you know, I think
it's great that you see the league continuing to think
outside the box and look in other areas for good
coaching fits for their organization. And as we've seen with
you know, Atlanta and in LA and so the game
is continuing to evolve and continuing to change. And the
broad of that pool is for other coaches, the more
opportunity it brings, and so I'm excited for that.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
I look back at that game that you coached for
Vegas from Becky had been two games suspension against Seattle,
where you notched your first win as a head coach,
although accounted towards Becky's record of you coached that game
all forty minutes. What did you take away from, you know,
being in that first year, during that game, getting that win,
What did you learn from that game?
Speaker 6 (41:55):
Yeah, it's different, for sure. One seat over, two seats
over is different. The thing that I was most proud
of of is the confidence that our players had in me,
And I think that was kind of a testament to
the relationship that we were able to build together, and
then also the trust that you had in me to
be able to do the job. And so, you know,
that's the kind of confidence that I you know, wishing
still with my staff and my assistance, and I think
(42:17):
players see and feel that as well. And then you know,
I hope that that they're able to build their own
relationships with our with our players, and so I think
that the confidence that your players have in you as
a coach goes a long way. They're able to kind
of see your demeanor and how you react to the
ups and downs of a season or of a game,
and so, uh, you know, if you if you've spent
(42:38):
time around me, you kind of know that my personality
is kind of very much even keel I don't get
too high and too low. And so I hope that's
something that translates to our team as well, that they
can look over on the sidelines no matter how much
we're up or down in the game and see that
that their coach is still kind of steady and has
things under control, and hopefully that brings a calmness to
our team as well, while also having a switch that
you can turn it on when you need to turn
(42:59):
it on. And so that was a huge takeaway from
me and.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Your intro pressor you emphasize the importance of building a
team that could shoot, but you know, on the back
end of that you have the duo of Angel Rees
and Kamla Cardoso. So this is a young, talented team
in Chicago, and I guess my question is how do
you plan to take advantage of both Angel Rees and
Kamela Cardo so while also building around them to you know,
(43:25):
get that much needed shooting.
Speaker 6 (43:27):
I think if you look at just the shooting aspect
of the game, I think that that was probably the
area that was lacking a little bit with with Chicago
this past year.
Speaker 5 (43:36):
And they were able to do some great things without it.
Speaker 6 (43:38):
But I think that, you know, being able to expand
that part of the game, I think allows them to
be the best version of themselves, open on more space,
more shooting around them, creates more opportunities and more space
for them to create baskets for themselves inside and what
have you.
Speaker 5 (43:53):
So, I think being.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
Able to create versatility within Camilla and Angel in their
game and how they're able to get to their spots,
how they're able to generate easy baskets and being able
to put them in positions to where they're not seeing two, three,
four defenders in the paint.
Speaker 5 (44:07):
You know, I think that'll be that'll be.
Speaker 6 (44:09):
Key for us to figure out different ways to allow
them to be successful that way.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
Nola. You also mentioned that Angel Reese is like one
of your first calls as well, once you you know,
had everything set in stone with becoming the new head coach.
What was that conversation like and what do you look
forward to the most about coaching a star like Angelies.
Speaker 6 (44:27):
One of the things that jumps out at with Angel
when you watch your play is how hard she plays.
And so I think that anytime that you can get
a young player to play that hard on both ends.
I think you know you have a great setup for
success moving forward. And she talked a lot about her
will to want to get better and her will to
be part of a winning culture and a winning team,
how important that was for her, And so I'm excited
(44:49):
to build that relationship with her as well as Camilla
as well, because I think, you know, as long as
those two are our teammates together, their success is tied
to one another.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
And so it's my.
Speaker 6 (44:58):
Job and our staff's job to fit figure out the
best method possible for them to be as connected as
teammates on the court, and how we can put both
of them in positions to help each other, and then
who we can surround those two with to know again
to allow our team to be successful.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
All right, y'all, we got to pay some bills. When
we come back, we'll have more from coach Tayvarsh. So
(45:34):
when the sky fired, Teresa Weberspoon Angel was obviously devastated.
But you said you had a phone call with her,
oh to know, Like, how did you reassure her that
you know this is going to be okay, This next
chapter is going to be okay for this guy.
Speaker 6 (45:48):
Yeah, I think it's just it was about communicating my
vision to her. I can only communicate who I am
and hope to be as the coach of the Sky
for Angel and how I want the best for her.
I think that's a similarity that that me and coach
Spoone have is we want the best for Angel, we
want the best for the team. And so you know
how I can do that in my in my own
way and empower her and the rest of our team
(46:08):
to to be successful. That's that's my job. And so
I just you know, communicate to her that I want
to help her be the best version of herself and
how that fits in a team dynamic as well. And
you know some things that I think that you know,
that I can help bring to help, you know, expand
her game and into what we want to do.
Speaker 5 (46:25):
And that's kind of how it was.
Speaker 6 (46:26):
And she, you know, she was all for it and
and you know, communicated again back to me of how
important it was to to to be part of a
winning environment. And so that's what I hope to create
in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
Cago has a number three pick in next year's draft.
When you look at the college players of today, who
stands out as someone who can potentially, you know, be
a plus to the Chicago's guy next year.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Man.
Speaker 6 (46:48):
I mean there's a number of names that could they
can help, you know, spend a lot of time scouting
and researching players who we feel could help. I think
the important thing is is, uh, you know, it's it's
easy kind of to see what basketball dynamics sticks out
into what what your team is lacking or needs or
what have you, but and who can provide that? I
(47:08):
think the harder thing is there's not enough time really
to dig into what kind of fit those players are
for your locker room and and how those personalities mixed
with the personalities that you currently have in your locker room.
And so I think that, you know, it's not a
it's not a full pre draft thing that you get
like the NBA, where you have so much time in
(47:30):
the offseason kind of dig into these players and get
as much intel as you can from these players to
kind of, you know, see, you know what that right
fit is for you. And so you have to do
that in a very finite amount of time here in
the w And so for us, it's just about gathering
as much information as we can on the players that
we like from a basketball standpoint, and figuring out how
(47:52):
who they are as people fit the mold of what
we what we were trying to build in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
Looking ahead to jump and expansion draft. We know that
every team can protect six What is a priority for
the team as they look to shape the future for
this guy, we're talking about protecting six players and your
coaching philosophy and rebuilding. What does that look like?
Speaker 6 (48:14):
Yeah, I think it's a mix of you know, who
wants to be here and who uh obviously, who you
think can who you think can can help us moving forward,
and who we think can be the long term pieces
for the organization extending beyond you know, even next year's
expansion draft when this all happens again. And so I
(48:35):
think it's it's important to identify those those pieces and
and uh and then communicate to to them, you know,
just how what your vision is for them and how
you see them fitting into the short and long term uh,
you know, dynamic of of of your team. And so
you know, for for me, it's it's the kind of
the philosophy of of us is we want people who
(48:58):
who are committed, uh, people who compete. We want to
be committed to each other. We want to be committed
to ourselves, we want to be committed to the stat
like there's a there's a total buy in that we're
looking for from players and from staff to really build
this thing the way that we the way that we
want to and so I'm looking forward to to that challenge.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
I know that Dadia Rollinson said that the goal is
to be a playoff team or championship contending team year
over year. That is the goal every year with this rebuild.
So do you expect this guy in your first year
as a head coach to be a playoff team next season?
Speaker 6 (49:37):
I think my my my goal in my expectation is
to build a playoff and championship mindset and culture more
than anything. I think that one of the things that
myself and Natalie speak about Natalie Nakasak speak about all
the time or in the past, has been like the
word championship doesn't really like doesn't really go around that
(49:59):
much in the locker room with the aces, like it
was about creating that mindset and you let the results
come out the way that they come out. But if
you can develop that mindset of getting better each day
and not playing to a score or an opponent, but
playing to a standard. I think that's what you ultimately
want to create. And then if you because that that,
(50:21):
that builds buy in, that builds trust, that builds work
ethic and I think that if all those things are
top tier, then you leave everything out on the court
and some games you win, some games you lose. So
I don't think that you can judge yourself a year
after year on championships, especially with a young team. I
think that you judge yourself on how you improve over
(50:44):
the course of the season and how you develop that
mindset of what being a champion actually is an entail.
So that's kind of where my mind is at. And
I think that once we've instilled that and and built
kind of that into the fabric of who we want
to be, then I think were able to move forward
and focus on on the wins and losses.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
With someone with your resume, you can coach anywhere. I
feel like any league. I mean, you've been in the NBA,
the GI League, and now you're here at the w
Why was it important for you to, you know, take
your first head coaching job in a w NBA position
and coach women's basketball.
Speaker 6 (51:22):
Well, I'm going into my fourth year in the W
and I it's been a seamless transition for me, It's
been it's it's felt like where I'm supposed to be.
One of a mutual friend of myself and coach Haman
was Jenny Bouchik, who's an assistant with the Indiana Pacers.
Speaker 5 (51:44):
And I remember.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
Jenny and she's awesome.
Speaker 6 (51:46):
Yeah, I would not be here without Jenny. She's she's
been a special person in my life and instrumental and
and and me being in the W and so uh.
But I remember when she connected me with Becky and
she knew that my personality and bet this person I
was would would fit. But she also spoke about how
(52:07):
she felt like I was I was made for the W,
how I was my kind of I guess my demeanor
and the way I communicate with something that would be
appreciated and recepted in the W and she couldn't be
more right, Like, I'm the happiest that I've been in
my coaching career here in the W and and I'm
(52:30):
just looking forward to continuing that.
Speaker 5 (52:32):
And for me, it was.
Speaker 6 (52:34):
It was already hard enough leaving the Aces, but I
knew that I still wanted to be part of this league.
I wanted to be part of the growth of it.
I wanted to be uh an asset to it any
way that I can.
Speaker 5 (52:48):
And so.
Speaker 6 (52:50):
You know, I'm I'm proud to be part of this league.
And you know, for me, I think that uh other
coaches who who come into it, I think that I
tried to make it a priority to really understand and
learn from the people who came before me in this
in this league and those that have set the groundwork
and the foundation of of what this league is and
(53:11):
continues to be. H. I think they sometimes get overlooked,
whether that's former coaches, former players, current coaches, media, what
have you. I think that, uh, there's a lot of
people who who who did the work early to make
this league what it is today, and I just I
think it's important to to talk to those people and
to learn from those people and not come in with
(53:32):
the mindset that you know everything, because there's a lot
to There's a lot to learn. This league is different
from other leagues around and how it operates, and I
think that it's full of great people with with with
great history that you can that you can learn things
from and so I'm excited to be part of it,
and I'm proud to to to move forward as a
as a head coach. And I don't take this opportunity
(53:53):
in this position for granted, So I'm just hopefully making
making everyone proud with it.
Speaker 1 (53:57):
So I mean, as of today, you're the only blackmail
head coach right now the w n b A. And
so even when you look at the numbers of who
is getting those opportunities, there is a disparity when it
comes kind of to people of color, men and women
in the league. So they're definitely making history or making
strides and helping to break those ceilings in in the
(54:19):
w n b A. Do you think about those things
when these opportunities come across your desk?
Speaker 6 (54:24):
For sure, I think that you know more so than
than than it being a job, it's a it's a responsibility.
It's a it's a responsibility to uphold in a in
a in a great fashion and in a positive light.
And again I'm uh, I sit in a position and
with a platform that that where I feel like I
(54:48):
have a responsibility to continue to uplift and empower and
provide and allow voices to be heard amongst my team
and around the league and in the best way possible.
Speaker 5 (54:59):
And so I want to be, uh.
Speaker 6 (55:01):
That person or a person in that I want to
add to that and in any way that I can.
And so I'm looking forward again to helping our team
and in our league be you know, be part of
the positive shift and and and where women's basketball and
where the w n b A is going, because there's
(55:22):
a lot of attention on it, and you know, you
want to filter out the the bad one, the bad ones,
the bad eggs there, and you want to give voices
to the you know, to the positive ones who are
who are looking to do good things for the league
and looking to uplift And so I'm excited for that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (55:41):
Sign of basketball. What excites you the most about making
the move to Chicago.
Speaker 6 (55:45):
I think just learning learn a new city. This moving
is something that is not new to me. Uh, it's
becoming not new to uh to my wife since she's
been with me, and she's been she's been great through everything.
She's from against from Milwaukee's only like an hour and
a half away from Chicago, So uh, I think that
will help ease the transition as well, having you know,
being closer to family for her. But for me, it's
(56:07):
just it's being part of a new city and embracing
the culture of Chicago. And it's a great sports city,
provide great support for their sports teams and the Sky included,
and so I'm I'm excited to be a part of
that and and too ingratiating myself there. I'm a huge
baseball fan, and so having two baseball teams in the
(56:28):
same city is something that I'll certainly love and and
get used to.
Speaker 5 (56:32):
But again, I.
Speaker 6 (56:35):
Think it's just you know, trying to to to make
our mark into what we what we want the Sky
Basketball to be moving forward. I think that's the most
exciting part to it all.
Speaker 1 (56:44):
Right, last one before we let you get out of here.
November is a month of gratitude, right, and this week
people will be celebrating Thanksgiving with their families. I want
to know what Coach Tie is thankful for.
Speaker 6 (56:58):
I am thankful for family first and foremost for the
support that they've given me. I'm thankful for my mentors
or the the work that they've poured into me into
making sure that I've grow spiritually, emotionally, mentally. I don't
(57:19):
take them for granting. Everyone needs mentors in their life
to take under their wing into and to grow with,
you know, to provide wisdom for you. So I'm thankful
for this game, the basketball who's's given me everything in
my life, from my dad and in his career, and
how that's blessed our family and too to now myself
(57:40):
being involved in it and being able to not just
impact other people, but using it to impact our family
and and and to continue to grow there and so
and then I'm just I'm just grateful for the organizations
that I've been able to to work with to help
me get to this point. It's been a unique journey,
(58:00):
but one that I'm thankful of and grateful for. And
you know, I don't know that I think that every
move that I've made, whether it's been due to my
dad's career or to now my career, it's it's shaped
me into the to the man that I am. And
I just, you know, I'm thankful for that, and I'm
looking to just looking to continue to grow as a
as a man, as a coach, as a father, as
(58:22):
a husband. So everyone that has played a part in it,
every place that's played played a part in it, I'm
extremely thankful for them.
Speaker 1 (58:30):
Great coach, TI, thank you so much for joining us
this week on In Case You missed It with Christina
Williams here on iHeartRadio. It's been a pleasure to chat
with you and best of luck in Chicago.
Speaker 6 (58:41):
Thank you, Christine. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (58:44):
No doubt, no doubt. We're to take a quick break
and when we get back, we're going to go over
the things that I love this week more from In
Case you missed It with Christina Williams, and we get back.
(59:10):
Welcome back to In Case you missed It with Christina Williams,
and it's time for the things that I love this week.
Before we get into that, I just want to thank
Ta Rica and Tie for coming through this week to
the show. It's just been always a pleasure to have
you guys on. And now it's time for the thing
that I love this week. All right, So, if you
(59:31):
guys didn't go, I am a huge, huge, huge theater nerve.
Growing up, I was a theater kid, participated in plays,
did some acting classes, studied theater in college. So yeah,
you're girls a huge theater theater person. I wish I
had an opportunity to talk about this with Rica because
she also was a musical theater kid growing up. But
(59:54):
Wicked the Musical who came out this week and know
this is not a paid partnership with Wicked the Musical.
I truly loved the musical, one of my favorite musicals
since I was a kid. We actually put on a
show in eighth grade of Wi Get the Musical at
middle school. But I thoroughly enjoy the movie. I went
(01:00:18):
on Friday to see the movie, and I went early
in the morning because I didn't want to run into
any crazy fans. I just wanted to go at a
time where I thought people would be at work or
school because I wanted to take it all in. And
can I say that, Cynthia, Ariana, John Chu, they absolutely
killed eight. It was a masterpiece and I know that
(01:00:42):
they're gonna sweep award season. I was trying so hard
not to see any of the numbers during the movie
and be respectful, but I really enjoyed the movie. I
loved how Arianna and Cynthia did their take and put
their little flare on each of the music numbers. And yeah,
(01:01:02):
if you haven't seen make it the musical you need
to drop everything and go out the musical and hopefully
it'll change you for good. See what I did there?
All right? So November is a month of gratitude, and
so this past week I posted on X that I
wanted to hear from all of you about what you
(01:01:23):
were grateful for so I can feature you on the show,
and I selected Darren Garcia's email. And this is what
Darren is grateful for in the month of November. He
saysn't quote with so many great moments between college and
w NBA seasons, there are a few I think I
can point out and be grateful for. And so the
(01:01:44):
gist of what you were grateful for is what are
you grateful for women's basketball this past year? And so
for Darren, he says, South Carolina is undefeated at thirty
eight and oh and the great job coach Day and
her staff did to take everyone's challenge to come at them,
have a few close calls, and to be mentally training.
But just knowing everyone's coming for you. Plus to think
in the beginning of the season who they lost to
(01:02:06):
this season before was just cool to see. I have
to agree with you, Darren. I loved seeing South Carolina's
historic run in the Final four and eventually winning the championship.
It meant a lot to see coach Daily continue to
exude excellence as a coach and just to see how
that team came together. So shout out to you, Darren,
thank you for your submission, and happy holidays to you
(01:02:29):
and your family. All Right, that's going to do it
for this week's show. Don't forget to rate, review and
subscribe to the podcast, and happy holidays to all who celebrate.
We'll see you back here next week. In case you
missed it with Christina Williams is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
(01:02:51):
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 back to another episode of In Case
You Missed It with Christina Williams, and today is a
big show. So our first guest. She's one of my homegirls.
(00:24):
She's a friend to the show. She is a women's
basketball reporter for CBS Sports and you may know her
podcast Levels to this with Sheryl Swoops. It's my girl.
Terka Klausser brasby t what it do?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hey, what's going on? You know?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Another day, another day in women's basketball.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Listen, there's so much to break down, and I'm glad
that you are the one here with me this week
to break it all down.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So all right, we.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Have a lot to get into. Tetty. How about Sunday
UCLA South Carolina game. I mean that was definitely a
headliner this weekend in women's college basketball, namely because UCLA
snapped South Carolina's forty three game win Street. This is
a team that hasn't lost in about three years in
regular season. And I know that you are an AP voter,
(01:20):
so break it all down for me right now.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah, well, I mean it was certainly it was certainly
all in favor of UCLA. Like, there really wasn't much
that you could criticize about UCLA's performance because they owned everything.
They owned the boards, They made life a living hell
for Chloe Kitts and Sinaia Fagan on the inside. Like
they battled and really asserted their dominance early on into
(01:48):
the matchup, and so after the half, when South Carolina
did try to battle back a little bit, it was
a little bit too late at that point because UCLA
had already you know, done damage. They were already down
by twenty five, and UCLA certainly didn't put their foot
off the gas. But I just think this speaks to
the kind of program that Chloe excuse me, that Corey
Close has continued to run at UCLA.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Year after year after year.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
I think South Carolina had begun to set the standard
for women's basketball, and everybody else was tasked with living
up to that standard, and Corey Close has been doing it.
And like having a performance like they had on Sunday
on the national stage against the number one team, where
Lauren Bett's and London Jones really set the tone. I
(02:35):
just really think it's a statement win. So they made
it very difficult for me and I'm sure the other
voters as well with who was going to be number one,
And the AP results are out at this point, and
so Ucla is the new number one, with Yukon remaining
at number two. I personally had put Yukon number one
(02:56):
with UCLA number two. And granted I know that UCLA
had two ranked wins, where Ucla, excuse me, where you
kinda only had one ranked win over North Carolina. I
just didn't think that personally, I just didn't think that
Yukon had done anything enough for me to drop them.
But I certainly understand the voters who wanted to just
(03:16):
keep them at the number two line, looking to see more.
They get another ranked opponent coming up in the next
couple of weeks, So I'm okay with UCLA be at
number one. They've certainly earned it.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So what does this loss mean to a team like
South Carolina and the defendant champs? This loss against Ucla,
I think that, for one, we see how much of
an impact Camilla Cardozo made last season in the years
and all of the bigs that they had Leah Boston
the year prior just howly have to reconfigure everything in
their roster. But from your standpoint, what do you see?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I think that is the hugest thing to me.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
It's just that, you know, offense is few and far between, right,
and you need to have a consistent person And for
as you mentioned, having bigs like a Leah Boston, having
a player like Camilla Cardoso who is where of their
offense came from last season, you don't have that player now,
and so you haven't quite figured out who's going to
be that consistent go to offensively.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
And one thing that I think.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
UCLA did really well was they really closed off the
interior offensive game for South Carolina. Remember Ashland Watkins just
got back. To be honest, she missed, you know, the
beginning part due to a suspension, so getting her reacclimated
is going to take a little time as well. But
also Malaysia full Wiley like, I don't know what happened.
(04:31):
Don don put her on a bench in the first
quarter and sist didn't play anymore for the rest of
the game. And that's not really you know, I'm not
really gonna delve much into that because I don't think
that it's worth reading into in that way, you know
what I mean, Like I think that don is a
very very smart head coach and if she puts you
on a benches for a reason. But at the same time,
it's Novembers, you know what I mean, Like, it's November,
(04:54):
and I know there's this big thing about South Carolina
not losing a game in the regular season for a
few years now, But ultimately we know that November is
still very early for a lot of teams, and come March,
come to by not even March. By the time we
get into conference play SEC play, this team is not
(05:16):
even gonna be thinking about this particular loss back at
here in November. So I don't think it says much
this early on. But I do think that the one
thing South Carolina will need to figure out is who's
gonna be that consistent player that they can continually get
scoring an efficiency from, and who can be that player
(05:37):
on the inside, Like what's gonna be their go to,
who's going to be their go too big, that's going
to be completely solid, who's gonna close, who's gonna finish? Like,
that's what they got to figure out.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So a huge weekend for women's college basketball Notre Dame
defeating USC and so we we saw a lot of
highs and lows in that game as well. That that
court of Olivia Mouth and Hannah Hildigo I think is great.
I mean, we know why Notre Dame is called point
guard University or guard university. Some of the best guards play,
(06:08):
play or come from Notre Dame. But what were some
things that stood out to you about that matchup?
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Honestly, I think those were the biggest things that stood
out to me. It's just that for at least the
last couple of years, we've been saying we can't wait
to see what it's going to look like when Olivia
Miles is healthy, when Hannah Hidalgo has like her partner
in crime sort of speak along with her. And I
think we've got a great opportunity to see that Notre
Dame played very well even in the opening matchup, right,
(06:35):
I mean literally the opening game of the season in Paris,
we had a glimpse of what this could do. Now
we're only just going to see that continue to get better,
and so to me, I think that's what stood out
the most, and it made it very difficult for me
as a voter to even decide where to put an
Order Dame right, because quite honestly, I think they might be.
You know, I don't want to say a sleeper because
(06:57):
I think everybody knows it.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But they in a team like really the team to be.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
At this point in the season, like they are the
team that I feel is scary good. Neil Ivey has
really coached them to play the up tempo place that
she wants and has won it over the last couple
of years, and it's flowing for them, So Notre Dame
is scary y'all.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Definitely a trust the process situation with them over the
last few years. And I mean, obviously some of the
players were injury proneen and now it's started to click.
You're starting to see, as you said, that fire comes
out when you look at USC with Kiki and Juju.
I mean, the expectations are so high for this team.
Once stood out to you about those two players specifically
(07:38):
in that matchup, Well.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
I think one thing that I noticed is that we
have to understand that basketball is still a team sport,
even though it has its individual moments. And even within
that matchup, Juju still played well. Juju still had twenty
four points, you know what I mean. So it's not
as if she individually didn't do what was needed to do.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
She did. But it's not an individual sport.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's a team sport, right, And when you get a
player like Kiki ari Fn who is coming in from
a different program in Stanford, who's coming in, I don't
want to say learning, because it feels like she's done
a great job with adjusting to their offensive system. But
it's more than just understanding the playbook. It's also about
learning how to play with each other and understanding the
chemistry with each other. And I don't feel like that
(08:23):
is going to be a continual issue. I just think
that every once in a while you'll get bumps in
a road where you look at Notre Dame, who has
that chemistry built, who has that continuity already they just
really did a plug and play with putting Olivia back
in and dealing with how you know, her injury hasn't
really necessarily messed up the flow of what Notre Dame
(08:44):
has And so to me, that's what it's all about,
specifically with them too, just once they find that continuity,
find that chemistry, find that rhythm, little things, little mistakes,
won't be you know, huge, huge things, won't be you know,
huge problems for their team overall, And to me, that's
just the biggest thing. It's just finding chemistry, finding continuity,
(09:05):
and being able to play together. But individually, I think
Juju is still one of the best players in the country,
if not the best. I think you might get people
to argue between her and Page Becker's at this point
as it relates to that position. But yeah, I don't, girl,
you ain't about to hear me say a thing about
Juju even in the loss, because I think she's still
(09:25):
that good.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
She's still that girl very much, that girl, all right.
Moving right along, the Dallas Wings has secured the number
one pick in the twenty twenty five draft. The team
also announced that Kurt Miller will be their general manager
and president of basketball operations. First and foremost, congrats to
Kurt Miller. I think that that was a great pickup
(09:48):
for Dallas to get someone who's experienced in the front
office in addition to a winning coach. I think that
that will play a major part in attracting free agents,
where Dallas has been an destination when people may have
been hesitant in the past because of the front office.
So I'm excited to see what they will do. All right,
So the question is, Paige Beeckers, how do you see
(10:11):
her potentially fitting to the downswings should she go number
one in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
That is such a tough question, And I'm gonna tell
you why. I think it's a tough question, And that's
because we don't know how anyone is gonna fit without
a head coach. And to say that you can just
determine who's gonna play where, how someone's gonna move.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
You know, who we're gonna.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Add throughout the rest of the draft, and whether or
not players like say to Sobi, decide to stay even
though it feels like Sadetwo was out, feels like Natasha
Howard may be out, but we you know, haven't officially,
you know, heard whether or not they're gone or not.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
It's so Natasha said, I'm looking.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
For She definitely did. She definitely did.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
She like, don't protect me, I ain't gonna beat her
magic she.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Basically she definitely did. Magic. Johnson me, I ain't gonna
be here.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
But I say all that to say, it is hard
to see how this team is specific is going to
play with a Page Beckers when we don't know who
the coach is. And that is so important because different
coaches have different styles, they run different schemes, they have
different levels of importance. Is it going to be an
offensive coach or a defensive coach? And I can solely
(11:23):
rely on what Kurt Miller and how he coaches or
what he does when he's making decisions, because even when
you look at his track record, what he was doing
at Connecticut is not what he was doing at LA.
He had different person nail in both places. Yeah, I
mean clearly, or maybe he wouldn't have been fired, right, Like,
let's keep.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It a buck.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
So it's very difficult to say how Page can fit.
I know what Page will bring. She certainly brings. She
certainly brings quickness at that position. She brings the ability
to score on all three levels because she is going
to attack the rim, but she can also pull up
and shoot it. I think that she brings a level
of star power that will want other free agents to
(12:04):
play alongside her, just to have that opportunity to play
with Page Beckers. And I think that's something that Dallas
is really going to hone in on in something that
Dallas really needs, and so obviously this is something that
she's going to bring to no matter what team would
have picked her up or what team would have gotten
this number one spot. But I think that that alone
is something that's going to be critically important because Dallas
(12:25):
has had number one picks multiple times over the.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Last few years.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
They've had top players or at least top draft players
multiple times over the last few years, and last year
I think was a year that we saw what Dallas
could achieve, right. I think adding a Page Beckers to
that can actually give them a bit more, But it
will absolutely depend on who is going to be the coach.
Having a good coaches fit is just as important as
(12:50):
having great pieces to fit. You've got to get someone
who's going to be able to coach the player in
the personnel or at least know how to bring the
players in personnel that you need for them to be success,
but with their coaching style.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
So that's gonna be critical.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
And multiple reports that came out once Dallas got that
number one pick that you know, Page preferred Los Angeles
to get to we all, we all, and then people
start to putting all doctor strange, all the different possibilities
of how she could dodge the twenty twenty five draft,
or how she can go number two with whatever the
situation is. I do think that you know, this league
(13:25):
is ready for a player like Paige Beckers. You see
Dallas making improvements. They've already sold out season tickets, they're
building the practice facility, They're going to move downtown in
twenty twenty six, and so you see them taking accountability
for things that they've been criticized with over the last
few years. Now that fans are certainly excited to possibly
(13:45):
see her peered up with a player like Ari got Goombaballe.
How would her game adjusting change with a guard like
Page coming in, who could provide that score and who
could provide defense, who could open up the floor and
get the players involved as well. So it's certainly going
to be interesting. I think you can I just say
(14:06):
the new CBA is getting you know, you have the
new CBA. So she decides that she can okay. One
of the possibilities that was explored was she could potentially
go back to Yukon because she's still eligible for another
year and play and then come in twenty six with
the new CBA et cetera, et cetera. That is a possibility,
(14:27):
right her play.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Well, here's the thing with that. That is a scenario
for a player that would be dependent upon money, and
I just don't feel that Paige Beckers is dependent upon money.
I feel like Paige Beckers is one of those players
who has done well as it relates to nil and endorsements,
that she ain't worried about getting paid, right, And that
(14:51):
is not to say that she does not care. I
ain't talk to Page. I don't know what she cared about.
So I'm not saying she don't care about, you know,
having a lucrative new CBA contractor deal, or a lucrative
deal under the new CBA. But I am also saying
that I think there are certain things that motivate players,
and I don't think money is always the number one
thing that motivates a player. I think sometimes money plays
(15:14):
a role, but so do other factors. And doing that
runs the risk of going to a team that may
be less preferred than Dallas. Right, because you can't avoid
the draft. You still have to declare for the draft.
So it's like, you know, what do the old people say?
It's the devil? You know, versus the devil. You don't, right,
(15:35):
so you might as well just go ahead and go.
And most of the time players are at least this
is what they say, that they are very appreciative to
even be drafted, They are very appreciative to play in
the league. Page Becker strikes me as the type of
player who will give one hundred percent to whatever team
drafts her and will want to make that team better.
(15:57):
And so I don't think that's the smartest move to
stay in school because you.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Just really don't know.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
You might get a better rookie contract, but you might
be playing and who knows, you know, and it might
not be And we don't know what this season is
gonna look like for a team, right, so this could
be the year that you know, Dallas is a top four,
top three team and we don't know, you know what
I mean. Like, so it's it's not to me, it's
(16:24):
just simply not worth the risk. But let me just
also add this really quick before you move on, is
that I think it is the most ridiculous thing to say.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Page Becker's preferred La. Duh. Everybody prefer like what you mean?
Number one, it's La who don't prefer LA.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Right number two, you would get to play with cam
Brick and Rakia Jackson, you got an already ready made
MVP and Deerica Hanby. Literally that team was a point
guard away from being one of the top teams in
this league. And when you think about how they started
the season, when you think about even how they play
to finish the season, it just didn't reflect that in
(17:02):
the record.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
So does she wanted to go to LA, Like, stop
using that.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
As a conspiracy theorist to say something or to mean
something like you'd have to be out your mind and
not want to go to LA.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
ALRT And last headline for this week, Unrivaled has announced
their coaching staff headline by Phil Handy, who was a
former Los Angeles Laker assistant coach, and Teresa Brutherspoon. And
also we have the rosters. No Caitlin clarkrom roster. What
are your thoughts about the head coaching and you know
(17:34):
the athlete rosters as well.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I am so excited for Unarrivaled, Like I was on
Blue Sky the other day and I was just like,
the more I think about it, I'm seeing women's college basketball.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Then we go to WNBA, then we have unrivaled, then.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
We have au and then we are back to the
women's college basketball Final four. It's just so much women's
basketball right now, and I love that. So I love
that these women are taking advantage of an opportunity to
play here at home, They're taking advantage to make a
little bit of extra money, and I love that all
of the players who have joined are competitive players. So
(18:11):
it definitely feels like there's going to be a true
sense of competition in this league right not like just
something that players are doing to kind of bypass the time.
They've spent, to me, a very good amount of time
putting in the effort of making sure that the team
that the excuse me, the games can be seen with
(18:31):
a T and T partnership, getting a you know, a
state farm sponsor, like they are serious and so I
am excited to see that. And even from the way
that they've announced the teams and the drafts, that to
me seems like they're very serious about this league, and
I love that, so I'm very excited. I found it
incredibly interesting that these coaches had to put this team
(18:53):
together before knowing which team would be theirs, So there
was an effort in ensuring that each team was to
be competitive based on personnel and the coaching staff as well.
I love seeing, you know, coaches like Teresa Witherspoon get
an opportunity to get back at that, get back out
there after what happened to her. Feel Handy, I mean,
come on, a man is a legend with the Lakers,
(19:16):
one of the you know, one of the most notable
assistant coaches from the NBA.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So love seeing that.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
But also I look at some other coaches and I'm
just thinking to myself, like, this is a great opportunity
to kind of be preparing yourself for what could be
a head coaching opportunity in the w at some point
in time. Right, this could certainly lead to that opportunity.
So I love exactly what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I would have to agree with that. I love to
see tea Spoon back out there. Obviously, Phil Handy has
had a hand you know, in the NBA, but he's
worked closely with some women's basketball players, Drew Wood being
one of them, and he's going to be able to
coach her throughout the season. So definitely we'll keep my
eyes on that. But you talked about having you know,
more options in the off season, and I can't help
(20:02):
but think about, you know, the au to Unrivaled, Pipeline
and dj A Karents and Cordy Williams, Lexi Hall, Jordan Canada,
Alisha Gray. You know, the list goes on and so
now players are even you know, making the jump and
move to other leagues in the off season, and so
I'm super excited for one as someone who covers women's basketball,
you know, we have more things to do with a yes,
(20:24):
or more basketball to look forward to. And then of course,
there was multiple reports about Caitlyn Clark. ESPN reported that
she will not be playing and Unrivaled in the off season.
There was a report that said that Unrivaled will leave
the door open should she want to play. And I
think that one of the interesting parts of Unrivaled is
that they are true wild cards. And during the team selections, uh,
(20:47):
it was pointed out instead of the team would have
a hand in recruiting that player. And so who knows
who she could be Unrivaled. You mean, she has her
friends in Fever teammate and Lexi Hall playing, she has
former teammate Kate Martin playing, who's all the same team.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
They start recruiting they could.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
I also would not be upset if Caitlyn said I
would like to actually have an off season, right Like,
I just think that the biggest thing. And you know,
I'm gonna call this betas babe because that's what I do.
But I think so many people think that saying that
is oh, she's being a hater.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
They don't want to hear about.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
No, the girl has balled for the last two years,
from the off season of losing in the National Championship
in twenty twenty three, all the way through just this
past you know, playoff season with the WNBA. She's worked
and worked and worked and worked. At some point, you
(21:47):
have to give your body rest. At some point, you
have to give your mind rest, enjoy life a little bit.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
She's a very successful young woman. She's doing a lot
of things off the court. I just saw a couple
of days go that she was holding something for our
foundation where she got money donated towards her foundation. Those
are incredible things and sometimes you just really need to
take your mind off of basketball for a little bit.
So if she decides that she wants to play, that
(22:14):
will be amazing. People will flock to see her and
flock to see this unrivaled lead because of the interest
that she continues to bring to women's basketball. But if
she decides she wants to just chill, she's earned that.
She's honestly earned that, Like she needs to give her
body a rest, and she just needs to give herself
some time to do something other than play basketball.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
And I know that we have to respect it. We
just have to respect.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Say I personally like watching her side quest of being
a golf player. She played it right LP LP LGPGA
and that little tournament where she received the twenty two
thousand dollars grants in partnership with Gamebridge Sports for their
parody Week, And so I'm excited to see when she
(23:00):
does an off season I completely agree that you know,
she needs rush and let her gear up, get that
time off, and then be better in her sex a NBA.
You know who I would like to see in unrival
maybe Sabrinioscuem. Sabrina hasn't played off season basketball since she
(23:21):
came into the league, and you know that's also her
personal choice as well. But I mean, just want a
WNBA championship. What do you look like in three on three?
I mean there's two spots open right now, so.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Listen.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Sabrina is another one. Sabrina is another one who like listen,
I love it. I think this is another one, And
I think Sabrina makes the case for Caitlyn right because
she took this off season to step away for a
little bit, and then when she did get back into basketball,
she worked on her and worked on her game, and
you could see it instantly all season long. You could
(23:57):
see it instantly. And I think that's a perfect example
of what Caitlin could end up doing, or could elect
to do, which is, let me take my few months
to chill, and then when I get in a gym,
I'm gonna go hard. And now she's got Stephanie White
as the head coach who's going to ensure success for
that Indiana team. So there's a lot to be motivated for.
(24:18):
But take a Breakcess, You're good.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Right, t That's gonna wrap up these headlines for this week.
But we don't have November. It's a month with gratitude,
and when this episode airs, it will be a day
before Thanksgiving for all who celebrates. So I want to
know what, Tea, what, tou Rika, You're grateful for? This here.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Oh, that's such a great question.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
I am god grateful for life, honestly, Like this year,
quite a few of us have experienced a lot of loss,
and people who we have seen just really feel like
they've departed way too soon. So I am incredibly grateful
for life, for friendships you one of them, just having
p in your corner, and honestly, just you know, grateful
(25:04):
that we're able to do what we do. It's a
privilege to be able to cover women's basketball. It is
a privilege to have this kind of platform and have
this kind of boys, and we don't take that for
granted at all. We really appreciate the trust that the
fans and the audience put in us to listen to
what we have to say and the things that we
report and all of that. So life, career, family, friends,
(25:25):
I am grateful for it all.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
No, I couldn't agree with you more. I want to
know what's on your table for Thanksgiving dinner?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
What I now? Let me tell you you don't even wait.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Your husband is a chef, by the way.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
So yes, which is why I'm probably gonna be the
person that if I cook at all, because my husband
being a chef, means he has to work on Thanksgiving Day.
All the lazy folks who don't want to eat at
home are gonna come to the restaurant that he's gonna
have to run. Right, So I'm probably gonna pop up
(25:58):
at a few friend's house because it'll just be I'm
not going home to Detroit this year, so I will
be here in Connecticut. But if I do cook, I'm
definitely gonna have some mac and cheese and some yams,
dressing and some greens for sure. Though I love like dressing.
(26:18):
I love me some dressing. But yeah, that's that's definitely
going down. I don't know about meat, though, I might,
you know, may do turkey wings or it's no point
of being a big turkey. It's literally just me and
then when my husband comes home, it's just us too,
So like what we're gonna do with a what a turkey?
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Right? Ultimate question? Are you a sweet potato pie girl
or a pumpkin pie?
Speaker 3 (26:38):
The fact that you even had to ask me that, Christina,
makes me question our friendship because you know.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
That I am absolutely picking sweet potato pie.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
I just wanted to put that out there. No, of course,
you got you gotta do the sweet potato. You gotta Thanksgiving, No,
but that's that's so awesome, And thank you for coming
through this week on In Case you missed It with
Christina Williams. It's always a pleasure to get up with
you girl. Likewise, all right, y'all are gonna take a
(27:12):
quick break, and coming up next, we have Chicago sky
Head coach ty Marsh.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Joining us to talk about his new role. Welcome back
to In Case you missed It with Christina Williams, and
(27:40):
I'm excited about the guests. This week, we have newly
named Chicago sky head coach Tyler Marsh joining us.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Tyler, what's up?
Speaker 5 (27:49):
What's going on? Christina?
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Thanks for having me now, I know it's been a
busy couple weeks for you. First and foremost, congratulations on
your new job as the Chicago Sky head coach and
appreciate you being here. So I'm curious, how did this
opportunity with the sky come about?
Speaker 6 (28:04):
Yeah, it was kind of I'm not going to say random,
but it was a little bit unexpected, you know. For
for me, it was just a matter of I've always
been someone who kind of just stays planned and where
they're at and rooted in what, you know, the job
that I'm that I have and doing the best that
I came there. And so I wasn't really actively pursuing
(28:25):
head coaching opportunities, but knew of those opportunities or interviews
came my way that I would at least take a
look at it.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
I felt like I.
Speaker 6 (28:31):
Kind of owed it to myself just for you know,
the journey that I've been on in my career, and
so I wanted to go on on interviews just to
kind of get that experience and go through that process
and see what it was like. And it was a
couple of teams that they reached out, but Chicago. On
that visit, I had a great conversation with with Jeff
our GM and certainly sold with the vision and the
(28:52):
direction that the skuy wanted to go in in a
positive way. And so there was something I felt connected to.
And then once I you know, kind of went on
my visit there and went through the interview process, I
felt like it was a good opportunity to take advantage of.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
It's very interesting that you described that process and experience
as random and unexpected. I mean, from the outside looking in,
you would think that with all of the head coaching
vacancies available that you know, people will look to a
team like the Las Vegas Aces who won back to
back championships to field those roles, like those assistant coaches
to field those roles. So it's very interesting that you
described that process like that. But what was it about
(29:26):
the Chicago skuy that stood out to you? Because this
is an organization that has been rebuilding post James Wade,
had a lot of transition for the last couple of years.
But what was it about this guy that stood out
to you from the other candidates that you may have
talked to or fielded interest from.
Speaker 6 (29:41):
Honestly, I think it was the connection with Jeff. I
think that once he reached out, it was pretty intentional
in terms of why they felt like I would be
a good fit for the organization and for the roster.
And that's something that I felt that I appreciated and
something that I felt really connected to, and it gave
me similar feeling to win. I met Becky for the
first time and going through that interview process, and it
(30:03):
was more as it was less about basketball and just
more about what our ideals were and how I fit
into that mold and into that vision. And how what
they thought I brought to the table was a good
mess into the direction that they wanted to go. And
so it just kind of brought back those memories and
it felt like, you know, something that I wanted to
be a part of.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
You mentioned the process or the talk being similar to
that process when you were recruited by Becky for going
to the Las Vegas Aces. How it's similar to this
experience with the Chicago's guys. What have you taken away
from that experience of Becky and coming from her coach
and tree that you'll bring with you onto the Chicago's guy.
Speaker 6 (30:39):
Man, It's it's it's more than words can can kind
of say. I think that, you know, my relationship with
with with Becky is a special one, is something that
like we are, we are connected, and we are tied
for eternity, Like she's someone who helped my career immensely,
something someone who made such a positive impact on me
(30:59):
as a coach and allowed me. I think the most
important thing is she allowed myself and I think I
could speak for the rest of the staff in Las
Vegas and the players as well as she allows you
to be yourself in the most natural way. Possible and
still allows you to do the job without micromanaging or
looking over your shoulder, like she trusts you. She trusted
me with the responsibility that she gave me in my
(31:19):
role and she just allowed me to grow. And so
that's something that I hope to instill with my perspective
staff in Chicago and as well as the player. So
I hope that that's something that the organization can continue
to embrace.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You come from an extensive coaching tree or byproduct of
like Nick Nurse and Rick as well. Which one out
of all of the coaches that you've learned from, even
maybe your dad who also was a coach as well,
which one do you think you've taken the most from
into your personal coaching style.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
All of them? I think that you know.
Speaker 6 (31:51):
With Carlisle, it was I was only around him for
a year, But all you need to do is be
around him for a year to see how smart he
is and how how he thinks the game. So I
was only around him for a year, but I think
that I can speak a little bit more to the other,
to the other three and my dad. For me, it
was was about impact and how he can impact younger
(32:14):
lives and and and people through basketball. He's what made
me want to coach. He's, uh, you know kind of
how has Creched created and shaped how I view coaching
and more than just what happens on the court, but
how you're able to impact people off the court. And
that's something that continues to drive me. And so, uh,
that would be the main thing that I've taken from
(32:35):
from him. Uh, from Coach Nurse, it's about the the
the way to adapt and to think outside the box.
He is someone who has coached on many different levels,
from G League to internationally to college to so from
so our trajectory has kind of been the same, and
that from that standpoint and just coaching different levels and
as you do that, you you learn how to adapt
(32:59):
on the fly.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Uh you know.
Speaker 6 (33:01):
I know in the G League when I was in there,
it was only sixteen teams at the time, and so
there will be times where I'd watch Coach Nurse and
we go into a game with a game plan and
a roster that we think set in thirty minutes before
a game, our best player gets called up to the NBA,
and now that changes things, and so you have to
learn how to adapt on the fly. Would be the biggest,
biggest thing that I've learned from from from him, and
(33:24):
then Becky it's it's it's about empowering people, about empowering
your staff and your players and building those relationships with them.
And I think she is the best that I've been
around at knowing when to turn on and off that switch.
Speaker 5 (33:39):
She can.
Speaker 6 (33:40):
You've seen all the videos go around of her dancing
with the team and hanging out with them like she's
like she's a player. And then uh, then you've seen
the clips where she's getting on them in the huddles
and she's getting on them in practice and things like that.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
So she has a great.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
Balance of of when the flip that switch on and
off with the players and the players I've learned to
uh to respect that and that aspect of her because
she was I mean, she was one of the best
to ever do it as a player, and now she's
one of the best to ever do it as a coach.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
And so.
Speaker 6 (34:07):
Certainly all three have all four have have really been
instrumental in UH in my career as a coach.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
One of the words that continuously keeps coming up so
far as conversation is connectedness. When it was announced that
you were going to be the next head coach of
the Chicago's guys. Some of those Aces players got on Twitter,
said Ali Sha Clark. They got on Twitter and talked about,
you know, their connection to you and how they were
going through it. Yeah, how did you relay that message
to you know, the players that you've coached for the
(34:33):
last couple of years with the Las Vegas Aces about
this next chapter?
Speaker 6 (34:36):
First and foremost, it's I think that the back and
forth on Twitter and whatnot, thought the banter and everything,
I think that's that's a symbolism of what our of
what our relationship is. It's a truly you know, you
hear the cliche turns the family environment, family atmosphere like,
that's truly what it was in Vegas and continues to be.
Like my relationships with them are everlasting as well. And
so for me, it was once I knew that the
(34:57):
decision was going to be made, I kind of kept
them in the loop of the process a little bit
as it was going, just because I didn't want any
of them to be caught off guard with anything. And
so I was very transparent with our players and our
staff and the organization in Vegas. But I made sure
to reach out to each one of them individually, whether
that was over the phone, in person, or on FaceTime
or what have you, and just kind of let them
know what was you know, what was happening as it
(35:17):
was happening, and there were tough conversations to have. It's
been a mixed bag of emotions, kind of just with
the you know, the sadness of leaving everything that we
built in Vegas and everything I was a part of here,
and then you know, starting something mixed with the excitement
of starting something new in Chicago. And so those relationships
again with all those players and all of our staff
in Vegas is something that I'll always hold on to.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
We're credited for improving and developing Jackie Young. I mean
it was a day night difference between her twenty twenty
one season twenty twenty two season. I call her the
Silent Assassin because she just gets it done. How are
you able to just bring out the best in Jackie?
Speaker 6 (35:52):
Yeah, that was a tough conversation to have with jack
our relationship. He was the first person that worked out
joining the Vegas, joining the Aces, so and the last
workout that I had once before I left and so
it was kind of symbolic, but no, our relationship grew
with trust. Again, I think that we have similar personalities.
You've seen moments where she kind of she's out there
(36:15):
and she can get turned up if you turn her up,
and so but again she kind of stays on that
little that even even playing for is a quiet confidence
about her that she has. And I just think the
way that we communicate. I tried to study and figure out,
like how you know how to communicate with her the
best way, and then once I've understood her personality, it
matched my personality and so it was easy to kind
(36:36):
of build that relationship and build that trust. And the
basketball part, to me is always secondary. It comes afterwards
after you've been able to build that relationship. That's kind
of my fundamental player development philosophy is anyone can run
a drill, but can how do you connect to the
players and how much can they buy into you and
to trust you as as a coach and know that
(36:56):
you mean the best and want the best for them.
And so that was under stood and developed early between
myself and Jackie, and then you know, it just kind
of pushed us forward. But none of that works without
her work ethic and well without her determination and motivation
and drive to be better and not be content into
who she is. And that was that was one of
the big messages that I had to ur is you
(37:16):
were you were a great way before me.
Speaker 5 (37:18):
I just helped.
Speaker 6 (37:19):
I just helped in some areas, but you were great
and you're destined to do great things after me. And
so I'm confident in her ability to continue to move
forward and to grow in her game.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Did you begin to have that conversation with your family
as well? What was those conversations like to be like, Okay,
we're going ahead over to the east. We've been on
the West coast for a little bit, now we're going
east for early chapters.
Speaker 6 (37:39):
Yeah, you know, my wife is from the Midwest, She's
from Milwaukee, and so there's a little bit excitement there
about getting back closer to her family. But she's built
a little community here in Vegas. So that was a
tough conversation to have too, because she's kind of built
a group of friends here and certainly connected to the
staff and the.
Speaker 5 (37:55):
Players here with the Aces as well.
Speaker 6 (37:56):
And so I think the overall message, whether it was
from my parents or Kiara or anyone that I can
fide in and trusted, And it was more about making
sure that I'm accepting what I'm worth, making sure that
I'm you know, being true to myself and staying true
to what I believe in and the values that I've
that are instilled in me and you know, kind of
how I've been raised and so and not steering away
from that. So I think that's how overall I'm approaching
(38:17):
this job, is to be as true to myself as possible.
And I think even in the process and talking to Chicago,
I was very open with like, I need to know
that you that you guys are committed to not just
the organization's success, but these players success and and my
success as well.
Speaker 5 (38:33):
And so because all of that I've I felt in Vegas.
Speaker 6 (38:35):
And so it was something that you know, again that
I felt grateful for the opportunity coming my way, but
I wasn't in a rush to be a head coach.
I didn't know the situation. The opportunity had to feel
right and be the right fit for me to take
that jump, and so I did with Chicago.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
So I absolutely love the two scenes connectedness, commitment. We
rode our role here with the Seeds. Okay, So, I
know it's been a busy couple of weeks for you,
and you know, we just completed the w NBA Lottery
Draft looking ahead for the draft expansion. How has it
been for these last couple of weeks to just determine
what other coaches are gonna work with alongside you to
(39:12):
shape out, you know, this new rebuild for Chicago.
Speaker 6 (39:15):
Yeah, that's definitely been the priority for me and for
Jeff and I think that, you know, it's one of
the most important things that I'll take away from Vegas
as well, is just how important it is to have
a good staff that supports you and that you're able
to uh to instill trust in and rely on, because
a lot of times the interaction that they have with
the players and people around is more than you have
as a head coach. And so I got to feel
(39:36):
comfortable with the personalities that I'm bringing in and their
ability to do the job. But I think most importantly
it's about finding the right people that align with kind
of what I believe in, both basketball wise and just
kind of you know, out off the court as well.
And so that's been a heavy priority and in terms
of the search of finding you know who those candidates are,
and I feel good about a few people that we've
(39:57):
reached out to, and so looking forward to kind of
continuing to build that out and surrounding our players with
the best possible staff so that they're able to be
the best version of.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Themselves outside of yourself. A lot of teams have looked
at college to find, you know, coaches to fill a bench.
I mean, Becky, she's looking at the NBA. How are
you determining that fit for the people that will work
alongside you. I know that you're an offensive minded coach.
You get credited for your player development and your ability
to analyze the game, But what are you looking for?
(40:25):
What pieces are you looking forward to complete this puzzle
when it comes to the coaching staff.
Speaker 6 (40:29):
I joked with Becky a little bit after ty Gott,
and I's like, man, it took you two days to
find another tie and replace another tie now, but it's
He's going to be great. I've known Time for a while.
We connected in the G League. We were both in
the G League together, so I know he'll he'll be
a great addition for the Aces. But to answer your question,
I think we want to be well rounded. We want
to have all areas covered with offense, defense, call special teams,
(40:51):
which is you know, kind of sideline out of bounds,
basedline out of bounds after timeouts, those kind of things,
and player development of course, and so I think that,
you know, great coaches can come from anywhere. That can
be high school, college internationally, from the w from the NBA,
and so we're not limiting ourselves to where we're you know,
the candidate pool that we're looking at. But at the
same time, I think that, you know, sometimes there's there's
(41:12):
coaches that are right underneath our nose that we got
to pay attention to. And so, you know, I think
it's great that you see the league continuing to think
outside the box and look in other areas for good
coaching fits for their organization. And as we've seen with
you know, Atlanta and in LA and so the game
is continuing to evolve and continuing to change. And the
broad of that pool is for other coaches, the more
opportunity it brings, and so I'm excited for that.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
I look back at that game that you coached for
Vegas from Becky had been two games suspension against Seattle,
where you notched your first win as a head coach,
although accounted towards Becky's record of you coached that game
all forty minutes. What did you take away from, you know,
being in that first year, during that game, getting that win,
What did you learn from that game?
Speaker 6 (41:55):
Yeah, it's different, for sure. One seat over, two seats
over is different. The thing that I was most proud
of of is the confidence that our players had in me,
And I think that was kind of a testament to
the relationship that we were able to build together, and
then also the trust that you had in me to
be able to do the job. And so, you know,
that's the kind of confidence that I you know, wishing
still with my staff and my assistance, and I think
(42:17):
players see and feel that as well. And then you know,
I hope that that they're able to build their own
relationships with our with our players, and so I think
that the confidence that your players have in you as
a coach goes a long way. They're able to kind
of see your demeanor and how you react to the
ups and downs of a season or of a game,
and so, uh, you know, if you if you've spent
(42:38):
time around me, you kind of know that my personality
is kind of very much even keel I don't get
too high and too low. And so I hope that's
something that translates to our team as well, that they
can look over on the sidelines no matter how much
we're up or down in the game and see that
that their coach is still kind of steady and has
things under control, and hopefully that brings a calmness to
our team as well, while also having a switch that
you can turn it on when you need to turn
(42:59):
it on. And so that was a huge takeaway from
me and.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Your intro pressor you emphasize the importance of building a
team that could shoot, but you know, on the back
end of that you have the duo of Angel Rees
and Kamla Cardoso. So this is a young, talented team
in Chicago, and I guess my question is how do
you plan to take advantage of both Angel Rees and
Kamela Cardo so while also building around them to you know,
(43:25):
get that much needed shooting.
Speaker 6 (43:27):
I think if you look at just the shooting aspect
of the game, I think that that was probably the
area that was lacking a little bit with with Chicago
this past year.
Speaker 5 (43:36):
And they were able to do some great things without it.
Speaker 6 (43:38):
But I think that, you know, being able to expand
that part of the game, I think allows them to
be the best version of themselves, open on more space,
more shooting around them, creates more opportunities and more space
for them to create baskets for themselves inside and what
have you.
Speaker 5 (43:53):
So, I think being.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
Able to create versatility within Camilla and Angel in their
game and how they're able to get to their spots,
how they're able to generate easy baskets and being able
to put them in positions to where they're not seeing two, three,
four defenders in the paint.
Speaker 5 (44:07):
You know, I think that'll be that'll be.
Speaker 6 (44:09):
Key for us to figure out different ways to allow
them to be successful that way.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
Nola. You also mentioned that Angel Reese is like one
of your first calls as well, once you you know,
had everything set in stone with becoming the new head coach.
What was that conversation like and what do you look
forward to the most about coaching a star like Angelies.
Speaker 6 (44:27):
One of the things that jumps out at with Angel
when you watch your play is how hard she plays.
And so I think that anytime that you can get
a young player to play that hard on both ends.
I think you know you have a great setup for
success moving forward. And she talked a lot about her
will to want to get better and her will to
be part of a winning culture and a winning team,
how important that was for her, And so I'm excited
(44:49):
to build that relationship with her as well as Camilla
as well, because I think, you know, as long as
those two are our teammates together, their success is tied
to one another.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
And so it's my.
Speaker 6 (44:58):
Job and our staff's job to fit figure out the
best method possible for them to be as connected as
teammates on the court, and how we can put both
of them in positions to help each other, and then
who we can surround those two with to know again
to allow our team to be successful.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
All right, y'all, we got to pay some bills. When
we come back, we'll have more from coach Tayvarsh. So
(45:34):
when the sky fired, Teresa Weberspoon Angel was obviously devastated.
But you said you had a phone call with her,
oh to know, Like, how did you reassure her that
you know this is going to be okay, This next
chapter is going to be okay for this guy.
Speaker 6 (45:48):
Yeah, I think it's just it was about communicating my
vision to her. I can only communicate who I am
and hope to be as the coach of the Sky
for Angel and how I want the best for her.
I think that's a similarity that that me and coach
Spoone have is we want the best for Angel, we
want the best for the team. And so you know
how I can do that in my in my own
way and empower her and the rest of our team
(46:08):
to to be successful. That's that's my job. And so
I just you know, communicate to her that I want
to help her be the best version of herself and
how that fits in a team dynamic as well. And
you know some things that I think that you know,
that I can help bring to help, you know, expand
her game and into what we want to do.
Speaker 5 (46:25):
And that's kind of how it was.
Speaker 6 (46:26):
And she, you know, she was all for it and
and you know, communicated again back to me of how
important it was to to to be part of a
winning environment. And so that's what I hope to create
in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
Cago has a number three pick in next year's draft.
When you look at the college players of today, who
stands out as someone who can potentially, you know, be
a plus to the Chicago's guy next year.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Man.
Speaker 6 (46:48):
I mean there's a number of names that could they
can help, you know, spend a lot of time scouting
and researching players who we feel could help. I think
the important thing is is, uh, you know, it's it's
easy kind of to see what basketball dynamics sticks out
into what what your team is lacking or needs or
what have you, but and who can provide that? I
(47:08):
think the harder thing is there's not enough time really
to dig into what kind of fit those players are
for your locker room and and how those personalities mixed
with the personalities that you currently have in your locker room.
And so I think that, you know, it's not a
it's not a full pre draft thing that you get
like the NBA, where you have so much time in
(47:30):
the offseason kind of dig into these players and get
as much intel as you can from these players to
kind of, you know, see, you know what that right
fit is for you. And so you have to do
that in a very finite amount of time here in
the w And so for us, it's just about gathering
as much information as we can on the players that
we like from a basketball standpoint, and figuring out how
(47:52):
who they are as people fit the mold of what
we what we were trying to build in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
Looking ahead to jump and expansion draft. We know that
every team can protect six What is a priority for
the team as they look to shape the future for
this guy, we're talking about protecting six players and your
coaching philosophy and rebuilding. What does that look like?
Speaker 6 (48:14):
Yeah, I think it's a mix of you know, who
wants to be here and who uh obviously, who you
think can who you think can can help us moving forward,
and who we think can be the long term pieces
for the organization extending beyond you know, even next year's
expansion draft when this all happens again. And so I
(48:35):
think it's it's important to identify those those pieces and
and uh and then communicate to to them, you know,
just how what your vision is for them and how
you see them fitting into the short and long term uh,
you know, dynamic of of of your team. And so
you know, for for me, it's it's the kind of
the philosophy of of us is we want people who
(48:58):
who are committed, uh, people who compete. We want to
be committed to each other. We want to be committed
to ourselves, we want to be committed to the stat
like there's a there's a total buy in that we're
looking for from players and from staff to really build
this thing the way that we the way that we
want to and so I'm looking forward to to that challenge.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
I know that Dadia Rollinson said that the goal is
to be a playoff team or championship contending team year
over year. That is the goal every year with this rebuild.
So do you expect this guy in your first year
as a head coach to be a playoff team next season?
Speaker 6 (49:37):
I think my my my goal in my expectation is
to build a playoff and championship mindset and culture more
than anything. I think that one of the things that
myself and Natalie speak about Natalie Nakasak speak about all
the time or in the past, has been like the
word championship doesn't really like doesn't really go around that
(49:59):
much in the locker room with the aces, like it
was about creating that mindset and you let the results
come out the way that they come out. But if
you can develop that mindset of getting better each day
and not playing to a score or an opponent, but
playing to a standard. I think that's what you ultimately
want to create. And then if you because that that,
(50:21):
that builds buy in, that builds trust, that builds work
ethic and I think that if all those things are
top tier, then you leave everything out on the court
and some games you win, some games you lose. So
I don't think that you can judge yourself a year
after year on championships, especially with a young team. I
think that you judge yourself on how you improve over
(50:44):
the course of the season and how you develop that
mindset of what being a champion actually is an entail.
So that's kind of where my mind is at. And
I think that once we've instilled that and and built
kind of that into the fabric of who we want
to be, then I think were able to move forward
and focus on on the wins and losses.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
With someone with your resume, you can coach anywhere. I
feel like any league. I mean, you've been in the NBA,
the GI League, and now you're here at the w
Why was it important for you to, you know, take
your first head coaching job in a w NBA position
and coach women's basketball.
Speaker 6 (51:22):
Well, I'm going into my fourth year in the W
and I it's been a seamless transition for me, It's
been it's it's felt like where I'm supposed to be.
One of a mutual friend of myself and coach Haman
was Jenny Bouchik, who's an assistant with the Indiana Pacers.
Speaker 5 (51:44):
And I remember.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
Jenny and she's awesome.
Speaker 6 (51:46):
Yeah, I would not be here without Jenny. She's she's
been a special person in my life and instrumental and
and and me being in the W and so uh.
But I remember when she connected me with Becky and
she knew that my personality and bet this person I
was would would fit. But she also spoke about how
(52:07):
she felt like I was I was made for the W,
how I was my kind of I guess my demeanor
and the way I communicate with something that would be
appreciated and recepted in the W and she couldn't be
more right, Like, I'm the happiest that I've been in
my coaching career here in the W and and I'm
(52:30):
just looking forward to continuing that.
Speaker 5 (52:32):
And for me, it was.
Speaker 6 (52:34):
It was already hard enough leaving the Aces, but I
knew that I still wanted to be part of this league.
I wanted to be part of the growth of it.
I wanted to be uh an asset to it any
way that I can.
Speaker 5 (52:48):
And so.
Speaker 6 (52:50):
You know, I'm I'm proud to be part of this league.
And you know, for me, I think that uh other
coaches who who come into it, I think that I
tried to make it a priority to really understand and
learn from the people who came before me in this
in this league and those that have set the groundwork
and the foundation of of what this league is and
(53:11):
continues to be. H. I think they sometimes get overlooked,
whether that's former coaches, former players, current coaches, media, what
have you. I think that, uh, there's a lot of
people who who who did the work early to make
this league what it is today, and I just I
think it's important to to talk to those people and
to learn from those people and not come in with
(53:32):
the mindset that you know everything, because there's a lot
to There's a lot to learn. This league is different
from other leagues around and how it operates, and I
think that it's full of great people with with with
great history that you can that you can learn things
from and so I'm excited to be part of it,
and I'm proud to to to move forward as a
as a head coach. And I don't take this opportunity
(53:53):
in this position for granted, So I'm just hopefully making
making everyone proud with it.
Speaker 1 (53:57):
So I mean, as of today, you're the only blackmail
head coach right now the w n b A. And
so even when you look at the numbers of who
is getting those opportunities, there is a disparity when it
comes kind of to people of color, men and women
in the league. So they're definitely making history or making
strides and helping to break those ceilings in in the
(54:19):
w n b A. Do you think about those things
when these opportunities come across your desk?
Speaker 6 (54:24):
For sure, I think that you know more so than
than than it being a job, it's a it's a responsibility.
It's a it's a responsibility to uphold in a in
a in a great fashion and in a positive light.
And again I'm uh, I sit in a position and
with a platform that that where I feel like I
(54:48):
have a responsibility to continue to uplift and empower and
provide and allow voices to be heard amongst my team
and around the league and in the best way possible.
Speaker 5 (54:59):
And so I want to be, uh.
Speaker 6 (55:01):
That person or a person in that I want to
add to that and in any way that I can.
And so I'm looking forward again to helping our team
and in our league be you know, be part of
the positive shift and and and where women's basketball and
where the w n b A is going, because there's
(55:22):
a lot of attention on it, and you know, you
want to filter out the the bad one, the bad ones,
the bad eggs there, and you want to give voices
to the you know, to the positive ones who are
who are looking to do good things for the league
and looking to uplift And so I'm excited for that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (55:41):
Sign of basketball. What excites you the most about making
the move to Chicago.
Speaker 6 (55:45):
I think just learning learn a new city. This moving
is something that is not new to me. Uh, it's
becoming not new to uh to my wife since she's
been with me, and she's been she's been great through everything.
She's from against from Milwaukee's only like an hour and
a half away from Chicago, So uh, I think that
will help ease the transition as well, having you know,
being closer to family for her. But for me, it's
(56:07):
just it's being part of a new city and embracing
the culture of Chicago. And it's a great sports city,
provide great support for their sports teams and the Sky included,
and so I'm I'm excited to be a part of
that and and too ingratiating myself there. I'm a huge
baseball fan, and so having two baseball teams in the
(56:28):
same city is something that I'll certainly love and and
get used to.
Speaker 5 (56:32):
But again, I.
Speaker 6 (56:35):
Think it's just you know, trying to to to make
our mark into what we what we want the Sky
Basketball to be moving forward. I think that's the most
exciting part to it all.
Speaker 1 (56:44):
Right, last one before we let you get out of here.
November is a month of gratitude, right, and this week
people will be celebrating Thanksgiving with their families. I want
to know what Coach Tie is thankful for.
Speaker 6 (56:58):
I am thankful for family first and foremost for the
support that they've given me. I'm thankful for my mentors
or the the work that they've poured into me into
making sure that I've grow spiritually, emotionally, mentally. I don't
(57:19):
take them for granting. Everyone needs mentors in their life
to take under their wing into and to grow with,
you know, to provide wisdom for you. So I'm thankful
for this game, the basketball who's's given me everything in
my life, from my dad and in his career, and
how that's blessed our family and too to now myself
(57:40):
being involved in it and being able to not just
impact other people, but using it to impact our family
and and and to continue to grow there and so
and then I'm just I'm just grateful for the organizations
that I've been able to to work with to help
me get to this point. It's been a unique journey,
(58:00):
but one that I'm thankful of and grateful for. And
you know, I don't know that I think that every
move that I've made, whether it's been due to my
dad's career or to now my career, it's it's shaped
me into the to the man that I am. And
I just, you know, I'm thankful for that, and I'm
looking to just looking to continue to grow as a
as a man, as a coach, as a father, as
(58:22):
a husband. So everyone that has played a part in it,
every place that's played played a part in it, I'm
extremely thankful for them.
Speaker 1 (58:30):
Great coach, TI, thank you so much for joining us
this week on In Case You missed It with Christina
Williams here on iHeartRadio. It's been a pleasure to chat
with you and best of luck in Chicago.
Speaker 6 (58:41):
Thank you, Christine. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (58:44):
No doubt, no doubt. We're to take a quick break
and when we get back, we're going to go over
the things that I love this week more from In
Case you missed It with Christina Williams, and we get back.
(59:10):
Welcome back to In Case you missed It with Christina Williams,
and it's time for the things that I love this week.
Before we get into that, I just want to thank
Ta Rica and Tie for coming through this week to
the show. It's just been always a pleasure to have
you guys on. And now it's time for the thing
that I love this week. All right, So, if you
(59:31):
guys didn't go, I am a huge, huge, huge theater nerve.
Growing up, I was a theater kid, participated in plays,
did some acting classes, studied theater in college. So yeah,
you're girls a huge theater theater person. I wish I
had an opportunity to talk about this with Rica because
she also was a musical theater kid growing up. But
(59:54):
Wicked the Musical who came out this week and know
this is not a paid partnership with Wicked the Musical.
I truly loved the musical, one of my favorite musicals
since I was a kid. We actually put on a
show in eighth grade of Wi Get the Musical at
middle school. But I thoroughly enjoy the movie. I went
(01:00:18):
on Friday to see the movie, and I went early
in the morning because I didn't want to run into
any crazy fans. I just wanted to go at a
time where I thought people would be at work or
school because I wanted to take it all in. And
can I say that, Cynthia, Ariana, John Chu, they absolutely
killed eight. It was a masterpiece and I know that
(01:00:42):
they're gonna sweep award season. I was trying so hard
not to see any of the numbers during the movie
and be respectful, but I really enjoyed the movie. I
loved how Arianna and Cynthia did their take and put
their little flare on each of the music numbers. And yeah,
(01:01:02):
if you haven't seen make it the musical you need
to drop everything and go out the musical and hopefully
it'll change you for good. See what I did there?
All right? So November is a month of gratitude, and
so this past week I posted on X that I
wanted to hear from all of you about what you
(01:01:23):
were grateful for so I can feature you on the show,
and I selected Darren Garcia's email. And this is what
Darren is grateful for in the month of November. He
saysn't quote with so many great moments between college and
w NBA seasons, there are a few I think I
can point out and be grateful for. And so the
(01:01:44):
gist of what you were grateful for is what are
you grateful for women's basketball this past year? And so
for Darren, he says, South Carolina is undefeated at thirty
eight and oh and the great job coach Day and
her staff did to take everyone's challenge to come at them,
have a few close calls, and to be mentally training.
But just knowing everyone's coming for you. Plus to think
in the beginning of the season who they lost to
(01:02:06):
this season before was just cool to see. I have
to agree with you, Darren. I loved seeing South Carolina's
historic run in the Final four and eventually winning the championship.
It meant a lot to see coach Daily continue to
exude excellence as a coach and just to see how
that team came together. So shout out to you, Darren,
thank you for your submission, and happy holidays to you
(01:02:29):
and your family. All Right, that's going to do it
for this week's show. Don't forget to rate, review and
subscribe to the podcast, and happy holidays to all who celebrate.
We'll see you back here next week. In case you
missed it with Christina Williams is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
(01:02:51):
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Khristina Williams
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