September 17, 2025 • 56 mins
This week, Khristina welcomes sports reporter Maria Marino to talk all things WNBA playoffs, from key first-round storylines to the players and teams making the biggest impact. Then, Phoenix Mercury rookie guard Monique Akoa Makani joins the show to share her path to the league, how she’s settling into her first season, and what it means to be part of the Phoenix Mercury’s playoff push.
Want more women’s basketball scoop? Follow the show on Instagram @ICYMIwithKW and X @ICYMIwithKW and for more on Khristina, follow her on Instagram @khristinawilliams
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CREDITS
Executive Producers:
Nikki Ettore
Jessie Katz
Tyler Klang
Jonathan Strickland
Producer:
Buffy Gorrilla
Producer & Editor:
Tari Harrison
Host:
Khristina Williams
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
iheartwomen's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Welcome to another episode of In Case You Missed It
with Christina Williams and w fans. The playoffs have officially
(00:21):
commenced and pretty much all the teams have had a
first game and we had some lots of exciting matchups
on Tuesday as well, and we're going to break all
of that down as well as some headlines around the
w Joining us this week is sports reporter and host
Maria Marino, and she's here to talk about all of
(00:41):
the playoff action.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Maria is a.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Multi media on air personality who has lind her voice
and commentary to ESPN Digital and ESPN Radio, so we
are in for a special treat having her here with
us this week. So without brother Ado, I want to
welcome Maria into In Case You missed It. Welcome to
the show.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Christina, great to be here. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
So Maria one, it's so great to have you on
the show. I'm super excited. But we like to start
every episode with our guest sharing a win of the
week and you can interpret that anyway that you want.
But what was a win for you this week?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Oh, win of the week I think is the fact
that we're gonna have games on Thursday night. Because after Sunday,
with the way that a couple of those series went,
Atlanta winning at home, Vegas winning at home, I was like,
are we gonna get any decisive game threes or are
they gonna you know, run away with the series. But
(01:39):
we get to see some basketball on Thursday as well,
So I'm happy about that.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yes, can't get enough of WNBA playoffs, and we're gonna
dive into all of those things. But let's start with
the first rounds, and we're gonna start with tonight's games.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So the New York Liberty they.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Still want in Phoenix and now the Phoenix Mercury are
on the brink of elimination after dropping Game one at home,
the Mercury, you're on a brink of elimination. So what
has the change for Phoenix to extend this series and
to get a Game three.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, they got to shoot the ball better. That was
just not a very favorable shooting display, let's put it
nicely over in Game one, only thirty three percent from
the field, twenty three percent from three. I think the
player that's probably lamenting their Game one performance the most
is Sawtu Sobbly. Unfortunately, it just was not her night
(02:35):
on Sunday. Two of seventeen from the floor, only one
of ten from three. And I actually think that Sawtu
needs to get a little more aggressive and maybe drive
in the lane more. She shot those ten threes, and
it's like, Okay, I know shooting threes is a really
important part of any offense in the W but sometimes
(02:55):
if that SHOT's not falling, get to the rim. You know,
she has the ability to do with her size, although
Leoni Phoebish did a great job guarding her. But this
team also lost the rebounding battle to New York forty
eight point thirty one. That was huge, despite playing really
great defense themselves on New York. I mean, they forced
New York into twenty one turnovers, which tied a season
(03:19):
high for them, but because New York was able to
grab a lot of those rebounds, it sort of negated
a lot of those turnovers. So this was a defensive
battle on both end. It's not like New York shot
all that well themselves, but they made enough plays to
take it home and go back to New York, the
only road team to win in the first round, which
(03:43):
it kind of makes sense the four or five matchup
is typically you're expecting it to be close, but to
steal that game in overtime is huge for New York. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Absolutely, And I was able to talk to some of
the Phoenix Mercury players yesterday, and it's not to emphasize
how she learned from having a poor shooting night, but
I don't expect a player like Satu to have, you know,
a bad game tonight going into this matchup against New York.
And also there was a lot of a lot of
uncharacteristic things happening. I think in that game one for Phoenix,
(04:14):
Alysa Thomas, she missed the game winning shot. That is
a shot that she usually makes, you.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
So I think that, you know, credit to New York's
interior defense and their ability to just take care of
the basketball. But I expect that Phoenix will clean this
up coming into you know, this eliminication elimination game tonight.
But we also learned that in that game in overtime,
Brandon Stewart suffered an undisclosed left knee injury in overtime,
(04:43):
and yesterday I practice coach Sandy Brundello, she said that,
you know, Stewie had some scans. They came back relatively
clean is what she used, and that she's questionable for
tonight's game. How much of this series and the outcome
of it hinges on Stewie's availability and the New York's,
(05:04):
the New York Liberty's ability to kind of execute under pressure.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Well, first off, it sucks that Stewie was clearly injured.
She was visibly upset. Shout out to Sandy on her
wording relatively clean. I'm not sure I've heard that one before,
So that certainly leaves a big question mark hanging over Stewie.
And even though I joke about that, I obviously I
feel for Stewie. It's not what anyone wants to see
(05:30):
in a series like this. And I thought in Game one,
especially in the fourth quarter, Brianna Stewart was really showing
her value on both ends. She was getting stops, she
was getting these hustle plays. She made clutch shots in
the fourth and I was thinking to myself, Wow, like
this is Brianna Stewart. You know, vintage her just bread
(05:53):
and butter, the calling card of her career. Like she
showed up late in that game, She's a huge reason
why New York was able to take home that victory,
and so it's going to be a huge loss if
she's unable to go, And to be honest, i'd be
I wouldn't be surprised if she does sit out, because
you know, the Liberty have to take into account their
(06:13):
full playoff lives here. Obviously it's not a winner go
home situation for them, even though they would like to
finish it in game two. I wouldn't be surprised if
they're cautious with Stewie and therefore, you know other people
are going to have to step up. And when I
see the New York Liberty being on their home floor
at Barkley Center, I think Sabrina, you know, I think
(06:35):
Sabrina and Escu is known for sort of getting the
crowd involved at Barkley's. We know she is also a
clutch performer. She's made huge shots in her career late,
and so I wouldn't be surprised if she's the one
making the key plays down the stretch in this game
that New York needs. But the Beauty of New York
(06:56):
adding Emma Mesman midway through the season, and is probably
going to show up here in game two, even though
she hardly played in game one. I do think she's
going to get more comfortable New York only playing seven players.
Sandy Brundello really kept that rotation super tight in game one,
and now she's going to have to dip, most likely
(07:19):
deeper into her bench even if Stewie plays. You know,
I wouldn't expect her to be one hundred percent or
to play as many minutes as she normally would, so
I'm expecting more em Amesaman off the bench or maybe
in the starting lineup.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yeah, And what was interesting about attending the Liberties practice
this week was, you know when the media when we
were waiting before they let us into the open practice,
do we walk through our area dressed in her practice gears,
she had a compression on her left knee. And then
when we went into the gym, you know, she didn't
participate in practice, was standing on the sideline. So I
(07:55):
almost wonder if that was just for show, to just
show us, you know, show media like, Okay, she's doing good.
But the language around what Sandy said in terms of
relatively clean. Everyone seemed in high spirits and optimistic about Stewie.
I don't think that she will play tonight in this matchup,
and in that case, you bring up Emma Meseman. I
(08:16):
think a player like Kennedy Burke could be good in
terms of filling in that role. She has championship experience
with the Core, the Core of five, and I think
that she will be a good player in terms of
her length and versatility, her ability to defend, how she
can shoot the three ball when they need it, just
being that versatile player that they need to kind of
fill that role, and then having Emma come off the bench.
(08:38):
I think one of the challenging parts about coach Sandy's
job this year is figuring out the rotations because a
lot of players in this new offense have been playing
out of position, so figuring out the best possible combinations
to get a win. And I think that this Liberty team,
they've been battle tested all season. They know what it's
like to play without Studio already, so I guess that
(09:00):
gives them an advantage coming into this matchup with the
Phoenix Mercury. And so it's all about playing their basketball
limiting those turnovers as you mentioned twenty one, but that's
been the story of the Liberty all season, just being
battles tested and being able to overcome adversity. Will you
think about this series in the context of both teams
having proven champions, MVP caliber like players and talent, which
(09:27):
player battles are most likely to shape this series?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
So, when I look at the different matchups in this series,
the first one that stands out to me is Natasha
Cloud and Kalia Copper. They re guarding each other a
lot in Game one. I'm going to just go ahead
and refer to Natasha Cloud as playoff Cloud because she
has gotten this reputation throughout her career of really just
(09:52):
showing up in the playoffs, showing up when it matters,
kind of turning things up a notch. And I mean
she was playing like she had revenge on her mind
in Game one, played all forty minutes in Phoenix, twenty
three points, nine of twelve from the floor Are you
kidding me? Three of six from three, six rebounds, five assists,
four steals. Just an absolute gem from Natasha Cloud, and
(10:14):
New York needed every bit of that production. However, I'm
not necessarily counting on that same type of production from Cloud.
And I think that New York has the type of
roster where there's so many different stars that it's gonna
be oftentimes a new person stepping up from night to night.
(10:35):
And so, you know, one player I'm looking at I
already mentioned Sabrina, who she played fine in game one,
but I could I could see her definitely stepping up
in game two. But then John Quell Jones, and she
certainly did her work on the glass. She had twelve
rebounds in game one, but only seven points, and so
I'm wondering if she might get going a little bit more. Christina,
(10:58):
you talked about Alyssa Thomas for at I really think
it was just the execution. You know, she missed that
layup that could have won them the game at the
end of regulation. She also missed a couple of free throws.
She just kind of missed that execution piece late in
the game in game one. But she's such a competitor,
you know, she is the engine. I expect her to
(11:20):
play better. And you know, it's a little interesting the
matchups when you look at like inside out, because sometimes
you know, JJ gets dragged out to the three point line.
Who's you know, where is Alyssa Thomas? Like, there's different
players that Phoenix was throwing at JJ, like west Beld
for instance, So I'm kind of curious how that's going
(11:43):
to shake out. And then for the Phoenix side of things,
I mean, I could see Sammy wickcumb getting hot. I mean,
wouldn't that be so Sammy? I mean, she was a
former New York Liberty player. She's certainly comfortable playing in Brooklyn.
She just has that like killer mentality. I could see
her getting hot from three. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
And to your point about John Claul Jones, credit to
Phoenix's defense, right, they were doubling her. They didn't let
her get comfortable or settled to establish a rhythm on offense.
But at practice this week, John Cuall said that that
was a point of emphasis coming into game two, that
she needs to establish herself on offense, and that starts
with the aggression in matching Phoenix's physicality. So I think
(12:20):
that on top of taking care of the ball, the
New York Liberty definitely have to match Phoenix's physicality and aggression,
especially if they're out without a player like Brandon Stewart
who provides a lot of impact on both sides of
the ball. I want to move on to the next
(12:47):
matchup tonight. We have Links Valkyries, and the Links lead
the series one zero. So we know that the Links
went to the finals last year. How does that experience
give them an edge over.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
A first time playoff team.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Like the Valkyries that experiences everything from Minnesota. I mean,
first of all, they've been on a revenge tour all
year long, and we really knew this was going to happen,
right because their final series with New York a season
ago was so tightly contested. I mean, multiple overtimes, went
(13:21):
the distance with the five games. They were pretty vocal
about feeling like they had been robbed, and so I
knew they were coming into this season with just all
the motivation in the world, and they have showed it
from start to finish, you know, getting off to that
hot start and then not slowing down throughout the entirety
of the season. And I think what makes them so
(13:44):
dangerous is I feel like they have just the most
chemistry and continuity of any team in the league. So
they largely have the same roster as they did last season.
You know, they bring in Jessica Shephard, lose a couple
other ancillary pieces, but their core is the same used
to playing together. Even when the FISA Collier was out,
you could tell that they were able to absorb that
(14:05):
loss throughout the season because of how well they know
each other, how much experience they have playing together. And
then I just think their depth is unparalleled. Natisha Hideman
has been sick. Watching her has been just so so fun.
And you saw in game one, you know, when Courtney
Williams struggled to start the game, boom, you put in Natisha,
(14:28):
hide him in and it was like it wasn't even
an issue. And then of course adding Djna Carrington, who
is she's shooting the three ball better, she can drive,
and then of course her defense. So I mean, this team,
their experience especially also didn't even mention the experience of
Cheryl Reeve as a head coach has been in these
(14:49):
situations multiple times. This is what she does. So as
great a story as it's been for Golden State and
as admirable as their season has been, Minnesota's got to
take care of business. That's what I'm expecting in Game two.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, and the Valkyries are not really having a true
home game because they will be playing at SAP in
San Jose tonight and they're going to bring their Chase
Center court to make it feel a little.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Bit like home.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
But we talk about the one one one format and
how it's not really an advantage for some teams, especially
at this time of the year where arena availability could
be a problem for teams like the Valkyries. How much
does losing a true home game affect their chances against
a top seeded LINKS team.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Well, this is huge for the Valkyries, But I just
want to react to something you said about like arena
availability in general, this should not be an issue anymore
for the WNBA. We're to a point now where it's like,
get it together. However, I will give the Valks somewhat
of a pass here because they had a conflict that
(16:04):
was booked before Golden State was even awarded this expansion franchise,
So fair enough, I understand that. But apart from like
an outlier like that, like this should not be a
thing anymore. WNBA teams should be able to play in
their home arena, their true home arena come playoff time.
That being said, this is just a shame the Valkyries
(16:26):
have established in their inaugural season the best home court
advantage in the W and that's saying something when you
have teams like Indiana, teams like Minnesota, you know, teams
like New York, but it's become a true, true home
court advantage for them, and I feel like this exactly
(16:47):
illustrates why it's so important to get a home game
in the playoffs. And you know, credits to the Valkyries.
When they were in Minnesota, I thought they started out
really hot. They were the more aggressive, energetic team, and
then Minnesota just kind of got a fire a little
under him and ran away with it. So I think
the Valks can still be even more competitive here in
(17:07):
game two, even though I'm still not necessarily expecting them
to extend the series. But just going back to the
importance of having a home game, I mean, think about it,
if this were last year, we wouldn't have seen Indiana
get a crack at playing at home. We wouldn't have
seen Seattle get a crack at playing at home. And
as we know from both of those series, they those
(17:29):
series are now going to those decisive game threes, thanks
in large part to having them having a chance to
play in front of their home fans.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yeah, maybe next year they can consider going to best
of five in round one to kind of even it out.
But moving right along, Tuesday nights slate of games did
not disappoint, and the Fever has tied the series against
the Atlanta Dream one one. Alana entered this series as
the favorite, but what challenges to they base against a
(18:01):
Fever team who are hungry and consider the underdogs in
this matchup, specifically going into Thursday where it's a winner
take all Game three in Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Yeah, anytime you get a winner go home situation, really,
anything can happen. I am expecting the unexpected come Game
three in this series because I think both Game one
end Game two were pretty competitive. There were a lot
of fouls called in both games. It was a little
bit hard to watch at times, to be honest with you.
(18:35):
It was just so many whistles, so much physicality. But
that can kind of muck up the game and that
can kind of create some again, just sort of unexpected outcomes.
But you know, for the Fever, I don't know that
they're necessarily thinking of themselves as an underdog, you know,
I think maybe that's some motivation for them, that's fine,
but they one hundred percent believe they could beat this team,
(18:57):
and you know, coach Sephanie White has had them repaired
all season long. But then on the other side, you
know Atlanta has also been very prepared and very well coached,
Carl Smesko doing his job. So I think that, you know,
Atlanta has their work cutout, but they're more than capable
with their personnel of winning this series.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I like that expect the unexpected in this matchup. But
as you mentioned, the Fever is a team that really
doesn't think about themselves as being an underdog, and they
have faced adversity as well. I feel like that's been
the through line for a lot of teams this season,
in terms of dealing with injury and being without some
of their star players. How do you think that shapes
this series for the Fever right?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
I would argue that of any team in the league,
the Fever have faced the most injury adversity in terms
of still being able to make the playoffs, and that
alone is impressive. But that's not their goal. That's hasn't
been their goal, and it doesn't matter you know who's
suiting up up, They're coming to play. They're coming to compete,
and they are going to fight. You know this because
(20:06):
this has been their story all season long. They're really
used to this. They have had to adapt, They've had
players coming in without really any chance of practicing, getting
thrown into game situations, and they've still managed to find
a way. And so now I would say, like, even
even as you look at their bench and like half
(20:26):
the players are in street clothes, they're still like they're
still believing in each other because they know they've done
it before. They know, you know, they can handle whatever
is thrown their way. And so this is going to
be a really really exciting matchup. I think, you know,
(20:47):
don't tell Kelsey Mitchell or Aliah Boston that they're missing
all these players, because they don't they don't care. They're
you know, really high level All League type players and
they're gonna bring their best.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
It's really been an next player up mentality for the Fever.
All right, Maria, which player from each team do you
think will emerge as an X factor to kind of
tip the balance in this game three on Thursday?
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Well, there's so many. Obviously, both teams need their stars
to show out. You saw less production from the Atlanta
backcourt in game two than you did in game one.
I don't expect that to continue back on their home floor,
But just looking at a couple of the role players, like,
in my opinion for Atlanta, it's nas Hellman. She's just
been a complete difference maker for them. And you know
(21:36):
what I think changes everything is if she makes a three.
Now she wash four from three in game two, but
in game one she hit two of her four attempts.
That is huge. To have her as a threat that
Indiana has to pay attention to out there on the
three point line is really important. Plus she's very very
(21:57):
good finishing around the rim. So Helman as a player
I'm looking at for Atlanta and then Indiana, I'm gonna
spotlight Lexi Hull here because regardless of what the stat
sheet says, I just think that she is the motor.
She really brings the energy on both ends. She affects
so many plays. You always see her kind of flying
in for these offensive rebounds, extending possessions. She's a hustler.
(22:20):
She's gonna dive on the floor, try to get you steals,
try to get you extra possessions. And then as a
little bonus here. I also think aerial powers has been
a really fun addition to this Fever squad. And again,
she might not score a ton, she might not even
get a ton of minutes, but when she comes in,
you know you are getting an energy boost. You know
you are getting a little bit of a spark. She
(22:41):
likes to, you know, get the fans involved. She's very loud,
and she's just so fun to watch. And again, regardless
of the production, I just think that she is bringing
something intangible to Indiana and they're gonna need everybody there,
need everybody to pull off this upset.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
And to your point, Ariel has also won a WMA championship,
so she can bring that win in mentality to Indiana.
All right, Moving right along to ACES Storm, What a thriller.
On Tuesday night, the Storm tied the series one to one.
And for me, the biggest question mark all year has
been around the Storm for me, because they've just been
an unpredictable team. But Seattle ended the Aces seventeen game
(23:23):
win streak with a huge fourth quarter push. Does that
shift the pressure heading into a winner take all situation
in Las Vegas on Thursday?
Speaker 3 (23:33):
One hundred percent? I mean this looked like this was
going to be a series that the Aces were just
going to completely roll over the storm. They looked really
bad in Game one. Sorry, but they just did.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
They did.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
They did not look good against Las Vegas. They would
tell you the same thing. H They were probably embarrassed
by that Game one performance. And I have to say,
I'm pretty shocked by this by this result. I was,
you know, I thought that they would play better in
Game two, but to be down double digits in the
fourth and to show the resilience that they did and
to be able to complete the comeback and end on
(24:06):
a big run. I think it was like a sixteen
four run or a twelve four run, something like that
to end to end the game. I mean against this
Aces team that has been the hottest team in the league.
That was really impressive. And now we got ourselves a
series and again winner takele. Anything can happen. I think
both teams are going to be feeling the pressure. You know,
(24:26):
on one hand, it's nice that the Aces have home court,
but sometimes you know, when you're at home and your
crowd is hanging on every make or miss and you
hear the oh if you miss, it's like, oh, God, like,
what's going to happen? So this should be another good one.
I hope we get another good one.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yeah, and Rookie dominate Malonga.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
She held her own games through time MVP Asian Wilson
in game two, and I feel like she her in
one play was what shifted the game.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
I think the storm late.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
What does that matchup tell us about Seattle's confidence in
Malung because this is a player who's only nineteen years old,
the youngest player right now in the league, but has
such a huge responsibility going into game three.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Well, it tells us that Seattle should continue to trust Malanga,
because I think that wasn't entirely clear in the first game,
even though I actually thought Malonga did very well. You know,
in the first game, the first half she was getting
bullied a little bit by Asia Wilson. She had a
lot of foul calls. But that second half she really
started to get a rhythm. And it's funny if you
(25:29):
look at her stat lines, they're very similar Game one
to game two. She had double digits, double doubles, excuse me,
for both games. But in game two she had to
be relied upon because if you recall Ezie mag Bagore
started to get in foul trouble and so Noel subbed
(25:51):
in Malanga like midway through the fourth and she really
really stepped up late in that game. It's funny because, yeah,
she's only nineteen years and maybe there was a little
bit of trepidation from the Seattle coaching staff. But sometimes
when you're that young, you don't even know how big
the moment is. You're just you're playing free, you don't care.
There's really no pressure, and her maturity just really showed
(26:14):
a team high plus eleven for the game in game two,
which is amazing. And also both games I noticed she had,
you know, not just double digit rebounds, she had a
few offensive rebounds in each game, So I think that's
really important. And then when you look at the matchup
against Asia Wilson, you need to throw size at Asia Wilson,
(26:36):
Like there's very few things that you can do to
slow her down, but the size of Malanga has definitely
bothered her a little bit.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Yeah, and sticking with Seattle, Skylar Diggins and Nekagoma Kay
combined from more than half of Seattle scoring. What does
Vegas need to do differently to keep them from controlling game.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Three, Well, they got to harken back to what they
didn't in game one, recapture that energy and intensity that
they had. They did not let those two get going.
I mean, if you recall Skyler Diggens, you know, really
struggled in the in the first half. Both of them really,
you know, scored well below their season averages. You can't
let them get into a rhythm early. And I do
(27:18):
think that the Aces, being as experienced as they are,
they're going to feed off their home fans, and I
think things are going to look a lot differently like
we could see three. We could look back at these
three games and see three totally completely different game scripts.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah, and sticking with the Aces, even without like an
official injury report, just using the eye test. Asia Wilson
appeared to be holding her elbow in Game two. I
heard from a source that after the game she was
receiving treatment on that elbow. But how do you lead
that in the context of this series going forward.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
I noticed the elbow and the fall that she had,
and it seemed to be bothering her a little bit.
I thought where it affected her the most was with
her free throw shooting. She was only six of eleven
from the line in game two, which is kind of
rare for her. And I also think that made her
a little more tentative attacking the rim, and that's a
big problem because that is a huge, huge part of
(28:18):
her identity and when her game, when she's at the
top of her game, she's attacking the rim, she's getting
to the free throw line. I do think she's gonna
be fine, though, you know, I expect her to, you know, fully,
play fully be active. What's great is when she's out there,
she is gonna steal defensive attention, you know, no matter
what her you know, actual status is and how she's feeling.
(28:41):
From from that standpoint, I think she's going to be
just fine. But she might just have to be a
little bit smarter about finding her teammates, may have to,
you know, get a little more creative. But I mean,
Jackie Jung has been playing great. I expect her to,
you know, have something to say when all is said
and done. And they have just so many other weapons
on their roster.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
All right, Maria, I'm gonna throw one quick one at you.
Who do you have making it to round two out
of all of these teams?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Yeah, So I definitely expected. Now I definitely expect Minnesota.
I said before the series, believe or I said before
the series, I thought New York might edge Phoenix again,
this might go to a Game three. I definitely did
not do not expect a sweep, but I'm still expecting.
I want to see that Minnesota New York rematch. I mean,
I think we all want to see that. That would
(29:31):
be ideal. And then I still do have belief in Vegas.
I think the Atlanta Indiana series a little harder to call,
but I still I originally my prediction was still Atlanta
and Vegas moving on all right.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
And also this week, the WNBA have started to announce
some of the season awards, and no surprise that Paige
Becker's was named the tw twenty twenty five WNBA Rookie
of the Year. What's your reaction to Paige snagging that
award this season?
Speaker 3 (30:07):
No surprise, of course, And I just think that Paige
came in and basically had a flawless transition from college
to the pros. There didn't look to be any sort
of missing a beat at all. She just really came
in was the already the best player on her team.
(30:28):
So fluid, so poised. Her experience from you know, her
five years of being in college, her age, her maturity,
all of that showed up. Her efficiency showed up, which
is really really impressive when you're jumping from college and
the defenders you're facing there to the best league in
the world, and to still be as efficient as she was,
I think is really really impressive. Bummer that you know,
(30:50):
the team around her is not there yet, and I
think that having such a losing season is hurtful for her.
But they know in that organization that they're building to
something and they got to look to the future.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah, and Dallas they have some of the best odds
in terms of the WNBAH draft lottery, so they get
that top pick. Page, you can probably get the help
that she needs next season. But I know you've been
covering Page for a really long time in your career.
What do you think that we'll see from her in
year two? What jump that she needs to have from
year one to year two?
Speaker 3 (31:24):
To me, the only jump is she needs to some
of these games need to translate into wins. And it's
a very uncertain period in the w next year. We
know that a lot of players are free agents, but
Dallas does have a lot of young players on their roster,
so maybe they will retain a bit of continuity. It's
hard to say because they picked up a lot of
(31:46):
you know, hardship players and things of that nature.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
But you know, I'm.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Curious if e Rique will be remaining in Dallas, and
I think her being healthy and year two, with those together,
you're going to see a jump. So that's that's more so,
I'm not necessarily looking for anything to really improve in
Page's game. I think she did everything you know so well.
She would tell you she wants to improve in certain things,
(32:13):
but I think it's more of like a personnel continuity
thing that it is, you know, a skill skill improvement
that I'm looking for from Page.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
And breaking news out of athletes, unlimited WNBA veteran Tina
Charles will be joining their roster in.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
How do you see this move being beneficial to a
player like Tina who has more years behind her than
ahead when we talk about the when you talk about
her career.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
My reaction to that is, Tina is one of those players.
She's probably gonna be a Hall of Famer. She's done
so much in her career. She can do whatever she
wants at this point, like she has earned that right
at this point in her career to approach it however
she wants. And you know, Athletes Unlimited has been a
great avenue for so many W players to continue to
showcase what they bring. And I do think a lot
(33:03):
of wnbagms make off season decisions based on what they see,
you know now with Unrivaled as well, but definitely also
with Athletes Unlimited. And so I'm just excited for Tina
just to continue to do her thing and defined happiness
however she can. I'm sure she would like to continue,
you know, to contribute to a team that you know
(33:25):
she will be able to instill values on these younger players.
That's what she did in Connecticut. They may not have
won a lot of games, but she was giving some
of her knowledge and insight to help shape the future
of this lead regardless. But I think she would also
still like to compete a little bit more in the W.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Yeah. Absolutely, And as she said, she's going to have
a Hall of Fame career. I think that she deserves
to be in what is all said and done, But
I think that the league needs a bet like Tina
Charles and Athletes Unlimited is the perfect place in what
a full circle moment for her to be able to
have a moment in her career where she can play
domestically stateside here in the off season and then rest
(34:05):
and recover and prepare for her next season. That just
goes to show you how far the game has come.
But obviously there's still work to be done. But Maria,
I want to thank you for joining us this week
on In Case you missed it. Make sure you guys
follow up Maria and all of her work in women's basketball.
I appreciate you for joining us this week.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
Thanks again for having me super fun.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
All right.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Coming up next, we have Phoenix Mercury rookie Monique Acoa
mccannie joining us, so stay with us. After a standout
career overseas, she's carried that same energy and impact into
(34:48):
the league and has been a force right from the jump. So,
without further ado, I want to welcome Monique to the show.
Welcome to In case you missed it. HII, thank you
for joining so I want to congres radulate you in
the Phoenie Mercury on clinching a playoff spot is what
has it been like to be a part of the
team and share that accomplishment together.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Honestly has been a great honor for me, because, to
be honest, none of this was expected really once I
came here was obviously for a training camp first, and
I didn't really have like no big expectations on myself
with it, and I ended up being like finding out
(35:31):
that this was really like a great organization in general,
And honestly, I'm not surprised that we are where we
are right now, still grateful for it, because like, you
don't know, like a season as long, and you know
it can turn out so many other ways, and I'm
very glad that we happened to find a good spot
(35:52):
into the playoffs, and honestly, yeah, I'm pretty proud of that.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
You said that it was unexpected for you to be
where you are right now, and you mentioned just coming
over for training camp. What did it feel like to
finally make that roster because we know how competitive it
could be in terms of making you know, the final
roster for the w But what was that process like
for you?
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Honestly, was such an emotional like process for me, because
like I told you, I wasn't expecting it really and
things goes like pretty fast here, so it's not like
I really had time to like you know, sit and
like think about it at the time. And so it
was just like, Okay, if I'm here, now I have
(36:37):
a spot, then let's just get into it, you know,
like that means I'm supposed to be here. And yeah,
like my parents always told me growing up that, I mean,
everything that happens to you happens for a specific reason.
And so yeah, I was just trying to not like
repeat to myself constantly that I wasn't supposed to be here,
(36:59):
you know, and uh yeah, So yeah, I was just
trying to take it like one day at the time
to be able to realize it and at the same
time like be on the like on the present moment,
live it.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
And then yeah, and you had a really strong career
overseas before coming here. What made now the right time
and the right moment for you to step into the
w And we've seen trends this entire season with more
international players committing to the w NBA at the start
of the season, But for you, what factored into that decision?
Speaker 2 (37:33):
So it was an opportunity. I'm not gonna lie I
in my plan. I haven't planned that I was going
to be at the W this this year. This season,
I was more thinking of, Okay, I give myself like
two three more years, you know, to like really be
and become like a good year league player, you know,
(37:54):
and like being more solid because it's actually my fourth
year for Overseas and I only have like two years
in like the main division back in Friends, so it's
like and I was thinking, you just need more time,
and I was very okay with that. And when I'm
telling you that I didn't have no expectations, like being
(38:16):
on myself is literally because I didn't like plan it,
you know. And when you don't plan things sometimes like
you just go with no pressure and it's like, oh,
I just want to go out there, and like for me,
it was going to be first to just like measure myself,
you know what, Like I was missing to be able
to really like make a team or whatever. And it
(38:39):
turns out that I had what was needed for me,
especially like in the specific spot here. So it was
just a great fit. And you can't really plan those things,
you know. It's like opportunity and yeah, I just happened
to take it.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
You know, now that you've gone through sort of a
full regular w NBA season, what's been the biggest difference
when you compare playing overseas versus playing.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Here the biggest difference hmm. I would say that here
I definitely experienced like reaching my not only physical limits
but also mental limits, because yeah, back in France is
(39:29):
like I was, you know, learning growing like little by little,
and here is like you gotta like learn faster, you
got to grow faster, and it just pushed you in
a way, like with all the media that's around, you know,
all those things. It's like, yeah, it really pushed you,
like to get what needs to be done, you know, mentally,
(39:50):
really take care of the little details. You know that
you maybe would have more time to like think about
it back in overseas because we don't have as much
games that we have here. So yeah, I would say
that mentally, you've like rich some of my limits and
more so even expended them, which is very good. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
So you've stepped into a locker room essentially with some
superstars on your team. Alissa Thomas, who is an MVP
frontrunner this season, Khalia Copper, who was a finals MVP,
A champion and so too Sobbly, what has it been
like being able to learn from them and competing alongside
of them this season?
Speaker 2 (40:31):
Honestly, I'm a really big competitor, so it's like seeing
what is it to like, what is it like to
be around people that are as much competitive as you are,
if not more? And it's just like, yeah, I'm not crazy.
It's right to be competitive, because you know, sometimes I've
(40:53):
been told, like you too competitive, like sometimes not everything
have to be like so competitive and stuff, and it's like, yes,
I know, you know, sometimes if I feel like being
myself is being competitive in every single thing that I do,
it's it's fine, you know, as long as that works
for me. And yeah, I was very much, I think,
(41:19):
how you say, lucky to be able to like just
sit and sit back and be able to observe those players,
which I still do now and I hope I would
continue to do, because yeah, they just it's just the
mad mindset, you know, like you those players don't they
don't cheat with themselves. They they really give one hundred
(41:42):
percent and they doing whatever is it that is necessary
to make the team be the best they can be.
It can be. Sorry, and yeah, it's just it's just
amazing to watch. Honestly, Like I couldn't I couldn't dream
to be in a better place as a young player. Yeah,
and as this.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
Group looks to compete in the postseason, you guys have
the chemistry and I think that this team is peaking
at the right time. But what will be the most
important thing to make a deep run in the postseason
for this group?
Speaker 2 (42:16):
I think it's our consistency becoming more and more consistent,
especially on the defensive end, because we have so many
talented player that honestly, I don't really think that we
should worry about offense so much, but definitely defense. Like
I know this sounds like I don't know say like
(42:40):
like a phrase of sens is that somebody like people
just say a lot, But it's like it's really like
the defense that wins championship. And if we are able
to like become very consistent on the defensive end, and
we applied the same heat that we've been applying and
be more physical all those little stuff like rebounding, Like
(43:04):
do this simple stuff even harder with more intensity and
with more intentions, I think there's nobody that can stop us.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
Really does it ever crossed her mind that you get
to play for story franchise like the Phoenix Mercury that
was built on the back of a player, like a
Diana Taurazi, like a Brittany grind who came before you.
What does it mean to be a part of the
Phoenix Mercury.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Oh, honestly, it's a legacy. It's like I came here,
I found out there was a legacy, and it's I mean,
it's an honor, but it's also kind of a little
burden to be able like to keep that going because
you know, I don't want to be the player that
came and all of a sudden everything stuffs. You know. No,
(43:47):
I'm competitor and I want this to get even better
and better. Not to say that I'm trying to necessarily
do better than Dianataurasi like what they did, but that's
what I'm able to do. Yeah, that would be the goal, because, yeah,
I don't think limiting myself is gonna be the right
(44:09):
thing to do.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
In a way, you're sort of creating your own path
and legacy as a professional athlete, right Because I feel like,
especially this season, when we when I look at players
like Marine Johannes, like Gabie Williams, the players who have
committed to the w You guys are creating a new
pathway to the w NBA for a new set of
players who come from overseas and commit to the w NBA.
(44:35):
When you think about your career in totality leading up
to this moment and the pathways that you all are
creating for a new subset group of professional athletes, what
does that mean to you?
Speaker 2 (44:49):
It's Yeah, it's an honor, honestly to be able to
be somebody that younger generation can look up to. I've
always wan it to be and do something that could
inspire others, inspire others, because that's how I work. I
really work by inspiration. I take my inspiration a little
(45:12):
bit from everybody. And yeah, it's really an honor, and
I hope that not only like my generation, but even
them after, they're all going to believe that. Yeah. It's
just about like, yeah, putting the work in every day,
believing in yourself, and yeah, also like enjoying the process
(45:37):
because you know, like most of the time, even like
me today, the younger generation, we want things to happen
so fast, you know, So yeah, I'm realizing that it's
not really like the results at the end. It's really
like the path that you just going through that makes
you like, Okay, get to some places that you really
(46:00):
on the reach, and uh, yeah, I hope that's what
people are gonna like. Remember most Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
I was someone that inspired you on your journey.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Kobe Bryant a lot growing up, the member mentality part mostly,
but as a player, I really looked up to Maya
Moore growing up. So yeah, those are the two players
that I would say that I really looked up to.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
He said, you grew up being inspired by Kobe's mama mentality.
What parts of Maya Moore's game were you most inspired by?
Speaker 2 (46:36):
She can do everything, you know? And I don't know.
I've always grew up with this thing where it's like
people would always tell you, Okay, get very good at
one thing, and then okay, you know, you can be
all right on everything else, and you would be good.
But I always thought that, like, if I could be
(46:57):
great at every single thing, then who is going to
tell me no? You know? And I feel like looking
at her game, she could rebound, she could pull up,
like have a pull up jump shot, she had the
three point shot she had, like she three throws. She
was very good, she could penetrate, she could pass, she
could do it all and very good, you know. And
(47:19):
that's just the type of player I want to be,
you know, Like I don't want to choose either defending
or just the offensive part. I want to be able
to do both and at my best like abilities. And yeah,
that's that's where she inspired me.
Speaker 1 (47:43):
Twenty twenty five rookie class has been one of the
most talented classes you come through the w When you
think about where you are in this moment in history
and being a part of this twenty twenty five rookie class,
how you've been able to perform above the expectations of
maybe what people thought you would be able.
Speaker 2 (48:01):
To do this season.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
Where do you pull that drive from?
Speaker 2 (48:05):
Honestly, personally, a lot from my entourage, my people, friends, family,
because I'm very blessed with all the people that support
me and believe in me, you know. And yeah, most
of the time I just say that whenever I get
on the court, I just think about like having fun
because like I know, when I'm having fun, that's where
(48:29):
they enjoy me, like watching me, you know, play and
they enjoy my game the most, so I don't really
think so much about oh I want to like put
this amount of point, take this amount of this. I'm
just thinking what my team needs now. That's what I
have to give, and that's why I will try my
best to give. And some days, you know, it works
(48:50):
very good and some other days it's just not as good.
And it's just those days I'm looking at myself and
I'm telling myself, Okay, as long as you did you
had to do, and you gave your best, then you
just move on to the next game. Because again here,
I feel like you play so much, so many games
that you don't really it would be a waste of
time to like, thanks so much, you know about like
(49:14):
the mys, like mythshots or turnovers that you did. You know, now,
if you gave your best, then just move on. I
like that. Now I have to ask you out about
your Welcome to.
Speaker 4 (49:28):
The W moment because when rookies come through, Diana Tarasi
Papacy said, you know, reality is going to come for
some rookies, But have you had a Welcome to the W.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
Moment this season?
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Was there a moment on the court where you're just
like Okay, I feel like I've arrived.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
So for me, it was my very first game against
the Aces, and so I was doing this like pick
and roll on forty five degree, you know, and I'm
rejecting the screw, I mean, going to the layout. And
at the very end I promised you I thought I
(50:05):
was wide open. The very end, I see Agel Wilson
coming and the way she blocked that shot out was like, yep,
next time, go like go, go get some contact or whatever,
but never go there lazy thinking that it's done. So yeah,
that was my very welcome.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
I think Arisha Wilson gave you your first welcome.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
To the WQ moment outfitting.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
She's one of the best players in the worlds right now,
all right off the court, I know you've mentioned missing
your French bakeries and your mom's Cameron and cooking. What's
something about Phoenix that made you feel like you're home
or made you feel like you are enjoying this experience.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
Honestly, like I said, the organization, I don't think I
could have landed in a better place, to be honest,
the way people welcome me here and the way that
they really like are still taking care of me right now,
because of course I told you, like, this season was
(51:12):
made of up and downs, you know, and during my downs,
I know that for sure I had people that were
there to listen to me, to give me advice, to
take me out sometimes to go like just eat a
regular dinner, to you know, just hang out, you know,
to think about something else, and provide like this emotional
(51:33):
support that I needed because I'm I'm a very much
of a like family and friends person, So most of
the time when I'm feeling bad, what I need is
just like some good connections, you know. And here I
really felt like on the human part, people were very
(51:54):
very human, like they really understood that human part. And yeah,
I'm very grateful for that because I don't think that's everywhere,
especially like in the sports industry. Yeah, so I would
say that.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
I think what you're saying it sort of is reflective
of how a lot of the athletes, especially the w
are starting to feel like when organizations invest into their
players and it can only worry about basketball, you get
a better product on the court. Essentially, you talked about
building that team chemistry. I know that fans love to
see all different tiktoks and social media videos from the
(52:30):
Phoenix Mercury players. But is there anyone specific on the
team that has sort of taken you under your wing
as you start this new chapter in your professional career.
Speaker 2 (52:39):
There's not a specific person. Honestly, I would say Sato
Sabaly at Kaleia Cooper. Yeah, Simmy wouldcom like, I have
so many people that I can look up to, I
can learn from. I admire here that Yeah, they just
you can tell, they just hear, like be able to
(53:00):
give back. You know, they're not those type of red
like vets that don't really care, you know sometimes about
the rookies here, I'm really lucky. I mean all the
rookies that are here, very lucky to have like some
good vets. And yeah, I would say everybody. Honestly, I
don't have one person.
Speaker 1 (53:20):
Coach Nate Tippits. He's been on the topic of conversation
all season all with just how how he's been able
to lead this team into the postseason and how really
this team has exceeded everyone's expectations in terms of the
ceiling and where you all have really gone this season.
What would you say is his philosophy for this group?
(53:42):
Like I told you they really care about the human parts.
So it's very important for him that kind of family
kind of.
Speaker 2 (53:50):
Vision, you know. It's that's why he always says that
it's about us, you know, and we have this thing
where sometimes we will make shirts, you know, and you
write like Mercury versus everybody or Mercury Family. Like it's
always about this family mentality, which would keep us like
(54:14):
grounded into each other, knowing that Okay, if I'm not
good today, somebody is there for me. You know. That's
that was the very like the bigger, the biggest thing
I would say, and I would say, like basketball wise,
he he treated everybody the same, and that's that's pretty
(54:34):
rare because sometimes you would you would like notice that
some coaches, because of like you have vets, you have
like rookies like which could could happen sometimes like have
different treatments, you know, and I feel like with him,
it's just everybody is treated the same way. And yeah,
(54:55):
just in that you know, like you're gonna have your
chance at some point. The opportunities gonna come, and so
you just got to get it yourself ready for the opportunity,
you know. So yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (55:07):
Monique, before we let you get out of here as
the Phoenix Mercury look to compete for a championship in
the postseason, and as you guys look to just accomplish
that goal that you all have what excites you the
most about being in your first w NBA playoffs.
Speaker 2 (55:26):
I'm pretty excited to see how the atmosphere is going
to be the atmosphere and even like the tension on
the court between two teams that you know are really
fighting for their their spot to the like to the
next step. And yeah, just seeing how good that can
(55:46):
like even bring us even more together to be able
like to focus on that one goal, which is to
go get that championship.
Speaker 1 (55:53):
Although I wish you the best of luck in the postseason,
thank you so much for chatting with us this week.
Speaker 2 (55:59):
I'm creciating the.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
Wish you all the best of luck in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (56:03):
Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 1 (56:05):
Thank you. That's gonna do it for this week's episode
of In Case You missed It with Christina Williams, don't
forget to subscribe, rate and review this episode, and tune
into the WNBA postseason. We'll see you next time. In
Case you missed It with Christina Williams is an iHeart
women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (56:29):
You can find us on
Speaker 1 (56:30):
The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
iheartwomen's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Welcome to another episode of In Case You Missed It
with Christina Williams and w fans. The playoffs have officially
(00:21):
commenced and pretty much all the teams have had a
first game and we had some lots of exciting matchups
on Tuesday as well, and we're going to break all
of that down as well as some headlines around the
w Joining us this week is sports reporter and host
Maria Marino, and she's here to talk about all of
(00:41):
the playoff action.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Maria is a.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Multi media on air personality who has lind her voice
and commentary to ESPN Digital and ESPN Radio, so we
are in for a special treat having her here with
us this week. So without brother Ado, I want to
welcome Maria into In Case You missed It. Welcome to
the show.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Christina, great to be here. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
So Maria one, it's so great to have you on
the show. I'm super excited. But we like to start
every episode with our guest sharing a win of the
week and you can interpret that anyway that you want.
But what was a win for you this week?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Oh, win of the week I think is the fact
that we're gonna have games on Thursday night. Because after Sunday,
with the way that a couple of those series went,
Atlanta winning at home, Vegas winning at home, I was like,
are we gonna get any decisive game threes or are
they gonna you know, run away with the series. But
(01:39):
we get to see some basketball on Thursday as well,
So I'm happy about that.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yes, can't get enough of WNBA playoffs, and we're gonna
dive into all of those things. But let's start with
the first rounds, and we're gonna start with tonight's games.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So the New York Liberty they.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Still want in Phoenix and now the Phoenix Mercury are
on the brink of elimination after dropping Game one at home,
the Mercury, you're on a brink of elimination. So what
has the change for Phoenix to extend this series and
to get a Game three.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, they got to shoot the ball better. That was
just not a very favorable shooting display, let's put it
nicely over in Game one, only thirty three percent from
the field, twenty three percent from three. I think the
player that's probably lamenting their Game one performance the most
is Sawtu Sobbly. Unfortunately, it just was not her night
(02:35):
on Sunday. Two of seventeen from the floor, only one
of ten from three. And I actually think that Sawtu
needs to get a little more aggressive and maybe drive
in the lane more. She shot those ten threes, and
it's like, Okay, I know shooting threes is a really
important part of any offense in the W but sometimes
(02:55):
if that SHOT's not falling, get to the rim. You know,
she has the ability to do with her size, although
Leoni Phoebish did a great job guarding her. But this
team also lost the rebounding battle to New York forty
eight point thirty one. That was huge, despite playing really
great defense themselves on New York. I mean, they forced
New York into twenty one turnovers, which tied a season
(03:19):
high for them, but because New York was able to
grab a lot of those rebounds, it sort of negated
a lot of those turnovers. So this was a defensive
battle on both end. It's not like New York shot
all that well themselves, but they made enough plays to
take it home and go back to New York, the
only road team to win in the first round, which
(03:43):
it kind of makes sense the four or five matchup
is typically you're expecting it to be close, but to
steal that game in overtime is huge for New York. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Absolutely, And I was able to talk to some of
the Phoenix Mercury players yesterday, and it's not to emphasize
how she learned from having a poor shooting night, but
I don't expect a player like Satu to have, you know,
a bad game tonight going into this matchup against New York.
And also there was a lot of a lot of
uncharacteristic things happening. I think in that game one for Phoenix,
(04:14):
Alysa Thomas, she missed the game winning shot. That is
a shot that she usually makes, you.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
So I think that, you know, credit to New York's
interior defense and their ability to just take care of
the basketball. But I expect that Phoenix will clean this
up coming into you know, this eliminication elimination game tonight.
But we also learned that in that game in overtime,
Brandon Stewart suffered an undisclosed left knee injury in overtime,
(04:43):
and yesterday I practice coach Sandy Brundello, she said that,
you know, Stewie had some scans. They came back relatively
clean is what she used, and that she's questionable for
tonight's game. How much of this series and the outcome
of it hinges on Stewie's availability and the New York's,
(05:04):
the New York Liberty's ability to kind of execute under pressure.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Well, first off, it sucks that Stewie was clearly injured.
She was visibly upset. Shout out to Sandy on her
wording relatively clean. I'm not sure I've heard that one before,
So that certainly leaves a big question mark hanging over Stewie.
And even though I joke about that, I obviously I
feel for Stewie. It's not what anyone wants to see
(05:30):
in a series like this. And I thought in Game one,
especially in the fourth quarter, Brianna Stewart was really showing
her value on both ends. She was getting stops, she
was getting these hustle plays. She made clutch shots in
the fourth and I was thinking to myself, Wow, like
this is Brianna Stewart. You know, vintage her just bread
(05:53):
and butter, the calling card of her career. Like she
showed up late in that game, She's a huge reason
why New York was able to take home that victory,
and so it's going to be a huge loss if
she's unable to go, And to be honest, i'd be
I wouldn't be surprised if she does sit out, because
you know, the Liberty have to take into account their
(06:13):
full playoff lives here. Obviously it's not a winner go
home situation for them, even though they would like to
finish it in game two. I wouldn't be surprised if
they're cautious with Stewie and therefore, you know other people
are going to have to step up. And when I
see the New York Liberty being on their home floor
at Barkley Center, I think Sabrina, you know, I think
(06:35):
Sabrina and Escu is known for sort of getting the
crowd involved at Barkley's. We know she is also a
clutch performer. She's made huge shots in her career late,
and so I wouldn't be surprised if she's the one
making the key plays down the stretch in this game
that New York needs. But the Beauty of New York
(06:56):
adding Emma Mesman midway through the season, and is probably
going to show up here in game two, even though
she hardly played in game one. I do think she's
going to get more comfortable New York only playing seven players.
Sandy Brundello really kept that rotation super tight in game one,
and now she's going to have to dip, most likely
(07:19):
deeper into her bench even if Stewie plays. You know,
I wouldn't expect her to be one hundred percent or
to play as many minutes as she normally would, so
I'm expecting more em Amesaman off the bench or maybe
in the starting lineup.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yeah, And what was interesting about attending the Liberties practice
this week was, you know when the media when we
were waiting before they let us into the open practice,
do we walk through our area dressed in her practice gears,
she had a compression on her left knee. And then
when we went into the gym, you know, she didn't
participate in practice, was standing on the sideline. So I
(07:55):
almost wonder if that was just for show, to just
show us, you know, show media like, Okay, she's doing good.
But the language around what Sandy said in terms of
relatively clean. Everyone seemed in high spirits and optimistic about Stewie.
I don't think that she will play tonight in this matchup,
and in that case, you bring up Emma Meseman. I
(08:16):
think a player like Kennedy Burke could be good in
terms of filling in that role. She has championship experience
with the Core, the Core of five, and I think
that she will be a good player in terms of
her length and versatility, her ability to defend, how she
can shoot the three ball when they need it, just
being that versatile player that they need to kind of
fill that role, and then having Emma come off the bench.
(08:38):
I think one of the challenging parts about coach Sandy's
job this year is figuring out the rotations because a
lot of players in this new offense have been playing
out of position, so figuring out the best possible combinations
to get a win. And I think that this Liberty team,
they've been battle tested all season. They know what it's
like to play without Studio already, so I guess that
(09:00):
gives them an advantage coming into this matchup with the
Phoenix Mercury. And so it's all about playing their basketball
limiting those turnovers as you mentioned twenty one, but that's
been the story of the Liberty all season, just being
battles tested and being able to overcome adversity. Will you
think about this series in the context of both teams
having proven champions, MVP caliber like players and talent, which
(09:27):
player battles are most likely to shape this series?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
So, when I look at the different matchups in this series,
the first one that stands out to me is Natasha
Cloud and Kalia Copper. They re guarding each other a
lot in Game one. I'm going to just go ahead
and refer to Natasha Cloud as playoff Cloud because she
has gotten this reputation throughout her career of really just
(09:52):
showing up in the playoffs, showing up when it matters,
kind of turning things up a notch. And I mean
she was playing like she had revenge on her mind
in Game one, played all forty minutes in Phoenix, twenty
three points, nine of twelve from the floor Are you
kidding me? Three of six from three, six rebounds, five assists,
four steals. Just an absolute gem from Natasha Cloud, and
(10:14):
New York needed every bit of that production. However, I'm
not necessarily counting on that same type of production from Cloud.
And I think that New York has the type of
roster where there's so many different stars that it's gonna
be oftentimes a new person stepping up from night to night.
(10:35):
And so, you know, one player I'm looking at I
already mentioned Sabrina, who she played fine in game one,
but I could I could see her definitely stepping up
in game two. But then John Quell Jones, and she
certainly did her work on the glass. She had twelve
rebounds in game one, but only seven points, and so
I'm wondering if she might get going a little bit more. Christina,
(10:58):
you talked about Alyssa Thomas for at I really think
it was just the execution. You know, she missed that
layup that could have won them the game at the
end of regulation. She also missed a couple of free throws.
She just kind of missed that execution piece late in
the game in game one. But she's such a competitor,
you know, she is the engine. I expect her to
(11:20):
play better. And you know, it's a little interesting the
matchups when you look at like inside out, because sometimes
you know, JJ gets dragged out to the three point line.
Who's you know, where is Alyssa Thomas? Like, there's different
players that Phoenix was throwing at JJ, like west Beld
for instance, So I'm kind of curious how that's going
(11:43):
to shake out. And then for the Phoenix side of things,
I mean, I could see Sammy wickcumb getting hot. I mean,
wouldn't that be so Sammy? I mean, she was a
former New York Liberty player. She's certainly comfortable playing in Brooklyn.
She just has that like killer mentality. I could see
her getting hot from three. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
And to your point about John Claul Jones, credit to
Phoenix's defense, right, they were doubling her. They didn't let
her get comfortable or settled to establish a rhythm on offense.
But at practice this week, John Cuall said that that
was a point of emphasis coming into game two, that
she needs to establish herself on offense, and that starts
with the aggression in matching Phoenix's physicality. So I think
(12:20):
that on top of taking care of the ball, the
New York Liberty definitely have to match Phoenix's physicality and aggression,
especially if they're out without a player like Brandon Stewart
who provides a lot of impact on both sides of
the ball. I want to move on to the next
(12:47):
matchup tonight. We have Links Valkyries, and the Links lead
the series one zero. So we know that the Links
went to the finals last year. How does that experience
give them an edge over.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
A first time playoff team.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Like the Valkyries that experiences everything from Minnesota. I mean,
first of all, they've been on a revenge tour all
year long, and we really knew this was going to happen,
right because their final series with New York a season
ago was so tightly contested. I mean, multiple overtimes, went
(13:21):
the distance with the five games. They were pretty vocal
about feeling like they had been robbed, and so I
knew they were coming into this season with just all
the motivation in the world, and they have showed it
from start to finish, you know, getting off to that
hot start and then not slowing down throughout the entirety
of the season. And I think what makes them so
(13:44):
dangerous is I feel like they have just the most
chemistry and continuity of any team in the league. So
they largely have the same roster as they did last season.
You know, they bring in Jessica Shephard, lose a couple
other ancillary pieces, but their core is the same used
to playing together. Even when the FISA Collier was out,
you could tell that they were able to absorb that
(14:05):
loss throughout the season because of how well they know
each other, how much experience they have playing together. And
then I just think their depth is unparalleled. Natisha Hideman
has been sick. Watching her has been just so so fun.
And you saw in game one, you know, when Courtney
Williams struggled to start the game, boom, you put in Natisha,
(14:28):
hide him in and it was like it wasn't even
an issue. And then of course adding Djna Carrington, who
is she's shooting the three ball better, she can drive,
and then of course her defense. So I mean, this team,
their experience especially also didn't even mention the experience of
Cheryl Reeve as a head coach has been in these
(14:49):
situations multiple times. This is what she does. So as
great a story as it's been for Golden State and
as admirable as their season has been, Minnesota's got to
take care of business. That's what I'm expecting in Game two.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, and the Valkyries are not really having a true
home game because they will be playing at SAP in
San Jose tonight and they're going to bring their Chase
Center court to make it feel a little.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Bit like home.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
But we talk about the one one one format and
how it's not really an advantage for some teams, especially
at this time of the year where arena availability could
be a problem for teams like the Valkyries. How much
does losing a true home game affect their chances against
a top seeded LINKS team.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Well, this is huge for the Valkyries, But I just
want to react to something you said about like arena
availability in general, this should not be an issue anymore
for the WNBA. We're to a point now where it's like,
get it together. However, I will give the Valks somewhat
of a pass here because they had a conflict that
(16:04):
was booked before Golden State was even awarded this expansion franchise,
So fair enough, I understand that. But apart from like
an outlier like that, like this should not be a
thing anymore. WNBA teams should be able to play in
their home arena, their true home arena come playoff time.
That being said, this is just a shame the Valkyries
(16:26):
have established in their inaugural season the best home court
advantage in the W and that's saying something when you
have teams like Indiana, teams like Minnesota, you know, teams
like New York, but it's become a true, true home
court advantage for them, and I feel like this exactly
(16:47):
illustrates why it's so important to get a home game
in the playoffs. And you know, credits to the Valkyries.
When they were in Minnesota, I thought they started out
really hot. They were the more aggressive, energetic team, and
then Minnesota just kind of got a fire a little
under him and ran away with it. So I think
the Valks can still be even more competitive here in
(17:07):
game two, even though I'm still not necessarily expecting them
to extend the series. But just going back to the
importance of having a home game, I mean, think about it,
if this were last year, we wouldn't have seen Indiana
get a crack at playing at home. We wouldn't have
seen Seattle get a crack at playing at home. And
as we know from both of those series, they those
(17:29):
series are now going to those decisive game threes, thanks
in large part to having them having a chance to
play in front of their home fans.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yeah, maybe next year they can consider going to best
of five in round one to kind of even it out.
But moving right along, Tuesday nights slate of games did
not disappoint, and the Fever has tied the series against
the Atlanta Dream one one. Alana entered this series as
the favorite, but what challenges to they base against a
(18:01):
Fever team who are hungry and consider the underdogs in
this matchup, specifically going into Thursday where it's a winner
take all Game three in Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Yeah, anytime you get a winner go home situation, really,
anything can happen. I am expecting the unexpected come Game
three in this series because I think both Game one
end Game two were pretty competitive. There were a lot
of fouls called in both games. It was a little
bit hard to watch at times, to be honest with you.
(18:35):
It was just so many whistles, so much physicality. But
that can kind of muck up the game and that
can kind of create some again, just sort of unexpected outcomes.
But you know, for the Fever, I don't know that
they're necessarily thinking of themselves as an underdog, you know,
I think maybe that's some motivation for them, that's fine,
but they one hundred percent believe they could beat this team,
(18:57):
and you know, coach Sephanie White has had them repaired
all season long. But then on the other side, you
know Atlanta has also been very prepared and very well coached,
Carl Smesko doing his job. So I think that, you know,
Atlanta has their work cutout, but they're more than capable
with their personnel of winning this series.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I like that expect the unexpected in this matchup. But
as you mentioned, the Fever is a team that really
doesn't think about themselves as being an underdog, and they
have faced adversity as well. I feel like that's been
the through line for a lot of teams this season,
in terms of dealing with injury and being without some
of their star players. How do you think that shapes
this series for the Fever right?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
I would argue that of any team in the league,
the Fever have faced the most injury adversity in terms
of still being able to make the playoffs, and that
alone is impressive. But that's not their goal. That's hasn't
been their goal, and it doesn't matter you know who's
suiting up up, They're coming to play. They're coming to compete,
and they are going to fight. You know this because
(20:06):
this has been their story all season long. They're really
used to this. They have had to adapt, They've had
players coming in without really any chance of practicing, getting
thrown into game situations, and they've still managed to find
a way. And so now I would say, like, even
even as you look at their bench and like half
(20:26):
the players are in street clothes, they're still like they're
still believing in each other because they know they've done
it before. They know, you know, they can handle whatever
is thrown their way. And so this is going to
be a really really exciting matchup. I think, you know,
(20:47):
don't tell Kelsey Mitchell or Aliah Boston that they're missing
all these players, because they don't they don't care. They're
you know, really high level All League type players and
they're gonna bring their best.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
It's really been an next player up mentality for the Fever.
All right, Maria, which player from each team do you
think will emerge as an X factor to kind of
tip the balance in this game three on Thursday?
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Well, there's so many. Obviously, both teams need their stars
to show out. You saw less production from the Atlanta
backcourt in game two than you did in game one.
I don't expect that to continue back on their home floor,
But just looking at a couple of the role players, like,
in my opinion for Atlanta, it's nas Hellman. She's just
been a complete difference maker for them. And you know
(21:36):
what I think changes everything is if she makes a three.
Now she wash four from three in game two, but
in game one she hit two of her four attempts.
That is huge. To have her as a threat that
Indiana has to pay attention to out there on the
three point line is really important. Plus she's very very
(21:57):
good finishing around the rim. So Helman as a player
I'm looking at for Atlanta and then Indiana, I'm gonna
spotlight Lexi Hull here because regardless of what the stat
sheet says, I just think that she is the motor.
She really brings the energy on both ends. She affects
so many plays. You always see her kind of flying
in for these offensive rebounds, extending possessions. She's a hustler.
(22:20):
She's gonna dive on the floor, try to get you steals,
try to get you extra possessions. And then as a
little bonus here. I also think aerial powers has been
a really fun addition to this Fever squad. And again,
she might not score a ton, she might not even
get a ton of minutes, but when she comes in,
you know you are getting an energy boost. You know
you are getting a little bit of a spark. She
(22:41):
likes to, you know, get the fans involved. She's very loud,
and she's just so fun to watch. And again, regardless
of the production, I just think that she is bringing
something intangible to Indiana and they're gonna need everybody there,
need everybody to pull off this upset.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
And to your point, Ariel has also won a WMA championship,
so she can bring that win in mentality to Indiana.
All right, Moving right along to ACES Storm, What a thriller.
On Tuesday night, the Storm tied the series one to one.
And for me, the biggest question mark all year has
been around the Storm for me, because they've just been
an unpredictable team. But Seattle ended the Aces seventeen game
(23:23):
win streak with a huge fourth quarter push. Does that
shift the pressure heading into a winner take all situation
in Las Vegas on Thursday?
Speaker 3 (23:33):
One hundred percent? I mean this looked like this was
going to be a series that the Aces were just
going to completely roll over the storm. They looked really
bad in Game one. Sorry, but they just did.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
They did.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
They did not look good against Las Vegas. They would
tell you the same thing. H They were probably embarrassed
by that Game one performance. And I have to say,
I'm pretty shocked by this by this result. I was,
you know, I thought that they would play better in
Game two, but to be down double digits in the
fourth and to show the resilience that they did and
to be able to complete the comeback and end on
(24:06):
a big run. I think it was like a sixteen
four run or a twelve four run, something like that
to end to end the game. I mean against this
Aces team that has been the hottest team in the league.
That was really impressive. And now we got ourselves a
series and again winner takele. Anything can happen. I think
both teams are going to be feeling the pressure. You know,
(24:26):
on one hand, it's nice that the Aces have home court,
but sometimes you know, when you're at home and your
crowd is hanging on every make or miss and you
hear the oh if you miss, it's like, oh, God, like,
what's going to happen? So this should be another good one.
I hope we get another good one.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yeah, and Rookie dominate Malonga.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
She held her own games through time MVP Asian Wilson
in game two, and I feel like she her in
one play was what shifted the game.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
I think the storm late.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
What does that matchup tell us about Seattle's confidence in
Malung because this is a player who's only nineteen years old,
the youngest player right now in the league, but has
such a huge responsibility going into game three.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Well, it tells us that Seattle should continue to trust Malanga,
because I think that wasn't entirely clear in the first game,
even though I actually thought Malonga did very well. You know,
in the first game, the first half she was getting
bullied a little bit by Asia Wilson. She had a
lot of foul calls. But that second half she really
started to get a rhythm. And it's funny if you
(25:29):
look at her stat lines, they're very similar Game one
to game two. She had double digits, double doubles, excuse me,
for both games. But in game two she had to
be relied upon because if you recall Ezie mag Bagore
started to get in foul trouble and so Noel subbed
(25:51):
in Malanga like midway through the fourth and she really
really stepped up late in that game. It's funny because, yeah,
she's only nineteen years and maybe there was a little
bit of trepidation from the Seattle coaching staff. But sometimes
when you're that young, you don't even know how big
the moment is. You're just you're playing free, you don't care.
There's really no pressure, and her maturity just really showed
(26:14):
a team high plus eleven for the game in game two,
which is amazing. And also both games I noticed she had,
you know, not just double digit rebounds, she had a
few offensive rebounds in each game, So I think that's
really important. And then when you look at the matchup
against Asia Wilson, you need to throw size at Asia Wilson,
(26:36):
Like there's very few things that you can do to
slow her down, but the size of Malanga has definitely
bothered her a little bit.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Yeah, and sticking with Seattle, Skylar Diggins and Nekagoma Kay
combined from more than half of Seattle scoring. What does
Vegas need to do differently to keep them from controlling game.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Three, Well, they got to harken back to what they
didn't in game one, recapture that energy and intensity that
they had. They did not let those two get going.
I mean, if you recall Skyler Diggens, you know, really
struggled in the in the first half. Both of them really,
you know, scored well below their season averages. You can't
let them get into a rhythm early. And I do
(27:18):
think that the Aces, being as experienced as they are,
they're going to feed off their home fans, and I
think things are going to look a lot differently like
we could see three. We could look back at these
three games and see three totally completely different game scripts.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah, and sticking with the Aces, even without like an
official injury report, just using the eye test. Asia Wilson
appeared to be holding her elbow in Game two. I
heard from a source that after the game she was
receiving treatment on that elbow. But how do you lead
that in the context of this series going forward.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
I noticed the elbow and the fall that she had,
and it seemed to be bothering her a little bit.
I thought where it affected her the most was with
her free throw shooting. She was only six of eleven
from the line in game two, which is kind of
rare for her. And I also think that made her
a little more tentative attacking the rim, and that's a
big problem because that is a huge, huge part of
(28:18):
her identity and when her game, when she's at the
top of her game, she's attacking the rim, she's getting
to the free throw line. I do think she's gonna
be fine, though, you know, I expect her to, you know, fully,
play fully be active. What's great is when she's out there,
she is gonna steal defensive attention, you know, no matter
what her you know, actual status is and how she's feeling.
(28:41):
From from that standpoint, I think she's going to be
just fine. But she might just have to be a
little bit smarter about finding her teammates, may have to,
you know, get a little more creative. But I mean,
Jackie Jung has been playing great. I expect her to,
you know, have something to say when all is said
and done. And they have just so many other weapons
on their roster.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
All right, Maria, I'm gonna throw one quick one at you.
Who do you have making it to round two out
of all of these teams?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Yeah, So I definitely expected. Now I definitely expect Minnesota.
I said before the series, believe or I said before
the series, I thought New York might edge Phoenix again,
this might go to a Game three. I definitely did
not do not expect a sweep, but I'm still expecting.
I want to see that Minnesota New York rematch. I mean,
I think we all want to see that. That would
(29:31):
be ideal. And then I still do have belief in Vegas.
I think the Atlanta Indiana series a little harder to call,
but I still I originally my prediction was still Atlanta
and Vegas moving on all right.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
And also this week, the WNBA have started to announce
some of the season awards, and no surprise that Paige
Becker's was named the tw twenty twenty five WNBA Rookie
of the Year. What's your reaction to Paige snagging that
award this season?
Speaker 3 (30:07):
No surprise, of course, And I just think that Paige
came in and basically had a flawless transition from college
to the pros. There didn't look to be any sort
of missing a beat at all. She just really came
in was the already the best player on her team.
(30:28):
So fluid, so poised. Her experience from you know, her
five years of being in college, her age, her maturity,
all of that showed up. Her efficiency showed up, which
is really really impressive when you're jumping from college and
the defenders you're facing there to the best league in
the world, and to still be as efficient as she was,
I think is really really impressive. Bummer that you know,
(30:50):
the team around her is not there yet, and I
think that having such a losing season is hurtful for her.
But they know in that organization that they're building to
something and they got to look to the future.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah, and Dallas they have some of the best odds
in terms of the WNBAH draft lottery, so they get
that top pick. Page, you can probably get the help
that she needs next season. But I know you've been
covering Page for a really long time in your career.
What do you think that we'll see from her in
year two? What jump that she needs to have from
year one to year two?
Speaker 3 (31:24):
To me, the only jump is she needs to some
of these games need to translate into wins. And it's
a very uncertain period in the w next year. We
know that a lot of players are free agents, but
Dallas does have a lot of young players on their roster,
so maybe they will retain a bit of continuity. It's
hard to say because they picked up a lot of
(31:46):
you know, hardship players and things of that nature.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
But you know, I'm.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Curious if e Rique will be remaining in Dallas, and
I think her being healthy and year two, with those together,
you're going to see a jump. So that's that's more so,
I'm not necessarily looking for anything to really improve in
Page's game. I think she did everything you know so well.
She would tell you she wants to improve in certain things,
(32:13):
but I think it's more of like a personnel continuity
thing that it is, you know, a skill skill improvement
that I'm looking for from Page.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
And breaking news out of athletes, unlimited WNBA veteran Tina
Charles will be joining their roster in.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
How do you see this move being beneficial to a
player like Tina who has more years behind her than
ahead when we talk about the when you talk about
her career.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
My reaction to that is, Tina is one of those players.
She's probably gonna be a Hall of Famer. She's done
so much in her career. She can do whatever she
wants at this point, like she has earned that right
at this point in her career to approach it however
she wants. And you know, Athletes Unlimited has been a
great avenue for so many W players to continue to
showcase what they bring. And I do think a lot
(33:03):
of wnbagms make off season decisions based on what they see,
you know now with Unrivaled as well, but definitely also
with Athletes Unlimited. And so I'm just excited for Tina
just to continue to do her thing and defined happiness
however she can. I'm sure she would like to continue,
you know, to contribute to a team that you know
(33:25):
she will be able to instill values on these younger players.
That's what she did in Connecticut. They may not have
won a lot of games, but she was giving some
of her knowledge and insight to help shape the future
of this lead regardless. But I think she would also
still like to compete a little bit more in the W.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Yeah. Absolutely, And as she said, she's going to have
a Hall of Fame career. I think that she deserves
to be in what is all said and done, But
I think that the league needs a bet like Tina
Charles and Athletes Unlimited is the perfect place in what
a full circle moment for her to be able to
have a moment in her career where she can play
domestically stateside here in the off season and then rest
(34:05):
and recover and prepare for her next season. That just
goes to show you how far the game has come.
But obviously there's still work to be done. But Maria,
I want to thank you for joining us this week
on In Case you missed it. Make sure you guys
follow up Maria and all of her work in women's basketball.
I appreciate you for joining us this week.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
Thanks again for having me super fun.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
All right.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Coming up next, we have Phoenix Mercury rookie Monique Acoa
mccannie joining us, so stay with us. After a standout
career overseas, she's carried that same energy and impact into
(34:48):
the league and has been a force right from the jump. So,
without further ado, I want to welcome Monique to the show.
Welcome to In case you missed it. HII, thank you
for joining so I want to congres radulate you in
the Phoenie Mercury on clinching a playoff spot is what
has it been like to be a part of the
team and share that accomplishment together.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Honestly has been a great honor for me, because, to
be honest, none of this was expected really once I
came here was obviously for a training camp first, and
I didn't really have like no big expectations on myself
with it, and I ended up being like finding out
(35:31):
that this was really like a great organization in general,
And honestly, I'm not surprised that we are where we
are right now, still grateful for it, because like, you
don't know, like a season as long, and you know
it can turn out so many other ways, and I'm
very glad that we happened to find a good spot
(35:52):
into the playoffs, and honestly, yeah, I'm pretty proud of that.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
You said that it was unexpected for you to be
where you are right now, and you mentioned just coming
over for training camp. What did it feel like to
finally make that roster because we know how competitive it
could be in terms of making you know, the final
roster for the w But what was that process like
for you?
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Honestly, was such an emotional like process for me, because
like I told you, I wasn't expecting it really and
things goes like pretty fast here, so it's not like
I really had time to like you know, sit and
like think about it at the time. And so it
was just like, Okay, if I'm here, now I have
(36:37):
a spot, then let's just get into it, you know,
like that means I'm supposed to be here. And yeah,
like my parents always told me growing up that, I mean,
everything that happens to you happens for a specific reason.
And so yeah, I was just trying to not like
repeat to myself constantly that I wasn't supposed to be here,
(36:59):
you know, and uh yeah, So yeah, I was just
trying to take it like one day at the time
to be able to realize it and at the same
time like be on the like on the present moment,
live it.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
And then yeah, and you had a really strong career
overseas before coming here. What made now the right time
and the right moment for you to step into the
w And we've seen trends this entire season with more
international players committing to the w NBA at the start
of the season, But for you, what factored into that decision?
Speaker 2 (37:33):
So it was an opportunity. I'm not gonna lie I
in my plan. I haven't planned that I was going
to be at the W this this year. This season,
I was more thinking of, Okay, I give myself like
two three more years, you know, to like really be
and become like a good year league player, you know,
(37:54):
and like being more solid because it's actually my fourth
year for Overseas and I only have like two years
in like the main division back in Friends, so it's
like and I was thinking, you just need more time,
and I was very okay with that. And when I'm
telling you that I didn't have no expectations, like being
(38:16):
on myself is literally because I didn't like plan it,
you know. And when you don't plan things sometimes like
you just go with no pressure and it's like, oh,
I just want to go out there, and like for me,
it was going to be first to just like measure myself,
you know what, Like I was missing to be able
to really like make a team or whatever. And it
(38:39):
turns out that I had what was needed for me,
especially like in the specific spot here. So it was
just a great fit. And you can't really plan those things,
you know. It's like opportunity and yeah, I just happened
to take it.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
You know, now that you've gone through sort of a
full regular w NBA season, what's been the biggest difference
when you compare playing overseas versus playing.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Here the biggest difference hmm. I would say that here
I definitely experienced like reaching my not only physical limits
but also mental limits, because yeah, back in France is
(39:29):
like I was, you know, learning growing like little by little,
and here is like you gotta like learn faster, you
got to grow faster, and it just pushed you in
a way, like with all the media that's around, you know,
all those things. It's like, yeah, it really pushed you,
like to get what needs to be done, you know, mentally,
(39:50):
really take care of the little details. You know that
you maybe would have more time to like think about
it back in overseas because we don't have as much
games that we have here. So yeah, I would say
that mentally, you've like rich some of my limits and
more so even expended them, which is very good. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
So you've stepped into a locker room essentially with some
superstars on your team. Alissa Thomas, who is an MVP
frontrunner this season, Khalia Copper, who was a finals MVP,
A champion and so too Sobbly, what has it been
like being able to learn from them and competing alongside
of them this season?
Speaker 2 (40:31):
Honestly, I'm a really big competitor, so it's like seeing
what is it to like, what is it like to
be around people that are as much competitive as you are,
if not more? And it's just like, yeah, I'm not crazy.
It's right to be competitive, because you know, sometimes I've
(40:53):
been told, like you too competitive, like sometimes not everything
have to be like so competitive and stuff, and it's like, yes,
I know, you know, sometimes if I feel like being
myself is being competitive in every single thing that I do,
it's it's fine, you know, as long as that works
for me. And yeah, I was very much, I think,
(41:19):
how you say, lucky to be able to like just
sit and sit back and be able to observe those players,
which I still do now and I hope I would
continue to do, because yeah, they just it's just the
mad mindset, you know, like you those players don't they
don't cheat with themselves. They they really give one hundred
(41:42):
percent and they doing whatever is it that is necessary
to make the team be the best they can be.
It can be. Sorry, and yeah, it's just it's just
amazing to watch. Honestly, Like I couldn't I couldn't dream
to be in a better place as a young player. Yeah,
and as this.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
Group looks to compete in the postseason, you guys have
the chemistry and I think that this team is peaking
at the right time. But what will be the most
important thing to make a deep run in the postseason
for this group?
Speaker 2 (42:16):
I think it's our consistency becoming more and more consistent,
especially on the defensive end, because we have so many
talented player that honestly, I don't really think that we
should worry about offense so much, but definitely defense. Like
I know this sounds like I don't know say like
(42:40):
like a phrase of sens is that somebody like people
just say a lot, But it's like it's really like
the defense that wins championship. And if we are able
to like become very consistent on the defensive end, and
we applied the same heat that we've been applying and
be more physical all those little stuff like rebounding, Like
(43:04):
do this simple stuff even harder with more intensity and
with more intentions, I think there's nobody that can stop us.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
Really does it ever crossed her mind that you get
to play for story franchise like the Phoenix Mercury that
was built on the back of a player, like a
Diana Taurazi, like a Brittany grind who came before you.
What does it mean to be a part of the
Phoenix Mercury.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Oh, honestly, it's a legacy. It's like I came here,
I found out there was a legacy, and it's I mean,
it's an honor, but it's also kind of a little
burden to be able like to keep that going because
you know, I don't want to be the player that
came and all of a sudden everything stuffs. You know. No,
(43:47):
I'm competitor and I want this to get even better
and better. Not to say that I'm trying to necessarily
do better than Dianataurasi like what they did, but that's
what I'm able to do. Yeah, that would be the goal, because, yeah,
I don't think limiting myself is gonna be the right
(44:09):
thing to do.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
In a way, you're sort of creating your own path
and legacy as a professional athlete, right Because I feel like,
especially this season, when we when I look at players
like Marine Johannes, like Gabie Williams, the players who have
committed to the w You guys are creating a new
pathway to the w NBA for a new set of
players who come from overseas and commit to the w NBA.
(44:35):
When you think about your career in totality leading up
to this moment and the pathways that you all are
creating for a new subset group of professional athletes, what
does that mean to you?
Speaker 2 (44:49):
It's Yeah, it's an honor, honestly to be able to
be somebody that younger generation can look up to. I've
always wan it to be and do something that could
inspire others, inspire others, because that's how I work. I
really work by inspiration. I take my inspiration a little
(45:12):
bit from everybody. And yeah, it's really an honor, and
I hope that not only like my generation, but even
them after, they're all going to believe that. Yeah. It's
just about like, yeah, putting the work in every day,
believing in yourself, and yeah, also like enjoying the process
(45:37):
because you know, like most of the time, even like
me today, the younger generation, we want things to happen
so fast, you know, So yeah, I'm realizing that it's
not really like the results at the end. It's really
like the path that you just going through that makes
you like, Okay, get to some places that you really
(46:00):
on the reach, and uh, yeah, I hope that's what
people are gonna like. Remember most Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
I was someone that inspired you on your journey.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Kobe Bryant a lot growing up, the member mentality part mostly,
but as a player, I really looked up to Maya
Moore growing up. So yeah, those are the two players
that I would say that I really looked up to.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
He said, you grew up being inspired by Kobe's mama mentality.
What parts of Maya Moore's game were you most inspired by?
Speaker 2 (46:36):
She can do everything, you know? And I don't know.
I've always grew up with this thing where it's like
people would always tell you, Okay, get very good at
one thing, and then okay, you know, you can be
all right on everything else, and you would be good.
But I always thought that, like, if I could be
(46:57):
great at every single thing, then who is going to
tell me no? You know? And I feel like looking
at her game, she could rebound, she could pull up,
like have a pull up jump shot, she had the
three point shot she had, like she three throws. She
was very good, she could penetrate, she could pass, she
could do it all and very good, you know. And
(47:19):
that's just the type of player I want to be,
you know, Like I don't want to choose either defending
or just the offensive part. I want to be able
to do both and at my best like abilities. And yeah,
that's that's where she inspired me.
Speaker 1 (47:43):
Twenty twenty five rookie class has been one of the
most talented classes you come through the w When you
think about where you are in this moment in history
and being a part of this twenty twenty five rookie class,
how you've been able to perform above the expectations of
maybe what people thought you would be able.
Speaker 2 (48:01):
To do this season.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
Where do you pull that drive from?
Speaker 2 (48:05):
Honestly, personally, a lot from my entourage, my people, friends, family,
because I'm very blessed with all the people that support
me and believe in me, you know. And yeah, most
of the time I just say that whenever I get
on the court, I just think about like having fun
because like I know, when I'm having fun, that's where
(48:29):
they enjoy me, like watching me, you know, play and
they enjoy my game the most, so I don't really
think so much about oh I want to like put
this amount of point, take this amount of this. I'm
just thinking what my team needs now. That's what I
have to give, and that's why I will try my
best to give. And some days, you know, it works
(48:50):
very good and some other days it's just not as good.
And it's just those days I'm looking at myself and
I'm telling myself, Okay, as long as you did you
had to do, and you gave your best, then you
just move on to the next game. Because again here,
I feel like you play so much, so many games
that you don't really it would be a waste of
time to like, thanks so much, you know about like
(49:14):
the mys, like mythshots or turnovers that you did. You know, now,
if you gave your best, then just move on. I
like that. Now I have to ask you out about
your Welcome to.
Speaker 4 (49:28):
The W moment because when rookies come through, Diana Tarasi
Papacy said, you know, reality is going to come for
some rookies, But have you had a Welcome to the W.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
Moment this season?
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Was there a moment on the court where you're just
like Okay, I feel like I've arrived.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
So for me, it was my very first game against
the Aces, and so I was doing this like pick
and roll on forty five degree, you know, and I'm
rejecting the screw, I mean, going to the layout. And
at the very end I promised you I thought I
(50:05):
was wide open. The very end, I see Agel Wilson
coming and the way she blocked that shot out was like, yep,
next time, go like go, go get some contact or whatever,
but never go there lazy thinking that it's done. So yeah,
that was my very welcome.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
I think Arisha Wilson gave you your first welcome.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
To the WQ moment outfitting.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
She's one of the best players in the worlds right now,
all right off the court, I know you've mentioned missing
your French bakeries and your mom's Cameron and cooking. What's
something about Phoenix that made you feel like you're home
or made you feel like you are enjoying this experience.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
Honestly, like I said, the organization, I don't think I
could have landed in a better place, to be honest,
the way people welcome me here and the way that
they really like are still taking care of me right now,
because of course I told you, like, this season was
(51:12):
made of up and downs, you know, and during my downs,
I know that for sure I had people that were
there to listen to me, to give me advice, to
take me out sometimes to go like just eat a
regular dinner, to you know, just hang out, you know,
to think about something else, and provide like this emotional
(51:33):
support that I needed because I'm I'm a very much
of a like family and friends person, So most of
the time when I'm feeling bad, what I need is
just like some good connections, you know. And here I
really felt like on the human part, people were very
(51:54):
very human, like they really understood that human part. And yeah,
I'm very grateful for that because I don't think that's everywhere,
especially like in the sports industry. Yeah, so I would
say that.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
I think what you're saying it sort of is reflective
of how a lot of the athletes, especially the w
are starting to feel like when organizations invest into their
players and it can only worry about basketball, you get
a better product on the court. Essentially, you talked about
building that team chemistry. I know that fans love to
see all different tiktoks and social media videos from the
(52:30):
Phoenix Mercury players. But is there anyone specific on the
team that has sort of taken you under your wing
as you start this new chapter in your professional career.
Speaker 2 (52:39):
There's not a specific person. Honestly, I would say Sato
Sabaly at Kaleia Cooper. Yeah, Simmy wouldcom like, I have
so many people that I can look up to, I
can learn from. I admire here that Yeah, they just
you can tell, they just hear, like be able to
(53:00):
give back. You know, they're not those type of red
like vets that don't really care, you know sometimes about
the rookies here, I'm really lucky. I mean all the
rookies that are here, very lucky to have like some
good vets. And yeah, I would say everybody. Honestly, I
don't have one person.
Speaker 1 (53:20):
Coach Nate Tippits. He's been on the topic of conversation
all season all with just how how he's been able
to lead this team into the postseason and how really
this team has exceeded everyone's expectations in terms of the
ceiling and where you all have really gone this season.
What would you say is his philosophy for this group?
(53:42):
Like I told you they really care about the human parts.
So it's very important for him that kind of family
kind of.
Speaker 2 (53:50):
Vision, you know. It's that's why he always says that
it's about us, you know, and we have this thing
where sometimes we will make shirts, you know, and you
write like Mercury versus everybody or Mercury Family. Like it's
always about this family mentality, which would keep us like
(54:14):
grounded into each other, knowing that Okay, if I'm not
good today, somebody is there for me. You know. That's
that was the very like the bigger, the biggest thing
I would say, and I would say, like basketball wise,
he he treated everybody the same, and that's that's pretty
(54:34):
rare because sometimes you would you would like notice that
some coaches, because of like you have vets, you have
like rookies like which could could happen sometimes like have
different treatments, you know, and I feel like with him,
it's just everybody is treated the same way. And yeah,
(54:55):
just in that you know, like you're gonna have your
chance at some point. The opportunities gonna come, and so
you just got to get it yourself ready for the opportunity,
you know. So yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (55:07):
Monique, before we let you get out of here as
the Phoenix Mercury look to compete for a championship in
the postseason, and as you guys look to just accomplish
that goal that you all have what excites you the
most about being in your first w NBA playoffs.
Speaker 2 (55:26):
I'm pretty excited to see how the atmosphere is going
to be the atmosphere and even like the tension on
the court between two teams that you know are really
fighting for their their spot to the like to the
next step. And yeah, just seeing how good that can
(55:46):
like even bring us even more together to be able
like to focus on that one goal, which is to
go get that championship.
Speaker 1 (55:53):
Although I wish you the best of luck in the postseason,
thank you so much for chatting with us this week.
Speaker 2 (55:59):
I'm creciating the.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
Wish you all the best of luck in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (56:03):
Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 1 (56:05):
Thank you. That's gonna do it for this week's episode
of In Case You missed It with Christina Williams, don't
forget to subscribe, rate and review this episode, and tune
into the WNBA postseason. We'll see you next time. In
Case you missed It with Christina Williams is an iHeart
women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (56:29):
You can find us on
Speaker 1 (56:30):
The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Khristina Williams
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