From 2019 - Lindsay Whalen and Cal Soderquist discuss winning at a high level

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
So you've answered all these questions aboutthis milestone as you approach it and becoming
the league's winning as player. Whatkind of in your mind as you've built
this blueprint on how to be awinner, how to be a competitor,
can you point to a time ora place in your career where you kind
of discovered, you know, thethe on court things that you need,
the culture that you need as ateam. Can you look back and see

(00:21):
anything that kind of sticks out?I mean, just genuinely want to do
the right thing for each other asa teammate. I think being a good
teammate first and having a lot ofgood teammates is what breeds success. My
breed's winning. So when you trulyhave teams and players and coaches that they
want to always, you know,do the right things for as players but

(00:41):
also as people. And it's likeI'm want to box out as hard as
I can because I want to helpmy teammate, or I want to do
this because the coach is really prepared. It's really hard on this aspect,
and you know, I think thatwhen you have that, it's it's really
key because that's I feel like that'smaybe the biggest common denominator along with having

(01:02):
the family atmosphere and the really goodculture. When you're a good teammate first
and you do things kind of selflessly, usually good things happen for the teams
I've been on that have been reallysuccessful. So that do you think when
you do have the chance to sitdown and look back and reflect, would
maybe the favorite thing, the favoritething that ties all this together be those
relationships and the teammates and the coachesyou had without a doubt, without a

(01:25):
doubt. That and preparation and reallylike honestly, genuinely enjoying pre prepping for
each game and prepping for each shootaround and each each team that we have
to play against. Honestly, youknow, having that where you really everyone,
you have all eleven or twelve players, all the coaches buying into it.
When you have that feeling, it'sreally good and usually a lot of

(01:48):
really good stuff happens. So yeah, that's a that's been a big key
as well. And like you saidthat that all comes with being good teammates
and being good to each other.But when you have that as well as
like attention to detail and genuinely enjoyingthe preparation, for a game because you
could be good to each other andyou know, mess up here, or
maybe he had a lackluster shooter aroundwith not great energy. I mean,

(02:09):
then then then that's not gonna workeither. So when you have all that
mixed together and people genuinely enjoy allof that aspect of it, it's then
it's pretty cool. And as youkind of pile up wins over the course
of a career, and a lotof the same things are said in every
league and every sport, some ofthe most celebrated winners that they say some

(02:29):
of the same things as far asthat that rush of winning or what drives
you have you looked at all atdifferent either just different athletes in basketball or
different sports, even in terms ofwhat you drop from. I mean,
yeah, that's a great Yeah,there's a lot of people that you can
kind of, you know, learnfrom that have done a lot of winning
in the past. I think,you know, Michael Jordan would always focus,

(02:52):
he would always get something in agame that would kind of rile him
up, or they would always besomething that an opponent would have said or
maybe they did in the last gamethat he was fired about. You know,
you know, I look at TomBrady. I mean he you know,
talking about his winning and you know, to me, they're the Patriots
are all about. They enjoy theprocess and the preparation probably more than any

(03:13):
any team, because when you're ableto football, this is crazy. There's
you know, how many formations andhow many plays, and it's you know,
you got eleven players on the teamthat have to do everything together on
the field, and then all thoseguys on the bench, I'll have to
be in sync. And so Ithink the Patriots have done good at that
and just the preparation stuff, andyou know, breaking it down when things
aren't when things aren't going well,like as simple as passing and cutting through

(03:36):
as a point guard, passing tothe wing and cutting through as hard as
you kind of the other side,it's generally something good is going to happen
in that possession because you started thepace or you you picked up and you
played great defense and you've got deflection. You know. I think sometimes we
can complicate things in our own headand we've all all done it, but
sometimes the simplest thing is passing andcutting through hard, setting a really good

(03:58):
screen, passing the open shooter.You know, maybe you boxed out.
Maybe you didn't get to remove whatyour team did, but that's still something
good that you added to the team. And then all the other stuff kind
of seems to you know, fallinto play. So I think, yeah,
yeah, yeah, you embrace thedetails, and you embrace those little
things here or there. And myparents have had a big influence on me.
I mean, they were always verysupportive and my dad always my dad

(04:19):
always has little cults and little thingsfor me to think about and just stuff
like that when they're you know,things are going good or you know,
really you're having a tough time.Just well, quotes here and there that
you think about it really does,you know come back into play. And
when you focus on those things,it can be it can really help you.

(04:40):
Final question then, and I've I'veheard both sides of this from from
winners. Some have said they hateto lose more than they love to win.
Can you can you isolate one orthe other? Like is the rarest
thing of a defeat? Is thatmore intense than the thrill of a victory?
Or which one would you pick?IM not gonna lie. That hurts.
The loss is hurt for sure,because you know how much all your

(05:00):
teammates and your coaches and everyone puttingyourself put into it. But I think
the thrill winning and the winning withyour teammates, you know, winning on
the road with your teammates and goingout for a nice dinner and maybe a
glass of wine or something after thegame is there's there's really nothing better than
that. You know, that's somethingthat we'll never get old as long as
we're you know, a part ofthis team and a part of being around

(05:23):
each other because you put so muchinto it. It's so hard to win.
You know, there's so many possessionsand things you have to do right
and things that the ball has tobounce the right way that you gotta just
enjoy those moments. And so asmuch as I would say I just I
like to, I said I wouldlove to win more, and just because
of the camaraderie and the fun timesthat you because it's hard. It's hard,

(05:43):
practice is hard, and you knowyou're shooting around, you're flying and
all this, there's so much thatgoes into it that you got to celebrate
those moments. And you know,as much as I said, I lost
us sting getting to getting to seeit all come together, and kind of
just have that time together as ateam postgame is is some of the best,
uh the best times that you have