June 6, 2025 • 10 mins
We explore the different types of pressure in basketball and identify the true contending teams in the WNBA for the 2025 season.
• Basketball pressure is earned through past performance and proving oneself
• The New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces, and Minnesota Lynx are the only true contending teams
• Teams like the Fever, Dream, Mercury, and Storm still need to prove themselves
• Three distinct types of pressure exist: basketball pressure, social media pressure, and casual fan expectations
• Social media pressure creates narratives like Caitlin Clark vs. Paige Bueckers to drive viewership
• Casual fan expectations often misunderstand basketball roles and specialization
• The Fever have potential but face cohesion and injury challenges
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up everybody.
It's your favorite show'sfavorite show.
Get a Bucket.
I'm your host, trey, and asusual, I hope you're all having
a wonderful, wonderful day.
Today we're going to talk about,well, pressure in basketball.
But before we do that, pleasemake sure to hit that like and
subscribe button, comment, tellanyone who's anyone about the
show trying to get the ratingsup a little bit.
You know, just a little bit.
Like I said, ladies andgentlemen, today we're going to
(00:21):
talk about stress in basketball.
Where did this conversationeven pop up?
Well, before I talk about that,I just got to say the talking
points for today.
Y'all see the jerseys.
We talking about the sparks,right?
So we got to talk about thecontending WNBA teams.
I ain't going to go too, tooin-depth, just say who they are
right and then also the varyingtypes of pressure in basketball.
(00:45):
But this conversation doesspark off because Dewana Bonner
from the WNBA that's right,she's on the Indiana Fever right
now Quite a hooper Right In thein the WNBA history.
Well, she said this aboutpressure.
I don't know where the pressurecomes from, because we haven't
proved anything yet.
I think people just the mediakind of run with it honestly and
kind of create the pressurecomes from because we haven't
(01:05):
proved anything yet.
I think people just the mediakind of run with it honestly and
kind of create the pressure.
But for us, I don't feel likewe are the hunted.
We are the hunty kind ofmentality because the roster can
look really good on paper butit's going to be the work that
we put in and we we know that.
Now she's saying this because,well, a lot of people, including
(01:26):
myself, were putting them on apedestal.
We have high expectations ofthe Indiana Fever this season.
A lot of people were sayingthey're going to win the
championship.
Oh, they got Kaitlin Clark, shegot new teammates.
Now they're definitely going towin the championship this
season.
I hear that, I hear thatthought process, but that is
(01:48):
what brings pressure.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's goahead and bring up the standings
real quick.
I got to talk about who I thinkare the contending teams.
So, as you can see, we do havea couple of teams on screen.
These are in order.
Currently, for the 2025 season,my contending teams are these
teams, and it's only three ofthem.
You got the New York Liberty.
(02:09):
You got the Las Vegas Aces.
You got the Los Angeles Sparks.
It's the Minnesota Lynx.
Those are the three contendingteams in the NBA.
On WNBA, ladies and gentlemen,those are the three contending
teams in the WNBA.
Now we do have three teams.
I say that can prove it, maybeeven four, but I'm going to say
(02:30):
three right now.
Right now it might even looklike two, but I still think
three, possible four.
Here's the teams though theAtlanta Dream they still have to
prove it.
The Phoenix Mercury they stillhave to prove.
The Indiana Fever they stillhave to prove it.
And the Seattle Storm theystill have to prove.
Now, when we talk aboutpressure, ladies and gentlemen,
(02:53):
again, as you can see, I said,the Liberty, the Lynx and the
Aces all are contending teamsNow.
The Dream, the Mercury, theStorm and the fever, they all
have to prove it.
But if you notice, though, forexample, the Aces, they solid
for me, they cool, they likefifth right now, though it's
(03:13):
still early in the season, butthey fifth.
So, clearly, you're going tohave some teams that are ahead
of my contending teams, butthese teams the dream, the
mercury, the fever they stillhave to prove that they can beat
those contending teams.
But these teams the Dream, theMercury, the Fever they still
have to prove that they can beatthose contending teams.
Ladies and gentlemen, justbecause they're playing well,
just because they have a decentseason right now, does not mean
that they're better, because theplayoffs is a little bit
(03:36):
different than the regularseason.
There's a little bit morepressure in the playoffs than
there is the regular season.
So we got basketball pressure.
That's what I'm talking aboutright now.
That's why I say those teamsare contending teams, because
they've proven it to not justourselves, the viewers, but the
basketball players too.
Like Nafisa Collier, AsiaWilson, brianna Stewart They've
(03:59):
proven it.
Chelsea Gray, jackie Young,sabrina Ionescu, john Quayle
Jones.
Like players like that, caleb,like they've proven themselves.
Courtney Williams like they'veproven themselves Right now when
we talk about the fever, forexample, caitlin Clark Right for
me, she didn't really havepressure her rookie year, she
(04:24):
ain't playing the W.
But when we say things likeshe's the best player, well,
that starts to add a little bitof pressure.
But that's not basketballpressure, because, again, she
has not proven anything yet.
The Fever acquisitions theyhave played together or not
played together, but they playedin the WNBA.
So they might have a little bitmore pressure on them than
(04:48):
Caitlin Clark does.
Here's the thing though Socialmedia pressure, ladies and
gentlemen.
See, I'm talking aboutbasketball pressure.
Social media pressure Is whatI'm referring to when we're
talking about Caitlin Clark'spressure, because, again, the
(05:08):
social media and even the standsto a degree they kind of blend
in a little bit.
But the social media hype thatwe try to draw for some of these
players helps with thispressure Narrative driven Paige
versus Kaitlyn Clark.
I've talked about it before.
That's pressure there, becausethe media looks to hype up that
to improve the WNBA's viewership, right?
Uh, history a large part has todo with narratives too.
For example, again, using Paigeand Caitlin Clark, they have
(05:31):
history number one picks,similar statures, right, you
could say similar-ish games.
There's definitely differences,but there are similarities as
well too.
We got the same draft class, orthe same recruiting class,
almost same draft class, likewonderful storylines that social
(05:53):
media wants to use.
Or how about even within theirown teams, who's the best player
?
Right, like social mediapressure.
That's different thanbasketball pressure Because,
again, social media pressure,they're trying to draw
narratives.
Basketball pressure they tryingto hoop.
Now the casual fan pressure.
(06:13):
This is really expectations.
But it's still pressure though,because again we have
expectations, ladies andgentlemen, like we're looking
for those funny moments, folksgetting crows, getting a tough
jump shot, sean.
That's the casual fan pressure,which I call expectations.
Again, basketball pressure ismore earned.
(06:34):
Social media pressure is morefor the elevation of the program
or the entity, and then casualfan pressure is more about
expectations.
So, again, like Angel Reesesucks because she can't shoot
threes.
Well, keep in mind too, she hasbeen doing not the best job at
(06:55):
the field goal percentage.
I'll give you all that Like 33%at the beginning of the season
was not the best.
We need to increase that to atleast 48% angle at least.
But her not being able to shootthrees, that's a casual fan
pressure.
Everybody does not need to beable to shoot threes.
Or how about your guards notgetting a whole bunch of
rebounds?
Guards don't need to rebound,they need to focus on assist to
(07:16):
turnover ratio.
Basketball is about roles, butbecause of the casual fan
pressures, expectation folksdon't really care about that.
So stuff kind of gets lost inthe soul.
If I'm an athlete, I'm payingattention to the basketball
pressure, maybe a little bit onthe social media pressure,
because that might impact thingslike legacy.
But if I'm an athlete, I'm notgiven too.
(07:38):
You know what's about thecasual fan pressure Because,
again, that's based onexpectations, but a lot of times
people don't study the gameenough to really have good
expectations.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,y'all heard my different types
of pressure.
Y'all heard the contending teamsand now y'all understand why I
say there's only threecontending teams in the WNBA.
(08:01):
Y'all understand why I saythere's only three contending
teams in the WNBA.
We have the New York Liberty,we have the Las Vegas Aces and
we have the Minnesota Lynx andagain DeJuan Abander.
I do get your confusion, butthen again I understand where it
comes from.
The Fever do like I do expecty'all to make the playoffs.
I understand Kaitlin wasinjured.
I get that.
Y'all dealing with somecohesion issues too.
(08:22):
You have other injuries outsideof Kaitlin Clark on your squad.
I get that.
I do think you have enoughtalent, especially if y'all are
healthy, to win a title.
There's a world where the Fevercould win a title.
Do I put other teams ahead ofthem right now?
Yes, again, on paper isdifferent than in reality.
Everything's got to mix well,egos and all but the
(08:52):
expectations based on what we'veseen.
I do understand people.
You know what I mean.
Creating that stress, likestress, be a little.
Stress can get strict, I canget a little tricky.
Hell, I got on my do-rag rightnow just because I'm stressed
you know what I'm saying Like Idon't want y'all to see the hair
day like now.
I'm just trying to keep it.
The theatrics I'm saying maybe,maybe my sparks to see, you can
see my ensemble.
I'm in all black ladies.
Can we follow along and startkilling the rest of the league
(09:14):
please, not physically, but onthe court, specifically the
scoreboard.
I'd appreciate it.
But that's my pressure on them.
Am I media, I guess?
Now, I guess I ain't a hooper,At least not in the WNBA.
I wouldn't say I'm a casualeither.
But yeah, media, I guess we candraw a little narrative.
So maybe that's a narrative wecan draw for the Sparks, since
(09:36):
we acquired so many daggonepeople.
But see, now I'm sounding likea fan Casual, not really.
We'll talk about it.
I'm curious actually when do youguys typically rank among the
basketball pressure, do you?
I don't know what that wasactually.
I'm trying to figure out whatthat was in the background.
(09:57):
Anyways, is yours purelybasketball pressure, which?
If so, I'd love to hear fromyou.
And then, if you're the socialmedia pressure, I'd love to hear
from you, and then, if you'rethe casual fan pressure,
depending on the type, I mightbe able to bypass that one, but
let me know in the commentsection below and reach out.
(10:17):
I'd greatly appreciate it.
But, ladies and gentlemen, thatdoes conclude the end of the
episode.
So again, y'all heard theepisode, y'all heard the finals,
y'all heard my contending teamsand y'all heard my definition
of the pressures, or thedefinition of the varying
pressures.
Appreciate y'all for listening.
Definitely keep continuing tofollow and support not just
(10:38):
myself but the WNBA as well, butalso make sure to like,
subscribe, comment, tell anyonewho's anyone about the show.
My name is Trey.
I'm the host of Get a Bucket.
Hope you all are having a goodone.
Take care.
What's up everybody.
It's your favorite show'sfavorite show.
Get a Bucket.
I'm your host, trey, and asusual, I hope you're all having
a wonderful, wonderful day.
Today we're going to talk about,well, pressure in basketball.
But before we do that, pleasemake sure to hit that like and
subscribe button, comment, tellanyone who's anyone about the
show trying to get the ratingsup a little bit.
You know, just a little bit.
Like I said, ladies andgentlemen, today we're going to
(00:21):
talk about stress in basketball.
Where did this conversationeven pop up?
Well, before I talk about that,I just got to say the talking
points for today.
Y'all see the jerseys.
We talking about the sparks,right?
So we got to talk about thecontending WNBA teams.
I ain't going to go too, tooin-depth, just say who they are
right and then also the varyingtypes of pressure in basketball.
(00:45):
But this conversation doesspark off because Dewana Bonner
from the WNBA that's right,she's on the Indiana Fever right
now Quite a hooper Right In thein the WNBA history.
Well, she said this aboutpressure.
I don't know where the pressurecomes from, because we haven't
proved anything yet.
I think people just the mediakind of run with it honestly and
kind of create the pressurecomes from because we haven't
(01:05):
proved anything yet.
I think people just the mediakind of run with it honestly and
kind of create the pressure.
But for us, I don't feel likewe are the hunted.
We are the hunty kind ofmentality because the roster can
look really good on paper butit's going to be the work that
we put in and we we know that.
Now she's saying this because,well, a lot of people, including
(01:26):
myself, were putting them on apedestal.
We have high expectations ofthe Indiana Fever this season.
A lot of people were sayingthey're going to win the
championship.
Oh, they got Kaitlin Clark, shegot new teammates.
Now they're definitely going towin the championship this
season.
I hear that, I hear thatthought process, but that is
(01:48):
what brings pressure.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's goahead and bring up the standings
real quick.
I got to talk about who I thinkare the contending teams.
So, as you can see, we do havea couple of teams on screen.
These are in order.
Currently, for the 2025 season,my contending teams are these
teams, and it's only three ofthem.
You got the New York Liberty.
(02:09):
You got the Las Vegas Aces.
You got the Los Angeles Sparks.
It's the Minnesota Lynx.
Those are the three contendingteams in the NBA.
On WNBA, ladies and gentlemen,those are the three contending
teams in the WNBA.
Now we do have three teams.
I say that can prove it, maybeeven four, but I'm going to say
(02:30):
three right now.
Right now it might even looklike two, but I still think
three, possible four.
Here's the teams though theAtlanta Dream they still have to
prove it.
The Phoenix Mercury they stillhave to prove.
The Indiana Fever they stillhave to prove it.
And the Seattle Storm theystill have to prove.
Now, when we talk aboutpressure, ladies and gentlemen,
(02:53):
again, as you can see, I said,the Liberty, the Lynx and the
Aces all are contending teamsNow.
The Dream, the Mercury, theStorm and the fever, they all
have to prove it.
But if you notice, though, forexample, the Aces, they solid
for me, they cool, they likefifth right now, though it's
(03:13):
still early in the season, butthey fifth.
So, clearly, you're going tohave some teams that are ahead
of my contending teams, butthese teams the dream, the
mercury, the fever they stillhave to prove that they can beat
those contending teams.
But these teams the Dream, theMercury, the Fever they still
have to prove that they can beatthose contending teams.
Ladies and gentlemen, justbecause they're playing well,
just because they have a decentseason right now, does not mean
that they're better, because theplayoffs is a little bit
(03:36):
different than the regularseason.
There's a little bit morepressure in the playoffs than
there is the regular season.
So we got basketball pressure.
That's what I'm talking aboutright now.
That's why I say those teamsare contending teams, because
they've proven it to not justourselves, the viewers, but the
basketball players too.
Like Nafisa Collier, AsiaWilson, brianna Stewart They've
(03:59):
proven it.
Chelsea Gray, jackie Young,sabrina Ionescu, john Quayle
Jones.
Like players like that, caleb,like they've proven themselves.
Courtney Williams like they'veproven themselves Right now when
we talk about the fever, forexample, caitlin Clark Right for
me, she didn't really havepressure her rookie year, she
(04:24):
ain't playing the W.
But when we say things likeshe's the best player, well,
that starts to add a little bitof pressure.
But that's not basketballpressure, because, again, she
has not proven anything yet.
The Fever acquisitions theyhave played together or not
played together, but they playedin the WNBA.
So they might have a little bitmore pressure on them than
(04:48):
Caitlin Clark does.
Here's the thing though Socialmedia pressure, ladies and
gentlemen.
See, I'm talking aboutbasketball pressure.
Social media pressure Is whatI'm referring to when we're
talking about Caitlin Clark'spressure, because, again, the
(05:08):
social media and even the standsto a degree they kind of blend
in a little bit.
But the social media hype thatwe try to draw for some of these
players helps with thispressure Narrative driven Paige
versus Kaitlyn Clark.
I've talked about it before.
That's pressure there, becausethe media looks to hype up that
to improve the WNBA's viewership, right?
Uh, history a large part has todo with narratives too.
For example, again, using Paigeand Caitlin Clark, they have
(05:31):
history number one picks,similar statures, right, you
could say similar-ish games.
There's definitely differences,but there are similarities as
well too.
We got the same draft class, orthe same recruiting class,
almost same draft class, likewonderful storylines that social
(05:53):
media wants to use.
Or how about even within theirown teams, who's the best player
?
Right, like social mediapressure.
That's different thanbasketball pressure Because,
again, social media pressure,they're trying to draw
narratives.
Basketball pressure they tryingto hoop.
Now the casual fan pressure.
(06:13):
This is really expectations.
But it's still pressure though,because again we have
expectations, ladies andgentlemen, like we're looking
for those funny moments, folksgetting crows, getting a tough
jump shot, sean.
That's the casual fan pressure,which I call expectations.
Again, basketball pressure ismore earned.
(06:34):
Social media pressure is morefor the elevation of the program
or the entity, and then casualfan pressure is more about
expectations.
So, again, like Angel Reesesucks because she can't shoot
threes.
Well, keep in mind too, she hasbeen doing not the best job at
(06:55):
the field goal percentage.
I'll give you all that Like 33%at the beginning of the season
was not the best.
We need to increase that to atleast 48% angle at least.
But her not being able to shootthrees, that's a casual fan
pressure.
Everybody does not need to beable to shoot threes.
Or how about your guards notgetting a whole bunch of
rebounds?
Guards don't need to rebound,they need to focus on assist to
(07:16):
turnover ratio.
Basketball is about roles, butbecause of the casual fan
pressures, expectation folksdon't really care about that.
So stuff kind of gets lost inthe soul.
If I'm an athlete, I'm payingattention to the basketball
pressure, maybe a little bit onthe social media pressure,
because that might impact thingslike legacy.
But if I'm an athlete, I'm notgiven too.
(07:38):
You know what's about thecasual fan pressure Because,
again, that's based onexpectations, but a lot of times
people don't study the gameenough to really have good
expectations.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,y'all heard my different types
of pressure.
Y'all heard the contending teamsand now y'all understand why I
say there's only threecontending teams in the WNBA.
(08:01):
Y'all understand why I saythere's only three contending
teams in the WNBA.
We have the New York Liberty,we have the Las Vegas Aces and
we have the Minnesota Lynx andagain DeJuan Abander.
I do get your confusion, butthen again I understand where it
comes from.
The Fever do like I do expecty'all to make the playoffs.
I understand Kaitlin wasinjured.
I get that.
Y'all dealing with somecohesion issues too.
(08:22):
You have other injuries outsideof Kaitlin Clark on your squad.
I get that.
I do think you have enoughtalent, especially if y'all are
healthy, to win a title.
There's a world where the Fevercould win a title.
Do I put other teams ahead ofthem right now?
Yes, again, on paper isdifferent than in reality.
Everything's got to mix well,egos and all but the
(08:52):
expectations based on what we'veseen.
I do understand people.
You know what I mean.
Creating that stress, likestress, be a little.
Stress can get strict, I canget a little tricky.
Hell, I got on my do-rag rightnow just because I'm stressed
you know what I'm saying Like Idon't want y'all to see the hair
day like now.
I'm just trying to keep it.
The theatrics I'm saying maybe,maybe my sparks to see, you can
see my ensemble.
I'm in all black ladies.
Can we follow along and startkilling the rest of the league
(09:14):
please, not physically, but onthe court, specifically the
scoreboard.
I'd appreciate it.
But that's my pressure on them.
Am I media, I guess?
Now, I guess I ain't a hooper,At least not in the WNBA.
I wouldn't say I'm a casualeither.
But yeah, media, I guess we candraw a little narrative.
So maybe that's a narrative wecan draw for the Sparks, since
(09:36):
we acquired so many daggonepeople.
But see, now I'm sounding likea fan Casual, not really.
We'll talk about it.
I'm curious actually when do youguys typically rank among the
basketball pressure, do you?
I don't know what that wasactually.
I'm trying to figure out whatthat was in the background.
(09:57):
Anyways, is yours purelybasketball pressure, which?
If so, I'd love to hear fromyou.
And then, if you're the socialmedia pressure, I'd love to hear
from you, and then, if you'rethe casual fan pressure,
depending on the type, I mightbe able to bypass that one, but
let me know in the commentsection below and reach out.
(10:17):
I'd greatly appreciate it.
But, ladies and gentlemen, thatdoes conclude the end of the
episode.
So again, y'all heard theepisode, y'all heard the finals,
y'all heard my contending teamsand y'all heard my definition
of the pressures, or thedefinition of the varying
pressures.
Appreciate y'all for listening.
Definitely keep continuing tofollow and support not just
(10:38):
myself but the WNBA as well, butalso make sure to like,
subscribe, comment, tell anyonewho's anyone about the show.
My name is Trey.
I'm the host of Get a Bucket.
Hope you all are having a goodone.
Take care.
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