Transcript
Sue Bird (0:00)
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Kate Martin (0:16)
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Caitlin Clark (0:30)
I feel like your two Iowa teams left a mark on women's college basketball, but also women's basketball at large. Is that like, kind of crazy to think about, like you were a part of something that was a catalyst for this, like, larger growth? Hey everybody. Welcome back to Bird's Eye View. Today's guest is someone who I actually met when she was still in college. Matter of fact, in the city that I'm in right now, I'm back in Seattle. And this is exactly when I met Kate Martin in 2023. I surprised her and the Iowa Hawkeyes as they were headed into the Elite eight, and their reaction was priceless. You'll get to hear us talk about that moment as well as the advice that I gave that none of them needed. But first, Sue's view. All right, so it is impossible to talk about the WNBA right now without talking about the two teams who are still undefeated, the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty. As of this recording, Minnesota is 8. 0, New York is 7. 0, on the verge of breaking a franchise record. These hot starts put them in the top 10 already for best starts in WNBA history. And it basically just got me thinking, like, does having a top 10 hot start indicate how well you're going to finish the season? So did a little research and Minnesota holds the record. Not this team, but the 2016 team holds the record for best start at 13 0. And that happened, like I said, in 2016. And that team lost in the finals. But they lost in the finals to the LA Sparks, who in that very same season started the season 11 0. From there you've got another Minnesota Lynx team in 2012. They started 10 0. They ultimately lost in the finals. But they did get there. After that. There's a little bit of a bottleneck. You've got the 2001 LA Sparks. They started nine and oh, they won the title. The 2003 LA Sparks started nine and oh, but they lost in the finals. Then You've got the 2017 Minnesota Links. They won, they got to the finals, they beat LA. Last but not least last year, the 2025 Connecticut sun started 9 and oh as well. And they got to the semis and lost. So out of all those, I just said, only one didn't get to the finals. According to WMA history, if New York and Minnesota stay undefeated for another few games, and by the way, we're in the middle of the Commissioner's cup, so both teams are like extra, extra motivated. They are basically destined for the finals. That's, you know, that's not me though. That's just, that's history. So if it repeats itself, that's what we're looking at. Before I move on, I want to hit on Atlanta's hot ish start since they've just moved up to third place. And like I said last week, nobody really saw that coming. But what I also said last week is there's a couple reasons and ways in which they're doing this, right? Shooting a ton of threes, not necessarily making them all, but getting a lot of offensive rebounds and giving themselves multiple opportunities. And you saw exactly that the last time out versus Seattle. It was a road game. They overcame a 17 point deficit. They shot over 30 threes on 29% shooting. Not great. But guess what else happened? They had 13, zero boards. Six of those came off missed threes. And on top of that, they had 17 second chance points. To give you a quick frame of reference, they lead the league in that category with 13.7. So 17 is a lot. Next up, I am back in Seattle and so I was able to check out the Storm in person. And there's really two things. Two players that jump out immediately when you watch the Storm. Gabby Williams, Erica Wheeler. And they're having crazy impact, but it's that type of impact that you don't even need numbers to feel or prove. There's an energy, there's an intensity. They're all over the place, especially Gabby. That's really what she does. Great. But then when you look at their numbers, it becomes even more telling, more interesting. Gabby right now is having career highs in essentially every category. It's really her shooting percentage that is standing out, especially from three. She's shooting 43, 0.6%, which is amazing. Um, but like I said, it goes beyond numbers with Gabby. But the same can be said for Erica Wheeler. Right? Like this impact is felt, but then you look at the numbers. She's also having career highs in shooting percentage. And the one I find most interesting is she is first in total assists off the bench. But again, with both of them, it's the energy. I was There when Erica Wheeler got that and one. That was actually a pretty pivotal point in the game. The Storm had been struggling with finding ways to score, and Erica was able to to get some space to Anwan at the rim. And, you know, I'm just going to let her tweet do the talking here, but we might be looking at a drug test for her. Okay. Last but not least, before I got out to Seattle, I actually was at the Liberty game when they played the Valkyries last week, and my next guest got no minutes in that game. I can only imagine the roller coaster ride that that can be because you fast forward a couple days, and in their next game against the Minnesota Lynx, Kate Martin had 14 points in six minutes. She played 19 minutes total, but had 14 in the span of six minutes. That shows so much mental toughness. It shows so much fortitude, and it's exactly that type of mindset that I was most interested in, in talking to Kate as a role player, trying to find herself in this league. Like, where do you get it? Who do you learn it from? How do you maintain it and your confidence within the ebbs and flows of a season and even in a career? I needed to find out. But first, I had to take her back to the beginning. Do you remember the first time we met?