← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
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A
How can you free your team from time consuming office tasks? Amazon Business empowers leaders to not only streamline purchasing, but better support their teams. Smart business buying tools enable buyers to find and purchase items fast so they can focus on strategy and growth. It's time to free up your teams and focus on your future. Learn more about the technology, insights and Support available@AmazonBusiness.com Hey, I'm Tricia Hershberger, gamer.
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Streamer and Amazon Live host. I stream about tech, gaming and the stuff I actually buy right here with my community. And Amazon Live makes it easy. Streaming, gameplay, scouting, new gear, chatting and shopping all at the same time. That's my kind of multitasking. And it all happens on Amazon Live. Shop on Amazon Live by searching Amazon Live in the Amazon Shopping app. And follow your favorite creators today.
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A
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B
And I'm Sabrina Merchant.
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A
And today on the show, the post season has delivered on all the hype. Okay. We are seeing some of the most competitive games. They're coming down to the wire. I am stressed out. And we're also recording this after some of the most stressful games this week.
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B
Oh, my.
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A
If you're seeing this on YouTube, you'll see, like, it's late. All right. I have actually.
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B
We look like it.
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A
Does it look like. I mean, I've done my skincare. I am on my way to sleep. But I had to get all this energy out with Sabrina to talk through these games and everything that's happening. Why does it feel like it's more competitive than last year? I don't know. At least in the first round. We're going to talk a little bit about the. The format change and maybe how much that is impacting these games. But let's just go ahead and get into it. Cause girl, Sabrina, the association, it's been crazy. Before the games, all these awards have been, you know, passed out. Right. Which is awesome. Of course, the Bay Area racked up. All right. Very happy to Hear Veronica Burton got what we already predicted her to be, the most improved player out of the Golden State Valkyries. And then her coach Natalie Nakase gets the coach of the year with the wnba. Paige Beckers down in Dallas got rookie of the year shout out to the execution of how they gave this award. Sybrina, did you ever imagine the commissioner popping out of a door at the Jennifer Hudson show?
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B
I just love the look on Paige's face. She was genuinely surprised by this happening.
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A
I think we all were. The funny thing is that I watched that video completely unaware of what happened.
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B
Oh, totally. I was just like, oh, Paige is on the J HUD show. Let's watch her dance. Right?
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A
Exactly. Every single person I know has barely ever watched the Jennifer Hutchins show, but has always taken the time to watch the celebrity go down the hallway. So that was my main focus and intent. And then all of a sudden you got the commissioner coming out with a rookie of the year award. I'm like, shout out to Paige's two step right into her award. Beautiful moment, really dope. And the awards keep rolling out because the day that we're recording this, the first of its kind, a co defensive player of the year award awarded to Asia Wilson of the Aces who I predicted. And the links is Alana Smith, who Ben and Sabrina predicted. So we're all right here at the no off season. But Serena, really quickly, how did this happen? What is a co mvp? Excuse me, Co dpoi. I think I'm trying to avoid predicting the future here. We don't want CO MVPs. We have a CO DPOI. And I'm asking on behalf of Bam Adebayo who tweeted out he also is confused what happened.
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B
So if you watch other sports, generally what happens in these end of season awards is people rank their choices. So you get a top three in these awards and those are weighted, right? So like the first place gets five points, second place gets three points, third place gets one point. And it's very hard to have a tie in these situations because of all of the points being thrown, you know, and just like the different weighting. But when you're only submitting one name, which is what happens in WNBA awards, you can get a tie, right? Like 29 people voted for Alanna Smith, Ben being one of them, 29 people voted for Asia Wilson, me being one of them. So that's how you get to 29 and 29. And that's how we get co defensive players of the year. Honestly, I'm shocked. This hasn't happened more often.
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A
Yeah, this is crazy. It's first of its kind, but congratulations. Asia Wilson, Alanna Smith. Now we're just all just waiting for more awards to roll out. But right now, I'm loving the ways in which all these players are getting their recognition. So let's get back to the court now. Okay? My blood pressure has lowered, I've stopped sweating, and I'm now in a calm place. Sabrina. I might get more hype as we keep going because these games. It's been quite a week, and we gotta start with Atlanta. Okay. In the ATL, the shorthanded Indiana Fever defeated the Dream 87, 85 to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2015. And, oh, if you are new to this space, if you've just turned us on because you saw these crazy games, yes, the Indiana Fever did that while having five people in street clothes.
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Six.
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Six people. Excuse me.
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Damaris Dantes.
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Oh, my gosh. Damaris Dantes in street clothes on their bench, including, yes, Caitlin Clark. They rolled with their vets. Sabrina. At one point, I realized that Aaliyah Boston was out on the floor with Natasha Howard, Ariel Powers, Odyssey Sims and Kelsey Mitchell. A combined 38 years of WNBA experience. I was like, oh, how cool is this that Indiana has just gone retro to make themselves move forward in these playoffs. What happened in Atlanta?
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B
You know, I feel very silly for the way we talked about the game ones back on Tuesday because things have taken a turn.
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A
Right? Right.
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B
You know, you always hear that like, don't let me get one right.
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And I think we're just seeing the.
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B
The execution of that through these first round series because, you know, you let a team just develop a little bit of momentum and all of a sudden you just. You can't put them away. Right. In Indiana, this team all season, you just can't put them away. We thought, oh, Caitlin, you know, grow an injury. Where are they going to get their offense from? No biggie. Like, Erin McDonald steps in. Aaron McDonald knocks out. There comes Odyssey Sims. Sophie Cunningham comes out. Here comes Ariel Powers. Like, Dantes comes out. All of a sudden, Bri Turner, she was the sixth big in the front court rotation at the start of the season. Now she's just doing everything right. Garden Brittney Griner, like they probably did Phoenix Mercury practice back in 2021. Right. I'm just so impressed Stephanie White has done coaching this team where they legitimately believe that they can win every time they step out onto the court, no matter who they're playing. Right. Whether That's Minnesota, whether that's Las Vegas, whether that's Atlanta, who ended the season with the second best net rating in the wnba. I don't want to undervalue that. They were maybe not the second seed, but their point differential was incredible, like almost plus 10 points per game. They were closer to Minnesota than they were to third place. They put together a phenomenal regular season, winning 30 games, doubling their total from last year. Ali Chagray is probably going to be first. Seymour Nas Hellman's probably going to be sixth player of the year. This is a team that should have been reckoned with. But you mentioned all of that experience on Indiana, right? All that experience from Odyssey Sims and Natasha Howard, a three time champion. I'm thinking about this last huddle, you know, where before Lexi hall steals the ball from on the inbounds. I'm looking at Sidney Coulson, two time champion, just talking to Lexi during the huddle. I don't know what she was telling her, but I imagine it had something to do with this defense that led to this finals deal. And there are some. There's that experience, right? And maybe it wasn't all on the court, but there's just so many pieces that you have to love on Indiana and the way Stephanie White has managed to keep them all going together. And, you know, a player like Odyssey Sims joins the team on August 10th. That's, that's about a month ago. And here she is running the offense on the road in a playoff game. Eight assists. Like, I'm just so impressed. Like, I don't think this is so much Atlanta losing as Indiana just taking this away from them.
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A
Yes. There's so much you're saying. I'm just like, I'm in church. I'm like, amen. Yes, yes. No, literally the moment I noticed when I was experienced was at the top of the fourth quarter. Ariel Powers got tangled up, I think with maybe Brie Jones or someone, and she was upset.
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B
Who didn't get tangled up with Brie Jones, right?
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A
Exactly. Everyone got tangled up with Brie Jones, but she got upset about something. And you see Natasha Howard come over to her. Kelsey Mitchell come over to Ariel Powers. Both of them are like, hey, hey, lock in, right? They're, they're tapping their temples, saying to lock in. And even after that finish, Ariel Powers was like, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. You look over and it's Odyssey Sims doing the same thing, tapping her temples, lock in. And then at the end of the game, in Kelsey Mitchell's postgame interview, she talks about the lock in, she taps her temple and I'm like, this was clearly a linear thing throughout this team of lock in. We do not have time to waste. Do not get your emotions into this. Like you know what we are about. Whether you're new to this, this situation, like an Ariel Powers or an Odyssey Sims or everyone else we can list that is coming and join this team in the midst of everything they've gone through, it's like, no, we are on the same line of what we want to accomplish, which is getting a playoff win the first since 2015. I want to talk a little bit about this setup though. Indiana went into Atlanta and took this game and you can look at it in different ways, right? Atlanta came back home where they have their home court advantage. Remember game one after we felt pretty silly. Now, looking back in the way that, you know, they won that game, you're thinking, okay, Atlanta's going to be back at home. They're going to feel a lot more comfortable in their arena. They're going to play like the Atlanta we've known all season long. But there's also the fact that in this new one one one format, Indiana's now coming back to Atlanta as well with the momentum. When you look at this one one one format and you know, having reported on the playoffs in years past, in the 2:1 format where the home team got two games at home first and then only went to their opponent if they lost one of those, how does this change the dynamics of this first round of the playoffs? And do you think that that's feeding into what we're seeing?
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B
So we had three years of the 2:1 format, started in 2022 and went through 2024. No lower seed won a series during that format. Not a single one. There were a couple game threes, I think three of them in total. No lower seed ended up winning. The higher seeds still ended up going on the road and taking that game. So I think there is something to be said about the way this has changed. Maybe it's just introducing a little extra randomness because you still have to travel and that changes people's moods or you're going in different buildings, sleeping on different beds, yada yada yada. But that kind of surprised me. There are three road teams who have had the opportunity to win game three on their own home court, right? Like those lower seated teams. And they weren't able to do that in the older format. So Indiana is the first team in four years to actually get through as the lower seed. And that's kind of surprising to me.
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A
Wow.
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B
Because you'd think some momentum would carry over if one of those teams won game two. Right. And then went on the road. I guess the only difference in that scenario is like, technically you could be the lower seated team, win game one, and then you don't have the momentum when you go back for game three. I don't know. I think, I think what we're seeing here is that Indiana, maybe they're a six seed, fourth best point differential in the wnba. You talk about all that experience. Stephanie White, killer coach, Right. I can quibble with some of the challenge decisions that were made, and I think that's a theme that would carry on to a lot of the coaches over the last two days. But I thought she hit every bright button. One of the things I love about Stephanie White, all of those quick subs she makes at the end of quarters, like, if somebody's in foul trouble, I'm still going to get Lexi hall and Aaliyah Boston in for this last offensive possession because I know something good can happen. Right. Like we saw that at the third quarter in game two when they get them back in, Lexi Hill hits that three, all of a sudden, 15 point lead, place is going nuts. Right. I thought she just hit all those right buttons. She got Kelsey Mitchell just enough rest at the start of that fourth quarter so that she was able to go, you know, at the end of the game, ran a more the offense through Leah Boston. Because Jordan Canada just had Kelsey like in. In chains. Honestly, Jordan Canada had a phenomenal game. I feel more badly for her than anybody else on the Atlanta dream. But yeah, I don't know if it's the format or maybe just like this is a really good Indiana team for the Atlanta dream. Like, maybe this is just a step you have to take. Right. Like first year under Carl Semesto, they won a playoff game for the first time in six, seven years. Right. So just the building blocks you have to go through, you know, like, I thought this was gonna be the year they want a playoff series. But, you know, for all that experience, like it was really only Brie Jones and Jordan Cannon on the court, like Alicia Gray, Ryan Howard, Nas Hillman, like they're still going through all of these learning experiences together too. Maybe this is just part of the process.
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A
Right, right, exactly. I do forget that they are relatively young. I think that we as the collective fan have seen Atlanta be just good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to get out of that first round. And that feels repetitive. And that's why it feels like this was such a devastating blow for them to have.
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B
It is three years in a row.
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A
Three years in a row. Exactly. And you make the coaching's great and you still have the talent and you add more talent, right? You stack up especially. We cannot underscore enough the impact that Bri Jones had on this team and particularly in these playoffs. Just like every. Every loose ball, every hard hitting screen, every opportunity for a kick out. I mean, she was such a huge X factor. Outside of, you know, Alicia Gray and Ryan Howard, of course, doing their thing. Nas Hillman as well. Just like the consistent cutting, inject that into my veins. Her ability to find her way onto the floor, like just diagonal across the paint, getting to the glass, whatever it is. She's just always in the right place at the right time. Nas Hillman, it's phenomenal. But you look at all of these pieces that they now have and it's like, how can you not advance? Like, this feels wrong. But shout out to the fever. That's the bottom line. I don't know. The black air forces that Caitlin Clark was wearing in these games may have done something. She's literally, literally wearing the exact same outfit. I know there's something like. I'm wondering if this is gonna be now a theme. At least there is something Nike in there, so her sponsors can be happy about that. But, man, it was fun to watch and Atlanta was fun to watch. This season we're gonna get into further breakdowns into what their off seasons could look like on another show. But now we gotta go to the other side of the country. In another thrilling finish. The Aces, y', all, I gotta laugh. It was insane. It was insane. The Aces, they've defeat the Seattle Storm 74 to 73. They advance to the semifinals for the seventh time in a row. This is what they do casually, but it was almost taken from them. It was one baseline jumper away from them. But the lights went out and unfortunately, Gabby Williams did not make that jumper. But it wasn't just that shot, obviously. So the Seattle Storm, it was back and forth, bucket for bucket in the first and second quarter. And the last time they led was 24, 23. They lose that lead and they do not regain it for the remainder of the game. Now, don't get me wrong, they did not create a gap with the Aces. They always were within striking distance, but they finally regained that lead. I think it was 1:14 left on the clock. I mean, it was under two minutes for sure. And you're like, not again. Not again. Not, not again. Because this has happened now. That was the third game in a row we saw this, and we're going to talk about this in a sec, but Minnesota did the same thing against the Valkyries, got the lead within under three minutes of the game left. Indiana did the same thing against Atlanta and then.
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Except it took them until like 10 seconds left.
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Within 10 seconds left, right? And then you see Seattle and it's Erica Wheeler hitting an unreal in transition, two on one. She pulls up and takes a free throw, jumper net, easy, no problems. She has the opportunity. That's like, with 18 seconds left too. She has the opportunity to do that again later on in the game. They had seven seconds left to take the opportunity to take the lead. And she misses that same shot. This time, Asia Wilson, co defensive player of the year, is in front of her. It goes a little bit differently. Okay, let's back up, back up, back up. Cause I'm, I'm, I'm playing down the last seconds of the game, but the game was crazy in itself. So Sabrina, tell us, what did you see in this matchup?
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B
So just like a little behind the curtain, right? We've got two games on television. I'm writing off of games. I'm listening to post game. So I, I probably didn't get to the Vegas Seattle game until maybe 45, 50 minutes after it started.
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A
Oh.
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B
So I'm watching, you know, like on YouTube, just like forwarding as much as possible through commercials and whatnot. Like, I'm getting all these texts. Like, oh, my God, I can't respond to any of them because I don't know what's actually happening live. Everybody apparently, like, right. It's just like, can you believe Gabby threw that injury pass or like, you know, what a stupid challenge and yada, yada, yada. And it's like, I don't know, like I just wouldn't like, you know, exclamation points. Like, I don't, I don't know how to respond to these things. We finally get live around like a minute 14, I think, like, right when. Right when Erica Wheeler or no, not when Erica Wheeler, who was the one that hit the lead. Skyler gets the lead from the first.
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A
Yes, you're right.
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B
You're right.
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Exactly.
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She takes the lead with a three pointer.
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A
You're right. It was the first.
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B
Yeah. And it's just like we went into the series thinking Vegas is coming off of 16 straight wins, right? They just destroy them, period. In game One, it just unclear how these two teams belong on the same floor. And you look at game two and they're up about 14 with 12 minutes left. Seems like they're in control again and they just slowly give it away. And the way they talked about afterwards, like, we got into our pre all star habits, like, we played soft on defense, we know what to correct, we know how to fix this. And then Seattle comes out and just, I don't know, is right in it again, even on the Aces home court, right? Like, they decide, we're not going to let any of the shooters get off. We're just going to single cover Asia, stay home on the perimeter. If Asia goes off, Asia goes off 38 points. It's a lot of points. I don't know if it worked or not. Like, you could say it was a good gamble, right? Like, they were still within one point, pun intended.
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A
Las Vegas.
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B
Yeah. And then Asia Wilson goes on later and says, no pun intended. We weathered the story. Weathered the story. No puncture, I'm sure. Yeah. But I think this is a lot about Seattle, right? Like we had talked about, how are they going to get offense against this Vegas defense. And then in the fourth quarter, there's Brittany Sykes, you know, going on her own little isolation spree and it has been such a hard series for her and for her to finally get that moment. And Erica Wheeler, who hit all those big shots at the end of game two, just having the confidence to do it again at the end of game three. And Skylar hitting a big shot and neck hitting and it's just there's so much talent on the floor in the series and you could tell it was just wearing on all of them, right? Like, I don't want to get all the way to the end of the game, but, like, Gabby Williams takes the last shot and like, I'm getting Olympic flashback skin with the ball in Gabby Williams hand at the end of the game, right? And like, and the lights go off. Like, did the shot go in? You know, right.
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A
Where's Brianna Stewart pointing to the line?
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B
Like, it's just insane. Like, to think of all of the choices these coaches had to make in terms of the options they were taking away. And like, if you take away Neko Gumake, then, oh, that opens up roles for Domalonga. You know, that gives opportunities to Gabby Williams to cut or Bernie Sykes to get into the lane or all of those other guards. And it's just like, I cannot believe that Seattle ended up as a seven seed and it's going home this early in the playoffs because that was such a good team. Atlanta was such a good team. And, you know, I keep hearing these arguments like, should they move to best of five in the first round? I'm like, well, more than half the teams make the playoffs. It's okay if we just have best of three in the first round. But these are all such good teams. Like, I'm watching them thinking none of them really deserved to be out this early. And that was the only takeaway I could really have was, yeah, they laid an egg in game one. But kudos to Indiana for coming back. Kudos to Seattle for coming back. And yeah, it went slightly differently for Indiana than it did for Seattle. But, like, those are two teams that just completely flushed away what happened earlier in the series and they completely flipped the script and just that kind of perseverance, like, we haven't seen it in the playoffs in the last couple seasons. And maybe it's the format, maybe it's just like the quality of the league went up a little bit this year. Or there was just more parody. Teams were talking about that all year long. Right. But I'm just glad that we got all of this and that it ended the way that it did. Because you like to see games end because people execute well. Right. And so that's how it ended in Las Vegas. Right. And it's a little sad that, like, Atlanta didn't get the opportunity to really show off at the end of that game. Right. But in Seattle, it's like they got the ball into the hand of somebody who they trusted to make a play. You know, Vegas got the ball in the hand of somebody who trusted to make a play. And then you just let the chips fall. Right.
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A
And we, it is worth saying, like, you know, with Atlanta, we did mention this, but the last opportunities came twice for Atlanta. It was off of out of bounds play the first time, the first out of bounds play, Ryan Howard struggled to get it in, had to turn around and call a timeout. They set back up again. You mentioned it of, you know, Lexi Hull playing phenomenal defense in that first opportunity. But in the second opportunity, Bree Jones ends up being the option. And it's like that, you know, that's not what you wanted, right? That you were forced into that.
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B
Not at the three point line, at.
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A
Least on the three point line. Right. Being with full coverage from Aaliyah Boston, that is not ideal for what Atlanta has set up. Yeah, sure, they won a three. Awesome. Interestingly enough, this is not the game where they shot a ton of threes they were heavily in the paint against Indiana in this game. But you have to be satisfied with the fact that you do get that look from an Erica Wheeler at the end of the game if you're Seattle. A shot that she had just hit quite literally like 18 seconds left on the clock. This was an opportunity to hit it again. She had seven seconds at that time. And then you get another chance within it because you get the offensive rebound off of Chelsea Gray, who had been all over the boards right off of Chelsea Gray. And you get your point guard getting the opportunity to make a decision. And she even had time to make a split decision. This is Skylar Diggins making a split decision between Neca at the three point line. But there was still a defender in between her or Gabby on the baseline. And she hits up Gabby. Gabby can hit that shot. She has a quick release. She can hit that shot and unfortunately she misses it. But it's just like, you can't be mad about that. I want to go back to what you said really quickly about they flipped a switch. Because as soon as you said that I was like, yeah, not only do they flip the switch between the games, some of these players flip the switch in the game. Right. Like, as you were talking, I was like, I was just looking at the stats. Like Neko Gwymich and Brittany sykes in the first quarter and second quarter combined for like 2 points.
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B
NECA definitely had 2 in the first half.
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A
Yeah, NECA had 2 in the second quarter, 0 in the first quarter, and Brittany ended up with just 2 in the first quarter, 0 in the second quarter. Yeah. So they combined for a four in the first half. In the second half, as you mentioned, I was like, oh, of course. They find their offense. They realize that they can score individually, they can go off of drives like Brittany Sykes did several times, like Nico Guimike finding her. Her moves inside her footwork. And it was like, this is elevated basketball. Forget the first half, forget all that if you were contributing. Like, this is what we saw out of both teams. People just stepping up and providing exactly what their teams need at the same at the moment. Okay, well, the aces, they got 38 points out of Asia Wilson. Interestingly enough, her shot that she put up wasn't the game winning shot. It was the offensive rebound that Jackie Young got over Gabby Williams. Ezzy Magmagor, I think was down there. Neca Guy McKay was down there.
- [24:09]
B
He had Dominique Balanga Ezzy and Neca in the game and they couldn't box out Jackie Young.
- [24:13]
A
Like that is insane. That Is insane. That is wild pursuit of the ball, as a coach would say. The Aces were playing some inspired basketball. Okay. At the end of that game. And it was so interesting. They got four offensive rebounds that game. The Vegas Aces got four offensive rebounds. Seattle had nine. Vegas was only able to get two second chance points all game. And it was the ones that Jackie had to put them ahead. Before we move on to the other side of the bracket really quickly, any quick thoughts because we're going to break this down, but any quick thoughts for Sunday when the Aces meet for game one against the Fever?
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B
Well, they both came off a very tough series. Thankfully, they have an extra travel day. Right. Indiana is coming all the way from Atlanta. You know, you get Friday to travel, I guess, and then Saturday practice, Sunday game. I mean, this is. This is a series. The season series during the regular season was all the home teams won and Vegas has home court during the series. All of those games were played before Vegas. 16 game win streak. So like a different version of the Las Vegas Aces, I think we can say, right, we get Melissa Smith versus her former team. Unfortunately, Sidney Coulson not playing against her former team.
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A
Right, Right.
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B
But I mean, I really don't know what to think of this matchup because if you played in July, you basically didn't play this version of the Indiana.
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A
Fever and you didn't play. And you didn't play this version of Las Vegas.
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B
Exactly.
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A
I'm so happy you said that, Sabrina. Because a lot of times when you say things and I think the same thing, I'm like, yes, I'm smart. Love it. Because I was looking at the four box scores between these two teams and I was like, yeah, like, we didn't see Jewel Lloyd coming off the bench. Right. We didn't see this version of Jackie Young being more of the playmaker and having the ball in her hands. So between these two teams this season, they went 2 1. Indiana beat Las Vegas twice. Vegas winning once. But again, before the new iterations of both of these teams and also before the inspired basketball that these two teams are playing. So it's going to be very interesting to see how these two squads match up. I'm going to just say it. I think the factors are going to come down to bench and role players. We know Kelsey Mitchell's going to go off. We know that Asia Wilson's going to go off. These stars can do that. Right. And we know Aaliyah Boston has shown some inconsistencies. You know, some of these stars have shown some inconsistencies. Who's going to be the Lexi holes crashing the glass in the way that she has. Who's going to be the Alyssa Smiths playing defense in the way that she has? I think there's going to be so many factors when it comes to the role players. Okay, we're going to talk about that game one when it gets to it, but now we got to go to the other side of the bracket. Don't go anywhere, y'. All. I'm just getting started. How can you free your team from time consuming office tasks? Amazon Business empowers leaders to not only streamline purchasing, but better support their teams. Smart business buying tools enable buyers to find and purchase items fast so they can focus on strategies growth. It's time to free up your teams and focus on your future. Learn more about the technology, insights and Support available@AmazonBusiness.com only.
- [27:13]
B
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- [27:28]
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B
Two Pacific time teams on this bracket. That's fine.
- [28:07]
A
That's true. That's true. That's true. That's true. Phoenix. I forget. You know, they're close. They're. That's true. All right, but first we got to talk about Minnesota and Golden State. Oh, man. I'll say this. Cheryl Reeve post game after the final game in their series in which Minnesota ended up winning two. Oh, and moving on and they'll be in the semifinals and we'll figure out who they're going to go up against after New York and Phoenix play. But Sheryl Reeves said something that was very surprising to me and I wanted to get your thoughts on this. Sabrina. After winning the game against the Golden State Valkyries, 75, 74. Winning by one point after having trailed all game, Cher Reeves said she did not expect the series to be a two game series. I was shocked that she said that. I was like, rayf, hold on, that's some confidence. Okay. But you could see that there was such a respect for this team. Not just Cheryl Reef, but this team had such a respect for the Valkyries. And after that 26 point loss, I believe it was in the first game, you're like, the Valkyries showed up at Valhalla south. Great. But I think there was so much to be said about the way in which Minnesota responded to this game. Like you would have thought that they were just going to roll through this after game one and it was a struggle, it was a fight. And the Valkyries did what they were supposed to do, at least on their home court, in terms of putting up a fight, ultimately did not get the win. What were your thoughts on, you know, Sheryl Reeve coming in and saying, yeah, I didn't expect this to be a two game series. What does that mean for you?
- [29:39]
B
I kind of interpret it as her telling her players like, you guys got lucky and we did not deserve to win that game. Not that she's not showing respect to the Valkyries because I do believe that they have a lot of respect for what Golden State did. You know, KMAC and Nafeesta Collier came out postgame and they were just like, this team plays hard, right? And that was a hard series. And yeah, we've beaten them a lot of times this year, but a lot of those games could have gone differently and they made us work every single time. So I think they obviously respect, you know, what Golden State has done, but they're the one seed. You know, they wanted to get out of this in two games. They wanted to get the rest while Phoenix and New York are off traveling across the country two times you know, and playing each other. So to me, like, I think these coaches are often sending messages subliminally through these press conferences. And I read that as like, okay, we're not playing a game three, but like we were this close. Literally Genji Santa scene. We were this close. And I don't want you guys to forget that. Right. Like, we are so close to having to go through what everybody else is going through, what Vegas and Seattle just had to suffer through, what Indiana and Atlanta just had to suffer through.
- [30:42]
A
Right.
- [30:42]
B
That's kind of how I read it.
- [30:43]
A
Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is, you know, the players obviously suffer through it. We've suffered through it, watching it, it was crazy. The stress that they put us through. I mean, again, Minnesota taking the lead late in the game. And it was interesting because I'm gonna use the word that Cheryl Peck used, actually. I believe it was about Asia in game two versus this game three. She said that Asia was being conservative in the way that she scored. And I like that. I like that framing. You know, it's better than timid because you can't ever call someone like Asia Wilson timid. It feels. I feel the same way about Nafeesa Collier. And I felt like in the first half of that game against the Golden State Valkyries, Nafeesa was a little conservative with her contributions, particularly to the offense. And in the second half it just erupted and you remembered, oh yeah, it's Minnesota, they got all these weapons and of course they're capable of having Kayla McBride go off and Nafiza Collier and Courtney Williams, who's been struggling all game, is going to hit that go ahead shot now.
- [31:45]
B
Bridget Carlton hitting all those threes.
- [31:47]
A
Oh my. Right, exactly, exactly. Dijonay Carrington hitting a corner three after, like struggling earlier in the game. I'm wondering how much is the game tape off of the Golden State Valkyries taking it to the wire with the links? How much is that game tape going around right now of the number one seed? To be like, this is how you keep them in the 70s because the golden State Valkyries did that several times in their six games against the Lynx. This is how you keep the peripheral players and even Nafisa Khalar, how do you keep them out of the paint? And you really shut that down. They only had 24 paint points against the Valkyries. What are your thoughts on like how this tape is going to be transferred around or other teams being like, ah, nah, there's not much use there. Like they just had an off night.
- [32:30]
B
Well, I think offensively what Golden State did that was interesting and you know, start of this game happens and we find out the Temifag Benle was ruled out and it's like, oh crap, this is going to get even worse.
- [32:38]
A
Yeah.
- [32:39]
B
But then that means they start Ileana repair and you got five out spacing and that really messed with with the links and that's something that I think New York and Phoenix can borrow from because New York has Jonquil Jones at the 5. Phoenix can go to those five outlooks when they take Natasha Mack out and bring in a Catherine Westfeld or bring in Dewana Bonner and just play smaller and maybe it's not A traditional five out because Alyssa Thomas is still in those. But you have to guard her because of her playmaking. Like she demands to be covered everywhere on the court. So that to me was one of the keys. Is like, okay, we can kind of stretch Minnesota's defense a little bit if we have shooting at every position. Which wasn't the case necessarily in game one because Temmie, great player, but just doesn't have the same shooting ability. Ability, like maybe the best shooting five in the league. Honestly.
- [33:15]
A
No, she is.
- [33:16]
B
Her release is just fantastic.
- [33:17]
A
Ileana Rupert was the number one three point shooter in the league.
- [33:20]
B
Yeah, right.
- [33:21]
A
Yeah, that makes sense.
- [33:23]
B
So I think that was one of the things defensively, I thought they were just anybody but Collier in the first half, right?
- [33:28]
A
Yes.
- [33:29]
B
And that allowed, you know, openings for everyone. And like Courtney Williams is just goaded into some very bad shots. You know, we talked about this, right? Like, nobody having the ability to get into the paint if it's not Nafisa Collier. Right. So, like, that's where you see Atisha Heidemann sort of come in. And I thought Minnesota is just a little undisciplined and maybe that's part of playing on the road. Maybe that's just like all of the threes coming and it just gets them a little off kilter. But I thought the problem for them, not that they couldn't score well enough, but that they weren't defending Golden State well enough. And then once they shut off Golden State's offense and that opened up their offense. Right. But unfortunately, like, it's a very different case when you're going up against New York and Phoenix, because all due respect to the Valkyries, you take Veronica Burton off the court and it's so much easier to shut them down. Right. Like, that started the quarter, Burton gets a rest and they just crumbled. Right. And there aren't really dead zones like that in the New York rotation or the Phoenix rotation.
- [34:15]
A
Yep.
- [34:16]
B
And that's where you have to be concerned if you're Minnesota, because their role players, like, they came to play in like certain stints, but like, there were long stretches where it's like, can we rely on Courtney Williams? Can we rely on DJ Carrington? Bridget Carlton picks up her fourth foul. And so there was some shakiness. I think it's good for Minnesota to get a game like that off of their chest. But like, to me, it was what Golden State had did offensively that I think you look at and you're like, maybe we don't need Natasha Mack. As often in this series, and we just go five out or, you know, New York is always gonna be five out, so that's not really an issue. But, like, if I'm Phoenix, that's sort of what I'm looking at.
- [34:47]
A
Yeah. No, I agree with you. I think the five out aspect, the spacing, was something. A great chess move by Natalie Nikase, one that was kind of. I mean, I don't know how much time she had to make that decision because Timmy Fagbentley was scratched very, like, very close to the.
- [35:07]
B
I got the email pregame, and she was still on the starters.
- [35:09]
A
Correct. She wasn't even on, like, a questionable. Like, it wasn't like you were maybe thinking she might be out. But there was also something we said about Ileana Rupert on the defensive side. She showed help in a much bigger way and shut down a lot of those. Natisha Heidemann, right, those drives, that had been a problem. And the fact that Mo Billings came in and was phenomenal. This energy off of the bench and a bouncier big one that really loves to get up and block shots. She was really good on Jessica Shepherd. So now you're looking at the New York roster. You're looking at Phoenix, and you're like, okay, we're also seeing. We know y' all have size, at least for, you know, for New York, we know that you have size. We know showing help early or just. Just having big bodies in front of Minnesota can help deter those smaller guards. Cause let's be real, Courtney and Natisha, pretty small. Even Dijonay are on the smaller side. So we shall see what happens. We shall see what happens. But there is still one matchup yet to be decided, and that is obviously who Minnesota is going to match up against. Luckily, they took care of business in two games, so they got a little bit of time to chill. But New York and Phoenix pack up the briefcase. You got to go to work still. Okay, now, if you were a Liberty fan watching that game at Barclays on Thursday night, I hope you're okay. I hope you recover. Cause it was rough. It was a little tough. It was not fun. Kaliyah Copper said the arena sounded quiet. She said she couldn't even notice it. They dominated. And I remember watching. I'm at the studio, we're watching the Valkyries Minnesota game, and our producer is coming in, and he's like, yeah, they're up by 30. And we're like, oh, New York. Nope. Phoenix is up by 20, is up by 30. It was crazy.
- [37:00]
B
Just real quick, you Kind of saw that same surprise on Asia Wilson's face when they hit her post game. And, you know, the sideline was like, what do you think about playing Indiana?
- [37:07]
A
She's like, oh, yes, Indiana, yes. Good catch. She was shocked. She was shocked. And the funny thing is, different South.
- [37:17]
B
Carolina player you're gonna up against in the series, right?
- [37:20]
A
Oh, my goodness. She was not expecting that. South Carolina player, right. And Aaliyah Boston, she was like, where's my bestie? Coming in.
- [37:26]
B
Where's my bestie? Yeah.
- [37:28]
A
Alicia Gray. Oh, good catch. Good catch. Yes. So anywho, the Mercury end up winning that game. 86 60. I just don't know what to say about this series. I quite literally do not know what to expect. But we know that there's a major component to what New York can put out because of Stewie. So let us know what's going on there. What's the latest here and what happened out on the floor? Sabrina.
- [37:59]
B
Yeah. So brief recap. Stewie injures her knee, her left knee, during overtime of game one. Stays on for about another minute, then subs herself out. She was not a part of practice on Tuesday. She was a participant in shoot around. Said that if she wasn't in pain, she would play in the game after her practice pregame nap. And she wasn't in, or I guess not a sufficient amount of pain. She called her pain a 3 out of 10. But then Holly Rowe also said that she wasn't walking. So, like, what is Stewie's pain tolerance? I have no idea. Maybe she needs to like, scale it a little differently.
- [38:27]
A
A woman. This is woman.
- [38:29]
B
A woman. Yeah, exactly. But she got on the court and like, we know what Stewie looks like on a day to day basis. We know what Stewie looks like in a elimination game basis. Because like, you know, we're talking about a four time national champion, a three time WNBA champion, three time Olympic gold medalist, multi time World cup champion, multi time Euro league champion. Like everything you can win, Stewie has won. And so we know you're a champion for disrespect in gut check time.
- [38:54]
A
Right?
- [38:55]
B
And that is not what Brianna Stewart looked like on the court. So as we go into game three, the only thing I think that matters is are we getting Brianna Stewart? Are we getting whatever version of that was on Tuesday?
- [39:06]
A
Okay, so now we know that Stewie missed some time earlier this year. Jonquail missed some time earlier this year. Sabrina missed some time earlier this year. Like, it's just been a hodgepodge of this. New York Liberty team. Has it had the same outcome as Indiana? We'll see. I guess because they've.
- [39:26]
B
It has not been as galvanizing for them as you might expect. You know what I mean? Like, Indiana has come together in face of adversity and New York has been like, ah, crap.
- [39:36]
A
Right. And that's exactly what I was alluding to. It just feels like a different vibe. It feels like a, ah, we don't know who we are if we don't have one of these Big three on the floor. And that is very strange because they are the reigning champs. They won last year with these pieces and they've only added. They added Natasha Cloud, they added Emma Mesamin.
- [39:58]
B
Like they are without Kayla Thornton. They are without Jelaney Hamilton from last year's team. Niara Savli hasn't really been healthy. Niara Savli obviously a huge piece of them winning in the finals. So there is some discontinuity. You know, the Big Three are still there. That should be enough. Should be enough. But, like, the margins have changed yet.
- [40:13]
A
I appreciate you for giving that context. It's worth noticing because it's not as if Bed, Nigel, Laney Hamilton and all the players you just mentioned, Kayla Thornton go down the line did not have significant impacts on these games. So I do. I appreciate you giving them that credit. So now going into this game, Phoenix is feeling real confident to go into the bright lights of Barclays. They're feeling real confident going back into X factor. Like with the win that they got, the type of win that they got. What are you expecting in terms of a response out of Sandy Barndello?
- [40:48]
B
I don't think it's gonna be nearly as easy in Game three as it was in Game two. I think they just sort of found a weakness with this middle pick and roll in the second quarter. Attacking like Spree Unescu in those screen coverages. I think she was pretty under the weather. She, like, her voice sounded totally out of it in the post game. People in New York said that she looked like green in person. So I hope she's just feeling better.
- [41:07]
A
How does history repeat?
- [41:08]
B
Stewie's had a couple more days, right? Remember when she was throwing up the sidelines? Yeah. During the finals.
- [41:13]
A
That is crazy.
- [41:13]
B
It's a bad time of year for Sabrina's immune system, I guess. I don't know. But Stewie's had a couple more days since the knee injury. Right. Sabrina presumably feeling a little bit better. You have just like the memory of getting your asses handed to you in game two and hopefully that wakes you up, right? And maybe if Stewie's not ready to go, you can just start. Emma Mesimon and like that clarifies everybody's roles and they're not thinking all day like, is Stewie gonna play? Is Stewie not gonna play if they have a little more cl, I don't know if that helps, but I just don't think Phoenix is going to go on the same sort of 150 run. Like just put this game away so quickly because this is an elimination game. Things get harder just based on the two elimination games we saw today. Right. Things are really hard. Things get close and maybe the home court turns things in Phoenix's favor. They've been pretty good down the stretch. Game one accepted with obviously those miscues they made leading the game into overtime. But I still think Phoenix is going to take this one. I think they have just slightly more cohesion. The way they felt about game one was we just gave it away. Right. We know what we have to do to clean it up. And they very clearly showed that they were able to clean it up. So unless Stewie is completely ready to go and has one of those Brianna Stewart, I'm the best player of my generation type games, which you totally can. I think this is Phoenix's game to lose.
- [42:26]
A
I agree. And I also think that Phoenix is gonna take this. And the main reason I think that is one, the potential substitution like subtraction of Stu is huge. But the subtraction that I saw that was most evident for Phoenix was Satus Abli was just not Satu Sablee. Right. Like she just wasn't herself in that first game. 2of17 is just like non. Like it was out of character for her. And I, I saw a lot of folks saying online that, you know, she's taking shots that are out of like, no, no, no. Satu is good for a pull up for a just cross half court and just pull up in front of the defense. She is good for a quick shot early in the shot clock. Like she took shots that she has made over the course of the game and then you saw her make those same type of shots in game two. So that was like the main subtraction. And then of course some defensive faux pas. I think that ultimately gave the game away in overtime. But you take away Brianna Stewart, but you also have to take away the fact that I don't know if Natasha Cloud has another 23 point game in her.
- [43:25]
B
Natasha Cloud historic playoff riser and obviously she has some real personal beef against Phoenix.
- [43:30]
A
That's true.
- [43:31]
B
That is clear.
- [43:31]
A
That's true. That's true.
- [43:33]
B
So I'm never going to bet against Natasha Cloud at this time of year.
- [43:35]
A
Okay. Okay. That's what they're going to need because she was the elevation. She was the tide that raised all ships in that first game. And so we shall see. I'm still taking Phoenix. New York proved me wrong. I just want a good game. Do I want a good game? Does my heart want a good game? I got to cold call my doctor.
- [44:01]
B
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A
Three men, three murders, one killer who simply vanished. Thirty years later, crime Adjacent host Chase Patrick returns to Ridgewood to uncover how the nation's most prolific serial killer went undiscovered and why he started killing again in 2023. Crime adjacent is the never ending true crime story told weekly. Listen to Crime Adjacent wherever you listen to podcasts. Before we get out of here, we are going to do a little no off season Off Season Prediction Corner presented by BetMGM. Lock in for every basket with this WNBA SGP boost token. Use your token on any WNBA SGP and you'll score a bigger payout if your SGP wins. All right, Sabrina, we're looking at the teams who have already been eliminated. That's the Valkyries, the Dream and the Storm. Out of those three teams, I want you to give me a juicy off season prediction.
- [46:08]
B
I don't know how juicy this is, but obviously it's the things that I think about in my neck of the woods. I see Ezzy Magnor landing with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2026. I think they need to shore up some of their defense. She is kind of getting pushed out of the rotation there with Dominique Malanga. So, you know, LA and Seattle have done a lot of business actually, over the last couple years. I think this is very natural landing spot for Ezzy McGore.
- [46:34]
A
I like this, but, I mean, the defense would be insane. This is alongside with Cambrink, with Cameron Brink.
- [46:42]
B
Yeah.
- [46:44]
A
The block party would be on every single game. Get your dancing shoes on, y'. All. That is okay. I like that. I don't know if I got a juicy one like that. Mine's a little dry. I like that one.
- [46:56]
B
Let's go, let's go.
- [46:57]
A
Um, I. This will be a little too juicy. I feel like the Atlanta Dream backcourt is gonna break up.
- [47:06]
B
Like Leash and Ryan or Jordan Canada.
- [47:09]
A
Excuse me, Leash and Ryan.
- [47:11]
B
Mm.
- [47:11]
A
I think Ryan, after having, I mean, three straight years of not making it out of the first round and being really great. Right. That's the reason why I know Reinhardt is because of these monumental performances that she's had for the Atlanta Dream and just being crushed every year. I think she might. She might look to see somewhere else if there. She might be able to get those first round jitters or first round whatevers out of her system.
- [47:43]
B
Juicy, not to, like, throw any cold water on this, but she is a restricted free agent, so Atlanta does a lot of her rights. Yeah, okay. But you know, that's what makes us Juicy. Right? She's gonna have to exercise some leverage to make that happen.
- [47:56]
A
I mean, I doubt that Atlanta would match. I doubt they would just let her walk, but. All right, guys, we need help. Come up with some juicy off season predictions for these teams. Clearly, we're not very good at this, but hopefully you guys can help us come up with some. That is all we've got for you today. Both game ones of the semifinals will take place on Sunday at 3pm Eastern and 5pm Eastern, so make sure you check those out. We're going to be back here on Tuesday, hopefully with better heart rates to break it all down and more. And wherever you're listening, do your job. Follow our show. We staying up late for y'. All. Okay? We're making sure you get the breakdowns and all the insights. And if you're watching on YouTube, let me know what you think of my skincare routine. Thanks. And also subscribe, tell your friends you love us and that they need to check us out. And while you're at it, give us a rating. Drop a comment and make sure that we are in the right ears. We would love to hear from you. And of course gotta go on over to the Yahoo Sports Hub, y'.
- [48:55]
B
All.
- [48:55]
A
It's a thing. It's a thing. Go be cool. Do that. There's more content. Sports.yahoo.com womens sports on behalf of the Athletic Sabrina Merchant, I'm Zena Keda thanking you for listening. We will see you next time. No Off Season is hosted by Zena Kada with Chantelle Jennings, Sabrina Merchant and Ben Pickman. It's produced by Tanika Burrell. Our executive producers are Andrea B. Scott and Cashes Fleming. Our theme music is by Marcus Bagala. Monica Compton is our video editor. Shannon Ryan is managing editor of women's basketball at the Athletic. Jesse Burton is our head of audio and Tim McMaster is director of Audio operations. How can you free your team from time consuming office tasks? Amazon Business empowers leaders to not only streamline purchasing, but better support their teams. Smart business buying tools enable buyers to find and purchase items fast so they can focus on strategy and growth. It's time to free up your teams and focus on your future. Learn more about the technology, insights and Support available@AmazonBusiness.com only.
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Fire everything. The Capital One Saver card is at table 27 and they're earning unlimited 3% cash back. Yes, Chef.
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Capital One what's in your wallet?
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