← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
Las Vegas Aces Take A Commanding Series Lead
00:41:59
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- [00:00]
Zena Ka
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- [04:52]
For the athletic, I'm Zena Ka this is the athletic women's basketball show presented by Michelob Ultra. Welcome back to the Athletic Women's Basketball show presented by Michelob Ultra. And if I'm the New York Liberty, a Michelob is exactly what I need after last night's game. One cold beer to look back upon what happened and how the Las Vegas Aces took down the New York Liberty, 104 to 76. Now in the WNBA. Oftentimes we'll see a score and it's a blowout. And it doesn't necessarily tell the story of the game. But last night, that score actually does reflect what happened. It was a beat down from Tip to finish and the New York Liberty have a lot of self reflection to do. So today I'm being joined by Ben Pickman, which is appropriate. He has spent a lot of time with the New York Liberty this season, covering a super squad in them. And we're gonna break down this game and break down what does the Liberty need to do in order to make this finals trip a true finals trip and not a sweep. So Ben, let's start out with that very first quarter. Aces outscore the Liberty 38 19. But what was crazy was at one point the score was 19 to 2. 19 to 2. From the very start of the game, maybe even in pre game as they were warming up. What were you seeing from the Liberty?
- [06:44]
I mean, it wasn't good from the very beginning. And you mentioned at the top of the show Xena that the Liberty need a Michelob Ultra. After that I think, you know, they could have used one at the three minute mark in their first time out. I think at that timeout, fans still hadn't even gotten their first beer. Like I'm sure some were still filing into the arena, still at concessions and they looked up at the TV screens around the concourses and were like, oh my God, it's 14:2. What is going on? Because I think that was the reaction that everyone kind of had was the Aces just came out firing. I mean it was score scorched mode. Kelsey Plum really set the tone from three attacking the basket. Asia Wilson got involved, Kia Stokes got involved. And it was 142 from the moment you blink. Three minutes in and Sandy Brondello calls timeout. They missed five of their first six shots. The Aces made five of their first seven. And that really set the tone for the entire night. And as you mentioned, the lead only grew from there. But this was just the Las Vegas Aces just asserting their dominance and overpowering and rattling the New York Liberty. And you know, New York, as we'll get into, did recover a little bit in that second quarter. But the first quarter was just, I mean it was a disaster. Like it was a disaster. And you couldn't have scripted a worse start for the New York Liberty.
- [08:00]
It was exactly what you're talking about, like scorching, right? Like the Aces were scoring at will. It was whatever they wanted to do, they were able to do it. They were bullying. It looked like the Liberty and on top of it, that's the offensive end. On the defensive end, they looked like they were suffocating the Liberty, they were smeared completely all over them on every single play. That The Liberty were trying to create, whether it was screen actions, whether it was driving to the basket, everything they did. You saw multiple bodies being thrown at the Liberty. You saw multiple dig ins. You saw multiple. I mean, just great communication all around. They looked like the. They were gangbusters out there. They were gangbusters. And I hate that word because my college coach used to say it all the time. We gotta be gangbusters. We gotta be gangbusters. I don't think I've ever seen that true definition come to life until I saw what the Aces looked like in that first quarter. That comfort was just another level. And what fascinates me is we talked about this in our last show previewing Game two. When you have a game like what you had in Game one for the Liberty, you would assume, especially when you've got the offensive firepower that the Liberty have, that they would come out with an inspired game, right? They would come out with this. This galvanization that's just like, ooh, I gotta go out and have this effort. And from the first quarter, the effort just didn't look like it was there. Did you see that, too?
- [09:30]
Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, what some of the coaches and players talked about after Game one was just the kind of newness of the environment. Both. This was their first trip to the finals, and then they were adjusting to the crowd, to the atmosphere, to the. The fans, the energy in the building, maybe the pace of the Las Vegas Aces. And it seemed like leading into Game two, everyone on New York was in a much better headspace or mindset entering the game. And I think that was why it was so surprising to see how they came out and, you know, obviously give a ton of credit to the Las Vegas Aces. I think, you know, Becky Hammond has done almost everything right this series. If there's one thing she has gotten wrong consistently in both Game one and Game two, she said pregame Game one and Game two, that she expected close games. Neither of those games were close. That might be her only a bad prediction the entire series because we've just had two blowouts. And, you know, New York, they did look rattled. And it was the kind of thing that, you know, defense has been so important to them. It really is their calling card where they get stops, they push the ball in transition, and then their offense kind of moves. And they pride themselves on moving the basketball and not having it stick and not isolating and, you know, looking for the best shot, not necessarily the first open shot. And we didn't see that in the first quarter one, they couldn't get a single stop, and so they're taking the ball out of the basket. Then their offense gets a little bit more stagnant on the other end of the floor. And we saw them kind of rush, rush some shots up, especially from the perimeter, from three. And you know, it kind of had this trickle down effect in that first quarter. You looked up and suddenly, you know, the scoreline was what it was, it was 38, 19. And you know, I remember I looked over at Sabrina and our colleague DeShawn Reed, who was also there, and I said, you know, the best case scenario for the Liberty in this scenario, in this situation is, you know, they're down eight to ten at halftime. You're down five points heading into the the fourth quarter, and then maybe you're able to steal one out. You know, they had made it so that they were gonna have to play catch up all night long. And they did do a decent job in that second quarter, making it a little bit of a game. But, you know, they had, they had to work so far so hard because of how they started that, you know, they were behind the eight ball from the beginning. And I think that was, you know, one of the things that really came across in Sandy Rondell's comments, just the, the disappointment in that start.
- [11:45]
Yeah. And you talk about that second quarter, looking at the first quarter to the second quarter, yes, the Liberty did perform better than the Aces. They were able to get their field goal percentage up from 30% in the first to 45 in this. In the second quarter. They barely, but, you know, significant for where they were, were able to get their three point percentage. They shot 20% from the three in the first quarter and then shot up to 33%. Still season average, but still necessary for, you know, what you said. They had to catch up the whole game. But what was interesting to me was that it wasn't necessarily that I felt that they, it wasn't necessarily that they had done something necessarily different in the second quarter to be able to outscore them 25 to 14. It was that the Aces had done something different in the sense of the Aces numbers went back to like, quote, normal numbers. In the first quarter, aces shot 70% from the floor. It was just easy, super easy. They shot 60% from three shout out Kia Stokes. What? Like Kia Stokes getting stretch threes. This was. They could score at will, like you said. But then in the second quarter, the Aces went back down 45% from the floor, 28% from three. Do you how Much do you think that the Liberty had to do with that come them coming back down to normal versus the Aces, just kind of, you know, coming. Coming down off that high comes to start the game.
- [13:24]
I mean, I think it was unsustainable, the, obviously the start that the Aces got off to. I do think that New York's defense settled down a little bit and we saw, you know, I thought Marine Johannes played, you know, three or four solid minutes in the second quarter and was a nice change up for Courtney Vandersloot, who struggled throughout most of the night, if not all of the night, until the final minutes of the game. But the thing that I think sticks out, and you mentioned the field goal numbers in that second quarter, you know, it's a little bit of fool's gold, in my opinion still, because even though New York outshot, outshot the aces 45% to 38% or just under in that second quarter, if you dig a little bit deeper, you see that Jonquil Jones, she really was the star in that second quarter. She had 16 points and eight rebounds in the second quarter. She alone was six of seven from the field and had six offensive rebounds. So what that tells me is everybody else, if you take away JJ's field goal percentage, they were 3 of 13 from the field. Their best offense, New York's in that second quarter was let's miss shots or shots are missing, and JJ is going to clean it up with her six offensive rebounds and put it back in for some easy baskets. And, you know, credit to John Paul Jones for working really hard and being such a force on the inside. I mean, it's. It's something that I think Becky Hammond has certainly recognized and she's stressed in every availability, every availability this series, just the importance of guarding John Quell Jones. But, you know, other than JJ's putbacks and her presence on the inside, New York really was not able to generate any offense in the second quarter. Right. Stewie had one point in the second quarter, but Ajulaney had five, SAB had three and nobody else scored. So it really was just John Paul Jones putting up misses. And she really helped establish them and settle them into the game. And I think New York, when they went into the halftime locker room, you know, they talked about it a little bit after the, the game. I asked Sabrina Yanescu about it, and, you know, I think they recognized that they played a pretty bad, bad, disappointing first half, but yet they were still down eight points and very much in it, you know, or. Or so they thought, or they thought they had a chance certainly, but they never really had any rhythm going and, and if not for J.J. kind of collecting some misses in the second quarter, you know, I, I, there's no reason to suggest the game would have been as close as it was even entering halftime.
- [15:39]
And I wanted to talk about this today as well. You saw frustration from Jonquil Jones, especially on the defensive end as, as the, the Aces were just hopping around the half court. I mean there were times that Kelsey Plum just looked like a fun little rabbit just going into the paint. Oh, I can't believe I caught it. Let me pass it out to keep the offense going. It was just kind of fun for them. And you saw Jonquil Jones doing her best and ultimately, uh, she did get some block shots. She definitely held down the paint, I think from a defensive point. But they also got some and ones, they got some, some big time scores as well in the paint. I'm, I'm wondering what the message was after that first quarter. Going into the second, it feels like Jonquail got the message right, going 16 points, she was like, all right, this is the finals, we gotta play, we gotta show up. It definitely felt like she got the message, but it just the energy, the spirit of this is the game we have to win. We can't go down to or.02. Didn't seem like it resonated with the others after that first quarter. Do you know what was talked about going into the second quarter? To get people to get going, to get the offense going, get defense going.
- [16:53]
I think New York did kind of just stress that they still had time and it was a long game. And I think you did see some of the body language from the reserves on the bench as they did chip away. You saw the applauses come out, saw, you know, more players kind of getting into the game, continuing to encourage teammates. And I think you saw recognition that like, okay, now the lead is 15, now the lead is 12, now it's back to 15, you know, but that's within striking distance, especially in a game with two high powered offenses like this. So there was some recognition that they weathered this onslaught. And I think New York did do that and I think the crowd recognized it too, that suddenly halfway through the second quarter they looked up and they were like, oh, this isn't a 22, a 25 point game, a 27 point game. Like this game is competitive with a lot of time left. And I think people recognize that after the hot certain. So credit New York for doing that. But again, they set themselves so far back after the first quarter. And you just can't afford to do that. Playing a team that is as talented and also experiences the New York Liberty. I mean, that was something else that people from New York talked about after just like eight, the Aces, they look like they've been in this situation before, that they've been playing together for a long time and that they've played for championships and won titles before. Sabrina Unescu told me after she's like, it looks like this is new for us when it's not like this is not their first time playing. It's certainly the Finals have been new to them and they've looked new to the Finals, but this is a group that has played a season together now. They haven't played as long as the Aces core, and that is factually just the case. And, you know, the Aces have had more time to gel, but New York isn't exactly a new collection either. And so I think it was disappointing that they reverted back to some of those early season habits or look like a team that had kind of just been thrown together.
- [18:33]
I don't think people give enough credit to just because. Yes. Brianna Stewart former MVP Jonquil Jones former MVP all of these players, particularly in the wnba, are championship level players on the college level, right? Like these are top tier. But playing together and playing in that sort of environment requires a different level of tenacity that I don't think that people appreciate as much. And you're seeing this play out with the New York Liberty and their ability to go up against a monstrous Las Vegas Aces. I mean, those, those women are playing. So let's talk about the second half a little bit after that inspired second quarter, I would say. I just love the way you said inspired that one time, Ben. I'm always gonna use it. I love that. After that inspired second quarter and them finally being able to whittle down that lead to just eight, aces go on a 2813 tear. Asia Wilson was Asia Wilson ning. And I've said this before, and I'll say it again, what she does on the basketball court when she is performing at that high octane level deserves a verb. She went 10, 10 points, 5 of 5 from the field, did not miss. Efficient. Then her teammate, four or five from the field from Jackie Young, 11 points. And then there was Chelsea Gray, no points because she was too busy setting up points for her teammates. She had five of her 11 assists for the game in this quarter. I thought that was really cool. The women's Hoops account WBB World Worldwide Hoops. I think that's what the account name is. But definitely follow them if you don't. They, they said, always thought that Tisha Pentiro was the best passer I've ever watched in women's basketball. However, Chelsea Gray might be the best. My goodness. And what I loved about it was that Tisha Panachero re quoted it. She retweeted it and quoted it. She said she's better. She gave her her props. She was like, no doubt she can have that crown. That is a very special moment in WNBA history. You love to see the Legends respect the newer talent. And yes, Chelsea Gray's been in the league for a minute. She's not necessarily new, but she is that new generation of talent that kids looking up to this game are going to be able to remember. Oh, Chelsea Gray was the point. God, do you remember those WNBA Finals in 2023? So that was really cool and she deserved that because Chelsea Gray was doing exactly what you would want out of your floor general distributing the ball, doing unreal things. I mean, having two bodies thrown at her on traps and finding a way to wrap around passes to Asia Wilson. Sure, it's great to have a target like Asia Wilson in the paint. She's incredibly dexterous and can catch almost anything thrown at her. But it also helps to have such a tactical distributor like Chelsea Gray and then the New York Liberty starters. I mean, that quarter, it was as if they didn't know that they needed to come out of that hole and build upon it. Benjulaney, three points. Brianna Stewart, two points. Mind you, one of six from the field. Oh, of two from three. Johns, three points. Sabrina Unescu, three points. Courtney Vandersloot, zero. What happened? What was that halftime talk? Because if I'm Sandy Brandella, I'm like, ladies, we're here. You, great job. Let's go. Keep it up. Keep on this path, because you can. You're still in this. You're very much still in it. And then the third quarter came, and it was very uninspired. What happened?
- [22:10]
Yeah, it's funny that you use the phrase like, it's almost like they didn't know what to expect because it's one of the things that, you know should be at the top of any scouting report against the Las Vegas Aces is just how they perform in third quarters. They were the league's best team in the third quarter this year, almost 20 points, plus 20 points per 100 possessions over their opponent in terms of net rating in that third quarter alone. Just asserting their Dominance and skill set and strength, you know, time and time again throughout the entirety of the regular season. And give a ton of credit again to Jackie Young. She was really the key coming out of the locker room in game one and I thought she really set the tone again early in the third quarter of game two, she had a couple and ones attacking the basket aggressively and Asia Wilson as well. You know, the two of them combined to be 9 of 10 from the field in the third quarter. It was really, you know, Jackie attacking the rim, getting what she wanted, both pull up jumpers and again at the basket, Asia from mid range, Asia around the rim, just having her way any which way she wanted, getting baskets anyway, going into her bag and really just looking like significantly the best player on the floor or just especially compared to any player on the New York Liberty. Right. New York did miss some open shots, but Ajulaini, you mentioned it, one of four from three and I think that was a common thread throughout the night. They certainly took some early ones, but they also did miss some open ones. But Stewie, you know, one of six from the field, as you said. And the four turnovers, she had four turnovers in that quarter. And that's obviously an inopportune time to have it as New York was trying to claw back into the game. A really disappointing third quarter for the New York Liberty. And that was really it. You know, like that was kind of the game right there. If they hadn't lost it in the first, they certainly lost it in the third for sure.
- [23:53]
Also noticing Jonquil Jones, no rebounds in the third quarter. Like you said, inopportune times to not have the bread and butter of what got you to the finals, not show up. Right. And yes, you mentioned Jackie Young and I really wanna talk about that combination of Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray. Asia Wilson is doing her thing in the front court, but talking about that backcourt. This was a conversation we had in last show, the battles of the backcourt. Even though Kelsey Plumb had a quieter night than she had in game one, it is very clear Jackie Young particularly is the person exposing the lack of solid and consistent defense on the Liberty side. There has not really been an answer for her in these last two games. And what fascinates me about it is that, you know, Jackie Young can create. She can, she can take it to the basket, she can create her own shot, she can hit those open transition threes or transition shots. Yet there hasn't been to me a focal point in trying to make her a non factor. Right. Whether it's in transition, defense tagging someone to her, gluing them, whatever else anyone else is doing, focusing them on, you know, protecting the paint and kind of regionalizing the defense. But focusing on Jackie, whether it's her coming off screens and throwing bodies at her, I don't understand why there isn't. There hasn't been a shift or different actions thrown at trying to minimize her ability to just be comfortable on the court. Do you expect Sandy Brandello to be a little bit more specific about how to make sure that Jackie Young doesn't have another Jackie Young Knight?
- [25:37]
I mean, I think it depends on how they want to deploy and use Benija Laney. Right. Right now, early on. And this was the expectation. Right. She's busy.
- [25:45]
She's got a big role. Right, Right.
- [25:47]
And she's been guarding Chelsea Gray as her primary assignment. And, you know, I think she's done a pretty solid job. You know, Chelsea certainly ended up with 14 points. She had, you know, 11 assists. But certainly Chelsea had to work for all of her points on offense. I think there were a number of occasions, again, late shot clock falling away, hitting the floor. I mean, all shots that Chelsea Gray is comfortable with, but they certainly made Chelsea Gray work. And so, you know, maybe you move Benija Laney to Jackie Young or to Kelsey Plum, but then, you know, you're certainly opening up another matchup and it's just pick your poison. Right. I think about heading into the sea the series and I think it was pre game in game one, Becky Hammond kind of said of Chelsea Gray that she likes to survey a defense and then she'll break it down. Whereas Kelsey Plum breaks down the defense and then surveys what to do with the basketball. They complement each other so well. You throw Jackie Young in the mix, who is a star in her own right and I think, you know, we'll get to it again. But Finals mvp, she's certainly maybe at the top of the list or right there at number two right now through two games she's just been so, so impressive. But, you know, I don't really know like, you know, Courtney Vandersloot certainly struggled again. They picked on her on both offense, sagging off of her and defensively, maybe we see more Marine Johannes and I don't think Marine is necessarily going to help on the defensive end. But you know, if Marine is going to make open threes or shoot more confidently than. Than Salute Will, maybe that's just a trade you have to make and hope to. To win a shootout against the Las Vegas Aces and hope that your crowd and the energy that Barclays center brings out on Sunday is enough to just change the energy, change the vibe, and change the tone of the series. But again, these are hopes. These are abstractions. Like, you know, there wasn't anything that New York, I think, can come away and said, we really, really did this. Well, Sandy, afterwards, I mean, she's normally so. So steady. Her coaching staff talks about it as one of the strengths, but you could see the kind of disappointment, the frustration. You know, she said to the question, what went wrong? We didn't execute anything we wanted to. You know, why does this team look so different? She was like, I don't know why. You know, UNESCO again. At the moment, nothing's working. Like, there were so many questions. They're gonna search for answers over these next few days. They're gonna hopefully find something if you're a New York Liberty fan, But there's a lot of things they need to find, and. And it's a tough. It's a tough, tough task in front of them.
- [28:16]
Nothing's working. We didn't execute anything that we wanted to. It seems as if all of the things that got them to the Finals have just gone away. And this could be a really big, bold statement to make, but I feel as if the Liberty are relying on the fact that they are incredibly offensively talented, and yet that offense isn't showing up. And now it's like, oh, we aren't a defensive first team or a defense first team. Right? We're an offense first team. Now that the offense is not there, where is the resolve around your defense? And I'm looking at Sabrina Ionescu, I'm looking at Courtney Vandersloot, and I'm looking at them, and I'm saying, you're seeing Jonquil Jones. I'm looking at Brianna Stewart as well, but I'm seeing Jonquil Jones and BenJulaney put in work. You have got to carry your. And then I also think, okay, could a Kayla Thornton come in and throw some bodies around? Could A Jocelyn Willoughby come in and throw some bodies around? But then I think about how that could hinder the offense. And I'm also at a loss for words, because I look at this team, and if I'm on this team, I'm thinking, tire them out, right? Just like Ben Najulaney's doing with Chelsea Gray, making her work for every point. Cool. She can score, but she's gonna be tired. They only got six players. They only play six players. Tire them out. Where is this effort? I Just don't understand, like, where there's like a. There's a lack of. I don't know, I just. I keep saying grit and resolve, and just like, we gotta go at them to tire them out. And then by that point, hopefully our offense comes back. What are you. What do you make of that? That the effort on the defensive end from those other guards outside of it.
- [30:11]
Nigel Laney, I mean, they talked about a post game, like, where is the grit? We need to play with toughness. We need to be more resilient. You know, those were all words that were thrown around. We need to search inward and reflect on, you know, ourselves, play with pride. As the series turns back to Game three, those were all things that I think they recognize. You know, after Game one, there was still a calm from the New York Liberty. I think they recognized that they didn't play a very good first half. They were still leading, that Las Vegas punched them in the mouth in the third quarter. In those first five or six minutes, blew the game open. New York didn't have a run in them. That was disappointing, obviously, but, like, they didn't play their best game. They thought Las Vegas had played their best game. They probably haven't. Game two is probably even better. And they would recover Suddenly, same song, second verse in game two, and you're down 2 0, and you're just trying to. You're steering history right in the face. Right. No team has ever come back in the WNBA playoffs from a 20 deficit. And the tone was very different. Sure, New York has two home games in theory coming up, but, you know, they've given little evidence to suggest it's going to stretch past Game four, let alone past Game three. You know, a disappointing effort as. As we've said, and to the point of, you know, depth. Because I think it's important to touch on. And it's been something I've asked about Becky Hammond, Alicia Clark, other people around the series. You know, the reality of how these games are currently spaced out. You kind of can just play your players. And New York has, you know, a deeper roster. There's no doubt about it. Right. Thor and Marine, you mentioned, you know, we saw Steph Dolson. She played 10 minutes in game two. But game two was Wednesday. You know, game three is Sunday. It's okay that Chelsea Plum. Kelsey Plum played 36 minutes. Chelsea Gray played 37. Like they have time to recover. They flew charter on Thursday to New York. They'll recover the rest of the day Thursday. We'll see what they do Friday, Saturday before Sunday afternoon's game. And then they won't play again till Wednesday. So, you know, the way the series is structured just allows for some more breaks. And so it's just go, go, go. And Becky's riding it. She talks about how she doesn't coach the score, and we've seen that in her lineup rotations. I think there was a question that we had, Sabrina and I, and to Sean, during the final minutes of the fourth quarter, we're like, when is the plug going to be pulled? When are they going to put bench players in? And they did in the final few minutes. But, you know, even in midway through the fourth quarter, you still had the starters out there. And that's just a testament to Becky and her approach as well.
- [32:49]
Yeah. And when you finally did pull the starters, the shot of Asia Wilson on the bench just. There was no joy in her face. It was just raw focus. She. You can tell how dissatisfied she was. This wasn't it. This isn't ending. It definitely gave me that Kobe interview, that post game interview where he was just not satisfied. He's like, we haven't. The job isn't finished yet. That is exactly what she looked like. And if I'm the Liberty, I'm looking at that. If I know that the star player that has been doing really well for her team, if she's looking like this, the rest of the team is looking like this. Game three ain't gonna be a walk in the park. Okay? Game three is gonna be just as rowdy, raucous and difficult and just. It's gonna be tough. And so I really am wondering where the New York Liberty are gonna be able to pull that resolve from within and be able to rally together. It might be time for one of those no coaches in the locker room talks, right? Where they bring all the team together and figure out what are we doing. I do wanna talk about Breanna Stewart before we close out because we didn't talk about her much in our game one review, but I think it definitely, obviously requires review because this is your WNBA MVP last preview or last review? Ben, you said she's gonna have to pull out one of these 35 point games, right? Like she's gonna have to do what star players do across all team sports and just goes, all right, let me put the team on my back. And we haven't seen that yet. What is it going to take for Breanna Stewart to pull out her Breanna Stewart ways and getting those shots in, getting the dominance that she has, Whether it's in the post. It's in threes, in transition, in whatever. What is it going to take for Breanna Stewart?
- [34:52]
It's one gonna take a lot because she is obviously a big focal point and she's certainly a great player, but she hasn't played her best series by any means. Despite, you know, she still had a double double in game two. The thing that I think sticks out to is just her free throw numbers, right? Like she had two free throw attempts in game two. I believe she had four in game one. And she's just not getting anything going around the basket with any kind of physicality. And certainly, you know, you can make the case that JJ is there taking up space. And John Quell, by comparison, had seven free throw attempts in that second game. But Stewie, to me is floating a little bit. Or you see Alicia Clark, someone who they were former teammates in Seattle, comfortable even despite being a smaller player, guarding Brianna Store. You know, I kind of mentioned it. You alluded to it, Xena, at the end of our show earlier this week, heading into game two, how you can kind of make the case that Stewie's a little bit of an X factor. Like, what are you gonna get out of her? And, you know, she entered the series having not ever lost a finals game. Obviously she's lost two right now, but she hasn't given them enough. They haven't gotten her involved in spaces in which she has been comfortable. I think she is struggling with some of the physicality. She seemed a little bit rushed in that third quarter. Four rebounds in that period alone. And she two turnovers on the game. She had a team low minus 27 plus minus. You know, obviously that is not all on her shoulders. You go down the list and pretty much everyone had a minus plus minus. But she's going to need to play. You know, it's. It's simple and it's not exactly novel analysis, but she's going to need to play up to par up to how Asia Wilson, up to how Jackie Young, the standard that plumb and gray have set all game long. Because, you know, certainly not a good sign if Kia Stokes is making more three pointers than Brianna Stewart in a finals game.
- [36:37]
Ooh, say that that's absolutely right. And you're right. That's what such a struggle about this series is that it's not novel analysis. It's not this like crazy X's and O's and, you know, that's what's making it so hard for the Liberty because they're just Getting all these different types of defenses and all these different types of things thrown at them. It does come down to who is playing faster, better, stronger, right? Who is playing with a much more connectedness out on the court than the other team. It really does seem really simple. It makes our jobs as people reviewing these games, like, I don't know what to tell you. Just play harder, right? Or just make your shots, but it's not happening. Just looking at, you know, Breonna Stewart's stats in the playoffs versus the regular season. I mean, she's shooting 20% from three in these playoffs compared to her regular season, 35.5%. Same thing with her field goal percentage. She was 46.5% in the regular season versus just 36% in the playoffs. And it's clear, I mean, obviously that's the entire playoffs, including her performance against the Sun. But very, very curious as to where she is going to be able to pull out her ability to score the ball and how her teammates are going to make her successful in Game three. We know Barclays center is going to come with the energy. We know the celebrities are going to show up and show out. We know the lights are going to be flashing and they're going to be on. But you got to step up to the stage. And so it's going to be. It's gonna be a battle internally. More so, I think, for the Liberty more than going up against the Aces. Cause they know the Aces are coming at them. Remember Asia Wilson's face? I dream of it already. It's scary. Okay, so as you mentioned, this has not happened in WNBA Finals history. Someone's gone down.02 and come back and won. What has also not happened in a while, but it's happened twice with the Comets. And Sparks is a WNBA team repeating Aces are one game away from being able to do that. And another thing that hasn't happened and that got blown out of the water last night, the Liberty had not lost back to back all season long. So there's a lot of things that you know haven't happened could happen have happened. Right? So we don't necessarily have to look to the history books. We can look to the history books to say, okay, maybe the Liberty are in a bad spot and their chances of coming back are really, really tough. And we can also not look to history and say the Aces can do whatever they want. Right? Doesn't matter if the Liberty didn't lose back to back in the regular season or all year. They did it last night. It doesn't matter. It's been a long time since the team has gone back to back as WNBA championships. They can probably do that literally this Sunday. Lots to look for, particularly on the Liberty side. Now the next game is on Sunday. Our next show won't be until after that. And there's a possibility that this could be closed out on Sunday. If it does close out, I'm assuming that you're still with the same prediction for Finals MVP Jackie Young.
- [40:02]
Oh, pre series, I had predicted Benija Laney. Cause I predicted the new series.
- [40:07]
Oh, that's right. That's right. Yeah.
- [40:08]
So I, I'm not sticking with that prediction, if that is the question. Yeah, I mean, I think Jackie or Asia Wilson right now. I mean, you know, to me, Plum has done an extraordinary job, I think as a tone setter. But you know, Jackie has really. She's been phenomenal for two straight games, especially in the third quarter, which have been really pivotal, pivotal stretches. And Asia has again, you know, I think she was quietly dominant in game one. It was far less quiet in game two. She was, you know, got anything she wanted and just a force on. On both ends and on the glass as well. I think we'll have to see how game three goes. But those would be my two, two front runners in terms of Finals mvp at least through two games.
- [40:49]
Yeah, yeah. It is incredibly difficult to try and choose between the four starters. Right. Of the Aces. They've had their time to shine in every single in each one of these two games. And yeah, I'm thinking Jackie Young because of her being such a quiet assassin. Right. Like she's not that bigger than life personality on the court, but man, is her presence felt. And she has just been such a lift for this Aces team all year, but particularly in this series. And I would definitely vote and predict that she would get the Finals mvp. All righty. Before we go, any last thoughts on the Liberty or Aces?
- [41:36]
Yeah, I mean, what I would say is this. I mean, the Las Vegas aces, they've won 11 games in a row. They haven't lost since Aug. 28. That loss came in Barclays center in New York. So, you know, certainly New York feels confident playing the Aces in Barclays Center. And if you look to some more recent history to the 2022 finals, I wouldn't be shocked if Game 3 looked a lot like Game 3 of last year's finals against the Connecticut sun and the Las Vegas Aces. In that game, Connecticut jumped out to a 15 point lead. After the first quarter, the Aces kind of chipped away in the second and third. And then Connecticut blew out Las Vegas in the fourth, outscoring them by 21 points to win by I think 29 points was the final margin in that game three. And you know, I wouldn't be shocked if New York, you know, if the game followed a very similar script with the series flipping back to Barclays center, that we see an inspired Liberty team that, you know, comes out playing pride, playing prideful in front of their home crowd, feeds off the energy of the crowd, wants to give them a great show. And so you know, and the, the Aces frankly recognize that they have game four in their back pocket and they have game five if necessary too back at home after a cross country fight back and where they've had so much success in Michelob Ultra Arena. So you know, if you're asking me to make a final prediction, I, I do still think the New York Liberty will win game three. I think they will come out and play with pride and play with a sense of urgency and desperation and you know, play good enough to, to get the job done and force a game four. But you know, certainly Las Vegas has dictated everything through two games and even in a, even in game three, if New York does win, I would still expect Las Vegas really is still the aggressor in the tone setter in this series, results aside. And I wouldn't expect that to change. So maybe Becky Hammond's prediction will be right, that we'll get a closer game in game three. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. But it should be another, another good one. Turn in, tune in early because as this series has shown, it might get out of hand quick. So, so tune in when it starts.
- [43:46]
Oh yeah, make sure you're there at the tip because you might lose. The storyline of like wait, what happened? How did this go down? I'm in the boat of it could be a close game. I have a feeling that the New York Liberty are going to make some adjustments to try and get the front court of the Aces in foul trouble to try and make some more attacks on them. Trying to get them to be minimized so that the focus is on just the guards and you know, see what they can do in terms of creating space for their players to score inside bet. Nigel Laney likes to cut to that basket. She doesn't want any disruption there. Get Brianna Stewart on the post. No disruption there. I think there's going to be a focal point to try and get Asia Wilson to be a non factor which is tough because she's an incredibly smart defensive player. But barring foul trouble aside, I think they're going to make this a close game. I think the Aces are going to sweep this because their level of focus right now is scary. And they are. Here we go. Coming out like gangbusters. Hate that word, but here we are. So we'll see what happens. I mean, obviously, I don't think anyone wants a sweep. We want this to go the distance. We want this to be a series. But Las Vegas Aces have a lot of ammo in their back pocket, right? They feel a type of way about the MVP voting. They feel a type of way about all the drama that's been surrounding their team this whole season. You can tell Becky Hammond has made it very obvious that she feels a type of way a lot about the way the media have treated their team or the way that the WNBA world has looked at their success. So I think they're gonna probably pull out that ammo, which I didn't think they had any more left to pull from. But we'll see. All righty. Well, we are gonna see what happens. Game is this Sunday back at Barclays Center. Make sure to tune in. Viewers have been making records regardless of NFL Sunday, so shout out to the WNBA viewers, all the ones watching the game. 729,000 last game won most viewers for game one in WNBA history. You know, why not? Let's make history again. All right, folks, I'm actually not gonna go off the script today because I wanna just focus on these series and this. Cause I don't want it to end. I wanted to focus on this series. But one thing I will say is I'm very excited. As WNBA closes down, that means there's an NCAA season coming around the corner. So very excited to start talking about that very soon. But let's focus on the finals for now. All right? For the Athletic, I'm Zena Kaeda. Thank you to Ben Pickman for helping me break down game two of the WNBA Finals. Until you hear from us again, please keep listening, keep learning, and keep loving the game. Until next time, folks.
- [46:50]
Ben Pickman
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Unknown
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ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's the show that we recommend.
- [48:17]
Marc Maron
Hey, folks, it's Marc Maron from WTF. It's been more than 15 years now, and I'm still talking to all kinds of people in my garage every week. Sometimes it's Bill Burr, sometimes it's Ariana Grande. She just looks at me because she's always going like, dad, it's not that big a deal. Yeah. I go, sorry, I lost my temper. I go, I still love you. You know, Daddy has issues.
- [48:38]
Unknown
Are you afraid of it?
- [48:39]
Of death?
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Marc Maron
Of death?
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Unknown
Well, I don't know.
- [48:41]
Marc Maron
I think about it all the time.
- [48:42]
Unknown
How are we here already?
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Marc Maron
Listen to WTF with Marc Maron twice a week on your favorite podcast app. Or get more WTF with a WTF subscription. Just go to wtfpod.com and click on WTF.
- [48:59]
Ben Pickman
Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.