← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
Loading summary
Transcript72 lines
- [00:02]
Shopify Advertiser
This episode of the Totally Football show is brought to you by Shopify. When we're kids, we dream of being anything. A footballer, an astronaut, an international man, a mystery. But as we get older, reality kicks in and dreams change and we focus on how to take our skills and ideas and turn them into something tangible like owning your own business. And for that, you'll need a website, a payment system, a logo, and a way to advertise to new customers. It can all be overwhelming and confusing, but that's where Shopify comes in. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. When it comes to websites, Shopify's got beautiful ready to go templates to match your brand style. And you can amplify that brand with Shopify's easy to run email and social media campaigns. Shopify's AI tools are created for commerce and can help you with tasks like generating discount codes, writing product descriptions and enhancing product images. And whenever you get stuck, Shopify's award winning 247 customer support is always there. So turn those dreams into sales and get the best shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com totally. That's shopify.com totally all in lowercase one last time. Shopify.com totally.
- [01:21]
Liquid IV Advertiser
Love looks different for everyone, especially when it comes to all the ways you treat and celebrate yourself. I'm a big hammock head. Sunshine a hammock, a paperback western that's my kind of everyday indulgence and you can gift yourself the everyday indulgence of extraordinary hydration with Liquid IV powered by Liv Hydro Science. Visit LiquidIV.com to fall in love with flavors like the zesty new hydration multiplier, sugar free Raspberry Lemonade and use code no dunks to save 20% off your first order. Liquid IV is easy and convenient. You just tear, pour and enjoy. It's my go to when I'm getting a pump in or handing out buckets, but it's great for staying hydrated during long days, enjoying the outdoors or any other time you need some hydration in your body. Liquid IV offers so many true to fruit flavors. Whether they be hydration multipliers like acai berry, lemon, lime and pina colada, or sugar free like raspberry lemonade, white, peach and rainbow sherbet, the flavors are always true to fruit. Break the mold and your own ritual. Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone because Liquid IV is powered by LIV hydroscience, an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. You're getting three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, plus eight essential vitamins and nutrients. And Liquid IV is always non gmo, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and soy free. So treat yourself to extraordinary hydration from Liquid IV. Get 20% off your first order at Liquid IV when you go to LiquidIV.com and use code no Dunks at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with code no Dunks@liquidiv.com Summer is almost here.
- [03:23]
Wayfair Advertiser
And there's no better place to go for outside furniture than Wayfair. Wayfair's huge selection of outdoor essentials will help you make your outdoor space more comfortable, functional and most importantly, more you. Get your outdoor space rated today so you can enjoy it all season long. When you have kids, they love to be outside, so you gotta be out.
- [03:44]
Zena Kaeda
There to watch them.
- [03:44]
Wayfair Advertiser
From Wayfair, you can have outdoor sofas, maybe a set of chairs, a gazebo, some umbrellas because it's really hot down here in the South. No matter the need, Wayfair's huge selection of home items makes it easy to find exactly what's right for you. There's something for every style and every home, no matter your space or budget. Wayfair makes it easy to tackle your summer home goals with endless inspiration for every space and budget, including the outdoors. Free and easy delivery, even on the big stuff. No more huge delivery fees for patio furniture. Get big stuff like patio sets, gazebos, hot tubs, outdoor dining sets, and more shipped free. Find all your outdoor must haves from seating to pool, lounges to trampolines, all in one convenient place. Shop a huge selection of outdoor furniture online this summer. Get outside with wayfair. Head to wayfair.com right now. That's W A Y F A I R.com wayfair every style every Home.
- [04:57]
Zena Kaeda
For the Athletic. I'm Zena Kaeda and this is the Athletic Women's Basketball show presented by Michelob Ultra. Welcome back to the Athletic Women's Basketball show folks, and shout out to our sponsor, Michelob Ultra. We appreciate your support as we talk about this crazy NCAA season that has kicked off. It's only been two weeks folks, and I don't know who's good. I mean, yes, we do know South Carolina's good. Let me take that back. But I don't know who else is good. And this is what we're going to talk about today. We got Sabrina Merchant in the building. Hi, Sabrina.
- [05:42]
Sabrina Merchant
Hey, Zena. It's been a while.
- [05:44]
Zena Kaeda
It has been a while. I feel like the WNBA season ended and you were just like, okay, I covered the aces. Let me go celebrate. Bye. Bye now. You've been doing a lot. You're, I think, our only writer that directly transitions from the WNBA into college. And you have not missed the beat at all. I mean, you have been right in it at the games, seeing this up close and personal. And it's been a crazy season so far. And I'm so grateful because we have you to help us keep track of everything through your rankings. And yes, folks, a ranking is live on the site right now. Sabrina, just put that out, particularly after this weekend's games. I want to first ask you, before we get into that, how do you come up with the rankings? Because I literally just, like, reached out to you and Chantel and Ben, and I was like, I am overwhelmed. Like, there's so many good games. How in the hell am I supposed to keep up with all of this? Like, and the thing is, you know, I used to play. So, like, we paid attention to the people that we played against, right? We watched film against who we were about to play. So being able to, like, try and keep track of everything can be really, really difficult. So I want to ask, what is your process for this rankings piece?
- [07:04]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I mean, it's kind of overwhelming, like you said, just to keep track of the entire scope of college basketball, especially because you don't want to give short shrift to anyone just because they're not on national television as much or their conference doesn't get the same limelight as somebody else's, or they didn't happen to be in the rankings like the AP poll this week. But there's probably a good reason for them to jump in at some other point. So I try to just make sure that, you know, I'm not the best at following the mid majors. I will readily admit to that. But I try to pick, like two or three games from every big conference. You know, every week that I want to follow. I make a mental note of which games I'm tracking so that I don't pick up the same teams every week. You know, I want to get a good little variety. But yeah, it's just. It's a lot of spreadsheets and documents seeing, like, who's playing who, who's winning against who, what results sort of stand out to me. I have, like, little color coded things. Like, if it's a really impressive win, then it's bright green. If it's a really depressing loss, then it's bright. You know, everything sort of goes into that. And then I just look at all these colors at the end of the week and try to make sense of it.
- [08:05]
Zena Kaeda
I love that. What? This is a science.
- [08:09]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah.
- [08:09]
Zena Kaeda
Sabrina makes so much sense to you went to Duke. This makes so much sense. This is amazing. I wish I could. I'm gonna. I've got it. You've gotta let me see that. What? I can't even imagine how much of. Do you, like, write little notes of, like, what you thought? Like, how does that.
- [08:24]
Sabrina Merchant
So the notes come on a separate document? I can't put that in this own thing. Yeah, yeah. So I have literally just like in my notes app on my ph that I know anywhere that I am. If I happen to come up across something basketball related, I can just add it to this app. And then, of course, it's on my computer, too. So I try to take three or four things from every game that I watch. I don't want to overwhelm myself because if I were to take notes on every single thing that's happening during a game, there'd just be no way to sift through all of it. So just major takeaways. What was that? A Cornell notes type situation that we learned in school, right?
- [08:57]
Zena Kaeda
Oh, right, Exactly. No, I think that your method that we learned in school is being applied very well. Because I'll say, like, your rankings pieces and our rankings pieces in general do a really good job of making the main things the main things and making it simplified and condensed in a way that's like, all right, here are the takeaways. I miss the rankings. I'm so happy that they're back. And I do appreciate your breakdown this week. I got to see it. Go see it. Join me in the club that read this and looked at this, and I got some things to ask you, girl. Because the first thing I really particularly want to point out is that Stanford, Duke game. I also want to just say a grievance. I said this on Twitter. I am a YouTube TV subscriber. I am a cable cutter. YouTube TV. Get it together, boo. There are opportunities here that we're missing out on. Okay? There are so many games happening at the same time. The country. The country begs you to offer the opportunity to choose what games and what Channels you want in multiview. It is an opportunity. I bet you people would pay for this opportunity. I think I would. So please figure out the technology. You're probably already working on it because, you know, you're YouTube, but still, I'm just putting that out there. Okay, let's move on for this Stanford Duke game. I think this game kind of is reminiscent of, like, what's going on in the league in general. Right? These Goliaths are looking human. These Goliaths are being intensely matched early in the season and being tested. And we saw several examples of that. But I don't want to touch on that just yet. I do want to talk about this front court duo because I love that in the article you talk about the fact that, you know, outside of Cameron Brink, the other front court personnel that Sanford have had over the years, I like the way you said it. They've been embarrassed with riches. Right? Like, it's just been too many great front court players to try and rotate through. And we're now starting to see who was hiding on the bench, you know, whose talent was just in the dark corners of the sideline. And now they're on the court and really shining alongside Cameron. So I want to point out, particularly talk about Cameron and Keke. And Keke, do you love me? She killed it, killed it, killed it, killed it. Like, she was insane. And also it seemed, I don't want to say effortless for her, but it really felt like she, like the game has slowed down. She's been out there forever. If you. If I never watched college basketball before and just saw Keke and Cameron as a duo, I would have just imagined like, oh, that's Fran Bellaby. Like, believe me, excuse me. Like, they've been doing this forever. That's Haley Jones. Like, they've been doing this forever. Like, they've been at this together for a long time. And I was just really impressed with the two of them together.
- [12:01]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I mean, it shouldn't be surprising at all for us to see Cameron Brink doing what she does. I mean, 72 consecutive made free throws, three shy of the Division 1 record. So something I'm definitely keeping my eye on anytime Stanford plays this week. But Cam can do everything right. She can shoot from the perimeter, obviously. She's got that impressive free throw stroke which bodes well in case she ever wants to expand her game out. She's a really good passer from the top of the key, obviously a good finisher inside. And then we haven't even mentioned her best part of the floor yet because she is the reigning PAC 12 Defensive Player of the year. And just a truly disrespectful collection of blocks that Cameron Brink puts up on occasion. She really gets in your face when she blocks your shot, and you should, when you have that talent and that capability. The way she rotates and stays with guards and bigs. Like, not a lot that Cameron Brink can't do on a basketball court. So for her to shine out like this is really unsurprising, right? Like, she was the fulcrum of Stanford last year, and you would expect her to be the best player coming into this season, especially without Haley Jones, who went to the NBA last year. But then it was kind of a question of, like, okay, well, Stanford lost Haley Jones. You know, they lost Lauren Betts, a couple other transfers, Agnes Amenopou and Ini Navarro. Who's going to step up and take the place of that second score on Stanford, especially, because they really didn't have one last year, right? It was such a slugfest offensively all the time. And here comes Kiki, right? Like, her efficiency over the first four games of the season is obscene. You know, like, she's making about 80% of her shots at the rim, 20 points per game. Just. That's the kind of production you expect from, like, WNBA All Stars. That's not the kind of production you expect from a player who was barely starting last year. You know, sort of lost her confidence as the year went on. Like, I remember the first time I watched Kiki play. Stanford had come to USC during her freshman year, and Kiki Iriafin is an LA native, so she got to come in closer to the end of the game. This was a pretty blah game. USC wasn't very good that year, and she just got in because it was garbage time and it was her hometown, and that's all that she was allowed to do at this point of her career.
- [14:04]
Zena Kaeda
That's crazy.
- [14:05]
Sabrina Merchant
And to think that we're just 18 months later and she's on national TV just taking names. It's very cool to watch that level of progression. And that's the kind of thing that unfortunately, with the transfer portal, we miss out on a little bit because not everybody stays long enough to make that next step at the same school. But I think it's awesome that she's been in this system with Tara for so long. She knows how to play with Cam. You can definitely see that familiarity between the two of them. They know which parts of the floor to occupy with each other. So I think you Saw a lot of that on display against Duke. Obviously, the fact that one of them is always on the court at all times makes it very difficult to do anything in the paint against Stanford. But I just love that combo so much, and I'm glad that you can really see that confidence just coming to life. Because, like you mentioned, you had Fran Belebi last year. You had Ashton Proctor, you had Haley Jones playing the forward. You had Lauren Betts trying to get some minutes. There were just so many people who were occupying these forward spots. I think even Brooke Dimitri was getting some time at power forward. It's just a lot going on for the Cardinal. And, yeah, maybe they lost some talent during the off season, but I think there's also some benefit to just clarifying roles, giving everybody a better chance of knowing what to expect on any given night. And there's some real value in just, like, understanding and, like, appreciating what's gonna come every single game.
- [15:19]
Zena Kaeda
I really appreciate the players where you get an opportunity to see their growth, because it is so rare these days, right. When you evaluate, like, you know, when you have those sports conversations of, like, oh, this person's done really well over the course of their four years, or, this person was the goat, or this person, whatever, you often need a consistent framework of, you know, setting time, whatever it is. And nowadays, someone goes and transfers before you can kind of compare, you know, how did they really evolve as a player in this system? Or how did they really evolve as a player alongside someone like a Cameron Brink? And sometimes you just don't get that storyline, and that's okay. I mean, you think about Lauren Betts. She's killing it right now for ucla. That's okay. But it is a treat, I think, in this day and age of, like, being able to see someone like Keke evolve and really break through. There's, I think, a few players like that. Aaliyah Edwards of UConn comes to mind as well.
- [16:19]
Sabrina Merchant
That's a great example. Yeah.
- [16:20]
Zena Kaeda
You know what I mean? Like, it's really cool to just be able to see them within their frameworks of their system and the people that they've played around. Just breakthrough. And I'm excited to see what else is coming come out of Kiki. But of that game, and not just that game. Like, I just want to read off some scores from over the weekend. Friday through Sunday. Princeton losing by three to number two, UCLA. Florida losing by four to number 13, Florida State. Harvard losing by 10 against Baylor. And then Rhode island losing by nine to number 10 North Carolina State, who just took down UConn. Right. Like, and then Duke taking Stanford to overtime. Oh, it is fun.
- [17:06]
Sabrina Merchant
It's really fun.
- [17:07]
Zena Kaeda
The girlies are playing. It is a great time out here. But what is. What's happening, too, is, like, the separation outside of South Carolina, and we'll continue to make that caveat, but outside of South Carolina, there's not much separation. It's not, like, it's not clear yet, and I know it's still early, but what are your thoughts on that? Is. I think it's great, definitely, but I think, ooh, people who make rankings like you, your job is tough. Your job is hard.
- [17:36]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. So I've been at the Athletic for about a year now, and the one thing that's always been very easy about these rankings is South Carolina comes in at number one. Like, that's just a given. It's really nice to have that comfort, just to know, like, okay, number one, South Carolina. Now we can figure out the other 24 teams. I mean, I put a lot of thought into how this works every week because, you know, fans are very passionate about their teams, and they want to be. They want to see their players get, you know, rewarded for the work they've done in any given week. And I get that. But, like, I think at this point of the season, I put more emphasis into the analysis of the teams because I don't really know, like, if Baylor is better than Texas yet. Like, we're going to figure that out during the Big 12 season. It'll come. But for now, like, especially, like, in the PAC 12, like UCLA, Utah, USC, they're also very, very close together. I mean, the way they played against each other, even last year. So I kind of just want to hone in on, like, what's interesting about these teams right now. And, yeah, I do put a lot of thought in, like, does UCLA's win over Princeton matter more than Stanford's over Duke? Like, maybe, maybe not. But I think right now, at this point of the season, it's just more interesting to think about what these teams are doing. Well, what sort of questions we have for them, you know, in terms of their style of play, in terms of the rotations. But, yeah, the 25 is. It's a tricky, tricky exercise. I'm very in awe of all of the AP poll voters who've been doing this for years and years and years. This is my first year with an AP poll ballot, actually, and it is terrifying to know that people can just look up, what does it say under Sabrina Merchant? On the AP poll, and people can just come right out and like, you had Utah number six this week.
- [19:10]
Zena Kaeda
A. We respect your opinion, and I appreciate you calming me down and telling me, just look at the game and now analyze how they're performing. I appreciate that. Because a lot of people, it's true. Like, if you don't get a chance to watch these unreal games because they're just coming in flurries, you'll look at a score and be like, what happened? Whoa, wait, what? And it's not until you watch it back and you're watching what happened, right? What actually caused, you know, the game to get so close. Like, you would have never known that duke was down 30, 17 in the first quarter. Looking at that game, right. And being able to watch and see how tenacious their defense is, but then also seeing how many blown baskets they had in transition breaks. So there was like, there's different elements to it. So I appreciate you saying that.
- [19:58]
Sabrina Merchant
Exactly.
- [19:58]
Zena Kaeda
The people that are going to be judging your rankings probably aren't doing that. So we're not going to put too much attention on that. We're going to give you, hey, any.
- [20:06]
Sabrina Merchant
Engagement is good engagement right now. Facts. Keep reading. Keep telling me what I'm doing wrong. I will pay attention and try to, you know, hone in on that team more next week.
- [20:14]
Zena Kaeda
There you go. Okay, guys, there's a green light. That is a green light. I was trying to protect you, Sabrina, but boom, there you are. You open the door, it's on you. I want to talk a little bit more about, you know, the west, because as you mentioned in your article, the PAC12, whether it's in college football, whether it's in volleyball even, but especially in women's basketball, they are having quite the farewell tour. They are showing up and letting people know we were here. We are here for now, we're still here. So I know we've talked a lot about Lauren Betts, and I just mentioned she's killing it. She's amazing. I love your breakdown of her game. I won't spoil it here. Go read it. But of what she impacts. But we haven't talked a lot about Alyssa Pele, and she was offensive player of the year. Like, she. She is that person that's creating for her, her team. We saw that last year. We're seeing it now. She's doing some stuff that I'm just like, did you mean to do that? Because I don't know how. How did you. I don't know if that was a move that you intentionally did that, but it looks like you did. So, boom, absolutely crazy in the post. And just in general, just a strong body as well, and being able to just get her position on a player. I want to talk more about Alyssa, because I don't know enough about her, I think, like, can you talk a little bit about her growth? Has she always been like this for the Utes? And I also want to ask you, like, do you think it's enough to carry them? Like, a comparison being like a Caitlin Clark? Yeah.
- [21:39]
Sabrina Merchant
So Peely is kind of the inverse of that Kiki Ariafin story in that she had to transfer to find a system that worked better for her. You know, she started her college career with usc, and just the type of basketball that Lindsey Gottlieb was playing was just not conducive to what Alyssa wanted to do. And that's fine. You know, sometimes it isn't exactly what you're all for. You just said that when I was, you know, when I was talking about Kiki's story, I wasn't saying that, like, transfers aren't the right idea. Especially in this Covid era, when I'm sure recruiting was really, really challenging and you couldn't even visit the schools or visit your teammates and know what you were getting into. Like, that has to be incredibly difficult to make a decision for the next four years of your life without all of that information at your disposal. So, obviously, transfers are great. I'm glad people have the agency to do what works best for them, of course. And, yeah, Alyssa over the last couple years at Utah, so, I mean, there's obviously a lot of statistical evidence to back up what she's been doing for the Utes. You know, she won PAC 12 player of the Year. For me, it's just aesthetically watching her. She can move her feet in any different way. There were some plays against Baylor where she's got spin moves and then reverses and throwing the ball high off the glass behind her. I mean, like what you were saying, Xena, where there are situations where I'm not sure that she intended to do that, but it looks so smooth when the ball goes in the basket that who am I to judge? Her jumper looks so good from distance. Just the fact that you have this behemoth in the post who can back down, anybody who draws fouls, who can finish from any angle in the post, and then you also just pick and pop her. And that three pointer looks like it's a shooting guard taking it. I mean, her offensive package is just it's unreal. I would love to see her get more assists considering all of the attention she gets on offense. I think coming into last night's game, she only had five assists in four games, which, like Alyssa, we can do better than that. Like, there's a lot of. There's a lot of teammates on the floor. I think we can pass the ball a little bit more. But when you can score that easily, I can understand the inclination to not want to pass because you think the ball is going in every single time. And frankly, when you're Alyssa Peely, it's going in about 73% of the time. So, yeah, keep shooting for me, just on a personal level, there's certain players who stand out because they're just fun to watch. And I know the Utes aren't on national television a lot. They did make the Sweet 16 last year, but, you know, that game was a little ugly of a slugfest against lsu. Like, a lot of fouls, really low scoring, not the type of pace that Utah's accustomed to, especially on their home court. But if you have an opportunity to watch Utah play at home in the elevation where they can get going on the break, like, this is a team that just scores. So it's just fun to watch. Like, it's a lot of layups, a lot of threes, fastest pace, analytics driven offense. But the way Alyssa moves on the court is kind of unlike anybody I can see in college basketball right now. And because of all the work, you know, we do on the WMA side, I think about how these players project. And I mean, if she was 2 inches taller, I think we'd be talking about her as a potential number one pick, like next to Caitlin Clark, which is a wild thing, but she can still find a way to score anywhere on a basketball court. And I just think it's really fun to see players like that who I didn't even know really what Alyssa Pele was when she was at usc. And now she's just this offensive dynamo. And yeah, maybe Utah is a little too reliant on her because we saw that game against Baylor, she picks up two fouls. That first half was basically like non existent for her. She couldn't get back into the game. And the Utes had a pretty big deficit that they were working their way back from. Against Baylor on the road, that's. That's a tough situation. I consistently have this bugaboo with college coaches. I feel like they should be a little bit more forgiving of their players. When they get fouls, just let them stay on the ground.
- [25:07]
Zena Kaeda
Just play a little bit more.
- [25:08]
Sabrina Merchant
Just play a little bit more.
- [25:10]
Zena Kaeda
I get that.
- [25:11]
Sabrina Merchant
You know, the Tara Vanderveer, Cameron Brink.
- [25:12]
Zena Kaeda
Situation, that was the example I was going to say. I was like, I think it really depends on the player and their poise from a defensive perspective. Because if you know that your player is more prone to be reactive regardless of where they're at, because they just like, that's just how they move and their motor, yeah, you gotta go sit them down. Like, they need to sit down. They're too much of a risk. But it was incredibly impressive. That was one of the most impressive things, I think, for me, beyond Cameron Brink hitting those free throws to close the game, was her ability to stay on the floor with four fouls and still be a defensive presence as well. But I cut you off. I'm so sorry. Did you finish your point?
- [25:52]
Sabrina Merchant
I'm just saying that I do wonder, like, if Utah has enough surrounding her when she's in the game, then the threes open up for everybody else, the driving lanes open up for everybody else. But without her as that fulcrum, it is more challenging to see how things function in Utah. But the thing is, they returned so much of their lineup from last year. I think they returned four or five of their starters from last season's team that made. So there's a lot of institutional knowledge on how to play together. Maybe that was just a tough game. First true road game of the season in Texas. Like, that's a tough environment to play in in Baylor, but that is something that I'm keeping my eye on. It's just, how can everyone function when Alyssa is potentially not at her absolute A game? Because you'd expect her to be at her A game most often. But we see this in teams around the country, right? Like, if Caitlin Clark is not in her absolute A game, who's going to step up in her absence? If Paige Backers is not an absolute A game, who's going to step up? And that's one of the questions I have with Utah going forward.
- [26:44]
Zena Kaeda
You know what I was just thinking and looking up when you were talking about not seeing anyone like Peely right now on the college level, I was like, who does she remind me of? And there are two combinations that came to mind and it made me want to look up some statistics. So Peely reminds me from a post perspective of the Paris Twins back at Oklahoma.
- [27:11]
Sabrina Merchant
Okay. At Oklahoma, right.
- [27:13]
Zena Kaeda
Like they used to just now an.
- [27:14]
Sabrina Merchant
Assistant coach with the Dallas Wings group, right?
- [27:16]
Zena Kaeda
There you go. WNBA connections. Here we are. We are all learning, folks. All together now. Yes, but no, the way they pound in, the way that they would pound inside, but also be so agile and the way they move was just fluid. And they were like what, six, five? Like solid bodies, but they were so agile in the post. And then combined. And this is when you said if she was two inches taller, we'd be talking about number one pick. Combine the Paris twins with Stephanie Dolson's pick and pop shot.
- [27:51]
Sabrina Merchant
Mm.
- [27:52]
Zena Kaeda
You know what I mean?
- [27:53]
Sabrina Merchant
That little trail three, too.
- [27:54]
Zena Kaeda
That trail three, I feel like together, together, those attributes. That is Alyssa Peely. And you're absolutely right because she's only 6 2. Imagine if she was 6 5. Oh, the league would go crazy. They're still gonna probably go crazy for her, but really, really comprehensive play from her, like all together from Alisa Pele. I definitely, I'm happy we talked about her. I'm definitely, I'm happy to make a, like, shout out on her because I think that people haven't talked about Utah enough. And it might be because Peely is the one big player or memorable or, you know, making a name for herself type of player in this big landscape of a lot of notable players. So keep an eye out for her for sure.
- [28:46]
Sabrina Merchant
But I do think it's interesting with Utah because, you know, they won the Pac12 regular season last year. They sort of surprised everyone. Everyone assumed that Stanford was just going to collect another title like they do with their Stanford. But to come back, you know, be ranked in the AP poll, be ranked in the top 10 coming into the season, have all these expectations placed on you, it's an entirely different situation. Right? Like going from being the hunter to the hunter.
- [29:09]
Zena Kaeda
Right.
- [29:09]
Sabrina Merchant
And I do think that that's really cool to see how they respond to that because everything last year was basically gravy, right? Like, oh, we won a regular season title. Like, nobody thought basketball was played in Utah, you know, until March rolled around. Right. So to be on the national stage this early in the season, I think is really interesting to see how they respond to that and a lot of Pact 12 teams, how they respond to that, because this is an unfamiliar situation for the non Stanfords of the world.
- [29:33]
Zena Kaeda
Well, I also realized that we've been going through all of this and I've not been talking about where any of these teams that we've talked about are now ranked in your ranking, but quickly.
- [29:42]
Sabrina Merchant
That'S why you have to read the Athletics ranking.
- [29:44]
Zena Kaeda
There you go. There you go. All I'll say is that Utah was ranked preseason number five. You've got them a little lower. Go read the article to figure out where she got them. Now, let's talk about another team with another player that's got a lot of focus on them and evaluate if that's a good or bad thing. And that is our girl Caitlin Clark at Iowa. And there has been a lot more attention put on Caitlin's statistics. Not from just, oh, did she drop 30? Oh, did she drop, you know, whatever. However many threes people are starting to look at. Field goals attempted. Right. The amount of shots she's putting up. Because that is a legitimate statistic to look at. Are you being efficient? Like, anyone can score a lot of points if you're being offered the opportunity to shoot a hundred times. Now, that's not what her statistics are. Don't get me wrong. But. But the more opportunities you get, of course you're gonna have more opportunities to score and make it. Is that sustainable when the person that's being given majority of the shots and, you know, as you mentioned in your article, Sabrina taking the shots that are now missing from teammates that have graduated, how can Caitlin and Iowa overall get the entire team more involved? So I want to ask you that, and I also want to ask you about the sustainability of it.
- [31:17]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. So Caitlin Clark last year had a tremendous pick and roll partner in Monica Sonano. You know, they had the law firm of Clark and Sonato Shirts in Iowa City.
- [31:27]
Zena Kaeda
I love that.
- [31:28]
Sabrina Merchant
A lovely little duo, you know, that got to play together for three years and really develop just this understanding, almost this, like, psychic understanding of where the other was going to be on a court. And we've talked a lot about Monica Cenano, her ability to just finish without dribbling. She even takes her free throws without dribbling. It's just another, like, wonderfully, aesthetically pleasing person to watch play basketball. But to go from somebody who's been your center for all three years, I mean, Iowa had the same starting lineup for three years for Caitlin Clark's first three seasons in Iowa. Like, that's an insane level of continuity. And, you know, you can see that in the way they played offense together. A lot of changes this year without Monica SONATO and without McKenna Warnock, who was the starting power forward in that lineup. And a lot of offense that was being generated by those two players that is no longer in the lineup. And so I just thought it was interesting to see. Okay, well, where are these shot attempts going? Because Iowa took about 65 field goal attempts per game last year, and it's at 66 this year. It's essentially the same pace they're playing at. So if Sonato and Warnock were taking 18 shots per game, like, who's getting these? And I was hoping, like, you know, just from a, a shot distribution, balance, perspective that these would all be going to Anastalke and Sharon Goodman and Addison O'Grady, because those are the bigs who are playing those minutes. But the problem is, like, about a third of those are still going to Caitlin Clark. And Caitlin Clark, already a national leader in scoring an assist last year. I'm not saying that you can't handle more volume, but there's probably a reason why Iowa was so successful when those shots were being spread around the starting lineup. And we saw a game against Kansas State where Caitlin Clark missed more than 20 shots for the first time in her college career. She openly said after the game, I have to do a better job of getting my teammates involved. Lisa Bluder said, we don't have faith in our bigs right now, which is an insane thing to think about for the Iowa Hawkeyes, because this is the program that produced Megan Gustafson in Monica Zanano, and it's basically like post player, you for the Big Ten and for them not to have faith in those bigs. Especially when you think about the threat that a roller, you know, provides to just take a little pressure off of Caitlin. Just that outlet in the half court or in transition, like Candice Falki runs the floor really well. They. They just have to find a better balance. I think of where those shots are going because it is very fun to watch Caitlin Clark put up 44 points on a given night like it is, but it is. I just don't think that you can expect that to happen on a reasonable number of shots every given night. And that's something that Iowa has to figure out. And I would hope that they were further along in that process because Stolke is in her second year with the team, Grady's in her third year with the team. Sharon Goodman's also a junior. It's not like they're just coming in as transfers or new recruits and they're learning what it's like to play with Caitlin Clark. I mean, we wrote a story during the tournament last year about just the act of catching a Caitlin Clark pass because she sees things that other players don't. So it's always got to be head on a swivel, you know, kind of like with Chelsea Gray in the wnba, like, just when she's not looking at you expect the ball to come in your direction. But there are players who have been with Clark in practice. And so I think that it'll come along. I do think it's probably better for Iowa to have these growing pains at this point of the season, just like they did last year and their eventual route to the NCAA final. But even just looking at the box wars and looking at the games like, you know, Gabby Marshall is probably could stand to take a couple more shots. Kate Martin probably stand to take a couple more shots. It just, it doesn't have to all be Caitlin all the time. And I realize part of that problem is her, like she has to get off of the ball sometimes. So it's, you know, another interesting story to watch her grow as a leader and figure out how to bring the rest of her team along with her because, you know, you, you game plan against Iowa, number one, number two, number three, number four. Options on the scouting reporters. Stop. Kayla Clark.
- [35:18]
Zena Kaeda
That's, that's, that was gonna be the thing I wanted to follow up with because I think that a lot of people talked about their run in the NCAA tournament last year and being almost surprised that people had not figured out a scheme yet against Caitlin Clark. And. But it's because it wasn't just Caitlin Reich, it was Monica Sonano and McKenna Warnock also helping out the load and being people that you had a game plan against. And it makes it incredibly, I mean, you're doing this now, imagine what it's going to be like by the time March rolls around. People are going to have you locked up and understand not only will they have you locked up in terms of like figuring out what can we do to minimize her touches, it's not even going to be about that because people are going to be like, let Caitlin get off. Instead, let's lock up everyone else around her. We've seen their scheme. We see how they move around her. We see what allows her to pass out. Let's shut that down. Let's go. Let's go ahead and let Caitlin Clark try and beat all five of us. And so that's the scouting aspect is the biggest thing. I was watching the Iowa Drake game last night as well. And I mean, outside of the first quarter, like, you know, they got running in the second quarter, but that first quarter it was exchanging buckets left and right, left and right, left and right. And for Drake to be in that game, and they are high octane type of team, they clearly, they put the ball up quick. The difference maker was Caitlin Clark. That made separation for Iowa, but Caitlin Clark needs a rest. Drake is now in that game with Iowa as well, so. And that game ended 113 90. So, yeah, separation happened at the end towards, you know, don't worry. Not trying to say that we were close, but Caitlyn was a very big part of that. And so if you remove her or remove her supporting cast as a factor, a really good coach will figure out how to do that and when it matters most, AKA in March. That's the part that you're like, okay, figure this out now, how to get them involved more. Yeah.
- [37:21]
Sabrina Merchant
And it's tricky to be a role player, right, because, you know, if Caitlin is on one of her runs and she puts 14 points in the first quarter, and you haven't really touched the ball for the first 15 minutes of the game, then, you know, down the stretch she kicks out to you, and it's like, okay, well, this is an open 3. But also, I haven't had a chance to put up the ball in the last 20 minutes of the game. So I'm not saying that it's like, you know, a bad job to have to take open threes off of the attention Caitlin Clark gets, but there's a lot of pressure on that, you know.
- [37:48]
Zena Kaeda
And, you know, everyone's like, you gotta hit those. Like, if she's gonna give you the ball, you gotta hit those. And it's like, exactly. There's that lemur meme of, like, the white lemur with his hands up being like, I don't know what to do. I don't. Yeah, you just. You just want to. You don't want to completely default to her because you have to be.
- [38:05]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, everybody has to maintain in a rhythm the entire game. And that's what's so interesting about Caitlyn, is that she has managed to be the leading scorer and the point guard for this team for the last three years so successfully. But those are two, like, dramatically different roles to occupy. And the fact that she has done so well with that is, like, why she's a generational prospect. But it also demonstrates the difficulty that it's on her plate every time Iowa steps on the court.
- [38:27]
Zena Kaeda
I'm actually happy you said that. The last thing I'll say is that in any other circumstance where someone is the number one focal point from an offensive perspective on a team, and they do that consistently for four years, you worry about their ability to translate to the. To the league, because that's not a thing. The league is filled with capable shooters. The GMs will fill rosters and fill spots around you to allow you to not be the only person capable of putting the ball in the basket. And so in a normal setting, you would worry about that. But I do think what you just mentioned, like Caitlin has demonstrated her ability to be a point guard and create and distribute, but mainly to create for herself as well. So I think she's more than capable of being able to translate and fit into whatever she'll need to fit into into the next, whatever the, you know, the next level gives her or sets up for her. But anywho, Sabrina, we appreciate you, girl. Thank you so much for coming through and talking rankings. Her power ranking is live right now on the site. Go check it out. Games will continue, folks, and we will be paying attention. If any of you have any tips on how you're watching all of this that doesn't necessarily involve like multiple televisions, let us know. You know, if there's like a schedule you got going, we'd appreciate any insight because there's too much good basketball going on right now. We don't want to miss it. All right, before I go, I just want to go really quickly off the script before I dive into today's off the script, I just want to give a quick shout out to Chris Williamson because had he not retweeted the final score of this game and the final outcome of this story, I would have forgotten that this was something that, you know, is worth beholding and talking about at the beginning of this season of the field hockey season. And Brendan Marks, one of our athletic writers, wrote an amazing, amazing piece on a particular person named Aaron Matson. If you don't know who Aaron Matson is, don't you worry. I got you. Erin Matson played field hockey at UNC Division 1 program. And as a player, she won four national championships as well, as was a three time national player of the year under her coach, Karen Shelton. Well, Shelton last season retired. She had been the coach for 42 years. But before she retired, Erin Matson, who was in her final semester at unc, went into her athletic director's office and asked for the job. He told her, go win a championship first. Which she did and literally was responsible for the win. She got the final penalty shot against Northwestern, but after that they hired her. She became the youngest NCAA coach in Division 1 history. And now after this Sunday's championship win against Northwestern again, so it's almost faded. She became the youngest Division 1 head coach to win a national championship at age 23 and why this story is crazy. I mean, I don't know if I need to explain why this story is crazy. The story is crazy going from a player to a coach. Going from, you know, blood, sweat and tears with your teammates, but also partying and being social with them to now being their head coach and being responsible for their performance on and off the field. Their growth as both students and athletes and humans like this is a very big responsibility for someone that just left the program to take on. But the reason why I want to call this out and relate it back to women's basketball is because we have seen an influx of of women's current basketball players and former basketball players ending their careers or in the midst of their off seasons, going and coaching with Division 1 programs or NCAA programs in general, regardless of division. And I think there's always been this preoccupation, particularly when it comes to hiring women to coach women, this need for experience. Like when you think back in the day, I think about even my college coach and when she got her first experience, like a lot of coaches were in their twenties coaching big time programs and nowadays there's this need, especially on the higher level, to have people that are incredibly, incredibly experienced. I feel like that's not the case when it comes to hiring men to coach women's basketball or hiring men to coach men's basketball. There's just so many more opportunities for men to just kind of jump in and try things out, whereas women have to constantly prove themselves. And don't get me wrong, I don't think there's going to be a ton of Aaron Matson's around. I mean, again, go read that profile by Brendan Marks. You'll see why she's such a unique candidate and why she was able to do this and why the likelihood of being able to do something like this was higher for someone like her over anyone else. So I'm not saying that there's going to be a ton of repeats and that every single athletic program in the country should just hire former graduates. But I do think there's something to be said about the ability that a player that performs at a super high level in the collegiate space being able to quickly translate that to a coaching position, a serious coaching position, faster than the average person that did not perform at that level and you know, is getting their experience under coaches. I think there's a way that you can evaluate that. Of course, everyone's like, well, it's not fair. Like someone, you know, coached under someone for another, for four years or someone coached under another, you know, had tenure at another college for X amount of years. I get that. I understand wanting fairness around you, put your time in. I completely get that. But I'm gonna tell you right now, if I have an opportunity to be coached by someone that was just a four time champion and a three time player of the year over someone that maybe did not have those accolades and you know, may have just gotten a few more coaching years under someone else, I would not necessarily say that that experience completely discounts the experience of that player performing at such a high level as a collegiate player. And so I encourage athletic programs to continue hiring these women's basketball players that are currently in their seasons and help out during their off season. I encourage college programs to consider players that just finished their seasons overseas and their careers overseas and said I want to come back but still be in basketball, but I'm not going to play in the WNBA to give them opportunities because it's not always necessary to have formal coaching experience. Especially if you were someone that was incredibly talented and incredibly accomplished and incredibly in tune with what it takes to win and be excellent when you were a player. So that's my spiel on that. Shout out to Aaron Matson. Coolest story ever. Also really cool story and photo that went along with that story of her just sitting besides the trophies, you know, I think she's like texting or whatever with her Carolina blue dunks and just like looking like a boss, an absolute boss. And after this win, I hope she's celebrating but man, what a start to her career. All right folks, that is all for today. I appreciate you all tuning in. Definitely make sure to check out the rankings our piece on our website. Check out Brendan Marks piece on Aaron Matson. It's again beautifully written piece. And make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This is gonna be our only show this week because it is Thanksgiving. So happy Thanksgiving to you all. I hope you all enjoy time with your families even if you just take some time for yourself. I know it's been a crazy year, can't believe we're already at Thanksgiving. But make sure, I hope that you all enjoy this week. That is it for today. For the Athletic, I'm Zena Keda encouraging you to keep listening, keep learning and keep loving the game because that's the only way we're going to grow it. Alright, until next time.
- [47:05]
Sabrina Merchant
As we head into the playoffs, it's safe to assume.
- [47:08]
Liquid IV Advertiser
There will be a few calls made by the refs that will be hard to accept.
- [47:11]
Sabrina Merchant
But you know what? What isn't hard to accept?
- [47:14]
Liquid IV Advertiser
Discover.
- [47:15]
Sabrina Merchant
Believe it or not, Discover is accepted.
- [47:16]
Liquid IV Advertiser
At 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide.
- [47:20]
Sabrina Merchant
You heard that right, 99%. So make a good call for your.
- [47:24]
Liquid IV Advertiser
Wallet and get Discover.
- [47:26]
Sabrina Merchant
Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report.
- [47:27]
Liquid IV Advertiser
Learn more at discover.com credit card Imagine.
- [47:31]
Zena Kaeda
The merging of trusted intelligence into a unified experience. Imagine collaboration amongst teams and across continents. Imagine an empowered ecosystem designed to deliver actionable insights that inspire growth and sustainability. That's the power of the Connect Industrial Intelligence platform to help you see further, innovate faster, accomplish more. That's the Kinect effect. Learn more@thatstheconnecteffect.com.
- [48:02]
Sabrina Merchant
Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.
- [48:09]
Zena Kaeda
Hey guys.
- [48:10]
Sabrina Merchant
Welcome to Giggly Squad, a place where we make fun of everything but most importantly ourselves. I'm Paige Desorbo. I'm Hannah Berner. Welcome to the squad. Giggly Squad started on Summer House when we were giggling during an inappropriate time. But of course we can't be managed, so we decided to start this podcast to continue giggling. We will make fun of pop culture news. We're watching fashion trends pep talks where we give advice, mental health moments and games and guests. Listen to Giggly Squad on Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.