← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
Our Biggest Surprises from WNBA Opening Weekend
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- [00:00]
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- [00:51]
Sabrina Merchant
Get it?
- [00:52]
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Zena Kaida
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- [01:34]
Annie Costable
Yeah, I mean, I think their way, the way that they create offense through their defense, like that's going to be their signature this year. And I think that it was just such an impressive performance across the board. I mean, Gabby Williams was someone that in our, one of our earlier podcasts, we were wondering, you know, how much she would anchor this team's offense. And then seeing her hit from deep multiple times against the Mercury, I mean, it was just seeing them, seeing them against the Mercury like that, I was like, this is a team that for sure is going to take a jump this year.
- [02:13]
Zena Kaida
Hello, everyone, and welcome to no offseason. I'm Zena Kaeda.
- [02:17]
Annie Costable
I'm Annie Costable.
- [02:19]
Sabrina Merchant
I'm Sabrina Merchant.
- [02:20]
Zena Kaida
And today on the show, opening weekend in the WNBA gave us a little bit of everything. Statement wins, new faces on the court, and yes, some things that were very much unexpected. So today we're going to dive into the biggest surprises from opening weekend in the W. But first, this crew was all over the place this weekend in different parts of the country covering games. So let's talk about some of those games. Annie, you were in Indy for the Wings Fever showdown. I would say the Marquee game of. Of the weekend and it lived up to expectations. The Wings took this, took this game 107, 104, and the game was epic. Last four number one draft picks all out on the court together. But it wasn't even just them. We saw ADC Sims showing up. Right. We saw folks doing things that we didn't expect them to do. I would say mostly on the Dallas side. And I was really, really excited just for what this matchup could be moving forward. But the future of the WNBA feels like it's really, really, really good hands. So tell us, what was it like being inside of Gainbridge field house?
- [03:23]
Annie Costable
I mean, Gainbridge is one of my favorite places to cover a basketball game just because of the energy that exists there. I think no matter what matchup is going on and, and that extends to the NBA as well. I've covered NBA games there and it's just a great place to cover basketball. Shout out to my security man, Jerry. He, he's gave me a little hype up.
- [03:45]
Zena Kaida
I saw that he's one of the
- [03:46]
Sabrina Merchant
tunnel guys and he, man, I did
- [03:48]
Annie Costable
like a little fit check and he was hype. He was gasping. I love it. I love it. I have to give a shout out to him. But back to the basketball. It was extra energy, I think, because of the matchup on the court, the four number one overall draft picks like you mentioned, but also this energy around kind of the expectations for these two teams coming in the. You know, we obviously all talked about the expectations for the Indiana Fever and how they truly are, you know, entering title contention considering they were one game away from making the finals last year. But there were questions about what this Fever team would look like. And after watching this team, I went from wondering, okay, playoff contention, duh. But could they do more than that? Um, this was just like high energy. Everything you want out of a premier matchup. It was everything. I agree.
- [04:46]
Zena Kaida
I agree. Sabrina, you get a chance to look at this game and as you looked at it, when you think about everything that everyone had in terms of expectations for the Paige Caitlyn matchup, do you feel like other aspects of this game were undersold?
- [05:03]
Sabrina Merchant
I mean, there was just so much going on, right? Like, I think about the start of the 2025 season and how hard the WNBA was leaning into Indiana Chicago and what a downer that was to start the year and contrasting, you know, with Indiana Dallas and like, this was just, first of all, just such a fun game, right? Like the back and forth, you know, Dallas takes the early lead indies fighting back. They tied heading into the fourth quarter. Like you have. Basically it felt like 25 minutes of clutch time in this game. Like every possession felt so very important. But like I enjoyed seeing that wings, I mean the wings front court from the links, right? Like you've got Jess Shepard and Alana Smith starting together. And I thought Jess was really good, just strong positionally and like her passing is always impressive for me. I mean nine assists out of that position is just wild, right? Like that's not something you normally see at if you're what, nominal power forward center. I don't really know how Dallas is categorizing them these days, but like just an awesome debut for her. I mean, too bad Mo Billings wasn't there because I think like Indiana could have used a little bit more athleticism in their front court. But like I thought Kelsey Mitchell was just from awesome, right? Like if you think about the last time we saw her on a WNBA court in the playoffs and like literally just gave everything she had and then just back here, 30 points. Maybe the three ball wasn't falling as consistently as she might have wanted, but she's just so quick with the ball in her hands. Like the fastest player I think in the WNBA with the ball in her hands. I mean, we talked all about like the big name guards. Isaiah James was just fantastic in this game. Like the big shots that she hit in the second quarter. I mean, I was so concerned when Dallas is building its roster that like, is there going to be room for the young players who, you know, got their taste of the WNBA last year? Like, is there going to be room for them on this veteran heavy roster? And like, thank goodness she's still there because she's so confident with her shot this year. She looks so comfortable playing next to Paige after this experience, even if they didn't win a lot of games. So I mean all of these players other than Paige and Caitlin popping off, but then also like Paige was. I mean, you wrote about this, Andy Paige was incredible, incredible 8 of 10.
- [06:54]
Annie Costable
I mean I was like blown away. And before even getting into the actual game, I was talking to players Jose Fernandez about Paige's growth as a leader because again, coming into her sophomore season, Paige has always been someone who I think commands respect regardless of age because of the way she plays, because of the way she carries herself. But coming into this sophomore season, something I knew I wanted to write about was what was gonna look different from that respect in year two. How has she grown from. From year one to year two? In terms of leadership. And the thing that really stands out to me in regards to what everyone said was just how she again, has gained that respect of her veteran peers. You know, like, this is a player who's only in her second year. She hasn't won anything yet. And yet she has players like Arike Ogumbawale, Alanna Smith, Jess shepherd all buying in, Odyssey Sims all buying in to who she is on this roster. And that is going to go such a long way for this team as it attempts to evolve into a championship contender.
- [08:08]
Zena Kaida
I was really just impressed with one Paige Becker's efficiency. But for me, the thing that was undersold in this matchup, or particularly within the Dallas camp of things, how well the Paige and Arique experiment actually does work. Because if we remember, people were loud about AR needs to leave. AR has to go. These two have to be separated in order for this to work. Well, guess what? Aray gets to put up her 15 attempts, right? And finishes 8 of 15 with 22 points. Paige also gets to put up her 10 attempts, finishes 8 of 10 for 20 points. Oh, wait, there's still some to go around because Odyssey Sims went 8 of 11 for 20 points. And so it was. It. It felt, it was validation for this pairing. And it was also great to know that Jose Fernandez was undersold as a coach to be able to put all of this together in a way. So that was a lot of fun to watch for these two teams. I'm excited. I gotta mark the calendar for the next time they match up because I know it's gonna be until August. It's not until August. I knew it was gonna be a long time from now. I knew it was gonna be a long time from now because, you know, that's how the WNBA moves. But I didn't think it was gonna be that long. That's gonna be a while. Okay, the anticipation is go now. I'll tell you something about anticipation. We were all waiting for ring night. Sabrina, you were in the building for the Las Vegas Aces celebrating their sweep of the Phoenix Mercury last year during the 2025 WNBA Finals. Them rings are fire. I don't know if you guys have seen it. Listen, I didn't think they could get even more creative of how they create these rings. They got two in ones. All right, Literally the top of this ring pops off and then a smaller ring pops out. It's insane. Go check out the content around it. I think Jocelyn's made it. There's like a monopoly or a very tight market with Ring making. And Jocelyn, y' all just stepped your let your. Your game up. I think folks are gonna be calling you a little bit more. But anyways, so the anticipation for ring night happens and then the game, right? The rematch. And we gotta apply the. We gotta applaud the W for giving us this early in the season, right? Cause we've always been clamoring for the rematch of the finals teams. And what happened, Sabrina, what happened was
- [10:28]
Sabrina Merchant
probably the least interesting thing about what happened in Vegas over this weekend. You know, like, it was just a full weekend of celebration. You've got their documentary never fold, about the 2025 championship season that premiered during the week. You've got Asia Wilson doing the North American debut of her A2, right? She's got this full event at the Nike store at Caesar's Palace. Like, it's this whole thing, the Asia Wilson show. There's these, like, dancers sort of greeting you at the door of the Nike store. And it's like, it would be out of place, except it's Vegas and you're in Caesar's palace. And, like, literally, like, the Atlanta show is running on the hour, like, once an hour as you're walking into the Nike store. So it's all very Vegas. Asia's there talking with a Nike executive about, you know, all the details that go into the shoe. And they've been invited high school kids from Las Vegas, you know, who play basketball, to be there and get the shoe. And it's this. Everything is, like, all of this energy going into Saturday, which, incidentally, Vegas gets to split up its championship ceremony into two events because they weren't at their home arena on Saturday. So the banner's going up later in the month. So they've got the ring ceremony, you know, pregame. Big deal, right? Like, no Kathy Engelbert, which I think, like, makes it even more celebratory, honestly, for the fans who, like, probably would have booed her. But, you know, Mark Davis is there, and he's so excited to explain about the new rings. And Asia's, like, rocking both of hers and putting the third one on. And, like, there's just so much energy heading into this tip off. And then the aces just last. All of it, right? All of it. Literally, like, this game was over real quick. And credit to the Mercury, like, you know, you think about this, the emotions of celebrating a championship and then having to play a game, like, it would seem like a lot, and yet most teams win on their ring night. Like, it has been almost 10 years since a team had lost on their ring night. And that was again, a team that had to play against their finals opponents. Maybe that's part of it, right? Like all of that emotion coming in on the other side. So Phoenix, right? They get to sit in this for six months. You know, we're talking to like Nate Tibbett's pregame and he's like, yeah, I'm not going to watch this everybody. You kidding? Like, I understand why we're here. I understand the drama of all of this and like the WNB planning this, but I'm not going to sit out there and watch it. I know that there's some people who like, like to remind themselves of how it feel. The Phoenix sparkier were not among those people. They were just letting Vegas have their turn. But yeah, Alyssa Thomas just doing her thing, right? Like strong dictating with her playmaking. Jovana Nogic, they call her. Yo Yo. Just in case you're wondering, that's the very tall girl who's running the point. Kind of running the point because Alyssa Thomas is still the point guard. But Phoenix has done their thing. They've stocked their roster with more international players. People who like you may have heard of, vaguely may not have heard of. But when you have at, when you have db, when you have Kalia Copper, the system makes a lot of sense. During the regular season. I'm not reading too much into how that would matter in a playoff series yet. But for now, they got their little bit of revenge. They spoiled Vegas party a little bit. And I think it's just an important reminder that as good as I thought Vegas was going to be heading into the season, 44 games, there's just so many games. And it's going to be hard for them to have that championship intensity every night out, even with how deep I think their team is. So just a reminder that like when The Houston Comets went 273 in the 1998 season and won 90% of their games, like, that is an exceptional thing that I don't think is going to be repeated anytime soon. And as much as I would love to see that record Chase, it doesn't seem like this is the year it's going to happen.
- [13:44]
Zena Kaida
Okay. Yeah, I agree with the record Chase. And let's be real, they flip right back into Vegas Aces mode against the very caliber team.
- [13:52]
Sabrina Merchant
Let's be clear.
- [13:53]
Zena Kaida
Exactly fair. Absolutely. Against the Sparks. I'll say this another. I mean, we're going to get into actual surprises, but the back to backs, there were quite a few back to backs to start the opening weekend, including the Aces going up against the Sparks right after.
- [14:07]
Sabrina Merchant
What was funny is Phoenix and Vegas both complaining about their back to backs and then realizing like, oh, the team we're playing also has the back to back. My bad. Maybe we should stop complaining.
- [14:14]
Zena Kaida
Right? We should stop complaining. Right? Exactly. That was funny. And then for me, you know, I was in my little corner in Atlanta starting with ion. I hope anyone, you know, everyone that was able to watch it, I hope you guys had fun. That was our, you know, our essence of what we were trying to do. But you also learned something. And being alongside Megan McEwen, Autumn Johnson, I just get to surround myself with amazingly smart folks that know hoops really, really well. And I get to be the idiot in the room that's like, wait, what's going on? And it's really fun. But no, it was awesome to be able to cover those games. We saw a blowout. New York taking care of business and their home opener. And then it was kind of bummy because, you know, New York takes care of business against Connecticut. Meanwhile, in the other, like in Toronto, where the commissioner actually was, Kathy Engelbert was there for their home opener. Toronto and Washington battling it out. And so I'm in the studio just turning my head like, I want to watch Toronto, Washington, but I'm like, we are covering this game on ion. These are the things that happen when it comes to, you know, multiple games scheduled at the same time. It happens. It's going to happen all season long. But that means there's a lot of good games happening around the association. So I'm excited to go ahead and jump into the next thing. We're going to do our Sabrina scale. It's back, y'. All. Sabrina, you're going to change up the scale a little bit this year because of with power rankings. And can you give us a sense of what you mean by that?
- [15:40]
Sabrina Merchant
Well, yeah. So we have the newsletter now. No, off season newsletter. It comes in your inboxes on Tuesday. Make sure you're subscribing that Annie and I are writing. And I think that's just going to give me more of a chance to put all the little details that I used to put in the power rankings, like also share them for the wider newsletter audience. So I figured with the power rankings, maybe make him actually like power rankings, like why teams are going up and down. I realize I've avoided that for a very long time, but we're going to try that a little bit this year and it's the potential for more the. The potential for more movement because there are actually 15 teams this year, you know, like, as opposed to when you start with 12 and like, oh, a team moves two slots, like Whoopi freaking do. So I think I'm going to try to pay more attention to, like, be very reactive in the moment of, like, okay, I think these things are improving. These things are not looking as good. And I still have my favorite Rookie of the week segment, which, to be clear, not who I think is the favorite for Rookie of the Year or anything, just rookie that I was watching that week, who I liked.
- [16:32]
Zena Kaida
There you go. And I'm really happy you're mentioning the newsletter, you're mentioning Sabrina scale. You know, we already talked about, you know, Annie covering Paige and Caitlin over with the Dallas Wings and Indiana game. Remember, y', all, there is an audio portion. There's a lot of written content, so definitely tap in to that part. So on your Sabrina scale, this year, you had two teams sliding down, and that's the Connecticut sun and the LA Sparks. We might expect this from Connecticut this year, especially with the absence of Layla Lacan. You could tell their offense needed some organizing. But what did you see with the Sparks this weekend that gives you a little cause for concern?
- [17:11]
Sabrina Merchant
I mean, defense or lack thereof?
- [17:13]
Zena Kaida
The lack thereof. There it goes.
- [17:14]
Sabrina Merchant
Yes. Lack thereof. You know, it's all really what the Sparks are talking about during the off season, during the preseason training camp. Like, we know we can score. How do we make sure that we're not the worst defense in wnba? Like, how do we make sure that we can actually guard the ball, protect the rim, provide a nominal amount of resistance against opposing offenses? And other than Ariel Atkins, who I thought was pretty good, you know, got into the ball handler a little bit for Vegas, forced a couple turnovers. Just really bad one on one defensive efforts. Whether that was plumb, Neca Hamby just getting beat off the dribble, there was really no rim protection. I mean, Cambrink played eight minutes and there are no other de facto rim protectors on this roster. So just clean lines to the hoop for Vegas. Like not really battling for 50, 50 balls. There was a stretch at the start of the third quarter where they lost three jump balls within 90 seconds and then Vegas scored on all of those possessions. So, yeah, the effort, not there defensively. And I know a lot of people in Los Angeles have high hopes for this team. Like, the word contention was thrown around, which I don't know what kind of contention, but not a word I would use to describe this particular team.
- [18:21]
Zena Kaida
Okay. Okay. And then when it comes to teams trending up, you got to talk about a team around my neck of the woods and as well as Annie's neck of the woods. Right. Annie, where do you live?
- [18:34]
Annie Costable
I'm in New York.
- [18:35]
Zena Kaida
You are in New York. Okay. This is good. We're representing the Tico.
- [18:38]
Annie Costable
Yeah.
- [18:39]
Zena Kaida
From Chicago. Got it.
- [18:40]
Annie Costable
From Chicago.
- [18:40]
Zena Kaida
So we're representing the two teams that Sabrina said are trending up. Give us a little blurb really quickly before we go to our surprises about why these two teams are trending up. Sabrina.
- [18:49]
Sabrina Merchant
Well, you know, someone had to take the Aces spot at number one when they laid an egg on national television against the Phoenix Mercury.
- [18:55]
Zena Kaida
Yeah.
- [18:55]
Sabrina Merchant
Brianna Stewart, you know, Annie's preseason MVP pick. Kudos. Just ready to take the baton. Right? I love all the passing back and forth between Asia and Stewie, honestly, that we've seen over the last five years. I look forward to patient Caitlin handling that, you know, five years down the road. But, yeah, New York absolutely laid beat down on Connecticut as you talked about that Friday night Ion game, Xena, and then had what I thought was, like, the most. One of the most fun games of the weekend, that overtime win against Washington on Sunday. And, you know, they showed this graphic of, like, all of the length and height that New York has on its roster with Satu and Leo and Jonquil Jones and Han Shu and Stewie. And then they pulled it up in the fourth quarter. And the funny thing was, like, the only person available from that five was Stewie because everybody else had fouled out. It was not available for the team. And there's Stewie. Like, you can make her points, Stewie. You can make her rim protector Stewie. You can make her running the offense as, like, a guard or, you know, finishing as a big. Like, she just does everything. And yeah, you saw some nice moments from, like, Pauline, SDA and like, other members of the Liberty, but I thought just a very complete performance. And the best player I saw this weekend was Bram Stewart. So that's why they're moving.
- [20:01]
Zena Kaida
I'll say. I'm just going to go ahead and answer because I think we're on the same page. Don't just think the Valkyries are a defensive team, y'. All. My God, don't. They got some buckets. Literally, they got some buckets. Annie, you called this out on our group chat. I'll let you close it with this. What were your thoughts on the Valks over the weekend?
- [20:17]
Annie Costable
Yeah, I mean, I think their way. The way that they create offense through their defense like that's going to be their signature this year and I think that it was just such an impressive performance across the board. I mean, Gabby Williams was someone that in our, one of our earlier podcasts, we were wondering, you know, how much she would anchor this team's offense. And then seeing her hit from deep multiple times against the Mercury, I mean, it was just seeing them, seeing them against the Mercury like that. I was like, this is a team that for sure is going to take a jump this year from where they were last year.
- [20:54]
Zena Kaida
Yeah, shout out to France country, Just the country of France. There's a lot of great French trash talk.
- [21:01]
Sabrina Merchant
Do you think there was in French on the for that Valkyries Mercury game? So much I'm watching like Noemi Brochure hitting these threes in front of Valkyrie's bench and I'm like, I know you're talking to them in French right now.
- [21:12]
Zena Kaida
Exactly. And there's one time that they were like Janelle Salon and Noemi Brochant were like going up at. I was like, I just know. It's just, just a lot of throat guttural French happening right there between the two of them. Yeah, no, it was fun to watch and shout out to these two teams making a trend upwards. We'll see what the Aces have to say about that in this upcoming week of games. But first, on the other side of this break, let's talk about the things that surprised us in opening weekend.
- [21:43]
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- [23:35]
Zena Kaida
Okay, so opening weekend always tends to set the tone for the season, but it also brings a few unexpected twists, whether it's standout performance, performances, surprising results, or teams that just look different than we all anticipated. So let's break down the things that caught our attention from around the league. I'm gonna quickly just throw one in there. Jade Melbourne broke, breaking her teeth. That was.
- [24:02]
Sabrina Merchant
That was not the first time she's done that.
- [24:05]
Zena Kaida
Really?
- [24:06]
Sabrina Merchant
I think she did that last year when she was on the Mystics because
- [24:10]
Annie Costable
she talked about it was just like
- [24:13]
Sabrina Merchant
an unreal level of toughness.
- [24:14]
Zena Kaida
Yeah, that's crazy. Annie, you said she talked about this.
- [24:20]
Annie Costable
Yeah, she talked about it was the same tooth that she broke and she had to get like, it. It fixed. Yeah.
- [24:28]
Zena Kaida
So that thing was already loose? No, it was. It was primed to break. Okay. So that was crazy. I was. I was literally Mackenzie Holmes, like, hands over my mouth. Oh, my gosh. I cannot believe that just happened. She seemed fine about it. But anyways, that was my. That was one of my biggest surprises. But Andy, let's actually start this with you. Which team or result caught you the most off guard and why?
- [24:52]
Annie Costable
Honestly, the Washington Mystics. And I don't even know if it's fair to say that they caught me off guard because in one of our preseason stories, I had the question of like, is this team going to surprise everybody? And they obviously didn't pull out the win against the Liberty, but their performance against the Liberty and also what has to be said is the Liberty are undermanned right now. So this is a team that not only is learning a new system with first year coach Chris DiMarco, but they're severely undermanned. They have multiple players who are out, including Sabrina Ionescu and Satus Abali. But I think the Mystics young core ability to keep up with teams that are more veteran than them, that have more experience than them, that have, you know, again, like the Liberty title hopes. It's. It's impressive to see because of what it says about their future and where they're going. I mean, Kiki iriafem put up 20 against the liberty. Sonia Citron has just consistently proven to be, you know, a future potential MVP in my opinion, just based on her development. So I truly was was stunned by the Mystics these first two games. Yeah.
- [26:18]
Sabrina Merchant
So a looks like she's making like an all WNBA case already. Like top 10 player in the league
- [26:22]
Zena Kaida
right now over two games. Sonia Citron is averaging 21 and a half points, three and a half rebounds, one assist, two steals, one block. And she's shooting 54% from the field casually. Casually.
- [26:35]
Annie Costable
I mean, she's just like, again, like, to go back to the point about Paige Beckers, Sonia Citron is another player like Paige Beckers who despite her inexperience, plays well beyond her years and again commands the respect of every other player on on her team, regardless of age.
- [26:54]
Sabrina Merchant
I mean, she's a veteran on Washington. Right. Like, that's what's so funny about this roster. Kayla Onyenwere was not available this weekend, so they had literally one player on the Mystic, Shakira Austin, who has more WNBA experience than Sonia Satronis.
- [27:04]
Annie Costable
Right, right.
- [27:05]
Zena Kaida
That leans into my surprise of like, you know, Washington, I think, also was a surprise of just how ready they are for the moment. Uh, I think there was a lot of conversation around like, oh, after Jamila Wideman was excused from her role. Oh, what's the future of the direction of this team? Is there going to be. Is there some level of like, inconsistency internally of what the focus is? Washington said, we are well oiled machine over here. We're looking good with our young core. You're seeing rookies stepping up. That was my big surprise. Just how many rookies were involved in wins or at least just solid play, And Washington was the biggest showcase of that. Cassandra Prosper, Georgia Amore, Rory Harmon, Lauren Betts, all getting significant minutes as rookies and providing boons whether it's on the, on the glass, whether it's defensively being able to, you know, keep pressure on the rim in the way that Georgia Amore was. I mean, there was a lot of really great moments that. That surprised me a lot just how quickly they were there. What about you, Sabrina? What was the surprise or result that that surprised you?
- [28:11]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I think Washington is on the list, but like, I mean, I don't want to just repeat what we said in the first part, but like Golden State's offense, I was just stunned. I thought once you take out the spacing five of Iliano repair, it's going to change a lot of their just spacing, for lack of a better word. And like, that roll and replacing that they used to do. Like, you know, how are you going to be able to keep people out of the paint, like, defensively, because, you know, your shooting threats are just not there. And like, it didn't seem to matter all that much. Like, Janelle Salon was awesome. I thought Leticia and me here was awesome. Like, just using her strength against, you know, Phoenix's front court. Like, they're. They're long, but they're not exactly, like, meaty.
- [28:47]
Zena Kaida
For lack of a better.
- [28:48]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, Letitia Mirror was like, using her bulk, you know, and I was. I was just very impressed with their offense. Like, it's not something I saw coming. I figured, like, they're gonna score a lot of points in transition. Veronica Burton, Gabby Williams, good luck dribbling the ball against them. And like, that all played out. But the way they were able to score, I just, like, I. I thought that was a really pleasant surprise.
- [29:07]
Zena Kaida
Annie, you loved and I. We were all on the same page, Leticia and me. Here you talk about someone that doesn't take up a lot of space horizontally, but use her shoulders, right? Her strength to create space to. There is that one move Annie on Dejuana.
- [29:22]
Annie Costable
Yeah. She backed Dana down, put it up, drew the and one. It was just like fearlessness again against a player that, I mean, Dewana's not like, doesn't. Is not going to outsize her, but she's a player who, yeah, is obviously a veteran in this league. And so that was impressive to me when I saw that from Leticia.
- [29:44]
Zena Kaida
Yeah. And I just think anytime you have somebody using their bounce in the way that Leticia Mijer does, like, reminder, Leticia me here dunked in at 15. I think it was back. Back in the day. Like, we're. She's bound to put up the ball and, you know, find a way to. I. I don't know. I'm looking forward to it now. Let me put that challenge out in there. If she, you know, if she hears me at all, it would be very cool to see. Let's see me here. Dunk. But yes, I agree. Gold State's off popping and Veronica Burton told us this, told the media this the last media presser they had before the season started. Folks are concerned about, like, where are you guys gonna find some offense? And Veronica Burton was very clear. She's like, we got some buckets. We got folks that can score, but what you're not gonna see is a lot of ISO scoring. We're not gonna have individual stars is what she. I'm paraphrasing what she said, but she, but she said the way that we're connected, that chemistry, you cannot underestimate just how much that's gonna help us find opportunities. And that is exactly what was on display, particularly in that second half against Phoenix.
- [30:43]
Annie Costable
Yeah, I just wanted to add one more thing too, because this was another aspect we talked about in the group chat was that like, it became obvious how Leticia and Caitlyn earned their spots on this roster over, you know, Kate Martin. And obviously we saw Kate, you know, spoke about signing this developmental contract in LA and the difficulty of that, but the reality is we got to see it on full display. Leticia and Caitlin Chen, like, deserved to make that roster and filled knees that the Golden State Valkyries had to fill.
- [31:17]
Zena Kaida
Yeah, and actually a perfect transition into what I wanted to touch on for our next big surprise, which was all of the new faces and new places and also just how hard it was to make rosters this year, additions that stood out. I think that the Leticia Mehir and Caitlin Chen conversation around the bay and particularly around the Golden State Valkyries was a big one of like Kate Martin being beloved. Kate Martin being this kind, flashy three point shooter that can, can, you know, make some big pops for you offensively, how does that translate for Caitlin Chen or Lisa me here? And now you see what GM Ohemanyanen and what Natalie Nakase, their head coach, wanted in terms of what they needed. Right. They needed some depth at the center position. Did I expect Leticia me here being the one protecting the rim in the way that she was? I don't think a lot of people expected that, but she did that incredibly well and gave him that depth at the center position on, on a forward position. And then Caitlyn Chen just being a, a again, a table setter, someone that is poised, that is attacking the basket in a way that they needed and, and filled that guard play. There was a ton of wings, y', all, for the Val. They had a ton of wings. They didn't need another one. But I am happy that Kate Martin was able to land and I think everyone involved in that situation, it was emotional. Like, Nikase was emotional about it, K. Martin was emotional about it. And that's just part of what this league is. But thinking about other players that made a roster that you're like, oh, this made sense. This makes a lot of Sense or maybe it didn't. Maybe you're like, I don't know how this happened. What were some additions around the league that made you go, hmm, I'm surprised by that.
- [32:54]
Annie Costable
I mean, for me it's gotta be Angel Reese. And specifically when you look at that game against Minnesota and is one that the Dream out rebounded the Lynx. Um, and when you think about who angel is in terms of the re rebounder that she is, like that is cannot be overstated in terms of, you know, what that's going to provide for the Dream. So to me, week one was again seeing Angel Reese on full display in that new system has me intrigued.
- [33:26]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I mean we talked about some of the other ones already, like Gabby Williams, Jade Melbourne, I think, you know, on the other side of that Minnesota Atlanta matchup, I thought the Minnesota rookies really acquitted themselves pretty well. Olivia Miles and Emma Jacova, just like you could see that pick and roll combination working for years and years to come for the links.
- [33:47]
Annie Costable
Yeah, I mean Olivia Miles is someone that like we talked about again preseason as being one of the most pro ready players and how she could have gone number one overall and again full display, finishing with what, 20 points and points.
- [34:03]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, only three turnovers.
- [34:05]
Annie Costable
Yeah, right. It's like watching her seamlessness. The seamlessness, seamless way she's fit into this roster. I mean I think that's what we expected, but seeing it on display was. Was still impressive.
- [34:24]
Zena Kaida
I have to say mine. Julie Van Lew in that very first game against Connecticut was phenomenal. Ends up 12 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds. This is a person that had just missed or the cut in la. Didn't make it through camp in LA previous year, makes it with Golden State Valkyries, ends up getting cut after EuroBasket joins LA. Makes an impact there, but doesn't. I mean this is. She's right on the cusp. She was in Washington. You thought she had made a home in Washington as a 31 year old rookie coming over from Europe and I thought she was a really great point guard from Washington. So it's just as if she hasn't found a home just yet. And she is now coming onto New York Liberty again as a hardship signing, but immediately makes an impact in that first game. We'll see what happens in terms of, you know, her ability to keep that consistently over the course of her hardship contract. But that was a fun, surprising addition for New York, especially in the midst of Sabrina Unescu being out.
- [35:25]
Annie Costable
Yeah, I think the thing that's intriguing for me there is and just Even with Kate Martin as well, is the emphasis it really puts on that these rosters and I don't want to sound like, oh my God, I'm already dogging an advancement in terms of like, we just got two developmental spots. But these rosters really could naturally be at 14. And the fact that players like, again, Julie Van Loo can't find her home is not because she's not, you know, a WNBA caliber player, but she's an end of bench player. She's a player you trust to come in when someone like Sabrina isn't available. And, and these GMs are having to again, pull people from all over the place because they don't have that luxury of going to an end of the bench. They have to go through all these hardships in order to sign a player like Julie. And then we see her kind of bounce around. So even though her future with the Liberty might not be, you know, something that extends very long, she's clearly a WNBA caliber player. And I think her presence with the Liberty and her ability to come in right away and have an impact speaks to the fact that these rosters really should be at 14.
- [36:38]
Zena Kaida
Mm, agreed. Agreed. And I think a lot of folks, especially when you think about rosters being at 14, it's always been around the rookies making these teams. Right. And we had a lot of rookies show up, a lot of rookies show up over the course of the weekend. Livia Miles comes to mind. For me, there was also some rookies that are not the traditional rookies. Right. Folks that weren't necessarily drafted from college, but folks that were playing overseas and then came in, which we've seen over the years where you're like a 25 year old rookie, you're a 31 year old rookie and it's like, how does that work? The Rebecca Gardner's of the world. Right. But there was a lot of folks that made an impact. And I'm curious, you know, Sabrina, I'll start with you whose performances impressed you? And I am, I'm immediately thinking, I'm wondering if we're going to agree if I can pick out who you were most impressed by, but go ahead.
- [37:28]
Sabrina Merchant
I mean, we talked about the Minnesota rookies, right. Washington is basically all rookies. I thought Ali Wilson, she's like a 32 year old rookie for the Mystics.
- [37:37]
Zena Kaida
Absolutely.
- [37:38]
Sabrina Merchant
So nice to have the player who can rent a car on your team. I think she's the only one. She was just a good settling force for them. While Georgia Amore is going through this 20 minute, what appears to be a 20 minute minutes restriction while she's coming back from the Tornado acl. I mean like Rory Harmon, Kassan Prosper, like all those players on the Mystics I think were just awesome rookie additions. Love the Phoenix rookies. Right. Like Noemi Rochant and Johanna Nogic. Just, they know how to play already, like, and they get the ball up real fast. That's going to get you minutes in. Nate Tippett system is like if you're willing to shoot and you can screen for Alyssa Thomas, like kudos. We're going to get you 15 minutes at least on the court. So yeah, just, you know, some of those players, I liked their additions right away. Yeah. And then like we haven't really gotten negative yet, but there's also some people where I'm like, you know, maybe this is like was not the right fit for you this offseason, but I don't think that's sort of the question you're asking yet, Cena. So we'll get back to that.
- [38:33]
Zena Kaida
Not yet. Not yet. We'll get back to that eventually. We're talking about positives here. I'm going to add my two sets. I thought Flaje Johnson played like Johnson. Yeah, I thought she was the bright, the lights were not too bright for her at all. And it was moments where you know, of course you're evaluating the basketball aspect of it, but I was also evaluating when she would hit a big shot, when she would get to the bucket, just even her trot back. Like we give a lot of credit to the likes of like Paige Beckers of just being. Oh yeah, she's WNBA ready. Rekia Jackson was WNBA ready. Like folks that like fit the mold of you've been here before. Flaw J looked like she'd been there before. Just even the way she was communicating with her teammates, calling out things that she was seeing on the floor. She looked really, really good. Her and Tisha Heideman I thought were a lot of fun to watch together in moments. I, I gotta give a lot of credit to Flauge for showing up the way she did. Annie, who was your favorite?
- [39:27]
Sabrina Merchant
Did you know that Flage's fans were called the Flock?
- [39:30]
Annie Costable
Oh my God, I'm obsessed.
- [39:32]
Sabrina Merchant
I learned this on the broadcast the other day and I'm assuming lock is spelled like F L A L A U K or something.
- [39:40]
Annie Costable
Yeah, that's hysterical. My favorite moment from her was when she hit the too small celebration against bg.
- [39:46]
Zena Kaida
I was like, I guess I was like, say it.
- [39:50]
Sabrina Merchant
You Know, I'm sure BG loved it, too.
- [39:52]
Annie Costable
Yeah, for sure.
- [39:52]
Zena Kaida
I bet. I bet. Yeah. I just. The energy was there. What about you, Annie?
- [39:57]
Annie Costable
Yeah, no. Pauline Assier for the Liberty is, like, blowing my mind right now. She hasn't had, you know, a crazy offensive output in terms of scoring, but her ability to lead this offense, their first game, she finished, I think, with four assists. And against the Mystics she had eight. I want to say, and I just think, again, it speaks to her confidence level. And this is a team that is without Sabrina Ionescu. Like, that's hard. Those are hard shoes to fill. And she's come in right away. And I mean, Sabrina herself even gave her the nod of like, the first day of training camp. She was. Or her, I should say, Pauline's first day of training camp. She came in and understood the offense better than players who had been there for a couple of days at that point. So I think we're going to see, you know, an impressive season from Pauline this year.
- [40:53]
Zena Kaida
She was so fast.
- [40:55]
Annie Costable
I know.
- [40:56]
Zena Kaida
Like, she has a. It made me think of Jeff, Jade, Melbourne in the way that. How. Like how quick they're up and down ladder. Like, quickness is with the ball in hand. Very, very big fan of the way that they showed up and played. Okay, let's keep it going and talk about some teams that are already showing signs that they might be further along than expected. I feel like we kind of alluded to some of these teams as we've been talking, but who looks like they might be ahead of schedule already? And there's actually one team we haven't talked about. And I'm wondering if, Annie, you might be someone that will give me the one that they'll be able to bring it up to the forefront.
- [41:35]
Annie Costable
Oh, my God. Now I'm thinking, wait, who is it? It's not Chicago.
- [41:39]
Sabrina Merchant
It's not mentioning the Wings.
- [41:40]
Zena Kaida
I think it might be Chicago. I want to talk about Chicago.
- [41:43]
Annie Costable
Okay. Well, we could talk about Chicago, but I was not thinking that they were going to be the one in terms of being ahead of schedule just because, like, again, I'm such a skeptic, but they played the Portland Fire. And so to me, that's one of the games that I have marked as one to watch this week. In the newsletter is the sky against the Valkyries, because to me, that's obviously going to say substantially more than this win that they got over the new Portland Fire. And to be honest, just, you know, they didn't even. They won by. What was it, like, 18, 17, by 15.
- [42:25]
Sabrina Merchant
But it was close. Like entering the fourth quarter.
- [42:27]
Annie Costable
Yeah, like fourth quarter. It was too close for me to say that, to give, you know, too much kudos there. What I will say is I liked what I saw from Camila Cardoso. I liked what I saw from Skyler Diggins. I think in terms of spacing, we've talked about this at length already in other episodes, but this team offensively looks like it's going to be able to run a lot more fluidly, and I do think that's a positive sign for them.
- [42:52]
Zena Kaida
That was what I was saying. Right. I don't necessarily mean by ahead of schedule as in, oh, they might be going for the title. No, no, no, no, no. I mostly mean up. We already knew what Chicago needed to work on. They needed to figure out that inside out game. They needed to have some, you know, some balanced shooting around their interior presence. And we're starting to already see that. I like that we saw it in game one. I like that we saw it against a team you're supposed to do it against, because how much would we be getting on Chicago if they didn't win this game and if they didn't win it in the way they did. Right. The way they out rebounded Portland, the way that they had. Most of their points were in the paint. Right. These are the types of things that you expect out of Chicago, and it's like, all right, good. They're ahead of schedule in that regard because they were not this way last year. So that's. That's where I'm curious, but who are some teams that might be ahead of schedule? I think, Sabrina, you already hit it. I think the Valkyries are ahead of schedule with their offense. Any other teams that are ahead of schedule for various reasons, I mean, we
- [43:56]
Annie Costable
started the episode talking about them, but I think the Dallas swings are more than just a playoff team. Like, I think they're going to ruin somebody's first round. I think they could be in a situation. I think they're a semifinals team based on the first game. And I know it's. It's like way too early to tell, way too small of a sample size, but to me, the biggest surprise in terms of looking better than maybe where I originally anticipated them to be was the Dallas Wings. And then also, I mean, we already talked about them, too. The Washington Mystics, they're going to be pesty. Like they're going to piss teams off.
- [44:33]
Zena Kaida
Yeah, I agree.
- [44:34]
Sabrina Merchant
The Liberty's offense is also kind of ahead of schedule. Like just the spacing Looked really good in game one. The side to side movement, like they were getting, you know, multiple actions going on the same possession. I realize again, like Annie mentioned, a lot of people already out for this team, so not what it's going to look like going forward, but for them to look that comfortable again against Connecticut. So add all the asterisks you want. But I thought their offense and like the reason they hired Chris DiMarco looked like you would hope it would.
- [45:02]
Zena Kaida
And that's. And I love that you call those out, those two teams out, because I would say that those two coaches are ahead of schedule in the way that they've taken advantage of the personnel that's available to them. Um, okay, let's close this out with one surprise. You're still trying to figure out how to make sense of because there's a lot of stuff that was exciting.
- [45:21]
Annie Costable
God, I got one right.
- [45:22]
Zena Kaida
But there's not. There was some stuff that you're just kind of like, mm, head scratch. Annie, you start.
- [45:30]
Annie Costable
I mean it's gotta be this Caitlin Clark back situation which seems to have come out of nowhere. And I know the team is talking about it and, and Caitlin talked about it as being just something, I guess typical in a game. But we have not heard a word about any type of back issue for her prior to this. So I think considering, you know, the injuries of last season and just the vagueness that surrounded the injuries, I think the reaction to now this news of, you know, her having to get her back adjusted mid game has a lot of fans up in arms for good reason because there was a lot of, I think vague, vagueness around her injuries last year that warrants or is the reason for some of this fan concern early.
- [46:28]
Zena Kaida
Yeah, I'm with that. Yeah, this is, this is new news to me as well with regards to Caitlin Clark's back injury and what we're saying is pretty much the extent of what we know. So we'll see what happens. They do have a game coming up Tuesday night, I believe against la, Wednesday night, excuse me, against la. And so we'll see what happens there. But that is, I think a lot
- [46:48]
Sabrina Merchant
of folks, what you want when you have a back injury is a nice semi cross country flight to just, just
- [46:53]
Zena Kaida
add to it and they're inflame everything. Geez.
- [46:57]
Annie Costable
Let me be clear too, like they're not calling it a back injury. They have been very clear that this is just part of her routine maintenance. We just have not heard anything about a back ever. So it was interesting to again see her Leave the game multiple times. And then afterwards, just, you know, matter of fact, they'd be like, yeah, I was just getting my back adjusted. It's like, wait, I'm sorry, what?
- [47:26]
Sabrina Merchant
That's a thing that I do.
- [47:27]
Annie Costable
Like, come again?
- [47:28]
Zena Kaida
That's a new. And it makes sense, people, if you have back injuries, you know how sensitive it is. If you, you know, we remember the Nafisa Collier back spasms and how much that, you know, hindered her ability to play in general. Over the course of her career. She, she's had those things we've had. We've seen tons of folks have back injuries and it just like, you just get a little bit. I'm grabbing my back right now thinking about it. Let, um, but it, it just makes you a little bit hesitant for sure. Um, that actually leads to, you know, thinking about the fact that Indiana plays la. One thing that is like, whoa, this. I'm still trying to figure out how badly LA played defense the other night. I know, um, especially for me, just considering how much work and effort and intention was put into having a better defense this season after having one of the best, if not the best offense last year. This was a prioritization. In the off season, they go hire Ebony Hoffman from Seattle, who helped build one of the best defenses in the league a year ago. Now don't get me wrong, every time if you have Scholar Diggins and Gabby Williams in your mix, you go have a little bit of help with your defense.
- [48:41]
Sabrina Merchant
You know.
- [48:42]
Zena Kaida
Exactly.
- [48:42]
Sabrina Merchant
Good talent.
- [48:43]
Zena Kaida
Some good talent. You're. You gonna have a little bit of a cheat seat with that regards to that. But, but you've put all of this effort and you are out here in the media talking about how good your defense is going to be and then that, that happened. It was very stark and shocking and along that line for me, what I'm still like kind of scratching my head about and I'm hoping it was like a weird one off the way that Cam Brink played. The foul trouble, the, you know, an inability to find opportunities to score, you know, ends up with three rebounds, three turnovers, maybe three bucks. I can't remember now. It was just like not a Cambrink game. To the point that Lynn Roberts calls her out and saying that she needs more out of her. Um, that's. That was like, I'm still trying to figure that out, but I'm just like, you know, we'll see what happens against Indiana neck. Agwe McKay already said it ain't going to be a down the line type of thing. Where our defense is going to come together. It's going to be the next game, so we'll see what happens there. Uh, Sabrina, you close us out on this one. What? Is someone you're still or something. You're still trying to figure it out.
- [49:45]
Sabrina Merchant
Toronto's offense, just.
- [49:48]
Annie Costable
What.
- [49:49]
Sabrina Merchant
What's the plan here?
- [49:51]
Zena Kaida
It's the Marina plan, girl. Come on.
- [49:53]
Sabrina Merchant
You know they made 17 field goals in their opener, right? And God bless the fans at Coca Cola Coliseum. So excited to see professional women's basketball come to Canada. Like, I hope you get a better showing next time because this was just like, there's a lot of veteran talent on this team. Julia Almond, veteran point guard. Marina Mabry, Brittany Sykes.
- [50:12]
Zena Kaida
Like, Sykes, right?
- [50:13]
Sabrina Merchant
Temifag, Benle, Niara, Sable. You know, like, they've been part of winning environments before, and it just didn't look like anyone was really on the same page. Like, there wasn't as much just like normal pick and roll action between, like, Marina and one of the bigs or something like that. The less I can say about the end of that game, the better. Like, I don't really know, like a crash out on a jump ball where you just decide you are not going to try to win. The game was insane.
- [50:41]
Zena Kaida
Yeah.
- [50:41]
Sabrina Merchant
Cannot believe that actually happened, like, in game one of the season. But yeah, Toronto's offense, like, again, only 10 assists, which is like a good number when you have 17 field goals. But, like, you should have higher numbers, really, on both, right? Yeah, I just didn't see a lot of flow, a lot of intention about what was trying to happen there. Like, it was really just, Marina, do something. Slim, do something. And, like, they can get to the line, you know, clearly they were able to get to the line pretty frequently. But. But Saini Brandello is like too good of a coach for the offense to look like this for much longer.
- [51:10]
Annie Costable
I think you could tell her frustration, too. I was like, oh, girl, Sandy's.
- [51:15]
Zena Kaida
You know what? But the jumpsuit looked good. I mean, the sweatsuit, I'll give her that. She. She had it. She brought it out in Toronto as well. Uh, by the way, if you're a Toronto fan and you are new here, yes, Brittany Sykes nickname, Slim. Just be prepared. If you hear folks holler Slim. It's not anything regarding her body. That is just her nickname.
- [51:37]
Sabrina Merchant
Well, she is a little skinny.
- [51:38]
Zena Kaida
She is a little skinny athlete. What I realize, especially in most. In my conversations recently, I've had conversations with friends that are like, congratulations on your new job. There's a lot of people that don't watch sports. There are a lot of people, I would say, and there are people that are now watching sports that are like, this is so much fun. And they don't know all these little nuances and little aspects of the game and such. So, you know, whenever I can, I want to jump in and make sure everybody's included here. Okay. On the other side of this, we're done with surprises. We have a fun little game of stats. Don't go anywhere.
- [52:15]
Annie Costable
We're lost. And kickoff's coming up. I don't want to miss the lineup.
- [52:20]
Sabrina Merchant
I'm going to ask that man for directions.
- [52:22]
Annie Costable
Hi there. We're trying to get to the stadium.
- [52:25]
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- [52:29]
Sabrina Merchant
Nah, I'm just kidding.
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- [52:31]
Annie Costable
How is there signal out here?
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- [52:45]
Annie Costable
Actually, can you pull up the way
- [52:47]
Zena Kaida
to a T Mobile store?
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- [54:21]
Zena Kaida
All right. Guys, we're gonna play a numbers game, and I'm gonna call it the Numbers Game. We don't have a name for this, but it's a game of numbers. The numbers Game. I'm gonna give you a team or players or teams or a player. Basically just a category of a noun that's related to basketball. And then I'm gonna give you stats. Right. It's gonna be a stat category and numbers that that stat could be. Okay. It's basically gonna be like A, B, C. Is this stat A, B, C performed by X and Y, Z team, player, et cetera. You have to choose the correct one. Everything is based on opening weekend. So with that in mind, let's get it going.
- [55:00]
Annie Costable
I'm scared.
- [55:01]
Zena Kaida
I feel like there's also so many
- [55:02]
Sabrina Merchant
letters in addition to this number scheme that you're describing.
- [55:05]
Zena Kaida
I know. Okay, so it. We're gonna keep it really simple after opening weekend.
- [55:11]
Annie Costable
Yeah.
- [55:11]
Zena Kaida
The Aces currently lead the league in blocks. How many do they have? Do they have a total of 7 blocks? A total of 10 blocks, a total of 12 blocks, or a total of 13?
- [55:29]
Annie Costable
I would say 7 says is.
- [55:32]
Sabrina Merchant
I watched literally all 8 minutes of their games in person. I could not tell you that. A very definitive one by Asia Wilson over Dear Kahambi, which, like, felt like, you know, there's a lot of emotion there, but
- [55:49]
Zena Kaida
7, 10, 12, or 13.
- [55:52]
Sabrina Merchant
Two games. I feel like 7 is too.
- [55:54]
Zena Kaida
Annie's putting a box for 7.
- [55:57]
Annie Costable
Doing 7.
- [56:00]
Sabrina Merchant
You said 10, 12, or 13.
- [56:02]
Zena Kaida
Mm.
- [56:03]
Sabrina Merchant
I'm gonna say 10.
- [56:04]
Zena Kaida
Okay. The answer is 10 total blocks. Thank goodness. It would be so embarrassing having been an opening weekend. Opening weekend. There you go. Oh, good. You worked it out. All right. Number two, the Valkyries led the league in made three pointers after opening weekend. How many made three pointers stat did they have? Isn't that insane?
- [56:28]
Annie Costable
That's wild.
- [56:29]
Zena Kaida
Wild, right? Okay. How many three pointers did they make? Do they make 19? Do they make 20? Did they make 22 or did they make 28?
- [56:45]
Sabrina Merchant
I'm gonna say 28.
- [56:47]
Annie Costable
I'm gonna go with 22.
- [56:50]
Zena Kaida
The answer is 28.
- [56:53]
Sabrina Merchant
Yep.
- [56:54]
Zena Kaida
They beat the next highest. They crushed it. They beat the next highest team, the Phoenix Mercury, by six total May threes. Very impressive.
- [57:02]
Annie Costable
I would like to publicly apologize to the Valkyries for ever questioning your guys's offensive game plan.
- [57:09]
Zena Kaida
The ball.
- [57:09]
Sabrina Merchant
I knew they were going to get up a lot of threes. I did not realize they were going to make so many.
- [57:13]
Zena Kaida
So many. Oh, yeah, they were. They were killing it.
- [57:15]
Sabrina Merchant
Chanel Salon Gabby Williams, I want to
- [57:18]
Annie Costable
publicly apologize to you.
- [57:19]
Zena Kaida
They made 15 in that first game against Seattle. Pretty. Pretty impressive. Okay, Key Kiki Areafen, Camila Cardoso, and Angel Reese all tied for the most individual rebounds of opening weekend. Did they get 11 rebounds each, 12 rebounds each, 15 rebounds each or 14 rebounds each?
- [57:45]
Sabrina Merchant
This is like a sing. This is like their average or, like a single rebound?
- [57:47]
Zena Kaida
This is their single individual rebound performance. They each got this number.
- [57:54]
Annie Costable
Okay, well, I talked about angel earlier, and I know she had 14 against the links, and she only gained 1, so.
- [58:03]
Zena Kaida
14.
- [58:04]
Sabrina Merchant
14.
- [58:04]
Zena Kaida
Do the math. There you go. Each of them had 14, and Camilla Cardoso had 22 at 14. Worth noting. And, of course, Angel Reese followed up. Also. Another double.
- [58:14]
Sabrina Merchant
Double my fantasy team's contributions this weekend.
- [58:18]
Zena Kaida
Yeah, absolutely. Okay, let's keep it going. Errol Atkins, Aaliyah Boston, and Ryan Howard all tied for steals in opening weekend. How many steals did each of them have? Did they have two, three, four, or five?
- [58:37]
Annie Costable
I think three.
- [58:39]
Zena Kaida
I think four. Answer is three. Well done, Annie.
- [58:45]
Sabrina Merchant
Atta girly.
- [58:46]
Zena Kaida
There you go. She's so happy.
- [58:49]
Sabrina Merchant
If you're not watching on video, you're missing out. Some great.
- [58:51]
Zena Kaida
Yeah, you're missing out. You're missing out. I love the competition here. Lastly, the Liberty and Wings tied for the most assists in opening weekend.
- [59:01]
Sabrina Merchant
That's great. Liberty Wings, like, in a single game, I'm sure, right?
- [59:04]
Zena Kaida
In a single game, how many assists did they have in one game? Did they have.
- [59:10]
Annie Costable
I don't like to know this.
- [59:12]
Zena Kaida
26. Did they have 28? Did they have 29? Or do they have 30?
- [59:23]
Annie Costable
Oh, my God. I should know this. Come to me.
- [59:28]
Sabrina Merchant
I'm gonna guess 28.
- [59:30]
Annie Costable
I'm gonna guess 26.
- [59:34]
Zena Kaida
Annie. Ding, ding, ding. 26. So I think we got tied up
- [59:41]
Sabrina Merchant
for the games we were at. You know, it's good.
- [59:44]
Zena Kaida
There you go. Yeah, you guys pretty much. It was two. Two, and then you guys both got one. So there you go. Well done. Thank you guys for playing the numbers game. We're gonna keep. We're gonna keep that one in the rotation. That was fun.
- [59:55]
Annie Costable
Yeah, that was a good fun.
- [59:56]
Zena Kaida
Yeah. Right? And Annie's feeling that way. Cause she's like, yes, I read the numbers.
- [60:00]
Sabrina Merchant
Ended on a really high note.
- [60:01]
Zena Kaida
Right? I love it. I love it. We all have that competitive streak in us. That's why we cover this game. We talk about this game. We appreciate this game, and we appreciate y' all for listening to us today. Now, Lajah and I will be back on Thursday with more from the world of women's Hoops. So remember, you just sign up. Subscribe wherever you're listening. Also remember to sign up for the Athletics no Off Season newsletter. Annie and Sabrina are putting in extra work for us to ensure that we are all informed. All of the greatest women's hoops content right here from the Athletic will be in there and on this pod. So just it's all beautifully packaged up for you. We make it easy for you to get the info. On behalf of the Athletic, Annie Constable and Sabrina Merchant, I'm Zena Keda thanking you for listening and we will see you next time. No Off Season is hosted by Zena Kaida with Chantelle Jennings, Sabrina Merchant, La' Ja Clarendon and Annie Costable. It's produced by Tanika Burrell. Our Executive producer is Andrea B. Scott. Monica Compton is our video editor. Our theme music is by Marcus Bagala. Shannon Ryan is Managing Editor of Women's Basketball at the Athletic. Be sure to like and subscribe. We drop new episodes every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
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