Put Me In Coach (WNBA Playoffs Preview)
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It's a deep, ugly situation over there. She got the steak face. This is Queens of the Court. What's up, everybody? And your favorite duo. Welcome to another episode of Queens of the Court, an Odyssey original podcast produced in partnership with the WNBA. I'm your girl, Cheryl Swoops. And I'm Jordan Robinson. And Court. And Court.

Is in session. That last gavel drop hits different when it's... Before the playoffs. Before the playoffs. That was the...

Bringing down the gavel on a couple of these teams' season. Ooh, ooh. Damn, you got started early. Oh, okay. Sorry. That did come out a little more harsh than I wanted it to. It did. It did. I was like, oh, dang, you just hopped right into it. Okay. Ooh, my bad. My bad. It's all love, though. We're going to talk about it. It's all love. It is.

It is. And I just want to say, speaking of all love, because when we started this podcast from the draft, we were excited about this season. We were looking forward to it. And I just feel like...

it has exceeded my expectations of how every game, so many teams, so many players, like just so much has happened this season. And I'm so happy. This was a season that we had a podcast to talk about all the happenings. Cause it was me too. I think for me and, and we're talking like this is our last podcast y'all. It's not the last one. We got a lot to go. Yeah.

But but since, you know, it's end of regular season, we're going to the playoffs. So it's in the regular season for our podcast. We're going to play off mode. Different mode. I think for me, to your point, when we showed up at draft, I was like, OK, well, not not just about the season, but about the pod. Right. I was like, what? Like, what is this going to be like? Because I've never done anything like this. Right.

But also, will the audience like it? Will the fans like it? Is it going to be good? Like so many different thoughts and emotions went through my head. And here we are on our, let's see, which episode is this? 22. It's 22. Deuce, deuce, baby. Oh, okay. That's why I'm all in my feels today. Okay.

But I have to say, Jordan, it has been such a pleasure and honor. Like, I have so enjoyed working with you. And I also have loved just the interaction we've had with the fans, the good comments, the not so good comments, and, you know, just being able to do this weekly and bring them a different perspective. And it's been fun. So I've enjoyed it so far. We still got more to go, y'all. We've still got more.

Still got more to go, but it's like, okay, that made me tear up. I know. Flip the switch. It's playoff mode. And we have been hinting at this for the past few weeks, and now it's about to get real. For a lot of these teams, a lot of these players, some people got to kick it up to another level, and I'm excited to watch that level unfold for real.

Some people it's necessary or else it's going to be a short playoff run. And yeah, so I'm excited about that. Me too. But before we dive into playoffs and WNBA and basketball, because y'all know we're all about flowers and all of that. Coco expletive golf. Coco! Coco, we see you. Coco, come on the show. Come on.

Just put the invitation out there. The US Open champ at 19. I won't even get into it, right? I won't even talk about it that much because I could. But I thought I was playing. I was in front of the TV screaming, yelling. When she lost the first set, I was like, Coco, what are you doing? What are you thinking? Wake up. Come on. But it was so amazing to watch. She's so talented, so young. And I loved...

because I'm sure you saw it on Twitter where everybody's posting her when she was a little girl dancing at the US Open. Yeah. To see her just fulfilling a dream. Like, it just was so beautiful to watch. And listen, shout out Black Girl Magic, Black Girl Power. It was, it was just such a beautiful thing to watch. So Coco, we love you.

I love you on the pod. Because you are a queen of your court as well. Yeah, she is. How about that? The ultimate queen of the U.S. Open. And again at 19. What were you doing at 19? I will not tell. I was not winning a U.S. Open championship. I'll tell you that. Just so much grace. Style and grace is Coco. So yes, we are rooting her on. But to

The W, like we've hinted at, the regular season ended on Sunday. The MVP votes are in...

Of course, we won't find out for a few weeks. I have September 26 as the date that we're going to figure out who wins that MVP award. It's going to start with executive of the year, the coach of the year, six player, most improved. Then we're going to get the MVP and then it's going to continue on with rookie of the year, defensive player. But it's been a hot debate.

And I gotta say our interview with Alyssa Thomas just just stirred the pot. I gotta get my gap. One thing I'll say because we did that you did that interview, we posted that and then Alyssa Thomas again has an incredible game right after that interview is released.

But my favorite thing was the post-game interview. She seemed more confident to kind of throw her name into the hat more. She said, I'm making it look easy. I feel like...

We haven't really seen her talk like that before. And coming off of your interview with her, I just think that gave her even more momentum. That's what I like to believe. Well, you know, so I'm going to say this because I'm sure there's somebody out there who will be like, well, why didn't y'all have Asia? Why didn't y'all have Stewie? Listen,

They all have open invitation, right? Like I'd love to have Asia, love to have Stewie. I'd love to have any player in the W, but in particular, we're talking about the MVP candidates. So here was my thing. Stewie's active on social media. Asia's active on social media. So, and they have teams behind them, right? That are like, here's why Stewie's MVP. Here's why Asia's MVP. And I know the Connecticut Sun, they have done that and they're doing that for AT and

But there's like AT is not on social media. And again, I think a lot of people thought that because I interviewed her and we had her on the show that we were like AT should win MVP. Right. My thing was like,

let's put up an argument for AT as well, because everything was Stewie and Asia. And I'm not taking anything away from them because I also think people know, like I got mad love for Asia. I got mad love for Stewie. And honestly, Jordan, if any one of those three win, well, one of those three will win MVP. You can't go wrong with it. You cannot go wrong. I keep saying that part too. But I wanted, I wanted, I personally wanted to give AT a,

a platform and a space where she could talk about AT because she doesn't do that. And people, people need to hear that and they need to see that and they need to know this is AT and, you know, and I agree with her. And I said to her, you, she makes having a triple double look easy and it's not easy.

So that was my thing. Like, let's just not, it's not just about Asia and Stewie. Let's not forget about AT because she absolutely deserves to be in the running, deserves to be in the conversation. So, and I enjoyed doing it. Oh yeah. If any of those three women win, I don't, I don't think you could go wrong. I think it's really going to be,

thrilling when September 26 comes around and it's announced because I don't know I don't know which way people voted I have again we don't have a vote I don't know which way people were drawn more into how they defined MVP so the votes are in it's done whatever whoever is winning has won already I

I think a lot of people also can't separate what they do in the playoffs versus what they did in the regular season. So like their campaign for MVP is over. Now it's playoffs. It's more about the team and we're not going to hold if Asia only scores two points for the rest of the playoffs, which we know won't happen. We're not going to hold that against her because of the incredible regular season performance that she's done.

Like if Stewie has four more 40 point games, we're going to be like, well, she has to be the MVP because that's what just happened. So that's why I am also a believer that we should announce it today. We should announce the MVP right after the season ends because then we were not crowded and clouded with any other amazing or not playoff players.

I can't wait to see. And not just that one. Coach of the Year. All of them. It's going to be good. I'm ready to see the awards. It's going to be good. And we're going to get to what the playoff series are. We're going to get to that a little bit later. But I want to have a little in memoriam for the teams that didn't make the playoffs, who we will not see anymore this season. Seattle, Phoenix, Indiana.

Indiana, my LA Sparks. What? Let's go one by one. We don't have to spend super long time on this, but what needs to happen for these teams to make a difference? Let's start with Seattle because we, I feel like, and you feel like too, we haven't talked enough about the incredible season that Joel Lloyd has had and, and

She signed an extension. So she's going to stay in Seattle. A nice extension, by the way. A nice extension. Let me hold a dollar, Jewel. I think you got a good flex dollars for me. A nice extension. A little dollar. Deservingly so. Totally deserving. And in any other circumstance, Jewel Lloyd would be in the MVP running. Mm-hmm.

But in her case, this is my opinion, in her case, because of their record and not playing so well, she's she's not in the MVP running. But Jewel Lloyd, Jewel had a hell of a season. And when you say what do they need to do? The first thing was doing exactly what they did. Yes. To sign her to an extension, because you have an amazing piece to build around.

In addition to Joel, they have to find more scoring. They got to get scoring. They got to get defense. It's kind of like I know teams don't like using the word rebuild, but that's what you're doing. And I'm not referencing losing Sue and losing Stewie.

because anytime you lose players like that you know that like you're losing a lot but in in this case to me it's almost like a rebuild you have jewel who's a great player you have um jordan horston yeah right who is an up-and-coming rookie who is going to be great not only with seattle she's going to be great in this league so you have a young a nice young rookie and a nice vet

that you can build around. Now you got to go find those missing pieces. I do think they need to go find not, not a Sue bird, but you need to go find another good, true point guard. Yeah. I can run your show that can get things going. And you know, they, they, they need players at every position. They, they need more scoring and they got to get better defensively. I think.

Yeah. Building off of Ezzy MagnaGore, too. And Mezzy, yes. Ezzy, excuse me. Building off of her getting her first all-star, like...

That, I think signing the extension, you're right, was step number one because I think that silences the rumors of, okay, is Jewel down with the rebuild? Is she going to try to go somewhere else? Like, nope, you signed her. You're building around her and Ezzy, Jordan, Horstyn. I think that's where you start. Yeah, I couldn't agree. I agree with everything that you said. What about Phoenix? It's a little bit of the same.

Phoenix, wait, hold on. We got to address it because it was out there on Twitter. But Diana Taurasi was asked about Skylar Diggins, how she felt about Skylar coming back. And she just hit him with the next question, which is just two words that say so much about

So Phoenix is also in a rebuild and they need scoring. They need defense. They need more bodies because they were also dealing with some injuries. This is a spot for...

Somebody who's maybe buried a little bit on someone's bench right now that we know could get buckets. If you go to Phoenix, maybe you could be in a starting role and show, remind everybody that you are a bucket getter. Like the opportunity is there, but I wonder if it's a place where people want to go. I guess that's, that's my, that's where I'm at.

if people will find it a intriguing destination and free agency. - We gonna leave it at that. - That's juicy. Here's what I will say. Before any of that with the players,

Are you keeping Nikki blue as a head coach? Yeah. They need to, we need to know or not. Right. Like, like I think it's bigger than the players. I think it's the whole front office. Like you, you got to start over. Right. Like there's stuff that absolutely needs to be changed. Personally. I think Phoenix is a great city. I think it's a great place for WNBA team. I think it's a great place that players would want to go.

But there's a lot of changes that need to be made. Then when you go down to the players, you ain't really got nobody right now. You gotta fill a lot. Gotta fill a lot of holes. You gotta give BG some help. You have to. And I'm gonna leave it there. Shug...

is a bright spot for getting the franchise's first triple-double in one of the last games. I think, you know, last pick in the draft, I believe in 2020, like just an incredible story. Build off of that, like build off of these pieces, but you need a lot of pieces. I feel like the conversation kind of going back to coach of the year, you know, people are putting Sandy Brandello in there and,

And it's like she didn't kind of configure all these players together. It was the executive. It was the GM that said this was the team that we need. And I think, like you said, it's front office saying what pieces are going to work together personality-wise on the court,

with a new coach or with Nikki blue, there's a lot of lot going on in Phoenix. Yeah. And to your point, Jordan, the first thing you said about Diana's comment, right? Like it's, I know we laughed about it, but that tells you exactly what she thinks. So, and she's already said she's coming back. Diana has said I'm coming back. So to me, that means Skylar will not be back.

That's what I read too. It's kind of like either you want me or you want her. Yeah. But you can't have us both. You can't have us both. You know what I mean? I don't know. It's a deep, ugly situation over there. She got the steak face. I don't know. I don't know. Okay, let's move on. My spark, L.A., just heartbreaking experience.

Missing the playoffs. They battled, though, Jordan. They battled to the very end. Nneka has one of her best seasons. As long as she's been in the league, she's still able to do what she does. Jordan Canada, incredible. It was just injuries. Just not able. I feel like Kurt Miller did the best that he could.

De'Arica Hamby came back, played in all 40 games after having her second child. Incredible. Talk about flower segment. Incredible to De'Arica Hamby. I think it's not having everyone healthy, but then wanting to have some of those bench players that

We can mold. So just in case they get more time, it doesn't take them about eight games to get acclimated and get ready. Ray Burrell, Zia Cook had an incredible, you know, last couple of games of the season, but they were just weren't really in the rotation. So it took them a while to get back into it. So I think, I think we'll be okay. Um,

But I liked Kurt. I think Kurt did pretty well for what he could have done with injuries. And we're gonna get Lexi back next year. I'm- - Yeah, so I was gonna say, I would add two things to that. I agree with everything you said. Getting, hopefully praying Lexi comes back and she's healthy. Lexi was a big missing piece for the Sparks 'cause Lexi could score and she could defend. Here's my question.

And it's just a question because I don't know the question. That's what we're talking about. Um, Sinead? Yeah, she playing? Is she not playing? Mm hmm. Mm hmm. It is a great question. And I feel like I don't know the scope of her injury.

You don't even have to answer. You don't even have to answer. Great. I'm not going to answer. I just put it out there. Yeah, I just put it out there for the people. Something that needs to change between this year and next year, we need to have an answer to that question. Yeah, that's it. Indiana, we talked a little bit about this last week when they were officially eliminated. They ended strong. One more vet.

one more vet is really all they need because this team is going to... I would say two. Two? Okay. If they could find a way to get two vets, right? And honestly, I wouldn't change anything else. Me neither. If you want to put it this way and say the big three, right? I'm saying they have a big three in Kelsey Mitchell, Nelissa Smith, and rookie of the year. Oh, excuse me. And Aaliyah Boston. Yeah.

Right. Yeah. Have they have some really, really, really good pieces to me. It's just a matter of time before they all gel together and they learn how to win. And they were really, really close this year. So that's the one team out of the four that we talked about. That's the one team that I look at and say they're not far off. Right. From making the playoffs.

They're in the best shape out of the four teams. They don't need a lot of pieces. Because they could get by with just one vet. Two is really nice, but one for sure. So, yeah. The Fever, they're going to be good. They're going to be good. Well, hats off to those teams. But, uh...

It's time for you guys to log out. And we're about to get to the big dogs who are going to continue playing in the playoffs. You are. Goodbye. The weakest link. Goodbye. We're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, it's the WNBA. And now a word from our sponsors at Betterment.

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This episode is brought to you by Honda. When you test drive the all-new Prologue EV, there's a lot that can impress you about it. There's the class-leading passenger space, the clean, thoughtful design, and the intuitive technology. But out of everything, what you'll really love most is that it's a Honda. Visit Honda.com slash EV to see offers. Welcome back to Queens of the Court. And now it is time for the WNBA playoffs presented by Google Sports.

The playoffs start on Wednesday. And as a quick reminder, we are no longer doing the single elimination games. It's the round one is best of three semifinals and the finals are best of five. And we're going to go through these kind of give our predictions. But also, Cheryl, I want to hear your

who is the X factor in the series? Like if this person plays well, then this will happen. Or if this person doesn't play well, then

You know, like that's, I think that's such a big thing because series, and we talk about this in March madness, like it's all about matchups and who's going to win that matchup. Somebody can be irrelevant this first round, but is the game saver the next round and the catalyst of a team the next round, because that matchup just wasn't the same. So I always find that really, really interesting, but yeah,

We got the number one seed, Las Vegas Aces, versus the number eight seed, Chicago. They snuck in there. They ended the season off really strong to go against the number one seed. They start on Wednesday. Tell me your thoughts. Who you got? I think this one's going to be a nail-biter. So I have Vegas winning this series. But here's what I'll say. To me, when Vegas...

shares the basketball. Like when they have incredible ball movement, they're a completely different team. And they're very, very, very tough to beat. When they, I don't even know if you want to call it selfish. When they're playing more of a one-on-one, one-on-two, one-on-five, anybody can beat them.

So when they start playing more of a one pass and shoot or one pass, and I'm going to take you off the dribble and not moving the basketball, they're a completely different team. So if they, if that Vegas team shows up, Chicago has a chance.

But Chicago has a chance if, and to me, Chicago, you can't just pick one player because of who they're playing, right? Totally. Obviously, obviously, Ka has to have an amazing series. I think Courtney Williams is one of those players, just from an emotional standpoint. And Courtney says herself, she's a dog, right? Courtney needs to be that dog from start to finish. Yeah.

I mean, Mabry, I think has to, they need everybody to step up and play well. I do think Alana Smith, who we didn't talk about as far as six player, I mean, most improved player, because I think she could have been in that conversation also. You know, she's got to be big for them. Elizabeth Williams, like they just, everybody on the team for Chicago, they need to bring their A game. They got to be ready. And if Vegas doesn't play team ball, I think Chicago has a chance.

Yeah. If Vegas is playing the way they're capable of playing, moving the ball, sharing the ball, I don't think it's close. Sometimes just what you said, the ball just gets stuck. It just gets stuck for Vegas and they're really beating themselves rather than getting beat most of the time. And what I say about Chicago is, I just said this early on another podcast, like

They have nothing to lose here. They're the number eight seed. Like they could do the impossible. They could just, Courtney Williams is going to have 40 shots a game. Like she, they have nothing to lose. They're going to try to go out swinging because that's who Chicago is. And I don't think we can automatically count them out, but they have a very tall task in front of them. No doubt. No doubt.

They don't have anything to lose. Vegas is the one that's like, okay, we have to prove that we are deserving to get back to the finals and to win back-to-back, so we have to put them away early. Chicago's like, we could do the impossible. And that's the thing. To your point, that's the thing. It's the playoffs, so anything can happen. But to your point, Vegas has everything to lose, and Chicago has zero to lose.

But knowing the players on this team, in particular, Ka and Courtney, who, you know, Courtney's like, well, nobody believes in us anyway. So let's just go out and do the impossible or do what no one thinks will happen. So I'll be watching to see.

That's going to be good. Okay, that series starts Wednesday. But a series that starts on Friday is number two, New York and number seven, Washington. Now, that game, they just played each other on Sunday. In New York.

In New York, Brittany Sykes, what was it, .5 on the clock? Yeah, yeah. Inbound from underneath Washington's basket, they throw a lob to Brittany Sykes, and she puts in a little floater. And me and my husband were just yelling for like three minutes straight. It was perfectly drawn play and just deflated that insane New York Liberty crowd. Yeah, for...

The pass that Tosh threw, like that lob pass, had to be spot on. It was perfect. And the timing of everything was so... And knowing that, you know New York is pissed. So they're pissed that they lost that game. And now that game's over and it's playoff time. But the other side is...

Washington's coming in very confident. Like we just, and they beat them with that. I don't believe Shakira Austin played in this game. No, she did not. But you got to know Washington's like, all right, we, we've shown that we can beat you on your home court. So let's just get it done. And I'm,

I'm actually very excited about this series. Me too. And it's not just because they won on Sunday, but I think, and we said this in the beginning, Jordan, I do think Washington has the pieces at every position to match up with New York, to match up with Vegas. They just haven't been healthy, so we haven't seen it. How healthy are they going in the playoffs? I don't know. But if they're healthy, they're going to give New York a run for their money.

I agree. I think the X factor is Shakira Austin. If you get her back, if you're Washington, this is a... New York is scared. Like, I think maybe they're not scared, but they are hesitant. I think New York was wishing they are playing another team. I'll say that. Because Washington has played them tough all season long and especially coming off of that momentum from Sunday. So, I'm...

I'm excited about this. I want this one to be buzzer beaters. I don't think the number seven seed is true for Washington. I think they are higher. And yeah, so who you got? Even though it's going to be close, who you think New York's going to pull it out? Or are you calling an upset in the first round? Do it. Do it. I think it's going to go three games.

That's what I'll say. That's what. Oh, I really. No, I don't. I really honestly I can't sit here right now and say, oh, yeah, New York. I don't think it's as clear. I don't I don't know. Because to your point, usually if you look at number two and number seven, you're like, yeah, number two. But Washington's not a number seven seed. I know they're not. They're not. I don't know.

I think it goes three, but I think New York, I think New York gets it. I think it goes three, but I think New York pulls it out. But who, okay. On to the next one. That's all we'll say. Number three, Connecticut versus number six, Minnesota. That series starts on Wednesday. Your gut reaction to that series. Minnesota's playing really well right now. Um,

I mean, Fee has got to play well. Mm-hmm. Diamond Miller, even though she's a rookie, Diamond's going to have to step up and play really well for them. I think Connecticut wins this one, though. Yeah. I think they're hungry. Listen...

A.T.'s an MVP candidate for a reason. And and I think she's going to show up. She's going to show out. Doana Bonner is going to do what she does. And I know we talk about those two, but they they also have pieces that can score, can get it done. I think Connecticut is in a great spot right now. And I expect them to come out of this series. To me, it comes down to experience.

Like Connecticut has the experience of playoffs. They are, you know, maybe they're excited about it. And I think Minnesota has a lot of rookies like Diamond Miller, Dorca Ujas, who don't have that experience to, I think that's going to show. That's going to show their hand if it's a close game in a game two or something like that.

Connecticut is going to be calmer where Minnesota just doesn't doesn't have have the pieces in that way. I agree with that. That's a good call experience. Yeah, for sure. Sometimes it could be a, you know, game that's two to two. But the experience is going to going to show out for Connecticut. And I agree with you.

Yeah, I think that's going to I have Connecticut in that as well. This is also I will say I wish that the MVP was announced before playoffs because, you know, if AT didn't get the MVP, she's going to come out on a tear and Minnesota would be the bystander. I agree with you. I do. I totally agree with that.

Okay, now this is the one that's going to get a little spicy. Number four, Dallas versus number five, Atlanta. That series starts on Friday. Cheryl, who you got? This could go either way. It could go either way. I think Ryan Howard is going to play lights out.

In this series, I do. But there is something about this Dallas Wings team that has me so excited to watch them in the playoffs. Not only do I think they're going to beat Atlanta, I think Dallas is going to upset a few teams. I think Coach T has them playing so well. I think they're confident.

And I also I also think they're they're a little cocky, but in a good way, not not a bad way at all. Playoff basketball is just different from regular season. And with players like an Arike who like she has the green light to just do whatever you let you live with the good shots, you die with the good shots or the bad shots. It's just who she is.

And then Satu is playing unbelievable and Tiara and Kalani and Natasha Howard. I just like this Dallas Wings team right now. So I'm rolling with Dallas in this round. Okay. Let me just backtrack to get the weight of what you just said earlier. You said they're going to upset a few teams. I did. According to the bracket. Yeah.

They would go on to play the Aces if they come out of that. And you think they're going to upset the Aces? I think they could. No, let's get them past Atlanta first. Okay, okay. Hey, whatever. No, listen, but I do think they could.

Yes, I do. They could. They have that potential. For me, the X factor in this series is Natasha Howard. Just going off of that experience piece, like she is a champion. And...

This Dallas team, we've talked about it over and over, but they've just been on the bubble. And I think that experience and just she can have an explosive night and she can go off on the right night at the right time. And that's going to be huge for them, especially that battle between her and Cheyenne Parker. But on the flip side of that, Atlanta,

Hasn't made the playoffs since 2018, I believe. We haven't met Playoff Ryan yet. And I'm excited to meet Playoff Ryan. Like, I think this is her time to really be on the brightest stage and show all of us and remind everyone else that she's a hooper. And when the lights are brightest, I think she's going to deliver everything.

So with that being said, if I have to choose, since you're going with Dallas, I'm going to go with Atlanta. Of course you are. Let's go, Dallas. I'm going to go Atlanta. Just to stir the pot a little more.

So did you pick your other teams? Did you have Connecticut or Minnesota? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have Connecticut over Minnesota. You have New York over Washington. Yep. And I have Vegas over Chicago. So I did them all except New York and Washington. I'm not sure. So since you're going with New York, I'll go with Washington. Okay, that's fun. Makes it interesting. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

Do you remember before we bumped a break, but like, what was that? What was those feelings night before playoffs are about to start? Maybe you're the, you're the number one seed expectations are high. Maybe you were in an underdog position. What were those feelings like? Well, here's the deal. So if I'm the aces, you know, every team got to come through you to win the championship. I mean, you have the chip right now.

I just like I was just ready, right? Because regular season is great. But once it gets to playoffs, honestly, like nobody really cares what you did in the regular season, what the score was, how many times you beat us, how many times we beat you. It's zero, zero. So like my mindset going into playoffs was all right. It wasn't so much about the team we were playing, but it was about individual players, right?

And for me, it was like, this is like, I know, well, I'll talk about who we play. Like I knew going into play New York or play the Sparks, who I was going to have to defend and who more than likely was going to defend me. So where was my advantage? But more than that, like I really focused on you, my player, you're not going to beat us because like, you know what everybody's going to do. And even coaches, right?

add one or two new plays, but they're not really trying to put too much on your mind. Because at this point, it's about who wants it more. Like you got to go out and you just got to play. I'm going to guard you. I'm going to shut you down and I'm going to make it rough on you to guard me.

Like that, to me, it was like Dion said, it's personal. It's personal. I'm like, oh no, you're trying to come get what we have. You want this ring? You want this trophy? Oh no, ma'am. Not on my watch. That's just the mindset that you got to have. It's no, like Vegas should be like, this trophy ain't leaving Vegas. I don't care what I got to do to make sure that doesn't happen. It ain't happening.

Put me in coach. I'm fired up. Let's go. I might go shoot some shots right now thinking I'm about to go into the playoffs. Robinson, get in the game. Put me in. I'm ready. Oh man. Just that though, that mindset. I know it's going to be a lot of butterflies, a lot of excitement, a

but Wednesday it's here and we're, we're, I think we're going to know pretty quickly what teams are going to start to separate themselves and have that mindset and, and have that experience and have that eye towards the trophy come October. I can't wait. It's going to be good. All right. We're going to take one more break and we're going to come back with some flowers.

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Welcome back to Queens of the Court. And this is our flower segment, which we haven't done in a little bit. But this is one of my favorite parts of Queens of the Court because everyone deserves flowers and we got to shout them out. This flower segment, a little more broad because I want to give flowers to this record-breaking season. And I'm going to be talking about

how I feel like players have been on more broad mainstream media posts because of all the records they've been breaking, all the 40-point games, multiple players having 40-point games, to list it all out. Yeah. New all-time marks were set for points, assists, field goals, two-pointers, three-pointers, and even win shares. Yes.

there's just it's we're on a whole nother level and i want to give flowers to all of those things in a league that is thriving but we have to put it into some context here what's fun we love it there's flowers but there's a couple thorns on the stairs we're not giving roses how about that

What are we getting? Sunflowers or tulips or something? Yeah, some tulips because they don't last too long. I think we have to keep in context that this is the most games that have ever been played in a WNBA season with 40. We've talked about this, Cheryl, when Caitlin Clark

quote unquote, broke your record. She had an extra game to do it. We talked about this at All-Star break when Jewel Lloyd set the record, but now there's four pointers. It's not taking anything away, but we just have to give some context. Would you agree? Well, of course I'm going to agree. Here's my thing. Hold up. So to your point, right? Yes, records are set and made to be broken. But to me, if you don't

Do it within the same amount of time or same amount of games that the record was set in. Did you really break that record? So I'll go back to your point when we had this conversation earlier about, yes, Caitlin Clark broke, quote unquote, broke my NCAA scoring record. But I set the record in five games. It took her six games to break the record.

So my thing is, if she if you're going to say she broke the record, then she should have done it in that fifth game. Right. Because because if you give me a six game, I I was going to give you another 30, maybe 35. No, listen, if I have a six game, that means I'm going to score more points.

- It just becomes a new record. - It's gonna be higher. - Yeah. - It's gonna be higher. - Right, and I think now it's just, it's a new record for in 40 games or for Kaitlyn Clark it's in six games. Like it's a different record is what. - Yeah, so technically I should still own the record in five games. Kaitlyn has it in six. So when you talk about the WNBA season,

Yeah. Like there's a big difference in 32 games versus 40. Right. And, and I'm not even talking about myself. I'm going to say we, we had some phenomenal scores, like ballers, just people that could just flat out score the basketball. So yeah, if you, you give us another, I mean, you give us 40 games and,

the records look totally different and to your point and I want I do want to say this because I know I'm having fun with it but it's not to take anything away from Asia Stewie AT whoever anybody that broke a record this season it's not to take anything away from them because they absolutely balled out this year but to your point it's just to put it in context so

i don't know so is it is it really a record yeah in all-star games we didn't have four point plays we didn't have four point shots we had four point plays we didn't have four point shots like you go stand on this circle this if you make it it's four points yeah if you give you a couple tries you would have knocked one down oh a couple down yeah yeah because i was definitely gonna shoot that thing i was gonna shoot that thing four point five point don't matter um but yes i i

I agree. It's different and it just sets a new standard. And I think the...

the question when you see all of these records and you see it's like, wow, are these just the best players that have ever touched the court? You know, like it makes you question that. And, you know, it could be some of them that are going to be Hall of Famers and go down as history for sure. But you just have to give the context of the more games. And I do want to cite... But they had eight more games. Eight more...

Well, here's the thing. And I'll let you cite this. I'll let you cite it because I want to say this. Because when these players, when Stewie retires, when Asia retires, right? And that's, I don't know, years away. But when they retire, the game is probably going to change and they'll go from 40 games to 45 games. Now they're breaking y'all's records. And y'all are going to sit here and say, yeah, but I did it in 40 versus them doing it in 45. So does it really count?

So that's where I'm at with it. Yeah. I think...

I think that's always a part of it. And I feel like a lot of players right now can't even imagine that, but they, I hope that the WNBA, the games keep growing. I want 50, like let's keep, let's keep it growing. And then the, the goalposts is just going to keep moving. And that's exciting because that means that the league is growing. But I have to shout out the writer, Neil Payne from the messenger, because he,

In this article, he really did put it in perspective and was able to do a prorated for some of these stats that if

had 40 games, what would those stats look like? How would this year's records kind of compare? So for example, the all-time single season three-point field gold leaders. Right now, Sabrina Inescu was crowned for that, for having 128 threes. But again, it was in a 40-game scheduled season. So now if you zoom out, Diana Taurasi in a pro-rated season

scenario if she had 40 games in 2006 she would still hold the record she would have got 142 so that's just keeping the average if she kept her average throughout a 40 game season and Sabrina Inescu would be second in that at 128 and then Kelsey Plum just last year would have been at 126

So it's just the context. It's just perspective. It's a wonderful article. You guys have to check it out because I think it puts a number to these stats that we're saying. It's not just arbitrary like, oh, if you give me a couple more games, I would have done it. We actually could see a scenario where what does that look like? So it's a flower segment with a...

with a little bit of thorns on it. But I just thought it was interesting. Had to throw it out there. Yeah. One more flower segment, though. Cheryl, you starred in the trailer that was buzzing around Twitter with the Sid and TP show that's about to air. Oh, my gosh.

were you not cracking up the entire time because Sidney Coulson, Teresa Plaisance coming out with the comedy show it looks hilarious and you know what the two of them Jordan have got to be two of the funniest people on the planet like you can't be in a bad mood around them

You know, I was just excited they asked me to be a part. So if you saw the trailer, it's basically Sid and TP are trying to figure out how they can become the face of the league. And so they're they're bringing me in as someone who was the face of the league years ago to give them some advice on how to make that happen. That's all. I love it.

and the advice is probably not what you think but it is hilarious i can't i can't i can't wait to watch it i've watched the trailer i don't know how many times and every time i watch it i just crack up it's so funny they are just a hilarious dude i had to interview them at the same time and i

was like throw these questions throw the questions out the window i just want you guys to crack jokes on each other you know what i love and and you see this from a lot of different players but like like the women in the w they have so much talent right and not just on the basketball court like there were so many they wear so many hats and are capable of doing so many things but

Like we, the world, not just the league, the world needs something like this, this show that's going to make you laugh. It's going to make you cry because you're laughing so hard. I can't wait for it to come out. I'm super excited. So shout out to Sid. Shout out to TP. Listen, I invited Coco on the show. I'm inviting you two on the show. Oh, yeah.

Come on. Come on the show. Let's talk about it. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. So, yeah. Super excited about it. Well, cannot wait to watch that. That is by Together. And it's going to be so much fun. I love how the WNBA Twitter community just rallied behind them. That's like a big win.

for women's basketball in WNBA. So I'm excited about that. But all right, the next time you hear from us, we're going to have some tea on the playoffs. They will be kicked off. Let's go. I can't wait. Let's go.

Cannot wait. Reminder, you can send us questions or feedback. We love the listener emails. Keep sending them to us. Queensofthecourtatodyssey.com. And please continue to follow, rate, review the show. It's available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And y'all know what y'all can do. You can find me on social media. You can find Jordan on social media. I am at airsoups22. And Jordan is at airsoups22.

Tour de Nord!

My neck cracked this time. What the heck? I need to start stretching before I try to do what you have me do. Okay, before I get to, hey, Jordan R., you need to stretch. Stretch your body parts. Okay. Queens of the Court is an Odyssey original created in partnership with the WNBA. The show is produced by Alex Ozzie. The executive producer is Lena Moss Glazer. Social media assistance from Isabella Apple. Imaging from T-Storm Battle.

And court is a jerk. Boom.