Transcript of GOOD FOLLOW - Phoenix Force a Game 3! Should Stewie Have Played? We Have Co-DPOYs & More! with Khristina Williams

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Hey, what's up, everyone? Welcome to Good Follow, presented by DraftKings. I'm Roz Gold on Wooday, and today we have a very special special guest co-host. She is the very well-known WNBA reporter and the host of In case you missed it, it's my girl, Christina Williams. What's going on, Chris?

What's up, girls? Good to be here, finally. I know you're always usually on my show.

I know. Now we're going this way. You're joining mine. It's just movement of the group chat into show format because we both love hoops and talk about and live it and breathe it all the time, as do our audience. So good follow, family. Please make sure you welcome Christina Williams. Give her a follow on all the things. But hey, guys, we are in the thick of the first round of WNBA playouts. We got three decisive game 3s coming up, and here's what we're talking about in today's show. Here's the menu. Liberty and Mercury's game 2 in New York was a flop for the Liberty, should Stuey have played? And then the Mercury. They said Barclays Center was quiet, we are diving in. The Valkeries, their historic season comes to an end at the hands of the Lynx. Lynx are the only team to wrap up their series in two games. Dominique Malunga, her welcome to the W moment as a rookie came, but then she gave it right back in game two to Asia Wilson as the Storm Beat the Aces. And the Dream and Fever series also heads to a decisive game three. And the latest news out of the WNBA, there are co No defensive players of the year.

They are Asia Wilson and Atlanta Smith just announced. So we've got a great show for you guys. Make sure you tune in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We drop two times a week. Subscribe, engage, like, all the things. We love to see you here, rocking with us. We're coming with all the fresh content out of the playoffs straight from the games the night before and talking about it with you the very next day. So thank you so much for rocking with us and engaging. All right. The co-defensive players of the Year are Asia Wilson and Alana Smith. Actually, of note here is that both Asia and Atlanta Smith got 29 votes each. After that, it was Gabby Williams with nine, Alyssa Thomas with three, Nafisa Collier with two. What do you make of this? What do you think about this award?

It's definitely a historic day, right? Because this is the first time that it's happened in WMBA history. But I think that both women are deserving of the award. When you look at the impact Atlanta has had on Minnesota's defense, they rank the top in the entire league, and she was the reason why in terms of finishing top two in most of the defensive statistical categories. And then Asia Wilson, that 17-game win streak was powered by Asia Wilson and her impact on both sides of the floor. But we know that Asia Wilson, her defense creates her offense. And so I think that these are two women who are very deserving. I know that the fans were criticizing some of us voters about which way we went, but I'm happy that both women were able to get the recognition.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that it actually worked out nicely in the sense that Alana Smith is someone who has helped anchor the number one defense in the league in the Lynx. And especially when Nafisa Khalia was out, her defense was really helpful. And she's one of those defenders where you have to watch to understand that She's coming over from help side. She's changing shots. She is a shot blocker. It's not quite as emphatic, perhaps, as maybe Asia Wilson just stuffing someone down, although Atlanta does come over with some great blocks as well. But Asia Wilson, I think, is Statistically, too, when you're trying to come up for this award, being second in rebounds, leading the league in blocks, exactly to your point, how much her defense fueled the win streak of the Aces and her offense. Just everything Asia Wilson was at the core and center of the Aces turning their season around. And it's cool, too, because Asia's now in a situation where she could win MVP as well. So she could be defensive player of the year. We haven't gotten the announcement around MVP, but Asia has done that before in 2022, where she was defensive player of the year and the MVP of the League.

I think that speaks to Asia Wilson's greatness. When we talk about the best player in the world, it's hands down right now, Asia Wilson. And what she's been able to do, especially in the second half of the WMBA season, being able to turn the aces from a eight seed to a two seed. And now we're in the thick of the playoffs where it's a winner take all tonight. So I think that she's very deserving of the award for sure. So we'll see on Sunday when the announcement come out.

Yeah. And I think another side of this, too, because I said in 2022, just to check out these two years that are together. In 2022, Asia Wilson was the MVP and the defensive player of the year. In 2022, Alana Smith was out of the league. She was waived by the Indiana fever, and she was overseas playing ball. Her career in the W was uncertain. And if anything, a lot of people had closed that book on her. Just closed the book and said, Okay, she's done here. To think about where these two players were then and that now they're sharing one of the biggest awards for the league is incredible and also really speaks to Smith and her resilience and her fight and tenacity. Also, I think, can be inspirational. You might be the baddest player in the whole world like Asia Wilson, and out here every single season in the conversation for some MVP awards and defensive player awards, but you also might be Atlanta Smith in this life where you have fallen out of the rotation or out of the league. Look, she was a top pick out of Stanford University. Go card. There were big expectations for her, and things didn't pan out right away in the WNBA.

But then she found her way back to the Chicago sky, and even then, it was mixed results. But she found the right fit and the right timing with the Minnesota Lynx, and perhaps the right coach to put her in situations where she could thrive in Sheryl Reeve. And that really matters in this league. If you look at this Lynx team, it's a whole bunch of players where Sheryl Reeve has really created a renaissance in their careers. I I would say I really find that relatable that maybe it's your second or third time around where you find your role and you can star in it. So congrats to Alana Smith and to Asia Wilson. Real quick, I wanted to ask you, I noticed a lot of people had votes. I had votes for End of Season Awards. You had votes. A lot of people were very transparent putting their votes out. Do you think that ended up being a good thing or a bad thing? Is that hard to put your votes out there? Do you end up just getting a whole lot of haterish feedback, or are people respectful and mature about it? Your season, your shot.

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Well, Well, Roz, I feel like I'm one of the people who started the trend of showing your ballots. I've been doing it every year since I've become a part of the voting panel for the WMBA for Season Awards. And so for me, it's all about transparency. And of course, I think Fandam has grown over the last few years. This is the first year where I've gotten negative comments, but I just post a mute, so I don't even see the comments. But then they find me on my other platform because we didn't vote for their favorite player.

It's super Then they're in your comment section on your Instagram page, it's a picture of you, your mother, and your grandmother. And they in the bottom talking about, You didn't vote so and so for second-team All WNBA. This is a picture of my family, you all. Like, what?

That's exactly what the week has been like for me as a voter, because I didn't put one of their favorite players on my all W team. And I'm getting comments on the most random photos on Instagram now because I'm Mutant Block on X. So I'm all for transparency. I feel like if you're going to vote for someone, you should be able to stand behind it and explain why. And so that's just been me from day one. And I love that more voters are starting to show that transparency. I think it counts because in the NBA, I think that the voters are released by the league, and I think that the W is entering a space where fans want to see that transparency.

Absolutely. It's funny. As someone who has had a vote in the WNBA and a vote for End Season Awards in the I feel a little bit of a difference where voters for the WNBA are almost explaining themselves to the fans while voters for the NBA are thinking so much about to the players, or even to the teams and organizations, how their vote ends up turning out. You think about, you're not supposed to, but of course, you might think, who will still talk to you? Which organizations feel you should be going this way? Certain players the NBA, if the difference between first and second team could be $40 million. It's just so much at stake. And same thing for the women in a different way. But I just think we have a great honor We're one of, what, 72 people that got to do the end of Season Award voting. You want to try your best to keep your thought process as funneled and uninfluenced by outsiders as possible. Okay, girl, let's talk about it. Game 2 at Barclays Center. The Liberty got blasted by the Mercury, and they are heading back to Phoenix for a decisive game 3.

After losing to the Mercury by 26 points at home, they trailed by as much as 30 She won. And after spraining her MCL in overtime during game 1, Brianna Stewart returned to the court. It was very honorable and heroic in the way that she wanted to step up for her teammates. In fact, Natasha Cloud said that is one tough MF. But the details of all that Stuey had to do just to get on that court, here is Holly Roe breaking down what Stuey had to do.

She is wearing a big brace on her knee. I've never seen Stuey wear such a big brace. It looks pretty good, actually. She's over on the bench right now, and the important thing tonight is for that to stay warm. There's a bike in the tunnel that she can get on and ride to keep it moving. She's also got an electronic device, like a Venom device, that sends electrical currents into her knee to also keep it warm. But it's incredible that she's playing in this game with a sprained MCL.

So Stuey played honorably, but she didn't look good. Forget about the stats. She played 20 minutes in the game, had six points, but it's more just like eye test. She's clearly limping at points in the game. She wasn't great on offense or defense, where she's so strong on both sides. She's one of the best players in the world. And not only wasn't she, the Liberty starters weren't that great. Only scored 32 points as a group. So, Christina, you at the game. Are the Liberty cooked? First of all, should Stuey have played, in your opinion?

I don't think that Stuey should have played because we knew that this game was going to come down to the wire. And Phoenix coming into that game. I was able to attend their practice the day before. They were coming, and they were coming to play aggressively and bring that physicality. I think that given how New York Liberty played, it wouldn't have made a difference whether the student played in game two or not because it was going to go and get pushed to Phoenix. But coming into game two, I feel like the Liberty, they struggled to have consistency from the second quarter to the fourth quarter. You mentioned the 32 points between the starters. They only had 10 field goals in the first quarter and then nine throughout the rest of the game. Phoenix, they brought that defense intensity that really slowed down the Liberty. I just feel like they didn't play with any sense of urgency. It just wasn't there. It just hasn't been there. That's been the through line for this team for the whole season. It just hasn't been there.

Yeah. And look, I am where my Liberty had. I'm a team analyst, also born and raised New Yorker, so I always have a lot of hope for the team. But one thing about the Liberty is They have had some of these head scratching, really rough losses, like whether they've lost against teams they should beat, or they've had some beep downs at home, or a game had its significance on the line, and they did not step up or rise to the occasion. You could have closed the series here. Instead, now you're going back game three. My feeling was because they were tied at 25 after the first quarter, and I was like, okay. But then when things went so south so fast, I almost was like, okay, let's put a fork in it and get ready for game three and take Stuey out. Allow her to just rest at this point. In fact, Stuey shouldn't have played if this was going to be the effort. The reason you put Stuey in was to close it out, not to have to go and play a game three. And so especially with the starters and everybody just seeming so out of it, it's a valid question to wonder like, Hey, all season, they've been injured.

So maybe all those players who got experience off the bench and who have made contributions, maybe you go to them just for some fresh energy or some fresh blood. And so that's something that people have considered and things like that. But on the other side, you have Satu Saboli, who had such a great bounceback game for them. After shooting two for 17 from the field, she comes back with 15 points, Alyssa Thomas, 15 points, Kalia Copper, 15 points. Dawana Bonner has been huge off the bench. Actually, the whole thing with Stuey almost consumed the game. I found myself throughout the day consuming reports about Stuey's updates, hearing that it wasn't as bad as we thought, then hearing her discuss the injury and her saying she's going to play through it and that it's not really good, though. And many of us are like, No, this sounds horrible. And it just felt like the injury report started to consume the ethos around the Liberty. And sometimes that can be a negative, as opposed to just saying, Stuey, we're going to have you sit, and maybe game three, if needed, or the next series, we're going to have you, but we're going to hold this down because the Liberty have more than enough talent, I believe, to win without Stuey.

Not just against the Mercury, but they just have so much talent. In a way, if you watch the game, she got isolated a lot. It was Satu Sabli with her at the top. They would set a screen with Sabrina's girl. If The switch happened, she's attacking Sabrina. And if it doesn't, she's going up against Stui. They're isolating Satu and saying either Satu, attack the rim or take a shot. And that's what Satu did. She either got to the cup and the free line or shot threes when the defense couldn't stay in front of her face. And it was good coaching because Stuey's injury was something they tried to take advantage of.

Yeah, and they absolutely did. In the New York Liberty, they only had two points, two fast break points. We know how much this team likes to push out in transition, especially on offense. And like I said, they just wasn't able to establish themselves on the offensive end. And I was able to speak to John Cuaula the day before the game, and she talked about how she hasn't really been playing like herself since she returned from her injury in the second half of the season, and how she She needs to work on establishing herself on offense as well, because in my opinion, when Jean-Claude Jones plays really well and they play through JJ, it's a winning team. And so I think that for Game 3, the New York Liberty needs to play through JJ, but also she needs to remind herself that she's the finals MVP from last year, former MVP, and need to play to that advantage.

Yeah, Jonquil Jones actually said this after the game. I think it's deeper than the Stewy injury. All of us have to step our game up. We're such a powerful team offensively, and tonight, they were able to congest things. And I personally appreciate that candidness from Jonquil Jones. Hey, I know Stewy's injury took the headline, but this was on us, and it was. I don't know They have to play better in game three. But check this out. Post-game, the Mercury had some comments about the Liberty Faithful, the Liberty Fans, and Barclays Center. Christina, you were at this press conference. Let's listen, and then I'd love your response. Honestly, I was shocked.

I don't think it was loud to start. It was quiet.

So what's it going to be like to play a series deciding game at home? Loud. Louder than here. It will be lit. I love playing in Phoenix. They will stay till the end of the games. Like today, you looked in the stands, they were already leaving a little bit. Our fans would never leave.

Okay, Roz. I was not only at that press conference. I was sitting front and center at that press conference. And when they made those comments, I let out a little laugh. Let me take you to pregame. I was able to speak to a few fans because as you know, over the last several weeks, there's been comments about the rise in ticket prices. Some of those season ticket holders, they've been able to find me on Media Row and air their grievances out to me. And so before the game, a few came up to me and said, Hey, we weren't able to afford to renew our playoff tickets because it was just too expensive. So for one part of it, I think that maybe some of the faithful fans just was not in the building because they couldn't afford to come see the playoffs. That's one part of it. When I was on the media roll yesterday, also, I did also see fans leaving at halftime, leaving in the middle of the third quarter. I think that the energy went down because the Liberty wasn't really giving the fans anything to cheer for. People were leaving out of that building second quarter, third quarter.

It was really sad to see because usually when you're at Barclays, it's packed. People were on the team, good or bad. But I think the fans are just as fed up with how the Liberty are playing as everyone else is these days. So that was the gist of it.

That is crazy, especially a crowd that included Spike Lee and Tracey Ellis Ross. Well, hopefully, we'll see if the Liberty have enough in them to bounce back in game three. It does head to Phoenix. Credit to the Mercury who came out there and took game two. Physicality, they just enforced their will. Really want to shout out the bounce back game from Satu Saboli and just as a team, getting it done. Great coaching as well from Tibbets. We shall see who wins that in game three in Phoenix. We'll be right back, you all. Hey, what's up, you all? Welcome back to Good Follow. I'm Roz Gold, and what a day, that's Christina Williams. Christina, girl. I thought the Valkeries was about to have more magic up their sleeve in game Two, they fell just short of forcing a game three against the Lynx in San Jose. And while they didn't play in Chase Center, the SAP Center was electric, sold out. Nearly 19,000 fans were in there, and it just caps off a historic year for the Valkeries. And expansion teams in the W. On the other side, though, the Lynx, they looked like the number one team in the league.

They walked them down from down 17 points in the third quarter. B in the second half took over, and there was no Cinderella fairytale to follow. It ended. They smashed it for the Valkerries. So what do you make of their season, Christina?

The Valkerries definitely have a lot to be proud of because not only did they push the number one team to the brink in that exciting game, too. But also, Veronica Burton finished Most improved. Kyla Thornton finished as an All-Star. Natalie Nkaseh got Coach of the Year, sold out all of their home games, had over 19,000 fans attend their first ever playoff game. They've made history. They've laid the blueprint out for expansion teams to come in the WMBA. And I think that they're going to be on track for that five-year plan of potentially wanting to win a Championship, right? This is a great thing for free agents to see in We know it's going to be the biggest free agency in WMBA history. What a way to lay it out there for potential free agents of what could be possible down in Golden State.

I couldn't have said it better myself. The inaugural season for the Valkerries, this is my stamp, beamed a success. Bravo, bravo, ladies, everybody, the entire organization, the fan base, the players from the top down, you all did that. All right, let's move on to the Ace's Storm series, okay? Because it is also going to a decisive game three tonight. In game one, Asia Wilson handed Dominique Malunga her welcome to the W moment, like emphatic block, stairs her down. But then in game two, Dominique recorded 11 points, 10 rebounds off the bench, gave it right back to Asia with some tough defense, never back down from one of the best players, if not the best player in the world. Mind you, in both of these games, Dominique Malunga recorded a double-double. And in this game, she secured the win for Seattle with an and-one at the buzzer, showcasing her great hands and poise, timing, and just will to win down the stretch. She's 19 years old. She is the youngest player in the league right now. And on the biggest stage against the best player, she has stepped up and helped to lead the storm, who a lot of us counted out to an opportunity to keep their season going.

What are you making of the rookie?

I think that this is just indicative of how how Coach Noelle Quinn is starting to trust her rookie, especially in a big moment like the playoffs. Dominique is a player who's been a professional athlete for years. She's played in France, played overseas, and now bringing that game to the WNBA. And this is the rawest that we will ever see Dominique play as a rookie, because in years to come, she's just only going to get better and against the greatest player in the world in Asia Wilson. So I'm excited to see more from Dominique, and I think that game two was a great display of what she can do in the crunch time.

You know what's crazy? You think about who did win Rooky of the Year this year, Paige Beckers. She's 23 years old. Dominique Malunga is 19. In four years, she will just reach the age that Paige has gotten to. Experience in time matters as she gets more comfortable with her body and playing in the W. Mind you, she's been a pro for so long. Many people are saying, This is the rawest we're going to see her. When I think about her growth from the beginning of the season where she was super raw to now where we're seeing her just looking comfortable and more dynamic on the and fearless, the future is very bright. All right, you all, we have two decisive game threes happening tonight. The Ace is in the Storm, the Dream and the Fever. You know that we will be sat because Christina and Roz, we love this game, and we know all of you do as well. So we will be back next week discussing all of the happening. So thank you so much for tuning in. A good follow, and we'll catch you next time.