Show Me Something - EP 1: Sophie's BACK! With Thoughts for The COMMISH

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

Sophie Cunningham and Drew Hanlen are kicking off No Hesitation with plenty to talk about. Sophie shares what she wants to see from the WNBA’s next commissioner and reveals what she would do if she were running the league herself. Together, they breakdown what makes Olivia Miles so elite, foul-baiting, and how the Indiana Fever can make a late push in the regular season.Watch and listen to new episodes of No Hesitation every Thursday during the WNBA and NBA season and follow us on social media for all the best moments from the show. You can also listen to new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube: @NoHesitationShowTwitter: @NoHesiShowThis episode is brought to you by: FACTOR:Let’s eat real. Head to factormeals.com/nohes50off and use code nohes50off to get 50% off and 1 free breakfast item per box for 1 year, while supplies last until 10/31/2026. See website for more details.HULU:Watch the new season of Chad Powers on September 3rd, streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.hulu.com/series/…TECOVAS:Right now, get 10% off at tecovas.com/SHOWME when you sign up for email and texts.        See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to the Solid Verbal College Football Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you were the commissioner, which I know you have no interest in being, like, what would you step in and change or do to make the W even better? Honestly, the more I think about that, I think I should be the commissioner. I think I could get this shit on the right track. What would be the first thing that you would do? Honestly, the first thing I would do is make sure that every team legit has a functional practice facility.

We are the best league in the entire world. There are people practicing at like YMCA's. All right, everybody. Welcome to the first ever episode of No Hesitation. You guys are stuck with me yet again. I just felt like there was not a podcast or really any social media out there that gave you real honest truth. about basketball and strictly basketball. So I was thinking of a co-host.

I'm like, all right, who is someone that is reliable, who knows ball, who is in the space? And I couldn't think of anyone better than my good guy right here, Drew Hanlon. Drew, welcome. Yeah, let's do this. To be honest with you guys, that's not the real reason. The real reason was when she was looking for a host,

she was struggling with her shot, and she was like, yo, listen, if you want to be on my podcast, if you can help me out real quick. And so I got some numbers just for the audience because I thought it would be cool to kind of let them know why we really kind of started this show. So, valid.

May 28th, you go one for seven from three versus Golden State. Right afterwards, you called me panicking. Now, I love you and I love the fever and I have you guys on my ESPN app, but I was not watching the game.

I didn't even know you guys had a game that night. You text me and are like, oh my God, did you see what happened? And I was like, no, of course I didn't see what happened. What happened? You're like,

I went one for seven. my shots off, I can't make a shot. In fairness, in the first seven games of season, you were shooting 26.7% from three. So you were off. And that's what I literally get paid to do. So like, you can see my frustration levels. Like, what are we doing here? What are we doing?

So in true me fashion, I was like, you've played seven games. Like, law of average is going to play out. You're like, who cares? Like, if you would have made two more, you'd have been three for seven. You would have been feeling great about yourself. And you're like, no, no, no, listen, I don't need a pep talk right now. I need like the actual, the real stuff. And so I was like, all right, listen, what I'll do?

I'm in indie. We can get in the gym. You're like, no, we can't do that. You're like, I need film right now. I can't go to sleep unless I figure this thing out. And I think that's also important for people to understand. Part of the reason why you've kind of pivoted to this podcast was because it really were like, people don't realize you're a hoop head.

Like you love basketball. You're a hooper first. And obviously you get a lot of a media attention for literally answering other people's questions. People think you're like some troll and make statements, but really it's 99% of the time people ask you a question. You answer, you give your opinion, and then people blow it up and act like you've made a big political statement. Stop asking me questions if you don't want the truth. Exactly. So the truth is you love basketball. And so I was actually in Indy. I was at Tyrese Alvern's house. And so I started doing film. Crazy thing is Tyrese was sitting next to me and I started doing

the voiceover. And he was like, yo, what are you doing? I was like, oh, don't worry. Keep going. It's nothing special. It's just like I'm trying to save. Dude, I was like Drew. Pay attention. Yeah. Literally. It was funny because afterwards, you text me and you're like, you're such an ass.

You're so bored. You don't care about this. But thank you so much. I'm going to make the changes. So anyways, I want to actually, if you're cool with it, I took out the audio because I cursed a little too much for our first episode. Eventually, we'll give them the real stuff. But if you're cool with it, I want to show some of the clips.

I didn't show them all. While you can at least see it. Yeah, and while you're pulling this up, you, for people who don't know you, which like is crazy if they don't, you, Drew is literally the top NBA trainer. He, he is such a junkie for basketball. His IQ is through the roof. He just, like, knows basketball. And like, I think you kind of said it a little bit too is like, I think a lot of people just think like I'm out there just like kind of running around and yeah, I can chew the ball. But I love breaking down film. I love basketball. I love the little, the angles, the tweaks of the game. And like for someone who's like not the most athletic person in the league, I have to be an IQ player. And like that's what I was born and raised on.

Like I'm literally from Missouri. Like what else do you expect to me? And so like I think this is why like I appreciate your level of just knowledge and you're continuing to always like improve yourself and your growth because you are training the top MBA guys. And so when you come over to our side and you're like, dude, just do this. I'm like, ah, it's really that simple. So you can you can break this down and show people what you sent me. First off, you just said in the nicest way possible. I'm not the most athletic person ever.

Just let I've only worked you out once, but I remember I showed you some footwork stuff and I was like, do you not know how to dance? Like, what is wrong with you? And you're like, Drew, just show me the move and just be patient. Like, but I'm just giving the audience a great dancer. I'm a great dancer. And everyone kind of knows that. And so it's, this is different.

This is different. It's not what I was saying. I was saying I can't jump the highest. I'm not the fastest. That's what I was getting at. I guess there's a difference between TikTok. dancing and basketball footwork. So we'll just draw the line there. If I give you a TikTok dance, one take shorty. If I give you a basketball move, be patient and understand that you will get it

eventually. Got it. All right, so let's show on this film. The funny thing is, ironically, I saved the video. I don't even know if you know this. It's literally titled save sophy. Dot MP4. I don't know if you ever realize that when I said that, but it's hilarious. All right. So let's show them what you were doing first wrong. And again, I always like to start off with the wrong first because you want to leave on a note. And so I think that's important too. So when you shoot the ball, you always twist. So that's something that you always do. But what I noticed was you were twisting more than normal. And it wasn't a twist where it was like I could call it a controlled twist where both feet go. It was just a one foot kind of staggered landing where your right foot was really rotating and swinging over your left, which was

causing your whole body to go left, which means you're overcompensating with your right. So I'm going to let these books play out. You'll notice every single miss is the same way. I was like, so look, split landing, ball misses right. Split landing, ball misses right. And a lot of times when I'm doing film, I'm trying to make it super obvious. Like that one was crazy. I know it was late, you know, shot clock or whatever. That one wide open, you're missing.

I'm like, this is just not who Sophie is. Sophie is a great shooter. Last year, led the W in effective field goal percentage. And I was like, this is not who she is. But I noticed every single time that hand flaring to the right, body twisting two left. That was a bad one. So I was like, okay, let's look at the makes because we got to compare it to what actually happens when you go in, too, because everybody has a shot.

Everybody's shots different. And so the makes I noticed, okay, she's still turning, but notice her feet go together. I was like, that's not as bad. Also, her follow-through is at the rim, which is really good. Again, another one. Look, good established base. Your feet do turn, but notice they both turn. They stay parallel. Follow-through goes straight. Ball goes in. And so now, to be fair, that was only two of them, but there were only kind of two of them. at that time. Now, cool thing, though, I think it's important is it's not enough just to identify the problem. It's not like, okay, now you can go walk on the court. You're like, okay, guess what? I'm going to get to practice early the next day. I'm going to work on that. All I'm thinking is

established base, keep a good base, follow through at the rim. Cool thing is next game, you went two for four, which isn't crazy. I mean, two for four, you could have randomly shot two for four, even if you were in a quote unquote slump. But since then, since that game, you shot 47.8% from three, which is obviously really, really, really good. So again, I think that's important for people watching this to understand is that something as minute as just, hey, make sure that you establish a good base, make sure you maintain that base, make sure you're a follow-through straight, which is stuff that you probably tell a 10-year-old when they're shooting fundamentals.

And you've known it, you've done it. You've shot at a high level. You know, this year you're shooting a career best now, 43.4%, which for the audience, just so they know my career best was 48.2% the last time I played at Belmont wasn't in the pros, never was good enough to make it. But so that's something you can still chase. Wait, all year, all year you shop that? 48.2. I was second in the country and three point percentage in division one. Okay, but we're not living in our glory days, loser. Now that was, we're not going to say that that was 2012. We'll just let the, let the editors edit that part out.

It just act like that was a modern day. But, um, I was close to like 44, 45% like, like two games ago, but I, I think I played well in like New York and then my Chicago and whoever we played before break happened. I, I, and it, first of all, I didn't shoot enough of them, but I also didn't make them. And so it's just like, I feel like I could get there by like playoffs and stuff like that into playoffs, I think I can get there. So come on. And again, what do I always tell you? And this is something that's crazy, but a lot of times I always talk about the law of averages are going to play out. And I'm like, I have a bigger problem when you hesitate or you don't shoot him because I'm like, so you've got a good post player and you've got two of the best guards in the league,

two of probably the top five, you know, MVP voters right now. And I'm like, your job is the space to floor. So every time you hesitate, every time you doubt, every time you don't shoot an open look, every time you don't hunt threes is actually hurting your team. You know, the more you hunt threes, the more it opens up stuff for your guards who can do things. You're big that can roll, all of those things. And so I think sometimes people get so zoomed in on the box score. Like I even see like some of your Twitter haters.

They'll go on Twitter and they'll be like, shut up. You know, you said look at your stats and you only average eight points a game. And it's like, yo, eight points a game efficiently is what they're asking her to do. That's her role. Her role is to have some gravity, pull a defender away. So there's more space for, you know, the guards to operate more space for the big's a role. And that's why you guys have one of the best offenses in the W. Historically, not just this year.

Like historically one of the best. But I'm glad you said that. because so many, and like, there's so many positive people, too, like, on social media and people who, like, actually understand the game and, and know how it's supposed to be played correctly, like, they get that I'm literally owning my role in being the ultimate professional. But, like, when you really do have A.B. and Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin, which we're going to get into here in a little bit, like, I don't, I will, I only get really anywhere from, like, two to eight shot attempts a game. And so you got to capitalize on it. And someone who, you know, you might be

open a lot, but they're doing their thing too, and they should be doing their thing. You know, they're getting paid to do their thing. They're the best in our league. They should get the majority of the shots. But it's like, for us role players, when you're open, yes, you got to stay ready and you got to be ready. And so that's why I hit you up all the time because it's frustrating when I know what I can do, but like my role is to space the court and shoot the shit out of the ball. And so when I'm having a night or a couple games where my, my shot isn't falling how I want it to, you always are like, dude, it's the law of averages. And I'm like, Okay, but screw that.

I want to make 9 out of 10 every night. You know what I mean? But it's hard. You'll be over two. You'll be over two and be like, Drew, oh, my God, my shots off. And I'm like, if you would have shot three more shots and you had made two out of three, you would have been two for five. You'd have been 40 percent.

You'd have been feeling great. You just didn't shoot enough. Yeah. You know what I mean? And I think that's like, we've been talking about this. And I think it's so fun because you're going to start breaking down a lot of people's film. We're going to talk a lot about W&A players and why they're so good, what makes them so good in our league.

but even you just starting to break down W, it's like, so I'm going to turn you into a beast this year because I am. Like I rely a lot on other people to get me the ball. There's a lot of great, great guards. And like in our league, it's like you got to be phenomenal at one thing and you kind of stay in your lane. But I feel like there's more to me. And I think that's what we're going to get into this all season. So like I'm super excited about that.

And like speaking of that, we really can start getting into like Kelsey and Caitlin in like the phenomenal freaking season that they're having historical season for for Kelsey at least. you know. This pro move segment is brought to you by factor. This week, Pro Moves wants to highlight. Can I get a drum roll your teammate and possible WMVP Kelsey Mitchell? Kelsey has been unbelievable. The thing that I love about it is it's almost a little bit like Shea on the men side. Shea on the men's side broke the NBA record for most consecutive games where he scored at least 20 points. Yeah. And people didn't realize how impressive that was because one you have to avoid foul trouble you have to avoid injuries to you the consistency you have to bring it every night also as you're rolling teams are

game planning for you they're scheming for you they're scheming for you they're throwing everything add out to and so we're talking about 25 straight games of 20 points 25 straight games for kelsey insane but i think even crazier thing is her numbers august player of the month in eastern conference i don't want to butcher this so i'm looking down 28.9 points per game And she shot 53% from three and 56% from the field. So like to me, not only did she have the third highest scoring month by a player in WMBA history, but also to do it with 56 from the field and 53 from three is ridiculous.

Because everyone knows that she's hunting. Everyone knows that she's killing. So you know on the scouting report, you know, her and Caitlin are at the top of the scouting report. And they're saying, we got to stop these two. But and the crazy thing is,

I know that we're going. They literally. cannot stop Kelsey though. Like I'm telling you there is no one in our league who can stop Kelsey. She's so fast. She's so efficient. Like that it's, it's ridiculous. And I don't know if you remember this. I don't know if you remember this real quick, but I'm going to cut you off because I came to a game last year with with Halley and we were sitting there and I had not watched much of you guys play. And I remember I was like, yo, it's, it's, it's, it's Tyrese Halliburton. Halliburton. Hallie is not his. Tyrese, Hallibur. Let's get that straight. And I was. I was.

at the game with Tyrese Halliburton and he's obviously a huge WMBA fan and even a bigger fever fan and always supports you guys has four court side seats and when he's not at the games he's always watching on his phone watching you know on his TV but when I was at the game like right away I was like yo and I paid her the highest compliment that I think you can give which I was like she kind of plays like a dude like she's got all the wiggle she's got all the handles she plays physical so that was my compliment after watching like one quarter of her last season dude She is phenomenal. And I just like, it is mind blowing to me, though, that when you need her to go get a bucket, like, well, first of all, we're never out of a game because of her.

And like, yes, of Caitlin, too. Like I, like those two, if you have either of them on your team, you're still in the game. But with how Kelsey has been playing. And first of all, her career has been phenomenal. The fact that she's still with Indiana fever, like, applaud her for like going through the tough years. And now I think people are really starting to see the stardom or the star that she is in our league. But anytime you need a bucket, it is like, get Kelsey the ball and everyone get the hell out of the way. And it's so nice being on that team because I'm just like, oh, stand in the corner, let me know what you need.

But she's a beast and her number is per bit. Like, she's my MVP. And I know that Asia, you know, I think that's a great argument too. Asia is a phenomenal player. She's going to be the goat probably one day. But I think Kelsey's giving her a really good run for her money this year. Huge shout out to Factor for sponsoring this pro move segment. Use code no has 50 off.

That's NO HES 50 OFF to get 50% off and one free breakfast item per box for a whole year. A whole year, y'all, free. That is a steal. That's actually a steel because I've actually used factor and I absolutely love it. It has great nutrients. The protein is phenomenal and just tastes so yummy. Plus, I think everyone knows that my lifestyle is absolutely crazy. And so I don't always have time to go home and cook.

And so it's just easily there for me. Stick it in the oven or the microwave and boom, you have a great meal for you. Let me ask you this. In the W, because you follow the W media, and I know the W media likes to cover a lot of things, not basketball, but the W media that is covering basketball, have they had any of like voter fatigue? Because sometimes in the NBA, there's a little voter fatigue where once you've given somebody, you know, like there were years where Michael Jordan was killing it and they didn't give it to him. Or LeBron James, you could have made an argument for LeBron to win multiple more MVP's in his

prime and they they kind of just would say oh well this player's having a phenomenal season like has that happened yet in the w or are they just saying like asia is so good that we're just going to keep giving her to her because right now she's the best player in the w. Um I think yes. Uh, I also think, I mean, I think you kind of hit and this is just like how I feel. I don't know if this is actual facts. I know a lot of us talk about this in the locker and whatnot. Like we really do have so many great players in the w and like we're there's going to be more teams so you're going to see a lot more great players around the world being able to make a roster here in the states. But I do think what you said about like the WMBA media pretty much covers everything but

basketball. Sometimes I truly feel too when it comes to voting, like, and I'll use me as an example. I'll shit on myself. Like, whatever. I might be one of the best three point shooters in our league, but I should never be like 16th and all-star voting. Maybe one day. Like once I start, once we really get in the gym and we start really, you know,

figuring out how I can improve my game, which I voted one time for you. I voted one. You got one vote for me, so that was good. Thanks, Drew. You get to let that one out. But I'm just saying, I think it also, it's not really like who the best is. It's like who has the most social following or who do people like the most. And so I think, and I think there's a little bit of that in the NBA too.

But I just think it's hard to, I don't know. I think the voting stuff is weird. I think it's very political. I think it's, I think there's a lot of people who are really, really great who don't get the credit because maybe they don't have the popularity or they don't have the platform. So I don't know if there's voting fatigue. I just don't know how accurate the voting is at times. Does that mean for me to say? No, it's not.

But to be honest with you, I think it's part of the reason why the W has grown so much. I'll give you an example. Agreed. This is a great example because my little niece and nephews and all them, they used to, all be all NBA, only NBA. And I'll tell you what, mainly since Caitlin came, they became W fans. And so they have Caitlin's jerseys. You know, because when they come to the fever games, they get to see you courtside for the game. They get so excited. Like when I told him, I was like, hey, guys, Unke's doing a podcast with Sophie. They're like, do we get to watch you on YouTube?

They were so excited about that because they love you. You know what I mean? And so I think it's a great thing because before, like literally before even you were in high school, I used to run the Nike Girl Skills Academies for the top, you know, was like top 20 high school basketball players that were all over the United States. And they used to bring in a couple international players. And I was the lead skills coach. And I remember when I would do the demonstrations, I would originally be like, all right, guys, so this is something that LeBron does. This is something that KD does. This is something that. And then they came over to me and were like, hey, Drew, is there any way because, you know, these are female basketball players.

Is there any way that you could use some of the W players? And I'm like, yeah, uh, okay. So Candace Parker. And I said, I said Candace Parker. She don't. She's, they're like, she's Adidas. You can't use her. I'm like, guys, I don't know any other WMBA players.

I was like, you know, I can't say Lisa Leslie's doing this because she's a big and I'm teaching a guard move. And then I remember asking them because I was like, okay, this can't be just a me thing. And I was like, girls, how many of you guys watch the W? Not many. And these were the top high school. players in the country. So, Drew, I think it's crazy. My, I think my first, like, first of all, it was so hard, even like, maybe the championship was on, but it's even hard to, like,

I don't know, we were in the middle of season two. I did not watch a WMBA game until my senior year or college. Like, that's, and it's completely different now. The growth of our league is absolutely phenomenal. Like, we have the platform. We have, um, a lot of games are televised. I know the fever, we have every game that's televised. But I think the more exposure and the more eyes that you can get on the league, of course it's going to grow. And I think like you're going to get into. And I think the number is speak for itself.

And I know we're going to talk a little bit about having a new commissioner and whatnot. But like at the end of the day, WMBA fans, once they find someone they fall in love with, they are awesome freaking fans. Like they are, they are true, true fans. And I think you said it like that Caitlin, Cameron Brink, Angel Reese, like that class, The talent in the WBA has always been there. I played with Diane and Chorossey. She is the goat.

She is the all time leading score. I'm sure her record at some point is going to get broken because they're supposed to get broken. But like the talent has always, always been there. But now us players, we just have the platform and the eyes and companies want to be a part of something great and something that is growing. And so it's a great time to be a part of the W. And I think the sky's the limit for our league. But I think it is cool that if you get into the numbers that we were talking about about off camera. Even I was like, oh, okay, yeah, you could maybe give credit to the WMBA office.

But at the end of the day, it was pretty much Caitlin and the players. Caitlin Clark. Yeah. Listen, I'm not saying that there aren't a lot of other really good players that contribute. I'm just saying Caitlin is one of those players that truly change your sport. Like Michael Jordan, when he played on the dream team, kind of globalized men's basketball. Like, it became a global game after that. And that's why you see the popularity of all of these players, the Wembees and the Yokage and the Shays and from all these other countries and stuff like that, not saying that it was all directly because of Michael Jordan, but that dream team headlined by Michael Jordan was the reason why the game blew up overseas. Then you look at like golf.

And listen, there were a ton of great golfers, but what Tiger Woods did for the sport of golf changed the game. Not only did he improve like the diversity aspect, but he brought eyeballs because it wasn't just black, it was white folks, black folks. Everybody was coming to watch Tiger Woods play golf. And when Tiger Woods didn't play, the eyeballs weren't there. It wasn't like,

hey guys, collectively we all are bringing eyeball. No, it was Tiger Woods. Everybody wanted to see Tiger Woods. And I'll tell you what, for the W, I know you might get a little trouble saying it.

It is because Caitlin Clark. Here's a couple cool things. Time out, time out, time out. I don't think I, I should not get in trouble for knowing the obvious. like I think that you use that for your benefit. Like it is, it is so obvious.

And that doesn't mean there wasn't greatness before her. Like, it's just like, that's when our game really started to go global. So whatever. 100%. And I think it's important. So I'll give you an example because I know attendance throughout the league has blown up.

I know that viewership throughout the league has blown up. But the fever attendance in 2021. So we're talking about five years ago, average was 2004 people. Two thousand and four people. So that means. That's not even filling up a high school gym. Like my high school gym held more of people than that.

My high school got more fans than that at an average game. Now, 2026, this season, you guys are averaging 15,918 per game. Now, that's all because of Caitlin. Now, you guys are rocking and rolling. Kelsey Mitchell, we already talked about her. Go screw yourself, Drew. People are coming to see me in my beautiful hair and everything that I do too. Hey, listen, you are the first player in the W.

had pep rallies before the games. I get it. You know what I mean? You got some fans out there. But I do think that this is important because this is not what we're saying. We're not saying they're only coming because of Caitlin. They started because of Caitlin that she brought a lot of eyeballs, but now people are going, wait, this is entertaining. Wait, there's a lot of girls that are really good at basketball. Wait, we want our daughters to grow up and play in the W. Are we want our daughters to be fans of these players. And I think that's why the W is blown up because viewership on all the networks are averaging 1.3 million viewers this season, which is five times what it did five years ago, league-wide, not just your guys games. The average attendance in the NBA is,

our WMBA is up 4.35 times as much since 2021 from average of 2,600 to now over 11,000 a game. That's league-wide. And then you guys obviously just secured that huge 11-year, $3.1 billion media deal, which shows that there's eyeballs. People want to watch the games. And so I think that it's a good thing. I think we should be celebrating what Caitlin did for the game while also saying, hey, she brought eyeballs and now everybody's appreciating all the great players in the W. And the players keep getting better.

And that's another thing that I think is important is when you were coming up, big question for you, when you were coming up like skills training and all that kind of stuff, when you were coming up in like middle school, high school, college or like in the, let's call it high school. When you were calling it high school, how many like players at your high school like had uh you know the dreams of playing in the w

dude zero because think about it from a from a men's aspect in a men's aspect every kid if i asked a kid in the camp like a camp if i said raise your hand if you want to play in the NBA every guy's hands going up now some of them i'm like men are men are so delusional like you guys need a little sense of reality like you guys that's true yeah so i think there's a healthy balance of of of both. But I do think that there's, you know, like even the other day, it was actually pretty cool because I was working out Kelly Ubrae Jr. And he was wearing Sabrina's shoes.

And she walked in to work out. And he was like, oh, look at the shoes. But you would have never seen back in the day an NBA player wearing a W player shoes. And her shoes one of the most popular shoes in the NBA, which is so cool to me. It shows how much the game has grown. And so I do want to talk to you about something that I don't know. I know that there's people that are,

on, you know, on Twitter that are going crazy about the commissioner and they're so excited. But obviously, we're just talking about how much growth there has been the last five years. So clearly some things have went well. I know that we relate to that more to Caitlin and the young players that are coming in and that class. But when you talk about the future of the W, where do you see the W going? Do you think it can keep going on this rocket ship is going? And then what does the new commissioner need to bring? Like, what's different?

What's new? What's exciting? If you were the commissioner, which I know you have no interest in. being like what would you step in and change or do to make the w even better honestly the more i think about that i think i should be the commissioner i think i could i think i could get the shit on the right track what would be the first thing that you would do um honestly the first thing i would do is make sure that every team legit has a functional practice facility there are teams in the wmba which this is we are supposed to be not supposed we are the best league in the entire world

that they we're there are people practicing it like yMCA's they're sharing a court by a curtain when there's like yMCA youth camps going on one side and a team practicing on the other like is that not insane some some a couple teams don't even have a weight room is that weird first off that's crazy and i'm going to tell everybody a little story that's hilarious there was a time that uh there was some filming segment going on on the pacer's practice court and so Tyrese Halliburton and I were working out on the fever court and we worked out and I was working out really hard because he was recovering from an Achilles injury and so he was really tired and so I ran over to the Gatorade cooler and it was locked and I tried to open it up and it was locked. Yeah. And I said, yo, the Gatorade cooler is locked and they were like the budget and the W is a little different.

I was like there is no way they locked the Gatorade cooler and the fever practice gym. But y'all have it locked up. That is crazy to me. But I will say the fever is about to get probably the nicest facility that you can possibly get next year. So like the tides are turning, but I will say there's a lot of owners who are still being very cheap in not giving us professional athletes what we need. Like some of the visiting. So first thing you're doing is making sure that everybody has great facilities. Dude.

That's like that should be the bare freaking minimum. Agree. Like at least, at least not be sharing. a court with the YMCA camp. Like, what are we doing here? But anyway, that's that's one point. But I do think, you know, I joke around. I think it would be really cool to be the commissioner. I think that I don't want that job right now currently in my life. I don't know if I ever will because there are people who are going to love you. There are people who are going to hate you. And so you need to have great character that is willing to withstand it all and uphold your values and

what's best for the players. It definitely has to be someone who is in great communication with the players because at the end of the day, we should be joining forces. We should be working together to grow this league to the best of its ability. And I really do think it's the sky is the limit when we work together. But I think under previous people who are leading, like, we would be in the same room with each other, say you're the commissioner. We wouldn't even say hi. And there would only be like fine people in the room. Like, is that not weird or awkward? Like, yeah, that is crazy. Just be friendly. Just be a human. Like, we're. Like, we're not. We're just. We're a human. Like, whatever. So I do think they need to be bold. They need to be confident. I understand that they

pretty much work for these billionaires who make a lot of money and they've invested a lot of money in us players and in this league. And so we're not always going to be getting along. But I do think knowing that this new commissioner is going to be for the players and there's going to be a direct line of communication. And like I said, we're not always going to agree. But I think there's a level of respect that you can have and just being a human of being friendly and nice, I think that's a really good start. No, I think that's important. And I think, and it's a crazy thing is I almost think that you guys should just look at what Adam Silver and even what David Stern started. And now Adam Silver's continued because there was a like a joke going around where they were like,

why is the schedule of the NBA season not released? And he's like, well, because LeBron James hasn't decided where he's going yet. And it just shows like he's rocking with his star. Like LeBron is the biggest star. He's, one of the best players ever he's like i'm not releasing the schedule i'm not releasing the tv schedule until i know where lebron's going like sorry you guys don't have to wait and there was also dating back to uh it was funny because there was a zoom call when the league was deciding during covid if they were going to do the bubble or not i promise you i was listening to it because i was up in philadelphia with joel and bd and we're sitting there and everyone was like no let's not play

like the season has taken you know kind of a hiatus it's like completely new season we'd have to ramp up. It's not safe. It was almost like the group think was we're not doing this. We're just going to scrap the season. And once COVID, you know, gets in the past, then we'll start up a new season. And LeBron's like, yeah, we're playing. They're like, okay, we're playing. Like, it was that quick. And so he's also gone against some people like and said, okay, like, we're going to try this thing of the NBA Cup. And some people were really against that. But he's like, let's try it. If it doesn't work, we can pivot. And it became a success. And so I think that the commissioner needs to be. But it shows his growth, mindset too. Like you can't have people who are so stuck in your ways. And like to be honest,

like I am so thankful for where we are as a league. I'm thankful for the people who have come before us. But there are still people in our league who have been there from the very get go. Like, and maybe some of them can evolve and really see where this is going. Sometimes it's not. So you have to have kind of, excuse my French, but like have the balls to be like, hey, thank you. But it's time we go a different direction. So we can, it's not about you. It's not about me. It's about where can we get this league? How can we make the next, generations below us even better than what we have it. And so I just think you need someone who has that forward thinking. But I will also say, I feel like our league, it is different than the NBA, because

the W is more of a family. Like our fans are more that way. Like we are just more tight knit. Maybe because we're female. Like we just have that personality naturally. But I will say that the WMBA is a, is a hard league to be in because it is kind of very polarizing. And so you also need some. someone who can like unite people and bring people together and everyone have a common goal and get on the same page. And so like I said, it is a very tough job. I think whoever gets it, you know, I wish them the best of luck because we need someone who's really good who, you know, our league is thriving right now. So who can we bring in that is going to even push us even farther, like thinking bigger than what we're thinking as players. And so it's going to be interesting, but I know a lot of

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T-E-C-O-V-A-S dot com slash no hesitation. Tocovus.com slash no hesitation. C-Side for details. Tocobos, point your toes west. Is there anything else, I know that you talked about facilities, but is there anything else that you would do if you were the commissioner or anything that you would love to see, like you'll be giving opinions to the next commissioner when you do have that direct line of, you know, communication, anything else that you want. I know one of the big things is you want the media and the way that the coverage is to like tell more stories and be able to share your guys' journeys and upbringings and be able to connect more. Is there anything else that you would do if you were a commissioner or that you're going to recommend to the next commissioner?

You know, I think it's like at the end of the day, and this is just what it is. Like, we're always as players going to want more money. And as owners, they're always not going to want to give it to you. but I think the more games that we have to play, we deserve more money. But the more money we get, we also have to realize that we have to play more games, right? So it's like, but it's just like a communication thing. I think we do when it comes to media coverage. I think that we have good coverage now. Yes, it can always be better.

Yes, it can be bigger. There can be more games on television. Because at the end of the day, we are very blessed to be dribbling in orange basketball for a living. But it's all about inspiring the next year of race to continue this league to be the greatest of them all all one little girl needs is to see someone who looks like them who maybe grew up where they grew up maybe who has the same personality or has the same style like it's all about visibility and so i do think that we are getting to have that visibility but now it's on the wmbm media to actually tell the good stories to tell the positive stories to actually talk about

basketball and how freaking awesome our league is playing this year like the history is being made this year. Yeah, that's history getting made every year, but this year alone, people are playing at a very, very high level. And so I think, yes, a lot is on the commissioner and maybe, you know, they set the tone for it. But it's also in all of us who are part of the WMBA community to do our part to make it a positive experience for everybody. And, you know, we talk about getting to know players and telling their stories. And, you know, you get half the people are like, stick to basketball. And then you get the other half of like, no, we want to know more. And it's like, screw all. those opinions, like, let us be us. Like, we, we're known for being inclusive, of being to burst. And

I just think having someone at the head of the snake of allowing everyone be their true selves, but also uniting everyone, that's what we need. We need someone who is bold and confident and able to pull people together. Well said. Look at you, so if you're ready to be the commission. That's what I'm saying. Adam, call me. You just talked about how great the league is and how there's tons of good storylines. Obviously, this is a weird period because, you know, there's a lot of players that are over right now playing in the World Cup. Coming back, there's only a couple games left before the playoffs. But like you guys specifically, I want to hear about, you know, the fever. You guys right now have a chance to break the 2023 Las Vegas Aces best offense ever. You guys right now have offensive

rating at 116.5. They were 113. So you guys, as long as you guys handle business these last couple games. You guys will be good. But what is that transition period like for a player where you guys are in a rhythm? You guys are scoring over 100 most nights. You know, you talk about the 25 games in a row that Kelsey Mitchell is on. Caitlin Clark is playing out of her mind. Like Caitlin pulling up her numbers real quick. You know, in her last 16 games, since she had that 45 point game, she's averaging 26 points, 9.3 assists, 49.6 from the field, 43.1 from 3. And to me, the other thing, the most important thing is she's averaging seven free throws a game, which I think is like the unlock, which we can get into in a little bit. Is that low? High, which is, here's a crazy thing.

Seven, seven free throws is high? Yeah. So right now, in 17 games this year, when Caitlin has shot at least six free throws, that's like her magic number, in my opinion, she's averaged 26.4 points per game. She shot 49.2 from the field and 41% from three. Really good numbers when she shoots at least six free throws. In 19 games where Caitlin shoots less than six free throws, she's averaged 19 points a game, shot 42.5% from the field and 34% from three. So for whatever reason, when she gets to the line more, it's a lot of times because then the defenders can't play as more physical and they have to give her a little more space. And then she's so crafty and she's so good with, you know, taking a little space and making it more space to shoot the three or being

able to drive and now dropping dimes everybody. But to me, that's one of the biggest unlocked this season. that's allowed her to be a lot more efficient is she's finally, I won't say foul baiting, but she's finally drawing files, you know what I mean? Yes. Which I love. Yes, because you're the king of it.

And honestly, some of the stuff that you teach your people, it pisses me off because I'm like, because as someone like me, I'm like, that shit sucks. But it works, you know what I mean? And I will say, yeah, she didn't play last year. And that was my first time really being on the team and being her teammate.

But I really do feel like this year, is using her body so, so well. And like she's strong. She's using the glass. Like her jump shots are going in and it's efficient and it's good for us. But I do think that like her body control this year has been huge. I agree. I really do think that's the unlock because if you watch it in years past,

as soon as somebody jammed her, as soon as they put their hands on her, she would go east west instead of north south. And this year she's just going right into the contact, making the refs call it. And again, I, applaud to her. I mean, she's getting a free throw line and it's unlocking your guys' offense. And again, we talked a lot about

all the great things that Kelsey Mitchell's doing, but for her to put up those kind of numbers, for both of them is just ridiculous. But it's why you guys lead the league in scoring at 97 a game. Think about that, 97 points a game. Yeah. And let's talk about that a little bit

because you talk about foul baiting and drawing fouls, but you teach it and you teach like the top guys in the NBA to do this. And so maybe talk about how, like, how you even teach that? Because it is a skill. It is very much a skill. And listen, I understand there's a time and place for it. Like, there are some times where some of my clients will go for fouls.

And I'm like, just go for the score. And then if they're there, then take the foul. Don't try to get a foul. You know what I mean? That pisses me off too, just so you know. Let's just make sure we put that little asterisk. But the reason we teach drawing foul is because it makes the defense play you a different way. I'll give you a great example.

Joel Embed You know the first year That we worked on his hezy jump shot He was just knocking him down It was like an unguardable move Well then what did his start Defender start doing They started putting their arm out

Taking away his pocket So that he had to change his kind of release point Which then didn't allow him to shoot as effective So I was like Joe if their hands extended Just draw the foul Because now they have to play with their hands off If they play with their hands off You either knock it down

Or now they're not ready to embrace contact You go bully ball You're unguardable And so that's not just him that's a lot of the guys. Like Tyrese Halliburton, one of the biggest adjustments I want him to make this year is the exact adjustment that Caitlin's made. I'm like, you have to get to the free throw line more. You have to.

Because when you do that, defenders have to play without their hands. When defenders have to play without their hands, they have to move their feet. Now they're overreacting, little flinches, little fakes, open up more. Now it's hard to guard. But think about when you're guarding somebody like a Shea, everyone hates it. But as soon as you put his hand on him, boom, whistles going. he's getting two free throws. Now you try to guard him without it.

Good luck. He's too talented. He's too skilled. Okay. Can we talk about that real quick? Because I love Jay. I love the thunder. Like I think they are such a fun young team.

I think they're selfless. Like they are a very fun team for people to watch and to fall in love with just because their personalities and they're just freaking good. But some of the calls that he gets is fucking bullshit. Listen, I'll tell you what all the top guys say. If you don't want it to be a foul, then don't file me. Dude, but I, like, I'm like, I get that he embellishes.

You don't like that he embellishes. I also get that there's times. It is impossible to be a referee. It's funny because this year, I was in Milwaukee, and one of the mornings before on game day, there were some referees that were eating in the hotel lobby. And they came up to me and we were talking about this stuff. I'm sure they hate you.

I'm sure they hate you. They literally, one of them said, just so you know, he's like, I literally follow you on social media because every once in a while, you know, you'll post a video of you teaching a guy how to draw a file. And then we have to kind of look at it and say, is that a file or not a file? Like, I remember, I asked them the same question. I was like, hey, guys, Jalen Brunton, I was like, he gets every call, whereas Tyrese doesn't get the same calls. And they explained it to me. They're like, hey, the biggest difference is Tyrese, when he bumps somebody, he goes away from the contact and tries to almost avoid it. And so we think play on. It didn't mess up his rhythm.

it didn't mess up his balance, it didn't disrupt his timing. That's what we're looking for. Whereas Jalen Brunton, he'll slam his brakes and go through the contact and embellish more. So we have to call it. And so last season. So you have to embellish. So be so embellish.

I get it. It's part of the game. You have to. You have to. But I'm just saying that like I'm from as a huge fan of basketball and I know I'm going to sound like an old head here and just like of all the great athletes. Like even I'm watching, I'm like, dude, come on. like. But here's what I'll tell you. The best players, they always adapt to what's being called.

You saw like back in the day, the sweep through file was something big. And the NBA changed the call where it no longer was free throws. And now it's a side out. So you don't see it as much. You used to see James Harden do all of the like, you know, pick the ball up with the hand. And now you have to pick the ball up first. So the NBA adapts in real time because these players are so good at picking up the littlest things to give them advantage. And here's the biggest thing. If you said, hey, all of the fans hate it. Guess what the best players would say? If it helps us win, we're still going to do it.

No, and I understand it. Like, I totally get it. Do you think that, like, people, like, back in the day, old NBA, like, old heads, you know what I'm talking? Do you think that they hate it or do they appreciate it? Of course, like, it's even funny when I do camps and clinics overseas and there's some moves that I'll teach, and they'll be like, that's a carry or that's a travel. And I'm like, in FIBA it is. And they're like, then why do you teach it?

like because they don't call it. Like there are a lot of things that I teach that technically if you slow down the film might be a carry, might be a travel, but I teach it because they don't call it. And so until they change the rule, now once they change the rules, then I'll change my teaching. But we're going to take advantage of everything that we can to give the best possible chance at the team winning games. And so wait, can I, wait, real quick, you say that. And like this is, I have been on good terms with the refs this year.

So this is me not going at them at all. Truly. Like, I appreciate that. I know that job is really freaking hard. Whatever. There are moves that a lot of these younger players who are really good, Libby Miles, Paige Beckers, Caitlin, Kelsey, really a lot of the guard play, I would say,

that they do move sometimes that are not travels, that I know it's moves that you teach, because I've seen you teach it, but our rests are not up to date. And so they call the traveler. They don't, like, you're talking about. your reps are having to adjust to you and like you're adjusting to them where our refs are not there quite yet. I would agree with you. Just so you know, there's times when I've

watched your games or watched other W games and I've been like, what are they doing? Like either sometimes they let you guys play really physical where I'm like, that's clearly a foul, that's clear to a foul. And other times it's the complete opposite. So I think the biggest thing to say is when I personally watch the NBA games, I know that fans always think, that their team is getting cheated. But when I watch the NBA games, I'm like, these refs are doing the best possible job that they can with these talented players that are trying to manipulate a game in every way possible. When I watch the W, the one thing that I think is it's the consistency that isn't there yet. And I think that just comes with, again, you talked about pouring resources

into the team facilities. They've also got to pour into the training because these NBA refs, they're full time with the NBA, and they're constantly studying. they're doing film breakdowns. They get rated not only in the last two minute report, but they're constantly reviewing film and stuff. So I think that's another thing for the next commissioner to do is make sure that the W refs are getting trained properly so there is more consistency and there's transparency

so that you guys know what's going to happen on a given night. Because even the NBA players, the one big complaint the NBA players have is that the regular season is refed completely different than the postseason. So they're like, here we are, 82 games. and we're getting accustomed to the refs being a little bit softer calls-wise. And then as soon as the playoffs come, it's like a different game. They're like, it shouldn't be like that.

We'd rather it always be one way or the other way, but it's not the inconsistency of regular season. We're going to be a little bit softer. Pace of play is going to be a little faster. Playoff basketball is going to be more rough. We're going to let you guys play more physical, more hand checks. And so the NBA complains about that inconsistency from regular season to postseason. The W, it's just you don't know on any given night what you're getting right now. There's some when you're like literally getting the shit beat out of you and it's like, all right, okay, if this is a regular season game on a random Tuesday night, what the heck is playoffs going to be?

Because it's like you, you really are. It's just, it's just so, so physical. And I don't think a lot of people understand how physical our game is until they see it in person. And so I'm like, valid. And I do want to kind of go off what you said about pouring resources into the refs training. I also think it's not fair to those rests because they do not get the paycheck they deserve. Like they have to still, um, they still have to go, you know, ref college games. They're like, go ref outside of the WMBA.

The WMBA should be like a goal for people to get to and to stay at, but they also need the paycheck. So I definitely think they are part of the game. A lot of us players think that they should get paid more because if they're getting paid more, they're going to give us a better product. And that's what we want. We want the game to everyone to feel like they're getting taken care of and that the, that basketball is getting played at the highest level.

And so I'm glad that you mentioned that because I totally forgot that part. 100%. And I think this is a perfect segue. One of the things that we both talked about was because I'm such a film geek with my MBA clients and, you know, anytime that you do anything you call me for film was we wanted to start highlighting some of the great things that I see on film in the W. And so one of the best things that I've seen all season long is you guys have a stud rookie sensation. I mean, she's up there in the conversation for MVP. I know that she is not at the top, but she's in that. conversation, definitely a rookie of the year, having a historic year, breaking records all over the place. But this week, what I did was I broke down Olivia Miles game just so that I could kind of show you some of the things that I think stand out about her. And one of those things is she is super physical. And so let's take a look at it. So first thing is good angles. We look at ball screen clips. And when I look at ball screen clips, the first thing that I'm always looking at is

trying to basically get a little angle so that you're playing at an advantage. You want that big that's guarding the screener to have to play two on one because that's going to force rotations and that's going to also open things up. And so you see right here, she just gets a slight advantage. She gets her primary defender on her hip, which puts the post defender, the screener defender, at a disadvantage. She's like, do I get back with the pop player or do I stay with the roller or do I stay with the ball handler? Right here, you notice she doesn't do anything. So she hesitates, gets downhill. Another one. Can I also say on that clip real quick, when you have someone like Olivia who was so freaking good at reading defense.

That last clip, that defender was so far off their player. Like I get that Howard is not a shooter, a three point shooter, but you got to look at who has the ball. And she was in such a job position that that is an easy read for Olivia to make. 100% agree. Here's another one. You'll see it again in slow motion. I'm just going to go slow motion for a second.

Look how physical she is. She's got her arm in front. She's using her body to shield. And again, what does she do? She takes advantage. Just a little as he gets to the basket and makes a play. this one again she doesn't just zoom downhill which i think is important for younger players that are watching she plays at a very kind of controlled pace so that she can make reads and look what she does

slows down dribble holds and then knocks it down this is something that steve nash made famous when he won his two mvps he would just get a little advantage keep them on his hip and play advantage basketball we we call it dominoes where basically you take advantage and then that leads to another advantage and eventually you can capitalize on it. But you can see not only does she get to the basket. She's also got stepbacks where she gets a defender on her hip and just again, physical. She uses her lower body to really create that space. But every single time, same thing. She's not taking a wide angle. She's taking a tight angle. She's using her hips and she's gaining that advantage in keeping it. Wait, before you go to good space real quick, I understand she's fast. Like she truly is

fast, but in those clips right there, it reminds me a lot of Luca. Like his body control is so, so good that like he can just make the right read because he's in full control of his defender, the defender in front of him, and he knows exactly how to use his body to get the best shot or to give the best assist. So that reminded me a lot of Luca. This is something that I've, I don't have an answer for, but it's always kind of like been one thing that I've always wondered. But if you think about some of the best playmakers, they're usually kind of slower. It's like almost the slower they go, the faster they're thinking. And then the faster they go, the slower they're thinking. And it's also weird when you talk about point guards, because I don't know if it's like this in the W

because I don't know the history of the W as much as the NBA, but historically super athletic point guards, lead point guards, they haven't ever won. Like if you think some historically good players like Derek Rose, unbelievably athletic, MVP did never win. Russell Westbrook, unbelievably athletic, never won. John Wall, I mean, one of the fastest players with the ball that leagues ever had. So there's been a lot of players that are really talented. And, And they're really good. But for whatever reason, a lot of times the best decision makers are actually the players that just gain advantage, keep an advantage.

Like, it's amazing. Is that, I don't think that that's like a crazy thing to digest. Like, I think that's a very common sense thing of like, if you're going 100 miles per hour, like typically, yeah, you could probably still score and do stuff. But when you're in control, like, yeah, you can think more clear. Like, I don't think that's like crazy. But let me ask you this. When you were growing up, if you were going slow in a workout, what did your coaches say?

they'd get mad they're like faster faster faster faster harder instead of the word that I always use is better I don't care how much you sweat I don't care how hard you went all I care is did you get better today did we find one solution for a problem that you're experiencing in games did we actually advance a skill that we were having problems with like that's all that a workout should do is get you better and that's what a film session should do it should give you kind of the answers to the test before you go into the test, which is the game.

So, all right, so we'll go back to the pace right here. But look, slow, slow. Okay, now she can just dime up. If the defender does come up, she's going to dime up. So again, slow, slow, keeps the off her hips, and then just dropping off left and right. And so this is what I think makes her special is, okay, one solution is, you know,

we're going to try to now contain her instead of letting her get these layups and these stepbacks. Well, okay, then I'm just going to find my teammates. A lot of times it's a short roller. every once in a while she's going to skip it to a shooter. So she's really good at just slowing down, keeping the advantage that she gained on the screen, and then going from there.

Dude, Drew, you know what I love about her so much? And I think a lot of people appreciate her. Maybe they don't realize, like, what makes her so good. And maybe this is my simple way of thinking. Fuck it. I think I'm right here. She just makes the right read. She makes the right pass.

She makes the simple read. She's not trying to get the home run pass or the home run play every time. She's simply making the right. read and she doesn't care who's on the other end of the of the pass, she's going to hit you if you're wide open. And like, and you're going to get into rejection. But like, even when she gets the ball out of a made basket, if it's in transition, she throws the ball up because it puts pressure on the defense. She just has so much trust and confidence in her players or the people around her that like she makes the simple read. It's not that crazy. No. It's something. So Tyrese Halliburton

is the best playmaker in the NBA right now, best passer in the NBA. And when you look, look back, you know, they went to the conference finals, then he got injured, didn't get to play against the Celtics. They end up losing in that Eastern Conference Finals that year when the Celtics end up winning the championship. Next year, they go to Game 7, he gets injured, but they went to the finals. And then they don't have him. And they become the second worst team in the NBA. And part of the reason was because he was a connector. And one of the things that he always says, which I love, and again, you know me, I have a lot of times aggressive mentality and stuff like, you. that. But one of the things that he always talks about is he's like, there are some players in the

league that only want to pass if they get an assist. He goes, I am trying to pass so that I get everybody's energy up. And he's like, I'm trying to give it up to get it back. I'm trying to get the ball moving. And it was funny because Kelly Ubrae Jr. is now a member of the Indiana Pacers. And when Kelly was asking about kind of play style, he's with the Pacers now, he just signed a two-year deal with them. And when he was talking to Halley on FaceTime, he was like, what do I need to know? And Tyrese goes, bro, all you need to know is give it up and you'll get it back. We're going to always play advantage, disadvantage basketball, and we're not going to ever force anything. And that's what makes us so good is we're going to be relentless and pick you up full court.

We're going to wear you down with our depth. But most importantly, we're going to share the rock. We're going to make the right play. And if we do that consistently through the courts of a game, we're going to get better shot quality, which is going to give us a better chance at winning, which seems so simple, but most people don't have that. But and you've worked with the most elite of the elite. And you don't only just break down film and train them. You're also a sports, I feel like sports psych a mental coach too.

And I think that's too. Just like that's probably more than 50% of the game, 60% of the game. And you get what I'm saying. And so what makes, what makes people not want to play that way? I think it's they don't know it. I think that a lot of times again, going back to like we talked about coaches when you're younger, coaches tell you go harder, go faster. or sometimes you'll do drills that have no purpose.

And you're like, it might look good, but it doesn't make you good. Well, the same thing is like, think about when you're younger. When you're younger, what's the first thing that parents might say? They might say, did you have fun? But after that, what's the first question that outsiders say? Like, how many points did you have? And how did you play? It never is like, hey, did your team win?

Like, you know, what was your shock quality like as a team? You're like, those don't get asked. It's also a reason why, in my opinion, one of the biggest shifts in the NBA right now is there's a lot of two-way players that are being valued higher and bucket getters that don't play defense are getting valued lower. And so you'll see guys that are really, you know, guys that are instant offense, but they have bad shot quality. They're kind of selfish.

They're almost getting whittled out of the NBA, whereas these two-way guys that can get stops on defense and they can space the floor on offense, their values going up. But we don't teach that. Like think about how many players want to be role player. They don't. They don't grow up wanting to be role players. You know, whose guys? Yeah, not.

I didn't grow up wanting to be this. But I was just saying you didn't grow up to it. It was more so you were like, I want to get paid. I want to win. I want to be good. I want to be a part of success. And so I think you have to grow into that. And a lot of people just have been brainwashed to think that individually,

if I'm good, it'll all work out. And sometimes it does. Sometimes they do get contracts and they do find their way to the highest levels. But it is one of those things that I think is slowly transitioning where if you can impact winning at the highest level, those players are starting to get valued more than they ever have before. Which I think for the WMBA side, I think a team that does it such like such at a high, high level and that's why they've won multiple championships is Las Vegas. Like they have stars on their team.

And this is when Kelsey Plum was still a part of their team. They seriously did not care who scored the ball. They didn't care. But they did know like, hey, if this, if this play is called, this is for Asia. This is for Jackie. This is for gray. But like, gray sometimes and Jackie, not very often. but sometimes they'll have four points a game.

Sometimes they'll have seven. But then the next six games, they're going to have 20 something. Like they just let, they don't freak out like how we all do when we have a bad game because they know that as long as they're winning and people are getting, yes, and they're getting people involved.

Like, that's what's best for the team. That's why they've been successful, I think. But we can get back to film. I just want to pick right. I think it's important though because there's, there's going to be a lot of players that look up to you and they're going to watch this show and the one question I think that's most important is what impacts winning how can you impact winning

yeah it's funny because we'll use the two pacer players kelly ubrae junior i sent him a text before every game that says no dumb shots that's all it says those three words no dumb shots i'm like all that matters is that you're efficient because i know he's going to compete he's going to bring energy every game he's going to play hard on defense but if he's efficient on offense it makes them super valuable whereas tyrese halliburton completely opposite i'm going orange thing orange thing orange thing thing. That means look at the rim. Rick Carlisle will be like, Drew, we win when he scores. We need him to be more aggressive. So it's not score more or pass more. It's do what impacts winning more. And I think that's super important. So yeah, okay, so we'll get back to film. All right. So I actually

off camera, I texted you when I was breaking down her film and I was like, does anybody play helpside defense in the W? Because one of the things that I saw, Minnesota does a great job of basically setting up this formation and they do this over and over again. I'm going to let this run. Where they set flare screens, they bring everybody off the baseline. And she just rejects over and over and over again. And the help side, the weak side defender, the low defender that's supposed to rotate over and be like a shot blocker or take a charge. They're non-existence. She does this so well. And it's something that I teach guards all the time because I'm like, the more you can reject the better because the defense is set up for you to use the screen. That's where the help is. but another thing that makes her so good is we talked about how good she is

at getting a defender on her hip if she uses the screen so then what is naturally happening the defender says oh I can't let her get the advantage so then they overplay it because they're trying to wedge through wedge through means try to sneak through over top the screen not trail behind and when they do that as soon as they jump she just rejects and gets downhill the other way and it's so unguardable

okay so we talked about solutions for problems So now what's the counter the defense is going to make? The defense is going, okay, listen, if we go over top and trail, she's going to put us in jail, and now she's going to make a play. If we jump the screen and try to wedge it, then she's going to reject. That's not helping us either. So now they're going to go, ah, now we're going to try to go under the screen. And she's got two solutions for that.

First one, stop behind. She's so good is stopping behind, getting on balance. Do you know what she's shooting her three point percentage? Actually, Olivia Miles is shooting 39.6 percent. from three. No, yeah. No, I'm not, I think it's, she's, she's great. But I'm just saying like, we always are like, okay, we have to give up something. With a player like that, you have to give up something. So are you giving up to three point? You know what I mean? Like, are you giving up, letting her settle there? I think what you do, and again, this is what the best coaches do, is they

constantly junk up the coverages and mix it up. You have to. They don't get the same dosage, so they can't get comfortable. And what I see a lot, especially what there's a lot of NBA coaches now that are transitioning to the W. And you'll see them get a little bit more creative. They hunt mismatches for sure more on the offensive end and defensively. They switch up their coverages more. But I think that a lot of times what happens is there's something that's trendy in the NBA and then it trickles down to every other level.

And I know that you guys are at the professional level, but normally the NBA is the trendsetter. I think you'll see more and more junk defenses and, you know, the more variety instead of like staples. I think there's still a lot of coaches in the W that are like, this is what we do, we're going to try to do it well, instead of the NBA is more so like, we got to take away their strengths and give up what they're not strengths are. Yeah, because you're not going to stop the best players in the world.

And like we mentioned, the W players are getting better and better. So eventually they have more solutions for the problems that they used to have. All right. So let's keep going this. So again, her first solution is if they do go under the screen, she's going to be able to knock it down. and I think there's one thing to notice. She's so good at getting her feet set.

A lot of players don't get their feet set when they get behind. They just think, okay, I've got a little space. She's like, I'm going to take my time and knock it down. And if she doesn't have space, she goes right to a re-screen, which is her second option. So now look, Defender goes under the screen. She's like, you know what? I don't have time to set my feet. What am I going to do?

I'm going to flip the screen. Now I got her on my hip, which, oh, we've already seen the solution for that problem. Yeah. Here she is again. Under the screen. Okay, great. next time you're going to trail, I'm going to put you in jail again. And now we've seen the exact same thing over and over again.

And so again, when I was looking at her film, I was like, we really got to highlight her, especially in ball screen play, because over 51% of her plays are ball screen plays. She's a ball screen user. She's not as much of an isolation player, even though she's really good at ISO, but she has so many solutions or problems. And then the last one, just because I know there's going to be somebody out there that you know how the trolls are. they're going, well, if they were smart, they would just blitz her and double her and throw two at her.

Well, guess what? She's one of the best at continuing her dribble. A lot of people, when they get pressured, they panic. They pick up their dribble. She keeps her dribble alive and finds different players. So again, look at her right here. Keeps her dribble live. She doesn't panic.

Drops dime right to the player at the basket. Again, one more clip. Again, right there. Just holds it off just long enough. And she's just making the read. But again, most young players, especially not really, rookies are not doing the keep the drumbo alive, let the defenders kind of fan out, let my cutter space and cut, and then I'm just going to find the easy one. So I think that's what

makes her so good. Dude, she's phenomenal. And I'm going to tell you, because we played against her, we still have to play Minnesota twice. We have four games left. We had to play them twice. And I think what makes her so difficult to guard is because exactly what she said is she keeps the advantage and your defensive rotations have to be on point. Other Otherwise, you're just continuing to be in a scramble. And I think, like, maybe we played her good at, like, for two quarters. I don't even think we played a good game at all. It was on a back-to-back.

But she's so good at keeping that advantage that she's going to hit the wide open pass and the wide-open person. And then they have shooters all around them. Like, Minnesota has such a tough offense because they have a bunch of shooters. They're a high IQ. They run a motion offense. So they know every single read. They know exactly where to be, exactly the windows that you have to be in order to get those passes. And so as a defender, it's like, you're screwed.

Like, you're screwed. Unless you are like on point every single time, they're a hard team to guard. Let me ask you something about defense. I know that we're both offensive players. You know, we talked about, you know, you're a shooter. I'm a shooter. Both of us are, if we're being nice, average defenders. We tried.

Yeah. We did our best, but we were neither one of us were locked down defenders. Right now, you guys are 11th in the defensive rating. We talked about how great your offense is. 11th in the defensive rating, which is actually weird because you guys give up the least amount of made threes in the W at 7.8 a game. So it normally those things don't.

Yeah, you guys are giving up layups, but the 11th in defensive rating is something that is like one of those things that when you talk about championships, people always talk about defense win championships, people argue, you know, if a great offense, can it outpower a defense? Do you think that you guys are going to have to make some changes

going into the postseason? if you guys do want to win a championship this year? Yes, yes, yes. And I say that. And it's just like a little bit more effort from everybody. Like we can't go and reinvent the wheel. And I think there are sometimes that we show that we are actually very good at executing our defense and that we're all on the same string.

But when you are playing against such high level athletes, even if one person isn't doing what they're supposed to do, you're going to get screwed. And so I think it's just like everyone has to level up a little bit. I think we've been working on perfecting, like, different schemes, which is good, like, we need to. But I think for us, it's like our, it's our scramble rotation and then our box out and rebounding, that really kind of screws us. And, like, when you're guarding one-on-one, you've got to guard your yard for at least one, one-and-a-half steps so you can have your help defenders there.

But, like, we just, I think our biggest struggle, and we talk about this all the time, is, like, it's very rare for all five of us out on the court to be on a string. Which is important, obviously. Because there's always one person who is just kind of ball watching or not doing what they're supposed to do. So it's like that we shoot ourselves in the foot or we play really good defense and then we don't go and get the rebound and then they get, you know, a wide open three. And against us, people shoot the shit out of it. Like we're everyone's Super Bowl. And so it's just we do a lot of stuff to ourselves.

We need to step it up defensively. And yeah, we can hang our hat on offense. But to win, to be where we want to be at the end of the season, we have got to pick up our defense. I was going to say of the, you know, I'm a stat guy. If the last six WMBA champions, three of them have finished top three in defense. You know, and two of them were number one. Now, good news for you guys is 25 aces, you know, last year.

They were eighth in the regular season. So they made some late season defensive adjustments and kind of rode that out. But, I mean, the other ones that weren't were still fourth, you know, and then it's just one of those things where you have to have a good defense in order to actually win. Last thing that I think is important for us is talking about kind of you guys have these last couple games and getting momentum, getting the flow back, getting your rhythm back so that you guys do enter the postseason with a good seed and good rhythm because in the WMBA, it's more chalk than ever. You know what I mean?

Yeah. The high seeds is very important. So maybe give the fever fans a little bit of a kind of insight kind of look at what these last couple games of the season are going to look like and what you think you need to do these last couple games so that you guys can go into the postseason, feeling good, playing your best basketball and in rhythm. Yeah, you know, I think you're the stack guy here and I could be completely wrong. I just kind of show up and I'm here. But I'm pretty sure that we have the hardest schedule left. And so when it comes to seating, that is actually pretty important because you either are going to be playing home games or you're going to be on the road. first. And so we play Toronto. Then we play Washington Mystics who are really good. They have a lot

of young bucks who are phenomenal that we're going to be breaking down their clips because they have some great players. And then we have Minnesota twice. And so we have a hard schedule. But I think for us, I think that's good because you're setting yourself up. I think what's important for us is when we get five or six people in double figures. I don't know what the stat is, but we're really freaking good and we don't lose many games when we have six people in double figure scoring. We have the capability of doing that every single game we play. Kelsey, Caitlin, and AB, they're going to be our top scores pretty much every single night, as they should be. But when you kind of get the others as like what we like to call involved, we're really, really good.

We're in rhythm. We have great chemistry. When we don't have to set up our offense and we're playing in transition, that's huge for us. Clearly, when we're knocking down our threes, that's big. But I think for us, what we really got to dial in on is, yes, continue with the offense, but we've got to clean up our defense. And that's just one and done every single game, which I know you know that term. But for a lot of people, you give the offensive team one shot, box out, and you get the rebound. That's one and done. And so we've got to clean up on that.

Our scheme, just the communication and being on a string, like, we have four games left. Like, we don't have time anymore. Like, you're either going to do it or you're not. And I think these four games, it's got to be a defensive mindset so we can set our ourselves up to where we want to be, you know, when season's over. All right, Fever fans. You guys heard it here first. Sophie is going to be locking up the rest of season and in the playoffs. So if you guys see Sophie missing rotations, like you saw, the low defender not coming over

to help out on the film, if you guys see Sophie not getting the one and done where she's getting the rebounds, you guys can light her up on Twitter, light her up in her comments on social media. That's good criticism. You know, sometimes people like to troll. That's good criticism. So we're going to hold you accountable. His next couple of games and in the playoffs.

So that's fine. You can hold me accountable. I'm not scared of that. All right, everybody. Chad Powers is back, baby. Let's go. Who is Chad Powers? If you are not familiar,

Chad Powers is played by Glenn Powell, who is actually a disgraced quarterback named Russ Holiday. Eight years after leaving his football career, he decides to disguise himself as a new person, Chad Powers. And try out for the South Georgia football team, the catfish. Get it, catfish?

Through the season, Russ is struggling to maintain his double life while also befriending people on the team like the mascot Ricky and coach Ricky, who is the head coach's daughter. Before we get into season two, Drew, would you actually be able to keep a straight face of a player you trained showed up acting like Chad Powers? So let's be honest, I've trained you. If I can train you, I can train anyone. And to be honest with you, I've trained a ton of celebrities

where they walk in thinking they are the shit and very, very, very, very shortly after, they realize that I'm going to humble them through the game of basketball. So the answer is yes, I would actually love it. Is there a player you trained that you think could pull off a Chad Powers look, though? Okay, the look wise is going to be hard, but I guess I'm going to have to go with Chet Holmgren because he's my only white client, so we're going to go with Chet. Chet, you win. Okay, and then season two of Chad Powers is actually going to pick up with Russ continuing

to maintain the Chad Powers identity. While the secret becomes increasingly difficult, Colts in Cantane. Coach Ricky knows the truth and other teammates and coaches are becoming more and more suspicious. Honestly, Sof, I feel like season two is where all the good things could get interesting because Ricky knows the truth and Chad has a lot more to lose. So for you guys out there, if you have not watched season one, make sure you guys check it out. For those of you guys have, season two is coming on Hulu and on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. But I do think this is a great first episode. Like I think the audience is going to see what we're going to be talking about. It's a lot of basketball.

a lot of high IQ, high IQ stuff. We're going to be breaking down film. We're going to be highlighting a lot of people in the W. Once NBA season starts, we'll be doing the same thing with that. And so I think this is going to be fun, Drew. Like I'm actually so excited. I know a lot of people are. So good first week.

This is good. It's going to be fun. It's going to be fun, too, because I think that they're going to get to see the film breakdowns, which will educate some fans. They're going to get the inside access, which will be great for a lot of fewer fans and a lot of your fans. And then I also think that NBA fans are going to really enjoy it because during the NBA season, and I'm going to be given the ins and outs to all of my guys.

And as you know, I work with some of the best players in the world. So it's going to be fun. So make sure you guys like and subscribe and do all those fun things. So if you're way better at social media than I am, so you're supposed to be the one that's giving those kind of, you know, kind of prompts. But make sure you guys do all those fun things so that you guys can stay tuned with all things, no hesitation, podcast. Hi, this is Kylie Breakman.

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