Show Me Something - Sophie's IN-DEPTH Breakdown of Games 1 and 2 | WNBA Semifinals

Episode Date: October 9, 2026

Sophie Cunningham and Drew Hanlen break down the biggest moments from the first round of the WNBA playoffs, from the Liberty’s historic upset over the Lynx to Arike Ogunbowale’s 45-point explosion and the Valkyries’ incredible comeback against Dallas. Then they move on to breaking down the semifinals, where the Golden State Valkyries are up 2-0 over the Las Vegas Aces, and the Atlanta Dream are up 2-0 over the New York Liberty. They dive into Atlanta’s defensive dominance, the Valkyries’ battle with the Aces, and the Dream-Liberty series (including Sophie’s reaction to the end of game situation in Game 2 and Stewie’s comments about the refs) analyzing key matchups and the late-game decisions that can make or break a championship run. Watch and listen to new episodes of No Hesitation 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: @NoHesitationShow Twitter: @NoHesiShow This episode is brought to you by: POLYMARKET 18+ Only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur. See polymarket.com/tos for more information. The Polymarket US App serves as an independent software provider and affiliate of Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing, the CFTC-regulated exchange and clearing organization. Get $25 free when you deposit just $10. Sign up right now with promo code NO HES to get $25 when you deposit just $10. https://app.polymarket.us/S8ac/NOHES FACTOR Let’s eat real. Head to factormeals.com/nohes50off and use code nohes50 to get 50 percent off and 1 free breakfast item per box for 1 year, while supplies last until 10/31/2026. See website for more details.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. The hard rock bet casino app is here, Ontario. It's safe, secure, and crystal clear with fast payouts and 24-7 local support. You can play over 3,000 games right here, including hard rock bet casino exclusives. The hard rock bet casino app is here, Ontario. Roll with us. Must be 19 years of age or older to play.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned about your gambling or that of someone close to you? visit connectsonterio.ca. I'm Lacey Mosley, author, actor, stand-up comedian, creator, and host of Scam Goddess Podcast. The True Crime Comedy Podcasts, all about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it.

Each week, I bring on an amazing guest. Ooh, I scammed them. What? I can talk to you for an hour. You're a generational yapper like me. That's why I had to make yapping a job. And now you can catch full episodes of my show on YouTube. Start listening to Scam Goddess on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your pocket. New York felt like the ref told them they did not have a reset timeout, but that is a big thing to mess up in a game two of a critical game. Your thoughts? I got to get up for this. All right, everybody, welcome back to No Hesitation Pod. I'm Sophie Cunningham here with Drew Hanlon, and boy, do we have a lot to talk about this week.

All right, so if I ask, as I do every week on Twitter, I ask people what they want us to cover, and I did get a lot of people that are loving the film breakdowns. They wanted us to cover obviously both the second round action. And then I had some people that suggested that we go back to the first round and cover those because we really only covered your guy's first round matchup. So we're going to go back and just kind of pick a couple things that I saw and think that we should cover. But overwhelmingly, everybody wanted us to talk about the absolute hate piece.

Both of us, we're like, it doesn't even deserve any time of day. as a facts over feelings guy, I don't want to address any of the personal attacks that were just completely off the wall and completely wrong. But I do want to address two basketball things because, again, facts over feeling. So first thing, in the article it said, who would want a bench player? What team would want a bench player that only average eight points? And I was like, hmm, well, she was fourth leading bench score in the W. So yes, a lot of teams would want a top five bench scorer that also happens to be a top five three-point shooter in the entire league, not just bench players. And then the second thing was there was a quote, and I pulled this quote because I

did not want to mess this up, even if Cunningham's effectiveness on the court didn't shine. And the keyword was effectiveness because I was like, wait, in the entire WMBA, Sophie was fourth, fourth in effect of field goal percentage at 60.8%. So questioning your effectiveness when you were the fourth most effective player by definition was crazy. So again, we're not going to give it too much time. But I just wanted to correct those two basketball things because as a facts guy, I was like, wait a second. I understand if you just don't like somebody and you try to write a hate piece, but don't try to kind of put down the basketball stuff, at least keep it with the facts. So that's my two cents. Dude, I appreciate that. And I'm just like to the point, that's why I literally

don't even care what anyone says about me anymore because I've said this so many times, if you're going to live by the praise, you're going to die by the hate. And the majority of these people have never picked up a ball in their entire lives and they're just like thirsty to, you know, have attention or be relevant in some type of way. And like, no matter what anyone says to me, I'm going to continue to do me. I know what I bring to the table. It's not always in the stat sheet. And so for you to like not say I'm effective or any of that, whatever, suck it. Anyway, let's talk about some basketball because that's why we're here and this is why we even start this pod. Let's get into this first round. Yeah, let's start with New York because I think it's wild to me because

we've spent a lot of time on this podcast talking about how much seeding matters. And for the first time in WMBA history and eight seed eliminated the top seed in the first round. And so it's crazy that not only did they win those games, but they won both of them by 16 points. They dominated both those games. Minnesota led for just three minutes and 23 seconds the entire series. When you look at how dominant they were during the regular season, you didn't think that they were just going to get blown out. And so, you know, I started to look for why, because, you know, it's one thing just to say, hey, they lost and they got dominated.

But this podcast is all about helping people understand the whys behind what they see on the court. And it really came down to Minnesota's defense was just awful. You know, the two stats that I saw that out there that I thought were crazy, New York open looks this series, 30 for 46 from the field, that's 65% and 14 for 27, 52% from three. But it's really that the fact that they got 46 open attempts in two games. And then also New York scored 1.75 points per possession in transition, which, I mean,

that's literally almost giving up a layup every single time. Well, you know what just crazy to me, though? Because like in regular season, and we've always said that playoffs is a different beast. And I think experience truly matters. And Minnesota really does have a lot of experience, but when one of your main people doesn't have that, who knows if that goes in to play a little bit? But I just know New York from top to bottom has that experience.

And you talk about the open shots and the defense or lack of defense of Minnesota. Typically, they're on a string. Typically, they are a tough guard. They switch everything. They help each other. They rebound the ball well and then they get out and go. but that series, New York truly did dominate. And I was just shocked.

I think everyone in the W was shocked of how dominant. And hey, give New York credit too. They were hitting their shots. Like, I think a lot of teams had open shots in these series, but you've got to be able to knock them down. And that's why I just keep going back that the experience matters. But I think everyone was shocked by 16 points each game. Like, Minnesota didn't even get close to one game.

That's just shocking, especially with Cheryl in the history that she has with the Minnesota program. No, 100%. And so when we do dive into film, I wanted to highlight those two defensive kind of things that I just talked about. First one were driving kicks killed them. You'll see overhelping like crazy.

And every time they overhelped, you saw defenders either falling asleep on the wing like you see here or just pulling in too much. But there was never like a sea ball, see man. It was always look at the ball and their man were cutting all over the place. And so right here, you'll see just a ton of just wide open, looks where defenders just falling asleep.

And I feel like that is playing in the gaps. I mean, we broke down, you know, Olivia Miles. And so you kind of saw how Minnesota played. That's how they've been actually playing defense all year. Maybe they were a step slow of getting out to shooters or just like, I don't know, too far in the gaps on New York. But also credit New York that they made the right play. Like they trusted their teammates.

They trusted the shooters that if you drive and even get a foot in the paint, that there's going to be open shooters for those open. sprays and they hit them. And a lot of teams, they still try to do, you know, the one-on-one, the one-on-two, one-on-three. But New York, you got to give them credit for actually passing the ball to the simple, wide-open player. No, 100%. We always talk about ball movement and one more's. And look at this. I mean, that could have been a shot, but what do we do? We get a better shot. We go from good to grace. Unselfish basketball. Here, look at the ball movement. Again, swinging it around, not settling for a good one, getting a great corner three.

great look. Dude, imagine the nerd because that right there just gave me like goosebumps. Like it's just, they are just someone selfish. Gosh, dang. And that's what great teams do,

especially in the postseason. You know, I think in the regular season, it's tougher for players because there are individual accolades, people are playing for contracts. And it feels like in both the W and in the NBA, that once the playoffs come,

winning becomes more important. Now, I'm not saying winning isn't important. during the regular season, but it becomes more important where people do tend to sacrifice a little bit more, and it becomes less about the individual stats and it becomes more about, you know, kind of the team ultimately accomplishing their ultimate goal. So that's why you do see the ball movement popping more, but that is elite ball movement right there and getting them great shots. You don't see that very often in the NBA or WMBA, but I want to talk about something you just said. I know that playoffs matter because that's like when you get the championships. That's when, you know,

whatever. But don't you think if you play like that all season long and I get there's going to be peaks, there's going to be valleys. Maybe New York is peaking or was peaking at the right time. They're kind of struggling in this series which we'll get into. But don't you think that if there was ball movement and that unselfish play

pretty much throughout the whole year, that that helps everybody. And like you naturally will get those accolades when you play the right way. Because if you're playing that way, most likely you're going to win. Do you get what I'm saying there? No, 100%. I mean, literally, to be honest with, you. It's funny how some of the Pacer teammates talked about the biggest difference of not having Halliburton last season when they finished second worst in the NBA was just because he was the

engine that just made the ball, you know, kind of contagious. It was popping. And the other thing that it reminds me of is a story that Michael Phelps used to talk about all the time. And people would say, Michael, were you nervous going into races? And he was like, no. And they're like, you weren't nervous? And he was like, no, because on Monday, I swam a 19. So, and Tuesday I swam in 19.5 and Wednesday I swim in 19.5 and Thursday I swam in 19.5. So on race day, on Saturday, I knew I was swimming in 19.5. It was kind of like, I did this every day so that the race day was just another day. And Tom Brady talked about the same exact thing about, you know, most people kind of BS their way through reps in practice and then expect to turn it on in games. And sometimes that switch might not be able to turn on, whereas if it's always on, it's always on. And so I think you make a great

point of kind of you become a product of your habits and those habits are in the regular season and practice how you're doing film studies how you're doing workouts all of that stuff matters yeah i mean and i think not to make this back about our team because this is about them but the preparation and the consistency of really what you just said i'm just summing it up in a couple words like that truly does matter and not being able to hold people accountable to that level every single day in practice every single time in a game like it does hit you. And when it's time to shine, you know, playoffs, you can look at it. Kind of like the Michael Phelps thing, where my mind went is like, he made those practices

also like the big moment. So when the big moment came, it was just another moment. You know what I mean? Like he wasn't pressured. He already knew, you know, like what he, he prepared himself, the consistency and the way he pushed himself when the lights weren't on and there wasn't a gold medal waiting for him. He was ready for that moment because he had that consistency. So that was a great, great point. No, 100%. All right, so back into the defensive struggles, transition defense was awful, awful, awful, awful. And again, look at this. It's just like a layup line. Like literally, it was a layup line. And this is from the best team in the W throughout the regular season. This is not their brand of basketball. But again, there's no teaching points here.

It's kind of like effort. It's always you're taught. First thing you got to do is get back, protect the rim, then you protect the ball. They were not doing either one of those. And you can see over and over and over again. They just got out in transition. And I know not all of these clips are from this, but was Minnesota just not taking care of the ball? Was it sloppy offensive possessions that led to easy transition points? Like, what?

Even if you look at that last clip, I mean, that was after a made field goal. You know what I mean? That they're giving up layups. I really don't know what it was as far as their defensive, but it just looked like they almost got hit in the jaw and they didn't know how to respond. I think that's what it really was.

It was kind of like the Mike Tyson quote back in the day where he was like, everybody's got a plan until they get knocked down. And I think that's what really happened. I feel like they came out and they thought what everybody else thought were the number one seed, number one seeds don't lose in the first round. And then when they did get hit,

they just kind of shriveled up. You know, this is just straight speculation. I feel like there has to be something more going on with Minnesota because they haven't played like that all year. So the number one seed, they do have the experience. So I'm like, there's got to be something going on in that locker room or that program for them to come out so flat-footed and not ready to fight a little bit. Like, that's weird to me. But that I don't know anything.

I don't. But I just think that's weird. Because I've been on teams that it's been like that. 100%. And again, we don't know what's going on in the locker room. But as you know from being a professional. Go be your stock herself. Go find out.

As being a professional basketball player, you understand that there's often a lot of things going on. behind the scenes, both as a team and individuals that always bleed on the court. Like 99% of times when people have slumps on the court, when I call them to try to help them correct them, the first thing I say is like, what's going on in life? And they're like, what do you mean? And I'm like, most slumps don't start with basketball. Most slumps start off the court and they bleed on the court. And so locker room could be one of those things. Another thing, though, I do think, which is very important to talk about, was somebody that was awesome all year long,

the rookie of the year, Olivia Miles, who we highlighted in a previous segment. She only averaged eight points a game, averaged one assist a game, and went four for 20 in the series. And she talked about it, but I want to get into some of her struggles on the court

and show some of the things that I thought New York did a good job of first. And then I want to kind of go through the mental side that she talked about, because I do think it's super important for, you know, people out there listening, especially younger athletes that watch the show to kind of, you know, kind of understand. So first thing I want to do is I want to, you know, go through and just show what I thought they did a really good job of, which was every time that she drove, they rotated over a secondary

defender. Here you see her shot got blocked. This time, again, she rejects the screen. What happens? Another shot blocker comes over. Here, exact same thing. So every time that she got those drives, they made it really tough on her to finish. She got no easy layups.

Yeah. Really no easy shots in general. And I will say, like, looking at New York, she did a really good job of being the first line of defense. Like, she pretty much cooked every defender that was on her. But you're right. They were on a string, and they had one or two people making sure that she wasn't getting one open shot. And if you can't as a player like that, because that's how, you know, I had that type of green light in college. And when you can't get one free open shot, even if someone's flying at you,

like it gets frustrating, especially in the playoffs as a rookie, maybe not having that exposure experience quite yet. It could get very, very frustrating. And I also know she's dealing with a little bit of injury, but I do want to credit New York because their defense was phenomenal on Olivia. Another thing that I saw was she was so pressured. And it was just there was uncharacteristic turnovers. Like we talked about how, we were bragging about how good her pace was and her poise was.

during the regular season when we did our film breakdown. But right here, she's just, you could tell she was sped up. She's passing up open threes, driving into two-on-one situations and kind of hesitant. So I really do feel bad for her, but I loved the way that she handled it. I agreed. I loved it. Like, I was already a fan of hers, but then after this moment, she could have easily said, you know, the last two games of season, I was dealing with, like, I think an ankle injury,

and I came into the playoffs. She immediately dismissed that. You said, guys, listen, like, I wasn't maybe 100%, but that was not the reason. The reason was I was overthinking and I let the pressure get to me. So I want to play this real quick and then let you react to it as a player. Yeah, I was just navigating all those expectations. I also started off as a work you no one really thought would do what I did. And now I'm in a MVP conversations and now I have to play at that level.

And it was just like a rollercoaster of expectations and emotions through the whole year. thinking too much when I'm in the game. Maybe not playing as free as I did. Maybe playing not to lose. It was more of a scarcity mindset going into the playoffs and like, oh my gosh, what if this doesn't happen? And just changing that mindset,

and just going out there and leaving it all out there and not caring what the result may be. I love it. When you hear that, I mean, so much ownership, but what are your thoughts on that? First of all, she's just so mature. I think in any position you could either view

anything as a threat or an opportunity and she totally took this as an opportunity and she's already self-reflected of maybe why or why not things happened but I think you're right I think, or not you, I think she's right when, you know, when you put pressure on yourself

and you try to control situations that haven't even happened yet, you don't play free. And I think the majority of us players, we are better when we play free and we don't care. You're like, we don't give a F. right? When we kind of go out there and don't give enough and just go out and ball,

that's probably our best games. And she's had a heck of a season. And so I want her to hold her head high and shoulders back, which I know she's going to do and going to come dominate next year's season. But I think as a player, I really respect that. I respect the maturity of the ownership, going to play not to lose. You're never going to win if you have that type of mentality. But she's already taking steps in the right direction. And so she's going to be a force to be reckoned with her whole career. And so I'm just, I'm very impressed with Olivia Miles. No, I loved it. I loved it. And I also love that she basically was like, not only am I owning this, but also I'm going to use this as fuel. Because you don't want to throw away, you know, failures. You want to use them as lessons. And it

sounds like she's going to attack this offseason with, you know, kind of those two games in the, not only back of her mind, but the front of her mind, which is awesome. I need to tell you about this new prediction market called polymarket. It's the best way to trade in sports. In the past, if you wanted action on the game, you'd put some money in, and if your team was doing well and you wanted to cash out, they'd lock the trade or take a huge fee. But Pollymarket, it's a prediction market. It's like a stock exchange for sports, where you can buy in and sell out on your terms. Polymarket is simply the best prediction market. They're so confident that you'll never go back to the other guys that they're giving away a free $25 on your first trade when you deposit just $10.

And now they've launched a new feature squads, a group chat where you can see. see what everyone is trading on. So download the Polymarket app today and use NoHES when you sign up. That's N-O-H-E-S to get $25 free after you deposit just $10. Big thanks to Factor for sponsoring this episode. Okay, real talk, the last couple months have been absolute chaos. My travel schedule has been nuts, and I finally hit a wall where I was like, okay, I need to get back to eating actual food again. Trust me, I hear you. I am on the road 24-7, and that's exactly where Factor comes in. Chef crafted, dietitian designed,

ready to eat meals. So you're not choosing between real food and convenience. Factor really levels up. They have banned over 175 ingredients so you know everything in there is built around actually supporting a healthier lifestyle. Nothing sketchy sneaking in. Plus two minutes and you're eating.

No prep, no cleanup. And on the days that your schedule is completely off the rails, this is a difference between eating and eating well. And they offer a 100 menu options. every week. They've got new stuff like the salmon burgers, shredded pork, and collard greens. And please do not sleep on the add-ons. And my personal favorite, the pumpkin-flavored cheesecakes and protein shake. That sounds like some good home-cooking meal, which I know us Midwesterners love. Let's eat real. Head to factorneals.com slash no-haz-50 off and use code no-haz-50 off to get 50

off and one free breakfast item per box for one year. While supplies last until October 31, 2026. That's code no-haz-50-off at factor meals.com. No-Hes-50 off at factor meals.com. See website for details. The hard rock bet casino app is here, Ontario. It's safe, secure, and crystal clear with fast payouts and 24-7 local support. You can play over 3,000 games right here, including hard rock bet casino exclusives. The hard rock bet casino app is here, Ontario. Roll with us. Must be 19 years of age or older to play. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. Concerned about your gambling or that of someone close to you, visit connectsonterio.ca. Obviously, 8-seat, upsets to one, you know, which leads us to the next series, Golden State and Dallas. Golden State had a ton of ups and downs. Golden State wins game won by 24 points. I skipped over that game because I was like, you know what? It was just a beat down. It was not a game where we can really.

learn from, you know, fans. There's nothing that excites them. It was like our first game, our first playoff game. You guys could have learned some things. And I thought you did. You know what I mean? You guys made some adjustments. And to be fair, I thought Dallas made some great adjustments. But one of the things that wasn't an adjustment was Rike just came and bawled out, 45 points, which is a record for the playoffs. And also not only did the 45 points, but also hit the game time three in regulation. I love highlighting good players. You love highlighting good players. And so I thought there was, there was like no way, even though they didn't end up winning the

series. I was like, there's no way that we can just pass over and not talk about how good Eureka was. So can I also just mention she's been doing this since college? Like if anyone knows Erike, she's hit game winners and final fours and in championships. And we talk about Michael Phelps and, you know, preparing. I think Eureke, I mean, she's been in these moments. She's built for these moments, and their team's backs were against the wall, and she showed up for them in game two.

And I know we're going to get into Page a little bit. She had a hell of a first game and then kind of struggled through the last two games of that series. But Erique really picked it up and, I mean, was unstoppable in that game, too. No, she was unbelievable. And it started with just her relentless attacking the rim. Like, she was getting downhill. You can see some of them were ball screens, some were a dribble handoff, some of them were a get game where you pitch and then go chase it.

I mean, there was not one way she was doing things. It was just basically she was finding ways to keep the defense off their toes and then getting downhill. That's where it starts because I think when you do have that relentless attacking, it makes the defense back up, which then opens up threes. And she was five for eight from three, which obviously was a huge help for her team as well. But, you know, I think that this year and maybe even last year, she's been settling a lot of just shooting threes. And back in college and in her rookie days,

like she was getting downhill. Like we knew that it was either downhill or threes. And then in the past couple years, she started kind of settle. But in this game, it was like, older Rike was back. Like, she was attacking the rim. And in the second half of this season,

she started to attack the rim going right a lot more. This game, she was tacking both. And then if she's attacking, it's hard to play her because she's just so fast and athletic. And so this is what opens up her three ball, which she's phenomenal at knocking those down. And so you'll see in these clips right here that, you know, once she's

seeing the ball go through the rim and easy layups and attacking, that these ones are pretty much layups for her too. And look, right here, it's off the catch, then it's off the dribble. So, she's giving you a diet of everything, so you can't put a similar defender on her. What a lot of

fans may not understand is, when you're getting downhill, then you have to have a smaller player that's quick and can move and agile to keep you in front, but then against those players, now they don't have the same length to contest for the threes. So it really keeps the defense on their toes. This was a huge play. Obviously, down three. They flare her out. And she hits a ridiculously fading shot. Sends it to overtime.

This one, a prayer answered. I mean, everything was going in. And then just cooks up a wing three. To me, it was like 45 points. Not only just you get downhill, not only just you make her threes, but also 16 for 18 from the free throw line, because she was drawing files. they started following her. They're like, all right, we can't just let her cook without trying. So I just thought we had to show her some love because she was so good in game two. Killing everybody, man. Killing everybody. But one thing you did mention was Paige, who we always know that she's one of the best players in a league, had an unbelievable season. Game one, nine for ten from the field, 21 points. Games two and three combined six for 27.

So that was a big reason why Dallas did not, you know, come out on top in this series. So I want to move on to the Atlanta dream. You know, they defeated Washington 2-0, and Washington could not do anything. Washington shot 39.7% from the field, 31.7% from three. Atlanta had a franchise record 16 steals in game one and end up having 27 points on those turnovers. So I wanted to do a quick film breakdown on Atlanta's defense and then get some of your thoughts on it because, again, they always have a good defense.

but in my opinion, they've been way more active hands and more handsy in the playoffs. And so I just wanted to, while these clips are running, of all these hands steals, wanted your opinion on Atlanta's defense? We know, I will literally not waver from this. Washington is a very young and athletic team. They just don't have that experience. I'm telling you it matters. Like, even if you're dominant in the regular season, it does not matter because playoffs is a different animal.

And you see that Atlanta has been good all season long. Their defense has been very good all season long, but they had another level. They stepped it up for the playoffs. And you see this that everyone, the guards play was, everyone was more up in their pockets. But like,

look at Angel right there. Like no one had any space to even breathe. And I think that truly matters, especially with a Washington team that they get a lot of stuff in transition, their energy players. And they couldn't, they didn't have the energy because Atlanta was all over them. But you had to get a lot of,

of Atlanta credit too, man. Like their roster this year, adding to Wanabonner, I think that experience and that leadership and veteranness has absolutely helped them dial in on what's important. I give a hell of a lot of credit to their coach. I think he's absolutely phenomenal. Jordan Canada, man, she's a beast.

She's a beast. She's been in the league for a really long time. And I'm pretty sure that she is kind of the head of the snake sometimes. Like, I know that you have Alicia Gray. I know that you have Ryan Howard. But if your point guard is setting the tone defensively and also with your pace, it's going to be a long night for whoever they're playing.

And you see that in this series. You're definitely seeing it in the New York series that's going on right now. They're looking good, man. Looking really good. Jordan Canada, back to back, double doubles. You know, she's been bawling. They've had a lot of good players, but defensively, they have been elite. They stepped it up.

And it's one of those things where you talk about it all the time. When you talked about your guy's struggles guarding Asia in the first round, you talked about, we gave her too much space. We let her be comfortable. There was nobody comfortable when they were handling against Atlanta's pressure. So I think they've also carried that on, which I'm going to break down later into the second round. But they've been really, really good defensively.

And it's led to a lot of easy baskets on the offensive end as well. Do you think in these playoffs that everyone always says defense won championships? I also know you got to make your shots. But do you think that it, like I don't know on the NBA side. I know that they all got to step it up defense. but watching these games and these clips, do you really think that being on point defensively is as big as of a key

and an importance as it is making your shots offensively? I think they go hand in hand, to be honest with you. I think the more you set your defense, the better job you do on defense, the more stops you get, the more turnovers you get, the more first-time rebounds you get, then you're going in transition, and you're going to get more points for possession in transition.

You're also not allowing the defense to get set on the other end. And so it's one of those things where sometimes the best offense is good defense. I think that's what we're seeing a lot in these playoffs. You know, when you're playing half-court offense, especially when the playoffs, the refs allow it to be a little more physical, usually. It's just harder to get a basket. And so when you can get up and down in transition, you're going to get easy looks. And when we think back of your series, remember how many points that we highlighted on just easy baskets or dumb just mistakes that you guys made that cost you guys' points? That's what I think a lot of people do. They hurt them.

with defensive errors more than they help themselves by making shots on the offensive end because usually the numbers are around the same shot making. And obviously, in the W, it's a little bit harder because you don't have as long of a series so the numbers can't average out. But I do think that it's important that you're a good defensive team. So you think that means it kind of comes back down to a possessions game and who's getting up more shots? That and what quality of shots are you getting?

Like when we highlighted earlier, the ball movement and the one. one more passes, those were good shots to great shots. If they would have taken the earlier shot, it wouldn't have been like, oh, they just missed their shots. It was like, no, they were not getting the quality of shots that they could have if they made that extra pass and sometimes multiple extra passes. So I think they all go hand in hand. And I really do think that the teams that share the ball on offense, that have good movement, they get the defense moving. They end up generating better looks. And the teams that turn the ball over or try to play one-on-one or take turn basketball, end up turning the ball over, missing shots, and now the other team's outrunning.

So yeah, I like it. All right. So I wanted to do that quick rundown of the first round, just because we didn't cover that for the people that wanted to kind of hear our takes on that. But second round, these series have been fun, but no team in WMBA history has ever come back from a 2-0 deficit. They're 0-19. And we've got two teams that are down 0-2. Do you think either one of these teams has a better chance at coming back and, you know, kind of changing history? Or do you think, hey, it might be those two teams that are going in with two-oh, they're going to figure out a way to get one win in the next three games? I don't know.

I don't know. I feel like you can't really go against history too much. But I also think there's been a lot of records broken this year in the WMBA history. So I don't want to say never and you got to bring it every night. And all these teams have players who have been a part of championship teams. so they know what it takes. I mean, I don't know. I don't know.

I'm kind of shocked, though, of the series, both series so far. So I don't know. I like that. Hey, no hesitation. And we finally had you hesitating a little bit. I like that. I know, because I'm, I'm.

You're neutral. That's what it is. You're neutral. And like, now that our season's done, it's hard for me to like, but I do still, I kind of want someone new to win. I know that sounds like,

typical. But I'm just, I'm surprised that these series aren't, you know, one and one, or that they're not a little more even. I mentioned that teams that are down 02 are 0 and 19 historically in the WMBA playoffs. So history says that Atlanta and Golden State are likely to meet in the finals, but on Polly Market right now, you can still trade on all four teams. As we're recording this right now, Atlanta at 45% to win at all, Golden State at 43%, Las Vegas at 9% and New York at 7%. So if you love, Atlanta's defense or if you like Golden State's ability to master their roles, you can trade on those two favorites or if you think Asia or Stewie are going to step up and lead their teams back and rewrite history, you can trade on one of the underdogs. And don't forget right now on Polymarket,

you can get $25 free when you deposit just $10 with promo code No Hez. Again, that's N-O-H-H-E-S for $25 free when you deposit just $10 on Polymarket. Let's start. with the team that knocks you guys out. The ACE is playing Golden State, and Golden State has been hooping all postseason. This matchup to me was going into it, I was like, it's offense versus defense. Aces finish a regular season, second in the league, you know, in offense, and then Golden State on the other end, they've been basically the best defensive team in the W. But then also, Vegas has like all these stars, whereas Golden State has four combined all-star appearances between their roster. And then the final thing that I was,

loved going into it was head coaches. Like, one was an assistant coach for Becky. And I was like, this could play a big role. And to be honest with you, I think her coaching under Becky for, you know, two of the title runs that they had. And then also somebody that I have loved and I'm, I'm doing something that I would never, ever do. I'm going to break down a player that had zero points, Kea Stokes, who has been unbelievable. You know what, Drew, screw you for that. Because there's a lot more to basketball than just scoring damn points. And I think before you highlight her, I think something that is so hard about Golden State

is they truly all know their role and they fucking dominate their role. Like they know it and they stay in it. And sometimes, you know, you're going to go outside and people are going to kind of have unique games that they do score more points or whatever. But Kea Stokes, she knows her damn role. She knows to go get those boards.

She knows to play good defense. And she owns that. And that's what makes these teams. Like you said, they had four, all-star appearances amongst their whole team, like combined. That's insane. But they all work hard and they all don't care about the awards. They don't care about their egos are not in the way.

All they want to do is freaking win, and that's why they've been on top of the W all year round. So I'm not surprised by this. I'm really not surprised. No, it is. It's like All-Stars versus Stars in their role. And the Stars in their role right now have stepped up in a big way. Vegas scored 60 points in game one, which was their season low.

Golden State had a plus 27 on the glass. out rebounded them 52 to 25. That's insane. It was funny because when I was doing the research and looking through the stats, I didn't think it was real. So I went to a different source and was like, wait, that's a real number right now. I really did.

17 to 2 offensive rebounds in favor of Golden State plus 15 and second point chances in game one. But Kea Stokes, zero points, 14 rebounds, seven of those offensive, and four blocks. Her being age as former teammate, they saw each other probably all the time in practice. she clearly looked like she knew what she wanted to do based on the film. But as a primary defender, and again, they were a little lenient because I went through the clips, but tracking data said that Asia was two for ten when she was Gardner as a primary defender. So I just wanted to show her some love. Big shout out to Kea Stokes.

So here's what I saw, and this is important. First thing was look at all these offensive rebounds. Just straight hustle. There was no technique, no skill. It was just, I'm going to get inside position. I'm going to fight for my team. They're 50-50 loose balls, and she got a ton of them, seven of them. So I was like, that's amazing.

But the defense is what I really want to break down. Defensively, what do you always talk about? Asia wants to go left. What does she do? She forces her right. What do you talk about? Hey, she likes to have space. What does she do?

She crowded her and took away her jumper, forced her to put it on the ground a lot. And again, there she's a helpside defender, comes over. Here, she's the primary defender, gets another block on her. this time forces off the dribble again heavily contested mid-range off the two off the bounds here let's just back this up for a second because i think this is important what did you talk about a lot about your guys errors you didn't force her right you didn't pressure enough look at that she does not have room to shoot a jump shot she is forced to go right she's going away from her strengths and asia has been shooting a lot of heavily contested long twos which is great she's doing her job you know

Look at all these highly contested shots. That's the shot that you want her to take. If you're going to give up any shot, it's a long contested too. Here she finally beats her left, but comes back, recovers, gets a block here, fights over a screen. I know she's a little bit late, but still contests. So big shout out, Kistokes, because she has done an unbelievable job on Asia, who is, if not the toughest cover in a league, one of the toughest covers in a league. She's the best player in the world.

And she has made her life really, really hard. So I just wanted to show her some love. And then game one real quick, I want to make one last point. You always talk about their big three. They're big three, 17 for 50 in game one. So that's what Vegas. Why couldn't they do that against us? That was a big point of kind of emphasis in game one.

It was clearly stopping their big three, which is a lot easier to say than do, but they did a great job. Game two, Aces put themselves in a hole. They're down 17 points, but they eventually tied it up and actually took the lead down the stretch. And so I just wanted to kind of go through that with you and really kind of hear your thoughts on one thing that I thought was important. So right here you see, this is the tie. And then here they actually take the lead, turns the corner. And so we're talking about, you know, a minute and 35 seconds left, 36 seconds left, they finally take the lead. If you're Golden State, you're up by 17, you give up this lead, and then now you're trailing in the last two minutes of a fourth quarter, what do you need to do in those huddles?

What do you need to do on the court to rally your team? Because I think it's important for fans to hear from you of what are those conversations to kind of say, hey, guys, I know we're up by 17 and we've given up the lead, but we still have a chance to win this thing. Yeah. You know, I think that it is a long game. You've got to be present, right? You can't think about the past.

You can't think too much about the future. You've got to think about now and what is the task at hand right now. And so what our huddles look like in these scenarios because we gave up a lot of leads this year. And then we found ourselves in this position, won some, loss some. But in these huddles, I think you need to, you know, if you're about to be on offense, like, hey, this is a must basket. We need to execute. We need to set our screens. Little details matter.

If you're on a defensive position, we got to get this stop. You know, or if you only have, you don't get all the. those little timeouts or those huddles, it's, hey, this is a score-stop-score-type situation. We need to get a kill. A kill is three stops in a row. And so everyone knows and is on the same page of what needs to get done, but is the small reminders, you know, to encourage and to feed your team confidence of what is the task at hand. How can we focus on that task? And let's go and execute that task. I love that. And you talked about a kill. We got our score. So now what do we have to do? We have to get a stop. When we get a stop, what do we have to do? We have to get another

score. You see Burton knocked down a huge three to give them back the lead. And then right here, this is something I was surprised at. And I know they were running a play, but I was like, man, you get a defender up in the air, you're down three. You have plenty of time to go back and forth. I would have jumped in, draw the file, get free throws. Instead, they go for the tie. And again, it's a good look from a great player, ends up missing it. And from there, it was just, let's play the file game and free throw game. Both teams were making their free throws. But again, those are the little things. And it's Jackie.

And like, Jackie is so good at getting Ann ones that I think she, maybe she's kicking herself now, I don't know, but like she could have got that Ann one. I still think it was a great look from Jewel. Like I do think like Jewel's a phenomenal shooter. But in those situations, like that's Jackie's moment. She's built for those moments. Like go and get that Am one. And then we go to this possession right here.

Golden State has a chance to ice a game. They get a great stop. And as soon as they get a stop, this was unbelievable. they get a file. And it's one of those things where the numbers don't necessarily favor either way, because I was looking, and I only have NBA numbers. I don't have data on the WMBA. WMBA needs to do a better job of giving all this kind of tracking data. But in the NBA, in the NBA, there were 524 documented games where basically the decision was, file up three or play defense. And the fall up three generated 92.

to me. 92% win, whereas play defense generated 91.7%. So I was like, wait a second. Statistically, there's basically no difference. It's kind of like a coaching preference and stuff like that. But what is your opinion on the follow-up three? Because it worked out in this game, but it almost didn't work out in this game. Do you like it?

Do you like it? Is there a time period you do it? Yes, I prefer it. But I think that this is one of those things that you have to practice. practice so you can execute it because I think that you have to be high IQ players because you don't want to foul when they're shooting. You need to foul at the right time. And I also think you have to know and understand who you're playing. So like with Vegas, say Vegas has the ball and it's this, well, you know, this scenario, whatever, I would foul them because I feel like they are so good at

executing and they are experienced. They are great, great players. They are Olympians. They are all-stars. they can execute, they can make the three point. So why would you not foul them? 100%. I'm with you. Here, same exact thing. You know, ball gets imbounded. And right away they file.

And the big key is you file before they can get into the shooting motion. Yes. One more time, file before they get into shooting motion. Now, here's the big play. Makes the first one. We're at basically six seconds left. And now we're down two. And at some point, if you're playing the foul game

and the other team's making their free throws, you have to take a chance. No one's got to miss. And she did such a good job missing. They get the board and look at this, under the basket with a chance to tie the game. One good defensive stop, they secure the rebound and end up taking a 2-0 lead.

So there was a time where you did see that falling up three basically took off time off the clock, but then they end up giving up the offensive rebound and gave them a chance. How does that happen? I mean, I know how it happens. Like, they didn't mean to do that. But, like, that's that right there is the type of stuff I'm talking about with, like, Vegas. They have that experience and they're just so high IQ and witty that you, that is like the game winning plays that they normally get.

You know, normally Chelsea's making that, which is insane. So Vegas down 02. Again, O-N-19 historically WMBA teams when they're down O2. So we'll have to see if they have a, you know, some kind of magic in them to kind of try to come back and win that series. The music you love. I heart radio. Your favorite radio stations. Everywhere you go.

The podcasts everyone's talking about. All in one place. And it's free. I heart radio. Whatever you want to hear. Listen anytime. Anywhere. Music, radio.

Podcasts. Unlimited audio. It's on the free. IHurt Radio app. Let's go. One app. No subscription. Always free.

Grab the free app. I heart radio. Everywhere you go. Always free. Download the free. Free IR Radio app today. I'm Lacey Mosley, author, actor, stand-up comedian, creator, and host of Scam Goddess Podcast. The True Crime Comedy Podcasts, all about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it.

Each week I bring on incredible guests like Conan O'Brien, Iowa Debris, Lamorne Morris, and Nicole Byer. Ooh, I scammed them. What? I can talk to you for a hour. You're a generational yapper like me. That's why I had to make yapping a job. And the scams run the gamut. I'm talking about scams.

from the 1800s all the way up to today. I also warn you and keep you safe against scammers. Call your grandparents, tell your parents to stop clicking on links, please. And now you can catch full episodes of my show on YouTube. If there's a scam, I'm here to protect you. And I'm also here to laugh with you. So if you like fun, if you like comedy,

and you like learning and protecting yourself from criminals, start listening to scam goddess on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you. or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, this is Kylie Breakman. Angel Geratana. Jeremy Colhain. Patrick McDonald.

And we're the hosts of the Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists Podcast. The Improvised Character Comedy Podcasts where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of wellness influencers. What I try to do is faux journal. I don't know. Have you guys heard of faux journaling? Yeah, it's reading.

It's called reading. So we don't like to use that word anymore. Okay. A panel of New Yorker cartoon. Have you guys done Terry Gross's Peloton class? No! I've been dying too! I'm so sorry.

I'm seeing a reading of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Audra McDonald's at the Wonderland Bookstore on 14th. That's crazy. I went to the Wonderland Bookstore yesterday and I heard Nora Jones do a reading of Zero Dark 30. No way. You have to come to the last bookstore, though. Kim Cottrell is reading the guitar tabs of yesterday. A panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little.

Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. It's right up next to the microphone. I hear you can almost hear the eyelashes hit each other. You never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to artists on artists on artists on artists on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We move on onto Atlanta, New York and Atlanta, again, one of those teams that, in my opinion, was defensively, were so good in round one. But I was like, all right, was that just because they were playing against a team that they were just so much better than, they brought that same defensive intensity to, you know, the New York Liberty who really handled everything in round one with ease.

32 points off of 21-forced turnovers in game one, including 16 in the third quarter. So think about this. New York. New York is up 40 to 37 at half. And then Atlanta outscored New York 32 to 15 in the third quarter. And I just want to run real quickly through Atlanta's dominant third quarter stretch because you're going to see how easy it is. We had that conversation earlier. You know, hey, Drew, what's important defense or offense making shots? Well, if your defense looks like this, look at how easy your offense is. Every single time getting stops leading to wide open basketball. right here, just runouts. It really makes the game a lot easier when you can get this. And in the third quarter, like we talked about, it was just turnover after turnover after turnover. And all of those turnovers led to wide open layups, wide open shots.

Man, I guess the third quarter, but I think overall, I think Atlanta is just like pace, their aggressiveness, their pressure is what's leading to those dominant third quarters because they wear New York down. And then finally, you know, stuff just kind of, breaks a little bit for New York and they lose handle of things

and that's when Atlanta, they jump on you. That's when they go for the throne and put the pedal to the medal. And so I'm really not shocked. I think Atlanta's had this potential all year. You've seen it pretty much all year, but they're at a whole other level right now and it is kind of surprising that it is

against New York because they have won championships. They have that experience. And I think in this series so far, Atlanta just seems hungrier. They seem like they won it more. And so every little opportunity, they're not letting it slip. And so New York's had to come out swinging, but I also know, like, Atlanta, they're just in a different mindset right now.

So that's going to be a tough one to come back from. And Jordan Canada was awesome again in game one, 25 points, 9 for 14 from the field, 4 for 6 from 3. And Liberty got nothing from their bench, six points total from their bench in game one. So game two, it starts out, and Stewie is cooking. First half, 25 points, 8 for 9 from the field. they did a way better job in the second half containing her. She only had 10 points on 3 of 12 shooting. Dream, you always talk about,

let's get multiple people in double figures. Let's move the ball, share the ball. The Dream have six players in double digits, including Angel Reese and Jordan Canada, who both had 23 to lead the team. But there were two big plays that I want to break down to end this episode because I think that these two plays, in my opinion, kind of say a lot about basketball and for fans.

So this first one, we talked about, you file up three or do you not file and play it out? The one thing you can't do up three is give up an open three. You know, a lot of times you're shading towards a three point line. And depending on how much time is left in the game, like 14 and a half seconds, there's plenty of time that you don't want to give up an easy, quick layup. But you're definitely not losing your player and giving up an open three. You would rather, if you're going to get beat, you would rather just let them have the layup

instead of everyone going and giving a wide open three. Like there, you've got to play the scenarios out. be prepared for all that. And you don't want to overhelp. That's another thing that a lot of teams do is they overhelp. It's a drive. They pull in too much. And then that's where the swing and kick three happens.

Play straight up. Play straight up. But right here, we've bragged a lot about how good Atlanta's defense was. You can see two players that are both hugging in the paint. And what does that lead to? That leads to a simple pin down and a huge shot to send the game to overtime. Yeah. And so those are the mistakes that we talked about with you guys.

And you guys throughout the course of your game would be down, you know, oh man, we had 18 points of dumb mistake, you know, points given up. That's a big three that almost costs in the game. But fortunately, they battled back. And we get to the play that everyone's talking about, which is after a made free throw, they don't take the reset timeout and advance the ball. Why?

Why, why, why? What ends up happening? they throw the ball up, and they end up getting a prayer that does not get answered. After the game, though, there was an explanation because I was thinking of the same thing. In real time, when I was watching, I was going, what are they doing? It was clear the announcers were talking about it. Okay, they're going to take the reset. They're going to drop a play.

New York has championship experience. They're going to drop a good play and generate a good look. Wait, before you say it, because I have not seen this clip, I feel like the only reason why you would not call a reset is because, because you're thinking that you don't want Atlanta to set up their defense. That is the only reason why I would think why, if you were New York who has great shooters and great players, why you wouldn't call that to get a great freaking shot? So I'm excited to see this clip. And listen, if you told me that, and I was a coach and you were another coach on the same staff, and you said, hey, we don't want

to let Atlanta set their defense. I'd be like, you are crazy. I'd be like, advance the ball. We can get a better look. And what happened at the end of fourth quarter? We drew up a great play, and they fell asleep and we generated a look, so let's draw up one of our plays. Dude, I'm agreeing with you. I'm saying that I feel like you should always take that, like always take it and everyone, but I'm just saying the only reason why maybe they wouldn't

is so they don't set up their defense. Like, I don't know. I would take it every single time. I understand that if you have more time left where you can't advance the ball and dribble down the ball, all that kind of stuff. So, all right, so let's take a listen to what Stewie had to say after the game. This is not blaming the refs,

but when I ask both reps, if we have a reset timeout at the end and they tell us no and then we leave the game with the reset timeout, it's pretty frustrating. Like, yeah, okay, I kind of got a good look at the end, but we'd just love to have some clarity on that situation as well. Shut up. Shut up. Are you lying? Why have I not seen this? I've kind of been off the, off, you know, I haven't been on social media much, but I'm just going to tell you, someone saying that they don't.

don't know the rules in our in our series. And now Stewie doesn't know she and she asked and they said that she didn't. That is like, that's fucked. She's my French, but that's actually fucked up. Now, New York has filed like a inquiry so the league is looking into it. The statement from the officials was that Stewie was standing behind the referee, Fahey, when he confirmed with his partner before Reese's field goal or free throw that the Liberty did have a reset timeout. So maybe there was miscommunication, but there was a video that a fan had posted from the stands where you can see that literally there is communication between coach, Stewie, and the ref, and for whatever reason, there was something lost in translation where New York felt like

the ref told them they did not have a reset timeout. But that is a big thing to mess up in a game two of. a critical game. Your thoughts? I got to get it. I got to get up for this because I have so many things. So I understand as a player, you're asking the ref. Was the coach involved in that conversation?

And did the head coach also hear that they did not have it? Well, as of right now, because Stewie, right before she made that statement that we watched, she literally looked and said, hey, are you going to say it or do you want me to say it? And then she said, I'll say it. So clearly there was communication. coach and player, and both of them, from their understanding, were told that there was no reset timeout. And the WMBA basically came out and said, well, the official scores table said there was a reset. You guys should have been keeping track on your own that there was a reset. And our ref said

there was a reset. So that's what the W stance is at this point. Here's my thing. I understand. I think there definitely needs to be some clarification on the communication with Stewie and the head coach and the refs. You already know how I feel about the refs. But New York, their assistance or whoever has control over the timeouts and normally does that, they have got to make sure that the head coach and everyone knows. Like there's no excuse there. There's absolutely no excuse. And so I understand that there could be miscommunications. And again, I'm not agreeing with what's going on. But New York's coaching staff has got to take some responsibility for that because that cannot happen. that cannot happen, period.

I agree. It makes me think back to high school. You remember when there was like a disagreement between the scores table and then yours where they said like, oh, this player has three files. And the person that was keeping the manager that was keeping the books would say, nope, I've got them for two and they'd go and they'd make sure the books are the same. I think that's what should have happened. If New York thought that they had a reset timeout, they asked the rep.

If the ref did say, you don't have one, they should have said, hold up. We haven't used one in overtime yet. We still do have one. And there should have been clarity before the free throw was attempted. I agree with that. There's got to be better communication on New York staff, and there's got to be better communication with the refs. And so I don't know what happened,

but at the end of the day, if there is miscommunication and the ref is saying something false, that can't happen. But that's got to, your coaching staff has got to be better in that scenario because that's, I mean, that could have been the game. You know what I mean? Shit, that's bad. It would be crazy because it has happened.

of very few times, like under a handful of times, one or two times, I think, in professional sports history where somebody's actually won an appeal and then they had to go back and finish the game at that point. It'd be crazy if there were mics and a ref made a wrong statement. They are. They're all lights. They're all right. So it'd be interesting if the ref did say something wrong, what the W would rule, if they would actually go back and before the start of game three, replay that last possession, it would be, I mean, bonkers. Drew, here's my thing. If they're going to do that, say, let's create this fake scenario.

This is so fun. Hypothetically, if that was the case, I feel like they have to give it their own day. And everyone has to prepare for a game and get ready for that, like, what was it, nine seconds? Or what was it, four, five, whatever. Like, give it its own game day. All the fans get to come back. All the fans get to come back, everything. I'd be pissed.

Big play. Listen, the playoffs have been super fun. Obviously, we wished that you were still in here and we were talking about your guy's preparation going into a game three. But we've got to see some really good basketball. We've got to see some great individual performances and some great team performances.

So I wanted to make sure that we continued our mission of diving into the games and giving basketball fans, basketball. And I thought that we covered a lot of things this pod. So I'm excited for the rest of the rest of the game. the second round and then obviously we'll give our previews going into the finals on what that looks like next episode. I love it. This is a good one. We appreciate

you guys. Make sure you like, subscribe. Keep communicating. I know Drew does a great job of Twitter and comments. I will start getting on board now that I'm in off-season and see what you guys want to hear. But we really do appreciate you guys and we love you and we'll see you and we'll see you next week. I'm Lacey Mosley,

author, actor, stand-up comedian, creator, and host of Scam Goddess podcast. The True Crime Comedy Podcast. all about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it. Each week I bring on an amazing guest. Ooh, I scammed them. What? I can talk to you for an hour.

You're a generational yapper like me. That's why I had to make yapping a job. And now you can catch full episodes of my show on YouTube. Start listening to Scam Goddess on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Scam Goddess. Hi, this is Kylie Breakman. Angel Geratana. Jeremy Colhanin, Patrick McDonald.

And we're the hosts of the Artists on Artists on Artists on. on artist podcast. The improvised character comedy podcast where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. He gets right up next to the microphone.

I hear you can almost hear the eyelashes hit each other. You never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to Artists on Artists on Artists every Thursday on the IHeartRadys. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Fox Sports reporter Jenny Taft. And I'm former U.S. Women's National Soccer team player, Carly Lloyd. And on our new podcast, whatever it takes, nothing is off limits. I played with players that didn't truly love the game.

I found the love with the ball at my foot. I don't care what I'm being asked to do at Fox. I'm going to go get some reps and love it and embrace it. Listen to whatever it takes with Carly Lloyd and Jenny Taft on the IHeart. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.