The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - GOOD FOLLOW - Indiana’s Injury Bug, Looking At Officiating In the W, The Aces’ Are Getting Hot & More

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

This week on Good Follow: Ros & Logan look into how the WNBA officials are prioritizing player safety, especially after the Sophie Cunningham injury, and what that could mean for Caitlin Clark’s return. Then, they determine what the Las Vegas Aces are doing right and how the Golden State Valkyries can keep their momentum going. Finally, Logan shares her NWSL pick of the week presented by DraftKings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to Draft Kings Network. alongside my co-host, Logan Hackett. Logan, how are you? I'm doing well, actually, some news. I'm playing an LPGA event tomorrow. So the nerves are kind of starting to come. Yeah, surprise. What's to you?

What are you going to be doing? I'm playing in a pro-am, and it's actually my first time golfing in so long. Oh, my goodness. But I'm really, really excited. For those who don't know, I used to be a D-1 golfer. So coming back full circle. A round of a plug for Logan,

And on Thursday show, we will absolutely, well, it's not until the weekend. No, it's tomorrow. Okay, Thursday show, we will be recapping how it goes for you. But everyone here, your good follow family, we are rooting for you so much. It's so exciting. Thank you so much. Oh, you go, girl. Okay, everybody is a winner and an athlete here.

We love to see it. Go ahead, girl. Wait, how are you doing? Me? I mean, I'm not doing golfing or playing in any pro event, but I am covering a pro event tonight. And I personally just came from shoot-around here in Brooklyn. It's a big day. The Liberty are playing the links today at Barclay Center.

And I'm going to be on the call for the game. It is the fourth game. They've seen each other four times in like 20 games for whatever weird reason. All the games have been clumped together in this span. And it's a big game for both teams, but certainly the Liberty who are trying not to get swept in this series within the regular season. And obviously, this is a finals rematch. So actually next show on Thursday, expect all the tea. We are going to break down the close of the in-game regular season series between the Liberty and the links once we see what happens in the fourth game tonight.

So absolutely tune in Thursday. And I'll have the tea straight from Barclay Center for all. I have a feeling that game is going to be absolute cinema. Oh, no. It's going down at Barclays. All right. So moving on to today's show, we have many topics to go through. Let me take you for the menu.

So first, we are going to talk about the Indiana fever and how this injury bug hits them and bites them again. Then we're going to look at officiating in the WNBA. It continues to come up as an issue. It's being talked about by fans, by players, by coaches. We dive in. And then the Aces, those Las Vegas Aces, they are getting hot at the right time.

And it is time to make them commotion. And we're going to talk about all the ways they are shaking things up. And then there's just something special about those Golden State Valkyries. Goodness, gracious, they continue to make history as an expansion franchise and certainly make everybody proud in the big. And don't forget, y'all can catch new episodes, not once but twice a week, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. And as always, thank you all so much for all of the love, commenting, like, and subscribing, following all of our socials. And we just love y'all so much.

But, Roz, are you ready to get into the show? Come on, girl. Let's get it. Let's do it. Let's do it. So wow, a lot happened this fast weekend, but one of them was Sophie Cunningham being taking off the court after sustaining a leg injury. And that game was crazy to begin with because the team rallied back from a 21 point deficit

to win 9993 in overtime over the sun. Shout out to Kelsey Mitchell. She had 34 of her career tying 38 points in the second half. But a lot of this has blown up on socials. Most of the conversation around it is about safety of the player in the officiating with Sophie's family getting involved, saying at WMBA, maybe you should focus less on finding players for commenting on your poor officiating and more about hiring officials that are able to call a consistent game and protect your athletes. Pathetic. Now, whoa, fans are calling out Sophie because she is also one to play aggressively and she has her history of moments where people have been like, whoa, okay, Sophie. way too much. And then she had this to say, quote, some of us were raised by the words of

don't bite off more than you can chew and some of us didn't. F-A-F-O. All coming back to the question that I want to ask you, is this part of the game or should the W be doing more here to mitigate this situation? Whoa, there is just so much to unravel in all of this. But I think it's pretty safe to say, man, the WNBA is cinema. Like, it does not fail to entertain, I swear. Just everybody's a character. But I think just starting first with the situation with the rest, which is now continued to be a consistent theme of complaint throughout the season,

look, the game is more physical. That's what we're hearing from players and coaches, and maybe more so than in the past. But what I'm hearing is everyone just wants to see the game called consistently from one game to the next. And so I think there's kind of two ways to look at this. Like from the consistency side, one example might be free throws, right? Like the Liberty and Links game on Saturday, right, in Minnesota, the Lynx took 33 free throws.

The Liberty took eight. And post-game, you could clearly see that the Liberty players and coach, they were fuming about it. Kelsey Plum has complained about and has been dismayed about three-throw calls. I mean, it's throughout coaches, players, Natasha Cloud, Cheryl Reeve, players have taken fines for calling these things out. So it's been public complaints about the inconsistency. Here's the other side to look at it that I do think is a little bit more worrisome. It's the referee's ability to control the game. And some of these games are getting out of control and even dangerous at times.

and it actually the Indiana fever in Connecticut Sun were at the center of this earlier this season where there were rough plays being made in that game there were pushes there were hand checks none of it being called no no objections no suspensions and it led to set a tone of recklessness not only through that game but it could do that through a season and it led in that game into an all-out melee on the court now individuals there need to take accountability but I also think like establishing control by refs throughout the game and showing that there are

repercussions for poor behavior poor physical behavior on the court is really key. So I think that's a real talking point. That exists. That's true and that's important. But I think like when we come back to the most recent game where Sophie Cunningham unfortunately went down with injury and

Ria Hartley was the one that hit her in the leg, you know, I watched the play over and over and I don't think that Brea Hartley had anything malicious there. I think it was really unfortunate. And it sucks that it's Brea Hartley because this season, she has been at the heart of a lot of tussles and scuffles this season. She just has that's a fact. But in this one play, I just think it was unfortunate timing. And it was actually, I think the tweets that came out of Sophie Cunningham's

camp, family herself, that made things hotter. And considering that Sophie Cunningham was the one that was in the melee, dragging a girl, you know, last time the sun and fever saw each other. To me, her tweet that you pointed out kind of seemed like the pot calling the kettle hot. Or is it the kettle calling a pot hot? I don't know. But you understand what I'm trying to say. And I also think I'll throw one more thing in there. I think a lot of heat comes from these podcasts, too.

There's a lot of players in the WNBA season right now doing podcasts. They're spilling tea. They talk in mess. And guess what? they're seeing the opposing opponent like it almost feels like the very next game and the thing about WNDA players they want to smoke the NBA players become a right at you and talking about what they heard you say on the podcast so um it makes for an exciting season and a little bit of a messy season to follow um but it's just a lot going on Logan absolutely and I think Sophie is also

aware I mean she is a Leo but she's aware of the impact that she has in how far her words travel. But you saw it in the Phoenix game. I mean, no one on Phoenix was messing with her after she had the comments to say about Duana Bonner, whether they were true or not, or it was her side of the situation against Duana's. It still got out in public. And that was something that no one really knew beforehand. But I do just want to talk about the team real quick. If Sophie has to miss time and combine that to everyone out, everyone else who is currently out, would that just be another reason to shut Caitlin down for the rest of the season? The rivalries, the fans, the upsets, college football is back.

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might have just been, all right, that's enough for the fever. Like, valiant effort, absolutely, hands down, clap for them, but it's probably a wrap for them. And then they come back in such a heroic fashion and continue to overcome the odds and adversity, and there's something about this Indiana fever team that you just don't want to give up on. And it's simply because they won't give up on themselves. That's the reason why. Look, Sophie Cunningham gets injured in the second quarter. They go down 21 points in that game and somehow find a way to rally. Every single player is in on it. There's a story to tell everywhere. You know, Kelsey Mitchell is having an MVP conversation caliber level season. She's in the conversation.

When you think about all the way she has carried the offense, especially with all the injuries to the fever. And it was heroic, 34 per 38 points in the second half. But that's not just it. You've got Odyssey Sims, right? She just joined the team because of the injuries to Sid Colson and Harry McDonald. She gets her first start. 19.7 assists.

They just find a way to eke something out at every player. And guess what? Because Odyssey started, Lexie Hall came off the bench. Did that rattle Lexie Hall? Did that change the way she came out the game and gave everything to the team? No, instead she stays with it and hits a huge clutch three-pointer.

Everybody's ready. Aaliyah Boston continues to do a little bit of everything for this team on both sides. She's having a great season. She had 14 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, two steals. Natasha Howard, 18 points. You've got Coach White in the locker room post-game

and in the press conference crying about this team. I mean, the emotions are undenoniable. everything they've overcome. It's almost like something out of a movie, how much adversity that they've overcome. And I don't know, like, you know, Indiana, it's a real basketball time. You think of the stories and lore and Hoosiers. And this is one of those kinds of stories. And I just feel like, I don't know if you want to call it quits on that. I don't know if you say, oh, don't put Caitlin back in this season. Let's save her for next year. But I know one thing for sure, no matter how this season ends for the fever, they can hold their heads high.

Like that team, no matter what happens, the rest of the season, they can hold their heads high. Absolutely. And they do have a bit of a tough schedule to close it out. But we've also seen that they're able to battle. And I'll just say it outright, that is something you don't see in men's sports. I mean, I was just trying to think of teams that have big storylines against literally every single player battling day in and day out to play for their team.

I'm going to say, here, this is five women's sports. are better but on the note of kind of persevering i want to talk about the aces because earlier this season they had a historic 53 point loss to the lynx it was really bad but after that they went on a seven game win streak defeating the wings and asia wilson is showing out she had 34 points chelsea gray had a career high 14 assists and jackie young is finding her group now after the game Asia had this to say on letting the game come to her. I'm hard for it and force it because I want this win so bad for my team. It's like forcing the fart.

All you get a shit. So like I've just really like learned to be patient with myself, but also my teammates. And so I think that game kind of showed it. Now if you think about all the other episodes where we've talked about the Aces, we've just been asking what the heck is going on with them? How can they turn around? But this morning I read a really interesting article on ESPN. and they mentioned that the next practice following the loss, the team came to Becky and the coaching staff

with their preferred matchups, schemes, and flow of the game. Becky poked holes and gave feedback in their presentation. And then the Aces turn around and challenge Becky and the coaching staffs prep as well. And Becky said that the collaboration ignited them, jelled them, and held everyone accountable. But along with that, what else do you see working for the Aces right now? I mean, there is so much working for the Aces right now.

And first and foremost, it's time to just give it up to the Aces who are making so much noise at this point. They're able to shake this whole thing up. Like right now they are tied for force in the standings. After all of the struggle they had this season, and they could slide to the two seed. Can you imagine after the harsh way that they stuck the season, that they slide to the two seed? And, you know, it really started with that really embarrassing 53. point lost to Minnesota, was at home. They haven't lost since. They've won seven in a row, nine of ten. And I said this in the last episode. I pretty much just gave flowers to Asia and

you know how she was bringing this team with her. I think it's Asia. I also want to make sure I give flowers to the rest of the team as well. But Asia, it starts and ends with her. During this win streak, she's averaging 26 points, 13 rebounds. She's leading the league in blocks. She's number two in points. She's number two in rebounds. She is the drumbeat. She is the motor. She is the undeniable force fueling the surge. She is the leader in the locker room. She is the one sending text to the team, making sure that that Coach Becky doesn't lose the locker room, that the team holds themselves accountable, that the team stays together while they stick together and try to figure this thing out. So first and foremost, it's flowers for Asia, but it's also time

right now, yes. But it's also time right now. You know, You're talking about a seven-game win streak. It's not just one player. And a lot of credit goes to the entire Aces, who the way I like to think about it, they've stayed open to new versions of themselves. So sometimes when you get, you hold on to what you think it needs to be or the way it has to be, like you miss the true path, the true vision, the true blessing that's in front of you. And like, what I see is a team that throughout the season continue to adjust and try new things.

And that's Coach Becky. That's all the players. Jeweloyd being humble, raising her hand to come off the bench. You know how hard that is for a superstar, Olympic level player? You know, she's playing less minutes, but she's scoring more points and she's more efficient. It's coach Becky Hammond, being flexible. You know, she didn't lose the locker room. She continued to communicate with them.

She continued to tweak the lineup multiple times. She had to tweak the lineup with players she's won championships with. She's helped players accountable. She's been adjusting this season with a new coaching staff. She lost key players, Marsh, Nakase, as coaches on her staff, and that's an adjustment for her. During this win streak, if you check it out, Chelsea Gray has been making her teammates better during this run, and she's been getting back to making more assists. I've always said Chelsea Gray has to stir that pot. She's the stick that stirs it, right?

You got role players, look at KB in the starting lineup or the lucky, Lee and I, stretching the court, hitting threes. You got to chip in in that way. You need somebody to space it. And I think someone I should have even shouted out earlier is Jackie Young. The second most consistent player on this team after Asia Wilson. And she's bringing it on both sides of the ball. Offense and defense. Overall, as a team, again, if we focus on this win streak here,

the aces have committed to defense. They've been a better defensive team. They've been better at rebounding. These are the areas where they've had so much slippage or inconsistency. And that's what's made them hot right now. So it's been a full body of work from the ACEs. And I think you got to pay attention. They're making noise.

They're shaking things up. And you got to give some flowers all around. I do just want to quickly retouch on KB because a lot of she was getting annihilated, pretty much, especially when they were making cuts and she stayed on the roster. Now she's in a starting position. And the balls and guts that it takes for Becky to take a player who really hasn't been producing a ton, but keep the faith in her. then have her in the starting lineup now.

And it, it's been proven to work, especially with the production that Jewel Lloyd, production and improvement that Jewel Lloyd has been making. But I really quickly want to go to our last topic. We're running a bit out of time. But it's the Golden State Balkyries. And they are really setting the tone for expansion. This weekend, they became the winningest expansion team in WMBA history with their 18th win.

They're currently in seventh place and are literally doing everything they can to secure that playoff spot. What do they need to do to keep the momentum going? after he's just got to keep winning. Like, what a gutsy story. Everyone can get around this new expansion franchise. You know, they lost their lone All-Star and Kayla Thornton for the season. And honestly, a lot of people were like, okay, that was nice.

Guess that's done. They've won four of their last five games. They've also been without a key veteran in Monique Billings, who's been injured friend to the show. They're squeezing something out of every single player. Veronica Burton, special shout out. She has a most improved player of the year case. I mean, the biggest shout out, I think, is to Natalie Nakase, who culturally has created a team of hustlers, of hard workers, of selflessness.

Shout out to the organization. That arena, the home crowd, ball hollow they're calling themselves, that's an advantage. It's absolutely bonkers in there. And I think it fuels the team. To me, the Valkyrie season is already a success. They've had the most wins of any expansion franchise. If they manage to hold on and squeak into the playoffs, what a story, what a successful season this would have been.

But either way, they've done their thing. I need the people at Toronto Tempo to take everything they've done and put it up on your locker room as a standard because they are truly setting it. And it's been so great to see, especially also considering that people going into the season were like, I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know what this roster is going to look like.

What is the result of this going to be? And they're really doing their big one. But y'all, coming up, I make my draft king's pick of the week. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Goodfellow. Today's episode is presented by Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. It is now time for the draft Kings picket the week presented by Draft Kings. This weekend, I've my eye on a very fun matchup between

San Diego Wave and Racing Louville. After a crazy week with a four-team race for second place, San Diego got the spot and are sitting pretty with a one-point lead. The European style of play is absolutely beautiful to watch and they're currently second and goal scored with 28. My player to watch here is French midfielder Ken Zadali, who is consistent and precise tallying three goals to assist and has completed the second most passes in the league this season. As for racing Louisville, they're a bit of a dark horse proving that they can hang with the top teams. Although currently in seventh place, they've been on an incredibly hard five-game stretch against top four teams and have only fallen to Kansas City who are way ahead of the pack. The one to look out for is Emma Sears, who has been pretty quiet in the past few games, but still leads to the team with six goals.

If one person is getting the win for Louville, I have no doubt it'll be her. To be honest, I would not be surprised if this game ends in a draw, but if I had to pick a winner, I'm going with San Diego as they're looking too good right now. This segment is presented by Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. A crown is yours! Logan, we are at the part of the show where we get to all the headlines, the quick hits happening in women's sports. What you got for us? Yes, so there was a bit of controversy around this, but it does seem exciting. US Open is doing a new mixed doubles, and it's consisting of all the star players.

So it's done to draw eyes on mixed doubles, and it seems like it's going to be really fun. Yeah. I can't wait to see that. I'm going to be at the U.S. Open this year. Are you? Oh, I'm so jealous. I don't think so my mom will be, but I don't think I'm going this year.

I know you guys barely miss any big tennis tournament, so. One of us will always be there. The next cricket we have is the Women's Rugby World Cup kicks off this Friday, and England versus USA is the opening match. I am definitely going to tune into that because I want to watch rugby so much more. Okay, okay. You'll have to fill us in. Yes, I will do. Angel Rees is launching her shoe a bit early, and the colorways for this,

I'm obsessed with the names. We have me-bound, receipts ready, and diamond dust. I mean, the creativity and the authenticity around the names is so good. And the way that she's just turned anything that was negative around her into her own thing that she owns and can even monetize, go, Angel. We love to see it. And I also saw that she said something about like wanting this to hit the culture hard where like everyone is rocking these Reebok kicks and it's just like a part of the culture. I love that. I love that she aspires for that and we're excited to see a new job. Yes, I will definitely be getting them, pairing them with outfits and as she said, wearing them like Air Force Ones. But another thing that happened actually last night,

Goli Alyssa nears scored an equalizer in a crazy game. In the NWSL, we have something called NWSL after dark. It always gets crazy when the sun goes down. But that really put the cherry on top. And then lastly, we have Sue Bird getting a statue in Seattle. It was all over my feed. Absolutely love to see it. Yeah, it was really cool and emotional, seeing all of the greats come out and speaks, Swin Cash, and it's Tarasi, and, you know, Sue Bird talking about what it was like, I'm from New York.

I'm from Queens. I remember as a little girl, like watching Sue Bird, hearing of her coming through Christ the King and then Yukon and beyond and being inspired. So really cool, she was honored with a statue like that. And I love Megan, just in the corner with her little film camera the whole time. Cannot wait to see those pictures. Oh, my gosh. What an exciting time of the year for women's sports. There's so much going on with the WNBA heating up and playoffs on the way.

There's tennis coming. I mean, it's just so much happening. And we will have you covered through it all on Goodfellow Show, because we are covering everything through women's sports and hoops. And good follow is presented by Draft Kings. This episode is over, but we have another one dropping on Thursday. We dropped twice the week, and we hope to see you there. So subscribe, show up in the comments, engage, follow us on social media.

We love to hear from you. And thanks for rocking with us. I'm Ros Gola Wedde. That's Logan Hackett. Logan, anything else before we sign off? See you on Thursday. Can't wait to see you. See you there.

Bye, y'all. Thank you. Bye, y'all. POMAYOR. BOR. BOR. BOR. BOR.

We're going to be able to be. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to be. Thank you.