The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Good Follow - Liberty & Lynx Undefeated, Atlanta Dream Climb to #3 + Fever sign Aari McDonald & More

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

This week on Good Follow: Ros & Logan break down the keys to the Liberty’s 7-0 start, discuss how the Lynx stack up against the Liberty, if the Atlanta Dream are getting the respect they deserve, and how signing Aari McDonald helps a Fever team battling injuries. Finally, Logan shares her NWSL pick of the week presented by DraftKings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hey, what's up y'all? Welcome to Good Follow, presented by Draft Kings. I'm Roz Gold on what eight. Hey, what's up y'all? Welcome to Good Follow presented by DraftKings. I'm Roz Goldin-Wadet. That's my girl Logan Hackett. And Logan, bonjour. How was Paris? How was France?

And tennis with your mother and all the things? Bonjour, comment ça va? It was really, really good. Ça va, ça va. Oui, ça va bien. It was so good. I mean, just being at the French Open, especially compared to the US Open and Australian Open was amazing.

And then the PSG men's team won the Champions League. So that was absolutely insane. And Paris is just so beautiful. I loved it. Oh, I'm so happy for you to have had such a great time and also to have that family time. And we're happy to have you back. Welcome back to Good Follow. For all of you watching at home,

let me take you through today's show. We got a nice menu for you. Here's our lineup. We will be comparing the Liberty and the Lynx and their success to start the season. The Atlanta Dream, have you heard? They're quietly rising, y'all. Keep your eye on a dream.

The Fever, pick up Ari McDonald. The fever pickup, Aerie McDonald. We'll take a look at that. Plus athletes show out at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Show. And as always y'all, thank you so much for subscribing, commenting, liking, clicking, clicking all the buttons and following our socials. But we have a packed show.

So are you ready to get into it? Let's do it. Let's do it. Well, last weekend, the one, the only, the iconic Ellie the Elephant celebrated her birthday and the Liberty had quite a crazy gift beating the Sun 100 to 52. And with that, the team is now a seven and oh,

but they only scored two points in the final six minutes and still won by 48, which is the second largest margin of victory in WNBA history. And they now sit number one in the standings. Now there are so many takeaways from this game. I mean, 19 made threes, no starter played over 23 minutes and the plus minus on the score sheet was absolutely insane, but they're off to their hottest start since the WNBA's inaugural season in 97. So with this and everything else that we've seen so far,

what's the key to their success this early in the season? I've got three keys for the Liberty's success and I'm on the call for these games as the team analyst. And I'm seeing it up close and personal. First and foremost, Logan, it starts with the Liberty's depth, all right? That's the biggest thing, the fact that they're so deep. Then it's also their selfless culture.

It's the assists, it's the playmaking for one another. And then I'd also point to their defense. Let me start with the talent depth chart. I'll try to take you through it really quick, but we knew it was gonna be Jonquell Jones and Brianna Stewart and Sabrina Onescu who are gonna be like the core of stars for this team. So you added in Natasha Cloud,

who is playing great on both sides of the ball. Offense, defense, energy, crucial timely stops. But she also gives this team aura. Like she's got such a big personality. She fills the locker room. She keeps it light, keeps it fresh. Then you got Leonie Phoebus, right? This is Mrs. Dependable.

You know what you're gonna get with Leonie. And you also don't need to do a lot for her. She's just going to make the right plays. Bench, okay, there's a lot of expanded roles and new faces. Kennedy Burke, when she found out, oh, Kayla Thornton wasn't coming back. Oh, Benajelani Hamilton isn't gonna play this season. This was Kennedy Burke.

Because she's eating. She's eating the opportunity. Oh, but Nigel A. Hamilton isn't going to play this season. This was Kennedy Burke. Because she's eating. She's eating the opportunity. She is crushing it. She is confident. She has worked hard on her jump shot. She's defending. She's doing all the things.

She's been fantastic to start the season for the Liberty. Real quickly, Kennedy Burke, I was going through her stats because I was like, she seems to be popping off more than she did last season. Last season, she averaged 12.1 minutes, 3.4 points. This year, she started in one game, 21.6 minutes average and 8.9 points per game. She is in the running for sixth woman of the year at this point. Facts, facts. In fact, I even spoke to her and I was like, Hey girl, what you work on on the off season? And she said, I worked on my three point shooting. She said, some people have tried to put me in a box that I'm not a shooter,

but I like to think of myself as a shooter. She said, I think of myself as a shooter and it shows. Sometimes you just gotta manifest and claim it. And then you have Rebecca Gardner, who fits the mold of being long and just competitive on both sides and hustling. And then of course you have Marine Johannes, who I've been calling on the broadcast,

one foot, two foot, red foot, blue foot, because she's just such an explosive, exciting score and it can just happen anywhere, anyhow, on any foot. And then maybe Nyara Saboli if she's healthy. I mean, we haven't seen her that much yet, but they're deep. But probably the most impressive thing, Logan, of that 48 point win against the sun that you impressive thing, Logan, of that 48 point

win against the sun that you brought up, Logan, for me, it's the 29 assists on 33 made field goals. That's part of the culture of being selfless and the assists. Cause if you keep moving the ball with this team, there's so much talent, someone is open and when you have this much talent on the team, the culture has to be of sacrifice. This is the only with this team, there's so much talent, someone is open. And when you have this much talent on the team, the culture has to be of sacrifice. This is the only way this works. And so that's really clear.

And if you watch highlights of the Liberty scoring in these games, you'll also notice they're all setting screens, the screen setting. That doesn't always show up on a stat sheet, it doesn't. But there's everyone is willing to do something extra to help their teammate get a better shot. That's a culture.

And lastly, I'll just point out defense because the Liberty are anchored defensively inside by John-Quel Jones, Brianna Stewart. The way they crashed the glass, the way they change in block shots, the way they defend in the paint, but they're also a really disruptive defense this year. They're really active.

I mean, they lead the league in blocks. They're a smidget off of being in the lead for steals. They're gonna turn you over and run off of it. Why is that important? The Liberty often are not going up against set defenses. They're on the run off of these steals, off of these blocks, off of these defensive rebounds, and they're pushing the pace.

So that's a big deal. Another crazy thing is this was their fourth game in six days, so it wasn't even like they're fresh off of a few day break or coming in hot. Like, well, I guess they were coming in hot, but they're riding off this momentum and also super tired because I could not imagine how that would tire you out. But after them sitting in second right now is the Minnesota Lynx. And at the time of recording, they're currently also undefeated at seven and oh.

But how do they stack up against the Liberty? Because they're both amazing teams right now. You know, Logan, I knew you were going to ask this question. And so I came prepared. I wanted to come through and make a comparison of the Liberty and the Lynx. And I wanted it to be very scientific. I wanted this to be methodology that anyone could follow. So I had to tap it back. Fifth grade, science or math. I don't even know. Was this English? I'm bringing up the old fashioned Venn diagram. Have you heard of this Logan? Do you know what a Venn diagram is? I do. I have not seen this since grade school. Okay. I wasn't sure if they were still teaching that to your age, your generation,

or if this was like an outdated theory. But back in my day, back in my day, we had Venn diagrams when we had to compare. So that's what I'm doing here with the Liberty. I'm gonna start with where they are similar, right in that middle right there. These are both two unselfish teams. They're number one and two in assists. They move that thing.

This is also very veteran teams. These are players who have been in the league, who have played with each other before, who have made long runs, and have seen it all, both sides. They both got legendary coaches, all right? So shout out to Sandy Brundello, Cheryl Reeve, much respect, championship coaches, international coaches, all the things.

You know what's interesting? They both got some spicy PG's between Courtney Williams and Natasha Cloud. Like, I don't know, who has more to say in that matchup. Those two are just quite a delight. And interestingly enough, Mogul talk, each team boasts an unrivaled founder in the Pisa Collier and Brianna Stewart. So, OK, those are the similarities that I could do with this team.

But now I'll go to what makes them different in this seven and Ianna Stewart. So okay, those are the similarities that I could do with this team. But now I'll go to what makes them different in this seven and oh start. The Liberty have two to three MVP candidates right now. I mean, it could be Jonquil, it could be Stewie. You could argue Sabrina. You could make an argument for Natasha Cloud, but. And on the other side for the Lynx, it's the Fee Show, right?

This is all around her. For the Liberty, there are multiple new faces, people in new roles. There is a little sense of meshing that needs to happen, although it doesn't look like they've had trouble with it so far. On the Lynx side, there's a lot more continuity that they doubled down on.

On the Liberty side and X Factor, you mentioned it, it was Ellie's birthday. It's just Ellie, Ellie makes home games at Barclays. It's a vibe in there. Everybody's having fun. I don't know if you saw Natasha Cloud grabbed Ellie the elephant and swept her off her feet and did a circle with her and like all in the middle

of the court and I'm like, boy, this team's just having a blast. So they have Ellie. The Lynx have the electric slide traditionally. And look, who doesn't love a little line dance, a little community dancing? They got some culture and tradition themselves. So, okay, cool.

For the Liberty, they've already won without a star player. They've won without Jonquell Jones in that second game against the Valkyries. The Lynx just won without Fi in a tough game. I think it was against the Mercury, yes. So they won without fee, which is impressive. The Liberty are more disruptive on defense. They're leading the league in blocks.

They're right up there in steals. The Liberty also have more blowout wins. And I took a look at each team's schedule to start in this seven and oh run. I think actually I couldn't really say who had a tougher schedule. Both have seen You know some of the quote-unquote weaker teams this season

And I had a couple of you know tougher challenges I would say it was it's been pretty even but the Liberty have just blasted their way through most of their schedule and The Liberty are on track if we were to do it right now. I would say they got four all-stars on the team Stewie Jonquell Sabrina Natasha cloud four all-stars on the team. Stewie, Jonquell, Sabrina, Natasha Cloud, four all-stars on the team right now. Lynx continuing to do this thing by committee alongside Phi. And then for the Liberty obviously they have more three-point shooting not once but twice. They hit a WNBA record all time for 19 threes in a game. They popping that thing up there, like I said, they're moving it, they're playing up tempo.

A lot of these shots are open, you know? And then for the Lynx on the other side, what they've got going, they have a very clear villain origin story, right? Coming out of the WNBA finals, you know, they don't like the Liberty, oh, the refs, you know, it was controversial. You know, the refs got it wrong.

Like, they got a chip on their shoulder. It's very clear. And they got something to hang onto together, some pain bonds. And finally, I'll say, here's an area where they have an advantage on the Liberty. They've got original content, original programming coming out of their team.

I don't know if you're familiar with Stud Buds, which is Natisha Heidemann and Courtney Williams doing like, I don't know, daily streaming or some kind of streaming on Twitch. They got a show and they're bringing, they're having guest appearances. It's been a hit and it's hilarious. And it's a team bonding thing.

And we get to see the personality of this team, which likes each other and is having a lot of fun. I would say on the programming and content side, links have the advantage. So I got some on court, some off court, but this is how I'm going to compare the early start for the season between the Liberty and the links. What do you think, Logan? I absolutely love that. I would add a margin of error type of bracket because I feel like New York Liberty has a very scientific of you by the way, very scientific, a larger margin of error compared to the links because I mean, you would have every single starter having just an off game at the exact same

time and maybe they'll fall off there. But one or two people having an off game isn't bad because the Liberty are so deep. Whereas, I mean, we did see the Lynx win without fee, but she is absolutely all over their stat sheet. But what pains me is that they don't play until July 30th. So we will have to wait until then to watch the matchups between them. But with all the buzz going around with these top two teams, there's another one slowly climbing up the rankings, and they're currently in third place.

The team is the Atlanta dream. It all seems to be coming together for them. Alicia Gray was just named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. She's having a great start. Ryan Howard averaging 17.6, 5.6 and five assists. Bree Jones and BG combining for 26.1 points per game, 15.7 rebounds per game. So what do you see clicking for them in Atlanta

and do they get enough respect? You know what, Logan? I don't want to be the girl that says, oh, toot my own horn. I don't want to, I don't want to do that. Okay. But I called it. I called this.

I called it. I said it. Listen, producers, can we do just like a replay or look back to the season preview for the Atlanta Dream? Because I called this. I think there's more to go for Alicia Gray and Ryan Howard. I mean, I know Alicia was already like, she dominated All-Star Weekend. She won the skills, she won the three, she was an All-Star,

she was one of the best players at Unrivaled. I think she's got more to do. I'm excited for it. Ryan Howard personally told me while I was reporting at Unrivaled. She said this is a breakout season. We already know Ryan is a bucket, but I think the challenge for her is are you going to challenge yourself to be as great on defense as you are on offense because she is capable when she's locked in on defense. Listen, listen, I called this and it's not like I'm such a genius.

It's more. I saw it at unrivaled. I was in Miami. I saw a lot of what we're seeing from the dream. I saw the seeds being planted in unrivaled. First of all, congrats to Alicia Gray, Eastern Conference Player of the Week. You know, she's averaging a career high in points

and assists 21 points per game. So Logan, that's six points more than last season, which is a really significant jump. You know, people jump like two points, things like six points. And especially when you're already averaging 15 plus points, like it's much easier in many ways to jump from three points to nine points, but 15 to 21, you know, and then

to do that while shooting career highs on field goal percentage and three percentage, she's almost shooting 40, sorry, she's almost shooting 50% from the field. And it's not like she's shooting, you know, efficiently and not putting it up. She's putting up the most attempts from the field from three, like she's putting it up there. She's taking the most attempts of her career, shooting at the most efficient rate, averaging the most points. And she's also creating for her teammates. She's averaging two more assists per game than last season. So you're talking about, this is a significant jump that Alicia Gray is making. And the same thing for Ryan Howard, who, you know, we already knew she was a bucket. She also is now averaging two more assists per game than last season.

So the playmaking is there. But what stands out to me, and this was the challenge that, you know, I heard her talking about with Teresa Weatherspoon at Unrivaled, was on the defensive end, because she's been capable. And when she really locks in on that end She's like could be one of the most dynamic two-way players in the league and she's doing that lately She's been defending the best player the biggest challenge on the other team So, you know when I look at this this Atlanta dream team and what they're doing they have four wins in a row Jordan Canada hasn't even played and she's coming back

Jordan is a defensive presence. She's a very great leader. She can hit tough shots and she's got a nice demeanor about her for the team. You know, everybody likes her, she likes them. She's great. Brittany Griner has room to improve. She has not hit her stride at the most elite level

this season and that's a beautiful thing that there's more that she can do. Brie Jones has started off strong and as I watch this Atlanta Dream team I'm seeing you know role players emerging. Nas Hillman who also had a nice showing at Unrivaled and and I've been known Nia Coffey you know these are two players that are making the most of their minutes so for me when I look at the dream, I see a team that has not even begun to hit its final form. And they're already sitting at third in the standings and there's a lot of room for them to blossom and continue to improve. There's also a lot to say just with these top three teams in general.

I love their team chemistry and you could see it on the court off the court even on social media who is hanging out with who I mean, I feel like team chemistry or chemistry between players is huge this year, but it really shows out for those top three teams. And I want to kind of touch quickly on a team that's not looking so hot, which is the Fever, ironically. And even though Syd Colson is set to return, Caitlin Clark is out with a quad injury and Sophie Cunningham is still out with her ankle injury, which led to them signing Aerie McDonald on an emergency hardship exception. Now, in my opinion, this is the best possible point guard pickup. But Roz, how does Airy help the fever? Yeah, Airy McDonald brings them speed, a defensive presence and another ball handler. That's

what the fever need right now. Boy, when it rains, it pours. It's like all of their ball handlers and guards like got hurt at the same time. And Caitlin and Sophie and Sid all banged up. And so the fever have now lost three in a row. So, Eri can bring that presence there. But it doesn't mean that you can just throw any old guard and say, okay, we're gonna do a pick and roll.

We've been running a pick and roll. Go and do a pick and roll. No, what makes Kaitlyn special is that the attention that she receives in the pick and roll is what sets everything else up. Because defenses are in a state of confusion, chaos, and urgency to communicate and get the read right on Kaitlyn. So what it ends up leaving is space,

is opportunities for reads, for her teammates to either pick and roll, pick and pop, pick and slip and flare. Like it's because of like the space that's created and the advantage that's created. And you'll see too, like when you look at Kelsey Mitchell in the last two games without Kaitlyn, she's only shooting 25% from the field. I mean it's just putting a lot of extra on everyone else where before they could be a little bit more free and flourish

within the flow of the offense. And now everybody's got to take on more responsibility to help each other. But that's not why the Fever are losing. The Fever are losing right now, it's because of their defense. They lost to the Sun. That was the Sun's only loss on the season. They just lost

by 50 to the New York Liberty. And the fever let them shoot 51% from the field. They gave up 10 threes. In their other loss against the Mystics, they were out rebounded 41 33. So if you're not going to rebound and if you're not going to get defensive stops, it often means you're going up against a set defense. You don't have the opportunity to play up tempo. And so in these last two games, you'll also notice, according to the stat sheet in the box score, the Fever only have four fast break points over the last two games.

And that's all versus the Sun, four versus the Sun, zero versus the Mystics. So you're not getting easy opportunities, you know? And the game's slowing down and they're scoring less points. I don't wanna just harp here because it's not a reason to panic. This is beautiful, it's happening in May. You wanna be a team that like coming out of the

out of the All-Star break, you're rising up and they're gonna get Caitlyn back. This is all good. And there are some bright spots because Aliyah Boston has looked really good when she's not in foul trouble as far as facilitating and passing. And DeWonna Bon Boston has looked really good when she's not in foul trouble as far as facilitating and passing. And D'Wanna Bonner has looked engaged and like has seemed to figure out

where she can find some points and has shot really well. You mentioned the tempo and that's something that I think Ari will be able to contribute to because she's fast. And I feel like she could really push the tempo for this team, but y'all, we have to take a break. And coming right up, I make my Draftkings pick of the week. We'll be right back.

Welcome back to Good Follow. Today's episode is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. It is now time for the DraftKings Pick of the Week presented by DraftKings. The NWSL is back after an international break with top rank Casey Currant heading to Gotham FC for their first matchup of the year. Casey Currant is on a roll with an 8-2 record and leading the league with 22 goals scored. Their success lies in their depth, dangerous midfield, and clinical attack, no longer relying on their star to get all the goals, but rather all seven of

their scorers this season. With that said, their star Tobacuiga is still the one to watch as she's been on a three game goal streak and is climbing back into the Golden Boot race. On the other hand, Gotham FC has had a dip in form, currently sitting in 9th place, and aren't looking as good as they have in recent years. Esther has been carrying this team on her back, scoring seven of their 12 goals, and is one to keep an eye on as she is tied for first in the Golden Boot Race. We've seen that Gotham is capable of handing out big L's, but Kansas City is coming in with so

much momentum that I'm picking them to get the win. Make sure to follow along and tweet us your predictions at Good Follow Show. This segment is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. The crown is yours, Logan! It's ours! Oh, we'll share the crown. Logan, do you have some quick hits and headlines for us, my queen? Yes, we do. The first is that the French Open finals are Saturday.

It is definitely going to be a good one because the tennis is amazing. And coming from someone who was there, you should definitely watch it. But what I said, I flex, I flex. Sorry. One thing that we saw this weekend with the U.S. women's national team is Lola Bonta became the oldest player to make a national team debut. It was a huge thing. She is severely underrated. I'm shocked that she wasn't on this roster before, but congrats to Lola. This is huge. I am always in favor of older people making history.

And actually going to the complete opposite end, all three Thompson sisters were called up to a team at USA national camp. You have Alyssa and Giselle who are on the US women's national team and their younger sister Zoe made the U 14 talent ID camp. So this is just a young soccer forward insane family. Very cool. We love it family affair. Yes. And the last one is the athlete shining in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Runway. They looked absolutely amazing. Absolutely delivered and understood the assignment. And Logan, this was a quick one.

It was a pleasure to hang out with you for another Good Follow. Thank you to all of you for watching and rocking out with us. Please make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, to all of our social media, and you can find Good Follow wherever it is that you get your podcasts and also on DraftKings Network. Good Follow is presented by DraftKings, and we will see you next time. Thanks for pulling up. Bye guys. So So So So Bye!