The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Good Follow - WNBA All-Star Reserves Announced, Wings Rookies Ballin + Liberty Struggles Continue & More

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

This Week on Good Follow: Ros & Logan decide if the WNBA got the All-Star reserves right or if there were snubs, discuss how good Paige Bueckers, JJ Quinerly, and Aziaha James are playing for the Wings, and breakdown how the Liberty can get back on track after losing 6 of their last 9 games. Finally, Logan shares her WNBA pick of the week presented by DraftKings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Dazon. For the first time ever, the 32 best soccer clubs from across the world are coming together to decide who the undisputed champions of the world are in the FIFA Club World Cup. The world's best players, Messi, Holland, Kane and more are all taking part. And you can watch every match for free on Dazon, starting on June 14th and running until July 13th. Sign up now at dazon.com slash fifa. That's D-A-Z-N dot com slash fifa. No Frills delivers. Get groceries delivered to your door

from No Frills with PC Express. Shop online and get $15 in PC optimum points on your first five orders. Shop now at nofrills.ca. points on your first five orders. Shop now at NoFrills.ca. You're listening to Draft Kings. I'm Roz Golden-Wooday and that is my girl Logan Hackett. Bom dia, bom dia.

Basically I'm trying to say what's goody from Portugal. I'm so jealous of you right now. Girl, I just got to Portugal. I actually like am learning words as I go. So apparently bom dia is like the day you know, hello, but Brazilians would say bom dia in Portuguese. Yeah. I've been trying to learn to go to Brazil. But I'm certain words. It's such as I go. But I just land

room and I was like, yo, good are going to do Good Follow because we're worldwide no matter what. We bring the latest women's sports to you. And I'm on my personal vacation. I'm so excited. Like this is like my first moment of the summer where there's no work involved. I mean, I'm working right now. But beyond the show of Good Follow,

I'm just excited to have a nice vacation. So here I am for you. Yeah. But since we are here with good follow, I have a nice menu for you. You ready to go? Ready. All right. Take you to the lineup.

Yeah, they announced the All-Star Reserves. Yes, they did. And we know there were some snubs that must be discussed. And then those Dallas Wings rookies, they did. And we know there were some snubs that must be discussed. And then those Dallas Wings Rookies, they're bawling. It can't be denied or ignored. We discussed, oh boy, the New York Liberty, ooh, they are struggling. Phil, okay, we'll discuss that.

And then in Wimbledon, it's madness. The top seeds have been knocked out at Wimbledon. And y'all, don't't forget you can catch new episodes not once but twice a week one on Tuesday and one on Thursday and as always thank you all for all of the love, liking, subscribing, commenting and please continue to keep doing so. But Ross are you ready for this show? Obrigada, obrigado. I don't know if it's an O or an A at the end I think it's an A because I'm a I think it's an A good. It sounds amazing.

together. All right, let's were announced and it was this one poster of all the players smashed together but the players announced for Sonja Citron, Skylar Diggins, Ryan Howard, Kiki Irofin, Kelsey Mitchell, Kelsey Plumb, Angel Reese, Alyssa Thomas, Kayla Thornton, Courtney Williams, Gabby Williams, and Jackie Young. Now there are some names that I was really surprised to see but I feel like this shows two things or to not, but I feel like this shows two things, or to not see. I feel like it shows two things. One, the depth and how much star power there really is with

all the all-stars, because I was thinking I personally would have loved to see someone like Alana Smith on it, but when you think of her kind of off the court, she's not super flashy and she doesn't garner a ton of attention from anyone other than Lynx fans. And there's a few other snubs in here. So, Roz, do you think the league got it right, or were there some clear snubs? You know, it's hard to have these conversations. Like, first of all, congrats to all of the All-Stars that made it, all of the reserves that were announced, like how special. I think, I mean, yes, there's obviously snubs.

For me, the loudest snub is Britney Sikes. How do I go do that? To split and then go watching gymnastics. Did you see? I was. It's crazy. Did you see the Erica Hamby's tweet? I didn't. Oh, basically, the Erica Hamby got right on Twitter and said, y'all, don't even you don't even have to say nothing about me getting snubbed like forget about me. She was like definitely shot fire like

she definitely took shots at this whole process because she was like the Mystics got two all stars their sub 500 team and she said they didn't even take their best player and I find that hard to disagree with you know absolutely. Brittany Sykes is the best player, in my opinion, on the Mystics. Would you agree with that? Yeah, 100%. I'm loving how she's playing right now, too. It's actually kind of disrespectful.

It's like gaslighting. I'm like, is this propaganda? I mean, it's a nice storyline for the league almost, that they have these three rookies in the All-Star game, or just pushing the rookies out of out of the mystics, but respect for slam justice for slam Okay, she leaves the leading the team and points she leaves the team and assists So we're not talking about like three is a four point six assists a game. She's making a lot happen for other players And then both of those numbers are career highs for her.

Those are statistically significant stats over the history of her career. There also would have been a beautiful story of this like breakout season. I don't think she's been an all-star. So like to do that with the team healthy, and then she's clearly the veteran, one of the veteran voices and leaders of this overall,

like kind of younger, less experienced team from a lot of the contributors. She's also obviously been known for her defense over the course of her career. She's often defending the other team's best player. So on top of all of this offensive responsibility that she has defensive responsibility, plus the leadership, plus the way she's showing up every game, the only thing you can cannot slim on is her field goal percentage, which is low. It's like 36% from the field, but I think that's because they're asking her to do so much. So if she's what's making this team go, how did she not get a reserve

position as an all star? To think she's been in the league for nine years and she's putting up her pretty much career numbers. What more does it take for her to have to become an all-star? Yeah, I think the team has been a pleasant, you know, has had some really surprising moments to start the season. They fizzled a bit, but I mean, she's like kind of like making them go alongside Kiki and Sonya. I'm surprised about that. And you know, often in these conversations, people will say, well, who would you remove in order to make Sykes an all-star? And I think for one And you know, often in these conversations, people will say, Well, who would you remove in order to make Sykes an All-Star? And I think for one, you know, does Sonia Citron,

her own teammate, get in there before her? I think Kiki, Kiki Ariafin is the reserve. And I said that in a past show. I think she's a reserve, you know, All-Star. I'm not really concerned about that. Plus positionally, they're different, but could it be Sonya? And if it's not Sonya, I don't, because I can't really see a sub 500 team putting three players in the All-Star game, right? So it kind of has to be, right? But the other player that you might mention maybe is Jackie Young, only simply because of the inconsistency and rough season that the Aces have had.

And it's just been a lot of inconsistency of play. And where the Aces are, it's certainly been a little bit of disappointing first half of the season. That's not rocket science for me to say that. That's coming out of Becky Hammond's mouth. So I think those are areas where, when someone kind of pushes back at you

and tries to cross examine you and say, well, who would come out? I think those are position where, you know, when someone kind of pushes back at you and tries to cross examine you and say, well, where who would come out? I think those are positionally places that could happen. I completely agree with you on that. Even I was looking at the list and Jackie Young was the second name that came up. Oh, I just, you know, obviously I always have my kind of Liberty glasses on as a color commentator for the team. But I will say I thought Natasha Cloud,

Jean-Claude Jones for the New York Liberty had cases, but understand that they didn't get in. But, you know, obviously it's funny because Brianna Stewart and Sabrina Inescu are all stars, deservedly so. But you could make a case that Jean-Claude Jones in her absence has shown you just how important she is to the Liberty's success. Now she hasn't played enough games. I totally get why Jonquell, you know, might not have gotten in there because of just how much she's missed with injury. And Natasha Cloud started the season red hot, but

also was a little up and down for a second. There has picked it up lately with her scoring, but yeah, I think those are two players that I was kind of like oh I wonder if they'll sneak in there but they didn't. It'd be cool to kind of correlate the time of voting and the players consistency to see kind of what the big names are, the snubs and then the players that we'd probably replace with the snubs, how they were performing. But you were talking a lot about rookies and there was a big rookie showing with Dallas and I really want to talk about it. They have been bawling out and in last week's game they started four rookies against Phoenix.

Now Phoenix is a pretty good team. It was the first time four rookies have started in a game since 2000 and I mean when you look at all the injuries they have to be fair it was a back against the wall moment but they really proved that they are there to play and they're capable of pretty much carrying this team. Page Becker, Zazai James, JJ Quirnerly all finished in double digits and they've defeated Phoenix by nine points. It was interesting to see especially with all the talk with Arikay what it was like to not see Arikay in that game and in that starting position. But it was also very much a case of playing completely team ball. Now with where the wings

are right now in this season, do you think that this could be the starting lineup that they run with for the rest of the season or for the time being? I think it's an interesting point you made, like given where they are, it's almost like, all right, you know, do we run with this squad and kind of just like invest in the future? It's interesting. What I will say that that game against the Mercury showed me and I think was a message to the organization,

the coach, to basketball, you know, WNBA world and fans, that this is a young group that with opportunity made the most of it, that they're hungry, that they're certainly talented. And I also think this goes a long way. They got good vibes, you know? And, you know, for Zaya, I was really impressed, but not surprised. I've always saw her as someone even in college that could create her own shot, you know, very confident. That three point shot sets up so much, and she went, I think, five for nine, five for nine from three. You know, and I don't know if the formula to sustain success is having any of these rookies

not named Paige Becker's taking 20 shots a game, but in that game, 20, it was, it was Azaya's game, you know, she took 20 shots. I think J.J. Quinterly, they're very confident players and a group that really plays well off of each other. And I think the key is they're very unselfish. You look at the stat line from that game, it's Paige Becker's with five assists. It's Isaiah with six assists. It's J.J. with seven assists. Seven assists.

Like the assists are up there. And even just the personalities of it, like look at Paige Becker's post game. She said something she was like, you know, obviously this was a Zaya's game. Like, you know, just kind of so self-defecting so willing to give the praise and the light to someone else. Paige wasn't bad. She had 23 points for rebounds like but it's she's okay with it not being about herself. I think because there's a confidence in knowing that, like, you know, she is who

she is. And so that leadership, I think is contagious too. And ultimately, this was a rookie group that had every excuse in the world to go up against the Mercury with their entire big three present. All of them was there. Ka was there. Alyssa Thomas was there. Satu Sabli was there. Ka's going at them for 33 points. Like you've got every reason in the world where you could have just ducked your head and just taken the L five rookies.

Four started. They only had eight players with their down bodies. All of your big names are out. And instead, what they showed was guts, grit, a whole lot of pride. And I think. Do I think that it's a long term solution just to now just go with your rookies? No, but it's certainly

a signal that they should be getting more minutes. JJ and Asire should be getting more minutes. They like I think they've earned that. And I also think it's got to be a mix of bets like you need those those are all stars. Some of those players are all stars. We're talking about a Rikha DG and these are important players. The wings need them to be great. As far as this season to make anything happen, you know, you can't you need it all. I hope that this sends a message within the organization and that like

sets a fire under the veteran under the vets motivates them, you know, lets them know that, you know, there there's some competition, but also like there's something worth playing for here. Let's let's go for it together. So that that's what I think I got out of that. It's a huge case that they can experiment going forward too, because I feel like there might have been a fear for some reason, even then when they were like two and 11 to kind of move around different pieces and try things out. I feel like there was a really big push for like hey this is what we have let's try to make it work but we've clearly seen that that's not the case and something I've really been thinking about

pretty much dead set on this whole season is this year's rookie class versus last year's rookie class with the wings currently balling out wings currently three rookies making the first time since 2002. I the question that I ask y other show. Is this rook last years? I need to see know, I will say what I'v now. Um, this rookie clas

like, and I probably, I hand and say, I probably thought last year's rookie class blows them out the water. That's that's really not clear right now. I think it's got to be a body of work that we see over the course of time and seasons where we can compare them. If you asked me at the beginning of the season, I'd have been like, girl, you crazy. And I think I did say that. I think I can say that like, oh, the class of twenty twenty four was,

you know, legendary and historic. And they still are. But we highly underrated the class of twenty twenty five. You know, Sonia at Notre Dame, like you remember Notre Dame slumped heading into the tournament. They didn't have a triumphant finish to the season. So it was like hard to maybe like tell. We knew she was solid, but we didn't realize how solid and pro ready she was. Kiki did not, perhaps it wasn't the perfect fit at USC for Kiki

because she looked like Kiki at Stanford when she was breaking out. But perhaps USC like didn't highlight all that we're seeing now. And it's a bigger conversation maybe about the transfer portal and just like how you got one year to figure it out and sometimes the grass could be greener on the other side. It's not to say that her tenure there wasn't a success, but again, like fit matters. And then you've got these like small windows to make it work.

And don't forget, like we're talking about Ziya having this huge, you know, game right now for Dallas and breaking out, Sinaya Rippers is doing her thing in Connecticut too. Now the sun are not having a great season, but Sinaya is showing what she can do. So that's another rookie to keep your eye on. Don't forget the rookies, rookies over in with the Valkyries in the Bay, you know, coming out from overseas. in with the Valkyries in the Bay, you know, coming out from overseas. So I don't know. Time will tell. I think you could make a good case right now for depth of this class. But as you mentioned, I think the picks this year were really good.

Like the players are fitting into their teams really well, and they are given an opportunity to excel, which maybe we haven't seen in the past. but the last topic I want to get to is your New York Liberty who are a bit down bad right now after losing to the Storm on Sunday. They've now lost six of their last nine games and we're starting to get players back. Sabrina Yanescu and Leonie Fiebesch are back but Jon Kelle Jones is not and I think well personally I feel like this is a huge testament to how much of a role she played on this team. Before she was injured, they allowed 31 points in

the paint, and now without her, they're at a league-high 41. Along with that, they're the fourth worst team in points allowed since she got injured. And she is such a key piece to this team, and I think you were trying to argue a few weeks ago that she could be the best player on this team, the most needed player, but they have a game against the Aces coming up. How the heck do they get back on track? In this game against the Aces,

I don't even know who needs the game more. Who needs to get back on track more? The Liberty or the Aces? This is an all hands on deck game. Both teams is over there doing this. needs to get back on track more. The Liberty are the aces. This is an all hands on deck game. Both teams is over there doing this. But yeah, I think for the Liberty, I'm not so I'll just start this off by saying I'm not worried about the Liberty. And that's an odd thing to say when it's any team, no matter who you are, lose a six of nine. But I think with the, and I say a six of nine, you know? But I think with the and I say that because of

championship experience goes a long way. This is a group that's very veteran and confident, that's very unselfish. And I think I do think a lot of this is health driven, like putting the pieces of the puzzle together matters. I'll start with to echo the points being made here. Like JJ's absence only puts on a loud speaker, just how important she is to this team in every way possible.

I think it starts defensively, just how she changes shots, block shots, like contest them, how she rebounds, her rebounding presence allows for pace. Like when you get a defensive rebound, you can go the other way. You know, her ability to stop the bigs on the other side and also allow Stewie, you know, and other bigs

not to have to bump and bang as much. Like she's a very strong body in there and a strong defender too. And then offensively, there's always a mismatch to take advantage of when you have John Quayle out there. But I love when she's establishing the paint and they're going inside or she can attack you on the move. And of course, stretch the court from three.

Plus you can like pressure release with John Quayle. Like people are up on the Liberty right now, but she's a great screener. You can run your offense through her. She's a very smart player. So there's so many ways that it's broken down without her. Plus I think, you know, John Klaus, when she speaks, people listen. She knows like what the team needs.

She's been very selfless and like being whatever the team needs and people like her. So they miss her presence. And I think it is big. But even beyond that, it's no excuse. Look, they've been without a lot in a lot of these games. Leonie Fiebus as well, and sometimes Sabrina Oneski, and even when she was back, I'm not sure that Nick was 100 percent. So they've been down three starters, three legit all star players or.

Yeah, three players and and, you know, top players in this league. I think if three starters left any team, it'd be tough. And they also had a tough schedule. They were on the road. A lot of these games have been against the Mercury and the storm over and over again in the dream. Like it's been a tough schedule and like they got to get through this. Now we talked about the Liberty's depth.

And I, you know, that was something I was raving about at the top of the season. I was like, oh, the Liberty are so deep. They're so deep. Well, the depth was tested and in seeing the test here some some thoughts that I have coming out of it. Niara Sabli. I'm not exactly sure what the health is with Niara. Her knee was bothering her and perhaps she needs more time, but the Liberty have needed more from her. And so they've gone to Kennedy Burke, you know, sub it in for John Coel Jones.

Izzy Harrison has come through big, but I think the expectations were higher there. And then for Natasha Cloud, just more consistency because she's she was red hot to start the season. She still makes impact even if her scoring isn't there. She'll get a sis, she'll play defense, but just consistency there. And then I've heard from Coach Sandy Brandello, like she just wants more aggressive offense even if her scoring isn't there, she'll get a sis, she'll play defense, but just consistency there. And then I've heard from coach Sandy Brandello, like she just wants more aggressive offense from Marine Johannes, and that doesn't have to be shooting,

it could be playmaking, and Leonie Fiebes. I know she just got back, but they are open to her being even more assertive as a scorer as well. So I think for that depth that we raved about, we could squeeze, the Liberty could be squeezing even more out of that and that's something that they can work on. Yeah, consistency is a huge thing with them. Even just take Ruin Yohannes, I feel like a lot of the time she's up and she's down and she's making plays and then one game she's absolutely silent

and I think once she builds her consistency and gets on a pot roll then she is going to be such a key player as she has been. I feel like I've only seen her be that type of player in playoffs, but I want to see it all the time. But y'all, we are running out of time. So coming up, I make my DraftKings pick of the week. We'll be right back. All right, folks, this is wild. For the first time ever, we've got a full blown all women's boxing mega event going down in New York City.

Two titles, same night. Let's go. And if you're like me and live for the action, DraftKings Sportsbook is where it's at. Never bet with DraftKings before? It's super simple. Just pick who you think's gonna win. That's it. And here's the kicker. New customers can bet $5 and instantly get $150 in bonus bets. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app right now and use code GOODFOLLOW. That's code GOODFOLLOW for new customers to get $150 in bonus bets instantly when you bet just 5 bucks.

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eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.co.au. 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. This weekend, the Washington Mystics head to Seattle for their first matchup of the season. Washington has been on a bit of a rollercoaster and at the time of recording are currently in 9th place with an 8-10 record. This team is super fun to watch but I have really enjoyed watching Brittany Sykes have

arguably one of her best seasons in her 9-year career. She's currently leading the team in points, assists and is definitely the one to look out for. As for Seattle, they are on a roll and starting to reach the peak in perfect timing. They're currently sitting in 4th and have the potential to climb even higher this week. My player to watch here is one of my favorites, Gabby Williams, and she was recently named an All-Star, is leading the storm in steals, and sitting third in points behind Skyler Diggins and Neko Gomukay.

With the way Seattle's been playing recently, I'm going to go with them to take the dove at home. This segment is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. Oh, that's right, Logan. The crown is yours. And shout out to Brittany Sykes, okay? Huge shout out. Shout out to Slim. But, nah, I know we're at the point of the show where you have headlines, quick hits for us.

What you got? Yes, so the U.S. Swimmin' National Team was on a roll and they closed out their international break with a three-nil win over Canada. Personally, I hate to see it. Love it for the U.S it for the US women's national team but absolutely hate it for Canada. And then next we have Faith K. Pjegon who is back to breaking world records. This one was crazy, she ran her 1500 meter in 3 48 68. Mind you this is just a week after she tried to do breaking four, attempted breaking four, and I think she's getting closer and closer because that's like 12 seconds difference for

100 meters so hopefully she'll get there soon. I love all the inspiration here just keep going for it. Yeah right and actually kind of on the down slope Wimbledon has been absolutely crazy. Coco Goff and Jess Pagula were out in round one And then if you look at the site it's really interesting because the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9 seeds all lost in the first three rounds. It literally says lost 2, lost 2, lost 2, lost 2 and they were all complete upsets. Oh my god, pandemonium! Literally. And lastly we have the WNBA PA rejecting their first CBA deal, whi more in thursday's show.

But that's quite a crazy Yep. And that's a good re for thursday show. We wil into that topic even more the CBA and all the thing gonna do it for this Tues you guys for tapping in a for this show. We're worldwide, whether we are in the States or traveling or on vacation or coming to you from Portugal, I'm actually on vacation. Just want to

make sure we're always, you know, locking in with you guys at Good Follow Show. So thank you for rocking with us. Subscribe, do all the things, follow us on socials. We drop Tuesdays and Thursdays. Good Follow is presented by DraftKings and DraftKings, the crown is yours. All right, Logan, we out. Bye, y'all. Ciao. Thanks for watching!