Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're revved up and ready for the start of the WNBA season. We're using one of those like real physical calendars because we remember the world before paper and pencils went out of style, and we're actually crossing off the days till opening night May sixteenth. It's Thursday, May eighth, and today's episode is the first of our WNBA season preview shows. We're calling this the shoot around, getting you prepped for
the twenty twenty five WNBA season. Whether you're tuning in for the very first time this summer or you've been rocking W gear since ninety seven, We're going to give you everything you need to know about every team before the twenty twenty five w campaign starts, starting today with the New York Liberty and the Connecticut Sun.
We'll get you prepped with the star steaks, stats and.
Stories, a little history, a little lower, a little gossip, and a little more.
It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices.
Here there's which you need to know about the WNBA as it enters its twenty ninth season. The WNBA the Women's National Basketball Association, the w for short, thirteen teams are going to take the court this season thanks to the addition of the Golden State Valkyries, the first expansion franchise since the Atlanta Dream joined the league back in two thousand and eight. Now you're also likely hearing a lot about the Toronto Tempo. They're another expansion team, but
they won't be tipping off until twenty twenty six. Same for the as yet unnamed Portland franchise, also set to tip off next season. This year, each squad will play forty four regular season games starting May sixteenth and concluding September eleventh. That's up from forty regular season games per team the last two seasons. At the end of the regular season, the eight teams with the best records in
the w earn a spot in the postseason. The first playoff round is best of three, semi finals shift to a best of five format, and the finals are best of seven. If you're an OG fan scratching your head,
some things have changed, let me explain. So first, going back to the first round, Starting this season, the series will be a one to one one structure instead of two to one, So the new way means the higher seed will host Game one the lower seed will host Game two, back to the higher seeds home floor for Game three if necessary. This ensures that each team gets
at least one home playoff game. I've been yelling about this for years, but a lot more people started yelling about it last year when the Indiana Fever didn't get a home playoff game.
They lost in the first two. They were done all right.
Also, starting this season, the finals expand from a best of five to a best of seven, and that'll be a two to two one one one structure, So the higher seed hosts games one, two, five, and seven, and the opponent hosts games three, four, and six. While the W is split into an Eastern and Western conference as of twenty sixteen, playoff seeding is based solely on win loss record. The top eight teams are seeded by record, regardless of conference, So when we talk conferences, it's really
just for organizational purposes and for the Commissioner's Cup. Speaking of the postseason, isn't the only time teams can win hardware, because there's an in season tournament to look forward to as well, called the Commissioner's Cup. Each season, a select number of games count toward the Cup run. This year, it's thirty six games running from June first to June seventeenth. Conferences don't count when playoff time rolls around, but they
do apply here. Each team will play one game against each of the other teams in its conference, and the team from each conference with the best record in those games face off for the Commissioner's Cup Championship on July first. The team with the better winning percentage in Cup play gets to host that game. The two squads are competing for a five one hundred thousand dollars prize pool, including five thousand in cryptocurrency for each player in the championship game.
That's thanks to a one hundred and twenty thousand dollars contribution from the tournament's presenting sponsor, coinbase Now. Last year, the Minnesota Links won the franchise's first Commissioners Cup and star forward Nafisa Collier one Cup MVP, but come playoff time, the Links lost the WNBA Finals to the New York Liberty, with the Liberties jonqwell Jones winning Finals MVP after leading the squad to its first ever title. Regular season MVP last season went to the Las Vegas Aces. Asia Wilson,
her third time winning the honor. Other winners were the Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark, who nabbed Rookie of the Year, the aforementioned Nafisa Collier, who earned Defensive Player of the Year, and Links coach Cheryl Reeve, who was named Coach of the Year.
Okay, what else? What else? Oh?
This year's All Star Game is set to take place in Indianapolis on July nineteenth at Gainbridge field House, home of the Indiana Fever, and it's already sold out, so hopefully you already got your tickets. WNBA season tips off on Friday, May sixteenth with a trio of games, including the Golden State Valkyrie's first ever regular season game, hosting same states soon to be.
Rivaled the Los Angeles Sparks.
Lots more to come on opening night and the first weekend of games, but for now, let's start digging into the previews for each of the w's thirteen teams as they get ready for tip off. That's right, it's the shoot around getting you prep for the twenty twenty five WNBA season, one team at a time. Let's start with
the defending champs, the New York Liberty. This squad notched a league best thirty two regular season wins in twenty twenty four, and they stayed on top of the postseason two defeating the Minnesota Links in the finals to win it all. Let's start with your need to know team history. Founded in nineteen ninety seven, the Liberty are one of the eight original franchises of the WNBA. Past greats include Teresa Weatherspoon, Rebecca Lobo, Becky Hammond, Cappie Pondexter, and Tina Charles.
They've qualified for the postseason in nineteen of their twenty eight seasons, and after five trips to the finals that all ended in losses, they won their first ever WNBA title last season. Their twenty twenty five tagline kind of like the ladies on Real Housewives, It's got to be run it Now. Let's talk off season losses and additions
for the Liberty. Point Guard Courtney Vanderslute, who started all thirty one games in which she played last year, said goodbye to the Liberty after the championship, leaving in free agency to go back to her former team, the Chicago Sky. Kayla Thornton also gone. The forward who started eleven games last season, was selected by the Valkyries.
In the expansion draft.
The team will also likely be without major contributor Benijah Laney Hamilton. Liberty GM Jonathan Colbe said recently the team will quote more likely than not be suspending Lady Hamilton's contract for the twenty twenty five season. She said to miss most if not all, of the season after undergoing knee surgery in March for a tornmentiscus suffered while she
was playing and unrivaled. Meantime, the Liberty did add Natasha Cloud, who spent eight years with the Mystics and last season with the Mercury, and Isabel Harrison, who last played with the Sky. Former Liberty player Marine Johannes is also back after taking a year off.
Plenty of stars on this squad.
Two time League MVP, three time Finals MVP and three time champion Brianna Stewart leads the way. Twenty twenty one League MVP and last year's Finals MVP jon Quell Jones and three time All Star Sabrina Yanescu round things out. Also keep an eye on twenty twenty one All Rookie team member Leoni Phoebich, who came up big in last season's finals game. Five and could break into the starting lineup and another Game five standout Niara Sabeli, who's entering
her third season with the team. And of course, we can't forget the real MVP, the Liberty's iconic mascot, Ellie the Elephant. Head coach Sandy Bardello is also entering her fourth season with the team. So what are the stakes this season for New York After losing to the Aces in twenty twenty three and defeating the Links in twenty twenty.
Four, the Liberty will look to be the sixth.
Team in WNBA history to make a third straight trip to the WNBA Finals, and if they can repeat as champs, they'll be just the fourth team in league history to do so. Also, in addition to last year's title, head coach Sandy Brondello let the twenty fourteen Mercury to a championship, so she's trying to be the fourth head coach in w history to win a third title.
Let's chalk stats.
Last year, the Liberty led the league in both three point makes and three point attempts for the fourth straight season, so they're clutched from outside, but they also had the league's best field goal percentage in the restricted area, the area right beneath the basket, and they finished third best in the rest of the paint, where they took the fourth most attempts. So basically, the inside outside game is key to this team. The Liberty also came up big
on the boards. They led the league last year in total rebounding rate and finished second in defensive rebounding rate. As for stories, the biggest story for the Liberty this year is, of course, can they repeat. They'll start their season with all the excitement of raising a title banner, so can they stay hungry enough and not get lazy with those big, sparkly championship rings on their fingers. Also worth noting they'll probably have to go without some stars
for a stretch. Germany's Niarasaboli and Leoni Phoebich and France's Marin Johannis are all expected to be out for part of June to play in this year's euro Basket. Fun fact about the Liberty, we got some hoops and gay shit. New Liberty acquisitions Natasha Cloud and Isabel Harrison are an item. Fellow WNBA player Satu Sabai. Nara's sister accidentally hard launched them while doing an in game interview for Unrivaled, revealing that Natasha Cloud was missing her girlfriend isbel Harrison's high
school jersey retirement ceremony for that day's game. Ever since the leak, there's been some real cute shit on social media posted by the couple, and now they're suiting up for the same squad. Love all right, I think that's it. But producer Mesh, keep me honest here, what did I miss? What's the biggest story you're watching for with the Liberty Sarah.
I think he did a pretty damn good job, if I do say so myself. But the one question mark I have heading into the season for the Libs. Brianna Stewart okay, three time WNBA Champs, six time All Star, two time Finals MVP. The resume is long, okay, But watching Unrivaled, the league start and founded by she and the FISA Collier, it was a little a little rough
for her in my opinion. She was the league's sixth best scorer, which you know, that's not bad, but it looked like maybe she was tired or just maybe not at full strength during the season. A lot of times there were things she did or frankly didn't do like beat fellow husky Elia Edwards in the first game of
the one on one tournament that she played. Get knocked out in the first round was crazy perplexed to me for sure, But come to find out after Unrivaled, she did have a scope done on her right meniscus, so there was something going on. But I'm just curious as to what the beginning of the season looks like for her, like what type of play?
Be careful what you mean? I want you to know. I want you to know.
A prominent writer mentioned her age ahead of last season, and she proceeded to make very clear that at thirty years old, just because her resume is long, doesn't mean she's long in the tooth, okay, And it sounds like you might be hit to get her being passed her prime.
And I'm just saying, look out, So no, oh, that has done it before.
That is not how I feel about her, because I had a debate with a friend of mine who did say those exact things. I'm saying, she's still got time on the clock, and so I think this will be a hiccup for her. I think it obviously affects the way the rest of the team performs because she's one of the heads of that monster, right, But yeah, I'm not.
Let's don't give me wrong. It's more about health than age for you. Yes, okay, yeah, I'll give you that.
I do think she's probably benefited from this break, obviously playing an entire season all the way through the finals, and then the work that went into getting Unrivaled ready behind the scenes and then playing in it. Hopefully this little stretch has been beneficial to her any other storylines you're watching for other than obviously the hoops engag shit, I.
Mean, duh hoops and gay shit.
But one of the members that we discussed in the Hoops Engagshit Natasha Cloud at point guard, bringing a completely different dynamic to that position for New York. She's longer, has more height at five to ten, more attack minded offensively, and frankly more versatile defensively than Courtney vander.
Slut was no t no shade to salute.
I love me some salute, but just also bolsters that defense at the guard position, and a league that we know is full of long, talented.
Explosive, big guards.
So I think that's gonna be a big change. And I'm frankly as a dmver not to make it about the mystics, something I tend to say every time I have to. Like these days, I'm looking for her to return to the form she was in in twenty twenty three. That was the highest scoring average she had in her career, her last year with DC before she was traded to Phoenix. So I just feel like she was coming into her own.
Last season was maybe, you know, an outlier, not necessarily crazy bad in terms of stats, but just felt a little bit different vibe wise. And I think New York is just a great place for her. So I got my eyes on Tosh Cloud.
Yeah, and I think she's just a fan favorite and a show favorite.
So we want to see her doing well.
If you haven't seen her first video meeting Ellie and having a little mini dance off with Ellie personality for days, so fun to root for.
So we'll be watching for that. All right.
Well, now you're basically a liberty expert, So after the break, we're going to move northeast and prep you for a season of Connecticut Sun hoops. Keep it here, Welcome back, slices. Let's talk Connecticut Sun their twenty eight and twelve record last season was third best in the league, but this year's squad looks nothing like the team that suited up in twenty twenty four. Here's your quick Suns need to
know team history. So this team was established in nineteen ninety nine as the Orlando Miracle, part of the WNBA's expansion from ten to twelve teams, and they were originally affiliated with the mnba's Orlando Magic. Now with the team in financial dress, in two thousand and three, the Mohegan Indian Tribe bought it, renamed it, and moved it to Connecticut. The team has qualified for the postseason in fifteen of
twenty one seasons, but they've never won it all. In fact, they're the oldest remain team in the w without a title. Some great players in Sun history include Margodideck, Lindsay Whalen, Katie Douglas, Nakisha Sales, Karl Lawson, and Tina Charles. And yes, Tina Charles was also a great player in New York liberty history.
She bent around the.
Twenty twenty five tagline for the Sun proved the doubters wrong. Why are there so many doubters? Let's talk about it. Additions and losses for this team. Buckle up because the Sun became the first team in WNBA history to dismantle their entire starting five after a playoff appearance. During this pass offseason, six time All Star Dewana Bonner left in free agency to sign with the Indiana Fever. The Phoenix Mercury acquired five time All Star Alissa Thomas an assignment trade.
Three time All Star Breanna Jones left in free agency to sign with the Atlanta Dream, and twenty twenty four WNBA Most Improved Player and All Defensive First Team selection djon A Carrington was traded to the Dallas Wings. The team also lost their head coach, Stephanie White, who was the twenty twenty three WNBA Coach of the Year. She went to the Indiana Fever. They hired coach Rashid Mezzain in December. He previously coached the Belgian national team and
several pro teams in France. That's a lot of losses. As for additions, the team is welcoming back.
Guess who.
Tina Charles, the eight time All Star and former League MVP back in her first run with the Sun, is back. Charles is the WNBA's all time leader in rebounds, and she's second all time in points, behind only recently retired Dinah Trossi. Charles spent her first four seasons of the W in Connecticut, and she returns now as a fourteen
year vet. The Son also added Diamond Deshields and Lindsay Allen, and they drafted LSU double double queen Anissa Morrow and guard Sanaia Rivers, who won a title with South Carolina before transferring to NC State, where she helped the Wolfpack to the Final four in the twenty twenty three twenty twenty four season. Did you keep up with all that? I can't blame you if you did. The point is this team looks nothing like it did last year, So the stars mostly left. I mean, Tina Charles always going
to be a name. Despite having her lowest scoring seasons the last two years she's played, she was still averaging nearly fifteen points a game last season for the Atlanta Dream. So Tina Charles always to be Tina Charles. She's getting a little older. Marina Maybray was traded to the Sun mid season last year, but after the team cleaned house, she requested to be traded away again.
She was denied, so.
She might not be happy in Connecticut, but she's going to be a big part of their success or failure. All the same, the stakes for this team relatively low. They've got really low expectations, but their history would demand a lot from them.
The Sun have won at least twenty five.
Games for four straight seasons, and they've made six straight appearances and at least the semi finals. But like I said, expectations will need to be reset for this rebuilding season. Getting a look at young players and figuring out who they could build around is probably going to be the biggest focus of this year. Not a lot of last year's Sun's stats are going to be meaningful this year because you got a whole new roster of players, but it is worth pointing out the stat line of one
of their newbies. I mentioned draft pick Anissa Moro. Now, she finished her college career with one hundred and four double doubles. That's second all time in D one history, and her seventeen hundred and fourteen career rebounds are third all time. So if she can translate that game to the pros, she could be a big piece for this rebuilding team. Stories how about some Suns stories and lore,
like the one about the kid's birthday party. Okay, so, the Sun's roster exodus and their struggle to draw free agents is in part due to their small market, but also their outdated facilities.
While the rest of the league.
Is having facility wars putting millions and millions of dollars into amazing new spaces right now, the Sun split their practice time between their arena and the Mohegan Tribe Community Center, where they sometimes have to share gym space with a workout class where folks playing pickup, and at least once with a birthday party.
Yep.
In a particularly memorable incident, the team was prepping for the playoffs right next to a two year old's birthday party.
Now listen.
This is important because after a sold out game at ted Garden in Boston last season, fans started asking if the team might move to Boston. They were relieved to hear that the Sun are committed to Uncasville, Connecticut and committed to the Mohegan Tribe. But it is well past time for the Sun to step into the modern WNBA, or their championship drought will no doubt continue.
Fun fact, by.
The way, the Connecticut Sun Arena that I mentioned, that's Mohegan Sun Arena and it's inside the Mohegan Sun Resort in casino.
Playing games at a casino is wild to me. You just like finish hooping and then put it all on black, your.
Jump shots dropping all games, so you go see if your luck continues at the craps table. I'm just picturing like showering after a game, thrown on some warm ups, and just walking through a bunch of people letting it all ride on twenty three.
Oh the Sun? Meish? What did I have forget about the Sun? What's the biggest storyline for you? What are you watching for?
Well, first of all, I have to say it is remote, the Mohigan Sun Arena and resort and casino. I've been there myself. It's a good time as a spectator, for sure. But it's very remote, very very remote. So that part very much rings true, and it's part of what I'm keeping an eye on. This season for me in Connecticut has nothing to do with the X's and o's right. Rebuilding is rebuilding is rebuilding. It's gonna be tough. They're on their third different head coach and four seasons for
this franchise. It just feels like they're kind of grasping at straws right now. But that's, like I said, to be expected. But it's it's the extreme to which they've taken it that stresses me out. You mentioned it the first team in WNBA history to dismantle their entire starting five, So you said, I don't even need ingredients. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna vibe like that to me is terrifying.
I do not envy their new head coach. But that's also a change, right, He's probably got an entire different systems. Stephanie White well respected in the WNBA already, not to say that you know Rashid isn't because he's done his own thing. But steph White, you know, players know her, and players are used to what she wants to do and have a better expectation for what she comes with. So that's an adjustment. But I do think there are
some bright spots here. You mentioned Anissa Morrow, and you mentioned Sanaia Rivers, two rookies, two draft picks that I think have unbelievable upside in the WNBA, and on this roster specifically that lacks some proven veteran leadership outside of Tina Charles, outside of Marina Maybury, outside of Lindsay Allen. This could be an awesome opportunity for both of them to make names for themselves, improved why they belong in the w and whether or not they stay with the son.
Who knows.
But that foundation that you set your rookie year, the things you learn, the things you overcome, can be really really important and vital to the rest of your career. So for me, it's not even x's and o's, it's what's gonna happen off the court with this franchise, and then keep my eyes on those two rookies.
Yeah, I think off the court. For me, what stands out is that history. I mentioned. They don't have the titles and the banners, but they are one of the most successful teams in this league and have been for quite some time. And it is going to be slip sliding away if they don't fix the facilities issue and the investment side, because they are not going to be able to keep up and draw players.
No one's going to want to play for them if they don't. All right, you're caught up on the sun. We got to take another break. When we come back, why do you slices out of question? So we've got an answer. Welcome back, slices.
We asked you to tell us what WNBA related questions you have prior to the start of the season, and of course you all delivered.
So let's take a sec to talk through one slice.
Kaylee Beard emailed us asking, can you explain the difference between a flagrant fowl and a technical foul in the WNBA?
I'm so confused.
Well, Kaylee, when we crack open the WNBA's official rulebook for twenty twenty five, we'll link to it in the show notes because it's a little hard to find. The league puts flagrant fouls into two tiers, flagrant one or a flagrant two. So flagrant one is any contact committed against a player with or without the ball that referees interpret to be unnecessary and in that case, personal foul charged to the offender and a team foul charged as well.
Player who took the contact shoots two free throws their team gets to inbound the ball. If you commit two flagrant ones in a game, you get ejected. Flagrant two is a little more serious. These are called if refs think contact against a player with or without the ball is unnecessary and excessive. Just like a flagrant one, the player who fouled earns a personal foul for themselves and a team foul for their squad, and the player who got fouled shoots two free throws and their team gets
the ball. The difference here is that a player who commits a flagrant two is also ejected from the game, and because of this higher penalty, refs have to go to the monitor to review cases where a flagrant two might be called. So both of those, basically, you didn't just foul some you fouled someone unnecessarily, or you fouled them unknown necessarily and excessively, and you're out.
How do these differ from technical fouls?
Techs are basically, in a nutshell, more about procedure and behavior. So coaches, teams, and individual players can be given tees for a range of things, including putting the wrong number of players on the court, taking more timeouts than they're allowed with sub Chris Weber, delaying the game, or something
like hanging on the rim. But what I think you're getting at is this kind of tech players can get texts without any prior warning from refs when their conduct on the court or on the bench is deemed detrimental to the game, and if the conduct is poor enough according to the refs. Individuals can be ejected after a single technical, but if you get two in a contest,
you're automatically out of there. Conduct that falls under the scope of a technical foul includes things typically considered unsportsmanlike, like talking to a ref, disrespectfully, giving a ref physical contact, taking overt actions in protest of a call, using profanity, throwing elbows deliberately, or taunting. See Diana Tarassi's entire catalog. There's more to all this, but we recommend taking to spin through the rule book if you've still got questions.
Hopefully that helps. Thanks for hitting us up, Kaylee.
We love that you're listing, but we want all of you to get in the game just like Kaylee did. So here's our good gameplay of the day. If you're rocking with the Liberty or the Sun this season, hit us up and tell us why. What kind of year are you predicting? Who are your favorite hoopers? All that good stuff? Send it to us Email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com.
And don't forget to subscribe a rate and review, y'all.
It's easy watch Jonquell Jones singing like sing Singing, rating fifteen out of ten. Voice of an Angel review. I don't even think my words will do JJ justice here, so you just got to listen for yourself. Here's some audio from the New York Liberties instagram page where they asked players to share a song that they love that folks might not expect, and Johnqwell Jones didn't just say on my Mind by Georgia Smith.
She sang it fine, found the Father, So y'all check it out.
I mean, come on, it is not fair to be that talented and that good at basketball.
Speaking of can we get a JJ R and B album maybe.
After she retires. Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, y'all. See you tomorrow when we dish everything you need to know about the Atlanta Dream and the Indiana Fever. Good game, New York, Good game, Connecticut. You making my exes on my calendar and being reminded my schedule changes so much. I can't use a paper planner anymore. I miss my color pens and my stickers.
Google cows just Don't Hit the Same Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are
Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your host Sarah Spain.