EPISODE FOUR - You Like That?

Wings Surge vs Liberty, Fever Win Streak, and a WNBA ‘Who Am I?’ Game

Sylvia and Madeleine open their Double Drivel WNBA podcast with news that the long-form CBA has been signed, then recap games: the Dallas Wings go 3–1 in a four-game week (wins over the Mystics 92–69, Sky 99–89, and Liberty 91–76; loss to the Dream 86–69). They highlight Azzi’s breakout vs New York (rookie three-point record, 24 points) alongside Paige’s 24, and discuss José Fernández’s rotations, Allana Smith’s foul trouble, Arike’s inconsistency (1–11 vs Atlanta), and interest in shooters like Awak Kuier and Naliya Rue, plus frustration over JJ not playing. The Indiana Fever win twice (vs Portland 90–73 with Caitlin Clark out; vs Valkyries 90–82 with Clark returning amid chippy play), cover roster moves, standings, Satou Sabally’s head shave story, and Sparks upsetting the Aces. They play a “Who Am I?” guessing game, preview upcoming matchups, and share swish-list highlights.

00:00 Welcome and Agenda

00:26 CBA Signed Update

00:54 Wings Week Recap

01:33 Azzi and Paige Shine

03:22 Dream Loss and Rotations

05:30 Arike and Odyssey Consistency

11:34 Bench Bigs and JJ Minutes

14:12 Jose Fernandez Debate

16:34 Fever Wins and Caitlin Sits

19:51 Roster Moves and Waivers

22:42 Valkyries Game and Trash Talk

28:02 Myisha Hines-Allen Love

29:34 Standings and Early Season Chaos

31:15 Satou Shaved Head Context

31:53 Sparks Upset Aces

32:28 Cam Brink Trade Rumors

33:22 Salary Cap Trade Math

34:17 Who Am I Game Begins

36:58 Rapid Fire Player Guesses

44:49 Couch Picks Next Games

46:46 Swish List Highlights

47:51 Wrap Up And Where To Follow

Transcript

0:01

Hello, and welcome to Double Drivel, a mother-daughter podcast about the WNBA. I'm Sylvia, and I'm the mom. I'm Madeleine. Today we'll be talking about our usual game highlights some more thoughts about José Fernandez and then we'll do a who am I guessing game and see if we can stump each other in describing some players. And then finally, of course, end with our usual couch picks and swish list. One thing I wanna mention is that in this past week, the long form CBA has been signed and executed by the parties, so that is officially done now. It is not yet up on the WNBPA site for reading, but I will be on the lookout for that. I don't think I'll read the whole thing. The last one was 350 pages. But I'll be curious to dive into, to certain elements and share what I've learned from that in future episodes. All right, let's move into the game highlights. The Wings had a busy week with four games. Yeah. So I think Monday's was the Mystics, right? Mm-hmm. There's a lot of games But Mystics, they beat the Mystics 92 to 69. It was a pretty good game, but it was a good win to see, especially because they were up most of the game, if I'm remembering correctly and not getting it mixed up with other games. Then on Wednesday, their, they had their game against Chicago, which they also beat them 99 to 89, which led them to have a record of 3 to 2. And then when, today, when we're recording this, Sunday, they beat New York 91 to 76. It was a very good watch. The Wings were started off 11 to 2, and were down most, I think, either most of the first half or the whole first half. And then they really caught momentum and were able to beat New York 91 to 76. I think a large part of that was Azzi had a really good game today. She, I'm pretty sure they said she beat the record for most three points made in a game by a rookie with seven. I think she might have had more than that at the end of the game. Or s- maybe it was like six. I'm not sure what it was. Six or seven, one of those. And then she ended with 24 points, two rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks. That was very good seeing she... especially near the end of the game, like third and fourth quarter, she had a lot of defensive moves, like steals and blocks. And then Paige to match her also had 24 points, and she had six rebounds and two assists. And then I'm pretty sure Arike also had a few good threes and a good amount of points with 19 points. Yeah, that was definitely Azzi's best game of her pro career so far. Yeah. It was, it's good to s- see her playing like that. That was awesome. Yeah, and I really think she deserves a starting spot. Personally, I think she would deserve a sp- starting spot over Odyssey. Not that Odyssey wouldn't come off the bench like sometimes, but, like, I do believe that Azzizi deserves a starting spot, especially after she sort of proved herself tonight. So I did skip over Friday's because that was a really horrible loss. It was... They lost to the Dream 86 to 69. So when they played The Dream the first time it was, they still lost, but it was a much closer game. In their loss to The Dream on Friday, it was very much they could not get any shots to go down. It was... I'm pretty sure they were... Do you remember what the shooting was? Oh, it was, it was low, wasn't it? 30 something percent? I know. I mean, like how many shots they made. Oh. It was something like, like 30 something out of like 70, I think. It was, I just remember it was really bad. But if you remember, you can tell me later. But obviously I think Jose Fernandez is still definitely figuring out the rotations. There was a lot of, there's a lot of good players on Dallas, and I understand like sort of having to figure out all the, y- you know, like who you wanna put in and when. The rotations. Yeah. So I get that, but also, I think so far Allana Smith has not been playing very well. I think actually Jessica Shepard has been playing a lot better than her. She's... What I notice is she's getting called fouls all the time. Again, I think that's just been something that's been pretty consistent over the time. And I do appreciate that unlike a bit earlier in the season José Fernández is actually subbing her out when this happens or when she's not really contributing very much, because so far she hasn't really had a good season for, especially for a former or last year's co-defensive player of the year. I also wanted to talk about both, mainly Arike but also Odyssey Sims. The-- Arike is is very much a good player, and she's important to Dallas a lot, and so is Odyssey, but I do believe that both of them are very inconsistent, especially Arike, which was an issue last season as well, where she's very much like she'll just have an amazing game, like she had an amazing game tonight. You know, she can score like thirty points and then... But the thing is, as a starter, when she's bad, she's really bad. And an issue, and I'm not so much... I think it's partly, obviously the part about her inconsistency, I don't know how you really practice on that, but it's something that obviously you could see improvement in. But there's also blame to be put on José Fernández because when she does have those games, it seems like he's very reluctant to sub her out just 'cause, you know, she is like the star veteran, like main starter besides Paige on the team. So I get being hesitant about it, but it's also, like he needs to be able to sub her out when she's not having a good game because it's not like she's, like that's not frequent when she's having a bad game. Because even when she is very good, she still has her pretty bad games. And don't get me wrong, even in her bad games, she's not like actually bad, but it can definitely hurt the team and maybe even like result, not all on her, but result in a bigger loss for Dallas when she's, who usually scores around twenty points, I'd say, is only scoring about I don't know, like 12 or something. I'm not sure how many points she really scores in her bad games or whatever. But I do think that's room for improvement, and then I also think the same for Odyssey. Obvious- Oh, wait, before you go into Odyssey, yeah, in that dream game, Arike was one for 11. She shot 9% and the team as a whole shot 28 for, out of 74 for 38%. So the team as a whole was shooting pretty poorly. Yes, that game was very bad. It was a painful watch. I turned it off. Like, I could not watch that. But yeah, and as I was saying, Odyssey Sims I don't think she's as inconsistent as Arike, but also I haven't seen her play as much for her to be the same amount of inconsistent 'cause I've seen Arike be inconsistent for two seasons now. But I'm sure you could sort of talk on that as well 'cause she was on the Indiana Fever for a bit last year, but- Yeah, she came in as a replacement for Aari McDonald when she hurt her foot and Aari was a replacement for Caitlin Clark, so it was part of the whole injury avalanche that they had on the Fever last year. She would have games where she was just absolutely amAzziing and was very clutch in the playoffs and was really excellent at times, and then other times had less of an impact on the game. She has had some trouble sticking with teams in the WNBA for a long time and maybe that's part of the reason why, or maybe that's part of the cause as to why she's inconsistent because she hasn't been with a consistent team or coach to really get into a groove- Yeah and have a chemistry. Might be a little bit of the chicken, the egg there. It's maybe a bit of both. She's definitely very talented and I think, you know, if Azzi does end up getting a starting spot over her and then Paige is playing point rather than Odyssey 'cause I think when Odyssey starts, Paige is playing more off ball. Yeah, and I also think when they have both- I think they also have Arike playing f- like forward sometimes Well, wing, probably small forward. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, so yeah, she's... Obviously, again, I wouldn't say she's as inconsistent as Arike is, just because I also think Arike's inconsistency is more severe because also Arike's a s- Odyssey is a starter, but she's she plays more minutes than Odyssey. Yeah, I mean- Always she's on a super max contract, so you expect a lot. Yeah, and she's been with the Wings for so long. She said when people asked her like, "Oh, well, why did you sign with the Wings again?" And she's like, "You know, I've like played with the Wings like most of my career, and I wanna stay with the Wings." And you know, I would never be like... I mean, sometimes I'm like, well, maybe they should have just traded or, not re-signed Arike because having Azzi as their first pick, I was kinda like, that's an interesting choice to re-sign her. But she's obviously, she can be very impactful. There are just moments where the impact is not in a good way and more so a bad way, and I think it's the same way with Odyssey. There's some moments, like big moments, where she's can really like score or like make a fast break, but there's sometimes where she's just like... I mean, I remember it was like the first or second game, something like that, she had 30 points. Mm-hmm. And I think since then she's... I'm not sure what her average is, but it's nowhere near as high as that, so... I mean, that could have just been... I'm a- assuming that was just a very good game for her, but I do also think especially since Azzi had such a good game today Odyssey really did not get that many minutes, so I do think if Azzi continues to prove herself, I'm not sure Odyssey will keep getting the starting position. But you never know. I also wanted to talk about Awak Kuier and Naliya Rue. I love both of them. I'm like, bigs that can shoot threes are really, I think really important to any team because then you, the defense of the other team is sort of like, you can't just guard, you know, the inside when there's bigs. You have to also focus on the outside, which makes it harder to defend because when you have bigs like them that can also shoot threes, it's, it makes- It's important to guard them at the three-point line and not just focus on guarding them inside because I know there's a lot of bigs people would be like, "Oh, I don't really have to try to guard them out here. They're trying to shoot a three. What do they think they're doing?" But especially I know a walk, I'm not sure how many threes she had. She had I think she had two in the game against New York. LI did not have many minutes actually. She only had five. I don't think she, in the minute she did have, I'm not sure she played very well in the, in one, in the minute she was in, but Obviously, I loved Lee last season. I do... I so far have really been... There was a couple games Jessica Shepard didn't do much, but also even when she doesn't score, I think she's very good on the assist, which is, you know, really impactful. I also just thought of what I said during the game. I always... This is, like, not relevant at all, but I was gonna say she... I always feel like she has some sort of like injury, not injury, but cut on her f- face or, I thought she was, like, bleeding out, like, on her arm. I don't know what was happening. I don't know what she's... Is she, like, doing something during practice, or is that, like, something that's happening in game? 'Cause I feel like if it was, you'd- they'd say something. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm not really sure what that is. But that's all I have to say about the Wings games recently. Still disappointed. There's been no minutes for JJ, only player who hasn't played at all on the Wings this season, I'm pretty sure, besides d- developmental players, I'm pretty sure. Yeah. I mean, I, I recognize she's, like, the backup backup, but I would like to see her play, so. Yeah. Jose Fernandez definitely seems to have her in the 12th seat on the bench. And a lot of teams, those players don't play much, if at all unless injuries start happening, which obviously don't want to happen. But- Yeah I guess that's definitely in your grievances you have with Jose Fernandez category. Yeah. I think he's obviously a much better coach. I think especially he has it a lot harder than Chris Kochanek had last season because last season, I mean, no offense to any of the Dallas players last season, but a lot of them really weren't very good. And now you have a lot of good players, especially a lot that c- can come off the bench and just really get the team started. So I do understand the struggle of trying to get the rotation down. So far, I feel like he hasn't really gotten it down yet, but I hope he can sort of... I mean, I do think it's not so much making a rotation schedule I think it's more so he needs to try and understand when to put certain players in. And I feel like sometimes he gets that. But also, like I'm saying I feel like he realized that sometimes he does need to sub Alana Smith out, but I think he needs to also realize that with Arike. So, you know. Yeah. I mean, to be fair, I think a lot of coaches are still figuring out their rotations right now. Yeah. I think Stephanie White on the Fever made a comment that, you know, it'd probably be at least a month into the season until they had that down pat a bit. I mean, there's always some new players on a team figuring out the chemistry there. If you have a new coach, they're also running a new system and figuring out who works there. But I'm starting to wonder if we should have a weekly segment for your gripes about Jose Fernandez Oh, I am not like... He's nowhere... I've most- I've put his comments in the past, especially since he's apologized. He's like, "Oh, I shouldn't have said that publicly." I respect him as a coach. I think he needs to figure out the team a bit more. I think that comment was just kind of out of line, especially since the third game, like- But, you know, I think he's a good... Obviously, he's a m- much more experienced coach than Chris McClain was. He's a much better coach- Yes obviously. So I don't think I'm gonna have that many grievances, but I do think he needs to... I mean, I think a lot of coaches just need to figure out rotations, and he's one of them, especially being a new coach, so. Okay, so you're saying we don't need a weekly segment called No Way Jose? No. Or No Way Johnzo as you used to call it when you were little? No. Okay. Well, we'll see if that remains true as the season goes on. Okay. While the Wings had four games, the Fever only had two this week. They were both wins, which I was happy to see. They beat the Portland Fire the first time they ever played them on Wednesday, 90 to 73. Probably the biggest part, news from this game was that Caitlin sat out, and it was very late-breaking news before the game, just announced, I think, within 90 minutes before the game started. Said to be around her having a sore back, but they hadn't put anything on the injury report as questionable, probable, game time decision, anything along those lines. So there were a lot of narratives swirling around whether the team was really doing load management, although that's not really allowed in the WNBA. So were they then trying to cover it up and say there was an injury? Stephanie White made some kind of contradictory comments about, you know, "It's part of our strategic management in the season." And then she said, "Oh, it's her back, but no, it's nothing long-term or serious, but then I'm not a doctor, so I don't really know." So it was, like, not a very well-coordinated message. The Fever did end up getting a warning about not properly communicating a- and with enough notice that there was a possibility she might sit out. Caitlin gave a pregame press conference, as she usually does, before the Valkyries game on Friday where she was pretty irritated about all the n- narratives that were going around about this. And she talked everybody through her timeline kind of from Tuesday morning through Wednesday, and how she sat out of practice to get some therapy and things like that on her back on Tuesday and woke up Wednesday expecting to play. And got a little snarky at one point and said, "Oh, and I'll tell you what I had for breakfast because you all probably wanna know that too," which was kind of funny. But she did describe that some of it is just kind of the mental hurdle from all her soft tissue injuries last year and struggling when she feels what might be some normal soreness or tightness, but not anything too concerning with getting over the mental block of thinking that, you're kind of safe in your body to play without risking major injury. So it sounds like that was definitely a part of it. But she was back in Friday's game and did very well, which we'll talk about shortly. But back to the actual Portland game, it was a great game for Boston. She had 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block. And she shot 72% overall and 50% from three. Kelsey had a pretty typical Kelsey game with 21 points. Lexie Hull had her best game so far this season with 16 points, eight rebounds, one assist, and one block, and she shot 100%. I think outside of free throws, all of those shots were threes. So it was fun to see her heat up again. It had been a little while since we'd seen her do that. Monique Billings had nine points. She's been a bit inconsistent so far this season. I think her best game was 10 or 11 points, so she's had maybe three games that are in that range. And then some games where she scores maybe only two or three. So I think maybe she's still developing her chemistry with the team, but hopefully she'll continue to break out and make more of an impact and f- as we get further into the season. Interestingly, Portland waived three players just after this game. Sug Sutton, which was surprising because in this game she had 14 points, so you wouldn't think that's somebody you wanted to waive. Haley Jones, who was on the Wings part of last season. Yes. Actually, I was gonna comment 'cause I saw that there. I, I mean, obviously I don't know if I would really take her over any of the other bigs. Honestly And not long term, but just how Alana Smith has been playing so far, I might take her over her just for playing right now. I think Alana Smith should be better later. I don't know if it's just the mask as everyone's been trying to say, or if it's she's still struggling to get chemistry, or if it's she's getting... I mean, she's definitely getting too many fouls, but is it like she's getting so many fouls it's like, you know, messing with her mentality or game mentality or whatever. But I do remember Haley Jones was actually a really good player for Dallas. I wouldn't say she's as good as Maddie Seekers, but I think they were on a similar level. She was pretty big for them later in the season, I'm pretty sure, yeah. She's another one similar to Odyssey who's kind of bounced around a lot. She was obviously selected in the expansion draft by Portland. I heard on another podcast, I'm trying to remember which one it was If it was no cap space or no off season I don't know. E- either way, one that has more expert people on it than me that theorized that maybe part of her struggle is that she's good at a lot of things, but because of that she ends up getting plugged into whatever kind of hole any given team needs to put her in. And so she hasn't really established a true identity in terms of, like, what position she plays or things like that. So at times she's played point guard, at times she's played a wing and things like that. She does usually seem to get picked up when she gets waived, so I wouldn't be surprised to see her on another team before the end of the season, or maybe very soon. And then they also waived Kamiyah Smalls who I'm not familiar with. And then the Fever also waived Shatori Walker-Kimbrough after this game, and then they picked up Grace Van Slooten who is a big from Michigan State and had just been waived by the Seattle Storm. So maybe the front office is starting to realize that they over-indexed on guards a bit as well in the, you know, that a lot of fans have been complaining about thinking that we were too exposed there, especially that game that Boston sat out. Grace Van Slooten is a rookie so obviously has very little experience, but it'll be fun to see how she works out. And then Friday's game versus the Valkyries, the Fever never managed to beat the Valkyries last year in their inaugural season. They finally beat them on Friday 90 to 82. The Valkyries led most of the first half, and then the Fever came out in the second half and turned things around. It was a very high energy, chippy game, as people like to call it. Caitlin was back, not looking like she'd had any kind of struggle. She had 22 pound- points. Two re- not 22 pounds. Two rebounds, eight assists, one steal, one block. She made four threes. She did have five fouls, including one technical after she got into it with Janelle Salaun just before halftime, and she also had a flagrant foul. And a lot of trash talking back and forth, in particular with Tiffany Hayes which I'll talk about in a moment. Aliyah also had a very good game, 20 points and 16 rebounds. Mitch- Mitchell had 19 points, Cunningham 11. It was also a really nice game from Raven. She had seven points, two rebounds, and two assists, so she's starting to look more comfortable out there. I was gonna say, that's a lot of rebounds from Aliyah. Yes. I don't know if I'm just not used to any Dallas bigs usually getting that many rebounds. I think that's sort of an issue for them. I know Jessica Shepard can get a good amount of rebounds. I don't think Allana Smith... I mean, I don't think she's been playing that many minutes because she's been fouled so- Yeah so much so quickly. But I feel like she hasn't really gotten many rebounds. I almost feel like there's... 'Cause actually, I do remember in the New York game, Arike was... At halftime they asked "Oh, what can you do better offensively?" And she was like, "We need to help our bigs get rebounds." 'Cause I'm not sure if they're really very good at getting rebounds. I'm not sure how good Jessica Shepard is at it. I don't usually look at her stats, but I'm... I don't think she's too bad, but I'm not sure if any of the other ones are. I know Awak can because she's pretty tall. I don't know about Li. She hasn't been playing too many minutes, so I don't think she's had the chance to get many rebounds, but Yeah, Jessica Shepard I feel like is averaging a double double for sure- Oh, yes so far this season. But I don't know that her rebounds has been as high as 16. 16 rebounds is like an Angel Reese or A'ja Wilson kind of rebound number. So I, I think that's a bit higher than Aaliyah usually has, although it's not too unusual for her to have a double double as well. On the Valkyrie side, Veronica Burton, Tiffany Hayes, and Caitlin Chen all had good games. I think was probably Caitlin Chen's best game as a pro so far. As I mentioned earlier, Caitlin and Hayes had a lot of trash talk in the game. I- Not Caitlin Chen Did I say Caitlin Chen? Let me clar- or just didn't specify? No, no. No, you just did. Yeah. I was like, well, I don't want anyone to think they're, they're two teammates who are feuding over- it happens sometimes, but it's definitely not ideal. Caitlin obviously is known for enjoying trash talk. I think, you know, a lot of people in the league are. There was an earlier episode, I think Hayes might have gotten a layup and then kinda got in Caitlin's face trash talking, and then Caitlin hit a logo, three. And, Kind of got in Hayes' face and said, you like that?" And Hayes basically said, "Get out of my face." There was some profanity in there that I'll leave out to keep this a family-friendly podcast. And there was right before halftime I don't know if they were fighting for a rebound or what exactly happened, but Janelle Salaun and Caitlin got in a little bit of a scuffle, and they both got technicals for that. And then later Caitlin got a flagrant for when I think she... I forget which player it was. It, I don't know. I thought it was Tiffany Hayes, but I might have just made that up. Yeah, I'm not sure. I think she was, like, trying to pull away or get the ball, and her shoulder went a little bit into the- Yeah Valkyries player. It was not a flagrant foul. It didn't look like a flagrant to me. It looked pretty incidental. And there might have been a little bit of flopping there, but she did get a flagrant for that. Overall, the Fever did play very good defense. That's been something they've been working up to as the season's gone on, so I was happy to see that, including Caitlin was very active on defense. There was also in the post-game press conference a hot mic moment as Tiffany Hayes was walking up and was saying to Caitlin Chen, "They're never going to start calling the fouls on her. If they did, she would never get to play the game." And it sounds like it was pretty clear given kind of the trash talking during the game that she was talking about Caitlin Clark. It is kind of a funny comment because Caitlin had five fouls in the game, including a technical and a flagrant, so taking the attitude she's not getting called for fouls was a bit of an interesting take. But I can understand being hyped up after a game that's as intense as that. It's definitely got heated between those two. And they are playing each other again on I believe it's Thursday of this week, this time at the Valkyries home court. So I imagine that intensity is going to carry forward and should be a very interesting game. The other thing I wanna mention is just how endearing I'm finding Myisha Hines-Allen to be. There was a moment during practice that she was talking to the reporters, and one of them said to her, "Oh, Myisha, you're quickly becoming a fan favorite." And she was like, "Oh, I am?" And just seemed so delighted and surprised by it. It was really sweet. And then another moment, I think it was after Wednesday's game, she spotted a fan in the stand wearing her jersey, and she ran over to them to give them autographs, and then they hadn't asked for her shoes, which people do sometimes. But she said, "Hold on. My shoes are in the locker room. Let me run back and get them for you." And she came back with her shoes and signed them for the two little kids one of whom was wearing her jersey. So I just thought that was really sweet. Yeah. I don't believe she was too I think she might have been a bit inconsistent on the Wings, but she was definitely a very nice person. I think a lot of people on the team liked her. I just... I mean, obviously she wasn't the best match for the Wings, but you know. Yeah, I think she's so far been playing her role really well for the Fever. She's meant to be a bench player. She started once or twice when, definitely when Aliyah's out she started. But she's in there playing good defense. She's active, she's getting rebounds and steals, and I think contributing in a very solid way for the team. I wasn't really sure what to expect when the Fever signed her, but I've been pleased so far and I'm enjoying her personality as well. Okay, so the standings are moving very quickly this early in the season. You know, one loss or win can definitely sway you pretty far. The Fever were pretty far down in the standings last week when they were two and two. I wanna say they might have been as low as 10th even. And now they are in third along with two other teams that are four and two, but I think they're doing the- Oh rankings maybe by using the tiebreakers that they would use- Oh for playoff seeding. I'm not sure. What are the Wings at? 'Cause they- they've played more games than anyone that's four and two. They're number six. Okay. So they do it at this point in the season because not everybody's played the same amount of games. Yeah. They do it by percentage of games won. Okay. So because they've played more, that brings their percentage down. Okay. Yeah, I s- Yeah well, yeah, I would think so, but... Oh, Atlanta has really played that... Has not played- They've only played five games- Yeah which is helping them be in first place because they're four and one. And then Las Vegas, Indiana and Minnesota are f- all four and two, but they've got Las Vegas in first place, Indiana in third, and Minnesota in fourth. Oh, I really did not think the Wings were that high up. Yeah, I mean, I have to say, given that Napheesa's out, they've been making a pretty good showing. Yeah. I hadn't really... I don't know. I mean, I haven't really been keeping track of them, so. Yeah. And then the Liberty are all the way down in eight at three and three, but Satou just came back two games ago, and Sabrina just came back today. Oh, yeah I was just gonna say, I don't know if I'm the only one, I'm not watching Liberty games, but I did not know that Satou Sabally shaved her head. I didn't... I don't know when that happened. Was that a thing in pre-season? I wasn't watching any Liberty games, so that was like, oh, what the heck? Like- Yeah, I just saw that I think when she played on Wednesday or whenever their last game was. Friday. I don't know. Yeah, but I do feel like she's had it for quite a bit 'cause I was looking through, like, all the WNBA players and her her photo is her, like, with the shaved head. Oh, yeah, so yeah, maybe she's had it for a while, but given that she's not playing she just hasn't been- Yeah on camera a lot. Maybe. Jumping back in to note that after recording, I saw information about why Satou shaved her head. She did it in support of her best friend and manager who lost her hair as a teenager to alopecia. So I just wanted to share that information, a really sweet way for Satou to share support for her friend Yeah and then just a one notable game to call out was the Sparks beating the Aces in the last couple of days. That obviously was not expected. The Sparks have kind of struggled a little bit to start the season. It was a fairly close game. They won 101 to 95. Kelsey Plum had 38 points, so she was obviously a huge part of that. She also had four rebounds and nine assists. And Cameron Bin- Brink had her best game of the season so far 16 points and eight rebounds and one block. She did foul out, which is something that she's always struggled with, I think even in college. Yeah, I've actually heard a bit of talk that the Sparks might just cut her. I'm not sure if they would really do that, s- after she had a good game. But I have heard some talk that maybe they're gonna decide to let her go or trade her or something, but... I feel like most of that talk started after her first game, and then when Lin Roberts, their coach, in the press conference when asked about her, 'cause she didn't do well in the game, said something like we need Cam to produce, and she needs to figure out how to do that." She has been doing better since then. I mean, I guess you never know what moves they might try to make. But you know, she's still on a rookie contract, obviously, this year. I think LA might have already e- exercised their fourth-year option on her rookie contract. Doesn't make her salary guaranteed yet at this stage. But they also might try to trade her. They were... there were a lot of Fever fans trying to say we should trade for her not that long ago, but math-wise, that doesn't work out since Cameron was the second pick in the draft in 2024. She makes a salary of around 500,000, and anybody, I think, that the Fever would wanna trade would be on a minimum salary, which is 277,000. And then if we were willing to trade somebody with a higher salary like Sophie or Lexie or Monique, their salaries are, around 800, 7 to 800K, which then the Sparks wouldn't have cap space for. So anyway, that's... The Fever were, Some fans were desperate to get Cameron Brink, but that just doesn't work out from a money perspective at this point, okay, any final thoughts on the games from this week? Nope. Great. Okay. Now we're gonna play a fun little round of who am I? Do you wanna go first and have me guess, or do you want me to start? You can start. Okay. We'll give one clue at a time and see how fast you can figure it out. Okay. We'll get more obvious as needed, as clues go on. Okay. I might not be very good at this. I don't- I'm not much of a stats info person, but maybe I'll try my best. Mine aren't really stats based, but- Okay okay. Okay, they previously played for the Mystics, Mercury, and Liberty. Ooh. Mystics, Mercury, and Liberty? And Liberty, so I'm not naming their team this year. Oh. Natasha Cloud? I don't know what team she's on Yes. She's on the Sky. Was it her? It is her. Yeah. Oh. The I mean, the big news about her, I didn't give this clue right away 'cause I thought it'd be too obvious, is that she remained unsigned until right before the season started- Yeah which everybody was pretty shocked by. Yeah, I didn't think that... I didn't know she was on the Mystics, but I was like, "Oh, previously on Liberty," and I th- I thought I, I knew she was on Mercury before. Okay, don't look. Okay. I have mine. Okay. I'm gonna s- do very little info to start, unlike you. She's Australian. I feel like Australia has the most international players in the WNBA. Alana Smith No. She played for two different colleges An Australian that played for two different colleges. As we get further along, if you can't guess, I'll tell you the colleges as well, but... yeah, I'm not sure. Okay. Do you want the next hint? Yes. She was recently drafted Like this year or possibly last year. Yeah. Chloe Bibby? No. Is she Australian? She is, yeah. Oh, no. Sh- okay, this should be a pretty big hint. She recorded the first ever triple-double in Virginia Tech history I'm blanking on who went to Virginia Tech She played most of her career in... Ooh, she played for both Virginia Tech and Kentucky. I don't remember what she played more in. I think it was Virginia Tech. I got nothing. Okay. She's a guard Yeah. Hmm I don't know. She plays for the Washington Mystics. Is Georgia Moore Australian? Yes. Oh, I didn't know that. Oh. Yes. I guess I've never heard her talk. Okay Next up this is a guard. Any guesses? No. Okay. They play for a recent expansion team. Ooh. Marina Mabrey? Nope. They were the three-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Ooh. They're a guard? Hmm. Expans- recent expansion team, so that's, like, Fire and Tempo. Or also that counts The Valkyries. Yeah, it could be The Valkyries. Um, hmm. I don't know my stuff like that. I'm not sure. Okay. They won the Most Improved Player award last year. Oh. Is it Veronica Burton? Is that who that was? Yes. Yep. Okay. Yes. So far, mine have been easy, or harder than yours. I know. Okay, this one should be easier. Okay I'll start with the harder ones and get easier. She was originally drafted by the Washington Mystics. Natasha Cloud. No. That would've been funny if I also had her. She's an Olympic gold medalist Not gonna be a lot of people Could be quite a few people, yeah Oh, yeah. I don't know. Any guesses at all? I don't know a lot about who used to play for the Mystics Okay. She was drafted in 2016 by the mystics Nope. Multiple time WNBA All-Star Wow, I thought I'd be better at this. Okay, I can do... She's won a WNBA championship. Can't tell you when or with what team, but she's won one Nothing? Okay. She's the fastest player in blank team's history to reach 1,000 points Her current team I don't think... I don't know. Oh. I don't re- I don't even remember what team she's on right now, but I don't think it's her current team. But it was a team. She was fastest player in their history to get 1,000 points. I thought I just read something about how Kelsey Plum was the fastest for the Sparks, but I know it's not her because she was drafted to San Antonio, which became the Aces and- Oh, okay never played for the Mystics. I can... She was named the WNBA Finals MVP John Qual Jones No She's been the finals MVP, I know. No. She won She... I don't even know who she... like that's like literally all the clues I have. All right, I guess I just give up. Wait guess someone. Come on. Sh- here, I actually have... She played for the Mercury last year maybe, or two years ago, recently. I'm pretty sure she plays for the Storm now, but don't quote me on that. The Storm now. I don't think Latisha Hiedeman has ever been a Finals MVP. No. Uh, okay, maybe you'll know this 'cause it has to do with Caitlin Clark. She... I don't know, she had a random like sort of, what was it? Like, some random viral moment where she like talked... I don't know. She had some moment with Caitlin Clark, like a nice one, not like a mean one. Diana Taurasi? No. Do you give up? Yeah. It's Kahleah Copper. Oh, I almost guessed her earlier- but then I didn't think she had played for the Mystics. Darn it. Okay, your turn. Okay. I definitely... I don't know if I picked harder ones or if you're just not very good at this. Maybe a bit of both. Okay. This is a guard. Okay, let me guess. Is it Caitlin Clark? No. That would be way too obvious. They were undrafted. That doesn't really help me at all. I don't really know. They went to Rutgers. What is that? Rutgers. It's in New Jersey. I have no idea. I don't even know that school. Okay. They've been in the league 11 years and have played on five teams. Odyssey Sims? No. And three teams the last three seasons Do you know when they went undrafted? Well, if it was 11 years- So 2015 like 2015-ish. I d- I don't know 2016. Okay. They hold a charity pickleball tournament Why do I feel like I've heard something about this? But I've, I have no idea who it... I don't remember who it was. Okay. They're known for being a very supportive teammate and vet Erica Wheeler? Yes. Yes. 'Cause you said it like you had experience. Yes. I love Erica Wheeler. Okay, my turn. Good luck. Okay they originally played Hold on. I'm literally forgetting what player I had. Then whoever I guess is correct. I'm just gonna hope you guess it and I remember I don't know. If you guess it, then... If not, we'll have to look it up. Okay, she originally played two seasons in Duke and then transferred to UConn for the rest of her college career. Feel like I heard that about somebody recently, but I can't remember who. Okay. She was selected sixth overall by the Dallas Wings Not Arike. She went to Notre Dame. Not Maddie. She went to Villanova. This is not a recent person. Oh, okay. I don't know. Her career high is 26 points in 2018 against the Fever. That was- Does that help you? That was before I watched the Fever. No, it does not particularly help me. Okay. She won gold medals with the USA three by three teams in 2020 th- in, at the 2023 Pan American Games three by three. D'Erica Hampy? I can't remember if it's her or not. I feel like... Oh, no, I remember who it is. No, it's not her. It's not her. Okay. She won a WNBA championship with the s- Chicago Sky Okay, you already used Kahleah Copper. I'm pretty sure she won it with Kahleah Copper yeah. Courtney VanSloot? No. Sh- this is not really gonna help- Oh, wait. She wouldn't have played for the US, she's foreign. This is not really gonna help you, but she scored a total of 46 points across the four games in the WNBA championship. So she had around 10 points every game. Courtney Williams? Wait, no. No. I don't know why I said... Wait, yeah. She did. I don't... Okay, ignore what I'm saying. She left the Chicago Sky after, I'm not sure if it was right after she won a WNBA championship with them, but she currently plays for the Chicago Sky again okay, but not Courtney Van Sloot. Oh, Azziara Stevens? Yes. We finally got one. Woo-hoo. You got the first one though too, it just took you a bit. Okay. That's it for Who Am I? Madeline definitely won that round. Maybe we can do that another episode- and see if you're any much better at it. After I study up a bit apparently. Okay finally we'll just clo- well, second to finally, we'll just close out quickly with couch picks. Yeah, the Wings do not have a game until Thursday, which I'm upset about, but I'm, I got too comfortable with their busy schedule every other day, but they don't have one until Thursday, and then after that they don't have one until next Monday, and the one on Thursday is versus the Aces, which don't think they're gonna win, and then on Monday versus Seattle is could win. Se- Seattle's not- Yeah doing great. Okay. Yeah. So might lose. I don't know. Yeah. The Aces will be tough, but they did just lose to LA, so you never know. I don't think the Wings would beat LA either, you don't think so? I don't think so. They've been- I don't know kind of questionable so far, but they may be getting better. And the Wings are also sort of inconsistent, defensively especially. Yeah. So the Fever also do not play until Thursday. That's that rematch against the Valkyries that I mentioned earlier which I expect to be a pretty spicy one given how Friday's game went, and then they continue their West Coast road trip Saturday versus Portland. They had only played one road game so far this season which was in LA. Um, kind of strange that they had them take a West Coast trip and only play one game. But they had five of their six games at home, which was a pretty nice way to start the season. They have had some pretty long breaks between games a couple times now, which is nice, especially early in the season to get practice and get team chemistry because they had the opposite of that in Caitlin's rookie season. It was pretty rough. But that does make me a little nervous because they're probably gonna have a very heavy schedule later in the season when they'll be more tired and wanting to rest up for the playoffs. So relatively light week for both of our teams this week in terms of number of games. The other game I'm most interested in is Atlanta versus Minnesota on Wednesday in terms of two of the stronger teams and seeing who might win that. Okay moving on to our final segment, swish list. What's yours? Oh, I should have prepared better for this. My swish list, I guess, is Caitlin's back injury not being anything tAaribly serious, that she was able to come back after missing just one game, and have a really strong game, play through a lot of contact. I think she's gotten a lot stronger. Both she had done so the off-season after her rookie year, but then obviously struggled with a lot of injuries last year. But I think in all that rehabbing and work she's done, she's become stronger, and is able to take some of the contact and play through it better. So, happy to see the way that she's evolving. Which is yours? I would say my swish list is I beat you in who am I. No. For real. I'd say my swish list is that they were able to beat Liberty, and by a good amount of points too, yeah. That was definitely a good showing for Dallas, and exciting for Izzy to have such a strong game. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's it for this week. We will be back next Tuesday as usual. Remember, you can follow us on socials @DoubleDrivelPod. You can also email us if you have any questions or feedback at doubledrivelpod@gmail.com. And also please follow us and subscribe on Apple or Spotify or anywhere that you listen to us. Okay. Bye. See you next time.