EPISODE 7 - Paige-less in Portland

Fever’s 4-0 Week, Wings Highlights, and a Portland Trip (Paige Out, JJ Waived)

Sylvia and Madeleine recap a WNBA-heavy episode focused on their Portland trip and Wings coverage, plus game highlights, Commissioner’s Cup/standings, and early All-Star voting. The Fever are on a four-game win streak, beating the Mystics 78-76 on a Caitlin Clark buzzer-beater, Chicago 114-106 in overtime with 30+ point double-doubles from Aaliyah Boston (34/12) and Clark (32/10), Connecticut 85-75 with Sophie Cunningham’s late 11-point burst, and Toronto 113-91 led by Kelsey Mitchell (27) and Cunningham (24, 6/7 from three). The Wings lose big to the Lynx, beat the Mercury (Paige 31) and Aces 96-66, then lose to Portland 84-83 with Paige sidelined; they criticize shooting, coaching decisions, and officiating, and react to JJ Quinerly being waived and Sug Sutton signed. They share Portland travel notes and review Cup scenarios, standings, and All-Star vote leaders (A’ja first).

00:00 Podcast intro and agenda

00:32 Fever streak overview

01:14 Fever vs Mystics thriller

04:01 Fever vs Sky overtime

07:24 Fever close calls and blowout

11:07 Wings vs Lynx fallout

16:56 Wings rebound vs Mercury

18:32 Wings dominate Aces

22:03 Portland trip and Paige out

24:50 Breaking down Wings issues

31:33 Ref Controversy Breakdown

34:17 Fire vs Wings Key Players

35:04 JJ Waived Fallout

38:39 Sug Sutton and Veteran Debate

41:18 Portland Trip Highlights

43:26 Donuts Markets and Books

47:51 Food Carts Hopscotch Arcade

50:04 Waterfall Tour Finale

51:31 League Records and Game Recaps

53:54 Cup Race and Standings

55:57 All Star Voting Watch

57:37 Couch Picks and Wrap Up

Transcript

0:01

Hello, welcome to Double Drivel, a mother-daughter podcast about the WNBA. I'm Sylvia, and I'm the mom. I'm Madeline. Today we'll be covering game highlights, especially our Portland game and trip that we took to see the Wings. Spoiler alert, Paige Bueckers did not play unfortunately. I will also be covering Commissioner Cups and regular season standings, and an update on the early returns for All-Star voting. But this episode will definitely be heavy on the Portland content. Okay, starting out with the Fever for game highlights. They had a pretty busy week, including a four-game win streak since our last episode. And apologies that we're coming out a couple days late this week. That was obviously due to our travel. Three of the games they played teams in the bottom of the league, so obviously had hoped for and expected wins there, and thankfully they got them. And then they beat the 500 Tempo yesterday, so that was the team with the best record that they beat this week. Overall, these games were a lot more stressful than they needed to be considering the records of these teams. The Fever seem to like to really raise the blood pressure of the fan base, but we'll talk through each of them. So first, the Fever beat the Mystics. Very close game. They won 78 to 76. Caitlin led scoring with 19 points. Kelsey had 15 points, and Aaliyah had 14 points and 10 rebounds. I don't know if anybody else had this problem, but my Peacock stream was super glitchy, like every few seconds pausing. Sometimes the sound wasn't there at all, so that was very frustrating, especially in a close game. I'm pretty sure the other game I was watching, I'm pretty sure it was against the Sparks, earlier in the season. I'm pretty sure that was also on Peacock. It was like a very close game at the end, and it kept like glitching out every couple seconds. I was like, "Oh my gosh, stop it." So. Yeah, maybe Peacock just doesn't really know how to handle live broadcasts. I don't know. But it was super frustrating. Indiana did play pretty good defense in this game, so that was good to see. I know I was just saying last episode that Dantas kept getting DNP'd, and I wasn't sure what was happening there. But she did come in actually pretty early in this game. Maybe that was more due to match-ups. Kiki Iriafen on the Mystics got injured in the first half and did not return. I haven't seen an update on her. The defensive rebounding for the Fever was really good. The Mystics had only one offensive rebound in the entire first half, so that was great to see. Sometimes the Fever are giving up quite a lot of offensive boards to their opponent. There was a big Mystics run in the third quarter, and the game was a lot closer from that point forward. There was a lot of foul trouble in this game. Aaliyah, Caitlin, Billings, Onyeozia, and Dugalic. Lots of people kinda coming in and out from the bench to manage that foul trouble. There was a point in the fourth quarter where the ball was just rolling all over the place on the court, and a bunch of different players were trying to get it, and it was kinda funny the way that the ref ran in there like she was trying to break up kids that were fighting, to get control of that. The Mystics took a lead for the first time since early in the first quarter with only 41 seconds left, so that became very stressful. Then Caitlin uncharacteristically missed two free throws, which would've helped seal things up. Indianapolis then fortunately got a steal, and Caitlin had an assist to Kelsey for a layup, and then Sonia got two free throws to take the lead with four seconds left. So things were not looking great for the Fever. But then Sophie threw an inbound pass to Caitlin, and she hit a long three for a buzzer-beating win. So that was, a close game is exciting if your team wins and very, disappointing and heartbreaking if they don't. So glad they were able to pull that one off, especially after losing to Mystics early in the season. They beat Chicago a hundred and fourteen to one hundred and six. Caitlin had an early long three in that game, so that was good to see. Timpson had to come in early due to fouls from Mo Billings and got a block really quickly. She's been, as of late, seeming to get a couple of blocks per game. So excited to see her game coming along and progressing. In the first quarter, Caitlin scored or assisted on twenty-one points, so she was definitely Very dominant early in the game, and Chicago missed 12 shots in a row. So the Fever came out really strong initially in this game, and then the Sky went on a big run in the second quarter. The Fever had a lot of turnovers and missed shots, and their point lead was down to six points at halftime. But they fought back late in the third quarter to regain the lead. There was a beautiful highlight reel play where Caitlin threw a fast break pass to Kelsey, and it looked like Kelsey was going for the layup, and then she made a behind the head pass to Timpson for the layup. So that was a beautiful play. The star of the game for Chicago was their rookie Sydney Taylor. She had, I believe, over 20 points. I don't have the box score in front of me. I believe she was potentially undrafted, so, definitely a steal for Chicago there. I imagine she's gonna continue to get more playing time. Chicago went on another run, and the Sky were ahead by seven at the end of the third, and then there were a few late game mistakes by Kelsey that were kind of rookie mistakes. Fever got a turnover with one minute left, and Kelsey went for a fast break layup instead of burning the clock. If she had made it, that would be one thing, but she unfortunately ended up missing it. And then she bobbled a pass and turned the ball over with five seconds left, and then Chicago hit a three to tie the game with point nine seconds left. So we ended up going into overtime, and thankfully, the Fever outscored Chicago sixteen to eight in the overtime period. Kelsey did have another error where she fouled the Sky at the three-point line, during overtime, and they made all three free throws. Great player, respect Kelsey a lot, but definitely a few rookie mistakes that could have avoided overtime, and then early in overtime made things a little bit more stressful than they needed to be. There were definitely a lot of back and forth and things happening in that overtime period. Clark had a eight second violation. Chicago had an offensive foul. That got overturned, and then they got free throws. But ultimately, the Fever were able to pull out the win. Boston and Clark in this game were the first teammates to have thirty plus point double doubles. Aaliyah had 34 points and 12 rebounds, and Caitlin had 32 points and 10 assists. It was also Caitlin's third 30 point and 10 assist game. The rest of the league across history has a combined four, so that's definitely a very notable achievement for Caitlin. It was also the first time in history that four number one picks scored 30 or more in the same night. So obviously Aaliyah and Clark were two of them, and then A'ja and Paige also did in that same night. And then also for the Fever coming in, Kelsey with 19 points, Lexi with 11. An exciting game could have done without the end of the game excitement that led to overtime, but glad they were able to finally pull that one out. And then the Fever beat Connecticut 85 to 75. Connecticut is in last place in the league. They are really struggling. That being said, it was a closer game than it should have been. Sophie was back after sitting out the prior game with an elbow injury. She got a PRP shot. She ultimately came in in the last two minutes. The game was 74-72 with two and a half minutes left, and then in two minutes Sophie scored 11 points, three of those were threes, to seal the win. She really came back and made a big difference in that game. Good games from Caitlin and Kelsey. Caitlin had 25 points, Kelsey had 19, Aaliyah 13 with 11 rebounds, and a pretty good showing from Mo Billings with 10 points and eight rebounds as well. Okay, and then finally, normally we would not be covering, the following week game, but since we're recording late, we also had the Fever beat Toronto yesterday 113 to 91. This game started off really sloppy, and there were lots of missed shots, some quick turnovers, not a great game from Caitlin in terms of shooting. Her efficiency was really bad. She only hit one three very late in the game. And also had, I think, six turnovers. I'd have to go back and double-check that. But fortunately she found other ways to contribute to the game. She was driving into the lane a lot and drawing a lot of fouls, so she finished with 21 points on 5 of 15 shooting, but she made 10 of 14 free throws. She had five rebounds and then 14 assists, so a lot of assists in this game. Also, one steal and one block. Caitlin was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week prior to the game for the three wins the week prior. It's funny, sometimes I think when players get an award or some kind of recognition, they don't do as well in the game right after that. I know that happened to Asia at the beginning of the season, and the Aces lost after they got their championship rings. Anyway, still found a way to impact the game, which was good. Kelsey had a big night with 27 points, Aaliyah 18 points and 11 rebounds, and it was another huge game for Sophie. I don't know, this PRP injection in her elbow really, seemed to supercharge her. She had 24 points, six rebounds, two assists, and was six of seven from three. She has the best three-point percentage in the league since joining the Fever last season, so always great to have somebody coming off the bench and really being able to provide a spark in scoring the way that she's been doing lately. On the Toronto side, Yuskitay, had, was their highest score off the bench with 19 points. Mabrey with 18, and Izzy Harrison and Brittany Sykes had 11 points each. The Fever really ran away with the game in the second half. It was closer in the first half. And there were unfortunately a lot of trips back to the locker room in this game. Myisha Hines-Allen got accidentally hit in the face by Izzy Harrison in Q1, and then only came back in briefly in the third with a pretty fat lip. This is the second time she was bleeding in a pretty recent game, similar to what you were saying about Jessica Shepard recently. But sounds like no major injury there. But Sykes had a non-contact injury and hobbled off the floor with help, and did not return. That happened in the first half. And then Allomond went out and didn't come back. It sounds like maybe that might have been due to a migraine. So coming out of recent games 4 and 0, which I was very happy to see. The Tempo were obviously the best of those teams, and interestingly, that's the team we beat by the most, so go figure. But all in all, a successful week for the Fever and was happy to see that. Okay, so moving on to the Wings. I've honestly kind of lost track of the games we've covered, but the first one is they lost to the Lynx 100 to 76. I mean, I wasn't that surprised about that. I didn't watch the game, but now that I'm looking at this, I wish I had 'cause I just realized that JJ Quinerly played 10 minutes in this game. Oh, wow. I didn't realize that either. And I thought that, against the Mercury when she played 30 minutes and scored two points. I hadn't looked at any of the stats from their loss to the Lynx, so anyways, Paige h- scored 23 points in that game. Arike scored 16, and Jessica Shepard scored 12. Another big game for Olivia Miles. She had 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists, one steal, and one block. Kayla McBride, Natasha Howard, and Courtney Williams all had good games as well. I really feel like Courtney Williams is kind of, like, impossible to guard almost. I mean, I don't think that Dallas' defense is really very good at all, but, I've always felt like whenever you see her take a shot, it's like, I don't even know how it's going in, but it's going in, The way it goes in is just, straight into the basket. So I just feel like it's hard to guard her. Yeah, and one thing, I think we were talking about this, maybe on our trip, I hadn't realized that before Olivia Miles got there, Courtney was playing out of position as point guard and is really a more natural shooting guard. I think she's happier and maybe even a bit more productive in some measures at least than she was previously, even though she's been doing well with the Lynx. I was also gonna say, I think a notable thing about, the players that did play in this game that might have led to a bigger loss for them is AZ did play, the most minutes out of anyone besides Paige, 'cause they played the same amount of minutes, and she only had six points. She was, 2 of 12 and only 2 of 6 from three-pointer, which was not usual. And I did see that very odd post from the Minnesota Lynx admin like, "Oh, look at this great game for Olivia Miles and AZ Fudd sucks," basically. That was their whole post. I was like, "That's very unnecessary and messed up." But people are really always trying to compare them, and I think they're not comparable. I mean, AZ's not a point guard for one thing. And I don't know. Like I've said before, I think Olivia Miles is a big leader for the Lynx, and I think AZ is a part of the Wings. Like I know that doesn't really make sense, but that's kind of how I see it. Even though Olivia Miles isn't like the star of the Lynx, I feel like she's drafted to be a bigger leader for them while AZ was drafted to just be like a big part of it and like a partner and like on-court chemistry and stuff, yeah, I mean, as the point guard, Olivia Miles is leading the offense, so you're right, that is more of a leadership role. Whereas AZ is a shooting guard and has been starting lately but wasn't initially. And her primary role is just to score, although, certainly I think she's been bearing the brunt of a lot of the Wings' defense also, more than she probably should have to. I was also gonna say Madi Siegrist also had a big amount of minutes. She has been starting recently, which, I did say I wanted her to start. I would honestly love to see a walk start. I really like how she plays and how she fits in with the team. I'm pretty sure she's still on limited minutes. And then for the Lynx side, Natasha Howard had 21 points. Kayla McBride had 22. Courtney Williams had 16. Olivia Miles had 24, as I said earlier. I'm not sure- How much longer Napheesa Collier is gonna be out. Do you know? I'm not sure. I thought I had heard late June at some point, but we're getting into that territory. I'm not sure how imminent her return is. It's scary how good the Lynx have been without her. Oh, yeah. I was not expecting them... Even with her, I was expecting them to be a little less good this year, just given that they lost both Alana Smith and Jessica Shepard, as well as Bridget Carleton and Natacha Hideman, who are all key players for them. Obviously they gained Olivia Miles, and Natasha Howard has been killing it for them. It will be interesting when Napheesa first comes back. That's gonna have to cause some shifts for them, and I wonder if it might take them a few games to figure that out. But Napheesa's obviously extremely good player, so they will be scary once she's back and in her groove. Yeah, I was also gonna say, since you mentioned Natasha Howard, she also made a very offhand comment in the post-game interview where they basically asked her, like, "Oh, well, you know, how does it feel to play this team?" Something along those lines, and she's like, "Oh yeah, it just feels good to play a team that can't defend in the paint." Which is, like, very unnecessary. Like, you could have said, you know, literally anything else, I feel like. I feel like the whole, like, all of Minnesota it feels like was very just kind of toxic after that win. Yeah it was very odd. And Natasha used to play for the Wings. That's where she was before she joined the Fever last season, so maybe that's why they asked her a specific question, but yeah, it doesn't seem like that was a necessary dig. Yeah. Then so after the, loss to the Lynx, they then beat the Mercury. Paige had 31 points, six rebounds, five assists, and one steal. Jessica Shepard had 17 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. I was actually thinking that she might get a triple double, but then she really didn't get any more assists after, early in the third quarter, I'd say. AZ had 17 points. Arike ended with only two points. Kahleah Copper was the only starter with 13 points. Their highest score was Lexie Hald, who's off the bench, and she had 17 points. Phoenix was only shooting 39%, so that was probably a big reason of why they lost. I think it was just a very poor scoring night for Phoenix, obviously, as they only shot thirty-nine percent. I think the Wings defense was really able to kind of keep Alyssa Thomas quiet. She played thirty-two minutes and only had six points. Natasha Mack played twenty-two minutes, only had eight points. Kahleah Copper had thirteen points, deWanna Bonner had twenty-nine minutes and nine points. And then obviously, Lexie Hald had twenty-three minutes and seventeen points. It, was a pretty good game to watch. They were up by a lot most of the game, I'd say. I'm not... I can't recall if the Phoenix were ever in the lead except maybe for a bit in the beginning. So that was a good game. Then they beat the Aces, by a lot again, so this is their second time beating the Aces. They beat them 96 to 66 on Monday, so Paige is back. And by the way, if you're wondering why we skipped the Fire game, we're gonna include that in our later segment when we talk about our trip to Portland. So Paige was back after having missed the game against the Fire. So like I said, they have won against the Aces in all games so far this season. Two in regular season and one in preseason. So Jessica Shepard had 31 minutes and 15 points. Awak had 27 minutes and 7 points, so she must not be, limited in minutes, I don't think. I also was unable to watch this game. I had a long event, so. Arike had 22 points. Paige had 10 points, and AZ had 19 points. I'm actually pretty sure I saw somewhere, I'm not sure if it was like third or fourth quarter, but AZ didn't miss a single shot until like- Either third, like late in the third or in the fourth. So she was eight of nine. So one of two from three-point and two of two from free throws. Jessica Shepard also had 15 rebounds, so I think she's very good on the rebounds. She was very close, very close to a triple double this time with 15 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists. So she's been right on the edge it feels like. Yes, I accept that being called a near triple double. Whoa, actually Chelsea Gray played 29 minutes and had zero points. So she was zero of five. That is pretty horrible for her. I feel like she's usually a very good shooter, Yeah Jackie Young had six points. NaLyssa had nine. A'ja obviously... Oh, she didn't actually lead the team, but close. She had 18 points. The big leader of the Aces was Jewell Loyd. I think this is the biggest I've ever seen her kind of like get on fire. I really feel like she hasn't found her place on the Aces and, like I've said before, I think, I'm sure she enjoys being on, you know, a championship team, but I, I would also love to see her go to another team where she can be a much bigger asset and leader, like she was on the Storm, 'cause I really feel like she doesn't get that opportunity on the Aces. I think she was a large reason why the Aces didn't actually lose by a lot more since she scored 21 the Wings really seem to have the Aces number so far this year. I think all the wins have been, quite dominant as well. I am not sure how they are so dominant over the Aces, who are dominant over most other teams often, if they just have cracked the code into how to defend A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, et cetera, or what. But I'm sure a lot of coaches would love to pick Jose's brain on how they're managing to accomplish that. I think- Yeah the Aces hate to see the Wings coming right now. I'm very disappointed because all of their wins against the Aces, I haven't been able to watch. I don't usually like going back and watching, highlights or anything, so I haven't really seen much of those games, which is disappointing considering they're probably very good games to be watching. That's, can't do much about that. Then we talked about the Portland game. They lost to Portland 84 to 83. Paige was sitting out with an ankle injury, which was very disappointing because obviously we went there specifically to see her play. She also didn't come out to sign autographs at the beginning, which I feel like is definitely something she usually does. Yeah, and I mean, obviously they're under no obligation, but if you're a player like Paige or like Caitlin or, several of the other big stars that a lot of people, even if it's not a home game for you, have come specifically to see you. So if you're not playing, I think it is nice if they take some time to sign autographs at least. Unfortunately she did not do that. I'm not sure if it was more her choice or if she was also doing something else 'cause she didn't even come out until before the game started. I'm not sure if maybe she was working on her ankle or something. She might have been doing her PT or something. I do know we were in the Mercury game where she hurt her ankle. And then they kept playing her- even though they were ahead a lot, I know you were nervous she wasn't gonna be playing in Portland, and unfortunately that turned out to be true. Yeah, and that was very much, like I do feel like her ankle is probably fine. I would say it was more of a pre- precautionary thing. But I also don't really understand the, like- Especially when they were up by so much to put her back in. I mean, I know they took her out in like the last couple minutes. I was like, that was kind of unnecessary. But there was definitely a big crowd there. The player intros were cool. They had like lots of fire. I was like, there was kind of smoke in the air at the start. Yeah, and I know we talked about seeing that on TV. It didn't feel like the smoke lingered as long being in their arena as it had looked like on camera the last time I saw it, I felt like. Lots of flames going off, kinda near the ends of the court for their player intros. I will say, hard for you to take, especially in a close game where your team lost, but their crowd had great energy. I'd say the arena was probably 80% full maybe, like a pretty good showing. Especially late in the game when things were really close and whenever the Fire would score, the crowd was going crazy. I wanna give a shout-out to Allison, who I met on the Portland Fire Facebook group and was asking for tips on when the doors opened and where we would go for visiting team autographs. She went above and beyond with all the information that she shared with us. She met us, to line up outside the door ahead of the game and pointed us in the right direction on where to go. And was just a great ambassador for the Fire fan base. Even gave us some Fire friendship bracelets. So shout-out to Allison okay. So on the stats of that game, Jessica Shepard had 13 points, Maddie Segrest only had five, Arike had 22, Izzy had 18, Azia James had 17, Alicia Clark had one, Elena had four, and Ewok had three. A lot of players did not play that game. Leah Rue did not play. Odyssey didn't play obviously. She didn't travel with the team because she's injured, so they're not taking her with them. Paige didn't play, JJ didn't play, and then their... I don't wanna like mess up her name, but their developmental player. So it was definitely a hard night I would say, especially on three-point shooting. They were only seven of 28, which is not very good, and I'm gonna say it right out the gate, I'm pretty sure more than half those misses and shots were all taken by Azia James. I, I've seen this a lot, and I kind of agree with it. I like her, but I think she definitely needs to learn how to play more like a team player and less like trying to get points like for herself. I feel like that's sometimes how it is. Like I've seen multiple people point out how there's times when Azzy's like wide open in the perimeter, and she just takes some wild shot. And it's one thing if you can make those shots, but you know, she can't really, so- Or if it's like the end of the shot clock and you have no choice. So I feel like some people would say she's kind of being a little bit selfish about how she's been playing so far this season. I would also say it's definitely a choice by how much Jose has been playing her. I mean, I know they have basically, like hardly any players, but what I also think was a choice was how much he was playing, Alicia Clark. Honestly, especially that game, but honestly the past few games, First of all, I really see sort of no reason for the Wings to even keep her, if I'm being honest. I feel like they could waive her and bring someone else in. For playing 16 minutes, one point is kind of insane, especially considering that's off, a free throw, which she had two free throws, so she missed the other one. Obviously she didn't really even try to shoot that much. I know that they use her primarily for her defense, but I feel like for someone who's supposedly really good on defense, at least from what I'm noticing, she's really not. Like, I know, I'm sure in like past years, I know in like, I don't know, like way back in like 2020, people were saying like Defensive Player of the Year or something. I think she's past that prime, honestly, from what I've seen. Because if you look, there's where you can see in the WNBA the top like 25 defensive ratings, like she's not even up there for someone who a lot of people consider like a good defensive player. Especially she had no steals and no blocks, so for being put in for defense, it's not like where is it? Yeah, and I mean, I imagine she's largely also there for veteran presence and leadership- and championship experience, although that can be provided from the bench. You don't necessarily always need to be in game for that, but, definitely not producing a lot. Still Allana Smith really not also just not doing much. I mean, I really hope it's this mask like everyone's saying. I just don't think she's been a good fit for Dallas so far. Like I know the big point of getting her obviously is for her defense, so I can sort of understand like not scoring as much, but also, you know, she hasn't... Just like Alyssa Clark, she really hasn't been producing on defense. I was saying, it could be because of, the new way the refs are blowing the whistle and deciding what's a foul and what's not. Like the kind of defense she used to play is now considered a foul by them since they're very whistle happy. So I know she gets into a lot of foul trouble, so that could be part of it, but it also could just be she's really not on the right team. I think maybe the Minnesota Lynx was just a good fit for her, and maybe the Wings isn't, and I mean, her minutes have been steadily going down, and she hasn't been starting lately, we'll see once her mask comes off how things happen there. She's got a big salary, she's not kind of living up to her salary at this point in time. I'd also say for being a starter right now, Maddie also hasn't really been producing. I really like her game. I've always said I like a big that can shoot from the perimeter and get threes. I do feel like for some of the minutes she's been playing and for starting, she hasn't been scoring that many points. I want Awak Kuier to start. I know I've said before I wanted Maddie to start, but I want Awak to start. I think she's good on defense. I saw someone said, That Dallas needs to get a defensive player because they were like, "Right now it's A'ja Walk and a dream." And honestly, I kind of agree with that because I feel like they're the only people on the team who even like feels like even know what defense is. Awak actually had, even though she only had, three points that game, it wasn't a very good shooting night for her. One of five, but she had two steals and two blocks, and AZ also had two steals and two blocks. Azzi actually had two steals, and Jessica Shepard had one steal. I don't see Jessica Shepard getting steals all that often or blocks. I feel like she's not really a defensive player, but, yeah. So what I would say is I think this game was something that should've been won, and I think what lost it for them, besides Azziha James, honestly, I don't wanna put all the blame on her, but I kinda... It was kind of her fault because you know, like I said, she's being very kind of more self-centered with how she was shooting the ball, and then especially the play where they were up at the end where she immediately passed it instead of running out the clock. I don't know if Jose said that was the play they were going with or she just did that, so if that was Jose's fault, like, sorry, don't wanna put that on her. But that was also not a smart play either way. But I would also say the refs definitely lost that for them. They were calling, like, everything on the wings. Not to mention at the end when, which led to them losing and the Fire getting ahead when Azziha James was, like, very obviously fouled by, like, three different people. She was shooting a shot and th- she was, like, pushed on the floor, and they didn't call a whistle or anything. And then immediately Emily Englestort on the other side of the court got fouled. I believe that was actually a foul. So when she was shooting the free throws, what really confuses me is, like, H- Jose didn't challenge it, which is like, that's very obviously, even if you think it was a foul or not, like, this is a shot that's gonna be a game winner, so you quite literally have to. And instead of doing that, he was just, like, arguing with the ref. I was very confused. I was like, he just needed to call a challenge. Like, I knew he had one. Well, was that the one, though I think like, we were thinking a foul should have been called on the fire first, and it wasn't, and then they called the wings for fouling the fire. Yeah. But I think they did foul, and you can't challenge a no-call. So maybe that's why. They weren't, I'm not saying that he should have challenged that. I'm saying he should have challenged that the wings fouled her Because she was shooting the free throws that were gonna win the game, so you kind of have to foul- Well, but I think it looked clear that they did foul her, so he wasn't gonna be successful. I mean, I feel like there's no harm in trying. I mean, I just- I don't understand that. Just go for it. Why not? Yeah. Although actually looking at it, the Fire were called for 24 fouls and the Wings only 15, but later in the game it did seem like it made a big difference in the ones- that went the Fire's way. And I'm gonna be honest, I'm not the kind of person who's like, my team fouls their team, it's not a foul, and every time they do something to us and it's called, it's a foul. Like, I think so many of the calls that they said, Dallas fouled the Fire were, completely wrong. There was one, three point shot where they said, one of the Fire players, touched them or fouled them while they were shooting a three, and they, obviously didn't. So I feel like those refs, I don't... They seemed like they need, a pair of glasses or something. I feel like they really did not know what they were doing. Yeah. I mean, I think the other big factor that obviously could have led to a Wings win was if Paige was playing. Oh, yeah. That was a big loss for them obviously, anytime she's not able to be on the floor. But then on the Fire side, Bridget Carlton obviously with a good game. She had 20 points. Emily Englester had 11. Megan Augusta... gustaf- Gustafson. Gustafson had 16 points. Sarah Ashley Barker had 10, and Carla Leite had 10 as well. Louisa Gieskes, former Wings player, had seven. And then basically everyone else off the bench didn't really contribute too much, Like, from two to five, so not significant on that side. Obviously the worst news of this, is that the next morning, my friend actually messaged me and she was like, "Oh, I saw someone... some comment on TikTok saying that, like, JJ was waived, but I think they were joking." And I was like, "Wait, what?" And I went and looked it up, and they were not joking. She was waived, which, I'm obviously not happy about. She's, like, probably my favorite player on the Wings besides Paige, obviously. I really do think she's A great player. I think she's good on defense, which is, like... I really think Jose didn't give her a fair chance. I really think she deserved a much larger chance. Especially considering she's coming off, like, a knee surgery, and she's still, like, wearing a knee brace on th- the bench and stuff. It's kind of like you can't, obviously you can't expect so much out of someone who's coming right back from an injury, especially when you l- like, play them for, like, 10 minutes in all of the whole season so far, which is, like, kinda crazy. So I'm very sad to see her go. I'm still hoping that they'll sign her and do a developmental contract, 'cause I've seen a lot of people say that they might just do that once she clears waivers. I'm not sure if she has yet. I know it's like 48 to 72 hours, so technically 72 hours would've been this morning, I'm pretty sure, right? Yeah, and I don't know if it's any different for developmental, but we should know soon if they offer her that, if she takes it. Unfortunately I actually don't see another team really picking her up. I mean, she's not some kind of star. She's not, like, a veteran. I just think she's, you know, she's in her second season. She's not this amazing player, but I think she's an asset to a team, and I think she could have been an asset for the Wings if Jose had used her correctly. And honestly, in my head, I genuinely see her and A'ja James sort of on the same level, Not, like, exactly the same level. 'Cause I would say that Azia James is a little bit better than JJ, at least on the scoring part. But I would say especially considering all three of the rookies with Paige, Azia, and JJ were so big for the Wings last season, and also won them obviously that big game against the Mercury, who were a very good team at the time. They really have fallen off since then, but they were a good team. I didn't like how he wasn't using her. I think she's definitely something to be used, and I hope even if she's not picked up by the Wings again, she can find a team that will use her correctly. Obviously I'll be sad not to see her on the Wings if she's not picked up on a developmental contract after she clears her waivers, I do hope whatever team she's on, if she's ever, you know... I would assume that she'll be back in the WNBA at some point. It might not be soon. I hope it is, but you never know. So I hope whatever team she's on, even if it's overseas, she's, able to play, like actually have playing time, 'cause I do think she deserves it. After they waived her, they did sign Sug Sutton, who, I think the Fire had waived Sug Sutton. Yeah, they had. she only scored four points but she did have one steal and one block against the Aces in their big win, she played a lot of minutes though. I think she got a lot of Azia's minutes in that game, 'cause Azia only played 12 against the Aces. So interesting that they played her so much right off the bat. Yeah, and I was also gonna say, I don't see the vision of bringing in all these veterans, if I'm being honest. I know she was... I mean, I don't wanna judge her so much. It was one game. I'll see how she does today, depending on how much they play her. I feel like I don't... I know because Dallas was definitely a very young team last year. They're trying to get more veterans and experience there. I think it's one thing if they are good veterans, but I think some of them are almost bringing the team down in which you could be using that roster spot for a better, younger, like maybe a player on like still on a rookie contract or, you know, just like fresh out of like their fourth year as a rookie or something, like younger players. 'Cause I feel like they've really been kind of forcing like the whole veteran, like we need them to lead the team kind of thing, and they're not really the leaders of the team. It's all the younger players, so. Besides Jessica Shepard. I love her. Yeah, I think, you know, they've tried to go into win now mode versus a team like the Mystics who have really leaned into kind of rebuilding around this young core with all the draft capital they had last year and this year. They've got a ton of really good young players. Obviously, they're still kind of finding their way. But I would think over the next couple of years they're gonna be probably quite a scary team, and their main veteran that they have on the Mystics is Shakira Austin, who's been doing really well for them. But they haven't, really felt the need to go out and get a bunch of veterans. They're kind of letting the rookies figure it out. So definitely a different approach. And they both have merit depending on what your goals are, but... and like I said, I think it's one thing if you have good, scoring veterans that are able to teach your star younger players something. But I think it's another thing to kind of almost like just take up a roster spot and not do too much for the team. I think that's another thing that is just kind of unnecessary. Okay, so disappointing experience basketball-wise in Portland, obviously with the loss and Paige not playing, and then the news that came about JJ the next morning. But other than that, we had a pretty good trip, right? Yeah. So we'll give a little bit of a travelogue here. our first exciting thing that happened was actually at the gate in the airport in San Diego while we were waiting to leave. And, Madelyn was pretty sure she had spotted Alex Warren, the singer, at the gate. I would not have recognized him in person. I had a vague idea what he looked like, but wasn't really sure, and our flight was delayed a bit, so we were sleuthing, trying to figure out if it was really him or not. And we looked it up, and he had just had a concert in San Diego a couple days prior, and he had one in Portland that night. So he must've been pretty stressed because his concert was at 7:00, and our flight didn't end up getting in until about 3:00 PM? So he was cutting it kinda close. He probably had an opening act, so maybe he wasn't going on that well. But we eventually confirmed it was him by his arm tattoos. And then, the hotel we stayed at was The Hoxton, which is just inside the Chinatown gates. It was a nice hotel. The area turned out to be a little bit sketchy, but it was very centrally located to a lot of the different attractions we wanted to go to. So it worked out fine. We didn't do a lot when we got there on Friday afternoon. We just went for dinner at the Midtown Beer Garden, which is one of the food truck pods. Kind of underwhelming, honestly. Then you got mac and cheese, which was kind of- a strange mac and cheese. I mean, it didn't taste bad. Also my stomach was hurting a little bit, so maybe if it wasn't I would've eaten more. But it was kind of spicy because there was, a lot of pepper in it, almost too much pepper. Like, I've never seen that much pepper, or actually pepper at all in mac and cheese before, so it was, kind of odd. And I tasted it. It was okay, but yeah, nothing special. And I had part of a Philly cheese steak, which was fine but, nothing super notable. And then the next morning we were just about a block from Voodoo Doughnuts, so we walked over there and got several different things to try. What, how did you feel about the donuts? I really liked the Captain O- O Captain, My Captain one, 'cause also I really like Dead Poets Society, but also... So I was like, "Well, I kinda have to get that." And I was a little bit skeptical 'cause I've never had the berry Captain Crunch before. Like, I really like the regular one, but it was actually a really good donut. I think it was my favorite one out of all of them. I actually also really liked that jelly donut that was the actual voodoo doll. I think that was good. Mm-hmm. The dirt one, which was just, like, the cream and then the Oreo, was kinda underwhelming 'cause it's like, "Eh." It, feel like it, it tasted a lot more like the cream than the actual Oreos, so. Mm-hmm. Yeah, the first one I ate was, I think it was called School Daze. It was, like, peanut butter frosting and then, I think it was maybe raspberry jelly that was inside. I was excited to try that one because there used to be a donut shop by my grandma's when we'd go visit her that had, a peanut butter frosted, jelly-filled donut that was really good. This particular donut was a vegan donut, and I'm not sure if that was part of why, but it was, very dry. And that one I ate right after we got it, so it wasn't, the second day or anything. So that one was kind of underwhelming. I did like the voodoo donut that we split. Then I forget what was it called. Memphis something. Oh, yeah, I was also gonna say I didn't like that one too much. I think I would've liked it more if it didn't have the peanut butter on it. I feel like it was, conflicting flavors, like apple and peanut butter shouldn't really go. Well, it's not that 'cause you dip, apples in peanut butter, but it was like an apple fritter with, chocolate and peanut butter drizzle and chocolate chips on top. It was, too much going on, a little overly sweet. Yeah, I just tried to eat all the parts without, the peanut butter and chocolate on top. I was saying that I didn't feel like the flavors went together, and I'm like, well, people eat, like, apples and peanut butter all the time. But, like, it didn't taste like that. It just kind of tasted wrong. And that's one we ate on the second day too, so it was probably not at its prime either. But, a lot of different fun varieties and flavors there, so definitely a lot of things to try if you're in Portland and wanna check it out. And then we went over to the Saturday Market. It's not a farmer's market. It's more, like, makers, crafts, obviously some food and things like that as well. It's really big. Definitely a lot of cool things. We found a really cute, crochet stand, and you got... What was it, a lamb? Yeah. And then we got a fox wearing a tutu for, Madeline's sister. And we had some lunch there. I realized at the end of our trip we did not eat a proper, like, restaurant sit-down meal the entire time on our trip. We had, food trucks several times. We ate at the game. We ordered pizza at one point. So yeah, we didn't try any, like, restaurant restaurants. I was also gonna say there you- Sort of coerced me into trying the Korean corn dog, and I kinda regret it, 'cause I also feel like I think the 'Cause I tried the potato one. I was thinking about doing the one with panko breadcrumbs. I was like, "Oh, I mean, I like potatoes, so I'll try it with potatoes." I actually think that the potatoes maybe made the outside too sweet- Mm 'cause I kind of didn't like the outside. And then I tried your Mexican food, which is what I wanted originally, and it was way better, so. Yeah, my I think that pupusa I had was probably the best food I had on the trip actually. So yeah, that was the Saturday market, and then we walked to Powell's. We did a lot of walking that day. If you aren't familiar with Powell's, it, I believe, is the largest independent bookstore in the country. I think it took up a whole city block. That place was gigantic. Like, I definitely did not go to probably more than, like, 30% of the bookstore. But huge selection, new and used books. If you're ever wanting to support an independent bookstore and maybe don't have one near you, you can order through them, and they obviously have a really large selection given how huge the store is. So definitely worth checking out even if you aren't in Portland. Portland is really known for their food trucks. So we mentioned we went to the M- Midtown Beer Garden on Friday night, and then on Sunday we went to, a food cart pod called Cartopia because we were near there. And again, I don't know, like, it was just okay. I left pretty underwhelmed with the food cart scene of the places that we went. Yeah, I was gonna say, I did get Mexican food that time. I always love Mexican food. Always beans and rice are great. But, I did get tacos, and I felt like I was telling you, the meat, like, I'm sure it probably did. It really tasted like cinnamon. I was like, I mean, that's, like, a choice for a seasoning, but I've never, like, had it in a taco, and it really put me off. I didn't like it. Yeah, you barely ate anything, I think, from that. And we went to Cartopia because we were nearby at the Hopscotch Immersive Art exhibit. How did you feel about Hopscotch? I feel like it was a little bit underwhelming. It felt like there wasn't that much stuff almost. Some of the stuff really wasn't that interesting, and it was kinda confusing, like, what is this even supposed to be? Yeah, I mean, it took, maybe we were there for an hour at most. I'm not sure if even that long. And I think, to be fair, their website does say it's, like, a 60- to 90-minute kinda thing. I think the ball pit that, kept changing colors, that was kind of fun. Lots of different, things with lights and stuff like that. Yeah. I mean, it's sort of a fun little thing to do, a little bit different. But, not something that's gonna take up your whole day or anything like that. And then after that, we went to the Wonderland Arcade for y- you to play some arcade games. They call themselves a, a nickel arcade, but nothing is a nickel anymore, of course. But a lot of games were, what, like four to six nickels per game? Yeah. It was more like two to six probably. Yeah, so very cheap compared to most arcades these days. So if you're going with, you know, a kid or a teen, it's a good fairly low-cost activity to kill some time. And it was in the 90s on Sunday, so it was good to be doing things inside. But then my favorite activity of the trip was the Waterfall Shuttle. That is the name of the company. So they do tours and take you out to Multnomah Falls being the most famous one, but there's numerous other waterfalls very close by to it. So we went to a total of five waterfalls, and they have, I think, like, three different time slots per day, but we did the sunset one. So we got picked up at our hotel at about 5:00, and then ended going up on a hill to something called Vista House, which was not open, but that's just where it is, to watch the sunset over the Columbia River, which happened at about 9:00 PM, which was very beautiful, a gorgeous sunset and views. So that was a highlight of the trip for me. I also liked the waterfall tour. I still wish you'd let me take your phone down t- when I was right up at that waterfall 'cause my phone just takes really horrible photos and videos. I feel like in every video and photo I took, I was, right there, and I know 'cause I was getting super wet. But I was like, it looks like I'm not even that close. It looks like I, zoomed in from afar. It's not the best. And then we flew home on, Monday morning. So that was our trip to Portland. Disappointing from a basketball perspective, but all in all, it was fun to spend the weekend with you and check out a new place. Mentioned a couple of records earlier when talking about the Fever in terms of, the first two of over 30 points, and double doubles and things like that. Another record this week is that A'ja became the youngest and fastest player to 6,000 points. She did it in 278 games. Diana Taurasi was the prior owner of that record with 291 games. Not a huge surprise that that's a record that A'ja would beat, but notable nonetheless. In terms of other key games that happened last week, the Aces beat the Lynx in a very close game, 100 to 97. The Aces outscored the Lynx in Q1 by 11, and then the Lynx could never quite catch up. Wilson had 24 points and 10 rebounds. Gray and Young both had good games. Carter only got seven minutes. Olivia Miles, yet another big game from her with 29 points. She only had one assist, which is a little bit puzzling. But Howard had 22 points, and McBride had 19, and Williams 17. I also wanted to say, I think that was kind of a surprising... I mean, I wanted them to win, especially considering, like, I don't know. The Wings, it's odd 'cause the Wings, have been destroyed by the Lynx twice, and then they keep, like, really crushing the Aces. So it's like, "Oh, I wish we could win against the Lynx since we can win against the Aces," but. I know. That, you always wanna follow that logic, but sometimes the matchups just hit very differently depending on the team. And then the Liberty beat the Dream 104 to 90. I haven't actually been keeping up with a lot of Dream games recently. But I don't think they've been doing too well recently. I'm not sure, though. Yeah. We'll talk about them in the standings, shortly. So the Liberty led pretty much the whole game. Stewart and Jonquel Jones both had double doubles, and there were also double digits for Johannes. I'm not sure how to say that name, so I don't- I don't wanna mess up. And, Satou Sabally who came off the bench. But for The Dream, sorry. Reese had 25 and nine rebounds. Howard had 24, and Gray had 18. Okay, moving into the standings. First we'll start with Commissioner's Cup. So the Liberty clinched the championship game berth for the Eastern Conference. They're 5 and 0 with one game left, but in second are the Fever, who are 5 and 1, and the Liberty beat them head-to-head. So even if the Liberty lost their final game, they would get the championship game slot. And then it will be either the Lynx or the Aces for the Western Conference. They're both 5 and 1, but the Aces won that head-to-head so it depends on if they both win the final game. If they do, the Aces will go to the championship, and if the Lynx win and the Aces lose, then the Lynx will go to the championship. Both of those games are tonight. This is the final, playing games for the Commissioner's Cup today. So the Lynx play the Sparks, and the Aces play the Mercury. I would expect that they will both win those games. So it seems like the odds are likely that the Aces will be playing the Liberty for the Commissioner's Cup championship. All right, moving into overall standings. So obviously the Lynx are in first with a record of 11 wins and three losses. The Aces in second with 10 wins, four losses. Liberty tied with them in second with 10 wins and four losses again. The Dream with nine wins and four losses, so really they've just played one game less. The Wings are in fifth with nine wins and five losses. The Valkyries are also nine and five. The Fever are nine and five, and the Sparks are seven and seven. And then, so those are the top eight, and then it's the Tempo, the Fire, the Mystics, the Sky, the Mercury, the Storm, and the Sun. Yeah, so the biggest moves in terms of standings from last week was the Liberty moving from third, to third from fifth, and the Dream moving down to fourth from second. And then the Aces just moved up one slot to number two. So All-Star voting so far, so obviously in first, A'ja, who's averaging 25 points, nine rebounds and three assists. In second, Paige, who's averaging 19 points, four rebounds and six assists. Aaliyah Boston is in third with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Stewie in fourth with 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists, and then Caitlin with 20 points, five rebounds and eight assists in fifth. So that's interesting just in that in her first two seasons she was first in All-Star voting. So I don't know, you know, if with her injury last year and not playing most of the season if some of the interest in her fell off, but, she's definitely still in the mix, and there's a quite... Some new entries in the six through 10 slot for some of the players this year also. Yeah, so in six is Jessica Shepard, she's averaging 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. In seventh is Angel Reese with 15 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. In eighth, Gabby Williams with 16 points, four rebounds, two assists. Ninth, Olivia Miles averaging 18 points, five rebounds and six assists. And in 10th, Kelsey Mitchell averaging 21 points, one rebound and three assists. I would also like to note in 11th is AZ right now. Oh, is that right? Yeah. I only saw the top 10. So yeah, almost three Wings, three Fever, and yeah, only one Ace, and one Liberty. So that's interesting all right. Closing out with our couch picks and the swish list So obviously for the Wings, I'll be watching the Valkyries game, which is today, but Wednesday. And then their game versus Chicago on Saturday, which I don't like I have to wait that long for another game, but whatever. Yeah. For the Fever, it's a miniseries against the Dream. So they will be playing in Indiana on Thursday, and then in Atlanta on Saturday. The Fever did win the first contest between the two teams. So we'll see how those go. And then other, there's not a ton in terms of kind of marquee match-ups happening the rest of this week. I'd say the closest we get are the Valkyries versus the Lynx, and the Valkyries versus the Aces. Valkyries are scrappy and sometimes manage to beat pretty good teams, and other times don't. We'll see if they manage to pull either of those off. Okay, finally closing out with swish list. So I would say my swish list, well, I don't have much to be happy about, but I'm happy it's finally summer. Obviously, I'm happy that the Wings are still maintaining a much better record than they had last year. They're literally within probably two more games, Yeah, since they're playing Chicago on Saturday, they'd have already met their wins that they had last year. They only had 11, so definitely a huge improvement. I will say the Fever's four-game win streak that they're currently on, they started out kinda eh for the season. Obviously, they haven't been playing the strongest teams for those four wins. Toronto was the best of those four that they played, and they're at 500. Hopefully they're winning at least one of these Dream games, if not both. But glad to see they're seem to be starting to gel a little bit more. Okay. That's it for this episode of Double Drivel. If you aren't already following us on social media, you can find us on Instagram and Threads at double drivel pod. And please subscribe also if you haven't already, so that you can easily see whenever our episodes come out. Thanks for listening. Bye. Bye.