Alyssa Thomas Breaks ANOTHER Record As Phoenix Mercury’s Streak Ends To Sun
I don’t have any thunder sticks today and I’m mad about it. Let’s talk about it. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] What is up, mighty Mercury family? Welcome back to the PHX Mercury podcast. I don’t know if there’s music playing or not. I can’t really catch a vibe. Can a girl catch a vibe in peace? But welcome back to BHx3 podcast. I’m your host Eric Lee Day. Join my PG1 QB1 on and off the field in and out of the studio on and off the court. Stephen Pidge Garner. Stephen, how the heck are you doing coming to us live from downtown Phoenix? Doing good. Uh very Monday Monday. We are here though. Um very underwhelming performance from the Mercury on Saturday. So they got some things to clean up before the playoffs start in just a short full short handful of days. We six days away now. Uh but all is well. How about yourself? How you doing? You know, I could complain, but I won’t. Which that seems like a bad way to spend our time. So shout out to Kevin for pushing the bus forward, pressing the X’s and nos’s, running the MAC, however I normally say that. Shout out to him for doing that. Uh I’m gonna be coming for his neck later today in uh today’s episode for some trivia and I’m gonna regain the the tie at least. That’s the goal. Uh is just to regain the tie and then and then we can go from there. Uh but yeah, to Stephen’s point, there was a real lackluster performance in Connecticut this weekend. Uh I feel like lackluster is actually the perfect way to like describe it. Uh because aside from Alyssa Thomas and her assist record which uh I mean is fantastic like all you know single season assists and I I sent the numbers in Slack but I don’t have it in front of me 432 on the season right now and obviously with more games to play in the regular season and then obviously the playoffs as well. Um, but yeah, I mean, heck of a number, heck of a performance, heck of a season from Alyssa Thomas. And uh, you know, it it to me, Stephen, like it kind of stinks that that is overshadowed by a loss to one of the worst teams in the league, especially considering the like high riding momentum that they were on with the six-game win streak. And like they they obviously don’t have to win out, but it feels a lot better if they do. And it puts them in a, you know, we’ve talked about them being rhythm. a lot of players on this team being rhythm players, you know, for the whole season. And so, you know, to watch them kind of fall out of that right here at the end of the season, like literally we’re about to cross the finish line and boom, you drop a loss like that in the clutch to again one of the worst teams in the league. Like, and if you saw me during the game, like I tweeted it, the Connecticut Sun is a very fun basketball team and I don’t want to take that away from them. Like, I know I’m crapping on them right now by calling them one of the worst teams in the league, but that’s just me being truthful. Like, it’s not me poo pooing on them if it’s the truth. And that’s the truth. They’ve been out of the playoffs a long time. They got 11 wins, guys. Like the Mercury should be able to put them away. And especially like with all the theatrics in quarter 1, like you hoped that uh those theatrics would kind of end on the Mercury’s side and it obviously didn’t. And you know, yeah, it just it stung. Like I I said it after like it was a heartbreaking loss and not not one of those heartbreaking losses where like oh man like that last minute shot like shouldn’t have gone in. No, like there were multiple times that the Mercury had an opportunity to kind of like put the game away and they did not. And so who cares about the six minute or the six points and 30 seconds that Leila Lon had? Like she should have never been in the position to be able to score those points in the first place for it to be, you know, a Connecticut game, I guess, is my point. So it it stung for me. Stevens. Yeah, they they missed opportunities um in multiple moments in that game. Um you want to just dive into it fully now? Let’s go. Yeah. So that uh you needed to that was probably their last chance at potentially creeping up in the standings or having a chance to do so. um considering they don’t have the tiebreaker against either of um Vegas or Atlanta and both of those teams have very light end of the regular season schedules um in respect to the teams that they have ahead of them going through going into the playoffs. So the likelihood of them losing a game in this home stretch is um slim to none. And the the least you had to do if you’re the Mercury is just handle your business in succession with each game that came before the finish line. Uh 8784 loss on the road to the Connecticut Sun. Um that’s not in alignment with those plans with that with that level of play that they were at. Um definitely want to credit Connecticut because game plan wise they were sharp in terms of playing the game for majority of it on their terms. But you got to be better um in terms of showing up to start games. Um can’t be late to the party come playoff time. You got to come out with the energy off the rip. Otherwise, against the teams that are on your level or potentially maybe a half step or a step fully ahead of you, that’s enough to put you behind for the entire tier of the game. And then if nothing shakes in your favor, now you’re just kind of stuck. And this feels like that that was one of those games against Connecticut. Obviously a team that’s not in the same stratosphere as they are, but that’s an example of anybody can get gotten on any given day. And if you don’t show up the right way, that chance is there. Well, and like we talked about like teams love to be spoilers and not just in a sense of like, oh, we’re going to take away your chance to make the playoffs, but like the Sun knew that the Mercury was on a six-game win streak. Like, and they knew that this game was needed not only for playoff seedings, but also for like all the player awards that we’ve talked about all season long. Like, this win was kind of like a big necessary win. it. You know, I I’m going to pull a a book out of Stephen like it wasn’t a must-win game by any ch like by any means, but like it was a got to have it game because, you know, you can’t go on the road face a team that’s definitely worse than you, definitely beatable. You’ve done it multiple times this season and then you come to their team or come to their floor, come healthy, and I mean those fans want to see a win. Like the the reality is is like they were going to get the crowd involved. That’s exactly what happened. It got loud. It got rowdy. And lo and behold, it got out of hand for the Phoenix Mercury. Like, that’s not what you want to see this close to the playoffs. And so, you know, you hate to see it for momentum purposes, to be honest. Yeah, that’s that’s one that they have to have. They didn’t have the they didn’t play with the type of force that that game was demanding from them. They also didn’t have the execution u that they needed to to finish that game as well. And it was in in timely moments. The second quarter was their best quarter. Um, but that was the only quarter where it felt like they were playing with force uh for for a majority of it. And the fact that what was it? 24. Let me see what the second quarter numbers were. Double checking real quick. Uh 32 to 21 was the second quarter. They hardly got over 20 in either of the other three quarters. They got to 21 in the third or in the fourth quarter, 13 in the sec in the third and 18 in the first. So yeah, those are not those are not the numbers that they need to to win most games. And they they got to be better. I think it was that was probably the overarching takeaway from postgame. Um just a lot of we got to be better in different areas of the game, but generally they got to be better. Um, and the other big thing for me in that game, as I’m double checking the box score, I think it was 25 fouls that they conceded. Uh, yeah, 25 fouls that they conceded to, uh, Connecticut. Connecticut shot 34 free throws. 34 free throw attempts. That’s not a margin that you can oftent times make up for because that’s an opponent scoring while the clock is stopped. and especially given the timing of those fouls, that just speaks to just the lack of discipline that they had in that game. Um, I don’t imagine it’s going to be something that shows up again, but if it does, that’s a game that they’re going to lose because against these playoff level teams like they are, you can’t win games like that. Well, and I I I want to keep talking about this game, but I don’t want to harp on the negativity too much because frankly, like I don’t think this is the Mercury team you’re going to be getting even tomorrow night when the Mercury play the Sparks. Like, I think you’re going to see the same defensive mindset that you’ve been seeing. And Nate Tibbitz talked about the expanding rotation coming just to prepare for the playoffs. And so there’s context to all of these games down the stretch here, but this is definitely one that you want to see them win because to just to give you the lay of the land for the playoff standings, like Vegas has to play Chicago and Dallas, I believe, and then uh the Dream have to play the Sun twice. like and for the Mercury to move up in the standings at all, either of those teams has to lose at least one of those games. And like I’ll be honest, I don’t foresee that happening. Like this A’s win streak is absolutely no joke. Like it’s not a fraudulent win streak. You know what I mean? It’s a it’s a real deal type of thing. And then the Atlanta Dream has been playing well all season long and they’re playing well in prep preparation for the playoffs as well. So, I don’t foresee either of these two teams dropping one of these games to Chicago or the Wings or Connecticut for that matter. And so, you know, the Mercury kind of put themselves in a pigeon hole to where now they’re kind of not, but they it feels certainly like they are locked into that fourth spot and inevitably tied to facing the reigning champion, the New York Liberty, which, you know, personally, I I like the matchup. I think it’s a it’s it’s been fun to watch all season long. Uh the coaching paralysis between Sandy and Nate, it it’s a fun game. Every single time they make they meet up, it has been for the last two seasons. And so I I wouldn’t expect a playoff series to be any less entertaining, but it definitely pigeon holed the Mercury in a position that they did not have to be in right now. Yeah, this is where that early postallar break stretch where they went on the fiveame road trip and they only won two of those five games and that came after losing um to the Atlanta Dream in the very first game out of the All-Star break at home before the fiveame road trip. That’s where that stretch kind of comes back and and clips you some because if you win just one more of those games if it’s that Atlanta game for one you’re tied with them and or well you now you you take take a win away from Atlanta so you you serve them in terms of the standings and that puts you tied with the with the Las Vegas Aces as well. It gets it gets tough. It gets tough when you kind of look back on it and you see where opportunities that they either missed out on or they just weren’t up to the level of for whatever reason in respective games post Allstar break it kind of just come back and hurt you hurt you a little bit as far as the standings go. So all they can control at this point is playing their best basketball going into it. Um, I don’t think one game completely derails them from that, but they have to get quickly back in alignment there because, um, you only got two more games left before the the true season starts, what you built this roster to get going in, um, starts and not going to have any space to ease your way into it against the the New York Liberty. Um, dare I say they have the toughest first round matchup if the standings finish the way that they presently are with Minnesota one, Vegas 2, Atlanta 3, Phoenix 4, New York 5, Golden State 6, Indiana 7, and as this present moment, Seattle is in eighth. Um, so that means that Minnesota will be playing Seattle 1 eight, Vegas will be playing Indiana without a lot of their players in the 27. 36 would be Atlanta versus Golden State and then four or five naturally the Mercury against the the reigning champs for this um present moment. That’s the toughest first round matchup and it gets tougher. It doesn’t get any easier under the second round because you can you can all but say that you’ll be seeing the Minnesota Link should you win in the first round. That’s your that’s your route to potentially trying to get to the finals. That’s not easy. There’s no margin for error with that. So, they need to they need to sharpen up in these next six days before the playoffs start and obviously handle your business respectively with these last two games. Well, and this I I don’t want to sit here and be like, “Oh, well, I’m worried about the Sparks tomorrow.” But to your point, like right now the storm is in eighth, but the Sparks are well in hunt of that eighth spot. And you know, all the storm has to do is screw up and all the Sparks have to do is win. Like I know it’s a lot easier said than done, but you know, the Mercury’s had their ticket booked for a long time. The Sparks are playing for something right now. And so, you know, I this is not a sleeper game tomorrow. I saw uh shout out to my good friend David Vanra KP questionable. Rakia is probable for tomorrow. Um, so you know, hopefully you’re playing a fully healthy Sparks team because to be honest, like I want to see this team, especially at least for the first three quarters. Like I want to see competitive basketball between the top seven players on the Mercury versus the top seven players on the Sparks. Like I want to see playoff level basketball because that’s what the Phoenix Mercury are getting ready to be doing in a very short amount of time regardless of if the Sparks are going to be doing so or not. So, they need to hold that the Sparks to that same standard when they walk in to PHX Arena tomorrow. Yeah. I mean, as with every opponent this season, it’s all about Phoenix. How do they show up? What’s the execution look like? What are their activity levels like defensively? Uh, are they being disciplined and defending while not fouling, but also still applying pressure to their opponents? Like, I think that was one of the other things for me in that Connecticut Sun game. Um, and I’m double checking the box score again. they only had 14 turnovers. This is a team that hasn’t been good with the ball um too much and the Mercury are a team that typically forces a lot of those turnovers. Now, to their credit, they won the turnover margin by two, but I think it it felt like Connecticut was a little bit too comfortable with their offense in the half court. And that’s not something that I typically say when the Mercury are playing that close to if not their absolute best basketball. There’s some games where you’re going against Minnesota and they’re just not turning it over, but your defense is forcing them in the late shot clock attempts. So, those operate as good as turnovers because it springs it springboards your defense into the offense. I didn’t see enough of those type of situations playing out in addition to general turnover um turnover rate for the for the Connecticut Sun just not being high. So, they they just got to get back in alignment there. Uh these things happen, but and I think the other thing we also want to include is the uh scheduling context. Uh Kevo, we could go ahead and put the tweet up that I have from postgame on Saturday, but you want to take into account the fact that they only had one day off and then had an early game on the road on Saturday. Um Nate spoke to those games where West Coast teams are playing East Coast teams on the East Coast super early and that the record is severely in favor of those East Coast teams. But also in particular to Connecticut, they’ve had like five or six of those and they’ve only lost like one. So obviously um that’s something schedule adversity wise that matters too. Obviously, I I want to include that part in all of our assessments of that game. I imagine that definitely plays a part in why they started the game so slow. At the same time, though, they still had opportunities to close that game um earlier than crunch time and it felt like those windows where we typically would see would see one of the big three step up in a scoring um in a scoring manner that helps to aid their defense, those moments just didn’t persist in that game. And ultimately we saw the result that we did largely because just a lack of execution in timely moments in particular. And like I want to talk about this before we go to the break because I I have another conversation I want to get in before we do trivia, but um how like we talked about this earlier in the season, probably only like fourish games ago that the Mercury needed these wins in order for at to kind of remain in that spot to like be in the MVP conversation and frankly to be leading it. And so like just from your perspective kind of how has that landscape changed with this loss to the Sun? I mean Vegas has won 14 games in a row. They haven’t lost since I don’t think they’ve lost since Asia came back. I think they did because I’m pretty sure she played in the in the 50point loss to and that was their last game. So that be that being the only game that they lost in. So they I think I believe that’s the only one that they’ve lost. Correct. Uh but you’re right about that. She was she was there for the the 50point loss for sure. Um but 14 in a row and the way that recency bias sways into how voters have factored in all accolades, especially MVP the last couple of years. that loss to Connecticut is kind of that’s a that’s a major blow just because I mean we can Vegas is probably not losing another game the rest of the season and even if they do it’s coming after having won 14 games in a row they haven’t lost in a month like that’s hard to that’s hard to contend and compete with even if you have the second best record over the last uh week or two or last two and a half weeks of play at 8 and two. Um, so I don’t know that’s going to that’s going to sway that’s going to sway things. Um, if if I’m understanding correctly the way that voters have voted past couple of years. Yeah, it definitely felt like the it like felt like my agenda was being sucked from my body and during that game I’m like, yes, what am I to say? So it it really hurt me. Uh, not much more I can even honestly say on it other than it felt like I was the life was being drained out of my, you know, when Edward turns Bella in the Vampire movie. Like that’s literally how I felt. Um, so I it definitely stinks. It blows uh to be honest, but I think her spot on all WNBA first team has been like secured and if it’s not like everybody and their mother is going to be dealing with Erica. Like I don’t know if you guys have seen the meme I made where it’s like you’re marked safe from an Erica Day temper tantrum. Yeah, that will be removed from all of my socials cuz there will be a temper tantrum happening in the flesh. Um, and same thing with all defense. Like honestly, to be honest with you, Stephen, more so for all defense. If she is not first team all defense, I might as well deactivate my account at that point. Like, so that’s kind of how I feel. You think she’ll be she’ll be first team on both sides? Um, I think the MVP part gets tough, uh, just because of all of the context that at hand right now. She probably ends up finishing second if if I’m imagining the way things are going to play out. Um, I don’t have a vote. If I did, she would still be my MVP just because of the entire body of work that this regular season has been. brand new team, um, brand new coach to her and just a bunch of newness and the ways in which they’ve navigated it. Um, for a majority of this season without at least one, if not two of her big three teammates involved with the team just because of injuries and things like that. Um, yeah, she would still be my MVP as of today if I had a vote, but the way everybody else votes and the way that discourses kind of swung the last couple of last couple of days, if not weeks as well, just feels like it’s getting a little it’s getting a little tough as far as the resistance is being met with, but um, doesn’t take away from the greatness of her season in any capacity. Like, it’s still an all-time great season in multiple respects. And uh who knows maybe things swing in a way that we didn’t expect and you know people kind of consider the full body of work that this regular season has been for at Stephen is almost suggesting that the voters are super smart. So I I love that we’re swinging with optimism on this fine Monday afternoon. They’re surprised before. So maybe the other way around. The other race I want to talk about real real quick is because I I’ve long accepted the the C race. I I don’t even want to say the word on this podcast right now because it’ll make me upset. But the executive of the year race, I tweeted about it earlier today. I And here’s the thing. I agree that Donnie Nas is the coach of the year. Period. Point blank. I don’t really even think Carl Smecco has an argument for sure, but I think Natalie Nass wins it. And I I don’t think it’s really like a debate anymore amongst most people. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong, but Nick Uran had to move on from Diana Terasi and Britney Grryer and all of the expectation that came with them. I don’t think people are giving enough weight to the expectations that come with playing for a franchise that has won as much as the Phoenix Mercury. So, I do think there may be a certain you could have the same argument for um Golden State’s GM that I guess you have for Natalie Nicas, but with the expectation piece of it, I don’t think there has been somebody that’s built a better roster under the amount of pressure I I I feel like personally that he probably was under in order to win. They’ve been going after at for over a year. They’ve been going after Dana for over a year. The, you know, receiving getting Kalia Copper in itself was massive. And then you decided in that moment when you got Kalia that you were going to build around her and build a championship contending roster with or without Diana Terrasi, who has been the pillar of your franchise for 20 years. So, I just think the weight of what Nick has been able to do in such a short time, especially when you contextualize the pieces that he did it with, like nobody was talking about Lexi Held a year ago. Nobody even knew who Monica Cole McConey was. And right after the short break here on the page broadcast, I’m going to start talking about the All Rookie campaign for her. And so, you know, you’re you have to contextualize all these things and the amount of times that he the amount of time he had to do this and the amount of expectations that there are in Phoenix compared to and I’m going to say it plain plainly like the an expansion team where really like I can’t imagine that I bet that was the freest year of basketball that those players have ever played because there is no expectation. It’s your first team as a year as a team. If you don’t make the playoffs, literally nobody’s gonna like bat an eye. Nobody’s gonna feel like distraught. No one’s gonna be like, “Oh my gosh, the sink is sinking. The ship is sinking.” That’s what I was trying to say. The sink is shipping. But um you know, if the Mercury don’t make the playoffs, like that’s a completely different story. We’re talking about a team that has won three WNBA championships. So, you know, the expectations are a little bit different here in Phoenix, and he’s lived up to them in a year where people legitimately thought they were not going to make the playoffs. And so, I just think the the delivery has to it it’s been loud. And I think, you know, the question marks around the roster construction were really loud and honestly, rightfully so, in the off season with the context of everything that I just said. But I think that what they did to turn it around cannot be undersold. Yeah. What what Nick has done with everything that was the off season for the Mercury. Um, that was the one award that I felt was most likely just because especially when you get to like the the through the first quarter and you get to like the halfway point of the season, es and flows as far as players and coaches and team um team play is always going to be something that kind of sways and kind of has some some variance in some capacity. But what you did in the offseason is already done at that point. There’s no like and then he went and doubled down and then when it got Deanna Bonner after all of the stuff he did in the offseason. So that was like the cherry on top to everything that he did. I think that’s his um I I don’t see I don’t see I see an argument but I don’t see enough to swing things in that particular race um as far as accolades goes. So that’s a major salute to him. Um, again, multiple teams take swings on international talent. Sometimes the fit doesn’t work. Sometimes the talent just doesn’t translate well and at least not the way that that player was brought over to to be or to play to. That’s not been a problem with everything that he’s done as far as the players he had brought over from the international circuit. Multiple players knocking down four or more threes in a game. multiple players haven’t started and filled and filled voids for the team uh viably doing so. That’s not by happen stance. That’s not by accident. There’s very very intentional um there’s very intentional very much an intentional um decision being made with these pieces coming in as far as them fitting around the big three. And they got to where they are largely because those players have been able to hold up their um the value that they add to the team. Yeah, I I can live with almost all the rest of the awards not happening the way I see them, but that would be one that would have me the the streets would I don’t want to make any threats because I obviously would hate to go somewhere, you know, with bars and be behind them, but like what are we doing? Like do you guys not watch PHX Mercury podcast? like I’m I’ve been giving you the answers all season and this is one that I really just you know and also I want to bring attention to this. Uh I am not not wearing my AT3 MVP shirt because I don’t believe that anymore. That’s not that’s not the case. I was just doing laundry and I wanted to wear black because we were at the you know funeral of the win streak. Stephen’s had enough of my shenanigans. The win streak. The win streak was cool. Um, now what if it I was honestly just happy because you made those rules for the win streak being four games. So I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is a freebie. Woohoo.” It’s true. Um, the best way to get back to it is start a new one in the playoffs. I can only hope that that is the case because I’m I can’t be Thunder Stick mistless much longer. But, uh, we’re going to talk about, uh, actually a little bit more of this awards race after this quick break here on, uh, PHX Marketing Podcast. [Music] Guys, guys, guys, I’ve got to talk to you about my friends over at Mountain America Credit Union. Everyone needs a check-in account, and you can get the checking account with built-in benefit. 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Circle NK, uh, as I so lovingly call it, uh, with the inner circle rewards, man. They will help you go anywhere for a discounted rate. Okay? Okay, you’re going to get 25 cents off a gallon your first five fillups, 3 cents off a gallon on every gallon. After that, you can work your way up into the 5 cent off club. It’s a very exclusive, very fun club to be a part of. Then boom, you get discounts on your Polar Pop, get discounts on your frosters. I’m even seeing here today that they got an inner circle only deal for Gatorades. And listen, I don’t know if you guys heard about this limited edition Page Beckers Gatorade, but I’m I’m not I’m not without hope that they’re going to release it into stores one of these days in Circle K. I’m sure would be the first place that it’s on the floor. So, I I check frequently, you know, periodically just to make sure that it’s not on the Circle K floor to make sure if there’s a Shirley Temple Gatorade, I will be putting my paws on that bad boy. Uh, but anyways, you can join the Inner Circle for free by downloading Circle KF today. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit circlehead.com for details. Stephen, did you see the box that Mercury sent out? Yeah, I saw it. That was cool. The little the little I was about to call it VR, but it wasn’t VR. Uh, but the little the little disc with the with the headset was it was cool. Very creative. I liked it. Everyone’s so creative. Um, may I may I say my piece on it real quick? Go crazy. I thought it was really cool and to your point, very creative, very unique, unlike anyone like anything I’ve ever seen as far as like an awards campaign go. My beef is that the only thing listed next to Alyssa Thomas’ name is MVP. And I think that there’s another award that while I don’t think she’s going to win it because of the other names involved in the conversation, I think leaving her out of the campaign altogether is idiosyncrasy to be honest. It’s like cue the video of me saying idiot, absolute idiot to that comment because it just Alyssa Thomas is an all-time great defender and what she has done for the defense in Phoenix is I mean it’s second to none. Like she’s the connecting piece to everything that they’re able to do here. And so to leave her off of that, leave leave her off of anything in related to the defense, it almost feels like sacrilegious to who Alyssa Thomas is as a player. And like why would you even include her in like send a new box basically is what I’m saying just for Alyssa Thomas. And like I I love what they did for everything else. I really do. And I think Monique Cole McConnie should have also been included as far as all rookie as well. and honestly probably a little Dana Bonner six player of the year disc as well. But my beef really resides in the fact that there was nothing listed about defensive player of the year all defense first team. Like can I get hello? Like are we talking about Alyssa Thomas here? Because like she is the defense the engine for a reason. Like she runs the show. Like so like I really love what they did and frankly I saw it last week and I just had to say nothing for a few days because I I didn’t want to burst at the seams regarding the defensive player of the year piece of it. And maybe it’s my fault. I haven’t said enough regarding her defense on social. It’s our fault. You know PHX Mercury on Twitter. They’ve been tweeting out #AT for MVP too much and we needed to be adding on AT4 for Deepo and I had no idea that that was just a requirement of us. So, uh, now that I know I will be adding it to every Alyssa Thomas related tweet because I guess that’s what we have to do in this house. Uh, I want to make sure that it gets heard what, you know, what value she brings to that end of the floor. Like, and you know, we can have stat watchers bring up the stats all day long and talk about how she is not the best defender on the team. Dude, you’re wrong. Like, watch one game. One game is all it really takes. And so, you know, to your point earlier about like voters can be smarter and like this this can go differently. Like I hope that’s the case cuz frankly it doesn’t take you don’t have to watch 44 games of the Phoenix Mercury to know what value and what you know she brings especially to the defensive end of the floor. But I really really hope that the what she has done is enough because I think that that box it was first of all like why was it so small and then second of all there’s no defense mention anywhere like and I’m not trying to be nitpicky. I’m really not trying to be mean and like Mercury XOXO I love you like but what are we doing here? That’s all. I mean we we to our credit though we have we’ve spoken plenty about Alyssa Thomas being a defensive player of the year candidate for every season that she’s been an MVP candidate prior to the start of the season early in the season. Now, naturally, because of how well she was playing offensively and specific to the offensive end, her taking more shots, her leaning more into unique usage, and that resulted in more playmaking, passing, assisting, floor general impact, and she’s seen in her all-time great career prior to this season. that naturally puts the MVP u conversation on a pedestal in terms of um what you’re prioritizing if we’re looking at Alyssa Thomas’ game this season because she’s acting she’s not acting different in terms of her production and the youage rather but the production on the usage that was already the best playmaker in the W has somehow found multiple new way or multiple ways to double down on the things that were already her strengths and flip those into identity stamping pieces for her team, for her brand new team. She literally does everything. I think just just said it as I was getting ready to in the chat. But yeah, she she’s a she for as for as firmly of an MVP candidate as she is, she’s also very much firmly in the thick of all of defensive player of the year conversations because of the presence that she is, the communication, the activity defensively. Um, the versatility is second to nobody in the WNBA. Um, and I think the way that her team rallies behind when she’s on the floor and when she’s doing those things, it speaks to just the value that she brings. Um, so yeah, I think MVP is MVP should have been take it should have taken president for sure, but shouldn’t have diminished the quality of her defense in any capacity. Maybe I’m wrong and I was actually going to talk about this with you a few shows ago, but I we had a gazillion other things to talk about real quick, but I feel like especially in the recent years where it’s been like fear Asia or Stewie or Asia or Asia and X, you know, or at for that matter, like you’re having this like battle of the monumentous fours for lack better term. And like it kind of feels like Deepo has become like the here’s your second place, here’s your silver. And because of the type of position that is competing for the MVP, like it’s it’s okay in a sense, but like I don’t think it’s going to be okay forever because I don’t think that there’s I don’t think that this position is always going to hold this type of power over the MVP race. And I could be super wrong, but I I don’t foresee that playing out this way forever. I think it’s just kind of been the way the cookie has crumbled. Like Asia’s been the best player in the league for four years, period. Point blank. Like, so everyone, it’s her than everyone else. And so that position is playing up to Asia’s or at least trying really hard to play up to Asia’s level. Uh, but it feels like the defensive player of the year award has kind of like for the last few seasons especially has kind of like fallen to the second place winner and to me it’s kind of like diminished the value of it because I I think it’s just as important obviously MVP like most yes great for sure but like I think it kind of diminishes the value of defensive player of the year because I mean especially on a team like Phoenix where so much of your identity is rooted in the defense like who wouldn’t want to be named defensive player player of the year at that point. If your entire if your team’s entire identity is rooted on that end of the court, I would definitely want to be crowned defensive player of the year. Hell yeah. So I, you know, I definitely hear you. At for everything is the overwhelming like, you know, line that I feel like should have been like pushed to the forefront since June 1st, but I definitely just feel like the defensive player of the year argument is so unique in this sense because of the four argument. And like we’ve we’ve had this conversation a couple of times about the fourth position actually and how it is right now like the best position in the WNBA. So I just think it’s kind of interesting how that’s played out in terms of like first and second and voting and how it’s all kind of worked out. Yeah, I agree. um just don’t want her name to get left out by national media members when speaking about any of these races because she’s her name should be as heavily involved as anyone else’s when it comes to these u end of the season ranks and end of the season accolades that naturally um national media voters will be um chiming in with in terms of assessing their value of one player over another. Give her her just do. She’s earned it. Uh, I love that we got a Big Brothers Big Sisters of America donation and I haven’t even said a word of it. Shout out to Tyler McDall Blanken for his $5 donation. It is Big Brothers Big Sisters month here at All City. We’re trying to get to that 50K goal and they’re at $2,000. So, I’m going to need somebody to step it up. I don’t know if Matt is via one lot of dollar signs is booked up, but maybe he could help us out. You know, I hear he’s got a big account. you know, maybe he could just he just like accidentally Apple pays us a lot of money, but it’s just for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Love that. And then the other thing I got to mention is uh PHX is doing a cool new membership thing. Uh and it’s just $5. So if you’re, you know, already a loyal super chatter of PHX Mercury, uh you can just join, become a member now. You get a little bit of exclusive content. Nothing crazy. So if you’re not doing it, don’t feel bad. It’s just like a little something extra. you know, we’re going to do some like experimental content and stuff over there. So, all you got to do, click the button. I’ve been told that there’s no button on mobile streams. So, I think it’s the first link in the bio. If it’s not, pop on over to your computer, become a member. It’s a lot of fun over here. You get custom emojis. It’s literally why I am a uh you know what is it? What is it on Discord when you’re like a premium member? Yeah, premium. That’s nitro. Oh yeah, that’s why I’m a Nitro is so I can make the most ridiculous uh emojis known to mankind. Uh so on that same note, become a diehard so you can watch out for my insane insane emojis because they’re a lot of fun. Uh and you can become a diehard. I’m pretty sure there’s a sale right now. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure there’s a sale because of the beginning of football season. There will be a flash sale tomorrow for certain. It’s our foury year anniversary at PHNX. I’m going say there’s a sale, but if there’s not, don’t don’t burn me at stake, y’all. Okay? I’m doing my best. I’m just a part- timerr, okay? Uh I’m pretty sure the sale on Dieard membership, 36 bucks on the year. They do it like once a month. So, if there’s not a sale right now, there will be in like two weeks. Patience is a virtue, people. Get a free t-shirt. You get a Die Hard membership card. And you get access to the Discord lounge, like I said, where you can talk to me, Stephen, Kevo. You can berate us about our U of opinions. Apparently Tyler Loop is too protected by U of A media. So you can berate me about that guy in there if you feel like it. It’s up to you. Um the world is your oyster in the Die Hard Discord lounge. So pop on in there. But I’m excited because we got another uh you know tidbit here of Stephen’s trivia. Are we ready for that? Yeah, we can get into it if you you and Kevin are ready. As ever. I’m ready as ever. Kevin, are you ready? Yes. All right. So, first thing we’re going to be taking a look at is post Allstar break. So, Alyssa Thomas has been doing a lot of things. Um, I don’t want to get too specific with this, but I’m trying to I’ve been trying to figure out how I want to how I want to word it or how I want to kind of rank it. We can just do it the We can do it the easy way. So, Alyssa Thomas is top five in rebounds post Allstar break. I’ll give you all top six. Where does she rank in the top six post allstar break in rebounds per game? You said she’s top five. Go. I’m going top six. So, Alyssa Thomas is top six in rebounds post Allstar break. Where do you think she ranks in that top six? And while you guys do a little bit of thinking, I’mma provide a little bit of context. So, is this rebounds per game or total? Rebounds per game. Period. Rebounds per game. So, just looking at her post Allstar break stretch, she has one, two, three, four, she has five double digit rebound games. She has two north of 15 in back-to-back games where she had 16 against the Golden State Valkyries and then 15 against uh the Los Angeles Sparks. U that was in one of those backtoback triple double stretches that she has. So, she’s been getting after it. Uh when she’s grabbing rebounds, naturally that means they’re getting into their offense quicker because it doesn’t they don’t need an outlet. She just grabs it and takes off. adds to that transition and all of the playmaking and all of the offense that they get from transition uh which they play to and get more out of than any other team in the WNBA. So the engine for multiple reasons grabbing boards is a significant piece in that. Where do y’all have Alyssa Thomas ranked in the top six postallar break in terms of rebounding? Third. Kevin says third. Erica fourth. Final answers. Kevin, you sticking with third? Indeed I am. SPG. Erica, you sticking with fourth. I really am. Drum roll, please. She is third post allstar break. Wow. Smiling through it all. Rebounds. I love my life. She is averaging 10.4 boards post Allstar break. Angela Reese’s number one 10 or 12.4. four Asia Wilson number two 10.9 Alyssa Thomas 10.4 at three Camila Cardardoso 9.7 at four Ayah Boston nine at five and Kiki Ian six at 8.8 eight. So at amongst the most elites in rebounding, in addition to playmaking, in addition to points created, which are points scored and points that are compiled from passes from her on the season and post all-star break, um she just continues to find multiple ways to be significantly impactful and effective. Um I just keep finding multiple ways to be significantly more impactful and effective than Erica at trivia. That’s crazy. This is a great game. I love this, Stephen. This guy, this actually is making me feel like steam in my bones. Lot of lot of broken up, a lot of basketball, a lot of game left. You know, we still got still got a couple more rounds, so um y’all want to make sure make sure you stay on your P’s and Q’s. Number two, let me be locked in. Number two, uh post Allstar break, Alyssa Thomas has been top six in terms of steals per game. Where do you all think she ranks within the top six in terms of steals per game in this postallar break stretch? What is this top six nonsense? Stephen, see Stephen trying to throw us off. Top six means she’s in the top six players. I know. I know, but it’s awfully specific, Stephen. It is. Don’t think too much on it. I’m not stressed out last round because he was like he said something about top five and then he moved to top six. So, I’m like, did I miss him top five? in at the very beginning of the last question. So, I was like, why would it be above fit? Like, I was confused, but whatever. It’s fine. I just work here. Um, I’m going to answer first. I’m going to go second. No, third. Gabby Williams exists and I I’m scared of that. Remember, this is the post Allstar break stretch, though, not the comprehensive season. So, that’s the last hint that I’ll be giving on that, but give y’all a little bit of time. Okay, I’m going to go back to second. Hold on. Just give yourself some time to think on it. Give yourself time to think on it. Post Allstar break. Um at has and I’m double checking. I just want to make sure y’all are sureing y’all answers. Um but at has one, two, three, four, five, six. She has eight games with two or more steals. She has one, two, three games with three or more steals post Allstar break. And I mean the steals would count with deflections for some of the steals that she gets. They don’t track those, but she would be like top five in terms of actually top five in terms of uh deflections post Allstar break total and per game if the NB or if the WNBA tracked that. So those things being taken into account post Allstar break stretch. Alyssa Thomas being top six in steals per game post Allstar break. Where does she rank for? Or where do you all think she ranks within that top six? Second. I believe she is third. Final answer. Anybody else want to change anything? Got second from Erica, third from Kevin. Correct. Correct. Drum roll, please. steals per game. She’s fifth post Allstar break. Now, I guess caveatwise do it. No, no, no. We still not done. We still not done. We got a few more. So, you got some opportunity, but you got to you got to get on it. Um technically because Yavon Anderson only played one game post Allstar break, Alyssa will be fourth because one game played in a stretch of where teams have played anywhere from 20 to 22 games post Allstar break. That one game is not going to equate into it. So technically fourth in steals per game post Allstar break, but generally speaking, she’s been one of the best in terms of thefts and picking pockets and all of that fun stuff. If at around on defense, you’re not about to have fun. So no one gets that one. Kevin, you are up one at the moment. Correct. Correct. Okay. Thank you, Stephen. Appreciate that. You want to go two or three more rounds? Two. Two. two. Two it is. Okay. Sticking with specifically the nine teams that are in the playoff race at the moment. So obviously those nine teams being Minnesota, New York, Indiana, Los Angeles Sparks at this present moment. Uh Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, Phoenix Mercury, Atlanta Dream, Golden State Valkyries. You don’t have to remember all of those team names, but just for our audio listeners so that they have an idea the crop of names of teams that we’re speaking about. Nine teams that are still presently in the playoff race. The Phoenix Mercury have been one of the better three-point shooting teams in the WNBA this season. Of those nine teams in the playoff race, where do they rank in terms of three points percentage? three-point percentage amongst the nine teams that are in the WNBA playoffs at this present moment in the race at this present moment. Third, take into account the es and flows and the ways that some games they have it, some games they don’t. The way that factors into the teams that are in the playoff race right now, not the whole league, just the playoff race. So, of those nine teams, Erica, what number you gonna stick with? What number you just mentioned? I’m gonna stick with third. Okay, we’re going back to the well and we’re going to say they’re fourth. Okay, final answers. Anybody want to switch it up? No. Heart is racing. All right. Well, both of you guys are wrong for this one. They are presently seventh of the nine teams in the in the playoffs at this present moment or at least in the hunt for it with three-point percentage at 33.8%. Sticking with the same crop of teams, so nine teams looking at the rebounding numbers per game for each of these teams. Kevin still up one. We got two more rounds including this one. Where do the Phoenix Mercury rank in terms of rebounds per game? So, rebounds per game. Of the nine teams that are in the playoff hunt, playoff race, playoff hunt, however you want to call it, where do the Mercury rank? will politely note Alyssa Thomas being where she was in terms of the um the rebounding numbers that we just got done speaking to individually post Allstar break, but also the emergence of Natasha Mack and everything that she’s been since returning from injury, how that’s heavily played into um the rebounding margin for the Mercury um on the season as a whole specifically. So, where do the Mercury rank amongst the playoff teams in rebounds per game? Anybody got an answer they want to chime in with yet? First. Erica has first. You said of the nine playoff teams over the course of the season or post Allstar break? Course of the season. My mind is telling me fourth. My brain My brain is telling me fifth. I think I’m gonna go fifth. Kevin goes fifth. Erica, which did you pick? You said first. Okay, final answers. Anybody want to change anything? I’m scared. Everybody 10 toes about their answers. Just like a nine and a half toes at least. Nine and a half toes is crazy. The Phoenix Mercury rank number three amongst the playoff level teams at this moment. 34.7 rebounds per game that they’re grabbing. So, we got one more round. Erica, you have one more chance to tie it and we can go into a bonus round. Sticking with the theme of the playoff teams exclusively, we are going to look at the defensive end of the floor. We are going to look at steels. The Phoenix Mercury obviously a team that gets after it defensively haven’t had the most success the last couple of games if not the last week or so in terms of forcing turnovers. A lot of the turnovers they forced come from steals. But they are still fairly good with forcing teams to turn the ball over via their steals and their ability to pick pockets and jump passing lanes and speed teams up. for all of that fun stuff. Where do the Phoenix Mercury rank in terms of steals per game amongst the playoff teams at this present moment? I’m going third. I’m going second. Everybody locked in. Locked in. Dialed in. Be proud of yourself, Erica. They ranked third. Oh my god. in the W amongst playoff teams and steals per game at 7.9 only being outdone by the Minnesota Leaks at 8.1 per game and the Seattle Storm at 8.6. So the three most active defenses that are firmly involved in the playoffs are those three teams. And that’s going to be something that is important to watch for come playoff time because the Mercury can’t be their best if their best selves if they’re not forcing those turnovers and playing into transition. So, we have ourselves a bonus round. Erica at the buzzer knocks down a three. We’re tied in the ultimate series, correct? Like, this is this is for the season here. So, the parody is parody. No, actually, that’s wrong. Uh Kevin has a 2-1 edge over me right now. So, we’re Yeah, we’re actually supposed to do this trivia today and then one more trivia at ne I think mid next week maybe. And or cap off the season. Maybe we can cap off after playoffs is over with trivia. If that’s how you want to do it, that’s cool with me. But just one before you you want to stick with the high hand or you want to Well, no, no, no, no. So, I need to win today for it to be tied for me to have a chance to win on the season. Got you. I have This is an elimination game for Erica. Exactly. This is This is game six. This is to either force the game or go home. Are y’all ready for this one? I’m ready for this. Okay. The Phoenix Mercury amongst the playoff teams for the same crop of nine that we’ve been speaking to. Where do you think they rank in terms of free throw attempts per game? So, we’ve talked about recently the whistle somewhat improving for them, but comprehensively on the season, the whistle has left a lot more to be desired. If Alysa Thomas and Kalia Copper and Satu Sabi were officiated appropriately, they would be at north of 20 free throw attempts per game. because they are not officiated to the extent that they should be in the correct manner. That is, we’ve seen some in inconsistency in terms of how often they get to the free throw line in comparison to the rest of the W and their direct opponents on a per game basis. All of that context being brought into it. Where do the Phoenix Mercury rank amongst the nine teams that are presently with chance at the playoffs? Seventh. And I’m going because the chat is telling me that it’s seven I believe sixth. Is everybody secure in their answer? Anybody want to change? I want to change to whatever the right answer is unless I’m on the right answer. So what the heck does that mean? I want to be right. Stephen, what’s the answer? You tell me. You want to switch it up or you going to No, my answer is six, but am I correct? Okay, Erica, congratulations. You did it. Somebody get me a thunder stick. Oh my god, you did it. What an epic fumble from Sir Postalot. Sir, post a lie is facts, man. That is just good stuff, man. We may have saw a Mercury L, but a buzzer beater from Erica to take the lead. Come on now. In trivia this fine Monday afternoon, it’s about to rain outside. It’s nice. Don’t get better than that. I can’t believe that you’re not Are you really not going to give the chat their their applauds for helping you with that? I was I was gonna if you didn’t answer first, I was literally going to hop in here and do the bit of like I don’t know, but the chat says seven. I’m going with y’all. Those are my people. Those are That’s how you know this chat’s just full of trivia champions. So for our next They wanted me to win for our next two, which will be the deciding ones. Kevin, we will need the chat. The chat can certainly that we want you all to stay involved, but we are going to hide the chat. That is a feature we do have in our powers. Correct. Indeed. So, going forward, the next two, there will be no um calling your friends. There will be no um phoning in. You You got to go off your own toes on this one. You guys can still chat. No, no, no. We’re imploring you all to stay involved. Me and Stephen just don’t want any external influences involved. Correct. uh just for just for the keeping it one versus one part of it. But we appreciate all y’all and I’m keeping an eye on who’s getting these correct and who’s close and who’s wrong. Uh most of y’all are correct or at least in the realm of being correct with it. So, um no surprise we have the most informed podcast um supporters that you could ask for. So, we appreciate y’all chiming in always. Um, I wish there was an interactive way that we could loop y’all in like feature-wise. U, unfortunately, that’s just something that we’re not privy to, at least at this moment. Should we do a cahoot? Can we Is that something we could do for real? We could We could do offseason episodes for sure. Yeah, we could do like an offseason cahoot. That’d be kind of fire. Okay, we can bank that then for sure. Once Kevin and I crown a champion, uh, that person can, you know, mediate the the whole, for real though, Kevin and I are never allowed on Family Feud, whether basketball related or not. We suck at trivia, man. We are terrible at this. Well, I didn’t say the numbers. Um, they’re number seven. 17.8 free throw attempts a game. That number needs to get either it needs to rise closer to 20 or it needs to get more on par with whoever is going to lead the W in free throw attempts per game once the playoff games get rolling in because that’s not a margin that they can be more than four or three behind whoever it is that’s at the top or at least their direct opponent. Um some of that is out of their control. some of it is as far as how they go about defending and being disciplined and adapting to the way that the whistle is being blown. So, be on the lookout for some of these numbers. Uh hoping that trivia is allowing people to be more informed on the kind of strengths and not the strongest points of the team and just the other es and flows of the the the season that the Mercury are having so far. Um we saw some comments about the three-point percentage. It’s not something I’m worried about because the volume that they get up um and I’m double checking this as we speak, they get up the third most threes amongst the playoff realm teams. So, that’s a number that will even itself out even if the efficiency is a little bit lower than others just because they have Alyssa Thomas and Alysa Thomas is going to generate a certain amount of attention that’s going to always lead to the shots that they want to take. But they also play a solid defense that puts them in transition. And that’s the highest quality of three-point attempts that you can get outside of offensive rebounds, which the Mercury are also third in offensive rebounds per game amongst the playoff teams. So these numbers are all aligning. They’re all just kind of informing you on when they play to their strengths, getting stops, whether it be via steals or just grabbing rebounds, playing into transition. They get the three-point shots they want, they knock those down. especially in transition as well as any team in the W and via offensive rebounds. They’re a team that’s been a monster um as Mack has continued to ascend into her own. So, keep an eye out on all these things as we get closer and closer to the playoffs. These are identity stamping numbers for the Mercury offensive rebounds. Um, obviously three-point makes, if not the attempts that they’re getting up just off of the attention that Alyssa Thomas gets and um, steals in terms of how many turnovers they’re forcing their opponents into. All of these numbers matter when you’re looking at and assessing what they look like on a game by-game basis. And more often than not, they’re playing to their strengths. Well, I don’t want to forget to mention this. Uh, tomorrow’s last home regular season home game of the year versus the Sparks. I’m super amped up. Uh, I’m bringing a special guest to the game tomorrow. Um, and Stephen, I guess this is your forewarning that I will not be sitting next to you annoying you the entire game because uh, I will be hopefully sitting next to Mr. Barlstein annoying him up a storm. That’s who I want to spend the whole game annoying. Uh, so wish me luck in my endeavors. If you see me, be nice to my guest. If you say something mean to my guest, not only will you catch these hands, but you’ll catch Kevin’s, too. Bird on the street. But you’re sitting with or next to Mr. B. Well, I’m sitting in the same general area that Mr. Barlstein always sits. So, I’m I don’t know exactly how the seats are numbered over there, though. So, I’m not exactly sure if like I’m right next to him or a few seats down, but I know I’m on the same row. So, you know, if he isn’t familiar now, he will be tomorrow. So, um, but yeah. Oh, all that to say, tomorrow’s clear copper bobblehead night. That’s actually all of that was what I was trying to get out of my mouth is that we will be there. If you want your Yeah. If you’re trying to get your Cle copper bobblehead, dude, tomorrow is the day because I if I have time for that bad boy on eBay, I’ll do it. No free ads for that terrible website, but I will go dude get that thing. So this is the same bobblehead that that had Alyssa Thomas in disagreeance with. Okay. I will I it’s still going to be desired because it’s K, but I’m very curious to see what it looks like in person though. That’s my thing. Well, okay. And the thing is is I at is right like Ka’s hair now is always wavy, but last year Ka’s hair was always straight. Like almost always it was straight. So that’s what she was groaning about is that K has straight hair in the on the g her protein shake. Yeah. But I’m like she always had straight hair last year. But anyways, I I’m excited. I think it’s going to be a fun time. Alyssa was giving very auntie vibes with the way she was assessing and sipping and assessing and sipping. DB was Dana was was in fan mode. She thought it was cute. And Alyssa was the the proud aunt, but the aunt that wants to see more of more inaccuracy. At least she got the gold medal, right? That thing is lit. Like, no but about it. That thing is lit. So, I’m excited. Uh, I’ll post a picture. If I if I come into possession of said bobblehead, you know, I’ll post it so you don’t have to have any questions to yourself wondering, oh, is it accurate to what Khalif Copper looks like? because you’ll be able to find out over on the PHNX Mercury on Twitter. Um, but I’m really excited to round out the end of this regular season. The playoffs are coming and this is what we’ve spent the entire year like getting ready for. Like we knew this was coming. We knew that this team has, you know, the potential to do some really special things. And now here it is. And so, you know, I’ve been talking about that parade I’m planning and now’s the time to get it rolling. So, let’s start the bus. Kevin can drive if he wants. I’m winning the trivia at the end of the season. And honk honk. Yeah. And Max’s on her way to all defense second team. That’s what I’m talking about. See, I just would have thrown in other things is all I’m saying on the box. Like, it could have been could have done so, you know. Anyways, anyways anyways. I’m done complaining. I’m done complaining. I’m done complaining. Have I missed anything tomorrow’s game? Oh, yeah. Um, I predict the Mercury will win, but I do think it’s going to be a close game because of the implications for the Sparks. Uh, I think they’re far greater than that of the Mercuries. I saw that the Dream just beat the Sun, so they’re now locked into third or fourth for certain. Um, but I just I don’t I don’t see it playing out that way for the Mercury. I don’t see them getting third. So, I think as much as it matters for the Mercury, it also matters so much more for the Sparks. So, I think they’ll take it to the wire, but I think the Mercury will end up on top. So, you said you said the dream are locked into third or fourth or second or third. No, but because the dream beat the sun today, the Mercury are locked into the third or fourth, they can’t move up to spot anymore. Yeah, sorry. No. Yeah, they just can’t move up anymore. back to second. They could still move to third, but not to second. Mhm. So, and score. Question for you and Kevin. Would you rather the Mercury stay at four and have to go through the Liberty and um if they beat the Liberty go through the Minnesota Links to get to the finals or would you rather them find a way to get up to three likely via some help from the Chicago Sky and beating the U Vegas Aces and having to go through who would they play? uh Golden State if they’re number three and then have to go up against Atlanta in the second round who haven’t really been too close with going up against in their regular season series. Which route would you rather? Four, five going up against the teams that were in the finals last year or the scrappy Golden State Valkyries that are not going to be a pushover, a walkover in any capacity, as well as the obviously the um Achilles Hill that’s been the Atlanta Dream for the Mercury this season. Um I want the Liberty and and the Lynx. If you’re going to be the best, you have to beat the best. And I think that those are the best teams like comprehensively in the WNBA. Like New York has had its fair share of adversity come late in the season and the injury bug got them late. That’s for darn sure. But I I think that the Mercury have a better chance of beating New York than probably most other teams in a in a series especially. Uh and so, you know, I think they get to start at home. I have good feels about that. I I I would prefer the the Liberty than the Lynx. Um, I think the Lynx is obviously a ter it’s a difficult matchup. Uh, but I think they match up with them decently, especially now that the Mercury is healthy again and not like playing with bits and pieces even when they beat the links. What what was that right before the All-Star break? Satu wasn’t playing then, I don’t believe. And so, you know, I think there’s context even to their good wins this year that their best players haven’t been on the floor. So, I think I would prefer that. What about you, Ko? I think I would prefer option B just because I think it’s easier for the squad and I think that you get the monkey off your back of being able to defeat the dream. I think that’s a big like morale boost for lack of a better phrase, literally. Uh, and you can I think that’s like the one squad all year that I think really has had your number. And I think if you could prove in a playoff setting that you’re better than them, I mean, you know, you’re better than them, who’s beating you at that point? You know, you’re better than everybody else in the league. this is just the one team that’s got your number all year. So, I would rather have option B. I think from an entertainment standpoint value, option A is, you know, fireworks, you know what I mean? The two former champions, that is a crazy uh route to have to take there. So, I would prefer as like a fan that wants to see the team win option B because I think they have a better chance to do it. Uh but option A would be a lot more fun to watch if they could actually pull it off. Does it give y’all ease that they don’t have to face the aces until potentially the finals? Uh oh, we can’t hear you, Erica. Hello. Now we can hear you. Okay, period. Um, sorry about that, guys. Uh, no, I I would I would rather play the aces early to be honest. Uh, but it feels inevitable almost that the Aces are going to go to the finals this year. Like, and earlier this year I had people talking to me about how that Nlyissa trade like they fleeced the the wings. And I was like, you guys are crazy. Like, the aces aren’t the aces right now. Like, let it be what it is. Like, they didn’t get fleeced. I feel like that’s a crazy term to just flow throw around this early, guys. And now I’m like, oh my gosh, maybe they got fleece. like did did they low-key get released? Like that’s crazy. Um just because of what a differencemaker Nelissa Smith has been for the team and like you know on paper it probably doesn’t feel like much if you don’t watch the Aces all the time but if you watch the Aces all the time you know what a like what a plug she has been and very much necessary for what they were doing in Vegas right now. So, I want the Aces at all ever because I think at this point it feels like they’re a team of destiny again. And you’re like, come on, guys. Like, let purple team have a a chance, you know? But whatever. You win. You win some, you lose some in life, you know? I would like to see I would like to see Phoenix get to three some miraculous way. And I say that because you have at one and then at four and then or potentially at four Vegas and Phoenix swap and then at five two of the last champs and then the other team is the third Minnesota that’s been to the finals in this recent stretch of uh of seasons. I would like to see the kind of main stays duke it out on one side of the bracket and then a bunch of new bloods on the other side of the bracket that would align with parody which is what we’ve seen all season long. You get one of the three teams that’s been consistently in that contending realm, if not in the finals the last three seasons, and then you get one new team that’s been really good this season and has played at championship level basketball at multiple moments throughout the season. So, for parody purposes, I would like to see that. But also, I’ve been a person that’s always said as long as Phoenix is playing their best basketball, they can give anybody the best punch that any other team could possibly give them. It would feel, I guess, right in a basketball sense. if they had to figure out how to get it done against the M or against the Atlanta Dream in a five a five game um five game series best of five um with all of the chips and a a trip to the finals on the table. Storylinewise, Britney Grinder going against her former team. That’s that’s a lot of fun. Also storylinewise, Mercury haven’t won a single game against the Atlanta Dream all season. Can they figure it out? Parody is parody Garner. Stephen Parody Garner. But I would like to see I would like to see the standing shake out that way. I think another Vegas and Vegas and Liberty playoff series would do crazy numbers. U and then naturally either one of those teams going up against the Minnesota Links would be fun as well. Um that’s the way I would like to see it shake out. Um, but those things are not really in our control. We just got to kind of wait and see how it shakes out. So, looking forward to the Mercury getting back on track in tomorrow’s game and obviously in the final game of the regular season. I do think they win convincingly tomorrow. They probably take out some anger from having lost that game against Connecticut in their final home game of the regular season slate of games. give the home crowd something to be um confident about regardless of who they go against in the first round knowing that they’ll be hosting on Sunday. So, give me the Mercury winning by 20 tomorrow against the Los Angeles Sparks. I don’t think they’re going to come in and be messing around in any capacity. I think they’re chomping at the bit to get the taste of Saturday’s loss out of their mouth. And what better way to do that than also crush another team’s playoff hopes uh in that process. Uh that would be very much on brand with the Mercury as they want to go and get back in alignment with that team that’s been one of the best in the W all season long. So do they finish the regular season on a twoame win streak, Erica? They better. Yeah, they they if they don’t, Friday’s episode is going to be really dark and gloomy. So, and you’re not going to be here to bring it back to Earth. So, I’m going to need them to figure it out. Kevin can only do so much in terms of Erica’s attitude. correction. And so, yeah, without Stephen, a twoame win streak is necessary. I can’t have that. I can’t have losses and a show without Stephen. That just can’t be like how we end the season, you guys. So, figure it out. Get the jobs done. I don’t really care about, to be honest, I don’t care if they win by one or 51 as long as they win both games uh to close out the season. Uh, I don’t I I said it last week on the Wings pod. I really really really really really do not want the Mercury to be the team that gave the Dallas Wings their 10th win of the season. That would make me very upset. I have been subjected to some terrible Wings basketball this year. And I do mean terrible. Like when they talk about terrible basketball, they literally might as well put Dallas Wings next to him in the in the dictionary because that’s what I’ve been subjected to for 42 games now this season and then you’re going to come out in game 44 and what my team on the way to the playoffs. Hold your horses. No. So they better not be giving nobody their 10th win uh later this week. So yeah, I care a lot less about the game tomorrow. Obviously, I’m going to be there. I’m going to be in person, so I love watching the team win, and it makes me grumpy when the team loses. But, frankly, if they lose against the Wings, I’ll I’ll have to h I’ll have to duck and cover, dude. Like, that’s not cool. Uh to answer a question in the chat. Um, this brings up something that Nate mentioned, I think it was pregame. Um, it might have been postgame, but I think it was pregame on Saturday that they would he would be kind of keeping the the rotation at eight or nine in Saturday’s game and then we’ll open it up a little bit more just to kind of balance out minutes, give players a little bit of rest in some capacity going into this final week ahead of the playoffs. So, you might see someone like K Locka get some minutes who hasn’t been in a rotation the last maybe two and a half to three weeks now. Um, that mean that might mean Khani Brown gets some minutes. That might mean Lexi Hill gets more minutes than she did on uh Saturday. That might mean someone else potentially gets some minutes that hasn’t been playing too much the last couple of weeks. So, be on the lookout for that. Uh over these next two these next two games, I feel like they’re going to open things up a little bit. Scale back at minutes. She’s been playing about 33ish minutes the last couple of weeks as they’ve kind of shrunk the rotation to eight, but that’s just a primer for the playoff rotation and kind of hammering home those things. Uh, so be on the lookout for that. Imagine everybody’s going to get a chance to put the ball in the basket. Feel good about themselves going into the playoffs and then at that point it’s be ready when your number’s called. Yeah. Kiana Williams is going to see me sitting courtside. She’s going to be like, “Remember 2021 when we won a national championship over the University of Arizona.” That’s what just what I envision tomorrow playing out for me. She’s going to come in, hit a three, boom. Remember that, Erica? Yeah, girl. I do. I think about it frequently. Thank you so much for asking. Um, but yeah, I’m excited. It’s going to be a fun week of Mercury basketball. We get to wrap this up and then boom, postseason awards hopefully come out over the weekend. Y’all should see the list of graphic requests I put in uh over the weekend. It’s quite lengthy, so you know, I hope that I get to use at least a couple of them. Voters, I’m asking politely. Please let me use a couple of them. Uh, yeah, be sure to leave a like. I haven’t said that one time in this whole episode, and for that, I am so sorry. Leave a like. five star review wherever you get your podcast. Uh we really appreciate you guys tapping in with us all season long. But as we enter the final stretch here, playoff basketball, like it’s just going to keep getting better and better. And word on the street is that we’re going to be doing post games for every game in the playoffs. So you haven’t seen The Last of Us. What? Uh but you can follow him post games and potentially some more fun. Heavy on the more fun. I [Laughter] you can follow this guy over at StephenpG3 on Twitter. You can follow me at Eric Lee Day. You can follow our wonderful producer Kevin Post. You can follow all of us together having a hoot and a holler on Twitter at all times at PHX Mercury. And we will be back with you guys on Friday at 11 a.m. Thank you for watching. [Music] [Applause] Like the mayor.
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Alyssa Thomas broke the single-season assist record (again) in the Phoenix Mercury’s loss to the Connecticut Sun — a game that ended what could have been a 7-game win streak heading into the WNBA playoffs. We break down AT’s historic night, how the Mercury let a winnable game slip away, and what this means for their playoff positioning.
2:30 – Win streak snapped
22:00 – Executive / coach of the year
42:00 – SPG Trivia
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