Collier didn\u2019t hesitate to put the \u201824 Finals in the pantheon of the great series in league history, but stopped short of giving any gas to the idea of a rematch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a completely new team, so it doesn\u2019t feel like a rematch of 2024,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a new season for us. This is a new path to a championship, so I think we\u2019re just focused on whoever we\u2019re going to play today and making sure that we\u2019re coming out ready. Because it\u2019s about how our team is preparing. I don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s a rematch. It\u2019s a new season, a new team, and we\u2019re coming out trying to be the best versions of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu<\/a>, whose game-winning 3-point shot in Game 3 was one of the defining moments of that Finals, did admit to the matchup feeling like a \u2018rivalry,\u2019 but also that this series is its own opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cI love it,\u201d Ionescu said to reporters after New York\u2019s regular season finale. \u201cThere\u2019s obviously a rivalry with having played them in the Finals and having won. They\u2019ve been the best team all year, and we haven\u2019t, but now we get the opportunity to go out and upset a one seed, and that excites us. We know we\u2019re not a traditional eight seed. A lot of things didn\u2019t go our way. The regular season is what it is in the standings. But now we have an opportunity; it doesn\u2019t matter what seed you are, you\u2019re just playing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Collier, Dorka Juh\u00e1sz<\/a>, Kayla McBride<\/a> and Courtney Williams<\/a> are the only players still on Minnesota\u2019s roster who participated in the 2024 Finals. When asked if any conversations were taking place about what happened two years ago, Reeve didn\u2019t mince words.<\/p>\n \u201cNot at all,\u201d she said. \u201cNot at all. As [my son] Oliver would say, \u2018That\u2019s so 2024, mom.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women\u2019s Sports Daily Olivia Miles\u2019 playoff debut<\/p>\n The sure-fire choice for WNBA Rookie of the Year will be tasting professional playoff basketball for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely really excited,\u201d Miles said Saturday. \u201cI\u2019m excited to just feel the energy and the crowd at Target Center. It\u2019s always electric in there, but I can\u2019t imagine what it\u2019s going to be like tomorrow. I\u2019m excited to feel the physicality of the game. Obviously, feel it out, see how the refs are calling stuff, see how I can get to my spots and help the team as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Miles knows she hasn\u2019t experienced anything quite like the challenge of navigating playoffs in the WNBA yet. As the intensity ramps up, and the opponents become familiar over the course of playing each other several times in a short time frame, Reeve wants her young point guard to know that playing with the same steady hand will continue to serve her well in the postseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, obviously she has no idea what this feels like,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cThat\u2019s the thing that she\u2019s asking. You know, never too high, never too low is a really good space and so we\u2019re going to be around her to do that. You don\u2019t have to take it all on. Being competitive is fine. I think for her, combining her intelligence with her competitiveness is a really good space.\u201d<\/p>\n As she has throughout her outstanding rookie season, Miles has impressed the veterans around her with her curious nature and drive to solve any problem in front of her.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s so inquisitive,\u201d McBride said after Minnesota\u2019s regular season finale. \u201cShe\u2019s just like a little sponge. She wants to know everything. That\u2019s what I appreciate about her. I think the biggest message that I\u2019ve given her is just feel the energy. She\u2019s such an instinctual player. She\u2019s obviously so cerebral and talented. But playoffs are different, so just keeping her energy contained in the right ways and also letting everything loose. <\/p>\n \u201cWinning a championship is the hardest thing, so you have to find joy in how hard it is. I think that\u2019s what she\u2019s learned over these last 10 days watching us go through this adverse situation. I\u2019m kind of glad that it happened that way. I don\u2019t want her to [think] that everything is easy. When we get there on Sunday, it\u2019s 0-0. I think she feels that more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n Miles has faced heavy pressure in matchups with the Liberty so far this season. Whether she\u2019s 94 feet from the basket or driving with a head of steam for a layup, New York has tried to make things as uncomfortable for her as possible. In three contests against the Liberty, Miles was held to 16-of-50 from the field (.320), her lowest shooting percentage against any team<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey want to disrupt me full court, whether that\u2019s [to] get in my head or push me off balance, whatever it may be,\u201d Miles said. \u201cI also don\u2019t mind it. If it allows one of my teammates to get an advantage, or get someone in foul trouble, it\u2019s helpful. I\u2019m kind of used to it at this point. I know it\u2019s going to happen and I trust my teammates to be there for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women\u2019s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women\u2019s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!<\/p>\n
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