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Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of sports prep live, prep live, where we unbox the mic and talk excellence in athletics.

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Welcome back to sports prep live. I'm Greg and Prescott. Today we have another episode of the prep talk. I'm Greg and Prescott KB you know what it is? We're ready to go. KB How you been?

Unknown Speaker 0:54
Good. Good. Glad to be back. Looking forward to today's conversation. A lot of good stuff to cover today.

Unknown Speaker 1:00
Absolutely. Absolutely. So let's dive right into it. First thing we're going to talk about today we haven't been on since the Asus won their championship. Yes, Aces secured back to back championships. That the first team since the 2002 la sparks in back to back championships. What are your takeaways? 20

Unknown Speaker 1:18
years 20 years since that's happened? Yeah, I did watch the entire series. Those first two games, obviously, the ACES got out to a really good start here at home on the first two games. Really It wasn't much that you could you could offer from the standpoint of New York Liberty, I think they just needed to bring in a whole new slate and you know, try to figure out their game plan for for game three when they got back to to Brooklyn, and they did that they got absolutely game three was really good for them. I think gave them a lot of energy gave him a lot of confidence after it had been taken and games one and two. Yeah. Everybody from the aces and games one and two, I felt had really good games. You know, the point guide, Chelsea, Chelsea Gray was just incredible. Kelsey Plum was hitting her shots. Also making good passes. Can't say enough about you know, the MVP, you know, Asia Wilson was just dominant. And they had all of their starters. And then, you know, to go into to game four and a little bit of game three. Yeah, the

Unknown Speaker 2:32
end of game three there. Yeah.

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They lost a couple of key a stokes was out. And you know, Glinka Chelsea Gray was out coming into the game for a lot of people anticipated that New York was going to tie it up. Yep. So just to see them grind it out in that game for I was certainly surprised, you know, by what I saw from from the aces to have to roll players on. And big shout out to us. And I know we're going to talk about her in a little bit. Sidney Colson. You know, her defense was just incredible. Didn't give them a lot on the on the offensive end of the ball, but guarding one of the best guards in the WNBA and Sabrina Ionescu. For her to hold Sabrina in check the way she did, you know, from the scoring standpoint, I just thought was unbelievable. And to do it when I got a couple of games earlier, Sabrina had told her to get her a to the bench. Yeah. So I know. You know, Sydney was motivated, and she probably came in with a little bit of an attitude. Yep. And did a really fantastic job of locking her down. And I think we're at not for that role player. They may have been in to a game five.

Unknown Speaker 3:51
Yeah, absolutely. One of my biggest takeaways was I think Asia Wilson proved herself as the clear, best women's player. She should be Yeah. So not Sabrina. Breanna Stewart obviously, right. She won the MVP. Asia didn't feel too good about that. And I think this final series Asia really proved herself to be the not only the superior player, but the MVP of the league. When you look at how they faced each other when they were guarding each other, you know, Asia really outperformed. Briana in all facets of scoring but you know, rebounding assists defense, field goal percentage defensive rating offensively Aysia really outperformed her in every aspect of the game. We had her fingerprints on everything. And I think this series would have been a lot closer had some or Brianna played better, but with Asia defending her for a large percentage of the time, it just wasn't going to be as easy and he has obviously two time Defensive Player of the Year now as well. She's one of the best defenders in the league and Briana struggled with Asia guarding or so my biggest takeaway was age Wilson is, I think far and away the best player in the world

Unknown Speaker 5:03
not not only that gray, I think, you know, Asia had a dual responsibility down there sometimes she was on Briana. Now I know that they tried to have oh man, what's her name here? No. Alicia, they tried to have Alicia Clark guard because they played together. They did. And they were team championship so and so Alicia knows her very well. So they tried to have Alicia Clark guard her at different stretches in the game. But Alicia did have to guard Brianna and she had to guard John calzones and to go up against that two headed monster and to still be efficient, both defensively. And offensively. I think you're right. I think she proved her mettle. I think a lot of people who voted Breanna Stewart and shout out to Brianna she's a Hooper. But I think that people got a little bit forward on their skis when it came to that MVP voting for the regular season. And I think that Aja Wilson probably took that took umbrage at that probably took that as a slight, like, Yo, what are you doing here? It is still me. Yeah. And she proved that decisively in this series. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 6:12
And with the aces in the Liberty, they're obviously far and away the two best teams in the league. Going forward, I think you can see them matched up in the finals a few more times. But I don't see a reason why the ACES could be knocked off anytime soon. They won the championship in game four, with their point got out with their starting center out. And a lot of people are saying, Oh, they missed two starters. And we'll know they missed three of their starters from this year because Candice Parker had the foot injury from mid season and they still continued to be the best team in the league and won the championship, down three of their best five, six players.

Unknown Speaker 6:50
Well, I think that you know, during the regular season, New York played them well. But I it appears to me that what New York did not account for was that some of the struggles that the ACES had was just in adjusting like you say it without Kia Stokes without Candice Parker and then without Chelsea gray. Yeah. That's a big adjustment to lose three of your starters, two of your perennial starters, two of your starters from last year's championship team. That's a huge adjustment. And so when you lose Candice Parker when you lose Kia Stokes, and I know that Kia was available for some of those games, you know, that the two teams had, but Candace certainly wasn't in to lose her. That's a big adjustment. And so I think it took a little bit of time for the ACES just to kind of ground themselves. But once they figured it out, Oh, yeah. It was over at Katie bar the door. So I think that maybe going into next year, they're not going to have this this overconfidence, which may have been what KELSEY PLUM was alluding to when she talked about, you know, the lack of chemistry in from her perspective on that New York Liberty team. Yeah, they've got a bunch of great individual players. But how well do they play together? How well do they move as a unit? Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 8:12
Sydney, Coulson and Sabrina kind of got into it. Yes. In that series, Sydney was talking a little bit that Asus were up to, they were beating the liberty by 30 Something points Sabrina says take your to the bench a to bench Yes. And that trash talk is something that is kind of controversial in women's sports. You see, a lot of times in the men's side where people trash talk and they literally, Draymond Green this year, stomp on people's chests and nobody takes umbrage to that. But then, at the same time, you get a little bit of trash talk on the women's side, and there's a lot there's a much bigger backlash to correct that trash talk. And I think that is something that as society continues to move on, as sports continue to develop, that should end up going away. Because, you know, at the end of the day, it's sports and people are gonna have to wait two weeks, your athletes or athletes. And it's just as competitive as the men's side. It's just, you know, you're not having people dunking and windmills but it's basketball. Russians are still Yes, basketball. Yes, they're still high stakes. They're still pride involved. They're still teams that maybe not don't like each other a lot involved. And I think that trash talk is something that we have seen a lot more of on the women's side with Kelsey Plum and Jonquil Jones, which we'll get to right, with Sidney Coulson and Sabrina and Caitlin Clark, waving off Raven Johnson.

Unknown Speaker 9:46
Haley van live, she got out a little bit and then of course, the very famous Angel Ranger which we've

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talked about a lot. What are your What are yours? What's your take on this?

Unknown Speaker 9:57
I think you're absolutely right. putting your finger on something that is percolating out there in society. I think that these women are fantastic athletes. They put as much work in as anybody else has any male Hooper. And this is independent of sports, whether it's golf or tennis, youth basketball, you name it, these women are working just as hard as the men, and sometimes even more so. And I have seen that backlash. You know, it's, it's funny I, a couple of weeks ago, we were posting some stuff on sports prep lives Twitter page, now called the x. And we saw that slam was doing a poll. And they were basically asking about Hooper's, who should be on the cover of the upcoming issue of SLAM magazine. And so we responded, based on the year that this individual had, Caitlyn Clark, we don't think Caitlyn has been on that magazine cover as of yet. And the sheer number of guys that came at us because we would dare posit the name of a female Hooper for the cover of SLAM magazine, and not as if she would have been the first it's just that based on the year she's had, it's really deserving. They came at us pretty aggressively, I mean, foul language and everything, and started to talk about the fact that these are women, and they weren't real Hooper's. And no one is interested in female helpers. And I'm probably more invested in sports, then, you know, these, these basement analyst, you know, thumbing away on their phones. You are probably more invested in sports. And not probably you're you're certainly more invested in sports. So we we get a broader swath of what people genuinely feel about athletes in general. And so I mentioned to this person and I wish I had their handle at at my disposal, because I would put a put him on blast. I mentioned, you know, it's it's odd that you would have that take, because there is Kobe Bryant who was a true fan. There is Kevin Durant, who is a true fan. There is LeBron James, who is a true fan of the women's game. There is cp three DEVIN BOOKER, I could go on Steph Curry. And so for a guy to have the take that no real guys are really interested in women's sports, I thought was just beyond the pale. And so when I mentioned that to him, his response was, Well, they're only doing that for for PR, right that the NBA is compelling them forcing them to take that view publicly, to make everything nice. So yeah, I do understand that that view is out there. It is erroneous, it's wrong. I enjoy watching female Hooper's. There's some of the purest shooters in the game. Ask Sabrina Ionescu. Yeah, she did have a three point contest. So yeah, I think that trash talk has to be recognized as just a product of the game, male or female. If you're an elite Hooper or an elite athlete, and you're in the throes of competition, that's going to come out male or female,

Unknown Speaker 13:19
right. And I think some of the best examples of that are what took place, of course with Caitlyn, but an example that doesn't get talked about as much as Diana Taurasi. And Skylar, yeah, that issue escalated, they almost came to blows. Skylar is no longer with the team. While she she's technically still on the roster, but she has not she's been away a long time. Yeah, she hasn't been she hasn't participated in any team activities and close to two years. Yeah. So yeah, those those trash talking incidents and women's sports, they're, they're gonna keep coming. And I think we, we need to stop having as much backlash as there has been, because at the end of the day, it's athletics and athletes or athletes. Yeah, it's a competitive game.

Unknown Speaker 14:04
And I think guys, and I'm really calling out guys here should stop viewing that exchange that competitive exchange between women. As you know, caddy, right, you know, it's not Catty, it is just hard fought competitive sports. And no one wants to lose. Yeah, everyone wants to win. Everyone has that that passion and that fire independent of your gender. And so hopefully, in the next few years that goes away as players as players on the female side demonstrate, we've got this right. We are no worse than than the men are in terms of, you know, our elite prowess at our given sport. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 14:46
I'm great impressed got here. Sports prep live. I'm here with kB we're doing another episode of the prep talk. Yes. And we're discussing trash talk sexism in sports. A Just going back to back, let's move to some of some instances that we've seen of sexism in sports. You and I had a discussion recently. We were talking about a cover of Sports Illustrated, RIGHT. Jimmy Butler was on the cover on the cover. Yes. That issue of Sports Illustrated. Shout out to Jimmy Butler. He had a great year made it all the way to the finals, how to notes. Yeah, he had a great playoff run.

Unknown Speaker 15:31
KB, you had an issue? I did?

Unknown Speaker 15:32
Yes. Go ahead. And tell me again, what that issue again.

Unknown Speaker 15:37
So this goes on the heels of, you know, that poll that slam put out and asking who should be on the cover of the magazine? Now one person in that poll in that response to us? It did make an interesting point. You know, their position was, why would they put a college basketball player, independent of gender on the cover of the magazine when the NBA is about to kick off, right? And so I thought, okay, that is a reasonable argument. But to look at Sports Illustrated, and Jimmy is on the cover, yep, there is a cover story within the magazine. But then there's a larger spread a larger story within the magazine about, you know, the aforementioned Caitlin Clark. And my question is, if you're going to put someone on the cover of that magazine, and you're putting them on the cover based on accomplishment, what did Jimmy Butler accomplish in the last year, that would warrant him being on the cover? And if you compare that to what Caitlin Clark accomplished in the last year, in my estimation, it's not even close. It's not like you put your kids on the cover who won an NBA championship? Right? It's not like you put Steph Curry on there who I think led the league in scoring again. But to put Jimmy Butler on there, as great as he is, and I know he's a closer but he wasn't a closer last season when it came to the championship. I just found that that a little bit wanting and I think that contributes to the feeling from a lot of folks that what do women have to do to get the same level of respect, because there hasn't been a player, male or female that has had the kind of year that Caitlyn Clark had this year? In a very, very, very long time? Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 17:35
And we, we went back and forth about that. I am one who believes that Caitlyn, of course, she'll end up on the cover of Sports Illustrated, her time will come. She had a very, very good article written about her in the magazine. I think I understand that right now. That's the issue. tip off NBA season. This season is just getting started. I think I understand their thought process of putting an NBA player on the cover. And Jimmy did make it to the finals. Last year, he had a great playoff run, knocked off Yanis. And then they won 58 games, made it through the plan, first play in team to make it to the finals, all these things. So I understand why Jimmy would be on the cover. And why they would maybe wait a little bit because, you know, Paige Becker's has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated as well. That's a women's college player right now. But I think specifically this issue, they were putting an NBA on the cover NBA player on the cover, just because there was the NBA season is kicking off right now. And the women's college season doesn't kick off for another couple of weeks.

Unknown Speaker 18:50
True, but then I would my retort to that would be there was April and May in June and July, and August and September. Still, it may be October, that might have been a November issue. It's

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the offseason. It's the offseason. True, true. True.

Unknown Speaker 19:09
All of that is true, but I think that her performance warranted some recognition it did by the publications, and I just don't feel I've seen her in a lot of things. But I haven't seen her grab, you know that that holy grail that they all that is most sought after, and that's the cover of the magazines.

Unknown Speaker 19:29
I've seen Caitlin and a lot of advertisements. Yes, she Yes, she's getting recognition. Yes, she is. She's got her. She's got her an IL deals with Nike high V. She just did one with State Farm. So Caitlin is getting recognition and indeed she is her cover athlete. her or her cover will come without question. I think just right now, starting off the NBA season. Obviously you're gonna want an NBA player and Why not put a pretty well known NBA player? I mean, LeBron has been on the cover a million times. Steph Curry has been on the cover a million times. I'm sure they asked Yogesh to be on the cover. But what do you think he is gonna say? Yogesh wants to be in Serbia riding horses all day. Right? So he's he doesn't want

Unknown Speaker 20:15
to do it. Well, I will come back to you in a few months, you know, when the college season is really underway, and see if your opinion has changed. Unless, look. No, no,

Unknown Speaker 20:27
I never said that. Caitlyn doesn't deserve to be on the cover. Yeah, listen to me. Yeah, I'm just saying cific issue right now the NBA season is kicking off. And I think it makes sense. You're gonna get the most sales off of an NBA player being on the cover NBA preview, what what will unfold this season our predictions, yada, yada, yada. It makes sense to have an NBA player just from a marketing perspective. It makes sense to have an NBA player on the cover right now.

Unknown Speaker 20:54
It may grating but 12 million viewers is a lot of viewers just

Unknown Speaker 20:58
wait till we get to the to the women's basketball scene. Fair enough. Fair enough. Right? You just got to be a little bit patient. Yes, you can come back to me in a few months. Also, when a few months public service announcement, I will have my driver's license in a few months. Okay. I'm very excited about that. I'll be turning 16 I've been looking forward to having my license for a long time, but I never really thought about what car I wanted. Right. So a few days ago, my parents took me to a dealership. Okay. And I took a Ford Bronco for a test drive. Yeah, it's it's it's a really nice car, a lot of different colorways. And it's very similar to what's a Jeep Wrangler? Yeah, it's very similar to a Jeep Wrangler. It drives very nice. It's enjoyable. It's got some room to it. I think it would be a great family car, a great car for athletes who need to have their you know, basketball, football, lacrosse, hockey, whatever gear, right? It's roomy. It's fun to drive. I took it for a test drive. That was fun. Okay. Yeah, I had I had a great time. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 22:06
that seems like it's interesting that you say that because that seems like an athlete or a high school or college players to like, optimal vehicle, right? I seem like I see a lot of young folks in you know, the Ford Bronco, you know, it's got to, and they've completely changed. You know, the, the history of the brain. And because it's it has a very infamous history, which we will discuss here, even though it's kind of related to sports. Yeah, it has an infamous history. But I think what the target demo that they're going after right now. They've really kind of done an excellent job of kind of vacating? You know what, people like me, you know, my age group. Remember about the Ford Bronco, but good for you. I'm glad to hear it. And I think it's a really good car. So you're gonna have a lot of basketballs in the back. Oh, of course. Golf clubs.

Unknown Speaker 22:55
Yes. A golf club. Got it. Got it. Yeah. And I didn't ever think I would want to try out. Ford Bronco when I was younger, but I gotta say I was impressed. I was very impressed.

Unknown Speaker 23:07
It's a very cool car. I've never been in one. But I liked him. I liked the colorways that they have out. So it's a very cool vehicle. And I think you're probably your target demo. That's probably why you like it.

Unknown Speaker 23:18
Yeah. The only thing I didn't like about it was my mom breathing down my neck about my test drive. Yeah. All right. So we've talked about the aces. Going back to back, we've talked about sexism and women's sports. We've talked a little bit about trash talk. And then there's another story with trash talk that you touched on a little bit, but we didn't really get into detail. Yep. Kelsey Plum after the Asus won the championship. This isn't a direct quote, but I'm paraphrasing a little bit. She said something along the lines of You can't just throw players together and call it a super team. Right? They were playing as individuals, not as a team, they were playing for themselves, selfish or whatever, correct. Not as a team. Whereas the aces, they've, they came up together, they they were drafted, home grown, they move as a unit, right? So they're a team. They Yeah, they move as a team. And Jonquil Jones took umbrage. Yes, she did. She wasn't happy. She responded to Kelsey. So that's just another instance of trash talk. And you can go into more detail. In fact, I want you to take the floor here and go into a little bit more detail about what that was.

Unknown Speaker 24:36
I really don't think that there was a big problem with what plumb said. Yeah, it is true. They were constructed the New York Liberty to face off against a super team and credit to the general manager that thought, hey, in order to compete with the aces, we're going to need to have a baller at spot 123 four and five. So the idea is the right idea. But I don't know that you're going to be able to pull a championship out of that in year one. Yeah, that's true. And so for Plum, I think she was simply giving voice to that reality. I don't know that it was meant as a dig to the aces. You know, she's in a conversation. They're asking her about things. And she gives a real statement about this is not easy to do. It isn't just having great players in positions one through five, yeah, that those great players need to understand each other where they like, where each other likes to get the ball, what are their preferences? What are their idiosyncrasies, how do you communicate with, you know, each of the other four players on the floor? If I if I'm one of those, those five, the aces have figured that out? Yeah. And they figured it out, because they've done it for so long together. Yeah. And so I was a little bit surprised that John Cale was so offended by her comments. Now, Chelsea did come out Archit, Kelsey, Chelsea did come out and defend her teammate, and Kelsey did come out and clean it up a little bit. But the point still stands. I don't even view that as trash talk. I think that was just a recognition of, hey, this is the stage that they're at. They have the personnel, but now they have to get that personnel on the same page. If they're going to want to win championships. Yeah. And if John Keel Jones doesn't realize that she's going to be mired in the same situation that she is in now, which is getting close, but not getting to her final goal. And

Unknown Speaker 26:36
here's another thing about that. I don't think a lot of people agree with what I'm about to say, but I'm gonna say it anyways, because I think it's true. Aja Wilson said that they are not a super team, that a super team is constructed through free agency and built just to win championships. And of course, each team is trying to win a championship and I agree. I don't think the aces are super aces are a homegrown team in New York Liberty, no, the aces are not a super team. Aces are not a super here's why I say this. I think they're the best team in the history of the WNBA. I think they have one of the best players in the history of the WNBA. And I think they are going to continue winning championships. Here's why I don't think they're a super team. They didn't sign KELSEY PLUM in free agency. They didn't sign Aja Wilson in free agency. They didn't sign Jackie young and beautiful and grown. They drafted those three. Yes. Chelsea Gray was acquired through free agency. Okay, that's one. But the rest of the the rest of the players that were really in that core of the team that won them the championship. I'm talking about playoff rounds, aside from Candice. We got Jackie young, homegrown Asia Wilson homegrown key Stokes, homegrown. Right, Chelsea plum, homegrown, right. So all of those players are homegrown, homegrown talent. That's why I don't think they're a super team. You if when throwing a team together, that's a quote unquote, soup, or at least an attempt at creating a soup, right. That's what the Liberty tried to do. And the Brooklyn Nets tried to do. Yeah, a lot of people know about that Brooklyn situation. I don't think we need to get into details. All right. Yeah. So that's my opinion on the Asus. And I think they're gonna continue to say

Unknown Speaker 28:19
that I disagree with that. That was a really good assessment. I actually cannot say that. I disagree with that.

Unknown Speaker 28:24
All right. Well, this was another very, very interesting episode of the prep talk. KB. It's been great having

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you here. It's always fun to sit across from you. Of

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course, of course. All right. Thank you, everybody, for tuning into this episode of sports prep live. I'm grading Prescott. As always, have a great day, everybody. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of sports prep live. I'm grading Prescott and don't forget to catch all of our episodes on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter at sports rep law. Thank you

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