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

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Welcome back to sports prep live. I'm your host, Graydon Prescott, as the as was the case last week. There's a lot going on in Las Vegas sports right now, WNBA and college football specifically. So I got my man. KB, here we're going to talk about it first. KB, welcome to the show. Great to have you as always, always. Good to be back all right, and now let's first talk about UNLV football game against Syracuse last Friday, Hajj. Malik Williams, again, brilliant of 21 for 25 227, yards, three touchdowns. The one interception might have been very costly, but you know, a lot of things happen in a football game, so you can't just blame one play, right? They lost the game by three in overtime to a very talented Syracuse team. All in all, good performance from UNLV. I'm very satisfied with this one. I agree. I couldn't agree more. Haj, Malay came in, did his thing second game in this season. That was game five for the program. They are now four and one, still a really solid record, better than almost any season that they've ever had. So I continue to look for great things from him, like you said, he led the rebels. 21 of 25 completed passes. 84% yes, 227, yards. Again, I think you mentioned three touchdowns and only one interception. So really powerful game from him. I can't wait to see him. You know, for the rest of the season, they did their thing, but I know that there is a lot to be discussed on the show today. So we just wanted to cover UNLV. Shout out to the rebels, but we got to keep pushing. Yep, and you know, UNLV, they got a bright season ahead of them. Who doesn't have a bright season ahead of them, or who did not have a bright season behind them? Yes, sir, the Las Vegas aces, I have some things to say, but first, we're going to recap what happened in their series against the New York Liberty. They lost three games to one. Lost the first two games in New York, and then they came to Las Vegas. They won Game three, pretty decisively. Yeah, balled out in game three, and then game four, they lose justice decisively. They were kind in it. They lost a quarter. Pretty bad. Well, right? I think we had fourth quarter, 20 game. 2319 in the first quarter. Fourth quarter determines the game, 1819, second quarter, 12, 13/3, quarter in that fourth quarter? Yeah, 23 to 11, and that was the difference. You lose games in the fourth quarter. Yes, so. But why did it happen? Which is what we're going to get into, yeah, we got a lot of things to get into with regards to the aces. First and foremost, Asia Wilson, okay, I've praised her on this show. I will continue to praise Asia Wilson on this show. Sure.

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She had a great season. Regular Season, yes. Keyword regular. You know, unanimous MVP, second in league history, three time MVP.

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I believe, personally, she got robbed of the Defensive Player of the Year. I agree. She had an absolutely fantastic season. But playoffs roll around. Okay. First round against Seattle, she didn't flip the switch. That's a pushover. Seattle's kind of a pushover. Sure it'd be Seattle. Then she goes against Brianna Stewart. Brianna Stewart has had a chip on her shoulder for the past year after her subpar finals performance last year against the aces, and the ACES couldn't keep their mouth shut after the victory. No, they couldn't. They were talking. They were they were talking. The Liberty beat them this year, exactly how they beat the Liberty last year. Yes, they won the first two games at home, then they lose game three, then they win game four. That's exactly what the Liberty did, except it was a little bit more decisive, and Brianna Stewart completely outplayed and outclassed Asia Wilson every night except game three, when she had a little bit of a down night, right? Every other game she completely outplayed Asia Wilson. Asia Wilson,

Unknown Speaker 4:22
21 points in game one. That's seven below her average. Right 624, points in game two, okay, two points below her average. Not bad, but still, yes, this is the playoffs. We need more. We need more than what you average in the regular season. Game three day win. She had 19. I'm not gonna say anything. They had a balanced game. It was balanced. But I said after game three that if she scored 19 points again, they were gonna lose, because I didn't trust them to have another balanced effort like they made in game three. And what does she do game 419, points again? It was not enough. No, not even close.

Unknown Speaker 5:00
She needed 40. She needed 40. I believe you are right, and it's surprising to me that either she didn't know that or the team didn't understand and keep feeding her the ball. She did get off to a good start this game. It was a little slow the game before that, but she got off to a really good start, and I expected that to kind of continue throughout the game. The balance, like you said, I think that balanced attack is really what helped them in that third game, I felt like they kind of went away from that

Unknown Speaker 5:36
Jackie Young who had a big game in game three, yes, game four, subpar. Asia Wilson is the least of my concerns, and I had a lot of things to say about Asia Wilson. Game four, subpar for it. Now, Jackie, Jackie, Jackie young, four points in game four. Who's is it? Who's a Hooper? Jackie young, that's one of the few players and we're gonna get to this down the road. That's one of the few players I want to stay on this aces team. Jackie Young is sensational. She had a bad game in game four. Bad games happen? Sabrina UNESCO had four points in game three. I'm not gonna hold that against Jackie. She had one bad game. I'm not gonna hold a grudge because she was the most consistent player for the ACES for the duration of the stories, sure. Except game four, she didn't show up in game four. That's gonna be a little bit of a stain for her, but that's fine. It's one game. She she can be better. She will be better. I trust that Jackie Young is still going to be an important, important player on this aces team for years to come. So I don't really have much to say about Jackie Young. Let's talk about Chelsea gray.

Unknown Speaker 6:36
Chelsea gray point guide was has been it's hard for me, like, I kind of know where you're going with this, and it it's difficult for me because Chelsea gray is a little bit older, yep, as a player, she's got a lot of miles on her. She does. It does not take away from her basketball brilliance. Some of the passes that she continues to make are just unbelievable. But when you are pushing 35 years old and you've already had what is dubbed the most devastating injury, that's where I was going, and you've had a major injury,

Unknown Speaker 7:14
I appreciate the heart of a lion, a lion wanting to come back, and when she came back, the team performed much better than when she was out, I don't think she was ready. I agree with that, and that's where I'm going, but I think she came back because she knows that there's not a lot of runway left.

Unknown Speaker 7:33
And I don't know if she rushed it, or she felt like she rushed it, or if there was pressure on her to get back as soon as she got back, but I did feel like it was too soon, and I think that kind of took a little bit of the gas out of her tank toward the end of the season. She just wasn't her normal self. She's still brilliant. She's unbelievable. I'd love to see her in the coaching ranks. She has got a basketball mind that has really unrivaled in her her court vision, and, you know, she reminds me an older version of Caitlin Clark, the way she just sees the floor and the past delivery. So nothing bad to say about her, but she is advanced age for an elite WNBA athlete, and I think there's going to be some recognition on that on the part of the aces. I watched a little bit of the post game press conference from Becky Hammond, and in no uncertain terms, she said, I am sad because not the loss. I am sad because this is the last iteration of this team looking like this in terms of personnel. We have got to make some wholesale changes. And so, you know, from from the outside looking in as a basketball aficionado, both on the men's side and the women's side, long term aficionado for the women's basketball, both WNBA and collegiate,

Unknown Speaker 8:52
I think there are three positions, or not necessarily, positions, three personnel who should be protected when they go to look to retool this roster, two of which are not free agents, one of which is and we will get to those. You probably know the three that I'm going to let's see. Let's see how in sync are we? What three do you have? Well, well, well, let me get to that. Yeah, in a couple of minutes. Okay, I have, I have some things to say, cliffhanger about their off season. I have some very strong opinions about what needs to happen in the you're here for it.

Unknown Speaker 9:30
The last couple of things I need to talk about before we get to that. Last season, when the ACES won the championship,

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they were sensational. 34 and six stormed through the playoffs.

Unknown Speaker 9:43
They lost one game in the playoffs, just one but here's my thing, okay, and this is, I think this played a role in their downfall this year. Okay? The Aces ran a six person rotation for the duration of the playoffs. In the end part of the regular season this.

Unknown Speaker 10:00
Year, last year, Okay, last year. Those are heavy, heavy, heavy minutes for those same six people throughout the playoffs, in the end of the regular season. And a lot of minutes, and a lot of them went to the Olympics, right? That's not, and these weren't 22 year olds running around, right, right? I think that's what played into Chelsea Gray's injury game three of last year's finals, which is when she got injured. Right now, they ended up winning game four, but she got injured in game three. She should not have been in the game, right? They should have just cleared the bench, put the subs in, accepted that they were going to get beat in game three. Oh, sure, sure. You'll still be up two to one. All back, yes, right? She was still in the game because they're doing this six person rotation thing. She tears her Achilles. Not good. I think that the six person rotation played a role, and why they were not nearly successful. Yes, this year, they were just they had to have been exhausted. They were spent. Yes, I know, as an athlete, and I know all my athletes listen to know heavy minutes are exhausted. Cumulative, yes, it adds up. So that, in and of itself, is something that you can point to and say, that's a problem that was going that was not going to work out for them in the long run. And that's what, and that's I think, why Chelsea Gray's injury was what it was, why some of the performance this year from the people on this team, aside, Asia Wilson sure looked like sluggish. Looked like not fully into it. Like, okay, you know, we won 34 games. Yeah, it actually took Jackie young a little while to get going. Chelsea plumb, yeah, everybody except for Asia, took a long time to get going this year. And to your point, Kelsey Plum, my last person I need to rant about before I get to off season and we like her.

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Yeah, I I don't know if I have the words to describe how frustrating it was to watch KELSEY PLUM play basketball this season.

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It was up and down. There was no consistency. She was on the bench at times that it was ordinarily wouldn't have it was up and down and 80% down. Yes, like, what was that this whole season? Yeah, she had a tough season, her shot selection, her past selection or lack thereof,

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her selection on Drive Kelsey, you're not six four like she goes to the basket against Brianna Stewart, hoping to, I don't know what she was trying to do. And this was clutch time in game four. Yeah, they were down six towards the middle part of the fourth quarter. It was 59 to 53 she goes to the basket to her off hand with six four Brianna Stewart, who has a longer wingspan than LeBron. James, I don't know what the idea was there, and that's just one play that pretty much sums up the season. Yeah, it's indicative for her. I don't know what this season was for her. She was brilliant last season. Absolutely, she was brilliant last season, this season. Oh no, I don't know what was going on. So that's the last person that I need to talk about. It's great. Impressed Scott here on Sports prep live, and we are discussing the Las Vegas aces, and now what the heck needs to happen with their off season. So you said that there were three people on this team that you think that you should hold on to and I'm gonna guess those three people right now. Yeah, let's see if we're in sync. One is obvious, yes. Asia Wilson, absolutely. Let's get that out the way. I think. Jackie young, yes,

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your third.

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The only this shouldn't be out of left field, like, to me, this is glaring. Tiffany Hayes, yes, okay, that makes sense. She's a free agent. She's an unrestricted free agent, right? Her contract right now is $88,000

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okay, that's gonna get boosted. Yeah, that's the problem. She she got 6 million of the year, six Woman of the Year. Yes, six player is what they call, okay, six Player of the Year. That's getting boosted. Well deserved problem, though. Now here's my solution. You ready? Yes, trade Chelsea gray at her contract. Okay, trade her too or or this also solves the problem. You promise her a position in the coaching staff or the front office and tell her that it's time to hang it up.

Unknown Speaker 14:20
You either trade her or promise her a position in the coaching staff or the front office and tell her, Chelsea, we thank you for your service. Does not want to but it's time to hang it up. You know what? Basketball, all sports in the front office are about tough decisions, about tough conversations, and I would not want to lose that basketball mind. I'm just getting started, so I understand, but on this one, I'm actually in agreement with you, and I hope, I don't think that they will do that, but I would hope that they would consider something like that. She is an asset, even last year when she wasn't on the floor right when she was in her booth.

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Route after the injury, she was talking to players every time they came back from the floor, talking to them while they were on the floor, and they listened to her. She's got great leadership skills. She knows this game, forwards, backwards, any direction that you want to approach it from. So I absolutely agree with that, and I hope that that's something that they would consider is to keep her in the building some way

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to send her off. You know, it's going to be, maybe you try to put her on another title contending team. But right now, at that age, I just don't know. You know, she's been a starter her whole life, so I don't know that you want to go into a situation and play back up minutes. So I think the way for her to have a respectable exit is, yeah, put her in that front office somehow, someway, or on that coaching staff. All right, go on. Okay, that's number one, yes. Number two,

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they need a bench, a helpful, constructive bench that is not helpful with just one player, Tiffany Hayes, right, talking right. She was the only person that came off the bench for this team that was productive, the only one. Megan Gustafson was cool in the beginning of the season, but she didn't really do anything as much as I love her. Kate Martin couldn't get on the floor their bench. They just didn't have enough bench depth. Kristen Bell, like no. Kirsten Bell, nobody could help them the starters, right? And it's not like the starters were helping themselves. So my first thing Alicia Clark, time to retire. She is an unrestricted free agent right now. You let her walk, or she can retire, and we love what you've done. She's 37 years old, born with the organization making $110,000

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that is money that they need. It's time for their bench. It's time. It's time to let it go. You need that money back? Sidney Colson,

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great, great fan favorite. Yeah, yes, I get time to let her go. She's 35 right? A lot of people don't know that Sydney Colson is 35 years old. She doesn't look it. No, she doesn't, but she's 22 she does, but she's just not a flat out. She's no Kennedy Carter, absolutely not. Right. Speaking of Kennedy Carter, the ACES need to go after her now. There's no chance they're gonna get her, because she is what's called a restricted free agent, which means the Chicago Sky have the rights to match, to match any offer made on her, even if it takes them. But that mentality is the mentality they still need to go after her, going out there and being aggressive. So you clear Sydney Colson, $76,000

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you clear Alicia Clark's $110,000

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Kelsey, plum,

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unrestricted free agent. Do not resign her it's time she has thank you for your service. We drafted you first overall. You had a great couple of years since 2017 she played seven years there. You won good run. You won two championships. You were all WNBA player at one point. Yep. But what have you done for me lately? She's making $200,000

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Mind you, the most anyone is making in the league is Diana Taurasi, just off of legacy, which is only $34,000 more, right? So she's only 34,000 off of the highest paid player in the league. It is time for KELSEY PLUM to walk. Whoa, hot takes. It's time. I don't see any other way that the aces will reconstruct this roster

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to a point where they will build themselves back into contention, because they're not going to contend with the roster match Sabrina and escue. No, she didn't. She did not. No, she didn't. It's time, and that's what you would expect from that position. It is time to let KELSEY PLUM go, man, as much as I love her, that's tough. It's time Kelsey Plum, Alicia Clark, Sydney Colson, those three have to go and cannot resign them and Greg. Chelsea gray is not a free agent. I'm talking about strictly people that are free agents. Oh, no, just ready to walk out the door. Thank you. Yeah, here's your here's your gold watch.

Unknown Speaker 19:03
Now, gray. That's a situation where a trade needs to be made, and I think that unless, again, yeah, yeah, you bring her into the front office. That's what I would want, which I love to see them do, right? That's what I would want to see. That's what I would want to do if I were in their shoes, right? But if they can't make that happen, they got to pull the trigger on a trade, whether that be for a draft pick or for some additional pieces that can help you off your bench. Because if you've cleared the money from Kelsey Plum, and you've cleared the money from Sydney Colson, and you've cleared the money from Alicia gray Clark, Alicia, yeah, you can make a splash in free agency. And I have my list of free agents right here. And I have three names, really, but four, if you want to get technical, right, because resigning Tiffany Hayes is important Absolutely. So that's one.

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What they.

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Have lacked is size matching up against the Liberty. That's what the Liberty have on every other team in the league. They will out rebound you every game, and then Kia Stokes got hurt, right? So they lack size, productive size. Kia Stokes isn't productive like John Quayle Jones. Asia Wilson, Brianna Stewart, okay. They cancel out correct John Cole Jones has given Kia Stokes the business every time. So first solution to this problem, a girl by the name of satu sabili is a free agent this year, unrestricted out of Dallas. She's only 26 she's an all star. She was an MVP candidate, and she's one of the best six, five and up players in the league, the ACES need to go after her. First and foremost, okay, they need to target that's number one. Number two.

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Kelsey Mitchell is a free

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agent. Oh, I love Oh, I love the fever. Oh, I love seeing that team operate the way these are fighting words, like, what are we doing here? Kelsey Mitchell is a baller. Is one of the best players in the league right now. She's more productive than she's a better shooter than Kelsey. I didn't see this coming. Kelsey Mitchell is one of the top 10 to 12 players in this league right now. She's 28 she'll be 29 prime, only seven years in the league. Her production has gone up. And imagine if you put that next to Asia, Wilson and Jackie young,

Unknown Speaker 21:33
Kelsey, Mitchell, satu sabelli. Those are the two top names that need to be on their free agent list. I like it. I just don't know if that is even remotely possible. Yes, if you clear, that's my thing. You have to clear Kelsey Plum. You have to get rid of her. You have to get letter of Clark. No, no, no, let's say those things happen, right? I'm just talking about this from the Indiana Fever side. I'm not she's unrestricted. There's nothing they can do.

Unknown Speaker 22:02
There's nothing they can there. There is some there's some tag that they can put on her, I believe, beginning in January, a core, I think it's called a core tag, and you get that player now, it's only useful for one, one year, right? I think they can, I think correct me if I'm wrong, or I apologize to the listeners if I'm wrong, but I do think it's called a Cortex, and they would be able to hold on to her for one year. However, we've seen in leagues

Unknown Speaker 22:33
throughout history, particularly in the NBA, if a person doesn't want to be in town, it's kind of hard to keep them in town, right? If, technically, you know, you have their services locked up, right? Just not being happy, not being motivated, you know, having one foot out the door, all of that stuff, you don't want to enter yourself into any situation like that. So I'd be a little bit concerned

Unknown Speaker 23:02
if I were Indiana, about putting that core tag on her if she doesn't want to be there, yeah. Now, what she has expressed is, and maybe this is a warning shot, she's keeping all options open, right? She's being selfish, yes, and she literally said that it's time for me to be selfish. So nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. So what that tells me is, one Indiana to even be in the conversation, you got to back up the truck, right, right? So this is, this is super Max. You got to back up the truck. That's the bare minimum. But now, you know, does she want to be in an environment. And this takes us, you know, to another segment of our conversation, although we're going to stay with with the aces and WNBA, I'm going to digress for just a moment. This takes us over to the Indiana side of the equation, and Caitlin Clark and some of the

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the stuff that has been happening with the crowds, online, social media,

Unknown Speaker 24:07
people who are, I don't even know if I call them Caitlin Clark fans, I think, more than anything, they're trolls. You know, we know Caitlin Clark. She is not like this. She's not about this. Her name is being used in ways that I know that she would not approve of, but it's it's become a topic of conversation in the WNBA with almost every team that faces the fever, and it's actually taken a toll on some of the African American players that are in the building. You know, Aaliyah, Boston said she had to hop off of social media because of the criticism that she was receiving from Indiana fans, and now that has been supercharged because you're throwing race into the mix. And you know those those basement dwellers feel like Caitlyn is being beat up on the court and saying all sorts of things that are just way beyond the pale. You.

Unknown Speaker 25:00
Anyway, the reason I mention that is because that's something that I believe Kelsey Mitchell has in the back of her mind. Does she want to be around that sort of environment? I think she has a wonderful relationship with Caitlin Clark. Caitlin Clark is a fabulous person. She, she, she is not about any of this, you know, these, this personal invective and stuff that is coming after players who happen to bump her on the basketball court in mostly basketball plays, right legitimate defensive basketball plays.

Unknown Speaker 25:30
But I do know that that is a lingering concern for a lot of the African American players, and we're starting to hear a little bit more about that from those who have opposed them, but also some people on the team. So Melissa Smith is going to be gone, and this is one of the reasons, because she's upset with the way that DJ Carrington has been portrayed and attacked, called the N word, all sorts of things, simply because she plays aggressive defense, and DJ Carrington plays aggressive defense on everybody? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 26:03
yeah.

Unknown Speaker 26:06
I don't know. I don't know if Kelsey Mitchell will walk. I don't know what she's gonna do. I think that that's the scary part, though. We don't know exactly. It's no foregone conclusion, right, that she's gonna stay. But speaking, just from the ACES perspective, that for Indiana, it's bad that they don't know. For the aces, it's a good thing, sure, yeah. So for them, it's like, okay, are you gonna stay? Are you gonna leave? We're still gonna make you an offer. Indiana has to make an adequate offer. The Aces just have to make an offer. And the the prospect of getting a championship right then, like an immediate title contender. Comedian, and there's one more person, okay, two, really, but one is 34 years old. That's Neko, OK. She's a little bit on the older side, but she's still very productive, right? I'm sure she would take a little bit, yeah, I'm sure she would take a little bit of a pay cut to be on a contender, okay, but there's one more person here on my list, unrestricted free agent.

Unknown Speaker 26:59
She goes by the name of Gabby Williams, wow, wow. She goes by the name of Gabby Williams, and she was on one of the cheaper, less expensive contracts, hometown girl, Gabby Williams can hoop Wow. Okay, okay, I think they need to target also Williams, also, with Seattle.

Unknown Speaker 27:23
I like that. You put some thought into this. Yeah, I'm thinking, I'm thinking of a team that can beat the Liberty, right? And I'm thinking, okay, so what do we need if we're assuming we're getting rid of plum, assuming gray is

Unknown Speaker 27:40
in or out, and we're gonna assume out, just for the sake Right, right. Clark gone, yep.

Unknown Speaker 27:47
Hayes days, yes, please. Coulson gone, I need a bench I need some productive bench players.

Unknown Speaker 27:55
Um, DJ Carrington is technically a free agent, but they got no chance of getting her because she's restricted. Kennedy Carter also restricted. Who can you get? Tiffany Hayes will come back and play that sixth woman role again, back the truck up. Gabby Williams is productive. She's unselfish. She is a baller. She's a hometown girl, and she will help translate to winning immediately. She's a Hooper. You can go gut. You can go get her. Satu sabili is an all star, all WNBA, first team player when she's healthy. She had a little bit of an injury issue this season, but the Dallas wings were trash anyway, so the reason that she didn't play towards the end of the year was because that she was out and she didn't want to risk hurting herself for a team that had no chance of making the playoffs, I understand that she's unrestricted. Go try to get her. You go, try to get her. You go, try to get Williams. And you go, try to get if you can. Kelsey Mitchell, I like this. And then you got a line of Mitchell,

Unknown Speaker 28:56
young Wilson sabili, if you want to start Hayes, if you want to start Williams, if you want to start Stokes, if he's still there, yeah, or anybody else, you pick up a top bench, or in a trade, I feel like that team can beat the Liberty. That's tough. That was tough. That would be my goal for the officer. Got size. You got shooting. People get break. Break you down off the dribble, three level shooting, and you still got Asia, Wilson and Jackie. That's tough. I like that. That's my team. I like that. That's what I would be calling you to sit down in the front office.

Unknown Speaker 29:29
All right. Thank you guys for tuning into this episode of sports prep live. This was a wild one. We're gonna have a lot of WNBA to discuss next time as well. So we'll see you all next week, and I will be here with more. Thank you everybody. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of sports prep live. I'm Graydon Prescott, and don't forget to catch all of our episodes on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcast, and be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter at sports prep live. Thank you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai