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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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Hello everybody. Welcome back to sports prep live. I'm your host. Graydon Prescott, there has been a lot, a lot, a lot going on in the sports world. Recently, we got college football, WNBA playoffs. There's a lot to talk about. WNBA awards. So, you know, I had to bring in my man. KB, we got a lot to discuss today. Yep, yep.

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We got a strict amount of time. So I think we got to crack right into it. Let's start with college football. Let's get it So Colorado has been the topic of discussion in college football the last couple of weeks. A lot recently, yes, starting two weeks ago, their rivalry game Colorado State. Now let's flash back to last year. A lot of talking between Deion Sanders and Colorado state's head coach. We're talking greasy. And that game didn't exactly go as expected for most people, Colorado ended up winning in overtime. I think it was 43 to 35

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but that Colorado State gave them a run for their money this year, not the case. It was a blowout. Colorado took care of business. Colorado state's quarterback, Braden Fowler Nicolosi before the game the week, coming into the game,

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doing some track, talking, right? He was saying, oh,

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and I quote, Instagram followers can't save them.

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Not only him, I think his wide receiver, it was a lot of people on your team, but Fowler Nicolosi, the quarterback is, of course, we talked about last Yeah? Brandon Fowler, Nicholas, yes. We talked about last week the quarterback being possibly the most important position in all of sports, right? Once a quarterback starts talking, the rest of the team is going to start Absolutely. It really fell on him, and Colorado didn't look like they needed anyone to save them. Against Colorado State last week, right? They took care of business. That was, that was a blowout, and after the game, shadoor caught a little bit of heat. Shadoor Sanders caught some heat because he didn't shake Braden Fowler nicolosi's hand. After the game, Fowler went to congratulate him, and chador was like, Nah, you want, you want to play nice now, right? You know he was doing all that talking. Now you want to play nice.

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So shadoor caught a little bit of flack for that. Personally, I don't believe he did anything wrong. I think if you're going to, if you're going to trash talk before the game unprompted, which is just not smart, yeah, right, it's not smart. So sure, door is not a scrub. So even if you think you may win that game, you never know what happens in sports, right? And going into it just the idea that you would have the gall to not only speak about this on national television, but to do it and like you mentioned a few moments ago, bring in other players. So your wide receiver is sitting there, so now he's got a co sign for you, because you're the quarterback, so Tory was sitting there right alongside of him, and if Braden says something like that, yes, he's going to co sign, but to put yourself out there, you better darn well, no, you've got a W coming if you're going to talk, talk that talk, because he didn't walk that walk when he came to the game. And I think in football especially, but any sport, it's just not smart to do something like that. You saw it when Notre Dame

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paid Northern Illinois $1.6 million to play them early in the season. Notre Dame's thinking, Oh, we're a top 10 program right now. We're gonna get, you know, we'll get some warm ups. Northern Illinois comes in and beats Notre Dame at Notre Dame this year. This just happened. It's a tough, tough place to play, yeah, so I've been to South Bend, right? It's tough to play in that stadium. It's, yeah, I know. And they came in and beat them Northern Illinois. My point being, you should not trash talk, even if you think you're going to beat them. And the thing with this one Colorado State is they lost last year. It's not like they beat Correct, right? What are you doing? Right? You should not expect to come in and win against Colorado who, you know, they have two players who are going to be top 10 picks in the NFL Draft coming up. Colorado, state doesn't have that so, yeah, you challenged them last year. Was it a fluke? It kind of looks like it was now, but that just wasn't smart. You know? It got thrashed. Yeah, it was a drubbing. They got their.

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Bus kick. And, you know, I think now there are a lot of people in sports media kind of coming down on chador, but I think some of the big, more notable names have has really come to his defense and said, Wait a minute. You know, this is sports. This is a meritocracy. Yeah. So if you're going to put yourself out there and talk greasy, you either better back it up, or you get what you get right after you get served. Yeah, you don't want to write a check in your rear. Can't cash. There you go. There you go. So, you know, Colorado, state, I think may have learned a lesson. If I were sure doer, I wouldn't have shaken his hand either, because he was really talking greasy. You know, you guys have Instagram followers, and Instagram is not going to save you, right? It was reckless

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to go out there and get and it wasn't just that. They got defeated. I don't know if you've seen the stats, oh no, I saw he had no touchdown passes. He got intercepted. It was a below, just quarterback, quarterback. It looked like the JV team trying to play against the varsity. Yes, like, and I'm not even knocking the teams, I'm just saying quarterback to quarterback. It was night and day. It was, it was an annihilation. Yeah, it was, it was a bad luck.

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So the next week after all of this, you know, sure, shadoris situation with Nicolosi dialed down. Very next week, big 12. It gets even more exciting right very next week at the big 12 opener for Colorado against Baylor. That was a great game. That happened Saturday night.

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I had the opportunity to kind of watch that game. I was out doing some activities with my family. However, I did get the opportunity to see the end of that game. Sure,

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I started watching, and the score was 24 to 24 and then Baylor scores to make it 3124 correct, and Colorado with with very few tips left on the clock. So Colorado gets the ball back,

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and they take it down the field. They get to about the 47

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Baylor's 47 and there's 10 seconds left. It's second and 10. And they snap it to shador. He rolls out to his left, throws a perfect, I mean, perfect, right to the hands of will shepherd, and he drops it. And he dropped, yes, he did. With two seconds left,

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he drops it, probably standing one yard outside of the end of got it. There was probably that entire game. Got a more catchable pass. I know that perfect, hit him right in the chest, and, yes, literally hit him in the chest and he dropped it. That left two seconds left.

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But the story of that night is not going to be the dropped pass. It's going to be what happened right after happened right after because with two seconds left, they put the ball in shadows, hands again, rolled him out to the left again, walk that walk, and shadoor and all his Instagram followers,

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got to see a past thrown from 47 yards to the end zone, right on the money again, and Legende Wester wasn't gonna drop it. He caught it touchdown. He hide the game. Very difficult catch. Yeah, it was a tough catch in traffic falling. It was an incredibly difficult now, I must add, that's the only way the ball was going to get there without being intercepted. That it was a perfect throw, but it was still going to be a difficult catch because it was double coverage,

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and he had to reach down. They reviewed it for a while to see if he had lost control of the ball. Yeah. But elbows were tucked close together. Ball was tight to the chest. There was no evidence. One of the best catches I've seen. In fact, that may be, you know, we're just now cracking into college football season. I would imagine that's going to be a top five ESPN play of the year, of the year. Yeah, I don't just unbelievable there. I don't really see another play being able to compare to something like that. I mean, you're down seven with two seconds left. It's a Hail Mary. It's just a straight up Hail Mary. And to make that catch and to make that throw in that situation, I think that's going to go down as the best play. You know, look, his dad has talked a lot. Prime Time is still prime time. And I think, I think a lot of folks in the media felt like, Okay, now that he is a head coach, he's not going to be who he has always been, yeah. And that is in his DNA, right? And so, you know, we had an episode like this last year with the talking, you know, prior to the game, and Dion wearing the sunglasses. Yeah, you know, the coach of Oregon thought it was disrespectful that he doesn't take off his sunglasses when he's addressing the media. Now, Oregon did end up defeating them. Colorado, state's coach said the same thing, but the and I forget his name at the.

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Moment, but the head coach of Oregon will never in a million years achieve in the sport of football what Deion Sanders has achieved in the sport of football, very so bull will. He has the room, he has the latitude to be who he is. And the reason I say that is because his son is a chip off the old block. And I think a lot of people get caught up in

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a lot of the back and forth between, not only his father and the media and the hype and the gold chains and the Bentley and all of this stuff that comes with the Sanders clan.

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But what gets lost in the weeds is shador. Is an incredibly talented football player. He is an amazing quarterback. He has to be in contention for a Heisman trophy, and if his team performs the way that they have the potential to perform, even though they've lost some assets. We talked about how that can impact you last week when we were speaking about Bishop Gorman, even though that they've lost some assets, this team is still a team that can sneak up on you and take a W from a team that might be expecting to defeat them, and that is all because their quarterback is just hyper talented. Not to say, not to leave out Travis Hunter, who is also going to be a Heisman finalist. Yes, he is. Yeah, you've got two kids on this team that are top in the country in their respective field. So you know, I say all of that to say, Do not sleep on shador Sanders, he is an excellent quarterback, and don't let the smooth taste or the Bentley or the bling fool you. This kid is for real. Yeah, Colorado is for real as well. Yes. And Deion Sanders is for real. Yeah, all of it. I mean, this, this team is good. Yes, they can play some football. And of course, you know, they tied the game, went into overtime, should or led a perfect drive they score. And then the other man, you talked about, Travis Hunter, first and goal, right? Baylor, that wasn't the end of the game. No. Baylor had first and goal to tie the game, and they ran a play. It was a drop the right side. He was he was in the end. He was going to make it to the end. He was in the end zone. Travis Hunter makes one of the most incredible plays I've seen to knock the ball loose, right as he was breaking targeting the ball like he went after the he wasn't trying to stop the dude. He went after the ball. He targeted the ball, and he got it and knocked knocked it loose before the incredible before the ball carrier, like credible play and Colorado recovered the ball, threw it to the back of the end zone for a touchback. They reviewed it, and Colorado's fans stormed the field right before they had announced, yeah, yes, um, but that didn't end up apologized for that. Yeah, they were just excited. But at the end of the day, it didn't matter. It was he fumbled the football, and Colorado won the game thanks to shadoor Sanders, uh, quarterbacking and Travis hunters again, 3831

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Travis Hunter's dynamic. I mean, he's a problem. He's a problem. He had, what, seven catches for 130 yards, touchdown and forced fumble at the end to seal the victory. And over the hit that he took last year, it is just so surprising that he can come back and not skip a beat. He was in the hospital for a minute. I mean, he got, he got knocked up Blackburn, or whatever. The kid's name was Colorado, state. Yeah, he got leveled. And it was a dirty play. It was Yeah, and he, he handled it like a pro. He didn't, because I think that kid was receiving death threats, yeah, and he handled it like a pro. He he called the dogs off, and, you know, the Twitter warriors said, hey, it's just a part of football, even though it was a dirty play Travis's. And to see him doing picking up where he left off last year is just unreal. He is a hyper talent. Yeah, it's great. Impressed guy here on Sports prep live, and we're here discussing college football, WNBA, playoffs and awards and more. Make sure y'all stay interested. So transitioning a little bit, but not very much. UNLV football is currently undefeated.

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They beat Kansas. They beat Kansas on on Friday night. They got an upcoming game against Fresno State, or Fresno State, right? Excuse me, Fresno State is good. They gave Michigan around for their money. They are

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now they lost. They ended up losing the game to Michigan by 2030, to 10. I believe it was. But going into the fourth quarter, it was a one score game, and then Michigan had a great fourth quarter. But for the first three quarters, Fresno State kept it to seven, right, right? And then Michigan had, like a 17 to three. Michigan is, I mean, Fresno, Michigan, Michigan, yeah, Michigan is a blue chip football world, yeah, absolutely. But my point is Fresno State, who UNLV is about to play. Fresno State is good, right? And if UNLV can remain undefeated, beating Fresno.

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No state we might be in for an interesting season from UNLV. I think, I think people should pay attention to what they're doing. It would be nice if we could see, you know, the the the football Gods kind of shine through a little bit of love towards Las Vegas, because in the sport of football, you know, I feel like it's, you know, when Lucy removes the football away from Charlie Brown, every time he goes to kick it, you think with, you know, obviously the Raiders like, oh, you know, the Oh man, this week, this year, they're going to be good. They're going to be good, you know, they get Derek Carr, oh man. Derek Carr's a great quarterback. We're going to be good. Devonte Adams, right, right, and then Derek Carr gets ran out of town.

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And wow, was that the wrong decision. Derek Carr tearing it up. Yeah, Derek Carr is balling. So I, you know, I don't know what's going over, going on over there in leadership, but Las Vegas Raiders, but you guys kind of stubbed your toe on that one? Yeah, Derek Carr is doing his thing, yes, but absolutely, I would like to see Las Vegas get some, get some love, even if it has to happen on the college level. I mean, I guess they're, I guess, I guess they're trying to throw all their love into Bishop Gorman's football program, right?

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That's, that's the only reasonable explanation. Like, okay, yeah, you got a top five high school football program, right? Let us. Let us get a little bit of love in college and the NFL. Please make a playoffs for one, please. All right,

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crazy transition now, WNBA playoffs are here now, yes, today,

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WNBA playoffs are kicking off the matchups, Liberty against the dream in the first round, one versus eight, two versus seven is going to be Minnesota versus Phoenix, Connecticut versus fever. It's going to be three and six and then aces versus storm, four or five, right?

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Personally, I don't think they're going to be and I don't think there's going to be an upset, not in the first round, right? I think the liberty are going to sweep the dream. I think the Lynx are going to take care of the mercury.

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I'm tempted to say the fever can challenge or Connecticut, but if I'm being reasonable, I don't think they're going to beat the sun, not this year, and then the aces, I think they'll handle Seattle. They played well. I will say, I will say, out of all four of those matchups,

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if someone said there is going to be a surprise upset, I think it would be Indiana. It would be the fever, because Indiana, they've played since the Olympic break, Indiana is a top three team in the league, correct? Record wise, record, yes, I'm not saying, Oh, they've been playing top three, but no, based off of strictly record, Indiana's top three in the league since the Olympic break, right? So I think if anybody can give one of the top four, because really, if we're being realistic, the top four teams are going to be your championship contenders. It's going to be the Liberty Minnesota, Connecticut and Las Vegas, but I think Indiana can give one of those four teams, Connecticut, possibly being that team, a run for their money.

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The

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Caitlyn has been sensational since the Olympic break. I can't say enough about Kelsey Mitchell. She's just, my goodness. I mean, I can't say she is so amazing, yeah. I mean, unbelievable, right? And, and to see what she has done, really, not only since she's been there, she was just missing that piece that could get the ball in her hands because the defense was allowed to concentrate on, right? But now, when the defense isn't allowed to concentrate, her highs across the board, yes, I mean, her numbers are just going through the roof. And whether it's off the dribble, off the catch, you know, backdoor cut, I mean, she She's quick. She has handles. Mitchell is just unbelievable as a basketball player, yeah, and the fever. Have a solid team too, not just Caitlin and Kelsey Mitchell, but Aaliyah, Boston is playing good basketball now, rookie of the year. They got the Dantes girl coming off the bench. She's been solid, like just solid. Lexi Hall. I love Lexi Hall, shooter, scrappy defender. She is high percentage three point shooter, then incredible defender. And then if Melissa Smith steps up a little bit, I think the fever, the fever, are going to be interesting. But I do think Connecticut will beat them, probably in three games,

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and then, like I said, Liberty are going to take care of the dream Minnesota and the aces, I believe, will take make quick work of Seattle. I respect Seattle. What they got going on over there? Joe Lloyd, neko gomigate,

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Skylar, digging Diggins, Aces are just, it's too much. Yeah, it's too much. And especially the way they're they're playing. And now, yeah, the aces are a top two team since the Olympic break.

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So I'm gonna ask you this

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liberty went 32 and six this year, right? Or 32 and eight? Right? Minnesota won 30 games. I'm gonna surprise.

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You're here. Who do you think's winning the championship? Las Vegas asis. I was going to say the same thing. I really think they're going to win it again. You know, being in that position the last couple of years, what New York doesn't yet realize is there is a switch when you've been in and obviously they made it to the finals last year,

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but what they got a taste of was that switch, and the Las Vegas aces know and have and have experience with that flip of the switch. And I don't know if New York is there yet, and I think kind of in, especially in basketball, you learn by kind of your heart being ripped out, and then you come back stronger. You know, just think about what got their heart ripped out. I don't know. I would say they did not, because there was no real expectation for them to win it. Last year, New York won 32 games. I understand. I understand. But there was no real everyone had Vegas picked to win the series, and they did, and they won it handily, yeah. And so there wasn't that real expectation, I think of, oh, we're going to win a championship. It's Oh, we I think, you know, when you get there for the first time, you may just be happy to have arrived. And I think they were happy to have arrived. I don't think that's the case this year, so I think it's going to be a lot closer, but I expect the Las Vegas aces to pull it out and go back to back to back. I have one concern with the ACES

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two, but one primary concern, yes, that's Chelsea Gray, not because of the basketball player she is, but because of the injury, right? I don't think the aces are what they were without her at 100%

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I really don't, because if Chelsea Gray's not at 100%

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and this, I'm not saying this to slander. I'm not saying this to belittle, but Kelsey Plum is not what the ACES need right now to win the championship, they don't need her as the primary ball handler because Kelsey Plum, unlike Chelsea Gray, she's shot first. The ball gets sticky, right? She shot first, and the ACES operated the best when Chelsea Gray, oh, Kelsey Plum, you're open on the wing here. Take this three, right? Jackie young, you're cutting back door here. Take this. Go get a layup. Asia, oh, you're posting up here. Take this. Go hit your fade away. Get to the free throw. I agree with you to a certain extent. And you know the thing about and which is why she's still there. And let's think about when she was out at the beginning of the season, and then what happened the moment they were horrible, right? They were horrible, and the moment she came back, you know, I mean, just again, they flipped that switch, right? So, yes, I agree with you that she's not what she was three four years ago. However, last year or last year, I think she was at her peak last year. However, however, her basketball IQ that you can't take away and her ability to move the rock

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in the same way that we recognize it in a young up and comer in Caitlin Clark, you know, a lot of people you know, fawn over Caitlin's shooting and, oh, it's the threes. What makes Caitlin so dangerous is her impact on the game, her impact on scoring. And that isn't her scoring necessarily. That's, as we were just talking about a moment ago. What has happened with with Kelsey Mitchell, to me, Gray has that same sort of impact Absolutely, and you don't need to be at 100% physically in order to still be able to manipulate that game to your team's advantage. So I agree with you that it takes a little bit of the edge off. It makes them a little less potent. But Chelsea gray is dangerous. When she's got that ball in her hand, she is so and I think that there is enough gas in the tank. I think that there is enough of her as a, you know, a full basketball entity. You know, if she's at 92% or if she's at 88%

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she can still hurt you, and that's why I still give them the edge. I don't think New York has anybody like that. They've got scores and all of that, but I don't know that they have any. They have anyone that threads the needle in the way that gray does. Courtney vandersloot is pretty good at it. She is pretty good at it. But I said I don't think that they, you know, there's other players who are good at Courtney vandersloot Has the WNBA assist record,

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okay, okay, but it's different when you're in a championship series. This is true. We saw it last year. This is true. You know, when you're playing, you know, you know what, half the team is darn near sub 500 Yeah, you can, you can pop off. And I think that's what's been so impressive about Caitlin Clark, that they've played some really good teams, and she's put up some great numbers, right? Courtney, you are absolutely right. You know she she can distribute the ball, and she's a distribute first person, but she's not on Grace level. Okay, there are, there are levels to this. Now, based off seeding, the aces will not I.

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Guaranteed they will not play the Liberty in the finals. That would be second round, because the aces are number four in the Liberty number one. If they clash, it's the second round, and I think they will, if the aces or the whoever wins that series, I think they're going to have Minnesota in the finals. And nobody's beaten Minnesota

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if they don't give them their best effort. Because Minnesota is serious. Minnesota's tough. Minnesota. Minnesota is tough. Minnesota dominated Las Vegas. They are tough. Dominated that it was bad. I fear them for the ACES more than anybody else in the playoffs, because Minnesota, they have experience, not a bunch of championship experience, but that there's no, there's no Rookies. Let me go back to last week. Nafisa Collier is balling. She is so you know. And that says every Okay, okay, you can't argue this one, because last week it was Nafisa Collier and Caitlin, and I was arguing for Caitlin. And yes, yes, Collier is ballin. Yes, Asia Wilson's better. She is, like, better she is. And I'm not talking about a little bit better. I mean, Asia Wilson is like, if you were to take Tom Brady at his peak and compare him to Cam Newton at his peak. But I would imagine, and I don't know, I haven't, had a conversation with her, I would imagine the one person in the WNBA playoffs that she does not want on the other side of the ball. This Nafisa is Nafisa Collier. You don't think, what about Brianna Stewart?

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Brianna's Nice. She's tough, good basketball player, but two time MVP, two time champion Finals MVP, one of those. You know. How are you gonna say

Unknown Speaker 26:46
two time? Let me. Let me say this again with emphasis, two time MVP, two time champion been to the finals. Four times. Finals MVP, you that's not that last MVP, though, I felt like she kind of so she won it. I felt like she kind of skated by, okay, she still got it. I felt like someone should be Yeah, Asian MVP. Someone should have four. Okay, Sabrina, or excuse me, Brianna still should have at least one. And you can't say yeah, she shouldn't have won the championship. No, she won the championship. I'm talking about the MVP. She's beat Asia in the finals. I'm talking about last year's MVP. Like Asia Wilson is not 100% that MVP got misplaced. Asia Wilson is not 100% against Brianna Stewart in the finals. I want you to know that I understand that Asia Wilson lost. I understand and got swept the first time she played like three Oh, that was a different team. Lost every game by 30 that was a different team still got swept. I'm all I'm saying is, don't disrespect. Brianna Stewart. Don't do that. Brianna Stewart is like, I think Asia Wilson might say something like that was then, this is now. Okay, I I'm not gonna. I think Asia Wilson is gonna end up being the undisputed greatest women's basketball player of all time. When it's all said and done, she's, I'll say that right now. She's unbelievable. I believe that about 8000 points in a season, in a season and 40 games, 38 she missed two games. Wow, yeah, she's just wow. Asia played 38 games, scored 1041 points, had 98 blocks, had 479

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rebounds. Well, whoever they play, it's going to be fun to watch, because they're going to give their best shot. Whatever team it is, they're going to give their best shot to the aces. But I just don't know if it's going to be enough, up to and including if it's Brianna Stewart, so we shall see. I have my questions, but I'm going to, I'm going to agree with you. I think the aces are going to get into you. Heard it here first? Sports prep live. You heard it here? First aces we're predicting are going to win the WNBA championship. Thank you everybody for tuning into this episode of sports prep live. It's always great to have you tune in next week, and as always, everybody, have a great rest of your day. 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