00:00And yesterday, prime time, middle of the afternoon spot on a Sunday, a 102-83 final yesterday where the fever knocked off the wings.
00:06Kaitlin Clark still working her way back here, 14 points, 13 assists, and five steals.
00:12Paige Beckers had 21 points, but coach, I want to start there first.
00:15Working back into the fold, Kaitlin Clark, what are you seeing now with the fever after a few games back for Kaitlin Clark?
00:21Well, even before she got hurt, she was struggling from the three-point line.
00:25So to me, you know, her getting two threes, obviously that's good.
00:28I mean, it was a really good odds.
00:30It was just missed.
00:32I think it was ESPN in bed.
00:33I think it was 15-plus points for each of them, two-plus made threes.
00:36And, of course, Kaitlin Clark got the 14 points, and everybody missed out.
00:40But to me, it's more about what I see with everyone else.
00:43I feel like, and I've said this over the weekend with Kaitlin Clark, Kaitlin Clark's got to change her game a little bit because she's got so many dynamic players around her.
00:54Aaliyah Boston, obviously, with 17 points last night.
00:57Alexi Hall was off at only three.
00:59Sophie Cunningham at 13.
01:00Those two have played really, really well, particularly in the fact that shooting the ball.
01:04So now if you're Kaitlin Clark, to me, you've got to look at assists because they may hang those points numbers, Donnie, way too high.
01:11So look at the assist market.
01:13I told people, I thought the best bet of the day yesterday was Kaitlin Clark's double-double at plus 130 to 150 if you shopped around because you look at the fact that other people are scoring.
01:25Dallas doesn't play good defense.
01:27And Dallas gives up the most assists per game in the WNBA.
01:31It wasn't a great shooting performance, but Kaitlin got other ladies involved, and that, to me, Donnie, makes them more dangerous than her taking the logo threes.
01:43Glad to be back with you both, DRS, JY.
01:46Thanks for holding it down as we compare the two former number one overall picks.
01:52JY, you mentioned Kaitlin Clark yesterday, 14 points, 13 dimes.
01:56She has now been back from that groin injury three games.
02:00Indiana got embarrassed at home in the first against Golden State.
02:04They have won the last two.
02:05And in those two victories, JY, 22 total dimes out of Kaitlin Clark.
02:10Nine the other day against the Dream.
02:1213 yesterday, of course, against the Dallas Wings.
02:15There has been some conjecture because without Kaitlin Clark, who has missed 10 games this year due to injury, Indiana has a winning record.
02:23The fever might look better without an all-world and generational talent in CeCe.
02:28I think that's a stupid idea.
02:30But to your point, JY, if it comes to Indiana reaching that ceiling of expectation that they entered this year and still maintain a 7-1 price to win a WNBA championship,
02:40they had the third-best number entering this season, Kaitlin Clark needs to be a little bit better.
02:47With Kaitlin Clark being the facilitator, the distributor, the orchestrator of the offense, how has Indiana looked in these previous two games?
02:56Far more dynamic.
02:58And just, Ben, you notice that you watch a lot of ball, right?
03:01Like, if you have a point guard that dominates the ball and doesn't pass, it's easy to load up, right?
03:07But if that ball moves around and you get it toward the second, third side of the floor, you run some kind of ball screen action,
03:13and now she's going to the basket.
03:14You got Lexi Hall, Sophie Cunningham, you know, Mitchell, all three-point shooters, right?
03:20Natasha Howard, good for 15 feet.
03:22Aaliyah Boston, picking what we call a short roll when she shoots about that 15-foot jumper.
03:28Ben, they just become really hard to guard.
03:30Like, that's the thing I think people need to understand.
03:33Listen, are the Logo 3s beautiful to watch?
03:37Absolutely.
03:38I'm not knocking it.
03:39I think it's great for the sport.
03:41But what's best for the fever is when more players are getting involved,
03:46Lexi Hall and Sophie Cunningham have stepped, particularly since Dawana Bonner has left,
03:51and now Kaitlin Clark can look at a game where she did not shoot the ball great from the floor,
03:56but she controlled the game with her passing.
04:00So now you don't need her to get you 25 to win.
04:04But if she gets you 10-11 assists and she gets you 14-15 points,
04:09they're going to be really tough to beat for the rest of the season.
04:13You take a look at their odds, again, to win the WNBA, the fever at a 7-1 price here,
04:18coming in in the fourth spot.
04:19Excuse me, Liberty, Lynx, Mercury, and the dream behind it.
04:22If we're looking at some of these standings, and we can also compare it to the MVP markets, Coach,
04:28does anything stand out right for you in the WNBA if it's the champions market or in the MVP market?
04:35No, it's just the fact that the Liberty are plus 180 and they have not played particularly well.
04:39I know they got the win yesterday versus the Atlanta Dream,
04:42but they are a shell of themselves without Double J, John Quill Jones.
04:46I've said it time and time again, and I think people will start to realize she is not the best player.
04:53That's Stewie.
04:54She's not the most dynamic player.
04:56That's Seb.
04:57She's the most important player because of her ability at 6'5", to stretch the floor from three,
05:03but dominate down low and low blocks, get rebounds, stuff like that.
05:07She is the – they need her back.
05:10Also, Leon Feebic played really, really well.
05:12Eight of nine from the floor.
05:14She's also another part.
05:15So, when you talk about the Liberty, it's not so much about Sab and Stewie.
05:19It's really about John Quill and some of the other players that have to step up.
05:23In regards to the MVP market, I was really high on Phoenix before the year.
05:27They have been phenomenal.
05:30Alyssa Thomas, honestly, getting Kalia Copper and Satu Sabli as two linchpin shooters is something to look out for.
05:37But I still look at Kaitlyn Clark.
05:40She's at 25-1.
05:41They have not played well.
05:43You have half the season to go.
05:46If they make a run, if they make a run, and she leaps WNBA in assists, and she gets you about 16, 17 points a game,
05:55and they get themselves to like a four seed or a three seed, you can't tell me she's not going to be better odds to win the WNBA MVP.
06:03Of course, there will be the notoriety in the narrative around Kaitlyn Clark.
06:08You wonder, though, how many games she has already missed in the opening half of this season, if that will be too much.
06:14Nafisa Collier is the hefty favorite at minus 500.
06:18Her Minnesota Lynx, 18-4 best mark by three games in the WNBA.
06:23The Mercury have been great, J.Y.
06:27They are 14-6.
06:28The Liberty, 14-6.
06:30Phoebus yesterday, 21 points.
06:32The Libs have won three of their last four.
06:36They started off 9-0, and from that point, they are still 5-6, namely around when Jonquo Jones did suffer that injury.
06:44They expect her to be back for the stretch run.
06:46It is why New York remains the favorite to win the WNBA championship for a second consecutive year.
06:53Also, just so we know, Paige Beckers, minus 6,000 to win rookie of the year, has scored 20-plus points in eight of the 17 she played for Dallas.
