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00:00The coach, J.Y., is here with us on this Friday
00:03as we enter All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis.
00:06The orange carpet last night in Indy.
00:09The stars of the W showing off their fashion style and their sense.
00:14Looking forward to a ceremonious weekend.
00:16Yeah, orange is the color of the WNBA, D.L.S.
00:19I mean, yeah, but red is like, was the NFL just have like a blue carpet?
00:23Like, come on, that's always the red carpet.
00:25What are we doing?
00:27This guy's out of bounds already.
00:28Things are getting out of bounds.
00:30Things are, thank God we didn't, listen,
00:33thank God we didn't have the RS do fashion police for the WNBA orange carpet.
00:38That's all I've got to say.
00:40J.Y., let's start, though, with all the celebrations we expect this weekend
00:44for All-Star festivities in Indy
00:46with something that might kind of hang over all of the festivities.
00:51Kaitlin Clark dealing with the groin injury once again,
00:54who missed her sixth game because of the groin.
00:57And the 11th because of her injuries this year against the New York Liberty on Wednesday
01:02has now been ruled out.
01:05She will not compete in tonight's three-point contest in Indianapolis
01:08or as a captain of one of the two All-Star squads tomorrow night in the All-Star game.
01:15How much of a shadow, a cloud, does that hang over the fun this weekend in Indianapolis?
01:20Well, that's a huge thunderstorm.
01:23I mean, this is the biggest star in the league,
01:25and this is the person that drives all the ratings,
01:29although ESPN did rate her as only the ninth best player in the WNBA.
01:32We can talk about that again, but I don't want to waste people's time with that nonsense.
01:37But listen, she is the megastar, right?
01:40She is, I don't know, she is the Tiger Woods of the WNBA, right?
01:46She's a person that just not just brings basketball fans, but just casual sports fans
01:51or just people in general that want to see the phenomena of Kaitlin Clark.
01:55And in an All-Star game where there isn't a lot of defense, Ben,
01:59and teams can't just load up on you all the time, especially it being in the end,
02:04it probably would have been a sensational performance.
02:06So obviously the league is probably pretty upset about it,
02:09but we'll see.
02:11I'm sure it still will be a good game come Saturday night.
02:13And most of the time, Coach, we look at the ratings.
02:17That's what the most important thing is.
02:18You're coming up on the CBA and renegotiations in the WNBA.
02:21That could affect it a little bit, but I do have to give some props sometimes
02:24where that's a big decision because a soft tissue injury,
02:28I can gut it out and play the three-point competition.
02:30I can give you two to three minutes out there,
02:32but I think the right move was actually made
02:34because if it's about winning championships
02:35and having your superstar the healthiest they can be,
02:38I love the fact that she's sitting out.
02:40From a fan perspective, it's terrible, but Coach,
02:42they absolutely made the right decision with their team saying,
02:45hey, hold on.
02:46Like, we still got a lot of basketball to play left.
02:48Don't worry about the three-point competition.
02:50Don't worry about getting in for a couple minutes,
02:51even if it's in your hometown that you play in.
02:53I like the move here, Coach.
02:55I do too as well.
02:56Listen, at the end of the day, the tickets were already sold.
02:59So it's not going to affect the attendance, right,
03:01at the end of the day.
03:02So listen, if it was the first time she did it,
03:05you're like, okay, maybe she can just go through the three-point contest
03:09and that's it.
03:10But that's a re-aggravation.
03:12It's kind of like what we talked about before with John Quill Jones in the past.
03:15Second time getting injured, same area.
03:17You've got to think long-term here.
03:19An Indiana Fever team that is struggling to find any kind of consistency,
03:25you know, sitting at 12 and 11 right now.
03:27I think they're like in sixth or seventh place, sixth or seventh place,
03:31I think, in the WNBA.
03:34So for them, they've got to play the long game,
03:36which means at the end of the day, it's going to rely on Mitchell,
03:40Aaliyah Boston, Cunningham, Hull.
03:42These four ladies have to step up to the plate.
03:45And there were spots, Donnie, during which she was hurt the first time,
03:49that they did play well.
03:50They just got to hold the float until she gets back.
03:53Yeah.
03:53An all-star captain, Nafisa Collier, is the other.
03:56That was already exciting as it was.
03:59And, of course, we have been asking for one of the best
04:01and historic three-point shooters to compete in the three-point contest.
04:05She was going to for the first time against Sabrina Ionescu,
04:09against the reigning champ in Alicia Gray as well.
04:13Unfortunately, we'll have to sit out due to injury.
04:16But, JY, as we have done this week here on the early line
04:19throughout the MLB all-star break,
04:21kind of resetting where the league is, playoff picture, standings, and so forth.
04:25We do the same now at the all-star break in the WNBA.
04:29Unlike Major League Baseball, much closer to the true halfway point
04:33of a now-expanded 44-game season in the WNBA,
04:37most teams playing around 22, 23, 24 games at most.
04:42Here are the odds to win a WNBA championship.
04:44The Liberty, the reigning champs, the favorites, at plus 170.
04:47The best team in the league, though, the only team with 20 wins.
04:51That's the Minnesota Lynx at 2-1.
04:53Of course, these two teams battled it out in an awesome five-game set
04:57that saw overtime and that decisive winner-take-all game five last year.
05:03The Liberty edging out the Lynx to win that WNBA title.
05:07JY, I ask you the question like this,
05:09as we see the Mercury behind, the Indiana Fever,
05:12not all that far behind either at plus 750.
05:14What is more likely, a championship rematch between the Liberty and the Lynx
05:20or another team entering the fold in the WNBA Finals?
05:24I'm going to take a stab with the Phoenix Mercury making the WNBA Finals.
05:28When you look at the play of Alyssa Thomas,
05:31now really regarded as a, rightfully soar, top three, top four player in the world,
05:37getting, obviously, Satu Sable, as well as a free agent,
05:40to go along with the walking bucket, Kalia Copper,
05:42and then getting Dewana Bonner, who's going to be motivated.
05:45She did play at Phoenix.
05:46Her fiancé, Alyssa Thomas, is there, so they're going to be good.
05:49That's going to be an interesting thing.
05:50Also, you've got to look at the fact that they have the easiest strength of schedule,
05:53Ben, the rest of the way.
05:55What's key with the Liberty and the Mercury, the number is four.
05:58They have to play, I do believe, four times the rest of the way.
06:03Liberty has one of the easiest schedules as well, third easiest schedule,
06:0623 games left to play.
06:08We'll see when Jonquois Jones gets back.
06:10If Jonquois Jones is healthy, they're the best team in the WNBA, in my opinion,
06:15because also getting that addition of Natasha Cloud,
06:17the owner of Feebich in her second year, they should be much better.
06:20J.Y., when we look at the odds right now as well, WNBA MVP, Nafisa Collier, minus 550.
06:28Rookie of the Year, Paige Beckers, minus 6,000.
06:31Are both of these award races now already over and done by the All-Star break?
06:37Paige is done, unless she gets hurt.
06:40MVP, if Phoenix continues to roll,
06:44and they can finally get past New York to the second seed,
06:47then you can look at Alyssa Thomas, particularly the fact that they've missed,
06:50South 2 Celtics missed time, Kalia Copper's missed time.
06:53That can only help her chances if Phoenix can find her way to the two seed.
06:58Alyssa Thomas, a triple-double in the final week before the WNBA All-Star break,
07:02or in the final two weeks.
07:03She has 16 in her career.
07:06Nobody else in WNBA history has more than four.
07:10She has helped this Mercury team be one of the pleasant surprises
07:13of the first half of the WNBA season.
07:16All-Star Weekend in Indy with the coach, next.
07:20WNBA All-Star Weekend starts tonight in full in Indianapolis,
07:25of course, with the absence of Kaitlin Clark,
07:27who will be there at the events,
07:29but not competing in the actual events or the All-Star game.
07:33A slightly sour tone, but still should be fun and exciting.
07:37JY, on this Friday,
07:39three-point contest and the Skills Challenge.
07:42Where the reigning champ, who won both,
07:45is involved in both fields again.
07:47The All-Star from Atlanta, Alicia Gray,
07:50who has been one of the bright spots for this dream team
07:53that right now would be a playoff team
07:55if the season ended today.
07:57But, of course, when you think three-point contest
08:00and one of the players in the field,
08:02that is Sabrina Ionescu,
08:04who set a record with 37 made threes
08:07in the final round two years ago
08:10to win the three-point contest.
08:12JY, break it down for us.
08:14Who's going to go home as a champion tonight
08:17in both the three-point contest and that Skills Challenge?
08:21Well, Alicia Gray is not going to do the double,
08:24but she'll hit a single,
08:25and I'm going to take her to win the Skills Challenge
08:27because her ability to quickly get up the floor,
08:30her ability to knock down threes,
08:31shooting it at 30,
08:32I think it's at 38%, if I'm not mistaken.
08:35Alicia Gray, I do think she wins the Skills Challenge.
08:39When it comes to the three-point shootout,
08:40I'm going to go with Sabrina Ionescu.
08:42I've said it before in this network.
08:44I watched this young lady when she was at Oregon
08:47play a game called Red Light, Green Light,
08:49where you have to make,
08:50when you miss two threes in a row,
08:52you go to the next spot.
08:5320 minutes later, she's still shooting.
08:55So I'm going to go bet on the favorite
08:57in regards to the three-point contest,
08:59and that's Sabrina Ionescu.
09:00By the way, Coach, let me ask you a quick question
09:03about All-Star Weekend as well.
09:04How can we improve it?
09:05We're always looking at the All-Star Game,
09:07making adjustments here,
09:08because I think Major League Baseball
09:09does maybe the best option.
09:11Are we happy with the way the WNBA
09:13is presented here at the All-Star Game,
09:15or what changes would you like to make
09:16or would you like to see in the All-Star Game?
09:19No, listen, the fact that the top players
09:22go into the event of All-Star Weekend
09:25already makes it better than the NBA.
09:27With NBA guys, they all duck each other.
09:29There's guys in the G League that are competing
09:31in the NBA dunk contest.
09:33No offense to Mack McClellan,
09:34but let's be honest, we want Anthony Edwards.
09:37We want the superstars to be in the dunk contest
09:40and the 3-4 contest.
09:41So I think the WNBA is figured out
09:43by having their best players involved in it.
09:45Obviously, not having Kaitlyn Clark
09:47is going to hurt the event,
09:49but at the end of the day,
09:50there's more than enough stars,
09:52not only in the three-point shootout
09:54and the skills competition,
09:55but also in the All-Star Game,
09:56which should make it for a good atmosphere this weekend.
10:00Yes, it certainly should.
10:01And of course, J.Y., tomorrow night
10:03in the WNBA All-Star Game,
10:06Team Clark will not have their captain on the hardwood,
10:09but she will be there on the bench
10:11helping your friend, Sandy Brondello,
10:13the head coach of the Liberty and the reigning champions,
10:16try to lead Team Clark to a victory.
10:18On the other side, it is Team Collier
10:21with the WNBA MVP favorite,
10:24Nafisa Collier,
10:25and her head coach in Minnesota
10:26who coached the U.S. Olympic team last year
10:29in Cheryl Reeve.
10:31There was a coach swap,
10:33I'm sure for just a matter of coincidence,
10:35by the way,
10:36on draft night of those All-Star teams.
10:39Certainly no bitterness
10:41of how the Olympic team selections
10:43went a season ago.
10:45Team Collier, J.Y.,
10:46a three-and-a-half-point favorite.
10:48The total, 257 and a hook.
10:52We are expecting some offense,
10:54of course, in the exhibition match.
10:56That is the All-Star Game tomorrow
10:57inside Cambridge Fieldhouse.
11:00Which side do you think comes out with a dub
11:02in the All-Star Game tomorrow night?
11:04I'm going to take the underdogs,
11:06and I'm going to take Team Clark
11:07plus the points.
11:09When you look at it,
11:09you've got to look at it in regards to
11:11guard play and shot making, right?
11:14So you look at Ozzy Inescu,
11:16you look at Kelsey Mitchell,
11:17you look at Sonja Citron, Jackie Young,
11:19Kayla Thornton's had a fantastic year
11:21for the Valkyries.
11:25Go and say Valkyries.
11:26So to me, I like them plus the three-and-a-half
11:28to get the job done.
11:30MVP?
11:31I guess she's going to win it twice
11:33in regards to three-point winner,
11:35guard, shooter,
11:37Kayla Clark not there?
11:38No, it's Sabrina Inescu
11:39to be the MVP
11:40in an upset win by Team Clark.
11:43Wow.
11:44I still think Team Clark
11:46is loaded in terms of the talent,
11:48even without Caitlin Clark
11:49on the floor.
11:51I think if Caitlin Clark
11:52was playing, JY,
11:54that Team Clark in Indy
11:55would no doubt be a favorite.
11:58I think we've got
11:59a slightly wrong price
12:00on that spread
12:02as you are alluding to.
12:04And let's just look at the money line
12:05in a fun exhibition match.
12:08JY, enjoy your All-Star weekend,
12:10my friend.
12:11Enjoy your weekend
12:12just overall.
12:13We appreciate your time
12:14as always here
12:15on the early line.
12:17I mean,
12:17talk about All-Star weekend.
12:19We have Ben Stevens,
12:20first-team All-Star,
12:22and then Donnie Wrightside,
12:23All-Star hater.
12:24But that's okay.
12:25We all are going to have fun
12:26watching you.
12:27Donnie, you're going to watch
12:28the game this weekend?
12:29Yeah, you want my pick?
12:30It's Kelsey Plum for MVP.
12:31Darren Waller's back in the NFL.
12:33She's going to show him what's up.
12:34She's going to show him
12:34what's up this weekend.
12:35MVP, Kelsey Plum.
12:36Yeah.
12:37Yeah.
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