00:00As the Las Vegas Aces won the WNBA championship, sweeping the Phoenix Mercury four games to zero, winning their third title in four seasons.
00:12When you look at it, Robin, talk to me about your thoughts on just the job that Becky Hammond did, particularly the second half of the year where they did not play well.
00:22What did you see out of Las Vegas the second half of the year besides Asia Wilson being Asia Wilson?
00:30Well, you know, Becky Hammond, I believe, has the best winning percentage of any coach, period, in the playoffs.
00:35And, you know, she's only lost, I believe, one playoff series since becoming the Aces coach.
00:41She has the experience at the NBA level.
00:44She really was hammering home, like, the idea that they were a champion that had lost their way.
00:49Now, it did feel like they weren't going to be in this position.
00:53That is definitely fair.
00:54Kelsey Plum was moved in the offseason.
00:57She was a big part of that last core, and they felt like they were floundering.
01:01But it did change, and they won 17 games in a row to close the season.
01:05I mean, you mentioned Asia Wilson.
01:06That's a big part of it.
01:07But Jackie Young is another player on the team who deserves a lot of credit.
01:11I mean, she's one of the best two-way players in the entire league.
01:15They got, you know, a vet like Chelsea Gray to sort of set the tempo.
01:18And then in the playoffs, they got contributions from other places.
01:22Dana Evans really thrived for them.
01:24You know, Megan Gustafson played well for them in spots.
01:28And things sort of broke in their favor in a sense.
01:32Obviously, the Indiana Fever were not at full health.
01:35The Liberty sort of hit the skids, so they didn't have to go through them.
01:39The Minnesota Lynx, who were the best team all year, they got eliminated by the Mercury.
01:43Nafisa Collier hurt there.
01:45So some of this was about who was healthiest at the end.
01:48But credit to Hammond, Asia, and the rest of the aces.
01:52Because, you know, from that start of that win streak through the finals, it's hard to argue they weren't the best team.
01:59Even if they did go to OT against the hospital fever, and they were close to being eliminated by the Storm in the first round, too.
02:06Yeah, and I also think there was a couple things that I thought that Becky Hammond did really well.
02:10I thought putting Jewel Lloyd in the beginning of the second half of the year on the bench kind of allowed her to kind of thrive.
02:16I just thought that Jackie, Chelsea, Jewel all likes the ball in her hands.
02:21It just kind of took them time to get going.
02:23So by bringing Jewel off the bench for a majority of the time, it kind of allowed her to kind of get into a flow.
02:29And then Becky can mix and match.
02:31Also, underrated, Melissa Smith trade I thought was brilliant by Las Vegas.
02:36Because what it did is it moved Kia Stokes to the bench.
02:39And you even saw in game number four, DeJuana Bonner was guarding at one point.
02:44I do believe in Melissa Smith.
02:45And they went inside to her early and often in the first quarter.
02:49So I just thought those moves were fantastic.
02:52Speaking of moves, I mean, good God, what Angel Wilson did down the stretch and in the playoffs was truly phenomenal.
03:01So now it comes into play, right?
03:03She's the only player joining Bill Russell to have three MVPs and three finals and championships in a four-season span.
03:14Now comes the fun part.
03:16Do we put, or is she considered now, the GOAT of the WNBA?
03:22Robin, what are your thoughts?
03:24I mean, it's hard to argue against it, right?
03:26Like, I guess that's the way I would put it.
03:28If somebody says it, I'm not going to be like, you're wrong.
03:30I mean, there are cases to be made for Diana Taurasi was voted by the fans as the GOAT.
03:36She just recently retired.
03:37Obviously, she had that long, illustrious career, plays a little bit of a different position than Asia.
03:43And then there are the pioneers of the game when you go back to Cynthia Cooper and Candice Parker and Tamika Keshings and Lisa Leslie and so on and so forth.
03:52But Asia Wilson, factoring in what she's already done combined with what she can still do, it certainly feels reasonable to call her the GOAT.
04:03Now that comes knowing that there is more attention around the game now than there's ever been.
04:09And there are more players on the come up than there have ever been before.
04:13So, you know, a GOAT title isn't exactly necessarily solidified for all time.
04:18But the way I would put it, in my purview, it's probably between Asia and Taurasi and recency bias would certainly say Wilson.
Be the first to comment