- 16 hours ago
Willard and Dibs react to last night's Valkyries win, which clinched a playoff spot for Golden State.
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00:00Last opportunity here for the Valkyries in the first court.
00:02Two seconds left.
00:03Hayes with a deep pull up and it's it from the low go with .1.
00:09Oh, my tip.
00:11Wow.
00:1320-19 Golden State.
00:16That's from 40 feet, folks.
00:18It's the first lead for the Valkyries.
00:21She sized that thing up.
00:22She could have taken one more dribble.
00:24Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
00:25She wanted to shoot from right where she did.
00:27Talking her mess, as she should afterwards.
00:30Wow.
00:31What a shot by Tiffany Hayes.
00:33Bay Area.
00:35It's Tip.
00:36You're listening to Willard and Dibs coming to you live from the Laughing Monk Studios on 95.7 The Game.
00:43Hey, congrats, Tip.
00:46Oh, yeah.
00:47Made the playoffs.
00:48Right.
00:48Made a just-inside-half-court buzzer beater.
00:52Released to the world that she's the brainchild behind the nickname for the defense, Valkatraz.
00:59Pretty awesome.
01:00Which is so good.
01:03So good.
01:06Um, and obviously was the artist behind the latest Kevin Dana experience.
01:13And I want to share the quickest story about how fun this was.
01:17Because, so I'm driving, uh, the, uh, the little guy, um, wants to hit balls last night.
01:24So it's like, okay, can we go to McInnis after the show in San Rafael?
01:27Well, so sure, we hop in the car after a little dinner, and we're driving to McInnis, and I pop
01:33the Valkyries game on.
01:34And he loves the Valkyries, so he's into it, he's listening.
01:37And, uh, but he doesn't quite know Kevin Dana the way we know Kevin Dana.
01:43He's a madman.
01:45Right.
01:45So we're at a stoplight, and Tip throws that thing in, and Dana starts, as you all just heard, he
01:54starts going.
01:55But in the back of my mind, because my man Jude's eyes are starting to bug out, he was like,
02:01whoa, like, that was a big shot.
02:03And then he's like, man, the announcer is really excited.
02:08And I'm sitting there, and I'm thinking to myself, oh, just wait.
02:14And I knew, I knew Dana wouldn't stop at just the excitement of a half-court shot.
02:20I knew he'd keep going and have a little something more.
02:24So, Grande, you've got to play it again, because he does the regular, like, you know, big shot and super
02:30excited.
02:31And then he just keeps going, and he gets into the, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
02:34no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
02:35no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
02:35And I knew, I knew it was coming before it happened, and then it happened, and Jude started cracking up
02:44in the car.
02:45He was enjoying the hell out of it.
02:47So we got to let Dana know, like, he made Jude's drive out there so much more fun.
02:53What's up, Grandy?
02:54Oh, you look like you're about to say something.
02:56Oh, I thought you wanted me to play it again.
02:57I was waiting for the cue.
02:58Hit it.
02:59Last opportunity here for the Valkyries in the first court.
03:01Two seconds left.
03:02Hayes with a deep pull up and it's it from the low go with .1.
03:08Oh, my tip.
03:10Wow.
03:1220-19 Golden State.
03:15That's from 40 feet, folks.
03:17And it's the first lead for the Valkyries.
03:20She sized that thing up.
03:21She could have taken one more dribble.
03:22Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
03:24She wanted to shoot from right where she did.
03:27Talking her mess, as she should afterwards.
03:29Wow.
03:30What a shot by Tiffany Hayes.
03:33Love it.
03:35I'd like to make a request.
03:37Yeah.
03:38I would like the nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah to be a drop on our shell going forward.
03:44I believe that that will come in handy.
03:47Definitely.
03:48When we disagree with something.
03:49A little bit of a gnat sound in the background, but I do think that Grandy can get a recording
03:55of it that actually will work.
03:56Do your magic.
03:57I just, I would love if Tiffany Hayes would be on our show today or any Valk and somebody
04:03who could speak to whether or not that she decided to pull up from 40 because Steph was
04:08in the, in the building.
04:09So she had time to get a little closer and I don't know if they knew all knew that Steph
04:15was in the building.
04:16I would bet that they did because it's Steph flipping Curry and he's in his little spot.
04:21Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
04:22It's really good.
04:23I, I mean, I guess maybe she didn't know that he was there.
04:26Well, it felt to me watching it like she knew that he was in the building and decided to pull
04:32up from 40.
04:32I would bet they knew.
04:34I, it's pretty hard to hide Steph Curry.
04:36Now they did introduce all of the, uh, the Warriors who were there to the crowd, but I
04:41don't know if they had done it yet.
04:42That was the end of the first quarter that, that, that buzzer beater that tip threw in.
04:48Um, so actually there was something to talk about with the whole introduction of the Warriors.
04:52We'll get to it in a sec, but, um, I'm with you.
04:54The Valkyries have also already had a big press conference today to announce that they will
04:59be hosting the all-star game next year.
05:01So we've got a lot of all-star games coming through the Bay area the next couple of years.
05:05We get the WNBA all-star game next year.
05:08We get the baseball all-star game the year after that.
05:11So that's pretty cool.
05:12Um, but just all around, I, I think it's a moment to say, um, congratulations to the
05:20Valkyries.
05:21This is, this is an unbelievable story.
05:25They're 25 and nine.
05:26They have the second best record in the WNBA and they are a true, legitimate championship
05:34contender.
05:36And they have played a season and a half.
05:40They've played a season and call it three quarters.
05:43Right.
05:45I forgot I was, I was working with Dan Dibley.
05:47I'm like, well, hold on.
05:48There's more than a half.
05:49Just button it up.
05:50If you can.
05:50Yeah.
05:51They have played a season and three quarters.
05:53A little bit more than three quarters, but I'll allow it.
05:55It's just, um, from top to bottom, when stuff like this goes the way that it's gone, this
06:03is not to me just about the players.
06:06And I know right now there's a lot that people want to say about Joe Lacob because of things
06:12that felt disappointing for the off season with the Warriors.
06:15And that's a completely separate conversation.
06:17And we can have that conversation in just a minute.
06:20Uh, but the Valkyries, um, from, from ownership to staff, to coaching, to players, to the free
06:29agent acquisition of Gabby in the off season, like all of this stuff, it has been about as
06:35clean as I've ever seen an expansion situation operate in professional sports that I could
06:43ever remember.
06:44I'm trying to remember another comp that would actually match up.
06:48And it's, um, I'm hard pressed to do it because the first year you make the playoffs and okay,
06:53you made the playoffs and it's best of three and you were unable to even, you know, force
06:58a third and that's fine.
06:59You play the game down in San Jose, not ideal, but now you've got this team coming back and
07:04you mentioned the free agent acquisition and I can't help but think about the head coach.
07:08And I would love to get a chance to talk to Natalie Nicasse on the air about her journey
07:13because she was a lightly recruited high school player.
07:17She withstood and she actually gave the Heisman to UC Irvine who had offered her a scholarship
07:24because she wanted to go to UCLA, her dream school.
07:26And she goes there and she's a three-year starter and she becomes a pro and, you know, it's a
07:30little
07:30bit of an injury riddled pro situation.
07:33She goes overseas and she finds Bob Hill and the name should ring a bell.
07:37He was the Spurs coach before Greg Popovich in San Antonio.
07:41And so she became somebody who coached with him overseas and that kind of spurred her on
07:47into the coaching career she's had.
07:49And so I would love to ask her about that level of intensity that she brings.
07:53And, you know, is it like that everywhere she goes?
07:56Does she go to Safeway to shop for like produce?
08:00And she's just like insanely intense about making sure she gets the right zucchini?
08:05I hope they're not out of something.
08:07Those poor employees.
08:08Right.
08:08You know what I mean?
08:09The closest comp that popped into my mind is the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars,
08:16both of whom were awarded franchises in late 1993.
08:19That meant that they would debut as actual franchises in the 1994 season and then already made the
08:29playoffs in 1996.
08:31But that was the 2025 season.
08:34The Panthers and Jaguars both made the playoffs in their second season in the NFL.
08:39I know the Valkyries made it in their first, you know, comping the NFL and the WNBA.
08:44Not the same.
08:45But that's the first thing that came to mind.
08:49And I think that was when Mark Brunel might have been the quarterback for the Jaguars.
08:55But, yeah, the Jags and Panthers were awarded franchises, then played in their initial season.
09:00And in year two, they both together in separate conferences made the playoffs.
09:05So that's as good of a comp as I can think of right now with regard to what the Valkyries
09:11are doing.
09:11I just was looking at the Marlins because I knew that they popped pretty quickly in their inception.
09:16But it was one, two, three, four, five years.
09:19And then they made the playoffs.
09:21They won the World Series.
09:22Won the whole thing.
09:22But before that, it was, you know, 64 wins and 51 wins.
09:26And less cool because, correct me if I'm wrong, they won the World Series after five years and then immediately
09:31started shipping everybody out.
09:33Well, yeah, that it was.
09:33Wasn't that like Josh Beckett and those guys?
09:35It was Kevin Brown that first time.
09:38And then I think the second time was Josh Beckett.
09:40Got it.
09:41But they were four years and then they won the World Series and it was five years and then they
09:46won the World Series again.
09:47So Florida is a little bit of a weird anomaly where.
09:50And they did the same thing every time.
09:52They'd win the World Series and then get rid of their players.
09:54Exactly.
09:55So they won the World Series and then actually they won 54, then 64, losing record, losing record, losing record.
10:02And then they won the World Series.
10:03And then it was back to, all right, strip it down and, you know, start the whole thing over.
10:07This feels to me like something that we've never seen where, and it makes sense for us here locally because
10:13Joe Lacob, Valhalla, the organization, they sell out everything.
10:17The home court advantage is amazing.
10:19They invest in their players and their coach.
10:22And so, yeah, it makes sense that they would be good.
10:24But to go from, we're brand new, we make the playoffs, and now year two, we might somehow get the
10:31one seed?
10:32I'd like to acknowledge the at least 10 of you.
10:35Thank you for listening so closely who just texted in a row, Las Vegas Golden Knights.
10:41As far as expansion followed by immediate high-level success.
10:47Yes, that's probably, certainly in the modern era, that's probably the answer.
10:52That's probably the best answer in terms of how quickly you can be established and then compete at the very
11:00highest of levels.
11:01It's amazing.
11:02It's amazing.
11:03So, everybody with the Valkyries, congratulations.
11:08And I do, and again, you sort of insinuated this a couple minutes ago.
11:12This is the way I've decided I want to say it.
11:14I do want everybody with the Valkyries organization to know, a day like today, you've clinched the playoffs and announced
11:22the All-Star Game.
11:23Just know the invitation is here on days like this.
11:27This is a you-come-get-your-flowers kind of day.
11:30I don't want to make it sound like it's not about us.
11:33It's not about our show or any of the other shows here on 95.7 The Game.
11:39But WNBA is still in its infancy of its current status.
11:45Like, it's getting so much more attention than it used to.
11:48And obviously, what has been established here in the Bay Area is incredible.
11:51And you've had a busy day.
11:53They had a big game last night.
11:54They had a press conference this afternoon.
11:56If it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit.
11:58And that's all good.
11:59But I want them to know that the invitation is there because today is a day where you should be
12:07celebrated.
12:07You should be celebrated.
12:09And I just, you know, everybody's really still new at all of this to a certain degree.
12:14And I want everyone with that organization to know, like, this is a day where you have some real positive
12:20conversations around.
12:22And it helps, you know, if you accept any of those invitations.
12:26You don't have to.
12:27I get it.
12:28You're busy.
12:28But the invitation is there.
12:31So if any of you are listening right now, Natalie, give us a call.
12:35888-957-9570.
12:37Give us a call.
12:38Like, you deserve a tremendous high five if you're involved with the Valkyries organization at all right now.
12:44Yes, and we will give you the high five whether or not you come on the show or not.
12:48And the thing about it, Mark, that I think about all the time is the people in our audience, traditional
12:55sports talk radio audience,
12:56which is it slates more toward men than women.
12:59And so some of the men in our audience, even some of the women may still be trying to figure
13:04out the Valkyries and like wins the schedule and what's the season and, you know, win of the playoffs and
13:10all the rest of it.
13:11And so this becomes a great time for all of us to be able to say, look, did you say
13:1524 and 9?
13:1725 and 9.
13:18They're 25 and 9.
13:20They've won six in a row.
13:20And I think they've won 17 of 19, something ungodly like that.
13:24And so you are by far the hottest thing in town.
13:28And you and I talked about this going back to maybe, I guess, June where, all right, Giants, it's your
13:34summer.
13:35Like, go ahead and be good, Giants.
13:37The Warriors are done.
13:38The Niners are on sabbatical.
13:40And, you know, the Valkyries are just getting started.
13:42But it's up to you, Giants.
13:44Like, this is your town.
13:45But, no, no, no, the Valkyries are saying hold our beer because it's your town, Valks.
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