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00:02the Liberty made history became the first eight seed in WNBA history 30 years of the league
00:08to knock off a number one seed as they win game two against the Minnesota Lynx 87 to 71 at
00:15the
00:15Barclay Center Dexter Henry Madeline Kenny here two people here we can get this out the way
00:20our predictions are wrong y'all will be fine we will be fine do you want me to pick against
00:25you
00:25because every every time I pick the Liberty they lose and every time I pick against them then the
00:32team I pick loses so in theory you want me to pick against your team just saying just some facts
00:38it
00:38just might be some facts of people but the Liberty make history they had a very I think very impressive
00:43performance tonight we'll get to some aspects of that but they make the history they did it this
00:50is a team that I don't think a lot of people were very confident in based on how they played
00:54this
00:54season how impressed would you what you saw with them not just in game one which you talked about
00:58the other day but then what they did here in game two yeah definitely impressed I mean they came out
01:03and they took care of business which is exactly what they had to do they knew that they did not
01:06want to repeat what happened a year ago and I just thought that this was probably the most connected
01:11this team has looked I mean the effort for all 40 minutes I mean they played they played their butts
01:17off and you saw it in all the different ways that people were contributing and it was like they were
01:22making the extra passes they were moving the ball they were getting back on defense they were taking
01:26care of the ball like at one point I looked up and they only had four turnovers I think at
01:30halftime or
01:30something like that and it was you know like this is a team that could sometimes be a little careless
01:35with the ball at times and so there's just like a lot of like the composure that this team had
01:40the ability to again like hound Olivia Miles and not allow her to get into any rhythm and
01:46you know the links overall like never really found their footing in this series and I think that
01:51that's a testament to the liberty and the aggressiveness that they played shout out to
01:55JJ for you know going for really hard in the paint and then also extending possessions or getting extra
02:01possessions with just you know the way that she was crashing the glass and stuff and so I think that
02:06there was a lot of good things that happened tonight to ensure that they won no there really were and
02:11you know we're talking about making the history we heard from John Paul Jones who was a major factor
02:16in this game and she talked about the history that the team made in game two obviously it feels good
02:22I think that we understand who we are as a team and we've said it before like we're not listening
02:28to
02:28outside noise we understand that you know we can do a lot of great things and you know coming into
02:34this series yes there's seating and obviously that's because of you know the regular season but
02:38you know we feel like we can we can play anybody and we can beat anybody and that's the mindset
02:43that
02:43we have moving forward and so yeah it feels good to be able to make history obviously and
02:49it had to be done in order for us to advance and so now that it's done it's it's a
02:53nice thing to say
02:54that's that's that's been accomplished but we still have a lot of work to do and and we're still
02:58playing for a lot now when you look about this you talked about the fact that this was their best
03:02all-around effort and at halftime of this game I tweeted out that first half was the best defense
03:07I'd seen from this Liberty team all season I'll take that a step further guys this entire game
03:13was the best defensive effort I saw from this team all season they hold the Minnesota Lynx team that
03:18was number one seed to 38% shooting you talked about them taking care of the ball then they were
03:22also forcing turnovers where are you with me that this might have been their best defensive effort
03:27that we've seen in 2026 yeah I think so and then like there was a part where you were just
03:31sitting
03:31there and you're just like where has this team been all season long um just how great they played
03:36and I think defensively they were just really like they were executing at a really high level
03:40um and I think that's what it all came down to and you know I got a little nervous when
03:44Chris decided
03:45to leave Leone Fibichan with four fouls uh in the first half but you know what she was able to
03:51she
03:51never fouled out and so I think that it was just about being smart um picking your spots and and
03:56also
03:57like there was one play in particular like in the first half that kind of told me how the game
04:01was
04:01gonna go because if I remember correctly it was like there was the mismatch of Nafisa and Pauline
04:08and uh Olivia Miles like goes to throw the pass to Nafisa Collier and you know Pauline read it
04:15perfectly and just came in and yeah intercepted it I think she took it all the way and if she
04:19didn't
04:19get a layup then entrance like I think she had finished with a layup but if not it was like
04:23an assist
04:23to another basket and so like you know it was just it was just playing smart and it was being
04:28like
04:28committed and all that yeah you saw all of that you saw that in the defensive effort everybody
04:33brought it here tonight speaking of bringing it here tonight someone that Maddie has talked a lot
04:38about needing to bring it in order to set the tone for this Liberty was God Blow Jones another double
04:43double you saw her physicality inside you saw her dominant on the glass once again you could say this
04:50about JJ you haven't always seen it consistently but you know it's there she was the MVP of the 2024
04:55WNBA
04:55finals how impressed were you with what you saw from her today I think it was like a little
05:00reminiscent of like you know JJ in the finals stepped up so massively in that series and then
05:06today you know she just sets the tone early on she scores the first seven points you know or she's
05:11knocking down three she's scoring inside she's going after rebounds and it's really like asserting her
05:17dominance and I think that was the biggest thing like at some point that the links went small
05:21um the Liberty were able to use their size to their advantage and that that was like a huge
05:25contributor to why they were able to win this series um they definitely had the size component
05:29on their side because they have way more length and stuff which helps defense I think that overall
05:34like JJ this was you know one of her best games um and again like you could just tell from
05:40the way
05:40when she was playing early on that she was like locked and ready to go yeah you could absolutely tell
05:44it and JJ talked about this after the game she talked about what her mindset was coming into this one
05:49I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and um obviously we had a size advantage against them
05:55and I felt like being in the paint was just going to be advantageous for me and also for the
05:59team so
05:59that was my biggest thing was just trying to affect the game in that way whether it was rebound
06:04whether it was post or not um but yeah just getting into pain and really trying to dominate in that
06:08area
06:09then we also have to talk about Sabrina Inesky because I think people will look at her scoring in this
06:16game she had 18 points but what I liked was she had seven dimes no turnovers in the first half
06:21she did two but she had five assists no turnovers in the first half she played a really good floor
06:27general game she was looking for ladies ahead she looked maybe the most comfortable I've seen her in
06:32weeks maybe months you can say the Liberty are going to need her if they're going to try to go
06:38on a deep
06:38run here did she look in your eyes like she was back to her old self I know you're not
06:43going to say that
06:44yet and she's got to pump the brakes a little bit but could this be the start of something good
06:47with sad totally I mean you could even see it when she was hitting some of those threes like in
06:51the
06:51third quarter you know the way that she was like grinning at the crowd and just the emphatic
06:55celebrations that she had I mean you could tell that she was feeling it and afterwards she said
06:59that there wasn't really anything going on in her mind but for a shooter that's like perfect right
07:05to have that clarity to have that peace and I think like you know this has been a really
07:09challenging season for Sabrina and the way that she's continued to have to like show up and work
07:14through you know a nagging back injury or maybe going through a little bit of a slump and she still
07:21finds ways to contribute and I think like maybe I didn't give her enough credit in game one when I
07:27went back and actually watched the film because obviously we tape it right after the game and
07:30sometimes you need to go back and digest a few things but just you know like her ability to
07:35as a screen setter that's something that she's been doing way more this season is setting screens
07:40and um her ability to like create space for others and um she's just kind of like a magnet for
07:46the
07:46defense which is what Rebecca Allen said after tonight's game and so I think that this is definitely
07:50like you know a game that should help her confidence moving forward not that she necessarily needs it
07:55because she's one of those people that uh she could miss 10 times in a row and she thinks the
08:0011th
08:00ones going in um which is the mindset that you have as a shooter right and so um I think
08:06you know
08:06again it was a good Sabrina game and I think the fact that you saw all three of the big
08:11three really
08:12show up in a big way they contributed they scored or assisted on 70 of their points and the links
08:17only had 71 so if the Liberty's big three is performing like this look out and that's what
08:23Brandon Stewart said yeah it's going to be hard for them to beat now Sabrina after the game
08:28she talked about her mindset of the shooter and then what I think is really most important
08:33finding multiple ways to help her team best place to be is a shooter and a basketball player is when
08:39honestly your mind's empty and you're just playing um so I just went out and um you know obviously
08:45understood what the team needed and got the crowd into it and uh teammates found me open and
08:51transition to get some easy ones to fall and just try to do whatever it took to win um whether
08:55it was
08:55passing or finding ways to you know get to the basket or score now with this historic win it's
09:03also huge for Chris DiMarco head coach here because this was his first WNBA playoff series
09:08he gets a historic win and he feels like this team is playing good at the right time what do
09:16you think
09:16this means for him just to the players have been through this before the players have won a championship
09:21but he hasn't done this before to get this proverbial monkey off of his back and just
09:25now you can relax he's got that win what do you think this will mean for him just leading this
09:29team
09:30going forward yeah I mean the series was interesting heading into it right because you have the all-time
09:34winningest WNBA head coach going up against the first timer WNBA head coach and like Chris doesn't
09:39have that institutional knowledge that Cheryl Reeve has built up over the years that she's been in
09:44been at the helm in Minnesota and you know Cheryl kind of talked about how the NBA playoffs and the
09:52Bahamian national team like those high state games maybe have helped contribute help Chris know how to
09:57handle these moments and he even talked about that like you learn how to deal with the nerves and the
10:02emotions and like the highs and lows that are bound to happen within like a game and a series and
10:07so I think you know Brianna was talking about it after the game because she was asked about this
10:12and Brianna said like his birthday was on Saturday the day before game one and he had meetings all day
10:21like meeting with players meeting with staff meeting with you know all kinds of different people just to make
10:25sure everyone was on the same page and I think like the biggest thing for Liberty it was just their
10:28preparation preparation seemed like it was really solid they all knew what they were trying to do and they went
10:34out
10:35and they executed at a high level and so I think you know they've been talking about building all season
10:40like we're building we don't want to peak at the we want to peak at the right time which you
10:43hear all the time and
10:45yeah Brianna said that a year ago she felt like the Liberty peaked too early and she told me that
10:52she feels like
10:53this year they were heading into the postseason with a lot more confidence than a year ago
10:57and so I think there was like this excitement of like this untapped potential within this team and they felt
11:02like they
11:02could really like they were just scratching the surface on what this team can be and I think we're kind
11:06of
11:07starting to see that it's all coming together and it seems like they're kind of hitting their stride at
11:11the absolute perfect time it's interesting because some people may find that interesting considering
11:15you saw them drop the final two games of the season which I always said I don't want to put
11:18too much
11:19stock into you're missing stewie for one of them right you're missing stewie for one of them and then
11:23you saw how they played well in that Friday before against Minnesota which you don't want to put too
11:29much stock into that either but there was something to that after this game coach Romarco talked about how he
11:34liked how his team has been playing basketball to end of September into October I feel like we've
11:39been trying trending in the right direction for a while now and it doesn't always show up in the
11:43wins and losses but we uh we're ready to play and we knew we had to be at our best
11:48end of September
11:48and October and I think we are right now all right Liberty moving on Maddie another round work does not
11:55stop for you or me they will face the winner of the series between the dream and the mystics we
12:01still do not
12:01know who they will face you will either be taking a trip to Atlanta or to DC for game one
12:07which of
12:08these teams you think is the better opponent in the semi-finals best of five for the Liberty like the
12:12better one you want to play but yeah it's a better matchup I think it would probably I would lean
12:16more
12:16towards the mystics um I think that the Liberty have you know a lot of playoff experience and veteran
12:23presence on their team and I don't know I think the storyline with like a Banasia you know playing her
12:28former team would be like that'd be great like the stories kind of write themselves and um I just
12:34think that the matchup as well like you know the the mystics are kind of a pesky team um they
12:40played
12:41the Liberty really hard this season they forced them into overtime in the second or third game of
12:46the season and so I think that it would be a fun one but I just think that the Liberty
12:52you know that
12:53would they would have the edge in that matchup and be able to um essentially punch their ticket to
12:58their third finals in four years just which is really impressive it feels like the confidence
13:04should be sky high for this team you just knocked off the number one seed you would think either of
13:09these matches dream or the mystics they can win that series they probably do you think they'll be
13:13favored in the series I just caught myself saying that do you think the Liberty will be favored
13:16against either of those opponents I think mystics yes dream yeah I would I would say you're correct
13:23on that yeah um which is not a knock on the Liberty for those that are going to think I'm
13:28knocking them
13:30um but no I I think that you know the dream obviously you have the recency bias because of
13:35what it did in Brooklyn and I think um you know Atlanta's been playing really solid basketball for
13:41the last like month or so I mean I guess we had the world cup break but you know what
13:45I mean like
13:46they've been playing very well defensively uh it's going to be a battle inside they have size that
13:51you know it's going to be really interesting to see how Liberty um would play in a series against
13:57them yeah it would be a fun series between the Liberty and the dream or the Liberty and the mystics
14:01although I'm kind of with you I'd love to see that but that's just storyline come back and play
14:05especially seeing her back here in New York for a game or two or more we will see that'll be
14:10very
14:10interesting but the Liberty are moving on to the semi-finals and we will have our predictions for that
14:17coming up soon Maddie are you going to predict you're going to check the other team we'll see
14:22we can't tell you too early to tell a little bit of a secret but that's going to do it
14:28for us from here at the Barclays Center with the Liberty made history in game two
14:32as they sweep the links first eight seed in WNBA history to defeat a number one seed in the playoffs
14:39theme сказ
14:4111
14:41yes
14:43Hmm
14:45H
14:46ST
14:49o
14:50good
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