Latest / We Got Next / Valkyries vanquish defending champ Aces, Head to WNBA finals in second season

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Valkyries vanquish defending champ Aces, Head to WNBA finals in second season · We Got Next

• 0:00
  Valkyries' arena announcer Ari Waller: Alright. If you're proud of our team, if you're proud to rep the Bay Area, Make. Some. Noise. Louder. Louder.
• 0:33
  Filiberto: Hey, Michelle. How's it going? What's that beverage in your hand? That frozen beverage.
• 0:40
  Michelle: I don't know. What is it?
• 0:43
  Filiberto: I shouldn't ask you about it then. Goodness. It is a frozen, like, peach, so I wanted to make a margarita, but we ran out of vodka. So...
• 0:54
  Michelle: We ran out of tequila.
• 0:55
  Filiberto: I say... Yeah. Sorry. No tequila. So I subbed out vodka, and so now it's like a vodka peach triple sec drink, frozen drink.
• 1:02
  Michelle: Like a peach fro... Frose? Is that what you'd call it? Frose?
• 1:06
  Filiberto: I don't know what a frose is, so I don't know.
• 1:09
  Michelle: It's it's like the adult fancy way of saying, Slurpee.
• 1:14
  Filiberto: Oh, yeah. Sure. It's adult Slurpee. Cocktail Slurpee. Yeah.
• 1:18
  Some many drinks up in this.
• 1:19
  Michelle: Or, I guess, slushy.
• 1:20
  Filiberto: Yeah. That would be better, I guess.
• 1:26
  Michelle: It tastes delicious.
• 1:27
  Filiberto: It tastes delicious. Thank you. As delicious as this victory? Oh my god. Wow.
• 1:35
  Nothing can be that delicious.
• 1:37
  Michelle: Yeah. If we sound like a little kind of relaxed, it's because we are recording this Saturday morning or afternoon, I guess.
• 1:44
  Filiberto: Yeah. An hour and afternoon.
• 1:47
  Michelle: We watched the game live and we're celebrating.
• 1:50
  Filiberto: Just like all of you.
• 1:51
  Michelle: Yes. Like, hard to get to sleep last night after that amazing victory on the road. Mhmm. And we decided we've got eight days
• 1:59
  Filiberto: We got eight days. So to
• 2:01
  Michelle: record this podcast.
• 2:02
  Filiberto: Is that really a rush? Well, and like, if y'all have been noticing, there's way more media covering this now. So suddenly, the the space is just impacted. But y'all know where to go for the OG experience.
• 2:14
  Michelle: Exactly. The fan experience.
• 2:16
  Filiberto: Come to this podcast. Mhmm. Keep coming to this podcast.
• 2:18
  Michelle: Yep. We'll talk about things they won't talk about on others.
• 2:22
  Filiberto: Yeah. Because they don't know. Mhmm. Because they're not fans.
• 2:24
  Michelle: Mhmm.
• 2:24
  Filiberto: They're just people writing words. And we're talking words, so it's different.
• 2:29
  So what were your overall thoughts, Michelle, of the stupendous three games series... Three game sweep of the Las Vegas Aces? Like, wow.
• 2:47
  Michelle: Wow. We're at the final four. You know, we have the Golden State Valkyries in their second season playing the defending champ Las Vegas Aces. And each each day we played, the earlier game was the other final four matchup between the Atlanta Dream and the New York Liberty. Liberty were the eight seed that knocked off the one seed Minnesota Lynx.
• 3:08
  So these... I think all of these games were great. Even though both series had sweeps, I think every game was super competitive. A couple of them went to overtime.
• 3:19
  Filiberto: Lots lots... Very fun to watch.
• 3:21
  Michelle: Yes. Very entertaining. Lots of back and forth, lots of battles, lots of great personalities.
• 3:27
  Filiberto: Good storylines.
• 3:28
  Michelle: But for our series, I'm just... I think shocked would be... I mean, shocked not that we won this series, but that we swept Las Vegas.
• 3:38
  Filiberto: You kinda made the face that I imagine, like, Melania Trump made when she realized Trump won the first time. Yes. Where she was like, oh, shit. This actually is happening.
• 3:46
  Michelle: Yes.
• 3:47
  It was like shit just got real.
• 3:48
  Filiberto: Like, partly partly it was like, like, terror. You know? It's the first the first sort of sort of glance is like, oh, shit. Like, terror.
• 3:53
  It's like terror. Like, oh, wow. We really did this. We're about to go to the finals. What what...
• 3:57
  What's going on?
• 3:58
  Michelle: Yeah. So that was very surprising. But I I think just, like, thinking of the series in general, I think... Shout out to Vegas. They just had a shorter bench.
• 4:08
  They had some injuries. They had some really key injuries. Stephanie Talbot had to come in in the second game.
• 4:14
  Filiberto: She
• 4:15
  Michelle: Yeah. She came with like a foot injury. You had Dana Evans who was kinda injured most of the season.
• 4:21
  Filiberto: Really hobbling out there.
• 4:22
  Michelle: Yeah. Yeah. And I think, like, obviously, they lost NaLyssa Smith for the season earlier. Jewel Lloyd was battling an injury as well.
• 4:31
  Filiberto: She just wasn't as effective.
• 4:33
  Michelle: And then no one's really talking about it, but Chelsea Gray, who I absolutely love. I watched her... She first came on my radar when I was watching the LA Sparks.
• 4:44
  Filiberto: Future Hall of Famer.
• 4:46
  Michelle: Just Yes.
• 4:46
  Filiberto: A g. Just a g.
• 4:47
  Michelle: She stole the championship for LA Yeah. Back when she and Candace were playing there with just her clutch three pointers, which we've seen a lot of since then. But something... I don't know if she has a hip or leg issue or maybe just has a chronic condition like arthritis or something, but she just didn't... She wasn't moving very well out there.
• 5:07
  Filiberto: Yeah.
• 5:08
  Michelle: So not like an injury necessarily, but it did impact her ability to play at her peak.
• 5:14
  Filiberto: Yeah. And I've... I sort of see that, like... Again, I've done CrossFit for a long time, and there's certain just biomechanical things you deal with. And the way she kinda limps and the way she, like, favors that's...
• 5:25
  Like, it looks like it's on her right side where there's, a hip or ankle or anything. And the way it looks to me is I I actually identify with it because that's the way I kinda move or I've been moving. I've had to go through really intensive physical therapy to clean up my my pelvic tilt and a couple of other mechanical issues. So I definitely recognize, like, what that limp and pain looks like. So, yeah, you can still, like, throw yourself out there and, like, run in some sort of technical sense, but, you know, just the effectiveness and the the lateral mobility and the way they kinda had her hide her on defense in the corner for a lot of the time.
• 5:57
  So, again, there's... There seems to be a reason why nobody's bringing it up, and I don't know what that is, and I wanna respect whatever that reason may be. But she did look a little debilitated and it was it was getting it was getting kind of obvious.
• 6:09
  Michelle: Well, and like I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in my knees back when I was like in my early twenties, which is like randomly... There's this like small subset of women who get that diagnosis, which is just kinda surprising. So being someone who has that condition... Yeah. But I still run, still exercise.
• 6:28
  So I've got tender knee joints a lot. And I just recognize that. And the fact that she wasn't being subbed out that much...
• 6:36
  Filiberto: Yeah. That was the big indicator to me.
• 6:38
  Michelle: Well, like, maybe it's this chronic thing where it's like... Because I know, like, if you go go go, but then you sit for a bit Yeah. Things get really tight.
• 6:46
  Filiberto: If you get cold, it gets really bad.
• 6:47
  Michelle: And so it's like, no, you just gotta keep... Even though there's a lot of pain associated with it, you just have to keep going. And so that's kinda like why it struck... It stuck out to me. It reminded me of like maybe some type of arthritis or something with her joints.
• 6:59
  Filiberto: And if you've... If you track the progress of these games closely, you kind of see it especially in the third game. She was only really effective in the second quarter. So like with that kind of injury or issue, you can only like have a burst for a short time before it gets too painful.
• 7:11
  Michelle: Yeah.
• 7:11
  Filiberto: Again, like, not that we know. We're not doctors. We're not in the league. We don't have special access to anybody. We're just going by what our eyes tells us and in our early forties, what we've learned about our own bodies that are falling apart slowly.
• 7:23
  Michelle: But even with that, she still had some really key plays and just like amazing passing. And so it's kinda like even, you know, a Chelsea Gray who's not at a 100% is still better than a lot of players in the league. And she definitely like contributed to the team, but you could tell she was just limited.
• 7:40
  Filiberto: Yeah. They did beat Indiana. So Yeah. It's still a good... Really good team.
• 7:43
  Michelle: Yeah. Yeah. But I think just, you know... And same thing for the Liberty and other teams who have gone far in the playoffs the last couple of years. It just really felt like you could see some fatigue on teams.
• 7:54
  And I think, you know, it benefited us in our series, and I think it benefited Atlanta in their series with New York. But the... You know, taking a game in overtime or even if the series had gone to five, you know, four or five games, like, we felt pretty confident that, like, the Valkyries depth and also the injury issues, meaning other players were having to start, like... Or just play thirty seven, thirty eight minutes, like, just really benefited the Valkyries. So just wear them down.
• 8:21
  Filiberto: Yeah. Vegas has been a dominant team for... They have three of the last four championships, I guess, except the... Except for this last one. So maybe it's three of the last five.
• 8:29
  Mhmm. They have... They've been dominant during the season. But that also means they've... They spent a lot of time in the playoffs competing in really stressful minutes.
• 8:37
  So, yeah, the the cost is there. And Vegas hasn't done a good job of, like, replenishing, getting in younger players, like, sort of, adding the fountain of youth, basically. So there's a lot of issues overall for them. And, again, there many dynasty. They're a dominant team, but you're seeing the back end of it.
• 8:54
  You're seeing what happens when, dynasties age.
• 9:11
  Michelle: Something else I noticed on the other side was the Valkyries seem to... For for certain players that had started a lot in the season like maybe a Veronica or a Gabby, they would kinda sit a lot in the middle of the game Mhmm. And then be pulled in by by head coach Natalie Nakase at key points of the game, like to close out the third or to do like the last five minutes in the fourth. And so that definitely happened in game three last night when the Valkyries were down and try to claw their way back. Gabby comes in, is just able to kind of like move the ball around, know, charge hard on defense and got some really key buckets or just like some good reads to give it someone else.
• 9:52
  And just kind of helped impact that game in Valkyries' favor. So again, that's what the the depth does to you. And you have a star player or multiple star players, and it was different every game between Kiah Stokes, Gabby Williams, Veronica Burton, Kaitlyn Chen, Kayla Thornton. Like, it was just a lot of people kinda stepped up.
• 10:16
  Filiberto: Well, and I think between the Dallas series and this series, that's the big difference. Like, for some reason in the Dallas series, like, Nakase just didn't engage the bench at all. Like, it was a lot of... It was a conventional, like, six, seven person playoff rotation. Starters took in a lot of minutes.
• 10:31
  And so that was a little worrisome going to this Vegas series because we knew our advantages, our depth, not our one to one with their starters. And so you saw the way the the... Throughout the series, the way the depth really played a difference and really, really, really tired down Vegas, especially in the later quarters. And that's the deciding factor. Yeah.
• 10:47
  Like, can talk about Vegas' injuries till we're blue in the face, but they always have injuries. They always have issues. They always replenish. They always just bring back new players and make them work. It's just that they got overwhelmed.
• 10:58
  Yeah. They got beat.
• 10:59
  Michelle: And it's tough after a long season, and then you're coming in against the defense. So this is just like really smothering and it's... They don't give you any space. Yeah. And so that can be hard even for the big three of A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young.
• 11:14
  Jackie Young did not have a good series.
• 11:15
  Filiberto: No. She had a really bad series. Yeah. Our defense really did a number on her. And even for A'ja Wilson she wasn't...
• 11:21
  Her numbers would be good for anyone but her. Yeah. Like, didn't score. She didn't meet her own standards.
• 11:26
  Michelle: Yeah. She's gonna score, but she wasn't a game changer, which is what the Valkyries want to do. Was just kind of like neutralize her a little bit.
• 11:33
  Filiberto: And, you know, Chelsea Gray was Chelsea Graying. There's a couple times in these games where it was like, oh, she about to take over and like win this and shut us down. But, you know, we... Either... She was too tired, that hip was bothering her, or she just didn't have it this series.
• 11:44
  Yeah. But she was still terrifying.
• 11:48
  Michelle: But do wanna express appreciation to the Aces for knocking out the Indiana Fever so the rest of us can enjoy the the playoffs.
• 12:02
  Filiberto: So we we were at game one. We were able to use our tickets, be there. And I think the whole sort of series, like, really hinged and started with Janelle Salaun's, Sixth Person of the Year trophy. Like, it wasn't just the trophy ceremony. And she's like a really...
• 12:18
  I don't know if you all have noticed this, but in the interviews, she's like a really introverted person. Mhmm. So you can tell that kind of attention is hard for her. Like it's a little overwhelming for her and you saw that, you know, she was crying and stuff during the broadcast. But what you didn't see if you were watching on the broadcast and weren't at the arena is they had videos of her family like expressing enthusiasm and love and joy.
• 12:38
  And man, that set the tone for everything because it's not just that we love these players, but we don't always get to know where they're coming from. Right? That's not necessarily a part of the interview process. You know, sports journalism doesn't do those big, where are you coming from? Who are you?
• 12:54
  What motivates you kind of pieces often. So you kinda have learned that for myself. So I was looking her up and was like, who is this amazing person at some point during the year? And I realized that, while she's French, her family is from Guadeloupean. I don't even know how say this.
• 13:07
  Guadeloupean, which is a small French owned island in The Caribbean. So the sister is Latina, which is what I discovered. And so I think that's one of the, you know, we talked about Ballhalla in the last episode, but I think one of the things that's really compelling about these players for me specifically, and I think for a lot of other people of color is they really do represent the diaspora. You know, thinking about Gabby being a part of The United States and France, all the African players that are coming from France and where they've been spun around to, all of us in The United States that have been just moving around all over the place in this country.
• 13:40
  Michelle: The city of San Francisco
• 13:42
  Filiberto: City of San Francisco. The... Obviously, you all know the movement of Latinos in The United States. Like, all this diaspora that's so loaded into this team, you know, Nakase and her background and heritage and that way that comes up, increasingly now. So I think that for me, that set the tone.
• 13:57
  Like, that set the emotional tone for this series, like, really strongly and kinda just went from there in my mind.
• 14:03
  Michelle: Yeah. And I think, like, another emotional connection you're talking about is, Natalie Nakase had an episode, I think it was game one, where she kind of fainted, just dropped to the ground type thing, and then popped right back up. So I was like, did she lose consciousness? We have no idea.
• 14:20
  Filiberto: Yeah. She took a second, but, yeah, she popped back up. Yeah. And drew a play.
• 14:23
  Michelle: She was able to catch herself. So it wasn't a complete, like, oh, head hitting the court, but she kinda dropped to her knees and her but her... And her hands caught her like, so her head didn't hit the ground. But then, yeah, she pops up, comes to her whatever, and then draws up the next plate because she'd been calling a time out and arguing with a ref. And later on, she talks about just being exhausted.
• 14:44
  Like, she didn't really eat and take care of herself that day. So she's probably really dehydrated, exhausted. She ended up taking the next day off. And her assistant coaches kind of worked on game planning for the next game. And it was cool because she came into the the pregame, postgame press conferences, was very honest and vulnerable and open about what happened and how you got to take care of yourself.
• 15:07
  And she mentioned, her sister, anyone who is in her immediate family and friends circle was very concerned when they saw that on And so her sister's with her and is making sure she's eating. And it was very emotional for her sister because... And then she brings up why... One of the reasons why is they watch their father die. And you're just like, woah.
• 15:29
  Filiberto: Say what? Say what? Because she talks about how her father always told her that if her job affects her physical and mental health, then she shouldn't do it. And that's kinda what rooted the conversation.
• 15:40
  Michelle: And he's such... He's a big mentor for her as far as, like, they just really shared this love of basketball and bonded over that. So he was a big factor and impact on her life. And then, yeah, I mean, obviously, to go through that with a parent, is devastating and can be a little traumatic.
• 15:57
  Filiberto: No. And I think, you know, as someone that's also lost a father and I had to see my father die in front of me, I think the... What what I'm seeing from her because of how often her father comes up and he only passed away in like '21 or '22. So it's, I think it's still really raw. She talks about Becky Hammon and supporting her during that process of grief.
• 16:14
  To me, the frequency with which she brings her father is a very beautiful thing and clearly anchors her. And it also speaks to where she is in the grieving process. That is still a very active process for her. Her father is very present for her. And I think, you know, there's a lot of people out there that wanna say that emotions or weakness or expressing those emotions or, you know, facing those grief emotions or a sort of weakness or it's too hard or whatever.
• 16:39
  But I think the point for... That Natalie is making is that there's so much strength in having that self awareness. There's so much strength in navigating those emotions and confronting those emotions. And I think that's that's what we're seeing right now is that the strength of that grief is showing up for her and helping her guide this team and holding her together even if it's painful and even if it's hard and difficult for the family in different ways.
• 17:02
  Michelle: Well, I would argue that's one of the things that the Valkyries have done really well is that social emotional intelligence that they have as far as the way just the whole team, like from top to bottom, the way they operate, the way they take care of their players, just the the care and the relationship building that the coaching staff has with the players. Like, it's very evident that that is something that they lean into, they lead with. That's not true of every team in the league.
• 17:29
  Filiberto: Yeah. And I think that that speaks to why Ballhalla is as, like, active and dynamic as it is. Because a... Because, like, it's not like it's a group of people like us that are not socially aware and we see the politics in the game. So I think that, like, a Ballhalla game is an opportunity to scream at the world that we love what's happening in front of us in the face of a world that's trying to take things away from us constantly.
• 17:55
  And there's a lot of pain and prejudice and everything else. So I think why we hear so much noise and like commitment from the fans is they're screaming their joy. And that's what you, at least that's been our experience, what I see from people around me. I think people are just screaming their joy when we're at a time where joy seems to be hard to hold on to or hard to reach.
• 18:18
  Michelle: Yeah. That's true.
• 18:33
  Filiberto: Alright. Game one. So we won all these games. So that's that's the fun part about this. We get to talk about each game we won.
• 18:40
  Yeah. I think... But I think the incredible thing... There's two things that I think are really important to think about. One is that, like we were saying before, we really rode the bench.
• 18:47
  We really played a very different style than what than what happened in the Dallas series, which also speaks to another really fun thing. We figure out how to win every game in these playoffs a very different way. Like, it's been really incredible to watch different players, different schemes, different approaches, like show up, command, adjust. Because clearly we saw throughout this series that Becky Hammon was adjusting. She's...
• 19:09
  Those are x's and o's. She has a group of people that she was just trying to work with, and she was adjusting, and we had to adjust back pretty quickly.
• 19:16
  Michelle: Well, and because of her injuries, she... This... You know, she's doing x's and o's on the sly, basically.
• 19:22
  Filiberto: On the fly. Yeah. Like, as she's playing, it's like building a... Yeah. Was it building an airplane in the air or something?
• 19:27
  Well...
• 19:28
  Michelle: And so, you know, she's like, okay, let's come up with this scheme and let's try in game one. Okay. That didn't work out. Okay. Game two, let's have something else.
• 19:36
  And then game three, let's just try to mix up a little bit and do different coverages. That's the position you're in when you don't initially have all five of your starters available. So it was tough for her from the outset. But again, coming into game one, you got these newbies that are in their second year, defending champions, probably the MVP, you know, candidate... You know, not candidate, winner.
• 20:03
  And that happened before game three. It was announced that A'ja Wilson won her fifth, like record leading fifth MVP. So congratulations to her. But yeah, it's... You're going up against this dynasty basically with this fantastic coach.
• 20:20
  And there's a lot of crossover between the Valkyries and the Aces. There's a lot of players
• 20:24
  Filiberto: and Valkyries. Yeah.
• 20:26
  Michelle: Players and coaches. They came from like the Becky Hammon coaching tree. But, you know, Golden State in... As opposed to like you were saying game two against Dallas in the prior series, where the Valkyries didn't play great defense. They shot really well.
• 20:45
  So it was kinda like, we didn't know who we were.
• 20:46
  Filiberto: They didn't use their bench. Gabby went off for like 30 something.
• 20:49
  Michelle: Yeah. So, you know, game one coming in, think that was something they really wanted to do was stay true to themselves and identity and and make sure their defenses is really big. You're not gonna you're not gonna stop A'ja Wilson, but if you can contain her.
• 21:02
  Filiberto: Yeah. Just slow her down. Make her uncomfortable.
• 21:04
  Michelle: Just make every shot hard. Make her really work for every shot. Don't give her easy ones, that's what they did in game one.
• 21:11
  Filiberto: Yeah. And I think one of the big adjustments that we saw Becky Hammon do that sort of evolved throughout the series is, really engaging and using... What was her name? I just had it up. Brown.
• 21:21
  Brown. Yeah. Off the bench in the first series and then starting in the second and third game. So... Or first game and then, yeah, starting in the second and third.
• 21:28
  But, you know, I think it was a commendable strategy. It worked pretty well until we adjusted. But, you know, Brown's been cold. Like, she hasn't played that much. She was at the end of the bench.
• 21:37
  She didn't play anything in the series. So I guess kudos for Becky for trusting a younger player because that's not been her reputation. But then also she was forced in a position Yeah. Where she needed to trust a younger player. Yeah.
• 21:49
  So Yeah. That was, again, one... That's an example of one of the big adjustments that we saw in the series.
• 21:56
  Michelle: Yeah. And it was very... I mean, the huge storyline coming out of that game was that the fact that the Valkyries outrebounded. Yeah. The Aces a lot.
• 22:04
  And I mean, obviously, very simple. If you control the rebounds, control possession. Right? So it's it's a it's a big thing, but it it goes hand in hand with playing really good defense.
• 22:12
  Filiberto: Well, you know, our legs were a little tired too. So the rebounding allowed us to survive having a lower field goal percentage than we normally do. Right. Like, that feel... Those rebounds really saved us.
• 22:22
  We couldn't have won this series the way. And Yeah. And for this team, for those of you that have been following, we've never been that dominant on rebounding. That's just not an area that we've, like
• 22:30
  Michelle: Yeah.
• 22:31
  Filiberto: Been disproportionately good at. So to see us, like, really elevate that at this stage of the season is Yeah. Really nice.
• 22:37
  Michelle: Well, part of me was like, were they hiding this? Like, were they keeping this in their back pocket for the playoffs to surprise people? It was wild.
• 22:45
  Filiberto: I think you know, during the season, they prioritize their transition game more than rebound sometimes. So I think you see that. There's a little bit of cheating in the season. But Yeah. In the playoffs, again, different approaches.
• 22:53
  You have to take it a different way.
• 22:56
  Michelle: Yeah. And I think this is when we started seeing just Kiah Stokes really take it to another level, which you have to do in the playoffs. Like, you can have a great season, but you have to up your intensity. You have to level up. It's it's a whole different season in the playoffs.
• 23:10
  And Kiah Stokes just really did that for the Valkyries.
• 23:12
  Filiberto: She played a lot more minutes too. Like, 25, 30% more. Something And like
• 23:16
  Michelle: she's one of those former players. She won three championships with the Aces, mainly on the on the bench. So she knows a team really well. She knows A'ja really well. So, you know, she had advantage.
• 23:27
  Absolutely not gonna hide behind that. But in in this game, saw Veronica Burton started, then Kaitlyn Chen. You know, the Valkyries were leading most of this game. They felt comfortable to kinda put in Kaitlyn Chen for a lot of minutes. A lot of people started guessing that Veronica was hurt or sick or something and were like, are guys talking about?
• 23:48
  I was like, it's really annoying. Maybe that she's just resting Veronica blah blah blah. Come to find out, like, a week later, she's battling the flu.
• 23:57
  Filiberto: Yeah. She had the flu.
• 23:58
  Michelle: She said she had the flu and...
• 24:00
  Filiberto: It was it was getting a little weird how obsessive people were about it. But... I guess people weren't wrong. Or...
• 24:06
  Michelle: Yeah. But again, it's that depth. You know? Veronica needs to sit a little bit. She's had a long season.
• 24:11
  She's put a lot of minutes, very physical minutes, and she doesn't get the call she deserves from the refs.
• 24:15
  Filiberto: It's not a Valkyries game until... It's not a Valkyries game unless Veronica and Tiffany are on the ground somewhere from driving the ball and getting hit. Exactly.
• 24:23
  Michelle: It's just not. Just played on the ground.
• 24:24
  Filiberto: It's just not whatever game is.
• 24:25
  Michelle: So Kaitlyn played some really key minutes in that game. And and it's great for the fans because a lot of fans just really love her. She's just a workhorse. Similar to Tiffany Hayes, she will sacrifice her body and just be super chaotic and just run downhill to the basket and just really give that energy to the team and the fans when they need it.
• 24:57
  Filiberto: Well, and and game one was also where, you know, before the playoffs started, just Michelle and I were talking about the game... The series, whatever. And it was like Natalie has to have something in her back pocket for how to confront A'ja A'ja Wilson. And you saw remnants of that early in the season. What was...
• 25:14
  Oh, Fingall was a signing Fingall. From Stanford. She was a bigger bigger body. I was like, oh, she's for A'ja Wilson. She's...
• 25:21
  Because again, all season long, the Valkyries have been saying, we gotta get playoff ready. Yeah. And they know that you have to go through Minnesota and turns out not Minnesota, but you have to go through Vegas to get to the finals. And so they had a very big body waiting for them. She got cut, and then, Gueye got signed, like, two weeks before the season ended.
• 25:39
  And it was like, I think I think she's for... I think they signed her for A'ja Wilson.
• 25:43
  Michelle: Well, was random. Was kind of upset they got... You know, that Nadia left, but she actually had commitments in other leagues.
• 25:48
  Filiberto: Oh, was that happened? Yeah. Okay. I didn't
• 25:50
  Michelle: really know. So it was like, it was AmiCole. Yeah. And I think the team knew that. So that...
• 25:53
  Filiberto: I think that's why... Okay.
• 25:55
  Michelle: I think that's why... So Gueye plays for the national French team. She's a younger player. So Gabby Williams and Janelle Salaun know her really well. They all play together in the national team.
• 26:06
  And so I think when Natalie was over as assistant coach for the US national team during the FIBA World Cup, she was kind of checking out Gueye and getting some intel from Gabby and Salaun. And so ended up like, hey, should we sign her? And yes, you're you're kinda like, who is this person signed on like September 20 or thirtieth or something?
• 26:31
  Filiberto: Like played a little bit towards the end of the season and it kinda indicated to me that they were getting her ready for the playoffs. Like, they were gonna introduce her and it was like, oh, man, she's a secret weapon.
• 26:40
  Michelle: She played... I think she played a bit in game three against Dallas. But then, yeah, when she came in in for... In... She came in somewhat early?
• 26:48
  It was somewhat early in game one. You're like, oh, and everything clicked.
• 26:53
  Filiberto: And everything clicked. And she had like nine monster points.
• 26:55
  Michelle: She did. She had a great coming out party. It was fantastic.
• 26:58
  Filiberto: It was nice. Played good defense. Put a body on A'ja Wilson. Put some fouls out there against... Who is the player I guess?
• 27:04
  I just said. Brown.
• 27:05
  Michelle: Kalani Brown.
• 27:06
  Filiberto: Was able to confront Brown because Brown's six seven.
• 27:08
  Michelle: Yeah. Brown's tall, big body. She she could be a starter in any other team. She's really talented.
• 27:14
  Filiberto: She was able to make her presence known. So having Gueye there to confront that presence is gonna be... Was nice. I don't... anticipate she's not gonna be playing too much in the next series just because the matchups don't really favor her as well unless Okot is playing.
• 27:27
  Michelle: Yeah. But Gueye played thirteen minutes in that game one. She had nine points Yeah. Four of five field goals. She, you know, shot some free throws, had some rebounds.
• 27:39
  Filiberto: Played around the basket a lot.
• 27:40
  Michelle: Two steals, a block.
• 27:42
  Filiberto: And she and she had a a dimension in offense that we don't normally have, which which is around the around the basket work.
• 27:47
  Michelle: Yeah. Yeah. And it's time that height where you can just... Someone from the perimeter can just, like, lob it into her. She'll catch it because she's taller than everyone else and can turn around and go to the bucket.
• 27:56
  Like, that's just a dimension we haven't really had.
• 27:58
  Filiberto: Mhmm. And in case everyone... Anyone was wondering, it was loud as fuck in there. Mhmm. Like, again, we've been to several games.
• 28:06
  We've been the first round of playoffs, but, like, somehow, Ballhalla knows how to rise to the occasion. And I do suspect part of it is that people have less children coming to the games, less distracted children.
• 28:17
  Michelle: The tickets are a little bit more expensive.
• 28:18
  Filiberto: Yeah. Yeah.
• 28:18
  Yeah. You can't afford to be on them kids to play a Like, dang. And that's not like, you know, not like anti childhood game necessarily. But when it's more adults and more adults that are focused, I think that's partly where the increase in volume is coming from.
• 28:31
  Michelle: Well, I think also the fans know, like, you know, when the postseason started and, you know, the Valkyries were placed in their bracket, you saw. You saw that we were gonna have to go through Vegas. And so everyone saw it coming. We were preparing ourselves mentally, you know, not that we're the players, we're the fans. So players absolutely did way more work.
• 28:51
  But I think fans knew how important it was. We've got to win game one. This is again our first playoff game at home. We made the playoffs last year. We've had to play on our...
• 29:00
  In San Jose because of scheduling issues. So it was the first postseason game. Everyone was excited about it. It's a two seed. Like we came in as a two seed and that's just phenomenal growth for an expansion team in your second season.
• 29:16
  I think the fans just really recognize that. It was a weekend. It was a Sunday.
• 29:19
  Filiberto: So No. As a fan base, it's like, yo, we gotta lock in too. Like, we have a role in this. And we have to, like, the responsibility. Yeah.
• 29:26
  Like, that was the weirder part of, like, being being part of Ballhalla. Absolutely. You're only gonna hear this about about Ballhalla on this podcast because we're fans. Yeah. Right?
• 29:34
  We're not we're not tourists. We're fans. We're just part of it.
• 29:37
  Michelle: And what happens when a Valkyrie player was shooting a free throw?
• 29:40
  Filiberto: It got so eerily quiet that it was mildly uncomfortable.
• 29:47
  Michelle: Yes. Like, if I was shooting a free throw, that'd make me uncomfortable.
• 29:51
  Filiberto: I'd like, where did everybody go? Did aliens just get them? Like, it would... But that... It just spoke...
• 29:55
  Because I was a little nervous. Like, was the crowd gonna be a little nervous? Because the... You know, in the Dallas series, some of the players talked about that where they noticed that the crowd was nervous. But I don't know, man.
• 30:03
  We were ready for it. It was nice.
• 30:05
  Michelle: It was deafening.
• 30:06
  Filiberto: Yeah. It was deafening. Almost painful. Yeah. Almost painful.
• 30:09
  I'm sure it is in different parts of the court, but, man, we were we were just locked in. So Atlanta, got a lot of love for y'all, but you're gonna have deal with Ballhalla. Like, you don't know you don't know that life. You haven't seen us since, like, July... Like, late June, July.
• 30:23
  Michelle: July 4 was the last game.
• 30:25
  Filiberto: You don't even know what that shit sounds like. So Yeah. Again, much love to y'all, but you're going down.
• 30:29
  Michelle: Well, kudos to Atlanta because, you know, they're playing in one of the smallest stadiums in the league right now. And it was just announced recently that they will be playing in a larger stadium for next year. Mhmm. And they've been playing their playoffs there as well. So I wonder, like, if Atlanta is...
• 30:47
  Filiberto: Cut off some of the seating, though. So they didn't make all the seeding available. So we'll see what... How it goes in the finals.
• 30:52
  Michelle: But that's what I'm saying. Like, I wonder playing in the smaller kinda collegiate stadium, playing in a smallish, larger arena, how different that's gonna be for Atlanta coming into Ballhalla. Yes. They played... Atlanta played their game three in New York at Barclays Center, which is huge.
• 31:12
  Very loud. So they had that impact. But in the finals, in Ballhalla, a large arena they're not used to having that many people in, that's gonna be a major advantage for the Valkyries.
• 31:25
  Filiberto: Absolutely.
• 31:40
  Yeah. So jumping into game two, what was your biggest takeaway from this one, Michelle?
• 31:47
  Michelle: You know, we we had a lead for a lot of this game, but still just Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray are just such threats. Like, I just still didn't feel comfortable in this game. Yeah. I was worried. Game one, great.
• 32:02
  We won that at home. But I was very worried that the Aces having all their playoff experience, they were to come in and, like, really wanna steal... They have to steal one, you know, on the road. So I felt a little concerned about this one, and it was a closer game.
• 32:16
  Filiberto: Yeah. I mean, Vegas competed a lot better. The stats overall were closer, rebounds, steals, points, all those things.
• 32:24
  Michelle: And they came back. Like, we were up by 16, and they absolutely came back.
• 32:27
  Filiberto: Yeah. This scared us. It was nerve racking.
• 32:28
  Michelle: Yeah. The final score was 83 to 81. So it was very close. But you had Tiff Hayes off the bench, 21 points. She had 21 of the bench's 34 points.
• 32:38
  Like, she was lights out, amazing. Becky Hammon, very used to that since Tiffany played for Vegas for a year. But it's a really great storyline of someone who just, you know... There were several Valkyries players who were in double digits, but Tiffany Hayes just really stood out as, like, MVP of that game.
• 32:59
  Filiberto: Mhmm. Yeah. And I think the other factor for Vegas was they brought back a lot of the injured players. So Talbot was playing again.
• 33:05
  Michelle: Dana Evans.
• 33:06
  Filiberto: Evans as well. But, sorry, going back to the Tiffany thing. She was just able to, in ways that were physically confusing, find open spots and just heave these wild ass throws and just make it didn't work out so so well for her in game three. But in game two, she was completely unstoppable. It was amazing.
• 33:25
  Michelle: Yeah. And again, the second game in a row where we held Vegas to a very low score, we held them to
• 33:32
  Filiberto: And nobody does this to them.
• 33:33
  Michelle: Around 30 ish points at halftime, which is just amazing and shocking. So I think we just did really well. We we had the lead early partially because our threes were going in. It was one of the best starts I've seen us in the whole season.
• 33:51
  Filiberto: Yeah. It made it made it so that, like... Because, you know, you worry about Vegas coming back hard and just kinda running over us. But the way we started was Yeah. Really just a punch in the mouth.
• 33:59
  It was good.
• 34:00
  Michelle: Yeah. And what I will say is our bigs got into foul trouble at some point, like, in the third and the fourth. So that just put Vegas at the line and that kinda kept them in the game as they're, you know, being able to shoot so many free throws. So that was scary and helped them come back. But I mean, at one point, I think where you could feel like the momentum was shifting was when Jackie Young, I believe, she got her fifth foul.
• 34:28
  Yeah. And we should we should try to find this video if we can. But so at this point, it's like, okay, let's sub her out. But Becky kinda looks back at her Yeah. At her players, at her bench, and she's like, I got no one.
• 34:40
  I got no one to put in.
• 34:41
  Filiberto: She looks at her back... Her bench very forlorn. It was like a Yes. It was like a French new age.
• 34:45
  Michelle: She kinda like looked back and then looked looked back toward, you know, center court and she's like, I got no one.
• 34:50
  Filiberto: I could hear the Argentine tango. You just see her thinking through it and being like, I don't have an option.
• 34:55
  Michelle: Yeah. So she kept her in.
• 34:57
  Filiberto: Yeah.
• 34:57
  Michelle: Yeah. And, you know, a second game in a row where Janelle Salaun was a bit quiet.
• 35:04
  Filiberto: Yeah. I do think that, like, Vegas is just a horrible mismatch for her. Like, she... You know, what she's able to do is shoot over the heads of smaller players, But they have a lot of height, a lot of length, and she was asked to take really tough defensive assignments against players that are bigger than her. So, you know, you can start to see where the issues were for her.
• 35:22
  But when she did shoot, she was very accurate. It just wasn't... She didn't just take a lot of shots.
• 35:28
  Michelle: Was this a game where Yamamoto played a lot for Vegas? Or was that game one...
• 35:30
  Filiberto: Game one was when... Because they had no bench.
• 35:32
  Michelle: Oh my god. That's right. That's when Kaitlyn played
• 35:35
  Filiberto: Oh, yeah.
• 35:35
  Michelle: Yeah. Kaitlyn played a lot for Veronica.
• 35:37
  Filiberto: Back to game one for a second.
• 35:38
  Michelle: Yeah. Really quickly. Kaitlyn had some great minutes and Yamamoto was in for Vegas. She's she's kind of a smaller player.
• 35:45
  Filiberto: Because Evans was out, so Yamamoto was there.
• 35:47
  Michelle: Yes. She played a lot of minutes. Did her best on defense.
• 35:50
  Filiberto: Sweet Jesus. She tried hard but she just...
• 35:52
  Michelle: It wasn't happening for her. She's... She, you know, has... You know, Google it. She's got she's got a great kind of form for her three point shooting where her kinda...
• 36:02
  Her arm... Her hands kinda go outward as after she releases the ball. It's a thing for Vegas. It's all... It's kinda become its own meme.
• 36:11
  But there were times when Kaitlyn was like gonna go downhill against Yamamoto. It just like just like, you know, Asian on Asian. Like, it was it was amazing. It was glorious.
• 36:21
  Filiberto: One on one on a hardtop on a Sunday afternoon. We were just like, damn.
• 36:24
  Michelle: Yeah. And Kaitlyn just like took it to her several times.
• 36:27
  Filiberto: She cooked her. It was ugly. Yeah. It was great. It felt personal.
• 36:31
  Michelle: That was like a game in the game. It was it was fun to watch.
• 36:33
  Filiberto: Like, was like, yo, did you cheat... Did you did you steal my girl? Like, was like that. Yeah. It was it was it was something.
• 36:40
  Michelle: Yeah.
• 36:52
  So I think looking forward to game three, like, you're hoping Salaun maybe has a great... The game is like her time to kinda really shine, come into it. Even though, like you said, there are some mismatches for her. So Yes. Maybe
• 37:05
  Filiberto: It's not a great team.
• 37:06
  Michelle: It's gonna be a quiet series for her. But game three switches to Vegas and a lot of people will tell you it's not a real series until you head on the road. So... And this is, you know, best of five. So I was very concerned.
• 37:21
  I was walking into this game like, I'm gonna be great. I'm just gonna like sit back. We're probably gonna lose this game because Vegas has too much pride. They're too good to be swept. So I was kinda like making peace with the fact that the Valkyries are probably gonna lose, but then be able to win in game four or something like that.
• 37:39
  Like, I wasn't worried that we'd lose lose this series. Yeah. Just thought that there's just no way. Even with injuries, Becky's just too good of a coach. The big three are too good.
• 37:50
  They they have decent, you know, skill in their bench. I just didn't see it happening.
• 37:55
  Filiberto: And the reason I thought it was gonna happen was because just simply the turnaround. They played Wednesday, and then they played again Friday, and they had to travel to Nevada. So, again, not that far, but you're not in your shit. You have to move around. Vegas looks...
• 38:07
  Was tired and looked really tired in this game. So I think that was the one advantage I knew we can we can maximize is our depth, their tiredness, and our rebounding because what happens when you're tired? You miss shots. Yeah. And our rebounding was gonna be even more important.
• 38:20
  Michelle: Yeah. And we had like this x factor who was not a player because a lot of people have talked about x factor players and there's always a new Valkyrie stepping up. But the X Factor would be the amount of Valkyries fans who traveled to Las Vegas.
• 38:35
  Filiberto: The real MVPs.
• 38:37
  Michelle: Like, you could hear the GSV chants. And then the Vegas fans trying to like drown them out with boos or MVP chants because that was the game three at home in Vegas. They they had A'ja's pregame ceremony that she did not wanna participate in because she didn't want to jinx anything. She wanted to focus on the game.
• 38:57
  Filiberto: Wow.
• 38:57
  Michelle: But... So there's gonna be a lot of emotions. But... Yeah. So there are lot of MVP chants trying to drown out the GSV chants at that game.
• 39:07
  But kudos, props to all of you Valkyries fans who made... Yeah. Some of you drove because plane tickets were so expensive. But you drove, turned around, came back that night or stayed with friends or a hotel or something.
• 39:18
  Filiberto: You did what you had to do Yes. To Ballhalla on the road.
• 39:21
  Michelle: We we saw you. We love you. Thank you for doing that. It absolutely gave that team a burst of energy because this was the first and only game that the Valkyries were coming from behind the whole time.
• 39:35
  Filiberto: Yeah. And the final score doesn't show it, but this was a horribly horribly close game. Like, it was just... I don't have any ulcers, I don't think. But like, man.
• 39:43
  Michelle: Yeah. Vegas was up. I think they were up by 16
• 39:47
  at one point.
• 39:49
  So, yeah. We were playing...
• 39:49
  Filiberto: Oh, no. They were up by 11 and then we went on a 16 o run.
• 39:52
  Michelle: 17 o run.
• 39:53
  Filiberto: A 17 o run. Yeah. That was the the math of that.
• 39:55
  Michelle: Yeah. So, Aces came out strong. They were shooting really well. So they were up. We were coming from behind.
• 40:03
  But then you started noticing in the end of the third, you started noticing some tired legs. You started noticing some shots that weren't going in because their legs were a bit tired.
• 40:12
  Filiberto: They were at least o for 12 at at one point. And that's after going o for six in the second quarter at some point too. So it was it was starting to happen in the second.
• 40:19
  Michelle: So Vegas only scored seven points in the third quarter of this game.
• 40:25
  Filiberto: It was it was just like watching it was like, what is happening? And, again, because we were doing so well on rebounding, they were just getting no options. But our, you know, our legs were pretty tired too. We were missing a lot of shots that we normally make.
• 40:38
  Like, it was it was rough on that... In that sense.
• 40:40
  Michelle: Yeah. But, yeah, we went on some runs. I don't... We made some adjustments at halftime. We had a really strong third, like we just said, compared to the Vegas.
• 40:52
  I think Kiah Stokes continued her domination under the basket. A lot of people were kinda not giving her shit, but just pointing out that Kiah had a bunch of rebounds, a bunch of blocks, a bunch of steals, no points in the first two games. In this game, she broke out. She broke through that. She ended up having, I think it was 11 points, five of five shooting.
• 41:12
  Filiberto: Yeah. She was incredible.
• 41:13
  Michelle: And she had 10 rebounds. And she had so... I think she had like three really key blocks Yeah. And a few steals. But...
• 41:20
  Yeah. No. That was... It was a great game. And again, she does have an advantage.
• 41:24
  She knows Vegas pretty well. But, you know, they've had some turnover on their roster, so it's not exactly the same team.
• 41:28
  Filiberto: Everyone has an advantage in some way. There's no reason to apologize for it. But I I think the thing with Kiah too, like, people that were hemming and hawing about her not scoring in the first two games, it was like, are you not fucking watching? Yeah. Like, she contributes so much to the functioning and the flow of that offense.
• 41:42
  That is a flow offense. There is constant movement. There's passing. There's screening. It's like a flywheel.
• 41:47
  There's constant action. And Kiah plays a significant part in making that space work and in supporting Yeah. The movement
• 41:53
  of every player and in pulling out the center into the three line because that's where she hangs out on the perimeter sometimes too. So, no, she's an essential part of the offense. She's just not the person that's always shooting.
• 42:03
  Michelle: Right. I mean, if if there's a shot that goes in and you... If you rewind ten seconds, that's where it really started. It started with Kiah's block or her rebound
• 42:10
  Filiberto: or whatever. Or something.
• 42:11
  Michelle: And then pushing that up to someone, but maintaining that possession or gaining that possession is what feeds into the the offense for the Valkyries. So really key parts. She... If I had to pick a series for these three games MVP, I would give it to Kiah Stokes. Cool.
• 42:28
  Even though several Valkyries, you know, stepped up each game.
• 42:32
  Filiberto: It's just hard to key in on one player because it...
• 42:34
  Michelle: Each Yeah.
• 42:34
  Filiberto: Everybody does so much.
• 42:35
  Michelle: That's the point. They've got such great depth.
• 42:37
  Filiberto: I'll give it to Ballhalla. Ballhalla is my MVP.
• 42:40
  Michelle: Yeah. Especially with... They're calling it Travelhalla. I would say a couple thousand fans who traveled to Vegas for that game. Yeah.
• 42:49
  And boy, did they get a show. A close out show.
• 43:20
  Filiberto: So, what are you thinking, Michelle? How are feeling about this series? About the finals, the WNBA finals?
• 43:26
  Michelle: Everyone always has to mention the regular season, so we swept Atlanta in the regular season. However, we all know that does not count because Vegas swept us in the regular season.
• 43:34
  Filiberto: So... And the games against Atlanta were late June, July 1.
• 43:37
  Michelle: And that was the point with Vegas too. Like, when we lost, we got swept by Vegas in the regular season, it had been so early. Gabby was new. Kiah was new. Yeah.
• 43:45
  So they finally kind of, you know, midway through season are starting to gel and be able to kinda have that intuition for each other on defense and offense. So totally different. The last... Like we said, the last time we played Atlanta was July 4. That's a long time ago.
• 44:00
  Allisha Gray has, at least one, maybe two finger, injuries. So I I don't think... I mean, but it's eight it's eight days.
• 44:09
  Filiberto: Yeah. She has a week to figure out how to recover.
• 44:12
  Michelle: But I'd be surprised if she started, or played in game one or two. Maybe they kinda hold her until they go to Atlanta.
• 44:17
  Filiberto: I mean, the big thing for an injury like that is, whether the swelling can go down enough. Yes. Because that's where discomfort comes from is the swelling.
• 44:23
  Michelle: Well, it's apparent she's gonna have to keep it wrapped or maybe in a splint. But that's her shooting hand. Yeah. And and she she plays just defense so well. That's how she injured it.
• 44:35
  She was, you know, trying to get deflection of a ball in a passing lane and... So that's just a big part of her game. But, I mean, as games two and three showed you for Atlanta, they played without her and they won those games.
• 44:48
  Filiberto: Yeah. So... I mean, possibly they could have won by a bigger margin.
• 44:51
  Michelle: Next person up. Yeah. So I think the matchups are interesting because Atlanta is a team that does rebound. And the Valkyries showed in their series with Vegas that they can also rebound. I think the matchups
• 45:03
  are great.
• 45:04
  I think Jordin Canada has a special place in my heart. Like I referenced before, I watched her a lot when she was in LA with the Sparks. She's won two championships with Seattle. She is just so speedy.
• 45:17
  Filiberto: She's so fast.
• 45:18
  Michelle: She's got, so smaller players, got lower center of gravity. She can move really quickly. Kinda reminds you of Tiffany Hayes, I would argue she's a little bit faster.
• 45:25
  Filiberto: Probably. She's shorter too, so it's harder to track her down.
• 45:27
  Michelle: Yeah. So she can just really drive to the bucket. I think that might be a challenge for the Valkyries. I think, you know, it's clear in some of the post game press conferences for Atlanta, they they knew they had to expand their offense and shoot more from the threes. So that's an emphasis they've had this season.
• 45:46
  I think it's still a work in progress. So I think that might be an advantage for the Valkyries. But it's gonna be a defensive battle definitely.
• 45:55
  Filiberto: No. I mean, I think one of the things about the Vegas series is no one, at least not the professional writing class, had us had us winning Vegas. Like, all the things that I was reading was like, oh, Vegas is gonna beat them. And look at the cute Valkyries they made it this far. They'll probably win a game.
• 46:12
  Michelle: Yeah.
• 46:12
  Filiberto: Maybe a game. Who knows? It was like charitable. It was like, oh, thank you
• 46:15
  for your charity.
• 46:16
  Michelle: So much to defending champs. And again, they've won a lot. But, yeah, it was it was kind of a little insulting.
• 46:24
  Filiberto: Yeah. So that said, I don't think their read on this is gonna be helpful or accurate. So let's not even worry about what those fuckers are saying. Yeah. I think when you look at the...
• 46:33
  Just the raw matchups and the raw just numbers and everything, we have... I think we do have a significant advantage, not only in just our depth, in our personnel and the way we match up, but also just the ride that we're on. Yeah. We've had to play a lot more competitive minutes than Atlanta. They've been able to sweep through this playoffs.
• 46:51
  It's been incredible to watch.
• 46:52
  Michelle: They haven't lost a game yet.
• 46:53
  Filiberto: And we've been in overtime. We've had to learn like who we are. There's a lot of resilience in this team. Like everyone has had to throw in and pitch in. So everyone is kinda warm in some way, and everyone has that confidence of knowing they they participated and shaped that...
• 47:07
  Those victories. So... No. I think we're in a super strong position to win.
• 47:10
  Michelle: Well, it's it's hard to game plan against the Valkyries, right, because of that depth. It's like, okay. So we'll just... We'll choose. We'll we'll choose Gabby to kind of focus on and try to shut her down defensively.
• 47:20
  But... And that's what Vegas did. They double teamed Gabby a lot. So it's like... But then someone else stepped up.
• 47:26
  Right? So it's it's hard to game plan for that. I'm just really excited to see Angel play
• 47:32
  Filiberto: On the biggest stage.
• 47:33
  Michelle: Angel Reese, who's, you know, huge acquisition for Atlanta this season, was the x factor, got them to the playoffs.
• 47:41
  Filiberto: Atlanta made all the right moves this season.
• 47:43
  Michelle: Atlanta's got some great starters that that have been there for a bit. They just haven't been able to kinda get over that hill. So it's it's great to see them. Like, if the Valkyries weren't in the finals with them, I would be rooting for Atlanta. So I...
• 47:56
  I'm super excited. And both this will be... Whoever wins, it's gonna be their first championship for their team. So, I mean, you can't lose there. Like, it's it's just gonna be great.
• 48:07
  But I think you're right. I think our depth is gonna be a game changer and hard for Atlanta to kinda game plan plan around.
• 48:15
  Filiberto: Well, and just the strength of the bond and the trust that our players have to one another. Like, you can't beat that. Yeah. And if you do, congratulations, I guess. But Yeah.
• 48:23
  Yeah. So a lot of the pundits don't have us winning. They have it going to seven, blah blah blah. I just have it way earlier. Like, I I see a sweep, but then I also most likely, you know, if think of it recently, like, five or six games maybe.
• 48:35
  But, like, I I do see an opportunity for us to sweep here just because Ballhalla... Like, what you see when we're screaming and going crazy at Chase Center is how sort of terrified the other teams are. Like, we get in their heads. Like, they're not feeling comfortable out there. They're not...
• 48:51
  There's nothing... Like, the whole point of the Valkyries defense is to keep players, especially the greatest players, away from things that make them comfortable. Right. And it works. Yeah.
• 48:58
  Part of that is us screaming our asses off.
• 49:01
  Michelle: Right. They can't hear each other when they're on the court. Even even our own team, like, which they love. They don't want us to change. But that...
• 49:08
  That's when they start using like number signals because it's it's so loud.
• 49:13
  Filiberto: It's even too loud for us. So it's not gonna be good for them.
• 49:39
  Michelle: So yeah, super excited for this series. I think there's just some great storylines. I think there's just a lot of like great joy. You got a lot of people who don't normally pay attention attention to the finals in women's sports that are paying attention. Like, there are several San Francisco 49er fans or...
• 49:58
  There are several San Francisco 49er players that came to the Valkyries home games in this series against Vegas. And a few of them were asked about it later on in their own locker room, down in Santa Clara. And, yeah, a few of them said this... I've been in several playoff games for basketball and this was the best environment, best game, best fans that I've ever seen.
• 50:20
  Filiberto: Absolutely.
• 50:21
  Michelle: And these people have been in a lot of sporting events. And so for them to say that is just like props to the fans.
• 50:27
  Filiberto: So I guess, yeah, as a final thought, we're gonna be in the finals. The Valkyries have had an incredible season, an incredible two years run... Two year run. So just sort of embrace that, love that, enjoy that. Whatever happens in these these finals is whatever happens.
• 50:40
  But, you know, for all of us here that have been part of Ballhalla, like, we help bring them Yeah. To where they are, folks. Like, we have to take not just, like, the joy of that, but also the responsibility of that. Mhmm. Like, it's a big deal.
• 50:53
  Michelle: That's why it's gonna be even louder, more lit more hyphy for the finals.
• 50:57
  Filiberto: Somehow. It's gonna be more... It's gonna be more...
• 51:01
  Michelle: And I think just... It reminds me of the feeling I had in game one. And a lot of the fans have these believe signs and the Valkyrie v, is the v in believe. But going back to that first game against Vegas, just being in that arena, I've been to a lot of sporting events as well. And just the energy there, the joy that people were bringing.
• 51:29
  And then seeing on the Jumbotron in between breaks and how the camera people and the team were highlighting different people in the stands and just seeing the representation and the diversity of people. You don't see that normally with other leagues, with other sports. And I remember thinking like... I don't think I told you this until after we were leaving that game, but I remember like looking and I just got like really teary eyed. Like I was just like, this is an amazing thing, especially in these times.
• 51:58
  This is an amazing thing that so many people have had a part in building. And just again, going back to Gabby's comments about Ballhalla is her safe space and is the safe space for a lot of people. And we got to take like a lot of pride and ownership that we've all helped contribute to that. And we need to keep it going. We need to continue that.
• 52:17
  Right? But it's just... It's like this culmination of a wonderful season and just knowing that we have a team or an organization that wants to build that from the beginning. That was one of their goals. And they've definitely achieved it.
• 52:34
  You need to keep it going. Right? But it's just... It's a really great feeling. And that's why I think a lot of W fans or other fans, their team's not in the finals.
• 52:47
  But we've got a lot of people rooting for the Valkyries.
• 52:49
  Filiberto: There's a lot of love over here.
• 52:51
  Michelle: Because of that ecosystem, because of that love and that environment that we've all created being inclusive and opening and welcoming and just loving loving to each other. And you don't see that everywhere with a bunch of strangers. And I think people really have noticed it. They appreciate it. And, you know, they're kinda rooting for us because of it.
• 53:14
  Filiberto: And we'll be there for game one with 20,000 of our closest friends.
• 53:18
  Michelle: Exactly. Stay tuned.
• 53:21
  Filiberto: Have a good night, folks, and dream hard.
• 53:23
  Michelle: Believe.
• 53:37
  Valkyries' arena announcer Ari Waller: We want energy. We need more energy. We need you loud, Ballhalla. We are the Valkyries. This. Is. Ballhalla.