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Consume that cannabis! Vote in that All Star! Valkyries on a roll! Happy birthday, Fili! · We Got Next

• 0:03
  Michelle: Welcome, bienvenidos to We Got Next, a podcast for fans by fans, where we center athletes who identify as women, femmes, and thems, and who are changing the game on and off the court, the field, the pitch, the pool, and more. Hey! Welcome to We Got We Got Next Pod.
• 0:22
  Filiberto: Well, you don't have to say that because we already have that in the intro.
• 0:25
  Michelle: I know. But I feel like it's kinda like, I wanna say hi.
• 0:29
  Filiberto: Okay. Hey, everybody. Thought I'd say hi too.
• 0:33
  Michelle: What are you drinking, Fili?
• 0:35
  Filiberto: I'm drinking a concoction that I think speaks to the moment that we're in.
• 0:40
  Michelle: Yes.
• 0:41
  Filiberto: It's really hot here. I don't know where it is, how it is where you all are at, but here in Sacramento, it's getting real hot. And it generally gets really hot in the summer and humid. So today we have a refreshing vodka mango what is it?
• 0:55
  Michelle: Sparkling juice.
• 0:56
  Filiberto: Sparkling juice. Mango sparkling juice. Give it that tropical, perhaps Caribbean even feeling.
• 1:01
  Michelle: It's it's a very beautiful color, so I like it.
• 1:04
  Filiberto: And for the first time, have our door open, so our cat, that we're currently fostering may come in and out. We'll see how it goes. We might have to pause and shut that thing up. He's been cool he's been cool so far. So we'll see.
• 1:17
  He likes to bite things. He's about five, fifteen pounds.
• 1:20
  Michelle: He's three.
• 1:21
  Filiberto: He got some teeth. Oh, three. Sorry. He's three. About fifteen pounds.
• 1:24
  He got some teeth. He got some claws.
• 1:26
  Michelle: Yes. He's already he's already eaten through a lot of clothing, sheets, which I was not expecting. I've never had a cat do that before. So we were warned, to be fair. We were warned.
• 1:39
  But, yeah, no. I think he's I think he's excited about the privilege that he's finally allowed. This is like our separate The
• 1:47
  Filiberto: official studio.
• 1:48
  Michelle: He's finally allowed in. I think he's like, don't mess it up, Grayson. Don't mess it up.
• 1:51
  Filiberto: He's chilling himself out. Yeah. You enjoying your beverage?
• 1:55
  Michelle: I am. I like it.
• 1:56
  Filiberto: Alright. Good.
• 1:57
  Michelle: It's kinda reminding me of, like, Cancun or, you know. Our trip to Spain a couple years ago.
• 2:01
  Filiberto: Oh, isn't that nice?
• 2:03
  Michelle: Well, I was looking for a photo for something and I, like, forgot about, like, the sunset photos we took on one of the rooftop balconies when were in Spain.
• 2:12
  Filiberto: Mhmm.
• 2:12
  Michelle: And I was like, oh, that'd a cute one. And so, yeah, I I just saw that today. So I was like, oh, that's kinda reminding me of that right now.
• 2:19
  Filiberto: Yeah. It was a unnecessarily fancy hotel that we had to get into to get a nice little sunrise sunset patio. But Oh, no. I'm thinking about Peru. What do you think?
• 2:27
  It's a different hotel.
• 2:29
  Michelle: No. Actually, I might be thinking of Peru. Yeah. Yeah. I'm thinking of Peru.
• 2:32
  Filiberto: Yeah. You're thinking about Peru.
• 2:33
  Michelle: Lima.
• 2:33
  Filiberto: Yeah. That was incredible.
• 2:34
  Michelle: My bad. It was very nice.
• 2:35
  Filiberto: But it was like, the cost isn't the issue. It's like when you go to places like that, you gotta be around fancy people and fancy people just aren't always that pleasant to be around. No. There's a real tense group of people is what I've learned over the years.
• 2:48
  Michelle: Well, usually, I enjoy people watching Yeah. Especially while traveling, but that one was not
• 2:53
  Filiberto: that privilege. Mm-mm. There's nothing fun to watch. It's just kinda painful. You know?
• 2:56
  Yeah. How much they don't like each other, how much they spend, etc. Yeah. That dicks the servers. Yep.
• 3:02
  Anyway, that's what we're drinking today, folks.
• 3:05
  Michelle: It's like a sunset.
• 3:12
  Filiberto: We have many thoughts on news this week. Where do you where do you wanna start this week, Michelle, on news of the week?
• 3:18
  Michelle: Yeah. This episode, it's gonna be very WNBA heavy, which is great. I think the first one that, I kinda made note of when it happened was, news is kinda slowly starting to leak out about, pieces of the new collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and the Players Association.
• 3:40
  Filiberto: And we did promise to read it and have something about it for you. But that thing is long. It's 300 and something pages. So and I started a new job a couple weeks ago, so I ran out of time. Yeah.
• 3:51
  But I am slowly getting through it.
• 3:54
  Michelle: And that's why some of these details are leaking out is the , the full on, the 300 pager you're talking about is has finally been released. So people are going through it. And I I wanna get this name right. Marijuana Moments, was the first one to kind of break.
• 4:13
  Filiberto: The eagle eyed researchers and investigators and journalists over at Marijuana Moment.
• 4:18
  Michelle: Which we will will link to in the story notes. But they're the first ones that kind of start publicizing the changes to the CBA. And one of them is that the WNBA has removed marijuana from its list of banned substances, which is very welcome news. The MNBA did that a while ago.
• 4:42
  Filiberto: Yeah. And the NFL went through a lot with it too just because just because of the nature of the job. I mean, body's being brutalized. And it's like, would you rather folks take opioids or weed? Please take weed.
• 4:54
  Michelle: That's the thing
• 4:56
  Filiberto: If you have a choice, please smoke weed. Do not take those heroines.
• 4:59
  Michelle: Yeah. And as an employer, you should be encouraging that behavior.
• 5:01
  Filiberto: Right.
• 5:03
  Michelle: That's the thing is people are finally kind of starting to accept I think we've known it for a while, but people are finally starting to accept the fact that marijuana does have some medicinal purposes, especially for athletes to help ease pain that you're accruing on the courts to make money for these rich billionaire owners. So it's it's nice to see that change from WNBA management. However, they added a few things to their banned lists.
• 5:37
  Filiberto: Well, before we get into that, I think it's important to remember that the history of marijuana and the history of the criminalization of marijuana has everything to do with targeting Black people. And that goes back to Nixon.
• 5:46
  Michelle: Absolutely.
• 5:46
  Filiberto: So I think this is also a big part of decriminalizing the behavior and the habits and the lifestyle, the historical sort of precedent of targeting the lifestyle of Black people. Like, this is a major step in that direction.
• 5:58
  Michelle: Well, yeah. And these are these are leagues that are majority Black athletes. Right? So and majority white owners. That's where a lot of the tension has been for decades.
• 6:09
  Right. So it is great that you're starting to treat people with more fairness.
• 6:16
  Filiberto: Yeah. Absolutely.
• 6:18
  Michelle: What were some of the things they added to the banned list?
• 6:21
  Filiberto: Well, this is the strange things strange thing for me. So this is all within the CBA, the collective bargaining agreement. So they negotiated over the terms of it, which also includes the drugs of abuse and how you're going to get held accountable if you do engage in them. Interestingly and really disappointingly, lot of drugs that have been proven to support people with PTSD, with different sorts of trauma, ailments, depression. So I'm talking about psilocybin, so medical, magic mushrooms, ketamine.
• 6:52
  What else did I see in there? I think that was yeah. Ketamine, psilocybin. Yeah. So really good things that help people out that are going through pain.
• 7:02
  And I think especially for, I think this is true for a lot of pro sports that like to talk about athletes that came from nothing and were on the mean streets and all this shit. Like there's always a big narrative around that, especially for men. And we talk about that, but we don't talk about the trauma that comes from that sort of experience and that sort of pain and the struggle that that is. And these drugs have been proven to support that. And it's really uncomfortable for me that within the document, within the CBA, they list kinda like the federal government.
• 7:32
  They list ketamine, LSD, psilocybin on the same level as opioids, as, meth, as cocaine. So, again, major investment for weed, but then also criminalizing drugs that are therapeutically, that have been proven to give to have therapeutic support for folks that are suffering.
• 7:52
  Michelle: Yeah. I mean, that's part of bargaining, right, is that one size, one side gives or compromises, the other side moves a little bit to the middle as well. So I'm wondering what the motivation was for players to agree to something like that. Maybe, you know, being able to remove cannabis or marijuana from the ban list was just really important to players, especially and we forgot to mention this, but this shift when it comes to marijuana does allow players to be sponsored by cannabis companies, allows them to partake in marketing other or even owning a business stake in a cannabis company. Right?
• 8:33
  So that might have been worth a lot to the Players Association for them to agree to something that's very problematic of what you just mentioned. And or they thought about like how much do our members use some of those like ketamine, some of those drugs that you're talking about. I'm not saying it justifies this this switch or this trade off, but that might have been what was kind of going through the PA, the Players Association when they're talking through whether or to accept, this change.
• 9:05
  Filiberto: You know, this is one of those things where we could just ask them. We should just send them a note and be like, hey. We were wondering about this in our quasi reporter sort of
• 9:12
  Michelle: Mhmm.
• 9:13
  Filiberto: Setup. Yeah. Something to think about y'all. And for the mem, for members themselves, so union members, so folks that are on basketball teams, women that are on basketball teams, if you all would like to tell us, if you happen to know or just have an opinion about this, we'd love to hear it. Send us an email over at info@wegotnextpod.org.
• 9:32
  It'll be in the show notes.
• 9:34
  Michelle: Awesome.
• 9:40
  Another topic this week. This is kind of just like a public service announcement. The WNBA's all star balloting is open. The fans can vote. I think it's up to once a day.
• 9:55
  And we'll put the link the link to actually vote and then, you know, the roles if you wanna take a look at them in in the show notes. But this podcast is being recorded on June 16 and you have until June 27 to submit your votes. And this will be a combination of fans, media, other people to help determine who, goes to the all star game.
• 10:17
  Filiberto: And there, it's a little funky because you can, like, vote more than once. Right? Like, how does that work?
• 10:22
  Michelle: I think it's once a day.
• 10:24
  Filiberto: Once a day. You can vote once a day. And then there's, like, double days or something. Remember that
• 10:28
  Michelle: They are. You kinda have to like, look for social media when they announce it.
• 10:31
  Filiberto: Okay.
• 10:32
  Michelle: And you can vote through wnba.com or through the app. Oh, and here's the they do list the double days.
• 10:39
  Filiberto: Okay. So there are double days.
• 10:41
  Michelle: So tomorrow the seventeenth, June 17.
• 10:43
  Filiberto: Which you're gonna miss if you're you're not gonna listen to this podcast then.
• 10:46
  Michelle: And the last day for double is, June 24.
• 10:50
  Filiberto: Okay. So note it. You're hearing it now. June 24, folks.
• 10:53
  Michelle: Yeah.
• 10:54
  Filiberto: You're writing it down. Write it down. Write it down. Open up your calendar app.
• 10:58
  Michelle: Yeah.
• 10:58
  Filiberto: Put that in there.
• 10:59
  Michelle: Fans Double days. Fans account for 50% of the vote and players and media account for 25% each. So the players get to vote as well. So that's super cool. But yes, get it in by midnight on June 27 is the last day to vote.
• 11:16
  I've been doing mine every day. For some reason, my first vote was at like 9PM. So it's every twenty four hours. So
• 11:24
  Filiberto: So have to wait for 9 PM.
• 11:25
  Michelle: I have to wait till like 9PM.
• 11:26
  Filiberto: You did not plan that out very well.
• 11:27
  Michelle: I did not. I didn't know that was gonna be the rule.
• 11:29
  Filiberto: So for folks that are listening, do not start voting at 9PM. Choose a time where you will be available, clear minded to make the decisions that will impact the lives of your favorite player.
• 11:39
  Michelle: And then if you're a little bit late, then that sets the clock over again. So now I'm like close to ten. Like, I don't have to over these over these times. So that's been fun. But, you know, I'm, I'm definitely switching up how I'm voting.
• 11:53
  I I've been voting one person over and over again because I really want them to get in. That's Veronica Burton for the Golden State Valkyries.
• 12:00
  Filiberto: Big fans over here at the wegotnextpod.org.
• 12:03
  Michelle: And then I've been voting for a few other Valkyries and and other players when I do like a larger group with my ballot that day.
• 12:09
  Filiberto: Nice.
• 12:10
  Michelle: But super exciting. We had Kayla Thornton was voted in last year for the All Star break, first time ever. So really hoping to kinda push Veronica over for that so we can have we can add another, thing to someone's Wikipedia page.
• 12:27
  Filiberto: Am I remembering this right? Did she get injured before the All Star game? So she didn't end up she didn't end up participating?
• 12:32
  Michelle: I think she did.
• 12:33
  Filiberto: Yeah.
• 12:33
  Yeah. That's what I remember.
• 12:34
  Michelle: Or no or it was right after or something.
• 12:36
  Filiberto: There's something weird. I remember. Okay.
• 12:39
  Michelle: But it still counts. You get injured. It still counts that you got invited. That you were picked as an all star. Yeah.
• 12:44
  Filiberto: Nothing changes.
• 12:45
  Michelle: So that was great. Just the way the Valkyries and Coach Nakase have been able to take some players that have been overlooked. And there's been a few just like this season. There's been a few people who've noted, like, most underrated player, Natasha Cloud said that on a Sue Bird's podcast a week or so ago, that Veronica Burton was her most, underrated player in the W right now. So
• 13:08
  Filiberto: Big shout out. Big words from a
• 13:10
  Michelle: Yeah.
• 13:11
  Filiberto: Prominent player.
• 13:11
  Michelle: And we might actually get two in because I think a lot of people are voting for Gabby Williams as well. So we might get two this year, which would be fantastic.
• 13:19
  Filiberto: Yeah. At least two. We're just we're doing really well.
• 13:21
  Michelle: There's a lot of competition. So we'll see.
• 13:23
  Filiberto: There is a lot of competition. It is deep.
• 13:24
  Michelle: But super exciting. And then the last things we wanted to talk about before we get into breaking down some Valkyrie's games are some other WNBA games that were, there's a few teams that have had like an up and down last week or so. And some of you may know who I'm talking about here, but we're gonna talk a little bit about the Las Vegas Aces because we had a matchup of Minnesota playing in Las Vegas. It was basically the number one versus number two at the time. One team, I believe, had two losses, one had three.
• 14:04
  So just kind of the the best of the league going at it. And Las Vegas kinda was ahead for most of the games, played a really great 100% game. Then, like, two days later, played Dallas and just got their asses handed to them in Dallas. And
• 14:19
  Filiberto: Well, it's weird because Dallas kinda owns them. Yeah. That's very strange.
• 14:23
  Michelle: Yeah. And, like, lost by a lot. Like, if anyone who's paid attention or you remember last year, Yeah. Vegas had a huge loss. I'm totally blanking on who it was.
• 14:32
  But it was one of those losses where
• 14:33
  Filiberto: It's also against us too.
• 14:35
  Michelle: Where that might have been was that the loss?
• 14:37
  Filiberto: Yeah. It was 36 points.
• 14:39
  Michelle: That might have been our game. Yeah. But remember A'ja, like, did the they did a group text and she said "to anyone who's not embarrassed by that loss"
• 14:46
  Filiberto: No. I think there was a second shitty game.
• 14:47
  Michelle: Yeah. So that was someone else. We'll look it up in the show notes. But
• 14:52
  Filiberto: It was a flashpoint for them, for sure.
• 14:53
  Michelle: They had a huge loss. They had the group text. Everyone agreed. They talked about what they need to improve.
• 14:58
  I think they might have had a team meeting even after that.
• 15:00
  Filiberto: Yeah. Something like that.
• 15:01
  Michelle: And then from then on, went undefeated the rest of the season. Right. And then went on to win their championship. So this game may serve as one of those wake up calls, got publicly humiliated by an up and coming team. Dallas might finish the season as like the most improved team over last year.
• 15:20
  But just was an ugly game. Yeah. Ugly ugly game for Vegas.
• 15:24
  Filiberto: Just looked really lethargic. It was a strange
• 15:26
  Michelle: They did.
• 15:27
  Filiberto: It was a very strange game.
• 15:28
  Michelle: I don't know if they had such a high to beat Minnesota and then just like came down really hard with like a huge thud. But it was just such an uncharacteristic game like everyone just was doing very badly. I was, I was surprised because I just expected Aces to come back eventually at some point. They've done that. They put runs together.
• 15:47
  It was bad. It was bad. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays into and they you know, into their journey of the season. And the Minnesota Las Vegas game was closed toward the end, but Minnesota was trailing. They're still looking for Napheesa Collier to come back.
• 16:10
  Olivia Miles had a good game, but they're kinda missing that piece and having that like a little bit more oomph on the defense. So when they play I think they'll play again this year. And if Napheesa's back, that'll be a definitely a different, differently played game.
• 16:25
  Filiberto: Yeah. Napheesa there is gonna help out Olivia so much because it's gonna they can't key in on Olivia Miles. Yes. They give a lot of I think their pick and roll participation should be elite. Like, that should be a power move for them that they can always go to whenever they need some points.
• 16:38
  So we will see how that goes. Yep. But congratulations on Minnesota for just being so dominant. Like, damn.
• 16:49
  Another busy week of basketball, Michelle?
• 16:51
  So January 9, we played the Phoenix Mercury. June 12, right before my birthday, we played the Seattle storm. And June 15, the LA Sparks.
• 17:00
  Michelle: Mhmm.
• 17:01
  Filiberto: So what were the big highlights for Mercury? I think that was just a fun game kinda. It was. Kind of fun game.
• 17:09
  Michelle: It was. I think this might have been our yeah. This is our second time playing the Mercury. Both of these were in San Francisco.
• 17:17
  Filiberto: We did get a chance to go to this game because Yes. We were trying to sell them. We don't always go to midweek games because it's kinda hard, but our schedule ended up being kinda favorable. So Yeah. Hell yeah on a Tuesday night.
• 17:27
  The vibe is different, y'all. The vibe is different on a Tuesday night.
• 17:30
  Michelle: It is. But I was surprised because we watched the game there and then the next day we watched it, on the WNBA app. And it was like, being there, you could tell the crowd wasn't as loud. They were definitely engaged. But you could tell there it wasn't as full.
• 17:44
  Filiberto: There was like a murmur. I've never heard a murmur in there during a Valkyries game.
• 17:47
  Michelle: Yeah. I mean, it's it's definitely still a sellout. But, you know, some people were late or just not gonna be able to make it even though they are season ticket holders or something. But but watching it on TV on the app, it actually you didn't notice that it was that much more quiet, which I thought was interesting.
• 18:02
  Filiberto: No. And people really got locked in towards the end of the game. It just kinda it felt different. Honestly, like, one of the things that was really sweet and for all y'all that were there that were, that are listening to this, if you also agree, it kinda seemed like a lot of people were there for, like, the first time because they kinda seemed really lost. It was really endearing.
• 18:20
  Like, it wasn't annoying or anything. I'm not trying to make fun of anybody. Like, it was just really sweet to see people be, like, be really excitedly trying to find their shit, they couldn't find it. I was a little frustrated. But so it made me feel like a lot of people was there for the first time.
• 18:31
  And they were Yeah. For the first time enjoying their Valkyries experience.
• 18:34
  Michelle: Well, because, you know, school's out for a lot of people, both, you know, kindergarten through twelfth grade and and, you know, if you're in college. So, you know, people are traveling. So, yeah, there definitely could be some people. Hey, look, while we're in the city, we're gonna also go to a game. But I I think Golden State, you know, the Valkyries played really well.
• 18:54
  They were playing hard. They had energy. They kinda lost it toward the end of the game, but they had this composure. Phoenix went on a run. And unfortunately for the Mercury, they just had they had 16 turnovers in that game.
• 19:09
  So Valkyries defense was kind of stifling. Four of those were shot clock violations, which is
• 19:16
  Filiberto: just Just not
• 19:17
  Michelle: unheard of. I don't think many players for Phoenix played very well. I think Akoa Makani was a bright spot for me. She was very active. She had the ball a lot.
• 19:30
  Her shots were going in while the other team kinda, her other her other teammates kinda looked a little lost or just not doing well. But, yeah, Phoenix definitely was frustrated. They had two they had two techs called on them. Like, not actual fouls, but just techs because they were arguing with the refs, in the first half. Like, that was kind of like the meltdown had already started.
• 19:55
  Filiberto: Yeah.
• 19:56
  Michelle: But the second half, were able to put together a run and make it close.
• 19:59
  Filiberto: Yep. Well, and I think that in general, what was interesting and you said this, and we're gonna keep saying this. And we talked about this a little bit last week, the idea that, last season, tight games, games where they were getting pushed around a little bit, they were likely to lose. This season, we talked about this last week where they lost games, but they are staying competitive. Their composure is increasing.
• 20:21
  And I think this late of games, and we're gonna say this a lot, they really showed a lot of composure and a lot of determination and a lot of conviction. And I think that Phoenix game really saw that. Like, in the past or even, like, couple weeks ago, they may have would have collapsed at the end when that started getting a little rough. But you can see that they're holding their own that they're holding their strategy through a tough opponent. That's nice to see.
• 20:42
  Michelle: Yeah. And that was that was kind of the interesting thing was because, the Mercury did have a run. They made it close. It was interesting at the end, you know, the Valkyries were not able to kind of rest some of their starters. I think Veronica Burton really needs to rest, their you know, the Mercury game started I believe it's no.
• 21:05
  That was Seattle. But the Mercury was their last game before they started a chunk of four games in seven days. So like, this is when you're really starting to think about resting some people. Veronica Burton would be one of them. She starts, she plays the most minutes.
• 21:19
  She's very physical. She runs into contact.
• 21:21
  Filiberto: She takes a lot of contact.
• 21:22
  Michelle: She does. She hits the court a lot. So you'd love to give her some rest. But they were able to kinda hold that composure, you know, lean in, pour into each other. The next game, not so much.
• 21:40
  Three days later, June 12, the Valkyries played Seattle in Seattle. And again, it was kind of a close game. The Valkyries were playing well. Toward the end though, they started getting really frustrated that they weren't getting calls from refs. And they started kind of like every possession,
• 22:00
  If they missed their shot, they were yelling at refs. Like this kind of toward the end of fourth quarter was not a good look. And so it's kinda like, know, you guys just did really well with your composure and then this game just complete other extreme.
• 22:14
  Filiberto: It was just such a physical game too. It was getting a little it was rough to watch every once in while.
• 22:18
  Michelle: Yeah. I don't I know there are lot of Seattle fans complaining about the Valkyries getting, like, more free throws than Seattle. I think both teams were very physical. There were a few kind of like, oh, the ref's not looking and, know, some poking and nudging, but I think both teams were doing that.
• 22:36
  Filiberto: Yeah. I think there are people playing on the edge. Absolutely. Fouls. And if I think what you're kinda seeing sometimes is when the refs like, the refs can get really inconsistent.
• 22:47
  And for teams that are really defensive minded and physical, that inconsistency just creates so much confusion. Right. Because you do have to give them a line, and they will follow that line. But when you're moving that line around, depending on circumstance or type of play or where on the court it's happening, It's just, it's hard. It makes it hard to watch.
• 23:05
  Michelle: Yeah. I mean, this game, the Valkyries did not do well on offense. I think some of the stats you look at those stats and you're kinda like, how did they win this game? The Valkyries shot 36% from the field. They were 22% on their threes.
• 23:23
  They had, I don't know if I have it in my notes, but they had a lot of turnovers. In the fourth quarter, Golden State shot one of 16, and they still won that game.
• 23:37
  Filiberto: Yeah. I think the the thing that we kept saying about this game was usually those stats mean a loss.
• 23:42
  Michelle: Yes.
• 23:43
  Filiberto: So, again, really a hard game to watch because of all the misses and just how kinda chippy or petty it was starting to get. But they still figured out how to win. Like, that part of it's impressive. The game itself was funky to watch. But Yeah.
• 23:58
  They still figured out how to win. You know, Seattle was hungry. They were trying to win. They it's not like they were just, like, backing off all of a sudden. Like, they were competing.
• 24:05
  They were going for it. They wanna improve. But
• 24:08
  Michelle: Well, it was close enough they could have won. I think that was kinda demoralizing for them was that this was one of those games where it was close enough. They had a chance to win it.
• 24:15
  Filiberto: It was closer than it should have been.
• 24:16
  Michelle: And they didn't. Yeah. Yeah. I do wanna shout out for Seattle, I wanna shout out Hiedeman. She was the only Seattle player in double figures for scoring.
• 24:29
  And then Horston, who Tennessee Lady Vols, she was just great on defense. She was all over the court. She had two steals, two blocks, four defensive rebounds, five assists. So she just had a really great game. You kinda just heard her name a lot, saw her out there.
• 24:51
  For the the Valkyries, Janelle Salaun, again, 22 points off the bench. So she's been a bright star. She's, a lot of people have her on their shortlist for sixth person of the year, sixth player of the year coming off the bench. So it'll be interesting to see where she goes with that.
• 25:07
  Filiberto: And she fouled out that game too.
• 25:09
  Michelle: Yes.
• 25:10
  Filiberto: She wasn't even available
• 25:11
  Michelle: She looked
• 25:12
  Filiberto: for like a good portion.
• 25:13
  Michelle: It was a good combination of, like, really fucking pissed that she fouled out, but also kinda demoralizes she couldn't help her team and she had to watch.
• 25:20
  Filiberto: Well, and I and I think somebody else made this note. I apologize for forgetting because I wanna give you all a shout out when do do that. But they noted that Salaun is playing a lot more interior than last year generally than she has in the past. So she's giving up a lot physically to the game every time, and she's throwing down.
• 25:37
  There's a there's a point of transition, but it it was important that she's not giving up her offense to play that kind of defense.
• 25:42
  Michelle: Yeah. A few other stat lines just wanna share. Tiffany Hayes coming off the bench also 17 points. She had a great game just on offense and defense. And she also notched 5,000 points, 5,000 career points in that game.
• 25:58
  So good for her. I think and just going back to the Valkyries defense, Dom Malonga for Seattle, she was held to two points in the first half, which is just I don't know if that's ever happened before. So, you know, the Valkyries definitely were keeping her in check. But then she went on a run in in the second half, and that was part of the reason that, Seattle kept it close and made it an interesting game to the end.
• 26:25
  Filiberto: Well, I think it was our first time getting a chance to watch Awa Fam because she wasn't available in the prior games when we were watching. And my god, she's incredible. Like, just, you know, she's just getting started. It's not like
• 26:36
  Michelle: 19 years old.
• 26:37
  Filiberto: She's not getting the MVP awards. She just turned 20 the day after, I think they kept saying. So she's now 20. But Seattle definitely has a bright future. There's an interesting team.
• 26:45
  They have there's a lot of possibility there. Certainly not happening this year, but, yeah, lots of good things. Yeah. Lots of lots of good things.
• 26:51
  Michelle: Yep. And then our last game of that week is Valkyries versus LA. This game was played in San Francisco. Right? Or in LA?
• 27:11
  Filiberto: We sold that one. I think it was
• 27:13
  Michelle: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was it's in San Francisco. This has been billed by a lot of people including Coach Nakase as one of the most complete games the Valkyries have played this season, possibly, like, over the last two seasons.
• 27:29
  Filiberto: Yeah. Straight up. If you all didn't see it we definitely agree it was the most complete game we've ever seen. If you all didn't see it, just watch it. Yeah.
• 27:36
  Drop what you're doing. Check it out. Because there were just moments, like sequences where the Valkyries were definitely playing at their best and watching them play at their best. You're like, holy shit. They could beat anybody.
• 27:48
  Yeah. Like, when they're at their best. I'm not saying they're gonna pick up and beat all these amazing teams, but when they're really locked in like that, when they're stealing, when they're hitting the lanes, when they're shooting their threes, when they're driving, when they're doing all the things that they wanna do well, my god, they're impressive.
• 28:02
  Michelle: Yeah. Veronica Burton, again, was amazing. And she did get her one thousandth career point. So that was that was cool to see. And I, you know, I I think the Valkyries absolutely were playing well on offense.
• 28:17
  Coach Nakase when she was with the Las Vegas Aces as an assistant coach coached Kelsey Plum who is a guard for the LA Sparks. So they know each other.
• 28:27
  Filiberto: During the game, they showed a lot of footage of them
• 28:29
  Michelle: Yes.
• 28:29
  Filiberto: Like practicing together and Nakase guiding her. They they made it they really wanted to dramatize that. They wanted to make that point.
• 28:36
  Michelle: And, you know, and Kate Martin being in San Francisco again. Right?
• 28:39
  Filiberto: It was a footnote, but it's still significant for some people.
• 28:41
  Michelle: So I feel like, Coach Nakase had a plan with Kelsey. She knows her so well. She kinda knew how to put up a defensive plan with her. And Kelsey did not have a good night. I believe she got nine points and she fell out.
• 28:58
  Filiberto: They just shut her down. It was
• 28:59
  Michelle: Yeah. And that was after she went to overtime with Phoenix and got, like, 41 or 43 points in that game. So, again, these highs and lows throughout the season that individual players are having and that teams are having.
• 29:12
  Filiberto: And straight up, we're Kelsey Plum fans. So, you know, it was Love her.
• 29:15
  Michelle: It was
• 29:16
  Filiberto: hard to watch her get shut down. But also really satisfying because it was like, wow, the Valkyries really know what they're doing. Yeah. But sorry, sister.
• 29:23
  Michelle: Yeah. It was you know, she got a lot of attention as as she should because she is one of the greatest point guards to ever play. Also, you know, just puts it all on the court every game. She takes a lot of contact. I think the bright spots for LA were Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell.
• 29:41
  Rae Burrell from Tennessee! Burrell had a few her game against Phoenix and this game, she just kind of didn't care kind of how the team was playing, but she was gonna go lights out. She was gonna play a 100%. She's gonna bring the energy and the execution and the effort. So she had some great blocks.
• 30:04
  She was all over the court. Just really proud of like how
• 30:07
  Filiberto: She was hustling, running around everywhere.
• 30:08
  Michelle: Yes. How her game is developing
• 30:10
  Filiberto: Really impressive.
• 30:10
  Michelle: In the pros. And I think yeah. So the final score, 20 points. It was a low scoring game for both teams. Like, you know, Valkyries got 78, LA got 58.
• 30:23
  But 13 steals for Golden State. Rae Burrell's the top scorer for LA, 13.
• 30:29
  Filiberto: She wasn't a starter. Right? No. Yeah. So that was the other weird stat is that no starter for LA got into double digits.
• 30:35
  Yes. What is that? Oh, man. And they're high then, you know, again, they're their highest scoring team in the league. They can't play defense to save their lives.
• 30:43
  Michelle: Yeah. And that's an ongoing issue for LA. And this is something that goes back to even to last season when they when Cameron Brink was out with an injury. She's back. They're still trying to, you know, weave her into the game.
• 30:53
  But these are some complaints LA's had to deal with is that they they're not very good on defense.
• 30:59
  Filiberto: You know, that's another high point for LA too is, I think you noticed this a lot where Cameron Brink really shaped the Valkyries offense. They were a little hesitant to drive hard against her
• 31:07
  Michelle: Yeah.
• 31:08
  Filiberto: At least early on in the game.
• 31:09
  Michelle: Oh, it was it was a distinct difference when she was on the court. Yes. Yes. And Cameron is coming off a a huge knee injury from last, that kept her out of most of last year. She did roll her ankle kinda toward the end of this game, so hopefully she's okay.
• 31:26
  Filiberto: Yeah. I looked around and I didn't see an update yet.
• 31:28
  Michelle: But Okay.
• 31:29
  Filiberto: We'll keep hoping for her.
• 31:30
  Michelle: Just to put a finer point for LA, they're 58 total points in the game or their is their lowest total since 2021. So in five years. But also wanna shout out Kaia Charles. Kaila Charles. She came off the bench.
• 31:47
  Just kinda had like not a super consistent presence when she does play, at least offensively. I think she's done well defensively. She gets some of the hard assignments to come in on.
• 31:57
  Filiberto: She gets hard and random assignments. She has to guard, you know, folks a foot taller than her foot taller than her.
• 32:02
  Michelle: But she had 13 points, which was kind of a a good score for her. And then so we're noticing something we just wanna touch on too is Kaitlyn Chen. As Coach Nakase kinda pulls Juste Jocyte back a little bit, she kind of had her she finally showed up. She was drafted last year then stashed. This is her first year in San Francisco.
• 32:29
  She had some great games and then has kind of not
• 32:33
  Filiberto: We haven't seen her much for a while.
• 32:34
  Michelle: Right. And so Nakase has said she's trying to get her to learn the playbook a little better and kind of maybe trying to push her to be a little bit more of a guard, a ball handler. And so you have a theory that might impact Kaitlyn Chen.
• 32:50
  Filiberto: No. I think they're transitioning to removing Kaitlyn Chen's minutes and replacing them with Juste and in some cases Gabby Williams, too. There And was a third person that's supposed to be a primary ball handler too. I think there was a third person they were talking about. In any case, it kind of felt like watching when Kaitlyn got in that she was playing for her life, man.
• 33:08
  Like, she was like, fuck. I gotta, like, earn I gotta keep my roster spot.
• 33:12
  Michelle: Yeah. She's had limited minutes last couple games.
• 33:15
  Filiberto: But her urgency in this game was, like
• 33:17
  Michelle: Yes.
• 33:18
  Filiberto: Very measurable and notable to me. And so but I think that's I think that's the trajectory is, remove her minutes and offer them to Juste give them to Juste.
• 33:27
  Michelle: But you can tell, like, she she's always, again, brings that energy and effort. And she try you know, she's a pest on defense, which is great if she's on your team. But it she was it was like a new gear, a new level for her. So it was very noticeable.
• 33:43
  Filiberto: Her layups were already a lot more improved. Like, her work in the interior around the basket is a lot better than last year. And but she took it up a notch in this game.
• 33:51
  Michelle: Yeah.
• 33:52
  Filiberto: So I don't know why you're doing that, Kaitlyn, but I hope for the best for you. You had a good game.
• 33:58
  Michelle: Yeah. Exactly. I just wish I feel like what the one thing that bums me out about this game for the Valkyries was I again, they're playing four games in seven days. I wish they could have sat and rested Veronica Burton more. When they did put Kaitlyn Chen or someone else in to kind of guide the offense, LA would go on a little run.
• 34:23
  I I don't think it was super close, but it got close enough when a Coach Nakase was a little concerned. Yeah. And so she would pull Burton back in. And so I don't think Burton got the rest that I think she should have had for a blowout. Like and again, during the game, they're going through runs.
• 34:40
  So you can't look at the final score, but like it sucks to look at that final score, and it's 20 points. And I don't think Burton was able to rest as much as they should have had her. So that that's unfortunate is the sec, the second unit couldn't kinda keep up some of that offensive production.
• 34:55
  Filiberto: Yeah. And I think that speaks to something that I was noticing too that it feels as though, like, Nakase has gone into full on playoff mode. Like, she's definitely, like, shortened her bench. The rotation is way smaller. It's, like, seven, maybe eight players depending on whether it's a blowout or not.
• 35:10
  So it feels like she's, like, coaching, like, every game is a playoff game, like, suddenly. And I don't know if that's an internal dynamic or I don't know. You know, who knows what's going on there? But it's interesting, but it also means that, like, the the competition for minutes just escalated a lot, too. Competition The just to be on the court just went up a whole lot.
• 35:28
  Just it kind of I it's just it's just an observation. I don't know. You know, who knows if I'm right? But it's notable, though. I can I can feel it?
• 35:36
  You know? You can see it.
• 35:39
  Michelle: Yeah. So this game, again, like Fili said, if you haven't watched this game, go watch it. I'm probably gonna watch it again sometime soon just because it was it was such a good one. You kinda wanna live it because
• 35:49
  Filiberto: We miss things too. Like, they they dominated every facet of the game. Every facet.
• 35:53
  Michelle: Well, it's different when you watch it knowing the outcome. Like, you can kinda relax a little bit because you know that your team won. Right? Yeah. Because LA has so much so much offensive production possibility that you're kinda you don't know.
• 36:08
  Even though I think the Valkyries are a better team, you still have no idea if they're gonna win the game. But it's a game to kind of like enjoy while we can because the Valkyries, their next up. Those last two games in seven days are against Dallas and Minnesota. So these are gonna be tough games. I think the Valkyries and the Dallas Wings have the same record.
• 36:32
  Mhmm. So it will be a great game. Hopefully, the Valkyries took today off and are resting a little bit. What Natalie Nakase calls blackout days. But that Minnesota game's gonna be it's gonna be rough.
• 36:46
  Filiberto: Yeah. It's gonna be in here.
• 36:49
  Michelle: Yes. It's in San Francisco. Both those games are in San Francisco.
• 36:52
  Filiberto: Yeah. We're not gonna go to Dallas game because the price is too good for us to sell.
• 36:56
  Michelle: But And it's during the week.
• 36:57
  Filiberto: And it's during the week.
• 36:57
  Michelle: And we work. But
• 36:58
  Filiberto: Friday, we're gonna be there with my family for my birthday week celebration.
• 37:03
  Michelle: So those of you who will be at the Valkyries game, stay there for halftime. There'll be a surprise.
• 37:10
  Filiberto: And hopefully, maybe we can record a little bit with my siblings too. Maybe at the game at least. Probably not in this.
• 37:23
  Alright. We're back.
• 37:25
  So, yeah, as we were saying earlier in the podcast, we did have a cat in the room, and he decided to get friendly in his aggressive way. So we had to Yeah. I don't know if you heard the urgency in Michelle's voice, but he was starting to get really close and, like, approach her in an attack formation.
• 37:42
  Michelle: He was using my chair as a scratching post. So I was like, uh-oh. It's happening.
• 37:46
  Filiberto: Yeah. He was
• 37:46
  getting way too close to your arm. Was worried about
• 37:48
  Michelle: Winter is coming. Grayson is coming.
• 37:50
  Filiberto: So he's out of the studio now. Quote unquote. The bedroom.
• 37:54
  Michelle: That's a great transition and encouragement for us to transition to our last segment.
• 38:00
  Filiberto: Hopefully, your favorite segment because it's often ours.
• 38:03
  Michelle: Yes. So this is our section where we kind of just do an interruption or we vent a little bit. So
• 38:11
  Filiberto: We got something to say.
• 38:12
  Michelle: Mine is like a little silly and stupid. So bear with me. So I'm gonna stop you right there with the references to the WNBA. I don't know if this crossed into the MNBA. I haven't I haven't watched enough to know if they're using this terminology.
• 38:33
  Filiberto: And the season just ended, so I have no idea now.
• 38:35
  Michelle: So when a basketball player shoots a three, instead of saying, you know, from downtown or whatever they used to say or like, you know, splash, we're saying spray as a term. And it for some reason, it's just like
• 38:51
  Filiberto: It really irks you.
• 38:51
  Michelle: It like fingernails on chalkboard, fingernails on a wine glass.
• 38:56
  Filiberto: Yeah. Don't do that.
• 38:58
  Michelle: I don't get I think like I have this reference to like just other ways that spray is used in phrases like a spray of bullets.
• 39:07
  Filiberto: Yeah. Often derogatory. Like, and not it doesn't bother me the same way it bothers you, but it still bothers me. Yeah. Like, I don't I just don't enjoy that word choice.
• 39:15
  Michelle: And just like
• 39:15
  Filiberto: And the repetition of it is is like the intrusive part of it.
• 39:18
  Michelle: Well, it's like other other stuff that can be sprayed. I'll let the listeners put two and two together on that one. So it's just kinda like really jarring for me whenever I hear it. I understand people want to like move the needle forward on terminology and like the youngsters have their own vernacular. Like I get it.
• 39:40
  But it's just it's like it's been really like, it's just so hard for me. And it's like the stupid pet peeve. I totally understand that. People can call me boomer in the comments on socials. I get it.
• 39:50
  I will take that. I own it.
• 39:52
  Filiberto: She's not a millennial y'all.
• 39:56
  Michelle: Hell no. Technically, I'm on the cusp, but I will never desperate. I will never admit that.
• 39:59
  Filiberto: Be suspicious of her folks. I know I am.
• 40:02
  Michelle: Strike through this conversation right now. Nope. But yeah, so count me as anti on the usage of the word spray.
• 40:10
  Filiberto: For those that are counting, Michelle is a strict no.
• 40:14
  Michelle: Nothing but net or splash, like, you know, the Splash Brothers.
• 40:17
  Filiberto: Behind the arc was fine.
• 40:19
  Michelle: Yes.
• 40:20
  Filiberto: You can just describe what's happening as an announcer probably should.
• 40:24
  Michelle: Why do we have to change? Why is there change? Change is hard.
• 40:27
  Filiberto: There doesn't have to be no. I think there doesn't have to be additional imagery. That's the thing that you're kinda suggesting. Like, we don't need additional connotations. Right.
• 40:37
  Or at least Please describe what's take
• 40:39
  Michelle: pick another that doesn't have
• 40:41
  Filiberto: There's no use for literary devices. Just tell us what's happening.
• 40:43
  Michelle: I understand like, oh, we want to take back the language or the terminology. Like, we want to like own it and like blah blah blah. I don't know why people feel the need to do that for spray. I don't.
• 40:52
  Filiberto: I don't think that's where they're coming from, but sure.
• 40:53
  Michelle: I know. But I'm just saying, for certain words. Right?
• 40:56
  Filiberto: It's an important movement.
• 40:57
  Michelle: The whole the whole bullshit of, words don't have meaning people do. Like, that kind of stuff.
• 41:01
  Filiberto: I've never heard that. Okay. People say that?
• 41:04
  Michelle: Yes. No. It's it's super stupid. But, yeah, coming from, you know, a profession that's words and vocabulary are very important.
• 41:14
  Filiberto: We're word people folk.
• 41:15
  Michelle: Exactly. So that's why it's kinda like, I just can't I can't I can't with it. Call me boomer. I get it. I'm I'm getting up there.
• 41:25
  But that's just that's my I'm gonna stop you right there.
• 41:34
  What about you, Fili?
• 41:35
  Filiberto: Mira homies. As you were saying, it's a good transition. You're not a boomer because you're a certain age, which is a transition to my birthday. Whoop whoop.
• 41:47
  So my birthday just passed. I was born on June June thirteenth.
• 41:51
  This year, it was set on Friday, which is always a little uncomfortable. Was it Friday? No. Was it Saturday? I'm confused.
• 41:56
  I asked for the day off, and I keep forgetting that I still I work on weekends, so I get confused about like, my week started on Sunday. I've been confused every day.
• 42:03
  I don't know what
• 42:04
  day it is. I don't
• 42:05
  Michelle: Yeah. He's a day ahead.
• 42:06
  Filiberto: It's been really hard. Anyway, so it's my birthday. I am 44 years old, which somebody pointed out the other day, which Von pointed out the other day. Should just name the people. I'm divisible by two now.
• 42:17
  44.
• 42:18
  Michelle: Is that important?
• 42:19
  Filiberto: No. It's just fun. But I think, you know, I was thinking about my birthday. I was thinking about my birthday. And, you know, I I grew up in the sort of place, in a sort of environment where not a lot of people were thinking about what it's like to age.
• 42:32
  Like, not a lot of folks saw themselves, like, getting old because people were dying young, going to prison, having kids, sort of I don't you know, I I talk about it, as, we we didn't grow up in the hood, but we dealt with a lot of similar dynamics. So I think of it as hood adjacent. Yeah. It wasn't quite, like, as vicious, but you still had helicopters on the weekends. You still had gang fights.
• 42:56
  Just not like full on, like, transnational gang groups, like, fighting in your high school. We were just more local gang groups, etc. In any case, people just couldn't imagine themselves old, and I kinda didn't either. I knew I was gonna go go to college and be an adult, but I just didn't know what these numbers felt like. And I think the other thing that makes it sort of difficult is my parents have been passed away now for twenty years.
• 43:18
  Like, I just didn't when they first died, I didn't think what it was gonna be like for me twenty years later to not have them in my life. And that's that's one of the things that's been something I've had to get used to is every year that I get older is a year I forget them more. And it's it was really uncomfortable for me initially because I was just you can feel it fade. You can feel their memories fade. But I just sort of come to terms with the fact that, like, at this point, most of my life has been without them.
• 43:51
  That's the thing. Yeah. It's weird. So I don't mean to be morose on my birthday, but as one of the things I think about is, as I get older, you know, I lose certain things. But, I also get to spend time with my siblings, and we're gonna all be together.
• 44:06
  And I'm really looking forward to that. We get the privilege and the space to be together as much as we want to or need to, and that's really good. And that's a big important feature of my life that I'm looking forward to.
• 44:19
  Michelle: Yeah. We get to introduce them to a Golden State Valkyries game.
• 44:23
  Filiberto: Yes. And we're bringing them to a Valkyries game, which is a good way to make this really relevant to what this podcast is about. So we may not have them on the podcast. I wanna record a little bit with my niece. She's 10 years old.
• 44:34
  She's 10 years old. Yeah. I always get that wrong. She's 10 years old. She's really sweet.
• 44:37
  But we'll see if she's into it, you know, because we want her to consent to whatever she's up to. But, yeah. So hopefully, next week, you can hear from my siblings and niece directly through recordings that we'll take during the game or you get to hear about how it went from us directly talking about it on this podcast. So look forward to that. As part of, my birthday festivities, I also invited folks on my Facebook page because I haven't been talking about the podcast too much on my own
• 45:04
  Michelle: Talk about boomer, Facebook.
• 45:05
  Filiberto: I know. Right? Still using Facebook. Zuckerberg, you're awful. But, you know, I haven't been talking about the podcast much because I wanted us to have a couple episodes in before I started announcing it to the people that used to listen to used to listen to my other stuff.
• 45:18
  So I did that. So for those of you that responded to my birthday message, hey, congrats. You made it. Appreciate you. You're special to me.
• 45:24
  Michelle: Thank you.
• 45:25
  Filiberto: And put it in the comment section so we know who you are. Would really love to know who you are. And for everyone else that's been listening, you know, we're not we don't have a lot of listeners and we didn't really expect to. We were just really looking forward to doing this project and, you know, learning something about ourselves, through it. But for those of you that have been listening, you're a small and mighty group of people.
• 45:45
  I can tell you that much. And if you like the podcast and if you enjoy just the rhythm of our conversations and what we bring up and, the insights that we bring, share it with a friend and not just share it. Share a why. Why do you want to listen to this podcast? Why are you sharing it?
• 46:00
  Just let them know. Let them know. And we really appreciate that. Right, Michelle?
• 46:05
  Michelle: Yes.
• 46:07
  Filiberto: Alright. So that's my rant for the week.
• 46:10
  Michelle: Wasn't really a rant.
• 46:12
  Filiberto: Wasn't really a rant. It's my statement for the week.
• 46:15
  Michelle: Happy birthday.
• 46:15
  Cha cha cha.
• 46:17
  Filiberto: Yeah. I'm 44. Dang. Oh, and next year you know what next year is, Michelle?
• 46:23
  Michelle: You like saying the term, so I'll let you say it.
• 46:25
  Filiberto: No. It's not part of the gag.
• 46:30
  Michelle: You want me to say it?
• 46:31
  Filiberto: Well, do know what I'm gonna say?
• 46:32
  Michelle: Yes. Of course I do. Because I just had mine. So of course I know.
• 46:37
  Filiberto: Next year is my triple quince. I'm trying to make this a thing y'all. So double quince is obviously when you're 30. So for those of you getting close to 30, think about having a righteous celebration of your doble quince and inviting us so we can participate in that. Those of you all hitting 45, why not have a triple quince?
• 46:55
  So I'm in the beginnings of planning this. So if any y'all have ideas of what I should do on my triple quince, go ahead and add that in the comment section on our Instagram page or wherever else you're listening to. Alright. That's our birthday conversation.
• 47:10
  Michelle: Thanks for listening.
• 47:12
  Filiberto: Have a good night or day or time.
• 47:15
  Michelle: Good drive.
• 47:16
  Filiberto: Good drive. Yeah. Be safe, though. When you listen to this podcast
• 47:19
  Michelle: Be safe.
• 47:19
  Filiberto: Those are my those are my final words to you. Just be safe.
• 47:22
  Michelle: Eyes on the road. Be safe.
• 47:24
  Filiberto: Road, two hands on the wheel, adjacently. Be safe.
• 47:30
  Michelle: Thanks for listening and building community with us. Make sure you're following us on Instagram at pod we got next, and subscribe at wegotnextpod.org.