"We are witnessing most impressive in WNBA history from A'ja Wilson" - Rebecca on Aces beat Fever

Tim legler today we get to start our show with history being made Let's Get Right to what Asia Wilson accomplished last night she came into this game against the fever just 11o shy of breaking the wnb NBA single season scoring record Tyrese Halburn has been a main stay at fever games the season last night was no different watching Asia Wilson go to work score the first 10 points for this find that sweet spot Malika she loves that mid middle area to floor you see right there on just a catch turn face up and then here again one dribble gets to her spot that sweet shooting stroke she dominated the middle area of the floor early and with that bucket Tim she made history she now has the most points in a single season with 941 but she wasn't done and Caitlyn Clark was just getting started yeah right there puts her head down gets to the one of the few drives that she actually got to go in this one struggled a little bit with her shooting most of history there for her as well the first player with 700 points 300 assists in a single season in WNBA history here Kelsey Mitchell pulls up for a deep three trying to get the fever within range now within just four points and then Caitlyn Clark going to work here tough bucket and one tough one-on-one playing through the contact gets one to go and the free throw teammates loving it but Asia Wilson just an absolute Force too much too much you see some Defenders sometimes just shake their head what are you supposed to do with all that size and talent and shooting touch so the aces head into the fourth with a seven-point lead Asia Wilson just can get first shot anywhere yeah and the fever just continued to stay within Striking Distance but it felt like every time they were ready to make that run to take the lead maybe AJ Wilson did something again offensively getting to the spots that she loves to operate she almost lost it there but then stays with it tough finish Wilson would have 27 points 12 rebounds the aces win 8675 here's an emotional Wilson after the game and I'm trying not to get emotional C but like my teammates are the ones they're the heartbeat they get me going I don't get zero points obviously without them passing me the basketball but just the way they show up to work every single day just ready to play ready to lock in things we go through in our personal lives we lock in in each other every single day and that's that's what you see on the court so the points are great they're going to always be there I'm never going to stop shooting but the group that we have in this locker room is something that I am I'm so genuinely happy to be around so I'm blessed I'm super blessed uh to be able to do what I do with the people that I do and I I I credit it all to them the passion the emotion that's just awesome and good on Asia for sharing that with us it's been a historic season for Wilson her 956 points are the new single season Benchmark for the WNBA she's just 44 point shy of being the first player to a th000 points in a season and she's doing it all while putting up career highs in scorings in rebounds blocks and steals my friend and the basketball world is tapped in look at this fellow Olympian LeBron James took to social media to congratulate Wilson on her latest feat you see her teammate there Chelsea Gray made sure to offer her some praise some Legends in the building Cheryl swoops Don Staley making sure that their feelings are known as well and speaking of Legends look who we got here Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo is with us now Rebecca I just listed a fraction of the accomplishments that we have seen here from Asia Wilson I'm just going to put this simply are we witnessing the greatest individual season in WNBA history Asia Wilson is certainly playing as well as anyone in the history of the league perhaps better than anyone in the history of the league we'll kind of wait till the end of the season to compare her season to past grades but when you just look at the numbers she's averaging more points per game than anyone ever has her rebounding average is second in the history of the league only to the ridiculous numbers that angel Reese has been putting up Asia has simply been spectacular and Tim mentioned you know sometimes the defender can just look at her and shake their head that happens game after game sometimes I'm at home watching shaking my head wondering how anyone can slow her down certainly playing as well as probably better than anyone has in the history of this league when you're watching her play Rebecca what is it that stands out to you the most that makes you think okay we have not seen seen this before she can be completely unguardable at times and you saw in some of the highlights you saw from yesterday where Aaliyah Boston was playing really good defense she can simply score Asia gets to the spots on the floor she's gotten better not only going to her strong left hand but going to her right hand as well she's added the a more consistent three-point shot she can get the ball off the defensive board and facilitate the other way she's doing it efficiently and also with the defensive attention she getting she takes great care of the basketball in the game yesterday zero turnovers even though she was often getting double teamed she can just simply be unstoppable offensively and that's not even touching how well she's playing on the defensive end of the floor which has been very very good all season long I know you said that that full season grades we have to wait until a full season is under our belts but should we call it now do you think the MVP is is wrapped up for this year I I I honestly do I mean she is just simply the best player in the league what's a little bit intriguing is in the history of the league we've only had one unanimous MVP that was Cynthia Coop Cooper and there were only 37 voters in those days now we have 60 some might look at it differently to me Asia Wilson is the MVP and I think it could be very close if not a unanimous vote I mean Asia is certainly in a league of her own and there is some history that's being made uh elsewhere in the league that I do want to get to cuz look at this despite the the loss Caitlyn Clark is now only five assists away from passing Alyssa Thomas for the most dimes in a single season even still Tim legler I understand that as you were watching last night you saw something that you were troubled by what exactly is that yes Malik it's how hard Caitlyn Clark has to work for everything she does offensively and I think when you have a weapon like this that is so different than any other player in the league in terms of how you have to extend defensively the amount of communication it takes to know where she is I'd like to see more stuff involving her off the ball this is be post split action 101 very simple stuff throw the ball into the post and the feeder goes in screens for another player Golden State Warriors run this better than any team in the league this is what I think they need to do more of now this is the best attempt of the three examples right here what I'm about to show you but again it's not great spacing it's not great player positioning at the start of it ideally when you run post posts split action you'd like to have the entry feeder there and then that second player right there ball goes in and then these two players interact they try this but you see where Caitlin Clark is in a weak side of Florida spacing and how the distances that she has to run to get herself involved in the offense it's not great but the ball does go in now after this the next part is this this has to be a screen and I put some of this on Caitlyn Clark she goes too soon and she doesn't go tight enough to the screen but ideally what you're looking at is trying to get a screen here after the ball's in the post bringing this player off give her time to get over here and what happens is with a player like Caitlyn Clark a player like Steph Curry inevitably it causes Communications you'll get a jump out here on the switch from this guard but you always get this second Defender staying there cuz they so worried about the switch not being communicated you end up with two on the ball and that would leave a great opportunity right here for Kelsey Mitchell to pop back for an open three or dive down the lane or get something out of it instead they don't get to any of that they throw it to K Clark too soon she's left one of these a bunch of these on the knife forc tough contested shots in the paint next example this one's on Caitlyn Clark give Leah Boston here a legit post player time get her into the post and now let's go ahead and let's throw this entry pass but the angle should be over here not where Caitlyn Clark is if you were to do that here's what it leads to it leads to this post-split action go screen for your teammate bring her off here when you run that action you now have an opportunity where two end up staying with Caitlin Clark instead she forces a drive another tough contested shot in the paint final one right here ktie l know she's not one of your better ball handlers but the ball needs to advance over here to the wing to get that spacing you want again you've got a post player down here throw the ball into the post and then let's go get this action where you run the split with Caitlyn Clark bringing her off to the ball and again you force things like miscommunications where you get two jumping to the ball and you get a wide open shot for one of your best Shooters Samuelson stepping back instead she picks it up never goes into post all kinds of physical activity on the ball you Force cait Clark into the paint big hands up another shot off the front of the rim on a drive I think there are ways to allow the game to be simpler for Caitlyn Clark and open up the game for other people because of the threat that she represents I didn't see Indiana doing a lot of that last night as a result very difficult shooting night for Caitlyn Clark the ace is obviously a formidable opponent here and they've dominated the season series so far against the fever they've won all three meetings the games they haven't been particularly close Vegas winning by an average of over 16 points per game really to your point Tim holding Caitlyn Clark in check and oh by the way these two teams they meet again on Friday night for the final meeting of the regular season so Rebecca the fever they're going to get another crack at the aces tomorrow night as they try to snap a 14 game losing streak to Vegas what do you want to see from Clark and Indiana on Friday here well there are a couple things that are interesting about this matchup first of all the aces are the only team that Indiana has yet to beat this season and the second part is this is kind of like a playoff feel they played last night they have one day off in between and they'll play them again and so I'm interested just to see what kind of uh changes and adjustments the coaches will make both on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor and this is particularly important for Indiana for one reason this is a team that lacks playoff experience they have 19 total games of playoff experience on their roster zero games of of that comes from their starting lineup so this is a a thing with two weeks left in the season where they can hone in treat this like a playoff series kind of treat it like a must-win game get the rest and Recovery that they need today make the adjustments on the fly but certainly a way to prepare a team who doesn't have much playoff experience for this kind of a playoff environment and as you know Rebecca if the fever are able to get the win it'll be their 20th of the season officially ending their streak of seven straight losing years Rebecca Lobo as always thank you so much for spending some time with us we're going to be seeing a whole lot of you here on WNBA today as we March towards that the single season scoring record with 956 points in counting the WNBA expanded from 36 to 40 games in 2023 so some of this was inevitable but Asia hit that Mark in exactly 36 games so she got it either way she's also going to break the all-time record for points per game passing Diana tas's record that's held up for 18 years in an era that this is one of the greatest Seasons we've ever seen she's only got three games left there's one more number we've got our eyes on 1,000 here's cha gum to explain respectfully the best player in the WNBA I would have to say this myself and there is no hotter hand in the league right now than Asia Wilson she's cold blooded but she's got 41 if she's not your MV VP you're doing it wrong come on come on how do you define greatness in the dictionary it's the quality or state of being great and in basketball that can mean many things scoring defending winning nobody exemplifies all of these qualities right now in the WNBA more than Asia Wilson who is having arguably the best season in league history lobs it inside back door off the glass it counts it's good the aces win it's 22 it's Asia Wilson over the last 28 years we have witnessed incredible scorers Cynthia Cooper Simone Augustus Cappy Pondexter Maya Moore alltime points leader Diana terasi has held the scoring title for 18 Seasons last year juul Lloyd came close but Asia Wilson is now on Pace to take the crown Asia Wilson she's just beating Mercury from all over the court I mean what she's doing right now is just Unthinkable she's unguardable you know you guys look at her as a post I look at her as a guard she's on her way to 1,000 points in 2024 and bound to set the single season scoring Mark with over 27 points a game there's getting numbers and then there's crushing numbers and she crushes numbers we all know she's statuesque Asia is every bit of 65 and a matchup nightmare one-onone Wilson up at ree makes it up good you want the inside game off the bouns you can't stop you try a container how about my favorite shot the midi the one-legged shot Asia Wilson knocks it down she's got a double check improved three ball wison the trip thereally nothing that woman can't do triple check I credit it all to them I don't want to sound cliche when I say this but I don't get any of that without every SLE she made along the way I see the hours that she puts in that nobody sees and that's something that I think needs to be celebrated when you have players of this caliber you know appreciate that so what about winning so far this summer she's already brought home an Olympic gold medal in Paris as the MVP of the games so winning she does that too and if her 2024 ends like her last two seasons we have no choice but to celebrate greatness yet again she's more than top 10 she's top tier Jan thank you Asia Wilson has been dominant All Season the aces aim for a third straight WNBA title Vegas is currently in the fourth spot in the W behind New York Connecticut and Minnesota the latter who is led by Wilson's Olympic teammate for the US nefisa clier and look who is here two-time Olympic gold medalist four-time All-Star nefisa Coler first of all two-time gold medalist has it got gotten old hearing that yet I feel like I would want people to address me as that anywhere I went it has not gotten old yet it is really fun to hear that uh especially like when you see the two medals that go with it yeah exactly you got to hang them up on the wall make sure they're right on the mantle as soon as anybody walks into the house um that's the Olympics they've come and gone but in terms of the W you're one of the top performers in scoring in rebounding defensively this season what's been the difference for you in elevating your game I think just the last couple years the mentality that I bring to the game is just a lot different um I think since so retired especially just knowing that the team kind of Falls to my shoulders a lot more um and just taking that responsibility really really seriously um going out every day and knowing that um I need to perform well for our team to do well let's talk a little bit more about your team the links they already have 26 wins so far this season every year your group has said 26 wins or more they've made the WNBA final so how are you feeling about your chances to get back into the finals I feel really good I think our team is so special like I think we really have a chance this year um this the way we play defense how many threats we have on offense just the way that we're really jailing this year um it feels like the perfect storm for us this organization four championships since 2011 what would it mean to bring yet another one to Minnesota it would mean so much you know we just retired Maya's Jersey as well and it felt like it was the end of that era you know officially everyone who had you know won the championship is gone now so it feels like it's you know a new time coming and we want to start that traditional over again get four more um so it starts obviously with this one a little bit of a changing in the garden you mentioned Maya Moore's Jersey retirement just a couple of weeks ago what can you tell us about your Minnesota Connecticut connection that you got going there yeah it's crazy I mean we grew up in the same Hometown so I've known her my entire life or of her of my entire life um and then we ended up going to the same College is now Minnesota so I'm like one step behind her every time I just miss her everywhere that I go well maybe just missed her everywhere you go but another championship in Minnesota it would just be kind of continuing that Legacy nefisa thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to join us here on WNBA today thank you coming up it's not my list it is not Tim's list it's not Zach's list oh no perk is dropping a brand new top five greatest International hoopers of all time and speaking of we're we're going to do a little trivia here it's time to guess who's this Hooper which Hall of Fame worldwide baller is this a former number one overall pick who's made five all NBA teams is one of just two players since the merger to make it all NBA team each year of his career we're going to see if you guys can guess correctly after the break no phones allowed [Music] for for guys e for to foreign fore spee what to in a moment for foreign speech foreign speech m okay to with your mind youe hell hello [Music] fore [Music] e e what speech speech [Music] spee fore fore spee foree spee foree spee foree [Music] good