Rebecca Lobo reacts to Angel Reese No.1 over Caitlin Clark in WNBA rookie rankings, Fever vs. Sky

to like Jon Snow in the battle of the bastards just just slay all your horrible takes and so I'm going to call in oh my God some reinforcements I'm calling in a Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo Superstar um because I feel like we need some adults in the room talking about the W right now RL thank you for being here it sounds in the room talking about the WL listen I don't second that thanks because clearly L went to the front of the line when she had her pick of people to bring on to the program to go against maybe a position I had last week yeah well we're here to here with our hats so we're we're good perfect yeah you're good there I called in Marana Rivera I'm like I need like someone to come in and I'm tired of it I am tired of it and you guys if anybody listened to the show earlier this week where we talked about again the Rookie of the Year uh competition and something that I've been saying for months which is that I don't think that it is a foregone conclusion certainly Caitlyn Clark is the favorite and I actually have her as my uh rookie of the year but people like Gary seem to think that there's just like there's no arguing this at all that there's no debating it that it's very clear and he used a series of stats I was very proud of him Marl never pull stats he pulled all these stats to illustrate why Angel Reese is getting as many double doubles 22 double doubles incredible haven't seen it since Tina Charles and I was not armed with the stats that I needed until we got done taping and I literally about an hour after we got done looked up at sports center and I saw you saying the critics will say that all she does is rebound off her misses but Rebecca Lobo what was that that you found out when you teamed up with research well it was so great because that that's what you see online right is Angel ree only rebounds like this especially on the offensive end because she gets so many of her own misses so I was like well I wonder how many of her own misses she actually gets and what the sports and in information group came back with is the number I think it was like 55 of her offensive rebounds at the time were off of her own misses well if you do a little bit of math you realize she would still be leading the league in offensive rebounds per game if you took away all of her own misses and that's not if you also took away other people's misses of course every player especially big players get some of their offensive rebounds off of their own misses so if you just take hers away and let everybody else keep theirs she still leads the league in offensive rebounds per game so as a post player is her efficiency a little bit lower especially around the room than you would like it to be is that an area of growth for Angel ree in the future absolutely it is but you cannot use that as a metric to criticize what she's doing in a historic way on the glass on both ends of the floor M drop I don't know if y can see my internet has been acting up l oh weird oh no completely hear that and respectfully obvious iously hear that to which when we pointed that out and Rebecca you'll have to give me a little bit of Grace because I am hot out of the dentist chair I just so he's lising I just I just got a root canal my dentist is a big fan of yours I said hey I have to be home uh before 1230 because we have Rebecca Lobo on the pot he was like Hartford Zone I was like yeah Hartford Zone and that's what you want you want your dentist rushing through your roof Dr is a big fan of yours but I said that and I did bring that up to us but nobody better than you can also understand this that angel ree is paid to play in the paint that is her position that is where you made a Hall of Fame career is to be efficient in the paint and when she is ranked 49th out of 54 eligible WNBA players as far as field goal efficiency there's not another forward/center that's lower than 30 in the WNBA so what I said is I took that offensive rebound nugget and what I did is I spun it forward to say we wouldn't have to have the conversation about offensive rebounds and if it's her teammates or if it's her offensive rebounds if she was just more efficient down low when she had the opportunities and that's where I said in my estimation Caitlyn Clark is running away with rookie of the year because Angel ree yes the numbers are inflated in a sense because she is not efficient where she has to be which is down low where she's making her money well I think right now it's three separate conversations that you're having one one is is she an elite rebounder at a level that we have not seen in the WNBA previous yes she is she's averaging close to 13 rebounds a game we've never had a player average 12 or more rebounds per game is she an elite rebounder like we have never seen yes that's one conversation does she need to improve drastically in terms of her efficiency in particular inside the restricted area to really reach her potential and status as a great player yes that's a second conversation the third conversation is how do those things play into the Rookie of the Year conversation and I would agree with you to to a degree Gary like I do think that Caitlyn Clark has really separated herself in terms of the Rookie of the Year conversation over the course of the last uh you know month and a half you know leading up to the Olympic break and since then one because her assist numbers have been off the charts her efficiency has improved in terms of her field goal percentage while at the same time Angel has really struggled since the Olympic break with her efficiency she's been rebounding the heck out of the ball I mean 3 20 rebound games in a row is ridiculous it doesn't matter how many of those and it was just a handful that she's gotten off of her own misses so I think there's three separate conversations and the hard thing when it comes to Angel and Caitlyn is that everything becomes a battle of which one is better and which one is the Rookie of the Year instead of wow Caitlyn Clark is having a rookie year up with some of the best we have ever seen and then separately uh Angel Reese is rebounding like no player not even a rookie no player we have ever seen so there's a lot that gets mixed into all of this and at the same time sort of all three of those Lanes all three of those those things I was talking about can all be true see and I love this and I I actually because we are going to table set what's going to be another big matchup the Chicago Sky facing the Indiana Fever on Friday night so I do want to talk about that game and then I want to hear who Rebecca Lobo thinks rookie of the year is going to be even though I think she gave us a little bit of hint at that but I want to react to last night's game as well because RL one of the things for the fever when they did start sort of rounding into form especially after the Olympic break was okay well they're winning games but like talk to me when they beat really good teams and they just beat the Connecticut Sun they've now you know reached 15 wins in the season that's their most since 2016 which is coincidentally the last time that they made the postseason so I want to overreact a little bit to the Indiana Fever I'm just going to take a page from the internet right now and here's the first overreaction the Indiana Fever are going to win the title damn are we supposed to react to that she's just smiling what do you say to that she's too stunned to speak the Indiana Fever are not ready yet to win the championship this season however for a lot of the Season you know the question mark was can the Indiana Fever make the playoffs I think they've solidified the fact that they really should they've got the easiest strength of schedule to date they have two Road games followed by six home games granted a couple of those are against Vegas and then a road game to for their nine game stretch to end the season um they will I would be shocked if they did not make the playoffs I think they are playing in a way right now where they could make uh win a first round series depending on who the opponent is uh when they were playing Connecticut in their last game the way the standings were two and seven those two teams could meet in the first round of the playoffs could Indiana beat Connecticut in a three- game series I think they could if they ended up matching up with Minnesota do I think they could beat them the way Minnesota's playing I don't but depending on the matchups I don't think it's ridiculous to think that Indiana favor this year could make it to the semi-finals because of course the WNBA if you win your first round series that's where you are in the semi-finals if we were having this conversation when they were 2-8 or two-9 or however they started the season it would have been a ridiculous thing to think it no longer is because of the way they're playing yeah they're really left in the regular season 2 and they're seven and three in their last 10 L so like it's also beneficial when you're a team that's getting hot at the right time and it's it's you know obviously it's Caitlyn Clark and her passing and it seems like you know everybody kept saying like patience here right they've got to learn her she's got to learn them she likes to play at a really uptempo Pace um her vision is incredible sometimes they're not ready for those passes certainly turnovers are still a bit of an issue but when you think about the fever especially right now RL and I think why people are so excited is that it's not just Caitlyn right it's Kelsey Mitchell making franchise history with the uh how many consecutive games she's had 20 plus points it's even Aaliyah Boston still struggling a bit with her shot but finding a little bit better and Lexi Hull who they inserted into the starting lineup who is on in Fuego from three right now and so when I mentioned Kelsey Mitchell let's overreact again now that the fever are good she is not going to leave in free agency well I I would say probably not but also I have to look into this further I don't think Kelsey uh Mitchell has ever been CED and I don't think any other players on the roster are CED so even if Kelsey Mitchell wants to leave in free agency I don't know that she can but I don't know that she would want to you know if you're a WNBA player do you want to play in soldout arenas every night whether you're at home or on the road 17 or 18,000 do you want to play on National Television every single one of your games and I was having this conversation with Le China Robinson recently uh the Indianapolis might not be the preferred destination for all the players um in the WNBA but at least now it's um a team that is a preferred destination so I'm really intrigued what they can do in free agency in this offseason not only with Kelsey but are they going to be able to entice some other bigname players to come play there because of gred there's a lot of pressure that comes with it but also the it's a whole different level of exposure now if you're playing for Indiana also L why would you if you're Kelsey M Mitchell want to leave a spot where you hav't MVP point guard which is our next overreaction Rebecca Lobo the MVP race is actually a lot closer than people think and Caitlyn Clark is coming in hot um I don't think the MVP race right now is close um I think it's Asia Wilson and everybody else but it is a conversation it is a conversation like it it be unfair to say nefisa ker isn't having a great year and in another in another year I mean Asia's been hisor this year we've T we used that word a couple of times but in terms of her scoring and rebounding and efficiency and all those things now in terms of Caitlyn Clark because how MVP voting works you vote for five people I would not be surprised if Caitlyn Clark is on some people's ballots in that fourth and fifth position if you look at the MVP in terms of the player who does the most for their team right now however Asia Wilson should be number one on everyone's ballots the only way that changes is if she has a bunch more8 for 28 games like she had the other night that's not going to happen um but if it did then it becomes a conversation you're saying oh is nefisa ker you know going to get some first place votes but right now I think it's a unanimous decision the Caitlyn Clark piece of it would not be surprised if by the end of the year um I think she's probably going to end up second Team all WNBA but there might be some people who have her on their first uh on their top five ballot for MVP I thank you I mean I when I think about Asia Wilson and even in that 8 for 28 performance right the least efficient game of her entire career she hit the gamewinner but when I think about Asia Wilson I think of like um I'm sure you watched the Olympics RL right I think about the women's relay final where it was like well yeah at some point they could just pull up because they were so far ahead it doesn't really matter like who's Racing for second and to your point I think a lot of people would say that if there was a second vote it would be for nefisa Collier uh Minnesota on fire six and0 and so let's do another overreaction that despite everything that we thought when the season started that this was a Twan race between the liberty and the aces that it's in fact the links that are the favorite to win the championship at this point I don't think that's an overreaction I don't think that's an overreaction I you know I've been watching a lot of the games since the Olympic break right now they're playing the best basketball of any team in the league and and going through before the Olympic break and we had a New York Liberty game Sandy brondello said this break is coming at just the wrong time for our team because New York was humming they were playing great their bench was really coming alive and since the Olympic break we saw Sabrina yonescu miss a couple of games because of neck soreness uh they jqu Jones did not play in their their loss um to Los Angeles last night because of illness and they just haven't looked great they had that a couple really good games right out of the break against La um and then Dallas and then they just their shooting hasn't been the same they have not had the same chemistry in flow that they did prior to the Olympic Break Meanwhile Minnesota is playing great and beating really good teams to beat Vegas back toback first at Vegas and then at their place like and then beat Indiana who who as we've talked about is surging uh if you had to say right now who's your favorite to win the WNBA Championship based on how things are going right now I would say it's the Minnesota links wow that's fire uh Rebecca we said having said that we said last episode that the the the aces are sort of right in the middle of the WNBA standings as they're trying to round into form understanding what you just said about the links yet still the aces are still the scariest team once the playoffs start is that an overreaction no that's not an overreaction and and when it comes to the aces too for me all season it's like it's it's not a matter even early on when they were struggling before Chelsea Gray came back it's not a matter of if it's a matter of when it's not if it's it's when but right now I'm like you know there's only 10 games or so left in the season when is the win going to happen and and uh you know Becky Hammond said you know she talked to her players and said you know we're just two raindrops or two shots from making it rain and that's kind of the feeling because Asia's been otherworldly and and it's their back court that is really just playing at a much lower efficiency than they did a year ago uh Kelsey Plum Jackie young Chelsea Gray last year all of them were very close to 50 40 90 players all three of them and it's the one of the reasons they won the championship this year all of them are much lower than that so it's like all right is that going to correct because if it does absolutely they're still talented enough without question to win the championship but right now the chemistry isn't quite right especially on the defensive end of the floor and Becky Hond continues to point to their consistency she said you know the New York Liberty have the best record and they're playing the best we're a 500 team and that's how we're playing because of our lack of consistency so um but are they still super dangerous that in a team nobody wants to play in the playoffs yes yeah I but you talk about the consistency and I saw something in our sign notes that stood out to me uh that that the aces have already used three different starting lineups in their last six games and before the All-Star break they'd only used five in 24 games so it feels like they're trying to Solve the Riddle too so let me overreact for a second because while we thought I'll say me here like oh good for them they're going to get to all play together in the Olympics I mean there's four of them on the squad this is going to be fantastic they have not had a break so let's overreact for a minute at some point Becky needs to sit some of them and let him rest oh that's um maybe maybe I'd have to really like dig into their schedule because if you get to a point at the end of the season where you're you're you're you know you're not fighting for homec court advantage or whatever the case may be um that might happen that might happen and and Becky brought up before their last game the stat and I don't know exactly what it was but it was something like the last I don't know three Olympics no team team that had more than one player on their Olympic team won the WNBA championships you know when La had their had had great teams but maybe I think Candace Parker and a couple other players playing the Olympics they didn't win it that year when Minnesota links was great uh you know they had Maya Moore Simone Augustus Sylvia F was on the Olympic team they didn't win the WBA Championship that year no team that had more than one representative uh for USA Basketball so there's probably something to that L um I want to move on as we about 3 weeks out from the start of the postseason like you said 10 nine games left on the Slate for most of these teams the preeminent matchup as it tends to be Caitlyn Clark versus Angel ree first of all I want to ask you something that that a media member asked me as someone who is an OG who's been in this space for a long time and certainly we know how divisive and nasty um the vitriol has been surrounding these two particular players on the internet but they asked me this and I want to pose the question to you when we talk about Equity growth and expansion don't we need the hot take economy to help this space and I just wanted to see what you thought about that I don't mind the hot take economy I mind the racism and misogyny that exists on social media uh but I don't think we have that as much in terms of the hot takes like you know there were so many takes um at the beginning of this season about you know veterans and you know picking on Caitlyn or whatever it was and I'm like wait I'm not used to this where is this coming from this is interesting but at the same same time it's really helped fuel the interest in the league hot takes I don't mind some of the other stuff that can get dangerous and really ugly um of course that shouldn't exist in women's basketball or or anywhere in sports but it exists in all those places and there's one other thing I want to ask you that was also post to me that I found was really interesting and this is going to be part of a a bigger article that will be coming out soon um that's sort of centered around Kathy inglebert but the question was raised to her uh a whether the Caitlyn Clark versus Angel ree sort of perceived anim is good and I have firmly stood on the fact that I think it's great people love these kinds of storylines but then they asked should the league be more intentional about fostering rivalries or animists and as someone that's in this space you know I immediately said I think sometimes listen not everyone gets along we all know that but I know that as a woman when you are a subgroup in a space we tend to want to to flock together even if we don't personally like each other we tend to sort of keep that in house and I wonder if you think am I missing it are there some Dee rooted angst and hate storylines Beyond just Angel and Caitlyn that we don't know about um I don't think so especially with social media is now I think players are very vocal about about what they want to say so um I don't necessarily think that and I agree with you I think this rivalry has been incredible for the WNBA proven by the highest rated games are when Angel and Caitlyn played play one another which is remarkable when they played because I haven't played since June when they played in the earlier part of the year like neither of them was in the playoff picture and yet everybody wants to watch those two go at each other so um I think for the most part it's been really healthy and good for the league there's no questioning that D Carrington um hasn't added a new enemy multiple enemies to her list um because she bti Indiana fan she denounced the entire state of Indiana and the entire city of Indianapolis Rebecca my last question for you though because we're starting to see that right and it's even more prevalent because it's on social media we can get immediate reactions on social media right after games did you hear it more like as a member of the W like playing in New York or during your time at Yukon when you'd go into like hostile campus like what what was in in your experience what was more hostile playing in collegiately or like your time in the dub no no issues at all colleg part partly because in those days when you went to play even at home or on the road there wasn't much of a student population there it was all like older people that's who the fan base was for women's basketball um but I'll tell you the most hostile place I ever played was um Madison Square Garden when I was a member of the New York Liberty and we were losing and I wasn't playing well and like the stuff people would yell from the stands um coming in and out of the tunnel so I played there as a member of the Connecticut Sun I played there when I was playing for the Houston Comets the worst the New York Liberty fans ever were when I was wearing their it be your own Rebecca alone it'd be your own friends well I was laughing at the Yukon question because when Rebecca was playing at Yukon I feel like most of the people that came to the games even at the other respective colleges were really there to see Yukon so there really wasn't a whole reason to do that but you mentioned that the last time Caitlyn and Angel played they weren't even uh playoff teams they are now the fever of course streaking towards the playoffs sitting at number seven right now and the sky sort of moving the opposite direction trying to hold on for dear life even though they sit in that eighth spot right now so table set this game for us I mean what's It ultimately going to be decided by because right now you're going to assume that The Fever are going to come in is heavy heavy favorites how does Chicago pull this off at home it might partly be decided by covid um Kennedy Carter missed Chicago's last name in last game in health and safety protocols if she is still um you know unable to play that will be a huge blow to the Chicago Sky Kennedy Carter is having a phenomenal season there's not a single player in the WNBA defensively I have seen that can actually keep Kennedy in front of them when she's trying to get to the basket she's averaging around 17 per game um but these are two teams that are going in very different directions Indiana has won four of five Chicago has lost five of six um and part part of it is because of the marina mabery trade you know Chicago chose to to trade Marina mabery away right before the Olympic break she was at the time one of only three double- digit scorers she's gone now they only have two double digit scores in Kennedy Carter and Angel ree so I think it's going to be really tough if Indiana has what's become now a typical offensive night um if Lexi Hull's making threes if Kelsey Mitchell continues her ridiculous play of 20-point games I think it's going to be hard for Chicago to score enough points um to beat Indiana but it's really been interesting to see their Journey since the Olympic break and wait just to make an old lady happy because breathing down the Chicago Sky neck the Atlanta Dream the Atlanta Dream how we how we looking all how we looking because this is the team that at one point it was like well you know I'm in group chats with my friends that are dream fans and we're like well let's just tank and let's get paage right like that let's just do that but they have since the All-Star break just come out on a tear do you think they can actually make a playoff run I do think they can I think they can catch Chicago for a couple of reasons they're finally healthy Ryan Howard missed a ton of Gam gam before the Olympic Break Jordan Canada missed most of the first part of the Season both of those players are really important to what they're doing Tina Charles with a triple double in her last game let's go she has been uh she's been phenomenal and it's also important to remember Atlanta does not have their first round pick for next year they traded that to Washington so even L if they finish out of the playoffs that lottery pick is going to Washington whereas for Chicago not to get too much in the weeds but it's interesting Chicago has a pick swap with Dallas and Dallas has the priority but but right now Dallas is below Chicago so so if Chicago makes the uh doesn't make the playoffs they will still keep their lottery pick as long as Dallas is below them so there's more incentive to me for Chicago and and I think it's one of the reasons the front office made the decision they did with the mayy trade there's more incentive for Chicago to not be in the playoffs there's no incentive for Atlanta to not be in the playf so and also Atlanta's whole and health and Chicago is just you know trying to find their way after that trade and with Kennedy's illness wow so what you're saying is hopes of Paige Beckers was always foree foree Noe [Music] [Music] spee speech speee foree foree fore spee spee foree for [Music] Fore [Music] for so foree fore speee spee now