Alanna Smith powers Minnesota Lynx hot start, eyes Australia gold | Women's Basketball Podcast

perhaps the greatest gap between performance on the court and reputation right now is Alanta Smith of the Minnesota links I am really excited that we will do the work to uh help bridge that Gap together she joins me locked on women's basketball starts now you are locked on women's basketball your daily podcast on women's basketball part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and a very happy Tuesday to you it is Monday where we are recording but Tuesday where this show comes out I am Howard megdal welcoming you to lockdown women's basketball making us your first listen every day you're not alone over 200,000 of you showed up in May alone the way we show up for you six days a week and of course it is not just me it is the incredible team across the board over at the next the next tos.com where we have over 100 reported pieces every single month a dedicated WNBA beat reporter in every single WNBA City and so as a result we've been able to through our Pack 12 years through our international coverage along with your path atanta Smith you you have had a fascinating journey to get here to get to Minnesota where you are a critical part I would argue in a lot of ways that we're going to get into statistically the missing piece for what Cheryl reev has been trying to build with this 2024 team so welcome to you number one I want to start with how it feels to be established now after these several years several stops along the way of trying to prove yourself at the most difficult leag there is yeah I mean it's definitely been a journey um and one that I don't think I would want to change because it's helped me get to the point that I'm at today um and it's helped me get to a team where you know I think you call me the missing Pace but I feel like they were the missing piece for me you know like I think that um it was just the perfect fit um and I've just been enjoying the fruits of my labor I think on this team it's all been worth it to just enjoy basball like this in Minnesota it's evident that you are enjoying yourself not just succeeding out on the court and so especially in segment two we're going to talk about that process of finding Minnesota Minnesota finding you I want to give the listeners I I I know a lot of you guys are going to know this but I think it's important context because I want to take you back to the 2019 draft and I remember in the leadup to that looking at some numbers and forgive me forget nerdy for a moment some numbers that are indisputable you're playing at Stanford Ed um this young upand cominging coach named Tara Vander I think she's done a few things in this game through the years and she talked about the role that you played the importance that you had on that team you had a block percentage north of 7% as a senior that was not out of line with what you did throughout your career there just a rim protector the value of that is enormous the turnover percentage was the second part that was so significant to me the fact that you were at 13.6 you took such good care of the basketball and the third part of it was how efficient you were especially around the rim for somebody who can stretch the floor so you you put all that together and I point this out for a very significant reason which is to say those are pro ready tools those are 2019 Pro ready tools they're even more 2024 Pro ready tools you get picked eighth overall you played three years in Phoenix and at times struggling to get minutes and so what I wonder from you as you look back on it do you feel like you said Minnesota came and found me as you know I they were the perfect missing piece for me in in so many ways it feels like the WNBA itself has moved in your direction the way you play do you see it that way yeah definitely I just feel like the WNBA in general is a really hard League to crack as a young basketball player um not only because the just the size of it it's there's not that many teams so not that many spots but the um talent in the league is crazy you know and so when you're trying to kind of make your way onto a roster you're competing with some of the best basketball players in the world um and then when you do make it onto a roster um yeah the the minutes that you're getting may or may not be coming just because like I said um the talent on every team is just out of this world it's remarkable to look back even at that 2019 draft and it might have been the strongest draft class in the history of the WNBA there's obviously an infusion of talent every year but just you know for our listeners to understand you know Jackie young goes won numerous players who are starters in the league selected that year Tiara mowen Katie L samelson arit Dumba um there's nefisa ker I don't know what happened to her she she's still she's around right she's around yeah I mean again she's sixth overall colani Brown who just got a big contract extension recently on the show uh eie magdor another one extended you know Sophie Cunningham in round two Jessica Shepard who's played quite a bit in Min it just goes on and on natia heiderman Marina ma Bridget Carlton a draft class that will not soon be forgotten and so do you think that plays a part too in as you're trying to establish yourself as a young player that there was such an infusion of talent that particular year yeah definitely I think that that year especially like you said just the sheer number of players that made rosters and stuck around on the rosters made a huge difference um and they weren't necessarily playing early on either but I think just them sticking around on rusters year after year after year just proved that like the talent was there um and like I said it just adds to the competitiveness of trying to make this league you are obviously beyond that point now after signing a two-year deal in Minnesota but a lot of the groundwork for that I know was laid with what you did last year in Chicago and kind of take me through the way in which you retain your confidence your sense of who you are as a player because that never at least externally seemed to waver and I just wonder what that was like for you internally yeah I mean even me making my way to Chicago last year was um a journey in itself I had kind of thought to myself that after I'd been cut from Indiana the year before that maybe the WNBA wasn't for me um and that I could still enjoy and play basketball elsewhere and then I got a call from James Wade at the time um asking me to come and play for Chicago and in my mind I'd already been like no I don't think I want to play in the WNBA anymore I don't want to I don't want to do it again um but James convinced me to come in and it was yeah one of the best decisions I've made in terms of my WNBA career um and just I think the opportunity kind of fell in my lap you know we unfortunately had a lot of injuries um early on and that kind of allowed a spot open for me to play a lot of minutes and start and I think that's all it took for me was just the opportunity to play and show what I could do a lot of people asked me how my games improved so much um and I I always tell them like I've I've been doing the same thing I just haven't had the chance to play and show you guys that like this is what I can do um and so yeah I got that opportunity in Chicago and for that I'm super super grateful it's so interesting to me and and and your story is a relatively common one in that sense of players who have a later breakthrough in the WNBA you can go and see what you're doing overseas you know whether that was when you playing domestically with the wnbl or you know ultimately getting into playing Poland and uh Euro Cup as well and I I guess the thing I wonder and this is probably a good problem to have but as salaries grow in the WNBA more and more players can and probably will make the decision not to play overseas and there's value to that too of course you know not having to play 12 months a year but do you feel as if that balance is still something that people are going to have to figure out especially as we get through you know let's say the latter half of the 2020s because you were able to get these reps at such a high level yeah I mean there is a huge value in playing basketball overseas um it's it's a really tough environment to play in and so I think one it helps you just uh grow that perseverance and that grit because it is it's a hard hard place to play basketball um and two if you're not playing in the WNBA like you're not getting that many minutes you're on the bench like it's always an opportunity to learn no matter what but ultimately you want to play you want to be able to get out on the court and show what you can do and I feel like the overseas Market really provides that chance for people to play and you know showcase their skills a little bit um and especially with so many players playing overseas like you're not just playing against International Players you're playing against the same people you see in the WNBA um so I think there is a lot of value in the overseas game but uh it's just a matter of choice you know whether you want to do it it's really going to be interesting to see and and I guess just before we jump into our first break for you do you feel like it's a little bit of a different balance and are you interested in continuing to play year round or do you think that you know as you further have established yourself in this league you know that equation has changed for you too yeah I think that if I could play basketball year round for the rest of my career I'd do it but I just don't think that my Bud's going to allow me to do it um it's really really tough um and also for me too I I don't get to go home often if I play year round like the US is not where I'm from and when I play overseas it's Europe it's Asia so it's um I never get the chance to spend my time off at home so I think for me having off Seasons being able to go home and you know recover and rest with my family is also really important yeah no question about it well we're going to talk about the importance also to what you have brought to the 8 and3 Minnesota Lynch again Tuesday night really interesting matchup coming up against the aces talking all about that with atanta Smith back in segment two but first lck on women's basketball is brought to to you by FanDuel and summertime means the WNBA baseball there's even the NBA Finals I apparently there's a men's lead where they get to play as well I don't know if you've heard anything about it um sure about that one not but you know more C to them you know best of luck to the little brother lead and so right now over at FanDuel new customers get $200 in bonus Bets with any $5 bet you know whether it's the WNBA or whatever this NBA is or Major League Baseball 200 bucks you can use to bet on everything from the finals MVP to who's going to hit the game winning shot for the Lynch visit fanduel.com locked on and add a bigwin to your summer bucket list again that's fanduel.com l cke d n FanDuel America's number one sports book yeah I have to do some digging into that NBA thing that's first time I'm hearing of it but back to what matters WNBA and Atlanta Smith who I just want to put it in context I want to give people a sense of how to your point in segment one this is just what you've always been doing you're just now getting this opportunity to do it and so last year in Chicago you were making 72.9% of your shots at The Rim which is just an absurd number but you go back even in Indiana and this was the part I am sure you had a similar frustration but it sort of blew my mind at the time you were shooting 83.3% at The Rim you were converting the opportunities it was just about getting them and so you know despite the fact you are playing regularly you are near the top of that Scouting Report when the Lynch come to to you're hitting 70% of your shots right at The Rim but more significantly almost 40% of your attempts are there another 30% are beyond the three-point range you have always been an elite shooter but you're hitting almost 45% of your threes this year now again you go back to what we talked about with eurobasket routinely shooting 40% when you're playing overseas routinely shooting 40% from Beyond The Arc is this just a question of or is it as simple as you're getting these minutes on the floor and it's getting you more comfortable game in and game out yeah I think playing in the WNBA is definitely an adjustment it's not the same as playing overseas um and so if you can adjusts on the Fly uh you you'll get your opportunity and you'll perform on the floor um I think that early on in my career I was adjusting and then over time um I found as well just mentally that I just need to have confidence in myself no matter what happens and so as time went on I think it was just opportunity I think I just needed the chance to let it fly you know um and so that's always been something that's on my mind is when I'm on the floor like I do what I'm good at I know what I'm good at and that's what I'm going to do you're good at a lot though you you last year were top 10 in the lead in Block percentage and steel percentage which is an incredibly rare thing it's obviously super valuable and somebody who's 6'4 who's bringing length to the floor and it brings me to that next question which is to say that Minnesota has had some success over the past couple of years has outperformed expectations obviously you know we joke but nefisa ker has to be in the MVP conversation Kayla McBride is having an absurd great year she has somehow found another level after a decade Plus in this lead it's been incredible to see but to my point about you being the missing piece you look at what Minnesota was lacking last year and the Lynch are bottom four in things like true shooting percentage again bring efficiency in that way they were a team that was good defensively but now is number one in the league defensively so when you're talking to Cheryl having those conversations you're talking to Clare dwellus you know and getting to know this team how much are they emphasizing offense how much are they emphasizing defense when they're talking about your fit here yeah I think that one of my upsides is my defensive ability um and I think that I lean a lot on my IQ um and so when I had conversations with Cheryl and with Claire um a lot of it was just like hey you're someone that we don't have to worry about like we trust your instinct like do what you think is right and if we have to like chat along the way we will but like we really trust that you know what you're doing and so I've been given a lot of freedom and leeway to kind of just run off of instinct and so um we have really good defensive schemes but we also just have really high IQ players so people who know where they're supposed to be people who will have your back no matter what and so I feel like our defense is like it's Fearless you know like we're going to go after you because I know I've got four other the people on the court behind me that have my back to that end you're Fearless you're going after steals so is everyone on this team fee steel percentage this year North a three you're right behind her at 27 Kayla McBride at 24 Courtney Williams at 22 everyone seems to pitch in when it comes to being able to do that how do you balance going and getting into passing Lanes with being in a lot of ways that last line of defense as the biggest rim protector on the team yeah I mean a lot of the times um it's just relying on Instinct and I think you know I am that kind of last line of defense so like I I stick to that um and so my teammates playing good defense lets me get steals like they're tipping the ball away and I'm getting it or they're forcing um people into the spot that we know there's help and I'm there to get it so it's it's a lot of not just me but everyone else like you said everyone else on the floor is doing their job so I wouldn't be able to be where I'm at right now if I didn't have that support and also just like Cheryl's schemes that we like know work and if we like fully buy into it it's going to work for us for the whole season Fe said that you guys are all playing with joy that in a lot of ways seems like that's your secret weapon I'm wondering how quickly after you arrived you came to feel that way was it that opening night you know big win at Seattle you know was it earlier than that are you feeling it in practice as you guys are getting ready in training camp just take me through where the discovery of that Joy was for you yeah I think it was training camp really um I I obviously played with Courtney last year and we had a few other people from Chicago as well in training camp with us so um we all kind of came in like just knowing each other and but also just super happy to be there you know like this is a team that has an amazing reputation um a great coach great facilities like they just look after you they treat you like a professional and so I think um just training camp kind of set the tone like the energy was so high and it was so positive that we're just kind of riding that wave as we go um and you know winning helps with that but I think the people as well like just everyone around us is just in such a good head space and super positive um and I mean it's hard not to be when you're in a place like Minnesota where like I said you're treated like a professional you have the best of the best facilities everything I think it's just an easy place to be it is an easy place to be you've heard from so many players there who have had that first class experience it's gratifying to hear that you're dting this as well H however we didn't have to talk about in segment three when Cheryl becomes the opposition uh coming up this summer when you are with Team Australia so we'll be back in segment three with Atlanta Smith right after this but first just want to talk to you guys about better help and this episode is brought to you by better help and something that I think is remarkable about better help is the opportunity to give folks a chance to work through things they're thinking about they're wondering about maybe they're worried about as well we all have our support of our family of our friends but having somebody who has that ability to see outside of it and somebody like a therapist who can give us a new perspective on it helps us to process those things as well and if you feel that way too go ahead and give better help a try it's very easy to use online only and it's designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule you just fill out a question year get matched with the licensed therapist and if that match doesn't work you can switch therapists at any time for no additional charge so get it off your chest with better help by going to betterhelp.com locked onnv you do it today you get 10% off your first month that's betterhelp hp.com lockon NBA back here in segment three and we're going to switch from Atlanta Smith Minnesota Lynch standout to atanta Smith team Australia standout who as you have been thinking about the Olympics how do you strike that balance in your mind because obvious ly it's I know something that's been very very important to you throughout your career this WNBA season is of course Relentless what ises that balance like how does it shift um you know or is it something where you just put it out of your mind until the time that you're leaving yeah I think that um obviously the Olympics is an amazing event that is always a privilege to be a part of and represent your country at so it's no um small thing and something that I feel like you should be thinking about um but I'm also trying to prioritize the W season as well because it's an important thing to be a part of too so I'm kind of viewing it as you know using these W games because it is very jam-packed season this year um as kind of prep for the Olympics you know I'm playing against a lot of Team USA members already so um it's it's really good prep I think for the Olympics um and yeah I'm I'm trying to prioritize both I think both are equally as important um and yeah like you said I think it's it's important to keep it balance when you guys are in practice or you're doing things as a team any sort of Olympic talk yet with fee or Bridget Carlton playing for uh Team Canada uh yeah I mean we have some healthy Banta um we've had like we've had uh some cool visits from like the US Women's National Team the soccer team um some of their players and their coach and it was awesome to meet them and wish them luck but not too much luck because they play Australia in their pools so just stuff like that you know um I I always stay true to my Aussie roots and so I I always gonna be Aussie first understood and of course Bridget Carlton's in your group so it's gonna be interesting to see that early on I I mean I go I go back and I look and and we talked to Sandy brondello on the show last week about this and Sandy obviously as a player over 300 caps as a player and you know now as a coach has not had that breakthrough winning gold moment herself yet I wonder because she says she does as well do you visualize it do you use that as part of your motivation of what that would feel like you know to win that gold medal for your country this summer yeah definitely I think our goal always is to win gold no matter what tournament we're in or what competition we're in and I think um it's just a different type of feeling uh when you're representing your country and you win a gold medal and I think you know the US has this amazing reputation of winning gold over and over and over again and um you know we want a taste of that we want to challenge that and I think as well as the game grows not only within the us but globally there's uh a lot more competition now the talent pool is greater um and I think it's going to be a really really exciting event because we we feel really really confident coming into this uh Olympic time and rightly so I mean for for those who don't know the talent up and down the roster you know those of us who have covered the lead for a long time you know we've gotten a chance to see you we've gotten a chance to see AZ and and Beck Allen and you know you can go up and down this roster and there is so much talent there and an opportunity to make history the way that you said it wouldn't be some sort of David and Goliath you know this is an incredibly talented roster Jade Melbourne too do you have a player who doesn't get as much attention on the national team that you think people are going to really be wowed by in the Olympics this summer yeah oh my gosh I think shout out to Steph talber out in La um and also I'm going to mention Christy Wallace too those two have had um their FES share of injuries Steph just coming off of an ACL and Christy coming off of two ACLS in the past few years um and they're just some of the hardest working people I've ever met and they continue to show up and continue to form regardless of what's thrown at them and so I think they just provide us that grit you know um no matter what happens they are going to stand up and fight and I they're super fun to play with but they're also going to be a lot of fun to watch it is a team you cannot miss we've been privileged to uh Chronicle Steph Talbert's recovery from her ACL over at the next month by month and uh christe's been a multiple uh Time guest on this program too so again from top to bottom just a team to watch so are the Lynch the commonality Atlanta Smith and everything that she is bringing Atlanta thank you for your time to our listeners thank you as well for making us your first listen every day we will be back with you on Wednesday as well Kurt Miller head coach of the Los Angeles sparts will join us for that one until then I'm Howard medall wishing all of you a wonderful Tuesday [Music] you are locked on women's basketball your daily podcast on women's basketball part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day