Happy Monday, Ball-Knowers!

The WNBA Finals are set, and in a bit faster of a fashion than we had originally assumed. Atlanta and Golden State swept their respective opponents, the much-heralded New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces, and now we have about a week or so until both teams meet in Game One. Questions abound for the Liberty specifically, whose vibes in the last week can best be described as rancid, while the Aces will no doubt retool their bench as they continue to be ‘title or bust’ with A’ja Wilson still in her prime (and fresh off yet another MVP).

In the interlude, we’ll have a nice mix of WNBA and NCAA content for you all this coming week. Expect some stories from Atlanta, where I spent some time for Game 2 of the semifinals series looking into the new State Farm Arena deal the Dream just signed. And Luxury Tax returns with Iowa head coach Jan Jensen, who is always a treat whenever she drops by to join the show.

The ball doesn’t stop here at NCS. So subscribe if you haven’t already and tell a friend to tell a friend.

Now, onto the column!

Andrew was joined by Notre Dame transfer Madison St. Rose to discuss her move from Princeton and reuniting with another New Jersey prep legend in Hannah Hidalgo…

Tyler welcomed Zone Coverage MN Lynx writer Andrew Dukowitz to discuss where Cheryl Reeve and co. go from here…

Andrew, Tyler and Greer recap Game Two…

While Chauny makes her return with Tyler to recap Game Three…

There’s something kind of ironic about the ‘Year of Offense’ in the WNBA leading to two defensive stalwarts advancing to the title series. There’s a physicality with Atlanta and Golden State, to be sure. But the principles are rooted in havoc plays, points off turnovers and swarming defensive effort. The Valkyries have rolled their opponents in this postseason taking advantage of a deep bench and elite versatility. Atlanta, on the other hand, has been anchored by Angel Reese and Jordin Canada, who are playing at an otherworldly level on both ends of the floor.

According to TeamRankings, Golden State and Atlanta rank first and second in defensive efficiency, first and third in opponent floor shooting percentage, and first and fourth in opponent points per game. What makes this Finals series so great for Ball-Knowers in how each team makes their dough defensively. Golden State average the least amount of possessions per game, dragging opponents into the half court and keeping opponents stuck on the perimeter. Meanwhile, Atlanta gets out in transition but relies on what Karl Smesko calls ‘precision strikes’. Scheme heads will love this best-of-seven and I hope you will too. Defense wins championships, and, at the very least, it’s a guarantee this year.

After game two of the semifinals series with New York, I couldn’t help but think about two other high profile losses Atlanta suffered in State Farm Arena this year. There was the 18 point walkdown of the Las Vegas Aces that culminated in Chelsea Gray doing Chelsea Gray things. Then there was the missed Angel Reese putback against Indiana, which allowed the game to go to overtime. The Fever won that one. In both cases, I left midtown Atlanta wondering if the Dream had what it took to win those high leverage moments. Head Coach Karl Smesko would point to a number of close wins this regular season as evidence that his team has the goods. But call it the Curse of the Columnist, some games just tend to mean more than others.

It’s why, as Reese stepped to the line four times in overtime and drained free throw after free throw, I couldn’t help but think back to those games. Not just because the Dream’s superstar forward, who admitted that the missed putback kept her up at night, met and exceeded the moment (which, it should be noted, was easily the most high-pressure of her WNBA career to date), but also because Atlanta, found their dawg in a high leverage moment at last.

After Rhyne Howard’s buzzer beater attempt seemed to hit everything but the net, the tension in State Farm Arena was legitimately palpable. Prior Dream teams may have faded or allowed the Liberty to reclaim an edge after being given a second life. Instead, Atlanta jumped out to a quick lead and never surrendered it.

While her rebounding prowess is unparalleled in the WNBA and may be the most prolific we’ve ever seen in women’s basketball, what seems to make Angel Reese a once-in-a-generation player is what’s between the ears more than anything else. A woman that has had the weight of the world on her shoulders, who has been pelted with torrents of skepticism (online or in real life), been meme’d and ridiculed, stood cool and collected with the entire pressure of a city on top of her. Free throw after free throw, defensive possession after defensive possession, Reese played as though she’d been in the moment dozens of times already.

This, mind you, is her first postseason as a WNBA player.

Whatever structural problems there were (or still might be) with her shooting mechanics are a wash. The mindset she possesses should be enough at this point to prove to even her biggest (ethical) hater that it will be figured out in due time. And, if it isn’t, that she’s still going to make it work regardless. You don’t have to love Angel Reese, in the same way you didn’t have to love Diana Taurasi, or may not love A’ja Wilson. But this postseason series against the Liberty lays one thing bare: you have to respect her, her game and her unrelenting drive to win. The last one is usually the key indicator of an all-time great. It’s still early in her career, but the trajectory is moving in that direction. And that, if nothing else, should be celebrated.

Meanwhile, as Angel Reese looks to lead the Dream to the promised land, Gabby Williams has asserted herself as the 1A Golden State has needed to make their Finals run. Beyond the play of their superstar wing, Ballhalla has proven itself to be a home court advantage unlike any other in the WNBA. If anywhere could have a legitimate claim that their fans help will their team to wins, it’d be the throngs in the Chase Center decked out in purple and black. And everyone, from the first-time commuter to the professional athlete, all seem to leave that place transformed by the experience.

It’s a fascinating clash of narratives happening between Golden State and Atlanta. While Reese has plenty of help in the form of Jordin Canada, DeWanna Bonner and will likely get a boost from Rhyne Howard and a hopefully-healthier Allisha Gray, it’s clear that the forward is the top-line star of the franchise. Meanwhile, the star of the Valkyries is, well, the Valkyries. It’s all of it. The fans, their head coach Natalie Nakase, their star acquisition Gabby Williams down to their seemingly ten deep roster from Kaitlyn Chen to Veronica Burton, Kiah Stokes to Ceci Zandalasini and so many any others. As our friend Maya Goldberg-Safir, of the wonderful newsletter Rough Notes, said last week, Ballhalla offers a vision of what the WNBA can be in its new era. One where you don’t have to sacrifice your existing culture in order to turn a profit or create a raucous environment that lives and dies on every bucket. The same is true in Atlanta, where the arena experience — be it in the Gateway Center or State Farm Arena — is unmistakably ATL.

If scheme is your thing, you get the opportunity to watch two skilled tacticians battle it out on the clipboard. If you gravitate towards star power, you have the Angel Reese against the collective fist of Golden State’s team defense. And if you like narrative, you have two fanbases, propelled by culture truly authentic to their city, in search of their first ever WNBA title. In short, there is something for everyone here. And that’s the Beauty of Ballhalla, and of the Dream. If you can’t find something to get interested in with this series, then I just don’t know what to tell you.

This is going to be awesome. Make sure you take the time to let it sink in.

I’m sure Chris Demarco is a nice guy, genuinely. But there’s gotta be a skull after another year of the New York Liberty being bounced out of the WNBA Playoffs prematurely.

Look, I get it. Satou Sabally being healthy changes the trajectory of this team. Sabrina Ionescu might not have been healthy all year. They ran up against a surging Atlanta Dream and, in spite of heinous vibes all series long, were in just about every game. If you wanted to convince yourself that this whole thing could make it another year, I get where you’re coming from.

I just don’t agree.

Something feels broken in Brooklyn right now. Demarco and his staff were rightfully raked over the coals publicly for their game two reset timeout debacle, and his superstars didn’t exactly give him a ringing endorsement for him to be back next season. Stewart is 32 years old, as is Jones, while Ionescu turns 30 this coming year. All three are under contract until 2028. If the Liberty are planning to make a move to maximize the two year window they have left, it only makes sense to cut bait with Demarco now. If you lose another year, then what happens? You hire a new coach with all of them in a contract year, roll the dice and hope for the best? It doesn’t look good when Stewart looks furious, Jones seems checked out, and this columnist is genuinely concerned about Ionescu’s mental health. No player should be saying things to the effect of “It’s all my fault” for a timeout problem that’s on the coaches before anybody else. Her injury and inefficiency aside, that’s a max contract player who appears to be at a breaking point with herself. And that’s before you look back at the debacle that was Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s exit from New York.

There’s some desire for continuity, I’m sure. But this isn’t the time to do that. New York’s core of superstars was built with the expectation of rivaling what was being built in Las Vegas. In the last five years, the Aces have won three titles. The Liberty have won just one. It simply hasn’t been the dynasty that it was billed to be and while it’s hard to place that expectation on the group, it is kind of title-or-bust. To me, at least, you can replace a coach a lot easier than you can try to play games with this roster. And, based on the vibes I saw around that team in State Farm Arena in game two, cutting bait might be the only way to salvage any kind of chemistry moving forward.

As of this writing, the Atlanta Dream are still looking for a more ideal venue for their WNBA Finals matchups. State Farm Arena is, according to all reports, hosting two Hawks games and a SOMBR concert, and the ownership group behind the NBA franchise seems unwilling to bend on the idea of working to find a solution. I won’t claim to have an inside track on how the NBA works, and if it’s even logistically possible to flex, move or even postpone the games to accommodate their WNBA “partner”, but Dream fans have a right to be frustrated.

Just not with Dream ownership.

In light of a landmark multi-year agreement that would allow the WNBA franchise to play future regular season games at State Farm Arena, I have to imagine there are limited options in terms of marshaling public support. You can’t exactly go out, with surrogates or otherwise, and start knifing the guys who you just made a deal with. Not to mention the fact that Tony Ressler, the head honcho with the Hawks, made his hay in the cutthroat blood sport that is private equity, first with Apollo Global Management and then Ares Management. If I had expended years of physical and political capital trying to get my franchise into the arena, I certainly would tread lightly on this particular issue.

But it’s the need to tread lightly that puts some sand in my metaphorical gears. The Golden State Valkyries, if you recall, played their first round game against the Minnesota Lynx last year in the SAP Center, 40 miles south of their San Francisco home. The Laver Cup, an international tennis tournament, had the space reserved since 2023, before owner Joe Lacob was even awarded a WNBA franchise. There was at least some degree of understanding to be found with the bind the organization found itself in.

This, by all accounts, feels like the Hawks and the NBA being more intransigent than anything else. And if the belief is that the NBA and WNBA are ‘partners’, then where is Adam Silver to mediate this? We know Cathy Engelbert is probably sipping a mai tai somewhere in the Maldives right now, but where is the commissioner of the whole operation? How on earth can you be okay with allowing your supposedly valued product to be in an arena bind ahead of the Finals when you have all the power in the world to broker some kind of agreement.

There’s a certain poetic justice to playing in the Gateway Center, don’t get me wrong. The romantic in me quite likes the idea that the Dream may enter a new era with a title in hand and a send-off in the arena that spawned the culture that will follow to State Farm. But beyond that bit of glass-half-full optimism, it once again feels like the NBA finding ways to screw around with the non-affiliated WNBA ownership groups, regardless of how much they achieve or invest.

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