Happy Tuesday, Ball-Knowers!

I always try my best to be an understanding critic when it comes to sports leagues and their TV schedules. Back when I was in college, I interned in the programming department of NBC Sports Network in Stamford. It was a wonderful experience for a number of reasons but one of the most eye-opening components was how much work went into crafting broadcast schedules. And that was before the Balkanization of networks and streaming services.

With all that in mind, I share the frustration of many fans and writers who have to wade through some dead days here and there only to get multiple great matchups running on the same night and sometimes in the same time slots. In a 15 team league, it doesn’t feel like that’s necessary yet. But that’s the game, unfortunately.

Anyway, plenty to talk about!

Minnesota Lynx broadcaster Sloane Martin joins Andrew on Luxury Tax this Tuesday! That will be in your podcast feeds late tonight/early tomorrow morning and on YouTube on Wednesday morning. If you haven’t subscribed to the pod yet, you can find it here on Apple!

Tyler and Andrew broke down Five Out in video form earlier this morning (and yes, we know some of the takes didn’t age well)

So Tyler decided to poke fun at that while doing a game recap of his own…

I’m not sure if it’s the Wings’ three guard rotations or the emergence of Jessica Shepard but it really feels like Dallas just knows how to beat Las Vegas this year. A’ja Wilson, even on a bad night by her standards, appeared to be the only one who showed up to play on Monday night. Azzi Fudd torched the reigning WNBA champions to the tune of 8/9 shooting from the field, and that was without relying extensively on her three point shot. Shepard once again flirted with a triple-double, continuing a really rock solid case for WNBA Most Improved Player.

I’m not too concerned about the Aces for a number of reasons. For starters, they have a small handful of these weird blowouts every year where it feels like they have a come-to-Jesus conversation and then by September they’re playing their best basketball. Does some of the defensive lapses alarm me when it comes to being a title contender? Maybe a little bit. But then I remember that this team has earned the right to be ‘Switch Flippers’, in that they have the institutional memory of so many playoff runs that I trust them to turn it on when the lights get bright.

As for the Wings, this game proves a few things to me. It shows that Awak Kuier is, once again, a force multiplier that completely changes how potent Dallas can be on both ends of the floor. Even on a night where Paige Bueckers didn’t give you much, the roster is still constructed in a way where they can hurt you in a variety of ways. After a sort of odd and maybe melodramatic start to the year, Dallas has very clearly positioned themselves as a deep playoff contender in year one of this loadout. That’s good for the overall health of the league because, while the Aces dominance is earned and worthy of recognition, having worthy challengers is the only way a dynasty story gets to stay regularly interesting.

Outside of their one point win over Dallas, the Fire have lost five of their last six and six of their last eight. Now, I will carve out a little rationalization for them: pretty much all of those losses outside of Phoenix were to either playoff or top of the table teams, from Vegas to Indiana to Atlanta and more. But it does make me wonder if some of the novelty of Alex Sarama’s approach has worn off on opponents and the talent gap is starting to level off as more tape is out there.

Golden State proved last year that you can make the playoffs with a healthy high floor and mid-tier ceiling provided you win every single minute in the regular season. But this Fire team was not projected to be in this place at the beginning of the year, mostly because a lot of us didn’t think that a team comprised of primarily rotational WNBA players had the juice to be in the playoff mix. They’ve pleasantly surprised so far, but there’s definitely something to watch for here especially if the Fire limp through a very favorable June schedule.

A pair of Cascadia matchups against Seattle and then a pair against a struggling Chicago team should be the pick-me-up games the Fire need after taking a few on the chin to top teams. But if there are some losses sprinkled into this month of games, I think we can start to wonder if the underdogs are starting to regress to the mean.

Speaking of takes that didn’t age particularly well over the course of six hours…

Kelsey Plum was stymied by Gabby Williams, Veronica Burton and the rest of the Valkyries backcourt as Golden State rolled to an easy 20 point win. This is the exact ledge Tyler was trying to talk me off of on YouTube, because it lays bare where the Sparks are still a step below contender status. When the shots aren’t falling and you roll up on a team with elite defense like the Valkyries, can you play well enough on the other end to win a rock fight? As of now, the answer for L.A. is no.

What I love about Golden State is that they really are greater than the sum of their parts. There are usual suspects that you expect to regularly be putting the ball in the hoop, but their depth really can punish a team like the Sparks who are relying on relatively thin rotations and hope that their starting five can punish their opponents bench sufficiently. Kaila Charles went 5-7 from the field on a night when Janelle Salaun went 1/8. Tip Hayes averages just 7.7 points per game but can pop off for 17 to help pace the offense in a victory over Seattle. Time will tell if that style can win in the playoffs when the rotations trim down to maybe seven players tops, but for now it keeps the floor of the Valks high enough that they feel good enough to maybe even push into a five seed conversation.

Toronto Tempo (7-7) vs. Indiana Fever (8-5): 7:00 PM ET, USA Network

Tyler and I talked on Five Out yesterday that this feels like the first “Is Indiana actually stable?” game after three get-right victories over Washington, Chicago and Connecticut. With Portland starting to run into a wall, but with some winnable games the next few weeks, both the Fever and Tempo kind of need to win this one. Both franchises have semi-difficult Junes and if Indiana drops some games here, it could spell trouble while Toronto is fighting to just stay in that seven or eight seed conversation.

Beyond the narrative, this has the chance to be a track meet. Marina Mabrey and Caitlin Clark already carry their own edge and will bring it to the floor but I’m really curious how much both teams are going to go blow-for-blow in the backcourt. It feels like a game where I’d want to lean on Aliyah Boston to really get to work on the low block but Nyara Sabally has shown that she has the goods to stand up any of the best bigs in the WNBA. For now, it’s a matchup of even teams. That means you have to have it on your main screen while the World Cup or any Love Island is on the secondary tonight.

How the Wings went from forgettable WNBA franchise to title contender by Alexa Phillipou, ESPN

We’re having the wrong conversations about Angel Reese by Thilo Latrell Widder, SB Nation

WNBA Legend Sue Bird on the Real Meaning of Resilience by Nia Watson, Women’s Health

More fouls, more frustration: What’s really going on with WNBA officiating? by Cydney Henderson, USA Today

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