Transcript 0:29 [upbeat music] What's up everyone? Welcome back to the No Cap Space post-game show. It's been a minute. Oh, yeah, it's been- Yes... 0:46 it's been a little bit. Take, take a little, we take a little break, a little summer vacation for us, you know? You know, but we back. Tyler, Greer, Andrew, uh, the group stage has concluded. 0:57 Uh, a, a pretty big win honestly for the United States to end it off against a, a Germany team that's got some names that you know. 1:03 Um, 87 to 68, uh, now we kind of wait and see the result of this France and Australia game to see if the United States will top their group, 'cause France has been doing their thing. The host country's been hooping. 1:16 Um, but- Well, no, that's not really new... we're just now, we're- We are trying to see if we're gonna be the number one seed going into the quarter. Right. Yes, yes. Right, right, right. Right. 1:22 With the point differential. Yes, correct. So yeah, so that's what we're, we're now waiting to see. Oh, you like- Yeah... look at this. Andrew, I like your hat. That's interesting. Shouts to wifey. Yeah. 1:34 It is not mer- it's not merch on sale yet, but she hit me with that Etsy and was like- That No Cap cap... in honor of... Yeah, well you know what? 1:40 She got me the No Cap cap because it was in honor of 500 subscribers on our Substack. Wow. Oh. That was a nice gift from the wife. Wow. 1:48 So if you haven't subscribed- If you're not subscribed to Substack, what are you doing? 'Cause that's- Exactly... where a lot of our content has been lately. 1:54 Once, once we get, once we get to a thousand, we might just start throwing these out there for people. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Well- It's a off- it's, it's, it's Off-White too for those that want the A'ja merch. 2:02 [laughs] It's gonna match the Off-White. It's gonna match that Off-White A'ja merch. We're gonna get a No Cap one leg sleeve, uh, sweatpant going and- [laughs] [laughs] No Cap all the way up the leg. Down the leg. 2:13 Like... [laughs] Uh, but let, let's dive into to this game and, and we can kind of talk, you know, US basketball as a whole, some of the Olympics as a whole as well. 2:21 But for this game specifically, uh, Greer, if you wanna start, like w- just general takeaways from it, anything that, that kinda stuck out to you. Defense. Mm-hmm. 2:30 Uh, I think they forced something like 18 or 19 turnovers against Germany. I mean, 23 turnovers. Oh, wow. Okay. 23. So then they just went on a flurry as the game, uh, uh- Yeah. 2:38 Then- It was those runs that they went on where they just- Yeah... locked them down. But yeah, the defense, right? 2:43 Um, Satou Sabally had been playing outstanding so far in this tournament, made the night really tough for her, which you know, is a little easy to do when you're keying in on like one supremely- Mm-hmm... 2:54 talented player for the opposing team. But, uh, yeah, she was looking like one of the best players in the world, and they kinda quieted that. Um, the deflections, the, the almost kinda plays, right? Just- Mm-hmm... 3:06 swarming everywhere. And, um, that is what... Uh, obviously unlocking three-point shooting eventually. Uh- Mm-hmm... also very impressive. 3:15 But the defense, 'cause defense wins championships, and that's what's gonna win this team gold and, and get them i- past the quarters and, and onto the later rounds in this tournament. Yeah. There... You go first, Tyler. 3:27 I was just gonna say, it's... I, I like that you brought up the deflections, 'cause I mean, we were at, I was at All Star [laughs] boots on the ground. And like 3:34 deflections had been something that I heard in, in practice there in the short little availability that we had at their practice for Team USA there. It's something that we've heard in, in media. 3:42 Like, like deflection is, it's... I love the fact that it's specified as deflections, not turnovers. 3:47 Deflections, because not every deflection is gonna end up in a turnover, but just the disruption that that causes, especially with the, the defensive talent and like just the length on this team that they can put on the floor at one time. 3:59 I love the fact that it's deflections specifically, 'cause I don't feel like you, you hear that as the, the emphasis as much as you just hear defense or turnovers or things like that. 4:08 But them emphasizing deflections is... 'Cause there was, I mean, I don't have a count on it, but there were absolutely deflections that just didn't end up in turnovers- Right... 4:16 but ended up in possessions that just did not go well for Germany. Yeah. So I, I love that that has been the emphasis for this team so far. 4:24 I think the big thing for me that I took away from it was as much as the rest of the world is starting to catch up, Team USA is still so far ahead of everybody. Um, and, and we see this on the men's side too, right? 4:36 Where there's teams where you're like, "Oh, maybe they could challenge Team USA," and then Team USA comes out and is like, "Oh, by the way, like we're 15 deep of all NBA first teamers. Yeah. Right? 4:45 Like, like the WNBA is very much the same where, you know, you don't even necessarily need A'ja and Stewy on the floor at all times, like at least one of them. 4:54 Like Cheryl didn't even stagger the rotations where there's one of them on the floor- No... at all points. 4:59 Like you are able to take both of them off the floor and still build leads, and that, that shows you it's, it's a depth thing. 5:06 But I will say it, it is heartening, interesting, cool for the game itself to see a Germany, even for a quarter, right? I mean, this was a team that this is their first ever Olympics. 5:18 They're kinda going through a, a golden generation right now. They got a lot of young kids on that roster, and they hung with Team USA for a quarter. 5:26 And for the rest of the world, those are little victories in themselves. Mm-hmm. And not to downplay what Team USA's doing, but like, you know, they, they won by 19, right? Like I'm not- Mm-hmm... 5:36 gonna sit here and be like, "Oh yeah, you know, like USA is dominant. We know this. We've been knowing this for, you know, 30 plus years now." But- Mm-hmm... 5:44 um, I, I think it's been cool watching the level of competition increase, but also as an American it's like it, it increases just enough, but you still know who's best. Like you still know- Mm-hmm... who runs this shit. 5:55 Um, and so I, I think that was- [laughs]... kind of my big... Yeah, literally. Like eagle- [laughs]... eagle sounds. Eagle sounds[laughs] Um, no, it's, it's, it's really cool. 6:05 It's really cool just kinda seeing the global game growth, but also I think the, the important thing for me, um, is just seeing how much Team USA's able to kinda get their feet under them, right? 6:16 Like, there was a big discussion about how little of a run-up they had, and how some of these early games they didn't look very in sync. 6:23 That still kind of is happening here and there, but, um, th- they're very clearly starting to unlock their ceiling of play, and when they have that ceiling, man, I mean, there's no team in the world, no roster construction here that even comes close to them. 6:38 Like, I thought Germany had the closest, Niara gets hurt, and so now you're out a 6'4" player that can run the floor, which is what you need- Mm-hmm... against a Stewie or an A'ja. You know, Belgium's out Julie Aleman. 6:48 There's, that's a guard that they need. Like, there's, there's no roster that can hang with these guys for four quarters. 6:53 And, you know, that, that I think is, like, the thing is, like, you have small, slight takeaways, but we're not drawing major conclusions about Team USA. 7:01 We are, however, able to draw major conclusions about the rest of the world, and I think that's been pretty fun. Yeah. I- Uh, I think most countries gonna have something to say about that. 7:10 I know they're hoping so, right? And that's why- Mm-hmm... they have their together this entire lead up to the Olympics, right? Nobody's playing overseas. Nobody's, you know, um, they're- They had 'em on lockdown. 7:21 They were [laughs] So, so [laughs] you know, they didn't do that for nothing. You know what I mean? Yeah. That I, I know they wanna give us everything. 7:29 And, um, to Andrew's point about seeing, like, the global game on display, right? You look at Germany and, you know, they have two players that played in college this past year, right? 7:38 In Sontag and Besoy that, that played for UCLA. Fibich, like these are, the Sabally's. Like, yeah, they have, you know, for, for people who are real WBB heads, like, players that you know. And like- Yeah... 7:51 that is really cool. Um, and as we play more and more teams, like, that's gonna be the case of a lot of the teams that are gonna be making it into the later rounds of the, of this tournament. 8:01 So yeah, basketball and, and no cap, like, I love that none of this is, like, new to us. You know what I mean? Like- Mm-hmm... these are players that we're super familiar with. Mm-hmm. 8:10 And, and them, to see them play for a country and, and, and do pretty well is, like, really, really cool. Um, but yeah. Uh, group stage, I, I also love that we saw all 12 players play today, today, today for the US. 8:25 Yeah. Yeah. Um- I was wondering if they were gonna let Kahleah Copper out of the panic room yet, you know? [laughs] Finally. Like, damn. 8:32 Like, like kept her in the Olympic Village in Lille and said, "Show up a little bit late." [laughs] It's like- So long... it's like in Happy Gilmore where he's like, "Show up on the 10th green at 9:00 PM." 8:41 [laughs] And he's gotta find himself all the sprinklers and go. 8:43 And like, Cheryl Reeve for the second game, the third game there, Cheryl Reeve was telling Kahleah Copper, like, "Oh, the game's actually at 6:00 PM East Coast time, not Paris time." 8:52 [laughs] Like, where are, where is she? [laughs] Yeah. She's the best c- she's arguably the best guard on this roster and- Yeah. Yeah. 9:00 I see the comment in here about, like, you know, Dragon DT and, and honestly, look, I, I get it. You know, it, like, there's, they're resting legs, and they very clearly were today. Yeah. 9:09 Um- Chelsea Ellswell didn't play in the second half along with DT. Yep. But... Nobody's dragging- It is what it is. Like, it is what it is. She's- The- They, they would win without her, right? That, yeah. 9:21 And, and they obviously, she said that this is gonna be her last Olympic go around, and I bet, I bet the selection committee knew that when they were bringing, you know- Oh, certainly... players in and said, "All right. 9:30 This is gonna be her last run, so let's let her do one last run." Um, but yeah, man, I mean, not ev- look, not everybody on this team is gonna be doing, like, 15, five, and five by committee every single game, so. 9:41 Mm-hmm. Um, you know, there's gonna be quiet players, there's gonna be hot players, and then there's gonna be A'ja Wilson, and that's kinda like [laughs] the- Yeah, pretty much. Yeah... 9:49 operating, operating in a sphere of her own. You know, a very, a very pedestrian, uh, you know, 14 for, for A'ja today, but it- Yeah... you know. You can't do, you can't have, what, 20- She's gonna have 25. Yeah. 10:00 You can't have 25 and 15 every single game. [laughs] Yeah. I mean, if anyone was gonna do it, it'd be her. [laughs] I, I did wanna point out, you mentioned, you talked about the depth a lot, Andrew. 10:09 Uh, Jackie Young today, fantastic. Like- Man... and, and it's, I mean, her box score, 19 points, four rebounds, two assists, 7 of 13, five of eight from three. 10:19 And like, I can never get enough of, like, what Jackie was as a shooter to what Jackie is- Mm-hmm... now. 10:25 Like, that progression, like, really, like, and we talked, I know we've talked actually about this a pretty decent amount, like with A'ja, like how her game has improved every year. 10:32 But that, just that Aces organization, like, their core that has been around has improved genuinely every year. 10:40 And I was kinda waiting to see Jackie, like, really get some- and kinda similar to Kah, like, where it was, like- Mm-hmm... 10:45 really like, 'cause I'm not gonna lie, there's, there's been times where I haven't loved the, like, three big lineups, like, at times. Yeah. 10:53 Like, and, and where a Jackie or a Kah could fit in at that three position potentially. And I, I liked what we saw today to hopefully, in, in my opinion, incentivize a little bit more of that. 11:05 'Cause sometimes you just don't, you don't, you don't need three bigs out there. Like, spacing, whether it's AT playing the three or, like, whatever that kinda looks like. 11:13 You know, if you have A'ja, Stewie, BG, like, whatever form that takes. 11:17 What we saw from Jackie today and, and, and, and more so Jackie than Kah, but Kah as well, like, that's honestly more so I, what I think I want to see next to A'ja and Stewie as opposed to another big. 11:29 But Jackie today- It's hard because AT, you know, doesn't shoot. Yeah. That's, that, exactly. Like, on defense- It's insane. She's, she's, she's nuts... she was absolute heaven. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 11:41 And she disrupted Germany so much today. Mm-hmm. Um, made Satou second guess even being a ball handler, right? [laughs] Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like- In hell. In hell. Yeah. 11:51 So, you know, when you can put her on just about anybody's best post player or a post player that also kinda dribbles and has the versatility that she has, it's like you can't also not play AT. You know what I'm saying? 12:04 Right. But that definitely clogs things up offensively. Um-Because she's just not a threat, like, uh, you know, in, in the half court as much. Um, so yeah, like she, she, like I don't envy Sheryl, [laughs] right? 12:18 I do not. Yeah. Like it's, it's much easier said than... And like and the thing is, it's like there's very few wrong answers. Yeah. Like [laughs] when you have this much talent. 12:26 I mean, it's just about finding like the most right answer, and I think that can be a game by game thing and a matchup thing, and there's so many different factors that play into that. 12:33 I just, like I said, I had been kind of waiting for this game from Jackie- Yeah... or Caw. And like, you know, it was like I said, more so Jackie today, but I had been waiting for this one to show- Yeah... 12:42 like that other just kind of other variable that the US can, can put in next to whatever bigs that they have in the game because just to... 12:49 And really they haven't been shooting the three-ball incredibly well by any means. So like just unlocking that today was also just big, and Jackie had five of them out of nine, so like she, she's the one today. Yeah. 13:00 Well, and that's, and that's the thing too that it makes Team USA so lethal, right? Mm. 13:05 Like when I, I did our Olympic preview and I was like, "Threat level to the USA out of 10," the teams that I thought on paper had some degree of threat was a team that, okay, you can shoot the three, your guards are okay, and your bigs are good, or your guards are good, and your bigs are o- There was nobody that I looked at from like a complete roster perspective- Mm-hmm... 13:28 and was like, "Okay, yeah, like they could run with at least the starting five." 13:32 And that's the thing is that there are no wrong answers, as you said, with the combinations of lineups that they can go because it really just comes down to like how much are you going to beat this team by, rather than- Mm-hmm... 13:42 is a team actually going to catch you, um, because they, they just, they have everything at every position. 13:49 And I'm curious to see at what point and which country, you know, does have the roster that eventually catches that. 13:57 I, I don't think it's gonna happen until like 15 years from now where Juju Watkins decides that she is somehow a Spanish citizen. Like by then- [laughs] I'm not gonna get... How big are you gonna get many of those? 14:09 Hey, can, can Paige be Italian through Gino? Like what, what can we, what can we do here? Yeah. Like what... [laughs] Even I, I feel like Caitlin's closest- Caw already won gold with US under 18s. Yeah. 14:19 She's gotta be like- Bonanza... she's gotta be Irish American- No, you're wrong... right? Like I think she, I, I mean, I know she- [laughs]... I know, like I know she's Catholic. 14:26 Like Caitlin Clark, like the Irish have a, a soccer player named Kieran Clark, so I guess like maybe you can hand them like the wrong birth certificate- [laughs]... 14:36 and like all of a sudden who's this Kieran Clark showing up for the Irish women's national team? Um, but you know, it's... 14:43 I, I will say this, it, it is really cool because, uh, lost in this stupid bullshit argument over attendance and TV ratings, what the thing people are missing in order to prop up whichever agenda they find best, you're r- not understanding that this is the whole argument for like Clark's entrance and, and the rise of Asia and Stewie and Sabrina. 15:06 Like this is what it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be 3 million people watch Team USA, and all of a sudden you're like, "Damn, this Belgian lady is pretty damn good," right? Mm-hmm. 15:14 And it's like, "Oh yeah, that's Emma Meesseman." Like learn a bit about the former WNBA- Mm... finals MVP, right? Like you're watching Germany, and you're like, "Damn, like Satou Sabally is a baller." 15:24 And now when you go back to the WNBA season and hopefully if she, you know, plays fully there, you're like, "Okay, I saw Satou during the Olympics playing the United States- Mm-hmm... 15:33 and playing well, now I'm gonna watch a Wings game because of it," right? Um, that I think is, you know, the, the thing that we're not talking enough about because we're so fixated on arguing who deserves credit for it. 15:44 But the reality is this is another good, you know, time for women's basketball because of the exposure that it's getting and the amount of people that are watching other countries do this stuff. Yeah. 15:56 And speaking of that, at 1:00 PM Mountain Time, I guess, I don't know where everybody else is located, but the 18- We're international, baby. We're everywhere. We are. We're international. Hello. It's cool now. 16:06 Spe- speaking of people you wanna get in the transfer portal, there is an 18-year-old 6'6" player on the bench for France. Her name is Dominique Malonga. Learn the name- Yeah... when she's on the floor. She's coming. 16:16 She's coming. [laughs] Dog, you, I know everyone that's in this chat probably right now is thinking Juju Watkins is the prohibitive 2025 first round draft pick or, or actually- No, no, no, no, no... she'll be- Paige... 16:29 she'll be 26. Paige. Oh yeah, Paige is 25. All right. You might be thinking Paige, you might be thinking Kiki Irafen. I'm telling you, this, this girl, Dominique Malonga, might actually be the number one pick. 16:37 You heard it here first. Watch this girl. She gets limited minutes in, you know, so far, but because they've already advanced, I think she might get a little more minutes today as they start to rest their starters a bit. 16:48 Dog, watch Dominique Malonga. I'm telling you, this kid is the truth. 16:53 And this is what the Olympics are for is for you to learn these names before they come over here and you're like, "Where the hell did this person come from?" Mm. So- Liz, Liz Cambage ring a bell? Uh-oh. 17:05 [laughs] Hopefully not. She did. Uh. [laughs] I was like- Hopefully not... what, what kind of, what kind of bell are we ringing here? [laughs] To me, yo, speaking- That's a- An alarm... siren. 17:15 That tired- Yo, speaking of Liz Cambage, speaking of Liz Cambage, shout out to the Nigerian national team, baby. I was r- I was just about to lob you up for that, Andrew. [laughs] The Ni- the Nigerians have advanced. 17:28 This is a, no, this is low-key one of the coolest stories of the Olympics, man. Yes. Please, so, so just... 17:32 You wrote about it on Substack, so make sure this is why you gotta be tapped on with the Substack 'cause this, this has been a story that Andrew has been on. 17:39 But Andrew, for those that haven't read the article, like dive into what makes this, this team, this story so special. Yeah. So this is extremely cool. 17:48 Uh, so back in 2022, Nigeria had some like crazy dust-up with the president of their basketball federation. And so in order to figure it out, the president of Nigeria basically-... 18:01 called for an international ban on Nigerian basketball competition, right? So the women actually lost out on playing in the FIBA World Cup because the, their federation wouldn't let them play. 18:14 Um, the men almost lost out of Olympic qualifiers until FIBA and I think a couple other people stepped in, um, like Masai Ujiri stepped in, and [laughs] Hima Edoga back when it was fashionable for Hima Edoga to lend- [laughs]... 18:28 his voice on issues and be a credible voice in, in this space. Um, but the, this group of women go in, they, uh, get into the Olympics. I gave them a one out of 10 on the threat scale, man. 18:40 I was like, the, like, they're happy to be here, right? They got a bunch of expat Americans. They've got college kids on their team, a couple of Ole Miss players. 18:49 Like, um, there's a lot of weird NFL connections, like Chigoka Okonkwos, I think Sister Amy is on this team. Um, Prince Amukamara's sister Promise is on this team. 18:59 So there's a lot of really interesting, uh, folks that comprise this roster. They come out, they upset Australia, then all they gotta do is beat Canada. 19:07 They beat Canada this morning, and now they're the first African team in Olympics history to get to the knockout rounds in women's basketball. 19:15 So, uh, for a team that almost did not have the opportunity to play international competition- Mm-hmm... they also got to France and got fucked by their own, uh, federation. 19:24 They, they didn't get to go on the boat for the opening ceremonies. So they had to go from Lille to Paris, only to be told they couldn't get on the boat. 19:32 And then they, the, at the end of the opening ceremonies, like, you go on the boat, then you get taken to another area, then you get put on the buses, and they take you back to the Olympic Village. 19:41 They couldn't get back to the Olympic Village because they weren't allowed [laughs] on the fucking boat. So they get on the... Uh, they have to stay in Paris overnight. They miss their first practice. 19:51 They go into Australia with no practice, beat the Australians, and now- Mm-hmm... they've beaten Canada and make it to the knockouts. Like, that's the coolest part of all of it. 19:59 Actual underdogs, unlike the Canadian women's soccer team. Got it. Yes. Yep. Talk to 'em, Greer- [laughs] 'Cause I don't know how that got spun. 20:08 But like, no, literally, like this is, like when you talk about like there's no reason they should be here, like with everything that they have had thrown in their path, on top of just like, just the hoops aspect of like being on the court and just like name recog- like going against- Yeah... 20:21 some NBA names, things like that, there's no reason [laughs] they should still- All types of people. Not even just WNBA... like, I'm, I'm saying. Yeah... like, they, they are like, like top... 20:32 Like, these, these are names in women's basketball. Yeah. And y- you, you, like you said, happy to be here- People are head-... and now they're staying for longer... 10, 11 years old. Yep. Right? 20:42 Like- Could very well be playing [laughs] still Yeah. Like, literally. It's, uh- Yo, yo, honestly, honestly, ju- justice for Chiney and Nneka, man. They gotta be sick watching this. Mm. It'd be like [laughs] 20:54 this would have been, this would have been awesome if you had the Egwumike's like r- running it with these team too, but here's what's more impressive. They're doing it without them. They're doing it without them, yep. 21:01 [laughs] They are doing it without the Egwumikes. Azzi Faddoul, man, like she has been nuts for both of those, the, the Australian and Canada game, just going crazy from three. 21:11 And, uh, their head coach, uh, Rena Aldama, I believe is her name. She's 32 years old. She is, uh, an assistant coach at Tulane. Ashley Langford, I believe, who went from- She's coming from Stanford... Tulane. 21:25 Rena is her assistant. 21:27 That's another person in the college basketball ranks that you would wanna watch for a head coaching job maybe as soon as next year, because the coaching job she's done with this team and then knowing that she's an assistant coach at a Division I school, man, I mean, that's, that's a really cool story and it's something that if I'm a, a, a high major program looking for a good coach, I'm, I'm looking square at her this summer- Mm... 21:50 like, whoa, okay. On the other hand, not looking at Vic Lapena and, uh, and this, uh, Canada team, 'cause boy, man, I am so disappointed in the Canadians. Their, the roster's so much better than this. Yeah. 22:02 It is so much better than this. You could argue it's probably the second most talented roster in the field. 22:08 For you to not only not win one single game in the entire group, but to get obliterated through the whole group stage, through all pre-exhibition, uh, this feels like Canada basketball needs a bit of a turnover. 22:20 Um- Mm-hmm... and like a turndown of their, uh, of, of their executive structure and their coaching structure, 'cause I just... I, I don't know. 22:27 It would be more, like when Team USA doesn't win a gold medal, they, they scrap the whole fucking program and start over. Yeah. You know what I mean? [laughs] Like, if they, if they win silver, everyone's fired. 22:38 They just called the Avengers, uh, for- Yeah... 22:41 the, on the men's side because they didn't win, [laughs] like- Yeah, like, you know, like we had a, we had a whole redeem team because the US dared to not win a gold medal [laughs] in like 04, you know what I mean? 22:52 Um, a- and so, like for Canada, I feel like you gotta take it a little bit more seriously, um, what this Olympic cycle is doing. 22:59 Because the growth of the game up north is exploding too, and they've got a golden generation that's kind of coming in. 23:05 Silas Swords and Yvonne Ejim, Laeticia Amihere, like they have kids, and if you want these kids to continue to grow, you cannot, uh, like y- you can't not take advantage of your golden generation. Mm. 23:18 I think they need a coaching change up there after this cycle's over. Yeah. Yeah. 'Cause that's, they're the- I think it's imminent... there's no reason. It has to be. Yeah, not even being able to win a game with... 23:27 Yeah, to your point, all the talent they have is just, that's not what they came over here for. [laughs] Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, uh, it's kind of been embarrassing, honestly, for our neighbors to the north. 23:38 Um, and again, just like way too much talent, too many names that you know have seen play. Um, guard rotation kinda stinks. Um- Yeah... 23:49 but they have young promising bigs who they've gotta, they've gotta maximize th- this window here. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Swords, Swords kicks ass though, I gotta say. 23:59 She's gonna be fun as hell for Michigan, uh, this coming season. For her to be in this situation as a incoming college freshman, essentially, and she's, she's played well. 24:10 Like, she's played legitimately well.And yeah, Noelle Quinn being an assistant on this roster [laughs] is very weird. 24:16 Like- I think- What do you think is going through her head as, as the head coach of the Seattle Storm watching this- [laughs] You know, watching Lapena kind of- Watching Seattle. That's [laughs] Yeah, I... Literally. 24:26 [laughs] Good God. Yeah, I... No, that's... It's been disappointing. Like- Yeah... 24:32 I, I, I think if you were to pick, like, the most exciting, most disappointing, I think we just hit the two, with Nigeria being the most exciting, and- Well, hang on now, 'cause in about two hours time it could be Australia. 24:43 It could be A- you know, you're right, 'cause Aust- what are we doing? Yeah, it's- Yeah, I'm s- we're, we're talking about talent, right? Yeah. Oh, facts. 100%. Come on now. 24:51 They're, they're fielding a team of, I think everybody has touched the W already, all, pretty boy- Oh, yeah... have been drafted, right? D- damn near... Let's see. 25:00 Borrely hasn't come over yet, but she's been drafted, right? Mm-hmm. Or she will be, uh- Yep... 25:05 so like- Well, and that's, and that's a front court too, Grier, where it's like you're starting four and five as Alana Smith and Ezzie. Like, y- it should be better than this. 25:14 Who are playing phenomenally for their debut. Phenomenal in the W. Like, all... They're playing at an all-W level, the both of them. 25:20 Like, 13 on a wet Wednesday mind you, but- I am not here to question Sandy, but I, I'm gonna do it- Mm... for her 'cause I know she would. [laughs] Mm-hmm. Amen. 25:27 You know she uses any opportunity to slander, but, um, what the hell is going on? [laughs] What- Well, that's another one where, like, if y'all, if y'all don't get... Like, that's... 25:35 It, it might just be t- 'cause, like, how... Frank, there's, there's no... There's, there's... The, the, the line is very thin for a l- like, 'cause you only get this every so oft- you know, it's every four years. 25:46 Mm-hmm. Like, you, you don't... You can't waste opportunities. [laughs] Like, you- Yeah... you just, you just... [laughs] That's funny. [laughs] But, like, that's- That's crazy... that's a pretty good case. 25:57 Hey, where's the Liz popcorn GIF when you need it? Hey, hey. Dog, I don't know, man. Liz ca- I'm gonna have to put it to words. Like, the- Liz... Bro, [laughs] Liz Cambage in France playing the French- Jesus... 26:09 feels like there's a lot of variance for some very bad shit to happen. Something's gonna go wrong. I don't know, I don't know at what level- You're gonna... You can choose-... 26:17 on what side, but something is gonna go really wrong... I don't know. Like, if, if, if zero is normal and 10 is Argentinian, I feel like Liz would be, like, in an eight in there somewhere. 26:26 [laughs] Like- [laughs] Please... I'm not gonna go any deeper than that. Yeah. You can Google it. [laughs] Yeah. Oh, that's too much. Jesus. Like, you can call the Argentina/France thing. Yeah. Oh, man. 26:36 But right now the third place, uh... You know, this is a big one for Australia because if you win this you jump up into that third place rank- Mm-hmm... and you get to the knockouts right now. 26:45 Currently, it's Belgium and, uh, China are the two that are leading with four points- Mm... to Australia's three. So this one is a, a decider about whether or not we're gonna actually get a, um... It's... 26:57 I, I think it's between China and Australia. I think Belgium's actually through. Which is crazy, right? China also. Yeah. Right? Like, Li Yueru, uh, Li Meng- Li Meng, yep... [laughs] Zhu. Like, players. Real players. 27:10 Mm-hmm. And, you know, this is... A lot of federations are gonna have to take a hard look at, like, what's going on. Yeah. Across the board. There's several. Yeah. These were teams that were all, 27:21 you know, top four in the FIBA ranking four years ago- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm... coming into the tournament. Yeah. So what's going on? I mean, look, shout out to noted Spanish, uh, citizen, Megan Gustafson, man. Spain- Pancake! 27:34 Let's go, dude. [laughs] I'm wa- I wanna know... Listen, I, I'm glad for Megan, but all I wanna know is what is Pancake doing right now? Pancake. Like- Oh, my God. Does Pancake, does, does Pancake the corgi, like, is... 27:47 Or I, I hope the owners are, like, letting Pancake watch Megan on TV. Yeah. I wanna see a video. Yeah. Like, do you think the dog knows? Like, recognizes the- Like, recognizes her on television. 27:59 I'm very curious about that. But, you know, I- I mean, this is like vintage Iowa performances she's putting on for Spain right now. It really is. Like, what? Like, here's the thing, though, man, people forgot. 28:09 Like, Gustafson came into the league and was quiet, and she's still been quiet. She, you know, she's a bench player in the, in the W for all intents and purposes, right? But she... 28:18 When Sabrina Ionescu was, like, going in 2019 to, like, win the Wooden and NAISMAs awards, Megan Gustafson was right there with her 'cause she was, like, a 29 in 10 player. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 28:29 I mean, some of her statistics that year were preposterous. Um, and it's just fascinating to see her kinda come back up in Spain. [laughs] What is over there doing? 28:42 [laughs] [laughs] What, what is, what is Megan Gustafson doing in Barcelona? [laughs] Oh, that's so good. That's so good, man. Um, but yeah, no, honestly- Yeah, she's-... super fun tournament so far. Mm-hmm. 28:57 Like, Team USA is doing Team USA things, and, you know, that's fine. I, I'm having to find... 29:02 Like, the, the way that I got yelled at by South Carolina fans earlier this spring of being like, "The interesting thing you need to find when they're winning by 40 is, like, the rotations," and I'm like, all right, I guess I... 29:13 Fine. Mm-hmm. I guess I'll figure that out, right? I think that's what I've been trying to do with Team USA is like, wow, well, you know, Cheryl brought this player out. Mm. 29:19 I feel like Mateus and Mark, like I'm going heavy into the film. [laughs] Like, the rotation, it's se- like, four minutes left in the third because it's, you know, it, it's 66 to 46- Mm... 29:29 and the Americans are just beating the crap out of whoever they're playing. But the international games have honestly been some of the funnest ones, man. I mean- Yeah... 29:36 this Australia-France game is gonna burn the house down, I know about it. Yeah, I'm ready. I'm, I'm excited for it. I know... 29:41 Well, before we wrap up, the one thing I do wanna talk about that we haven't directly touched on, just generally w- with Team USA throughout these games, how fun is it having A'ja Wilson and Stewie on the court at the same time doing what they do best? 29:54 Like, that has been the fun for me. Like, so, like, today obviously, like, not as much. Like, it, it was a little bit more, like, kinda- Mm-hmm... 30:00 well-rounded team contributions, but, like, what these two have been able to do [laughs] in this Olympics, like, it has never been, like, more clear of, like, who the top two players in the world are. 30:12 Like, [laughs] like, as you're always watching across the board, like-[laughs] There's, there's levels to this. Mm-hmm. And like, like A'ja has been phenomenal, Stewie has been phenomenal. 30:20 Like this has just been- It's wicked... I love it. Like it's, it's- It's wicked for real. It's wicked because Stewie gets you started. Yeah. Mm-hmm. 30:29 Dippin', turn around Js, uh, deflections leading out to leak out, right? Rip, you know, uh- Mm-hmm... just ridiculous. And then it's like, okay, she goes to the bench, you know? And then A'ja comes. She turns on. 30:41 Started the game slow [laughs] Stewie... and then I'm just coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming. [laughs] And there's nothing you can do. And then, hold on, here comes BG off the bench. It's disgusting. 30:50 That's, that's... [laughs] Like what are you supposed to do? Unbelievable. Like that's- Literally, you can't do nothing... there's, there, like there is no solution. Very demoralizing. Yeah, it's demoralizing. No. 30:57 Gotta be. I wanna see, you know what I do wanna see though? Just like in... I, I would love for us to get, 'cause we had Team USA, Team WNBA, which I thought was a fun thing. Mm-hmm. 31:08 I would love, I would love USA versus world in- I guess I, I-... the, uh, in the All-Star game. 31:13 I would love for them to bring that format back and make it an annual thing, because it would be kinda neat to see all of the internationals. 31:21 Like you get, you get Satu, like you get Han Xu, you get, uh, well, not Marine 'cause Marine's not playing in the W currently, but like you would get, um- Back She, she'd be back... yeah... well she'd be, yeah. 31:33 Yeah, she would be back. Or like last year you got like a Misaman on the roster. It would just be interesting because- We get Misaman back in the W. Right? Like that's the world right there. Yeah, right? She's so good. 31:40 She is [laughs] No, she had 30 and 11 this morning. She was good. Like [laughs] Misaman's the one player where I'm like- She's Jokic... man, like we are missing her prime. 31:50 I don't, how she, how she isn't here is ridiculous. We are missing her pri- like how... She's already been a finals MVP, but we are missing- Yeah... her prime right now not watching her in the W. 100%. 31:57 You know, you know who she reminds me of? And this is a name that I don't think a lot of people are gonna be familiar with. Um, Alina Yagupova. Uh- Oh... 32:06 uh, folk- like, this is like deep cut Euroleague shit for people, so don't, uh, like I'm not doing this as like a, "You don't know who Alina Yagu-" No, no. 32:13 [laughs] I'm trying to put you on game, I'm not admonishing you for not. Um, Alina Yagupova, look her up on YouTube. I'm gonna put her name in the chat here for you to look. This girl is sick. 32:25 Yeah, she's, she's real good. Yeah. And, and real, like real who, folks. 32:29 Like coaches and, and people, uh, in personnel departments in the WNBA that I've talked to over the years have said if this woman had come, uh, to the WNBA in her prime, I think she's like 33 or so now, but had she come in her prime she'd have been the best guard in the league. 32:44 Um, she played for Fenerbahce, uh, in Turkey. Like they won the Euroleague like over and over and over with her. Her highlight tape is absolutely preposterous. 32:53 Like she, and that's what Misaman kinda feels like right now is like I'm watching her play international ball and I'm like, "Yo, this is Yagupova stuff again," where it's like why are you not over here? 33:03 And I get why you're not over here, but like you should be over here because you're depriving us of this entertainment. [laughs] How selfish. I wanna see this. [laughs] How selfish of them. But, but it's so true, man. 33:14 Like I, I would lo- I would love to get like a, I'd love to get a world team put together, uh- Yeah... in the All-Star game. Mm-hmm. Because that's- You see a Kimith, right? You see a Kimith- Yeah... for Germany. Mm-hmm. 33:24 You see, uh, I, I think I- Gabby was in the chat obviously. I think I saw- Mm-hmm... you guys talked about Marine. Like there are just- Mm-hmm... 33:30 so many hoopers all around the world who are for whatever reason not playing in the W this season or last, and it's like the, the talent out here is just amazing to watch. Mm-hmm. 33:42 And if you aren't watching like Euroleague, uh, or Eurocup and some of that stuff, right? 'Cause you could wa- you could have watched Milango play this last season, right? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. For her French team. 33:53 Um, all that stuff is like free on YouTube, uh, when the season- Mm-hmm... is happening, so like tap into those games because yeah, these are women who have been playing professionally since like 16, 15. 34:05 And you, I see it in, um, the, the woman who's playing for Minnesota this year, uh, Zander Lassini, who played in the W before. Yeah. Yeah, dude. You know, fucking characters. Laisa, Laisa. [laughs] Zander Lassini. 34:18 Crazy, like crazy game. And yeah, I, you know, hmm, I still think the [laughs] I still think the WNBA team would smash 'cause like they don't all play together. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. It's not like... 34:29 But like the talent, the talent would be there, for sure. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I think, I think it would just be cool 'cause you'd actually have good guards and good forwards [laughs] on a team together to match the USA. 34:41 Yeah, right. Also, the one, my, my parting thought here on the Stewie, A'ja thing, Aces fans, I'm gonna look right into the camera and address you. Uh-oh. Oh, Lord. Look at me. I understand that you like to win. 34:54 I understand that you want to win. I understand that you've won some championships, and you feel good, and you're feeling yourself, and you thrive off the negativity. But here's what I'm gonna tell you right now. 35:06 Stop with StuJa. [laughs] We're not doing this shit in the WNBA, all right? 'Cause I don't want that. You don't want that. You may think you want that, but you don't. You don't want KD Warriors in this league. 35:19 You don't wanna see that. You don't wanna cheapen your GOAT's legacy by bringing Stewie onto the roster. You don't wanna cheapen Stewie's legacy. 35:27 You want the league to be fun, and in a time when we need it to be fun, don't make it not fun by advocating that the best two players end up on the same [laughs] damn roster together. I'm tired of StuJa, all right? 35:39 I don't want it. I don't want it, I don't need it. We don't want it, we don't need it. This is a fun thing to do every four years, but I do not wanna see it in the W every year. 35:49 I admire the dedication to trying to make sure that the Aces are the best damn team- [laughs]... that was ever forged, but enough. Like leave it, all right? 35:58 We already complained enough about the two teams, uh, you know, the Liberty and the Aces making the finals a foregone conclusion. I don't wanna have to make the Aces a foregone conclusion. 36:08 We already have a South Carolina. We do not need another. Thank you, end rant. There we go. I guess that, that feels like a good place to, to, to end it off. 36:17 [laughs] That was your- I couldn't, I couldn't hold it in, y'all... your closing thoughts. [laughs] I saw Stu- I saw StuJa tweets this morning. I was like, "Fuck." [laughs] I was like, "Come on, guys." 36:24 [laughs] Like, "Why are we doing this?" [laughs] Like, "Why are we doing this stuff?" This is LeBr- this is LeGM, you know? I don't want- Not LeGM... I don't want LeGM. We saw how that- G apostrophe M... 36:33 we saw how that goes. Like [laughs] Yes. [laughs] AGM. [laughs] A apostrophe GM. All right, well that- Oh, man... that feels like a great place to, I'm glad you got your, I'm glad you got that off your chest. 36:49 It felt like that had... [laughs] You felt like you needed it. [laughs] Yeah. But make sure- I mean, look... go, go ahead. [laughs] Here we go. I'm, get, get us out of here. 36:56 Get it, get us out of here before I, before I start really get us in trouble. There we go. All right. Well, make sure that you guys are tapped in across the board with us. 37:04 You can find everything down in the description below. Uh, Substack has been popping off. 37:07 While we haven't been on YouTube as much, our Substack's still been going with five-outs, with Olympic previews, with overtime select. 37:13 Getting started up a brand new league, so that's something to be on the lookout for as well. Some of the top high school talents in the nation all in Atlanta right now. 37:20 Uh, we're gonna have coverage really for it all as we're especially as we go into the knockout stages here for the Olympics. So make sure you stay tapped into everything, no cap space, and we'll see you next time. 37:28 [upbeat music]
