October 16, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: WNBA Finals press on
By The Next
'It's only 25% coaching. The rest is what the players want and what they put into these games'
On the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Howard Megdal is joined by The Next’s New York Liberty beat writer Jackie Powell to discuss Game 3 of the WNBA Finals and beyond. Megdal and Powell reflect on conversations they had with the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and the Minnesota Lynx‘s Courtney Williams. They also discuss what they think are the keys for both the Liberty and the Lynx going into Game 3.
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Megdal and Powell open the show by reviewing statements of determination from both Stewart and Williams. “Courtney Williams, talking to her … she said, ‘Our focus is to end in four,'” Megdal says. He asks Powell what Stewart’s goal is. Per Powell, Stewart “also wants to end in four.” Neither team wants to go back to New York.
Later on, Megdal and Powell go back in time and review Williams’ career, starting with the college days. “The 2016 [University of] Connecticut team was the best team I ever covered in any sport,” Megdal says. “Courtney Williams was unafraid of that team. That team that went and crushed everybody, Courtney Williams would get her shots up. They couldn’t stop her.”
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Megdal and Powell finish out the show by discussing what they think may happen in Game 3. “On the Minnesota side, we’re all gonna have our eye on how they start,” Powell says. “Reeve has been banging her gong, her drum … about her team getting off to better starts in the first quarter.” But, as Powell also says, “It’s only 25% coaching. The rest is what the players want and what they put into these games.”
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