October 6, 2023
Locked On Women’s Basketball: 2023 WNBA Finals preview
By Tee Baker
Will A’ja Wilson or Breanna Stewart lead their team to victory?
The Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty will battle in the 2023 WNBA Finals starting Sunday afternoon and, on today’s episode of Locked on Women’s Basketball, Matthew Walter and Jackie Powell join host Natalie Heavren to break down the matchup. The trio discuss the strengths of each team, what was learned in the semifinals and make their WNBA Finals predictions.
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Liberty beat writer Jackie Powell talks about Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello‘s message to her team as they prepare for this epic finals series.
“Something that kept coming out of Sandy Brondello’s mouth is this idea of them playing to themselves and not trying to be a team that they’re not,” Jackie said. “So what that means is not falling into the trap [of] trying to guard the Aces one on one; they have to be disciplined defensively and in stick to their principles, which has a lot of switching and help and zone principles.”
Aces beat writer Matthew Walter shares what he believes is the key to the Aces clinching this series.
“If you look back at the regular season matchups between these teams the Aces only had Candace Parker — who’s been out the majority of the year with injury — for the first [game],” Matthew said. “And the area the Aces have struggled with because they’ve lost Candace Parker is rebounding. [Rebounding] is something the Liberty are very good at; they were the number two team in the league in rebounding, number one in defensive rebounding…So they should come in with that same mindset of, we need to attack the glass, we need to protect the paint.”
The Liberty and Aces tip off in the 2023 WNBA Finals starting this Sunday, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC.
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