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RBTNHT Episode 14: Yo, what up, what up, what up, everybody? Welcome back to Real Basketball Talk for No Hot Techs. It's your boy Daniel Artess. And we gotta talk about game three of the WNBA Finals, man. And if you was inside State Farm Arena or on your couch like the rest of us, you watch a statement game. The Atlanta Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 97 to 71. I ain't gonna say beat. They just punked them, to be honest. Now they have two games to one in this best of seven series. You know, franchise record for points in for the Atlanta Dream in the finals game. You know, Also the Atlanta Dream led wire to wire. Not for a single possession they they they led in this game. You know. quick serious reset before we dive into this. Obviously we know Golden State took game one sixty eight, sixty-four. Atlanta answered back in game two, seventy nine and sixty five on the on the road, and then now game three at home and the dream are two wins away from first franchise championship ever. Alright, we gotta talk about Andrew Reese, man, put together one of another great individual finals performance. And somehow like it wasn't a one-woman show. Ryan Howard made history on the defensive end. The dream as a supporting cast showed up in a big way. And on the other side, Golden State has real answers. I mean real questions to answer before game four. Alright? So let's let's start with the obvious. We gotta talk about, like I say, Andrew Reese. Best player on the floor. Again, twenty-one points, twelve rebounds, three assists, three steals, seven of twelve from the field, two for two from the three, five or five from the line. She did it in like thirty-four and a half minutes. And she made it look easy, which was the wildest part, you know. Twenty and twelve in the finals is just what she does now, you know. But those two threes. mattered more in than the box score suggests, right? 'Cause like Angel, she she came to this game obviously, you know, with his with yeah, I didn't know though too I f I figured this, I found this out while I was doing some little research. The dreamer of 14 and this season when she makes a three point. You know? That's crazy. Like the building erupted when she hit when she hit that that that three in the first in the first quarter, man. She's jumping up and down, yelling. You know what mean? She got the whole Atlanta on tilt, what they call a Queen of the South now. You know what I mean? Like look what she's doing. Feeling herself all night. And that's a compliment. You know, in the first quarter, she's she's driving. She finished through contact against Guy. She got the foul call, turned around, yelled towards the bench, chest bumping Alicia Gray. You know what I mean? Yo, Angel Reese. Has set the tone in these finals, yo. And she's punking, she's talking so much mess. Like she's it looked like she went to the Daniel Artest book of trash talk and just talking to the talking to the crowds, talking to whoever listening, she's talking to them. You know? I really, I really enjoyed that. I really enjoyed that. I'm really enjoying what Andrew is doing right now. Legendary performance in the finals right now. Legendary. What is it, the youngest player in WNBA history to record a double double in three straight finals games? You know, she's the first player ever to open her finals career with three consecutive double doubles too. You know, and the second player after AJ Wilson to go for twenty and ten in consecutive finals games. That's crazy. Thirty years. And she's the second player after Aja Wilson to to go for twenty twenty and ten in consecutive in consecutive finals games? Wow. It's actually insane. Actually insane. You know, game two. What's she at? Thirty thirty and sixteen in game two? Crazy. Youngest player ever to go for at least thirty and fifteen in a game like that. John Quell and and Stewie did it in the finals themselves. Like she's Reese is inevitable. It's not just a hot take no more, man. It's a box score. Twenty twenty and ten. Or whatever she's doing right now. You know, one more thing. about injury I'm gonna move on because I really wanna talk about everything else. I don't want to talk about one player so long with I can do that. You know, like we already know what she was doing, man. Like she she played like the defensive player of the year. Three stills, man, just being a disruptor constantly. You know, and and what makes this performance scary for Golden State isn't really like the twenty one and twelve. It's just that she did it in a inside a c a complete team win. You know, she didn't really have to do the superhuman carry job that she that she That she did in game two. You know, five players at double figures. You know, this is the version of Atlanta that that can win a championship, man. You know, also Ryan Howard, sixteen points, four rebounds, four assists, five stills. You know, well she's the first player to have five or more stills in consecutive finals games. She has six skills in game two. They come back in five in game three, which is crazy. It's never been done before. You know. nice block on Tiffany Hayes at the rim. I think that was one of the plays of the game for me too as well. Setting the tone. You know, and we always talk about Ryan Howard's motor and everything. Like she played really good, got to the line, cashing at the free throw line too as well. You know, this was a very physical game. You know, I think Golden State got caught for 23 fouls, Atlanta, 29 free throws, whatever. You know, Ryan Howard's putting pressure on them. You know, and like here's what I keep coming back with with Ryan Howard. I feel like they have the best one two punch. In the series when they're when Angel and Ryan is playing well. You know, when you got Angel holding it down in the paint. Yo, she's in New York or well, in Queensbridge, where I'm from, we got a term when somebody's getting punked. Like just thugging them out. Angel's just thugging out
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the entire Valkyrie's front line. Doing the two small in their face, calling players bums. You can't F with me. This, that, and the other. my goodness, man. And then you got Ryan Howard. Playing Ryan Howard basketball that we all know what that she can do. You know. And then you got the Calvary. Jordan Canada, Naz Hillman. Or less. You know? Jordan Canada, eight ten points, eight or six, six rebounds. Steady, professional, ran the offense very well. You know, I think those eight assists pushed her past Andrew McCarthy for the most career playoff assists in Atlanta Dream history. Naz Hillman, she had 15 points on six or ten shooting, three or five from D. And and Nas Hillman wasn't really known as a three-point shooter. I really love how she changed her game since she came into the W. She was basically one of those players that was on their way out if they didn't, you know, switch their game up. And she really did that. And now she's one of the she's one of she's always been nice, man. She's always been a bucket, but you in the pros, you gotta you gotta. Gotta play different roles, you gotta start on that role. And she's doing that, man. She's doing that. Like I said, 15 points. What a game. Hitting three out of five from from three. Crazy. Career playoff game for her. You know, she had two big threes in that first quarter run. I think it was like a 10 2 run. She scored six of those. And that part right there was real the game, you could say the game started slipping away from Golden State right there. See they should slou slouching a little bit. You know, when when your energy play is hitting big threes, like what is the defense supposed to do? You know? And shout out to Isabel Ballas too as well. Australian W W NBL MVP. You know, she played really good, twelve points on ten shots, five rebounds, two assists, a block. Had a career play off high all around the board, plus twenty one off the bench. You know, you don't want to overhype the game, but listen. like that's type of performance from one of your from one of your others that that you really need. You really need your others to step up in big moments, man. And she and she did that. She did that. So let's talk about what happened to Golden State. And I want to be fair here because like obviously you know we ain't trying to bury a team off a off a bad night. But we also don't want to pretend that you know seventy one points in a finals game is is fine. You know Gabby Williams She she led the Valkyrie with 15 points on 18 shots, though. she shot five for 18. Yeah, she had eight assists too trying to make these plays, but the shots just didn't fall. Tiff Hayes had 14 off the bench. You know. But Golden State, man, y'all gotta be better, yo. Y'all gotta be better. because those those shooting numbers is brutal. 34% from the field, 24 for 69. Held the seventy-two seventy-two or fewer points in all three finals games. Y'all shooting thirty-five percent or worse in all three games. Turning the ball
over and letting Atlanta turn seventeen turnovers into twenty-two points. Y'all getting outscored in the paint, getting dominated in the paint. Forty-four to twenty. You know? Transition for the series. Yeah. Yeah, Atlanta scored forty three points in transition in the series and Golden State Valkyrie's only scored eleven. You know, and It's sad because Natalie Nikasi said in a press conference like, it's gonna be her team's best fight. You know, and then she said promises is not kept sometime. You know, like it it's like, man, I I just Yeah, Gabby Williams said it though in the press conference too. That they they played undisciplined. You know, the dream wanted it more than them. You know, no effort, no discipline, man. If this is a car, man, the warning light is on because they might be on the highway looking for triple A, man, in a in a heartbeat. You know? But yeah, man, I I don't want to write the the Valkyrie's obituary. Obviously, we know this is the best it's ever, every game is a different chapter. They won game one, their identity is defense. You know, game two, injuries came alive. Game three, everybody on the dream came alive. And now the Valkyries is in a two-one hole. You know? And this goes to show you in the offseason, the Valkyries is going to have to throw all the money to Kelsey Mitchell. to go there. They need a player that could create their own shot. You know, Gabby Williams, as much as I like her game, she plays, it's like when she's on, it's all good. But when she's shooting like this, like how she's shooting in these finals right now. you know she's best she best she's best for like that secondary role, you know I mean she's pippin' She can't be Maya Moore. She's more to Mika Catchins if anything. You know, they gotta get a scorer. True hell, Kelsey Plum, you know? Somebody that can get a bucket. They're gonna have to figure it out, man, because you know, game four, Saturday, one PM, back at Atlanta State Farm Arena. Gotta figure it out. So for Atlanta, the formula going into game four is simple. Do it again. Pound the paint. Turn your defense into transition. keep getting contributions from four or five players or more. If Nas Hillman and Isabel are giving you 27 combined off the bench again, you know, good luck to whoever's guarding that. For Golden State, it's adjustments. I think this series comes down to whether the Valkyries can muck it up. You know, you you cannot win a track meet with with this Atlanta dream team right now. You know, Golden State's path to winning this championship is the game one path. You gotta grind it out. You gotta you gotta play like that, you gotta defend. Grind it out. Keep that game keep that score in the sixties. Defend like the all defensive team that they are. Make Atlanta beat y'all in the half court. You know, the adjustment for Golden State is definitely on the defensive end. Keep your head up too. You know what I mean? I've seen those places slouching and stuff like, yeah. Basketball is a game of runs. The snowball effect is gonna happen. You just gotta fight through it. And also, y'all really gotta fight back too with with with Angel though. Because like she's first of all, she's she's just killing y'all on the offensive end, doing whatever she's doing on the defensive end, and then letting y'all know about it too. Letting y'all know. Like y'all, y'all can't, excuse my language. Sh she said, y'all can't fuck with her. That's what she said. And it's like you got like, where's the pride at at the end of the day? And I'm not saying you go out there and have an actual fight or nothing like that, but you gotta play with some pride. Where's the pride at at the end of the day? You gotta have pride. You gotta have some type of pride. All right, this is the finals, you know. I'm telling you because none of this stuff is guaranteed. You gotta understand something with the WBA. A lot of good players is coming across the water now because the W is giving out that money. So the talent pool's only gonna get better. You know what I mean? The path to the championships is only gonna get harder, so you might as well just do what you gotta do now. You know? Look, back in the 80s, Isaiah Thomas and Maggie Johnson used to kiss me for those games, and then Maggie Johnson laid that half foul, and then they became enemies. It's time to win. Somebody gotta make a stand to Angel, man. You just can't let nobody just come into your house like that. You know, you just not even come into your house. You just can't let nobody just punk you, just do whatever they want, just tell them. You know what I mean? So one thing I'm going I'm going to be watching for in game four is the the first five minutes. You know, because we are obviously we seen Atlanta came out hot in game three. Golden State never recovered. Like I said, they never even led if the Valkyries come out flat again in the building that's going to be absolutely rocking. It's over if they go up three one. You know? It's over. It's over. But alright though, let me get out of here though, man. That's that's that's the end of game three. Let me land the plane, I guess, or whatever. Atlanta Dream played their best game at the finals at home with their superstar player making history, supporting cast, playing out their mind. Golden State had a bad night on both ends. Everybody said though they self and now they trail in the series. You know, but listen, y'all. One blowout doesn't in a best of seven. The Valkyrie still have the defense to change this series. But we're gonna find out what they made of on Saturday. I'm Daniel Artes. This is Real Basketball Talk No Hot Takes. Brought to you by the 90450. If you enjoyed the show, you already know what to do. Subscribe, leave, leave a review. Tell a friend to tell a friend who loves hoops. Probably back at the game four. Alright? Y'all be safe. Love is love.