Alicia Gray, Ryan Howard, Atlanta discussed on The Her Hoop Stats Podcast
Automatic TRANSCRIPT
Good in defense. So you gotta be able to step up and be a better defense. Natasha, it helps in that regard, losing Alicia gray hurts in that regard. We'll see what they made up for in the train. I want to take it from Atlanta's perspective with Alicia gray too. I mean, this is interesting. Because obviously, this team is still really young. They have 5 players in the contract. So Cheyenne Parker, Daniel Robinson, who they just traded for, Ari McDonald, Ryan Howard, and not his helmet. Does the only 5 players in the contract in Atlanta right now? But you put Ryan Howard and Alicia grey together on the perimeter. We're talking about a really scary defense. That's legit. That's legit. Yeah. Yeah, that's legit. I mean, when you have players who bear down on the defensive end that way, amen, and their attention to detail. I mean, when you're talking about Ryan Howard and The Rookie season that she had, rookie of the year, right? And it's not just her offensive prowse. It goes back to what I was just saying. About your defensive energy and they understanding of what you provide as a defender. And now, like you said, adding gray. Side by side with her. I mean, I think that can rival, you know, what's here in D.C., right? Yeah. And tash can't hear me. But with clowns. You know, it's like it's a difference maker. When you have players who understand that's what you need from them, right? And they have pride in that side of the court. And on that side of the court. And what they want to and what they want to be held accountable to bring day in and day out. Not just in practice, like working each other over, right? No one gets a pass. Give it to you in practice. Like you're not going to be able to get by. And that's why that's why the great defensive teams get better because it's iron sharpens iron at the end of the day and practice is there going at each other with that level of physicality and energy and focus. So, you know, obviously in Atlanta, that's what they're going to. That's what they're going to have there too. And I think to what you said, they're like, this could rival one of the better defensive backwards if Ryan Howard continues to improve on that. And I think the other thing for this for Atlanta's perspective is like having Alicia gray mentor Ryan Howard at this age and just teaching her how to do the extra preparation, where the look, what are you looking for, like, how to be most efficient that preparation is like a maker that much better. Along with making this team really good. And I say this, I say the most interesting because you think of Atlanta and you think of future, right? So we're talking about Ryan Howard as a future superstar. Talking about Nas helmet as a player who could grow into, hey, maybe not starter, but a really solid bench release, Ari McDonald's, a pretty good point. I mean, she ends up being a backup. She's a really good backup pointer. So you think, right? Like, okay, Atlanta shouldn't be the team giving up draft capital. Atlanta should be the team, you know, kind of kind of looking at it and saying, okay, we'll take a step back and we'll wait our turn. They're not waiting their turn. They're putting up on the gas. They're bringing Alicia gray and I'm sure they're doing more in free agency. I'm sure there's stuff to have down the ballot because they won't give up draft picks if they didn't think that they would be getting players to compete. This year next year whenever. As soon as Ryan Howard's ready to compete, they want to be able to compete, which I think is smart. And this goes to another thing I want to talk about is like the changing landscape of the WNBA. Okay. Because obviously we've talked about Connecticut, Connecticut's looking like they're going to drop back a little bit. Right. We look at a team like Chicago. If WNBA free agency goes crazy and according to at least, Ken sparkly. That's a team, that's a team that's going to take a step back as well. You look at Seattle. Another team that is potentially taking a step back if free agency goes insane. And you look at Phoenix and Phoenix is a wild card just because we all know about Britney grinders, health and condition. Obviously, we hope that her and Diana can circle the wagons, but no Skyler didn't Smith. So that's 19 that you're looking at their talent level and you're saying, well, they also took a step back. And Skylar, I'm guessing there's going to be a trade for Schuyler soon just because that's. You know, she's expecting. Right. And she's expecting, right? Yeah. And she's going to be out for she's going to be out for some time. Unsure about how long, but seems like she's going to be out for some time. So Phoenix and Larry, so we're talking about four teams there. That could be moving back. Right. And Atlanta is looking at this and saying, why can't we be a team that moves up? Right. And I think that's really that's really interesting. Yeah. Say that last part again, because Natasha's ceiling. Just the last question. So Atlanta's looking at those four teams saying, okay, they can fall back. Last year, we were almost in the play. We were in the playoff race. We had a change in the cloud first. If Reinhardt takes a large step this year, where are we? We're looking at, we're looking at being a mid tier playoff team. We're looking at a chance to get to the second round. We're looking at a chance to maybe make a run in the playoffs. And so I think I'm not sure it's smart, and I'm not saying it's smart. Right. But it's cool. It is. And it's something that I think takes some guts and maybe some knowledge. Maybe some knowledge on Dan pad over's part to understand where this league is going. And to take a bold step like this and acquiring Alicia gray. And I think there's going to be more from them, like I said. Yeah, absolutely. I agree with that a 100%.