We Are the World (Cup), With Alexa Philippou

(upbeat music) - Okay. - Pa, you know, that's. - Yeah, we are. - Also too, we are the world. We are the world. Well, we are doing a pod. Welcome, Alexa, to the Ringer WNBA show. I am so grateful to have you on here. What we'll do is you'll bring the insight and I'll bring the energy because you have watched four straight quarter-final games from the arena and you've been kind enough to make the time to hang out with me a little bit here and just recap what you've seen, the sights and sounds of Berlin. I was thinking, well, we should probably start with Team USA's win over Hungary. It felt like a blueprint for the Americans at their best in a way, swarming defense, tight rotations, getting out in transition, sharing the ball, the three-point dam finally broke, the half-core offense, which I thought was the most crucial point, looked way more coherence. And as your colleague, Michael Bobo puts it, when this team is going, it's like the Avengers. It's like every actor is an Oscar level performer. What was your take away from the win against Hungary, who stood out to you? What were the sights and sounds? - Yeah, well, first of all, thank you for bringing the energy because I'm just, my time is all mixed up. Like, I'm not fully on, you know, Berlin time or whatnot. So we're gonna do this great and we're gonna-- - I have so much belief in you. - I was so excited to come and talk about it. So that's like, we're gonna do it, we're gonna have some hopefully coherent thoughts for the fans. So yeah, I think the take away from USA, the folks over there thought that was their best performance of the tournament. And I think that aligns with what you just described. And it was because they were able to do it on both ends. It felt like they were playing to the identity that we kind of have come to see this group emerge into. I thought the Fisa Collier strong start was a really good sign 'cause, you know, this is actually crazy. I didn't realize this still acted the game. So on the senior team, her career high and scoring going into this game was 12 points, which is what she had against-- - Really? - Yeah, and so this 19 was now her new high from playing with the senior team. So I think, you know, I've seen like this course online about fee and people playing all this stuff. This actually your first world cup, the last world cup. She was coming back from having Nila. So I just thought the last two games in particular, the way that she looked really aggressive and was really impactful, you know, and productive. I thought was a really good sign. And I think you're going to need her, especially, you know, some of the, their depth issues. - Yeah, she seems like-- - It seems like she really set the tone for this starting group that we've all had a lot of thoughts on whether or not certain players should be in the starting lineup. But they came out defensively. I think her rotations were incredible. There was a back-to-back play where she drove to the rim for a layup and then she blocked her teammate, Dorka Yuhaz, on a fade away, which is really hard to block at Dorka's length as well. But that's just fee. I think her understanding of angles and her pliability has always just made her capable of taking up more of the court than her raw height or wingspan would ever suggest that she could. And that was kind of the theme of the game for her, right? Like the team high 19 points, but also holding Dorka to one for 12 shooting at the same time is I think probably the second biggest stat line of the game. Just love the way she set the tone. Yeah, 100%. I feel like you saw Stewie do that the last game. But Stewie had a really good game last game. Now it was kind of fee. And so that's like the beauty of this America team is that it has to be the same person each game versus a hungry where it's like you really are leaning on someone like Dorka has to show up. Her and that other post player that was one of their better players, like only finishing two points. Yeah, you're not going to, you know, certainly not going to meet the Americans that way. And so that thought that was really good. And it was fun to see more of her run for the younger folks at the end because it's not. And I also thought Kalea Copper had some really good moments. And as she struggled earlier in the tournament, that was good to see her kind of finding a little bit of a god have some some impact to on defense. So I thought that was putting together little moments and collectively ended up being at the two point one. Yeah, I mean, I think I think we finally saw like the depth and like the way that it can accumulate like and the way that they can just like kind of physically beat you down like the sort of everybody had their moment. And it just felt like they came in waves and waves and waves. And I think even the post game, they talked about not wanting to let their foot off the gas just because they were up. And like everybody kind of had their contributions, right? Like you had, I think I think Kale was great. Angel was great. She goes four for five, six rebounds, three assists, three stocks. Aliyah hit two, three. It's like I think she's like she was like one of the first shooters to really get going. But then also I think Caitlin Clark, I thought was was exceptional on just how she set the pace. Her and Angel kind of concurrently the way that they set the pace, right? Like that's one of the things that's awesome about the young intern lineup is you basically have Caitlin surrounded by the players who are getting the most deflections on this team. Like Ryan Howard is getting a ton of steals. Angel Reese is getting a ton of deflections. Aliyah's been great at that front as well. And then you have her with Paige and Caitlin, like she said, like, you know, she loves fasteners teams. She never feels like anybody's going to miss. But it's kind of fun to watch her in this role that doesn't really require her to be a scorer either, right? Like she's functioning as this like accelerating force. Like she's like grabbing goes ahead of heads early actions. Like the quick entry passes, like some couples like seals that Angel had like before anybody could possibly be prepared. Like Caitlin just hit her head and like, it was interesting. It was fun to watch them find more of their identity too. Because like this is going to be the future of American basketball as well. And for them to turn the defense into offense and just kind of give the opponent a different look with their speed was really fun to watch. And also just like, you know, peace in America, peace in the nation any time. Caitlin Clark finds Angel Reese for for for layup. Like anytime those two are running a pick and roll together, it's like, OK, we are one right now. Yeah, exactly. I remember their first, the first All-Star game where they're on the same team. And it was like this. I forgot who tweeted it or, you know, it was like a viral tweet with like the fans wearing like to get a long shirt. And that's, I just couldn't help but think that. Like this is a big moment where like everyone can just be. We are the world, right? Like exactly. Yeah, it was really fun to see. It was really, there was like that sequence. Or it was maybe across five minutes, I think, into the first. There was that they'll play the end of the first quarter. And then to start the second quarter where Caitlin was finding Angel. And then there was a play. I don't know if it was the second quarter if it was later on where I think Angel found Caitlin and transition maybe or something like that. So I love, there's such a complimentary players. And it's really fun to see them. Not, you know, like who knows in a few weeks, they might be playing for a spot in the semi-finals. The WB play now, like they work so well in the court together along with the rest of the lineup as you just spelled out. So it's, yeah. Yeah, like Caitlin wants a big who runs, screams well, rebounds, can get the offensive boards in her back, re-sbenefits so much from someone who can just like see her like wide open in the post and can, and set her up for open layups. Like it's a pretty natural basketball matchup. You have been around this team in person. You've also covered previous iterations of the USA basketball team. What do you think this team has learned about itself that it didn't know, like, you know, 10 days ago or a couple of months ago? I mean, I think it's in a lot of respects. It's finding that identity because not only do you have all those younger players that are playing for the senior national team in a major tournament for the first time, but then, you know, I know you and Jackie talked a lot about on the last podcast, the ripple effects of not having an Asia Wilson on the floor. So the team did have to shift its identity when, you know, you can't just sit at the ball in the Asian and you can get you, you know, a third of the team's points, like in the middle game and in Paris. And so I think that identity is kind of, and then how you mesh the old with the new. And I think, you know, it's funny to watch, you know, there's some fans that are like, oh, just go all with the young players and then-- - Yeah. - There's always that back and forth, but I think with USA basketball in particular and you saw it in summer strikes, I'm not saying you have to go all one way or all the other, but the importance of having experience veterans on in a high pressure situation that's only gonna be more valuable as we get into like the middle rounds and, you know, these next two games. And so I think how Kara, Lawson, and staff are trying to mel the older. For experience players with the younger players, how that works with rotations, how that works in big pressure moments. a lot of ways to work in progress. They keep reminding us to have been together 10 days with this team. And so I'm excited to see how that kind of comes in fruition 'cause, you know, I don't think Hungary was necessarily the toughest competition and Italy was such a great test. So I want to see how they do against Spain and then against either France or Germany and if they make it into the one-metal game. - Yeah, it is funny that you bring that up because, like, yes, there has been sort of this dialogue, like the youth versus the age. But yeah, all my favorite lineups have been, the ones that have incorporated both, like whether it was like young and intern was dewey and then this summer at, I really liked, like the, "Kateland" page on a Fisa Collier, Jackie Young and Olivia Boston lineup. Like that was really fun. Do you have a favorite lineup so far? - No, I agree with you. I don't know if I have a favorite lineup, I just, I agree that I felt like, especially early on, you saw it more bifurcated, if that's right for you, is I don't trust my brain right now. - That's a perfect word, you ate that. - Okay, well, I'm trying, no, it's very rare. It's like, it was a lot of, you know, the older, I don't say older, they're not old. They're more veteran experience players. - Yeah, wait, how about we do, they're older and that's actually fine and that's a good thing. - Yeah, what if, what if, what if, what if old is in neutral phrase? - Yeah, well, it is a fact that they're older. It's like, old. And if they're old, then what am I? 'Cause I'm technically, they're closer to our age. So we're not using it predominantly. - No, we swear or not. - Or veteran experience lineup. They felt like, you know, especially early on, it was like a lot of them together, then a lot of the younger players were better, but when, and when they're able to meld that, and that's where I'm almost like, I wish, you know, I was actually talking about this with Doug Feinberg today, the last real cut, they had five games in group player, you know, the pool play. You had more time to kind of figure out lineups and to figure out rotations and how everything came together. Now I'm sure the players would prefer to play two fewer games, which they're gonna have this time around with only six versus eight. But, you know, an older version of the World Cup, you would have more time to figure everything out. - Right. - You're that out on the fly even now more than ever with the way it's a good point. - I thought that, I actually forgot about that. And I was, I don't know how 'cause I was there, but I was like, oh yeah, there were a lot more pool play games, but I want to see, you know, it seems like each game, the rotation's obviously, you know, Kara's still kind of tinkering her things on the Saturday, kind of what they come up with. And if we see anything new, or maybe what we saw more today. - Well, I mean, if they keep winning, I feel like they're probably not gonna change too many things. 'Cause there is that sort of extra element too, of like once you change the starting line up, it becomes like such a big story that you'd rather just like ride with what you have just to keep the outside noise at bay. - Especially the, again, you're going with experience to veteran players you've been having before. Just let them at least start the game off on a, you know, hopefully on a good foot and then go from there. - Yeah, look, if they start games out the way that they did today, then, you know, you can't really complain about it, right? Is there anybody, any person, any dynamic, even a coach that's like stood out to you just from being there in person? - That's weird 'cause like today was really my first real day around. I mean, I was at practice yesterday, but I think my first game kind of around, or first day around the team in like a game setting, who stands out in person. I mean, I just, I have been keeping my eyes on Stewie 'cause I think at the end of it, I know you guys actually a lot about-- - Hey, we can talk a lot about Stewie. - Yeah, I know where it is. (laughs) That whole conversation. But I just think like when the rubber meets the road, like this is, this is their captain, this is their leader and look at how she's interacting with not just the, you know, the younger players, but it was actually funny. She mentioned yesterday how, 'cause I was asking her about it. She's like, yeah, we don't really have like that many rookies in New York, so this is kind of like a newer-- - Ooh. - More well recently, it's been a newer experience for a half to kind of work with all these younger players. So I'm looking at her and how she's gonna try and like pour into that, collect the group as a whole. I'm thinking back to how Tina Charles said, I think it was in the studio show for the Italy game. Like she was looking for that person to tell the group, that that's enough, like we're in now. And I think that's gonna be Stewie, if they get into that situation over the next few days. So I'm really, even a close eye on her. Just as that. - That's interesting. - The leader of the team. - Yeah, one thing about Stewie that is so cool is I think one of her superpowers is just her ability to connect with all kinds of different people. So like when you do have this team that is, like she is a bridge, right? Like she is a bridge between the young generation and the people who have the more experience of veteran players and whatnot. But like, I you notice it, like even on the bench, like she's always talking. So that one makes sense. What's it been like in Berlin? Like can you feel, do you feel that the World Cup is going on, are there people in jerseys? Or like a vibe about town? - Yeah, so definitely like in this, I'm like kind of staying within walking distance to the arena. And I'd say that little area there's, it's been really fun to see all sorts of different jerseys, all sorts of different, you know? Obviously a lot of German fans, which is awesome 'cause Germany is now in the semi-finals. - Yeah, yeah. - Literally like today, they were like, this is the greatest day in the history of German women's basketball. I was like, oh, I guess it really is. So it's really fun to see those folks come out, and you know, people from Italy and France and Belgium, you know, all the different countries that were still in it came out strong. You know, America, I wouldn't say even with the, yes, there's Clark fans and Becker fans and Angel fans, and I saw like a Supreme A.S. Gujursey earlier today. - You see like some of that, but it's not this like overwhelming, oh my gosh, it's fans of these American players who are taking you over. I would say it's definitely like a diverse crowd, and like if it were a Germany USA game, I think the German fans would totally, you know, I'll pace like the fans of the USA. So it's fun. - It's fun to see, yes, there's kind of what you expect, but it's not this complete, you know? You know, I feel like when you go to a fever game, for example, or a wings game, it's like, oh my gosh, we're well-mining all these people here. - Yeah. - Fans that like, they're not people there, but it's just like, it just feels like people are here for the basketball, not just the player. I don't know if that made any sense, but. - No, that actually does, 'cause I've been thinking about this dynamic. Obviously, as a WNBA wants to explain globally, I wonder if it's not really necessarily about exporting women's basketball as much as it is actually attaching people's idea of the brand of women's basketball to the WNBA. And now, of course, you have more international players than ever that are going into the WNBA because of expansion, because it's a lot more lucrative than it used to be. But like, there was a time that it was the opposite. There was a time that looked like Brianna Stewart is a Euroleague MVP. Chelsea Gray has played overseas. Leoni Fibic, who we should talk about, has actually played in each of the countries that is going to the semi-finals, which is incredible. It's just the women's basketball in Europe is not like something that people aren't paying attention to. It's really more about attaching those two. Like, when you're thinking about exporting the WNBA brand, it really just is about the WNBA, which is really cool and interesting. And obviously, there's the national pride aspect of it too that I imagine figures into it for a lot of people. But I thought that scene in Germany, in the arena after Germany won, was just so cool. The crowd was so into it, there were people in tears. The painted faces was funny because Belgium and Germany have the exact same colors. So that, but I do imagine most of the people that had their faces painted were doing it in support of Germany. But that was just so cool. Going to the semi-finals for the first time in the history of the country for the World Cup. And after really building their program back up as well, going from qualifying for your basket qualifying for the Olympics, beating Brazil in Brazil, I think that was a huge win for them in the qualifiers a couple of years ago. And then to get to your first World Cup semi-final on home court with your fans cheering for you, like what a moment for Leoni Fibic, she was German, what a homecoming moment for Olaf Lange, who was born in Berlin as well. Yeah, just super cool. Like take me inside of that. Yeah, no, so it's interesting because I wasn't here for the group phase games. And so I was here for the Germany game yesterday. Was I yesterday or that two days ago? Oh my gosh, they're the game that they played to get into the quarter finals. And the crowd wasn't like that great there. And I was really disappointed. I never kept raving about the crowds for the earlier games, but I think that one was such a tight turnaround. It was harder to sell tickets. And so I think we got this what we had tonight, was I think they said the crowd was around 10,000, but they opened up a good portion of the upper deck of the arena. And I couldn't take video of it because if you take video people come and get out of the house. that you. Oh, yeah. That's funny. But if you look at the one still picture I posted on Twitter, you can see it's like, yeah, it was like a great crowd. And it's really cool to see how much it matters to these players to someone like Olaf, like you were saying, they had to pour so much into building this program into what it is now. And to do it, there's a lot of pressure too to have to do it when you're hosting. If they had, you know, about a really early, they had that really devastating loss. I think it was just to Spain to start the tournament. And so like they could have very well just kind of folded there. But instead they showed like, you know, like, no, we're going to, you know, try and fight for this opportunity to win a medal on our home soil. They did it without saw too, sobly, which, you know, amazing, really amazing, given the circumstances and, you know, Leo, I thought you brought her up earlier. She was so locked in in the beginning and she was doing everything. You know, she always did that player to does whatever the team needs to win. But when she was starting to hit those threes early on, she didn't really make a ton of shots, basically the second half of the game. But Olaf said that those shots, it just kind of like set the tone for the team and helped them excel a little bit like, okay, Leo's here. You okay? And yeah, it was just, you could tell like talking to the German players, just how special and some of them are, you know, some of them played either in the W or they played collegially over in the States, but like further national team and what they've done, it was pretty special. So it felt like a culmination. And then like I said, like all those folks said, this was like probably the best night in the history of German women's basketballs. Like that's pretty amazing that, you know, they did that. We were in the mix zone and oh, this is, this is one funny story. I'm talking with a Louisa Geisels loader and I asked her a question and she was answering and she was like trying to answer the question, but you could tell like in the locker room, they were all trying to like do the thing where they all gather and cheer and yell and celebrate. And so this pure woman is literally dragging her way. I was just trying to answer my question and I could tell she was like, I know, just like just go girl, like go celebrate. You can call this like, you know, before you're screaming and yelling and celebration that was like happening directly behind the mix zone where their locker room must have been. So I hadn't heard that yet during the tournament in my, you know, few days here and around, but clearly that was something that meant a lot to that group. They still want more. They, they, they were reminded that France beat them in the Olympic quarterfinals and that is something that they have. Wow. That's, that's okay. So we got a little bit of spice going then. That's good. I love that. I love that because France is on its own revenge tour right now. So this is like an inception, like it's seen, but it's like there's also they've got someone on their back as well. I do want to talk about France, but before that, I just got to give a shout out to Nihara Sobli, who what a moment for her to have her best game of the tournament, 16 points, 12 rebounds, and also just like, you know, kind of coming in feeling like maybe she's like like playing at 75%. Even even Leo, right? Like both those players have like dealt with a ton of injuries as Germans got in general. Like I think they're resilient that they've had really should be applauded and Frida Buener as well. I think Portland fire probably like low key sneaky winners in all of this right now because like Frida and Yana Martin are both playing exceptional basketball right now. Yeah. So France also moves on. They obliterate China. China kind of hangs on for the first quarter there. The way that is like a little bit interesting. But essentially, I think Dom Longa comes into the game and basically changes the complexion of that game with her size. It seems like they were kind of trying to have her play similar minutes to Zhang Zhu so that they could have like a big on a big, but you know, for as much as we talk about the Americans and their sort of their identity shifting and then kind of like trying to figure out how to pass a torch from the young players to to the older players. I look at this France team. I'm like, okay, you're going through an identity ship right now. And this is, I mean, this is a very, we are the world to take that I'm about to have right now. But like the one, one of the things that I noticed with this tournament, especially watching France, is that like the game is just melding together. Like the American style is distinct. The French style, yes, there's some distinction, Spain is I think particularly distinct in how they play. But like, it's all kind of collapsing, you know, like in the WN, the WN European basketball, there's just so much cross-ballination, right? So you have these French players and there's this fantastic article written by Eden Loss over at the athletic about the French program and their development. And they talk and she talks a lot about Marine Johannes and how Marine Johannes grew up watching highlights of American basketball players. And you can, you can feel it. Like there are, there are, she's not the only one because then I went down this wormhole and it's like Janelle Salon grew up idolizing Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards, who are probably the most representative American basketball players of like individual scoring, confidence, and bravado. And you have, like Janelle is one of the best tough shot makers that we have. Carla Lay grew up watching Kelsey Plum in Kyrie Irving. And she also took a very interesting path. Like she didn't go the in-cept route. And you have this team that has kind of consistently had this ethos of like we before me. But now they have been imbued with these, like these kind of like individualistic, like I want to score on you type of players. And it's given them this amazing balance. And they're also running pick and roll. Like they're the Portland fire or something. Like they are running pick and roll all game long in a way that's like it is very reminiscent of every of any American team that you've seen. There's just her players that are, they're very highlight-pilled. Like you can tell that they, like the globalization of the game and like the YouTubeification of it allowed them to like see these games that like they wouldn't have normally have seen this style that they wouldn't have normally have seen. And you see this on the court with this generation. It's really fun to watch. Yeah, that's, that's a really interesting point. Also, I didn't know if YouTubeification is a word, but now I made it up right now, yeah. I'm like okay, I'm gonna file that one for later use. But as you were talking about the kind of what this generation of this French team brings, something that came up today is it's not just from the basketball standpoint and what translates across culture. But Gabby Williams was talking about how the culture of this team had to change where they weren't, you know, people that made the national team, like couldn't just be happy to be there. It's like no, like the culture now, like we're expecting to win. And you know, I think the French players are very, you know, they're not shying away from saying like we want to win gold. Like we want to avenge what happened in Paris, like that devastating loss. And they believe they have the talent to do so. But Gabby, obviously someone who's been experienced, but being kind of the leader of that change in culture. And I was asking Marina about it. And she was like yeah, Gabby sometimes is mean to us. But you know, it's because like she's because she can, you know, she's demanding a thing from herself that she's demanding from everyone else. But Gabby also mentioned the confidence of which made me think of kind of what you're saying of that, like oh no, like some of these players are like, no, we're just going to go ahead and score. It's not necessarily the weover me. It is the weover me in terms of the goals. But in terms of like having that confidence to win, to do what they want to do individually, but then also win together, that's something that Gabby really encouraged his team to have too. So I think that all kind of kind of compliments each other puts together. And I mean, it would be hell the story of they still find a way to come back and knock off USA and the gold medal. I mean, again, we have to get through the semifinals. Get through the semifinals. Yeah, but it would be. It would be. I mean, it was like I see the vision. It's like you start to kind of see it's come together. And there's definitely hunger there. And the basketball has been right there too. I mean, they're that scoring team in the tournament. I think they're still shooting 50 plus percent from the field and 40 plus percent from three throughout the World Cup. That's pretty incredible through four games. Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing, right? If they can continue to shoot this way, they'll be good. All right, before I let you go, let's talk about the semifinals really quickly. What's it? We would just talk about France. So let's do Germany versus France. A couple of things that I think are going to be important are how how much can Germany just survive like the defensive point of attack pressure, what like Gabby Williams, Lilacon, Carla Lee, even Janelle Salon, who I think is growing a lot as a as a defender as well. And then you have Dom and you know, they just have so so much defensive talent. And it puts a lot on Leo Febich. She was kind of like for this Germany team has become sort of like a primary creator. Maybe free to be in her can step up and and be a little bit of a release valve there, but that just seems to be really, I feel like that, that'll be a really big swing sort of X-Factor is there. And Febich in general, like she is a sort of like chess piece. of all of this. If she can like score, then she can attack some mismatches. If she can find a way to take up all of Gabby Williams' defensive attention, then I think maybe there's a pathway towards an upset for Germany here, especially if Nearis Abelie can win the match against Dominique Malonger, at least dictate it in a way that allows Germany to play their game. But what are your thoughts on that matchup? Yeah, I think you have the nail in the head. I have a hard time seeing Germany coming away with the upset if you don't get really, you know, breakout, more or less games, unless you want to call this the breakout game that they had, but you know, breakout games, essentially, from Leo and Niara. I think, I mean, I thought part of the reason why today was so successful for them is that it wasn't just those two, like they were fairly balanced. I think they ended up with six players in double figures, just their point shooting across the board. I mean, they hit 11-3s. So I think it's going to be a tall task. I just think that France, you know, it's hard to pick against them the way they're playing right now. And like you said, like the way that their defense is, it's just like such a headache to go up again. So I think France is still heavily favored. I kind of, I feel silly saying this, but like I do feel like the home court factor is definitely a thing. Like I really win a game, but like that is definitely real. There are French, you know, French fans here and, you know, they've come out, but like I feel like that's kind of lifted, you know, of this German crew up to now. So I think I'd pick France very curious to see if they can kind of, you know, manage that initial kind of onslaught and how that kind of can pan out from there. But I hope that Lisa closed game because she needed some of those, I think. Definitely. No, the home court makes it interesting. Like there is a world in which maybe you know, Germany gets off to a good start and the French team looks a little bit rattled. The thing though is I just think they have so many different ways that they can adjust. Like I think, I think Germany, they'll want to beat you on the boards, right? But the French team just has so much size. Like they can just go to like Valerie, I, I, I, I, you with Dom Malonger. And like put Janelle Swan at the space they want to, like they can go big, they can go to like these guard lineups and just run different the actions with Dom, Dom Malonger that all look very different because like Carla Lay is different than Pauline Astia, who is different than Lilla Can, who is different from Janelle Salon. Like they have so much variability and how they can attack you that I feel like, as long as they have the poise to hit the right shots and the right moment, like or play the right pieces in the right moments, I should be okay. But I do like you, I do hope that maybe we get a little, a little bit of movie magic or a little bit of home cook and just to make it, just to make it interesting, just to make it interesting. But I am ultimately rooting for France to win because I really want to see that USA friend, France match up. But they have to all beat Spain. What are you thinking for that match up? Well, it's so funny because I, I mean, I, one thing actually meant to say earlier is I was at the last real cup in Australia and I know, you know, being, there's more, it's easier probably for a lot of people to get to Europe than Australia. But like the, there's so much more media I felt like here than the last real cup. And I think that's just another testament to the growth of women's basketball across the board. So I did want to give that shout out. But in the mix zone, there's already people asking like the American players and the French players about that possible match up in the gold medal game. And I just think of, you know, of course the players were like, oh, like, you know, one game at a time. We're not trying to get too ahead of ourselves. But yeah, it definitely feels like everyone is expecting slash once that to be what we see as like that, you know, gold medal game on on Sunday. Yeah, I think for the US, like, I know it sounds cliche, but they really have talked about building each day and I think, or each game and I think after what happened with Italy, it's like you want to see even if there's adversity or things aren't as easy as they were against Hungary because Hungary is not going to be as good as Spain, that they're still like able to respond and like figure work through things and figure things out, make those adjustments in real time so that they can, you know, you know, I not have a complete repeat of what happened that other that other game. I want to see if, you know, players like we can continue to build, you know, if we see a little bit more from even some of like the younger players, getting worked into the lineups with with the more experienced veterans. So I think you're like that big picture of how they continue to build. And one thing that they even said today was like that chemistry, like they feel like it's already so much stronger now than it was, you know, at the beginning of when they got to Berlin. So how does that even help after another day or two of being together on the floor? So looking at that, really curious to see how, you know, the post-matchup goes with you got make up system now though, you got Alfaam. I'm really excited to see Martini against, you know, her future WBA opponents, I guess, you know, that's like vintage of her in this in this setting and I'm sure all the Portland Fire fans are excited for that too. I am really excited for that because she has just been such a standout throughout the course of this tournament. Her decision-making, her shooting, she just has so much more poise and she even had, you know, six months ago as well and she's only 20 years old. So now you have this opportunity for her to say, okay, what do I actually look like against these WNBA players that I'm going to be playing against very soon? Like what does it look like now when you throw Klee a copper on me or when you throw Jackie Young on me or when I come off of a screen and it's the FISA Collier or Brianna Stewart and her seven-foot wingspan. I am really excited to see because there are a couple moments, like even in this in this game just now, we're like, you know, she had some moments where she was thrown off. Yeah, and I was, but I was like very impressed with her ability to roll with the punches and just sort of like adjust throughout the course of the game. So I'm just excited to see that. And then like, yeah, that big matchup, I think it's going to be really, really fun. I would love to see more of the Aliyah Boston Angel Reese front-core matchup as well. Like, I just, I just think that that's a duo that like hasn't had a ton of time together but has been like really fearsome when they have it on the court together. And if you are dealing with like Awa and Meg Gustafson at the same time, then that probably is, yeah, is like what you have to do. Or you can go really guard heavy, get some potential Iowa versus Iowa action going, try to put Caitlin Clarke in some, in some actions going downhill against Meg Gustafson or trying to create space and get her three-pointer off. I don't lose a blooper's not gonna, not gonna like the outcome of that for her, for her girl, Meg, but that option's definitely there. And it's one that like, I'm, I'm curious if and when the Americans like end up leaning into like they, they tried, they dictated this game with their defense and that created offense. I wonder if we'll ever see a game where they're like, we're gonna dictate this with our offense. Like, oh, you want to play your two bigs at the same time. Okay, Awa fam is going to be able to keep up there. But Meg Gustafson not so much and they open this game in his own. And I just don't think that you can do that against the Americans, like the Americans will just exploit it and shoot over you. But I do think, I do think it'll be interesting. And on the other end, I actually like, the thing I'm looking for the most as far as like this tent, it's like sort of like 10-day building chemistry thing that you've been talking about is like, how well does the US team actually deal with not the first rotation, but the second and the third and the way that Spain, what they want to do is kind of spread the floor and make it death by a thousand cuts and a thousand actions. And they will play 24 seconds into the shot clock. And they're not really going to get overwhelmed. They have just players that are really good at reading the game and holding their space. And what is like, what does that look like when you ask this team to like consistently defend, you know, I think it's just, I think it's like the right test you want as long as you win before you have to take on a team like Spain. Obviously, the hardest team that they've played thus far, but yeah, I'm really excited for that matchup. Yeah, I think, like I think having Spain to, you know, be your opponent before potentially making the final, like I'd rather have to face Spain then, I don't know, maybe the weird things could happen with, you know, if it was Belgium or, you know, in Germany, like, I don't know, I just like, and then it works out pretty potentially that you have potential rematch with USA friends. So I think this kind of makes sense in the progression of things. But what a fun, you know, what a fun Spain team between like some of their work experience players, like this youth movement in a sense that they have to with all the green, really cool to see so many of these younger WBA players are, you know, soon to be WBA players, like having these like really strong tournaments. It just like goes to show how, you know, the future is in such great hands. And yeah, so I think it's going to be really exciting to see and, yeah, I feel like each, each gay and like, you know, what other wrinkles do we get to see their throwing stuff or just like new, you know, to different players that are doing different things or stepping up in a new way so. that's kind of like the fun part of absolutely like this and everything to you just again then you have to move on in the next game because the next game after this would be either the gold medal game or the bronze medal game. So we'll have to see how they on it. Yeah, it's going to be super fun. It is very fun to just put a bunch of great players together and you know see who ends up being the leader, see who learns why like it's an amazing experience even if you're if you're Kiki Irifin or Sonya Citroen that you get to even soak the experience of watching how Brianna Stewart and then the Fisa Collier works like it's it's it's it's it's fun stuff. All right, Alexa, I'm gonna ask you one more thing. I didn't I didn't plan to ask you this, but I just realized I would be irresponsible if I did not have you on and if I if I had you on and I did not ask you, go under your head who's the next WNBA commissioner. Oh god. I don't know. I think if it was gun to my head, I'd be like shrug emoji. God tells me my gut tells me that it's not you know these people that have kind of been out there like that first round of names you hear it's it's going to be someone whose name creeps up at the end and then yeah that that's what my gut tells me. Well, you wrote a piece detailing a bunch of different candidates for for ESPN just a couple of days ago. So so I'm saying yeah I don't think it's going to be any of them kind of you don't oh interesting interesting. The purpose of that piece was like these are the names that like people around the league have kind of possibilities. I don't know it's such an interesting thing too it sounds like the search process is it you know like obviously Kathy Engelberg submitted her ideas as kind of this whole discussion started within the league but I think the actual formal search process like I don't know if they've decided yet my understanding is I haven't decided yet on whether or not they're going to hire that process of you know kind of looking at this is is going to be kind of happening over the next but before the end of the month I guess or if not sooner. So yeah it feels like all very fluid and not totally defined and I'm not totally sure what that means yet but um yeah I guess if I had to take like okay I guess what I'm saying is if I had to take like the field over some of the names that we've heard so far I think I'm keeping the field because I feel like it's going to be like this like curveball yeah when we're not expecting that's just my gut though. Interesting I that was the most uh the part of your reporting that raised the biggest eyebrow from me was the timeline that they'll start later this month if not sooner so that made me think okay that means they probably had someone in mind for a while now I am fascinated by the process of all of this like how do you find the right commissioner what kind of interviewing do you put them through do you put them through test scenarios it's just it's it's it's very interesting and we'll see also last time around the PA had an opportunity to interview a couple different candidates as well when they went when the league ultimately went with Kathy and over it and they seemed you know like at the time they seemed happy with Kathy and heard as well just how it goes at the start of any relationship right but interested to see um who ends up having the like sway there as well I feel like I don't know it's just gonna be interesting I think it'll tell us a lot about like what Adam Silver wants the next decade of WNB stewardship to look like how much of players were consulted in all of that um yeah well I want to highlight a piece of reporting within that article that he actually came from our my colleague Ramona Shelburn that basically like you know so far what we've heard is that like the league is open-minded to like not necessarily having to have someone that comes from that like corporate business world background and the side we did that I just I mean that feels like it could mean a lot of different things let's say a little bit unconventional um yeah I also think though like a former ambassador to the U.N. would be super unconventional that would be unconventional um I just think it would be interesting to um you know there's been a lot of talk of okay like no matter who they hire as new commissioner do they need to have someone in a role that can like kind of better bridge that gap between different teams and the league office um because that used to be like a you know there's this woman Renee Bout Brown who basically was in that role um for years and years and years and you know one person even told me it was like she was always around and we couldn't get rid of her like to that example you know in a way that ended up being you know helpful because it kind of um was the opposite of maybe what was happening now with some of that um kind of separation that we're saying so and then she that that role was never filled or what um I guess like the way at least it was like the way that like what was her capacity of that role it was never completely replicated um um once she left the things she left um I want to say around the time at least of borders left but I would have got it so don't don't all me to that people but yeah so basically what I think what I'm trying to say is like regardless of who you hire are there going to be other people in place and help with the broader concern of communication synergy between the league office and players and the teams like what could we say really on yeah yeah it is it's like could have commissioned that be hired and then like you know Neko Guma Camp is making this up this is not for us and like Neko Guma Kay is hired as like a deputy blah blah blah like that's something I'm curious if they could potentially go that route too that would be interesting as much as Neko wants the vacation I think um that would be fast you know yeah exactly maybe it's not Neko it could be another there could be um it could be there's probably a lot of different options I wonder like to make a catching would be interested in that um I mean she was on the PA side obviously is um was also on the team side as GM again that just came up with that on the spot yeah yeah Alexa is speculating she's just speculating she's not telling me that yeah so disclaimer alert yeah these are all like it's actually like crazy because this all happened you know last week and I'm like these are all questions I think we all have and I'm just like that will be uh you know last offseason we had a crazy TVA negotiation this offseason we're gonna have a change in commissioner so it's just like no chill um lots of reporting to do um after the playoffs or or probably during the playoffs too once uh probably game seven of the semi-finals is when somebody came up yeah we'll just like come out with Kathy or maybe as we can set a Kathy to do the last press or be like hey that would be hilarious or just debut what what if we date what if they debut the commissioner um when they're giving the trophy that would be people would be so confused it would be that would be one of the one of the more all-time how can I make this about moments uh in in WNBA commissioner history uh probably should not do that so probably shouldn't no no yeah let's next that oh Alexa thank you so much I appreciate you um your insight was wonderful I do hope that I provided the energy I hope you enjoy your time in Berlin um and I hope I hope you get I hope you get a chance to actually like have you been able to check out Berlin have you been able to do any of the touristy stuff I have done a handful of touristy things maybe like I've been to like one museum um what else have I done I like saw a checkpoint Charlie I've done like yeah a few different things um but tomorrow we have a pretty open day obviously not watching for for games and one and one day at the right time so I'm hoping to do more tomorrow and also like it's you know the weekend you just have you know the games that are kind of cluster together so I'm hoping to get a little more in but I'm able to see a little bit um but thank you for having me on I I'm sorry for not being my most coherent uh you're uh I hope that people at least got something or learned something um out of uh kind of what I've seen here on the ground I'm sure they did you were an exciting encyclopedia of basketball knowledge I appreciate you reporting on all facets um you both you're great thank you so much for for making the time I appreciate you and thank you to Stefan Anderson for producing and we will be back to cover the final early next week maybe right after I hope everyone has a good weekend any time though you