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Episode 8 - Full Court Press with Dr. Julie Sult
12 Plays1 year ago
This week we are joined by yet another Doctor and a National Champion Basketball Player. Julie highlights her days as an athlete and the trials and tribulations of becoming a doctor. Along the way, we also learn about the history of basketball and the original 13 rules. We end the pod drafting the best women's basketball players of all time. A new challenge is also placed, the first guest to get 50 listeners on their episode will receive a box of Copper Kettle Toffee from the Commish.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:12
Speaker
gonna find my baby gonna hold her tight gonna grab some afternoon delight my motto's always been when it's right it's right while waiting
00:00:26
Speaker
Good afternoon, delights. I'm your host, Matt Lattimer, just trying to bring you a smile on this Wednesday, but I couldn't do that alone. So I had to bring on a very special guest.
Julie's Ohio Roots and Sports Influence
00:00:40
Speaker
Some people know her as Mrs. Salt, but I know her as Dr. Worley. That is right. We got Julie Salt on with us today. How are you doing today, Julie? I'm doing great. How are you doing, Matt? I can't complain. The sun is shining, which is a rarity here in Ohio.
00:00:54
Speaker
This is true. I'm thankful for the sun. Can't get enough of that since moving back here, that's for sure. Oh yeah. All right, Julie. A lot of our guests, they maybe have not met you. You know, Chase has been on the pod, been on both pods. He's not a fan favorite, but people do know him. Why don't you tell our guests a little bit about you? Where'd you grow up? All right. I grew up in good old North Canton, Ohio. So Northeast Ohio lived in the same house my whole life. My parents still live there. So grew up and raised there.
00:01:22
Speaker
What was your school life like? What kind of activities did you like to get into? Some of your favorite subjects.
00:01:27
Speaker
Well, I pretty much was a sports girl through and through. I played volleyball, basketball, and ran track, so I pretty much was always doing something sports-related. I tried to dabble in other stuff, you know, played the clarinet and the violin for a year, realized that wasn't for me and she just sticked to sports. My whole family is super into sports. My mom played basketball in college. My dad played sports in high school. So if you're ever in the whirly house, ESPN will be on. That's just a non-negotiable. Nice. I didn't know that your mom played basketball in college. Where'd she go?
00:01:57
Speaker
She went to Mount Union. Yeah, she was a bowler there. Oh, she's a Mount girl. Yeah. My grandma and grandpa Garrett grew up in Alliance, Ohio. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's my neck of the woods. I grew up supporting the Purple Raiders, going to football games there with my grandpa. And then, you know, Chris had to betray us and go become an Otterbein Cardinal, their bitter rival.
00:02:17
Speaker
Man, that's a shame. My brother went to Mount Union for a year, tried to follow in her footstep, couldn't quite live up to the legacy, so he ended up at Kent, but...
College Basketball Journey and Achievements
00:02:24
Speaker
Can't read, can't write, can't state. Oh yeah, you know it. What would you say was your favorite sport that you played growing up?
00:02:29
Speaker
Definitely basketball. That's what I played from the youngest age. I started playing when I was five and just loved it. I mean, my dad and I would be out in the backyard shooting all the time. I just couldn't get enough of it. But I mean, I did enjoy volleyball and track as well. They were kind of nice to break up the seasons, but I would say that basketball had a special place in my heart. That's obviously I played in college, so was my favorite. But I did enjoy all three and was pretty successful in high school in all three, so I can't complain.
00:02:56
Speaker
Nice. What position did you play in basketball? Forward. Yeah. In high school I played, we didn't really play with a center in high school or college. So I was always like a small forward position. How heavily recruited were you coming out of high school?
00:03:08
Speaker
I mean, I don't want to shoot my own horn or anything. But I mean, I definitely was recruited. I was recruited by a few D1 schools, lots of D2 schools. Ultimately, I decided that I would rather go to a good D2 school and actually get to play and get to try and win a national championship than go to a smaller D1 school and never have a chance. But the recruiting process is definitely a fun but stressful journey. But looking back, I'm thankful, definitely thankful for it. Nice. And why don't you tell the people, where did you play your college ball?
00:03:36
Speaker
So I played at the Ashland University. I was an eagle. Nice. Right just around Mansfield, Ohio. Yeah, good old. There was lots of, lots of corn fields around. So, you know, I definitely would not have gone there if it weren't for basketball. That just, you know, me personally, but basketball kept me pretty busy. So I didn't really need to have to worry about finding other things to do. Nice. Were you a starter right out as a freshman?
00:03:58
Speaker
So I actually was not. Actually, fun fact about my college career, so I never was like a true starter my whole career. I actually played behind two All-American forwards who were also in my grade, but all three of us actually scored over a thousand points. So that's kind of a fun fact that I never was a true starter but still scored over a thousand points. So I mean, I still played a lot, but it was just kind of the way the rotation was.
00:04:22
Speaker
Yeah, so you always had starter minutes, got buckets when you went in, people knew who you were, but the starting five was always the same starting five.
00:04:30
Speaker
Yep, pretty much. But honestly, it was really cool. And also it taught me a lot just about, you know, how to walk into a new situation in high school. Obviously I started majority of my career. So to go in and have to kind of earn my spot, I think definitely taught me a lot. Yeah, it's definitely big. Thousand points is a lot of points. It is. We scored a lot of points. We had plenty of a hundred point games in my career. We full court pressed, so we just would run people into the ground.
00:04:54
Speaker
Oh, really? Yeah. That's a good strategy. Yeah. I've always said that's the best way to play. So my junior and senior year, that's really when we started scoring so many points. They started doing, if we scored over a hundred points, like everybody would get free tacos the next day at like the Ashland Taco Bell. And they did that for like, I don't know, like 10 home games or so. And then they realized that we were scoring a hundred points over like every home game. So they had to stop because I think they were losing money because you know, all the Ashland folk are going for their free tacos.
00:05:19
Speaker
Yeah i think that's the only fast food place in all of ashland exactly and we had more fans than the men's team did like we played before the men and people would come to our game and then leave for the men's game we were like the prime event of ashland how many games did you play in d2
00:05:37
Speaker
My junior year, we played 38 if you go all the way to the national championship. Okay, so same as D1? About the same, maybe a few games less, but pretty close. Did you guys ever play any D1 teams in like an exhibition or kind of those early season games? Yeah, so we actually played Ohio State twice. We played then my junior and senior year. My junior year, we only lost by seven, which I feel like is pretty impressive coming from a D2 school. And then my senior year, so my junior year, we won the national championship.
00:06:06
Speaker
which was fun. Oh, yeah. And then so UConn also won the year before for Division One. You know, obviously they had their dynasty going. And so someone thought it would be a good idea for the D1 champions to play the D2 champions. So we actually got to go to UConn and like practice at their facilities. And I got to meet Gino and we played them in an exhibition game. I mean, we got our butts whooped on, but it was heck of an experience. That would still be fun. What year was that? Who was playing for UConn?
00:06:36
Speaker
So all the big, big name people had graduated. What's the girl, I can't think of her name, who's still there right now? Paige Bueckers? Yeah, Paige. She would have been a freshman, I believe. And I think she won player of the year that year as a freshman.
00:06:49
Speaker
Yeah, she was good. I was guarding a girl that was like, I'm 5'11", for reference, and I was guarding a girl, I think that was like 6'5". I have a picture of her just reaching over my back for a rebound, and it's not even over the back because she was just so much taller than I was. I need to see that photo. That'd be a good photo. Oh, yeah. I'll have to send it to you. What was it like winning a national championship? Did that season feel different going through it? Did you feel, from start to finish, something special was going to happen?
00:07:14
Speaker
Yeah so we actually were undefeated that year which was just incredible and we had pretty much the same core group of girls back from the year before and the year before we had only lost two games and we ended up losing pretty early on in the tournament. So we were coming back with a vengeance and we knew that we were going to be good. We had some younger girls from the year before who had definitely kind of found their rhythm and
00:07:34
Speaker
And we definitely went into the season with the goal of winning a national championship. And that team was just special. We just got along so well on and off the court. We had really good leadership. I mean, it was just a really, really cool experience. Our coaching staff was phenomenal. I can't say enough. I mean, we definitely looking at us. We didn't look like a team. I think that would have won the national championship. If you would have watched before we walked on the court, we were constantly joking around like we were a bunch of goofballs. But the second that we stepped on that court, we were ready to play.
00:08:03
Speaker
I mean, yeah, that's definitely no small feat. You're our first national champion on the pod. I take that as an honor. It is a great honor. I mean, winning a national championship, no small thing. And then after that, you decided, let me go do something else super difficult. And you became a doctor.
00:08:17
Speaker
This is true, yes. So all throughout undergrad, I knew I wanted to be a physical therapist, and I knew I wanted to go to Ohio State, and I definitely have that personality, that good and bad, but if I set my mind to something, I'll be darned, I'm gonna do it, whether it takes me everything I got or not. Yeah, PT school was definitely a different kind of heart, that's for sure. Whereas playing basketball in college was physically hard, I mean mentally as well, but going to PT school, it really tested my limits mentally, that's for
Career Transition to Physical Therapy
00:08:44
Speaker
sure.
00:08:44
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt. You'll have to get with Marty. He's also a physical therapist. Yes, that's right. I've never met him. I have to arrange that meetup. There's a rule here on Afternoon Delights. If you're a doctor and you want to be on this pod, you have to be a physical therapist. We will accept nothing else. I mean, I think that's a great rule. Marty's not a big fan of his physical therapy, I don't think. He's got to only train old people right now.
00:09:05
Speaker
Oh yeah, see that's not what I like. Give me the young, they don't even have to be athletes, but just the younger population, the people that can get back to doing fun stuff. I mean not anything wrong with the old people, but it's just you're getting them to walk 100 feet instead of 50 feet is different than getting someone back to playing basketball or running.
00:09:25
Speaker
You know, you decided to do the traveling PT and then Chase latched on to your coattails. He had some interesting stories about your travel and the places and everything. What was your favorite place that you stayed during your PT
Travel Adventures and Favorite Destinations
00:09:38
Speaker
travel?
00:09:38
Speaker
That's so hard. We stayed in so many incredible places. Chase and I were just talking today. We looked back on pictures and we were like, we just were living the dream life. We just, every three months, we go somewhere new. I would say now that we're done with it, my favorite place is probably Washington. We were in Bellingham, Washington, which was like right on the coast of like this little bay of the Pacific Ocean. We were like 15, 20 minutes from Canada and the mountains up there were just absolutely breathtaking.
00:10:05
Speaker
Yeah, that was Chase's favorite too. I remember every time that I would talk to him, he'd be like, yeah, Friday, we're going to do this 10 mile hike. And then Saturday, we're going to do this hike. And then on Mondays, Julie only works till noon. So then we're going to go do this hike. And every single place was like a once in a lifetime hike to go do.
00:10:20
Speaker
Yeah, like we look back and we're like, we lived somewhere where people vacation and we definitely took full advantage of it. We were a bit ridiculous. We would go hike. We would do like four hikes in a day, like combine them all and be like, all right, yeah, it's only 15 miles. That's fine. We had no chill. But looking back, I'm so glad we did it like that. But in the moment, definitely a little crazy, but that's just chasing eye for you. Yeah, you two are go-getters. Definitely. I mean, it's best to take advantage of it though. Otherwise, what's the point of doing it?
00:10:47
Speaker
Exactly. I like to think that I have like the go-getter personality and then I recruited Chase along with me and then he kind of just jumped right on board. The thing that I like most for what you did for Chase is I spent like 15, 20 years trying to get this man to like eat cookies and ice cream and like hamburgers and
00:11:08
Speaker
You wouldn't even eat plain chicken and vegetables and that was it.
Eating Habits and Lifestyle Reflections
00:11:13
Speaker
Yeah. And then about, I don't know, probably six months to a year into dating you, he would randomly just be like, let's go get some ice cream. I was like, who the hell?
00:11:21
Speaker
Yeah, literally, Kid used to only eat chicken rice and broccoli, I swear. Plain chicken, hold the seasoning. Yeah, the other day we were over his parents' house and he was digging through his parents' freezer and his mom was like, what are you looking for? And he was like, I'm looking for some ice cream. And his mom was like, who are you? Like, what has happened to you? I mean, I'm not mad about it because he likes to eat ice cream by themselves, but oh yeah.
00:11:42
Speaker
He definitely has changed a lot of my eating habits too because I used to be so picky and he really turned me on to like Greek and Indian, all that sort of stuff. So it's really been a give and take. Oh yeah. I mean, this man, it took me, I don't know, like six years and he finally agreed to go to jazz and rib fabric with me. And he was like, did you know that ribs are like really good? I was like, yeah, Chase, everybody knows that ribs are really good. And I think maybe that was the spark. Literally. Or like the other day, not the other day, this was a while ago, but
00:12:11
Speaker
We were at a restaurant and he was going to get like chicken. I was like, this is like, no, get steak. Like where it was like a place where you get steak. And afterwards he was like, yeah, that was really good. I'm like every once in a while, I know what I'm talking about. Not a lot, but sometimes what are we going to do with him? That's, I can't say much though. Cause when I was in college,
00:12:28
Speaker
at Ashland. No joke, I would eat pizza, a cheeseburger, and fries. I didn't eat any vegetables. I barely ate any fruit. I drank probably half a gallon of milk a day, but my diet was not what it should have been for a college athlete, let me tell you. No athlete has a good eating habit in college because you're burning 6,000, 7,000 calories a day, so you're like, why do I need to eat healthy when I'm burning so many calories? You just eat whatever.
00:12:54
Speaker
Literally, I was just at the gym for five hours. I'm going to eat whatever I want. And then I remember we would eat dinner at five o'clock. We'd eat so early because we would get done with practice. And then at Ashland, there was a thing called late night. So you would go back to the dining hall at 10 o'clock and they would just have grilled cheese and fries and all the greasiest food. And we were like, all right, dinner around two, here we go. I had no regard. My senior year after I was done, I was like, all right, I need to rein this in because I'm not going to be burning calories like I was. Yeah, that was the best part of college. I miss it.
00:13:24
Speaker
Oh yeah. You just show up and the food's there. You don't have to do anything. It was great. Unlimited ice cream dispenser at all times. Any choice of cereal that you want. Walking in at 10 o'clock at night and you're like, I'm just going to eat four bowls of Lucky Charms. Exactly. Exactly. And then I'm going to go drink alcohol. I could not have said it better, honestly. The pregame meals were pregame as in not before basketball game, but before you're going out. And you're like, oh yeah, I need to carb up because we're getting ready to go. Good times. Good times. Good times.
00:13:53
Speaker
All right, Julie, are you ready for a little afternoon delights
History and Evolution of Basketball
00:13:56
Speaker
place at the table? Oh, I am more than ready, Matt. You want to learn some stuff? Hit me with it. All right, well, you're a basketball fiend. But how much do you know about the history of basketball? You know, not a lot. So I feel like you're about to teach me something here.
00:14:08
Speaker
Well, you know, being a young child in the cruel winters of New England isn't super easy. So how does one stay active in the deep snow? Well, this was a question that Dr. James Naismith set out to answer when he invented basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891. The first basketball game is played on December 1st, 1891.
00:14:27
Speaker
and Naismith published the rules with five basic ideas and there were 13 original rules and someone proposed it to call it the Naismith game but he said well we have a ball and we have a basket so why don't we call it basketball and thus the game that we love was born such a logical name for a sport you know I appreciate the simplicity
00:14:48
Speaker
It really is. Naismith was a young physical education instructor at Springfield College and his boss tasked him with creating a game to help keep the athletes in shape during the winter. So he created a new game with elements of American football, soccer, and hockey. And the first ball actually was just the soccer ball is what they played with. And they had a peach basket and he split his class into two teams of nine. And the goal was to get the ball into the peach basket.
00:15:13
Speaker
Well, when they originally played, they just left the peach basket as is. So after each point was scored, they had to stop the game. A janitor had to come with a ladder, climb up a ladder, retrieve the ball, and then they would continue to play. Well, they realized that that was a little bit annoying. So shortly after that, they're like, maybe we just cut the bottom out of this basket so the ball falls through. Genius.
00:15:33
Speaker
Oh yeah. I mean, super innovative. The first public basketball game was played in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 11th, 1892. And by 1897, teams of five had become the standard. In 1894, the soccer ball was replaced by a ball of Naismith's own design that he contacted Spalding to make specifically for them. And they played with peach baskets and everything up until 1906 when they started introducing metal hoops, nets, and backboards.
00:16:02
Speaker
So up until 1906, there wasn't even a backboard. It was just a basket on top of a big pole just hanging there. That's crazy because you think about how much an impact the backboard makes like prior to that.
00:16:13
Speaker
Oh yeah, the chances of making a shot, you would never be able to make anything other than a layup. Right, right. Or just even two to think back when there was only 13 rules, I would love to know how many rules there are now. I feel like they come out with a new rule like every year. They do and then sometimes they'll make one and it'll only last a year and then they get rid of it because they're like, oh, that was a bad rule. Right. Which I mean, I guess I appreciate to an extent, like trying to make the game better, but sometimes I'm like, there's just, let's just play basketball. There's too many rules.
00:16:39
Speaker
Well, you know, a lot of people agree with you, Julie, and a lot of people loved this game of basketball because it spread very quickly throughout the US and Canada and even over into international game. The first professional basketball league was called the National Basketball League. It started in 1898 and it only lasted about eight years and then it folded and it was no more.
00:16:59
Speaker
But the first international game was played in Europe in 1909. So in less than 20 years, this went from a game that some doctor made up in a small town in Massachusetts by himself to being an international game played across the world. That's actually extremely impressive.
00:17:16
Speaker
I think that's one of the cool things about basketball is it's such a worldwide bore. Like it's so popular. It even, maybe even more popular like over in Europe than it is here. Maybe not more popular, but still definitely it's popular. My roommate in college, she's actually my best friend, Elena Snyder, she plays professionally overseas and she's played all over the place. Greece, Germany, Luxembourg, and it's crazy to hear like they have fans that go out and watch like her women's games and like just how popular they are over there.
00:17:43
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I feel like women's basketball. It's definitely growing, but it's been bigger overseas than in the U.S. for a really long time. Oh, yeah. Thousand percent. Well, Julie, would you like to go through the original 13 rules with me?
00:17:55
Speaker
Oh, I would love that. Let's do it. Okay. Rule number one, the ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands. I feel like that's still pretty standard today. I was going to say that still wise. Okay. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it. Allowance to be made for a man who catches the ball when running at good speed. That is how that rule is written.
00:18:22
Speaker
Well, you know, the NBA really takes that rule and runs with it because sometimes I think they take one too many steps. The way that I read this rule too is like you don't even get the two steps or that there's, you know, was there dribbling? That's, I'm wondering, I feel like I don't think that there was dribbling and you couldn't have like a pivot foot or anything. So once you caught it, you just stand there.
00:18:45
Speaker
I'm thinking too, if they were playing with a soccer ball, they probably were playing on like, I don't know, were they playing on dirt? Like were they playing on a surface that was even like possible for the ball to really bounce? So there might not have been dribbling. Well, I mean, it was inside because they wanted it to help the athletes. So, but who knows? Like what was it? Concrete? Was it, it probably wasn't like a wood floor or great for bouncing. And I mean, even back then, like think about a ball back in 1809 still made out of like the stomach lining of a sheath
00:19:10
Speaker
Yeah, that can't be good mountain material. Before is that the ball must be held in or between the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it. That's interesting. So that's why you watch all those old videos and you're like, why do these guys look so awkward holding the ball? That's why. How the heck are they supposed to shoot it? I'm so intrigued. This says no shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed. The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a
00:19:39
Speaker
foul. The second foul shall disqualify him until the next goal is made. Or if there was an evident intent to injure the person for the whole game, no substitute. So if you got two quick fouls in a row, you would have to sit on the sidelines until somebody scored a point, like a hockey penalty box. I was going to say, if you run into a hockey or even like dodgeball where you can like bring someone in, like if you like catch a ball or something. Pretty much.
00:20:03
Speaker
I'm honestly surprised that they had the concept of fouls, though, like back when it first started. Maybe I'm not giving them enough credit, but all these are all these rules are fouls. A foul is striking the ball with the fist, a violation of rules three and four, and such as described in rule five. So if you tried to punch the ball out of somebody's hands with a fist, that's a foul.
00:20:23
Speaker
Even if you don't hit them or anything, if either side makes three consecutive fouls, it should count as a goal for opponents. So if you as a team made three consecutive fouls, the other team gets points. I wonder if consecutive just considered like the other team doesn't foul between those.
00:20:39
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. It doesn't really explain. Is it the other team doesn't foul between or does it reset if somebody scores? Right, like what does consecutive consist of? We're going to need clear rules. They need to bring that rule back for the end of games when people foul on purpose and the last minute of a game takes 35 minutes to finish.
00:20:58
Speaker
Yeah, I honestly wouldn't be mad if they- at least a variation of that rule. Because the end of the game has just become- I mean, the whole game is strategic, but sometimes it's like, alright, let's get the show on the road here. You're down by 9 with 40 seconds left. You don't need to foul.
00:21:11
Speaker
It's not going to happen. Yeah. All right. Rule number eight is a goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from grounds into the basket and stays there. If the ball rests on the edge and the opponent moves the basket, it should count as a goal. So they've had goaltending. That's goaltending. Wow. Yeah, that's a thousand percent goaltending of different variation because they're using a basket, but I mean, they've had goaltending from day one. Wow. I'm honestly impressed with these rules. Naismith figured it out.
00:21:39
Speaker
that he really didn't. No wonder why it caught on so quick. Let's see. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the person first touching it. In case of a dispute, the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persist in delaying the game, that umpire should call a foul on them. He's got right there. Rule number nine is a delay a game and a five second violation.
00:22:05
Speaker
This guy is genius. Like, did he make up any other games while he was at it? Cause he should have. I don't know. I'm actually, I'm pretty impressed with like, I mean, this is still the basis of basketball.
00:22:14
Speaker
Yeah, I really thought when you were reading these rules, it was going to be like really dumb, like super simple, but like these are intricate like rules that we still follow. It is. The umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. Okay, so right there, then he's referring to a head ref and a second ref. Right. This guy is ahead of his time.
00:22:37
Speaker
the referee shall be the judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play in bounds and to which side it belongs and shall keep the time he shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee this is wild i mean this is kind of like soccer-ish but they have them also keeping track of like the goals so they didn't even have like somebody on the side or like a number flipper
00:23:00
Speaker
That's right. That is wild. I'm extremely impressed. I would love to know if you look back on other sports, like the first set of rules, I would find it extremely hard to believe if they were as close to the sport today as these are. Most of the rules like today is just slight variations to these original ones. There's really not anything different.
00:23:20
Speaker
No, like it definitely the same premise as it was back then. This says the time shall be 15 minute halves with five minute rests between. So we made the game a little bit longer, but I mean, not too much. That's pretty close to college basketball, 20 and 20 for men's college.
00:23:35
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, obviously the NBA is longer, but a lot of that is for money and all that stuff. All right. And the last rule of basketball, Julie, the side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner. In the case of a draw, the game may, by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made. The last rule of basketball is next shot wins in the event of a tie.
00:23:57
Speaker
You know Matt, part of me thought that you were going to say the last rule of basketball was have fun. Nope. That would have been too easy. That would have been great if it was just have fun and they didn't put a rule in about how you win the game.
00:24:10
Speaker
Yes, that's like, oh man, like the NFL, no one knows, no one knows how to, what to do in overtime. Yeah, that's the original 13 rules of basketball, which if you're ever at the University of Kansas, they have the original 13 rules of basketball encased and like framed and everything.
00:24:27
Speaker
Oh man, Chase and I just drove past the University of Kansas and we were driving home back in November. We could have stopped and seen it. It could have. I tried once on a road trip out to Colorado and I happened to go when it was spring break and I didn't know it and they had all the buildings locked. Oh, that stinks. I was super mad about it. Spring break, who does that these days? All right, Julie, are you ready to get into this draft today?
Greatest Female Basketball Players Discussion
00:24:51
Speaker
All right. I'm ready as I'll ever be. All right. As a female basketball national champion, there's only one thing that we could draft. And that's the best female basketball players of all time. Naturally, you know, I will say I had some ideas in my head, but I did have to do some research because I was like, I don't know their stats or, you know, to rank them has was tough for me. I did zero research. I know all this off the top of my head. Big women's basketball fan. Not even surprised. All right. Would you like to draft first or you want to make the first pick or you want to make the second pick? I'll go first.
00:25:20
Speaker
All right, lead us off.
00:25:22
Speaker
All right, my number one pick is Diana Taurasi. So she was dominant at UConn and just has been dominating the WNBA. So I think she's a solid first pick. When I watch her, she just is an all around great player. I think that there's some players that have had like better stretches of time, but like generally looking at her career, she just dominates. Oh yeah, she's the all time leading scorer for WNBA. The WNBA version of Kobe Bryant, first 10,000 point scorer in WNBA history.
00:25:51
Speaker
Yeah, that's a some legit stats. That's for sure. Yeah, she's elite. She's elite. She's got what she got here. Rookie of the year, one MVP, three MVP championships and five gold medals. Yeah, impressive. And then in college, she was a three time NCAA champion. I mean, she won her record in college was 139 and eight. So that impressive to only lose eight games your whole career in colleges. That's a lot of wins.
00:26:15
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. That's a good pick. Wish I would have got it, but hey, that's okay because I got two other great ladies right here back to back. All right. Here you taking Matt. Number one overall. I got to go with my girl, Sue Bird. She's the best to ever do it. You know, she helped build upon the legacy of what UConn is. She got two national titles. She was the number one overall pick in 2002. She's got four WNBA championships and she did it in three different decades. The only player to win a championship in three different decades.
00:26:42
Speaker
She dominated from the time that she entered the league until she retired last season. I mean, she just absolutely kicked butt in the WNBA. Then she dominated globally, also has five gold medals. I mean, Larry Bird can step aside because Sue is the best bird to ever do it.
00:26:56
Speaker
You know, I couldn't agree more. She definitely was on my list, that's for sure. She just is one of those names. Even if you don't know women's basketball, I feel like people know Sue Bird. One, it's just a cool name, but two, she was a total baller. Yeah, I agree. Now, next up is the woman that I had always known growing up, and my favorite WNBA player of all time, and that is Miss Lisa Leslie.
00:27:19
Speaker
Uh, that's solid tech when I used to play backyard basketball, all the backyard, different sports on my computer, backyard basketball was one of my favorite. And growing up, you get like six people on your team and you play three on three. And I always started the same three players. And that was Kevin Garnett, Pablo Sanchez, and Lisa Leslie. She's been a beast.
00:27:36
Speaker
She's possibly the best center to ever play in the WNBA. I mean, she's a little bit shorter than some of the centers now, so maybe different times. But she was a part of the initial WNBA season. She helped jumpstart the league. She was the first woman to ever dunk in the NBA. She won a Naismith Player of the Year award, three MVPs and four gold medals. The only thing that she didn't do, she never got the L.A. Sparks to a WNBA championship. But I'm not going to hold that against Lisa since she's one of the only female WNBA players to be in the backyard sports games.
00:28:04
Speaker
I honestly didn't even know she was in the backyard sports games. I always played backyard baseball. My brother and I, that was our like go-to game. I don't know why. I couldn't tell you any of the players, but it was so fun. We would play that for hours. I played all, they had backyard baseball 2000, 2001. Then they had the two, two football games. Then they had backyard soccer and backyard basketball.
00:28:25
Speaker
They don't make games like they used to, that's for sure. No, I've been saying they just need to revamp that game. But that's a discussion for another pod, Julie. Give me pick number two. Who's next on your list?
00:28:36
Speaker
Pick number two for me is going to have to be Cynthia Cooper. So she played for the Houston Comets. She won four championships, two-time MVP, four-time finals MVP, all-time leader in career scoring average in the WNBA. She won two NCAA championships in college for USC. Yeah, she just is a great, great basketball player. She's one of the best scorers that played in the WNBA. I'm going with her for pick number two. Okay, that's a good pick. Give me pick number three.
00:29:06
Speaker
Alright, my pick number three is Brianna Stewart. So, she is still in the league and I think that she is going to continue to just get better and better. I think she's one of those players that ask us in a few years and I think she's even going to be up higher on the list.
00:29:23
Speaker
She dominated at UConn while she was there and has just dominated in the WNBA while she's there. She's already got two championship, an MVP, two-time finals MVP, the rookie of the year, commissioner's cup champion, two-time first team. She just is really up and coming and I think she's just gonna continue to get better and better.
00:29:41
Speaker
Yeah, Brianna Stewart's an absolute beast. I mean, I remember watching her play at UConn and a lot of different NBA players is like, honestly, this girl could probably be on just an actual NBA team. And she was kind of like the first one getting that kind of praise from players currently in the NBA. And like you said, I mean, she led UConn to four straight national championships, which is ridiculous. That's absolutely insane.
00:30:01
Speaker
Her record at UConn, 151 in five. That is insane. Especially you think of her coming in as a freshman and still just dominating the way that she did is just impressive. I feel like she made the transition from high school to college and then from college to the WNBA so seamlessly. I mean, she was rookie of the year in the WNBA too. She just adjusts and I think that's incredible.
00:30:22
Speaker
She had four NCAA tournament MVPs also. So right from the time that she was a freshman in college, she was the best player in the NCAA, which is unheard of in either the men's or women's level. That does not happen very often. No. Just even to go four years without any injury, big enough to allow you to play that many games to dominate that is just very impressive.
00:30:45
Speaker
Oh yeah. All right. Well, now it's time for my third pick and I'm taking a girl who hasn't made it to the WNBA quite yet. I was waiting to see if you were going to take her. Taking her because you took a couple of mine. So now I'm picking Caitlin Clark. We all know Caitlin and you know, she hasn't been in the WNBA yet. So it's unforeseen what she's going to do. But obviously like she's the next Brianna Stewart or the next Deanna Tarasi. Like she's that great. Yeah.
00:31:09
Speaker
Really, she's on the list because of what she's done for the women's game is like nothing short of astonishing. Every single home game for Iowa is sold out. And every single away game that she plays in is that other school's biggest game that they've ever had. Breaks attendance record. They played a game in Iowa football stadium and they sold 53,000 tickets, which is, I mean, that's bigger than most NBA arenas. She's got swag. She's got no fear. She'll pull up from half court anytime just because she can get 40 whenever she wants.
00:31:36
Speaker
unless she has a catastrophic injury or something unforeseen happens, she's probably going to end her career as the best women's player of all time. I mean, I couldn't agree more. One thing that I really appreciate about Caitlin Clark as well is, I mean, she can shoot lights out, she can score however she wants, but she's also leading the NCAA in assists, which just speaks volumes, I think, to her as a teammate, her as a player. I mean, to be the all-time leading scorer and then also this season leading in assists, I mean, you can't get better than that.
00:32:01
Speaker
No, that's just like she's the best at everything. Exactly. Yeah. Whatever she wants to do, she's the best. And I think like you said, just the attention that she's drawn to the women's games, the women's game the past year or so especially is just incredible. And I hope that it continues because I mean, I'm biased, but I think women's basketball is pretty fun to watch.
00:32:18
Speaker
I mean, men's basketball is only getting worse and worse to watch, especially in college. So it definitely wouldn't hurt to have the women's game pick up a bit. Yeah, I definitely think that when the women's is a little bit more of team oriented, whereas there's less superstars. I mean, obviously there are still superstars, but I think that you see people play a little bit more together as opposed to, you know, just dribbling down and shooting the first open shot. Yeah, it's much more fundamental. Yes.
00:32:43
Speaker
It's much more like how basketball was designed to be played as opposed to just like freak athletes being freak athletes. Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, my fourth pick, I'm taking kind of the Caitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark and you know, she cut her career short, but I'm taking her anyway. It's Miss Maya Moore. I had her on my list as well.
00:33:00
Speaker
She's great. Not many people walk away when they're like arguably the best player and not even at the end of her career. She was probably coming into her peak became kind of like a social justice warrior. But my God, my more when she was at UConn, she led them to the longest winning streak in men's or women's basketball at 90 plus games. First win streak to ever get to 90 games. She won two championships. He was the number one overall pick. She only played seven years in the WNBA and she won rookie of the year and MVP two gold medals and four WNBA championships.
00:33:29
Speaker
She won a championship every other year. That's insane. Do you know what her record was from the time that she was in high school to the time that she retired from the WNBA? No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me that. 515 and 94. No way. That was her record for all of basketball through high school in the WNBA.
00:33:46
Speaker
That is like hard to wrap my mind around just because that is so many games. She's playing on so many different teams. Like you have to be a great basketball player, but you also have to be a good teammate and adaptable. There's so many things that go along with having a record that good. That is just impressive. And like you said, who knows what she would have done if she wouldn't have left the WNBA so early. She won 85% of her games as basically an adult college player.
00:34:09
Speaker
No one else is probably even close to that over the course of your whole career to like have, you know, people have ups and downs and all that stuff. Well, she only had ups. All right, Julie, give me pick number four for you. All right. Pick number four for me is Tamika Ketching. She's only won one championship in the WNBA.
00:34:25
Speaker
But she was finals MVP. She is a great defensive player, so she ranks in the top ten in steals and rebounds assists. She's been a defensive player of the year five times, and she also won a championship for Tennessee when she played in college. So she's one of those people that's just a great all-around basketball player. She may not have all these scoring records, everything like that, but I think when you look at her as a whole basketball player, her stats speak for themselves.
00:34:52
Speaker
Who's your last pick? All right, my last pick is Cheryl Sloop. So she won four championships in the WNBA, three-time MVP, three-time defensive player of the year, two-time scoring champion and steals champion. She won a championship in college at Texas Tech. She's another just great player. You look at her stats. I mean, she had triple doubles all the time, just overall great athletes.
00:35:16
Speaker
All right. My last pick is Elena Del Don. Another good one. She was one of like the highest rated recruits of all time. Originally signed up to go to UConn, continue their winning ways. She spent about two weeks at UConn and then decided that it just wasn't right for her. And she was missing her family and her sisters and stuff. She transferred out of UConn after two weeks and enrolled at Delaware to play for the Blue Hens. But her freshman year, she didn't even play basketball. She walked on and played volleyball. Wow. I had no idea this story.
00:35:44
Speaker
Yep, didn't play, was pretty much done with basketball, kind of fell out of love with it for a bit. And then after her sophomore year, she decided to walk back on to the Delaware Blue Hens basketball team and lead Delaware for three seasons. And obviously, you know, playing for a team like Delaware in the era that she did where UConn just dominated everybody. She didn't have the team accolades or national titles or anything like that, but she did play her way to the number two overall pick in 2013.
00:36:08
Speaker
That's honestly an impressive story and I respect her for playing for a team that's not Yukon, that's not great. It's hard to do so to have personal stats like that to be the number two pick is impressive. Her brother said that she left to spend more time with her sister because they had a special bond and I guess her sister was born with cerebral palsy and is deaf and blind.
00:36:25
Speaker
Matt, you're pulling out my heartstrings. She led her team to a WNBA finals and she has two WNBA MVP awards. I mean, the real accolade with why I got her on my list is that she was the first woman in NBA history to enter the 50-40-90 club, which is 50% from the field, 40% or better from three and 90% or better from the foul line. Wow. And she actually has the highest free throw percentage in the NBA or the WNBA at 93%. Wow. I had no idea that's impressive.
00:36:55
Speaker
You do have any honorable mentions on your list? I guess the only, so I had 10 people on my list. I have them all crossed off except for the last person on my list is Candace Parker. So I'll give her honorable mention. I got two honorable mentions. The first one is Cheryl Miller. And then my last honorable mention isn't actually a real person, but I'm throwing her out there anyway, because I loved Space Jam growing up as a kid.
00:37:17
Speaker
So I'm taking Lola Bunny, easily the best of the Looney Tunes characters. I mean, it was her and Jordan on that team, and that was about it. And they carried them to win versus the Monstars. So give me Lola Bunny. You got her stats, Matt, on that? I don't. Oh, man. I should have. Come on. I'm going to need more from you there. All right, Julie. Now it's time for everybody's favorite segment, Afternoon Delights Book Club.
Book and Podcast Recommendations
00:37:41
Speaker
What have you been reading lately? What's your all-time favorite? What would you recommend to people to pick up and give a skim through?
00:37:47
Speaker
So, for my book recommendation, I'm gonna have to go with a Colleen Hoover book. Love her, but the best book that she's written, in my opinion, is the book Verity. I could not put it down. I read it while I was at work. Literally, if I had 30 seconds free, I was reading it. It is a page
00:38:04
Speaker
Turner and it is not just for females because I had a co-worker who also read it and he was obviously male. So I'm trying to talk Chase into reading it, but everyone should give it a listen because it is a 10 out of 10. It's on the list. We'll get to it eventually. All right. I love it. All right, Julie. Well, thank you for joining us today. You were a great guest. Anybody out there that has body ailments or they can't keep up anymore and they need some PT help, where can they find you?
00:38:31
Speaker
You know, in the greater Columbus area, I actually start my new job March 11th, so don't get hurt before then, at physical over in, like, the Hilliard area. So if you need any PT, come on down to New Clinic. I'm excited. Stretch me there.
00:38:47
Speaker
Okay. And if you're out there listening and you would like to be a guest on Afternoon Delights, anybody is welcome. We got a new email set up. It is latimer.podcast at gmail.com. L A T I M E R dot podcast. So if you're interested and you want to have a way to contact me and you want to be a guest, just shoot that over and we'll get you on. Julie, I'm expecting you to use your extensive reach and network of actual friends to absolutely slaughter Chase's listening numbers.
00:39:14
Speaker
Oh, do you know that I'm already on top of that? My goal is to just destroy his numbers. So I will do everything I have to to make sure that that happens. It doesn't take a lot. He's the second least listened to guest so far. So maybe you can even prop his numbers up a bit. He's not the best in the advertising business. So, you know, I might need to help him a little bit, but what's my standard here? Who's top listener? Who do I need to be?
00:39:35
Speaker
So on this podcast, on Afternoon Lights, it is Matt Martin. He's at 27 listeners the last time I checked on Spotify. Nobody has any listeners on Apple podcasts that doesn't have enough that Apple podcasts won't tell me the data. But we are on both. We're on both Apple and Spotify. On CKLpod, our fantasy football podcast that I host, the top listen to guest is K-Baby, Kelsey Shobko, and her top episode has 40. Oh, man. All right. I was going to say I was going to go for 30, but now I got to try and break that 40.
00:40:04
Speaker
Get that 50, Mark. I'm competitive, so I'm going to give it the old college try. Look, I have a box of unopened copper kettle toffee at my house. If you can get to 50 listeners, that might be yours. Might be. I'm going to need some stronger confirmation there. I need to know that those are going to be mine. I can give you half for sure, but I might give you half. All right. It's hard to give up all of your copper kettle, but I'll give you at least half.
00:40:27
Speaker
I'll take half. I'll take half. Only because I know, you know, now that Chase eats sweets, he's probably going to steal a few. So I gotta, you know, make sure I got enough for myself. I mean, this is like a bargain because normally like one piece of copper kettle toffee is worth a hundred thousand listens. Shoot. All right. Well, I caught you on a good day then. All right. I'm going for 50. All right, Julie. Again, you were a great guest. Thank you out there to everybody listening. I'm your host, Matt Latimer. And just remember, it's a good day to have a good day. Thanks for having me on, Matt.
00:40:56
Speaker
I'll be to St. Goodnight I hate to go and live this pretty side So long, farewell I'll be to St. Andrew I do, I do, to you Andrew, Andrew