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I'm sensitive about my SPARKS + Press Conference Footage: Sparks vs. Minnesota Lynx
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📺 Press Conference Footage: Sparks vs. Minnesota Lynx | Fan Insights 🎤
Hey everyone! 👋 As a passionate fan of the Sparks, I’m excited to share this exclusive press conference footage from the recent game against the Minnesota Lynx. 🏀✨
In this video, you’ll get to see:
- Player Reactions: Hear directly from the players as they break down the game.
- Coaches' Insights: Gain insights from the coaches on strategies and performance.
- Highlights and Key Moments: Relive the pivotal moments that defined the match.
Being a dedicated Sparks fan, this game meant a lot to me, and I’m sensitive about how it went down. Your support and comments mean the world to me, so please share your thoughts below! Let’s keep the conversation going and continue to support our team together! 💛💜
Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and HIT THE BELL 🔔 for more exclusive content and updates!
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#Sparks #MinnesotaLynx #PressConference #WNBA #BasketballFan #GameHighlights #FanReactions
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Transcript
Introduction and Context
00:00:00
Speaker
What's going on, y'all? It's DJ, Treezy Trees, and welcome to another episode of The Spark, my personal fan commentary podcast for the LA Sparks. And man, this has been a week, y'all. We have been watching The Sparks lose a lot, and I want to start the top of this episode with me saying, listen, I'm a fan, and I'm sensitive about my sparks. So a lot of media people are giving the sparks a hard time. Me and Michael Matthew were just recorded after the loss of, I think it was, they lost about like 15 to 16 points last night um to the Minnesota Lynx. And air everybody's like, man, the Sparks gotta figure it out, which I agree with. You know, I was in the press conference and coach Coach Miller seemed a little bit flustered and upset with the
Current Challenges and Team Potential
00:00:49
Speaker
team. And then I talked to DeErika and Ray in the press conference and they seemed both
00:00:56
Speaker
very much so bother with their lack of effort. Um, the team's lack of effort, not their personal lack of effort, but I get it. I get it. We're in a losing streak. We're at the bottom. We're now two and seven. We are in the commissioner cup games, but we are two and seven y'all. Um, so we we've had some significant losses, but let me just start the episode also saying the sparks went into the game yesterday with a two and six record. and the Minnesota Lynx was six and two. So imagine two teams with flip-flop records playing each other. That's exactly what it looked like um in that episode. So that's where we at right now. i but I know everybody's saying rebuild and all this, you know, I still think this is a playoff team.
00:01:39
Speaker
I think this is a fairly new team to each other. They they have a lot of new members to the WNBA, including Lee Uru, who played for a little bit for the Chicago Skype and really didn't play that much. ah She's only 25 years old. Her first time playing here in the WNBA in a big role like that. We got Rakia Jackson, Cameron Brink, who were both ranked top five in rookie standings by ESPN. Both ranked top five, so we've got a lot of potential. I know that everyone is tired of hearing about potential, but that's where we at. Y'all just gotta wait to right around. You know, the Sparks need people like us to hold it down for when the times get rough. The times are gonna get rough. The Fairweather fans gonna bring it in and bring it out. but
00:02:24
Speaker
I'm gonna continue to talk positively about the Sparks. I'll give some critiques here and there based on, you know, the games and the performance. Most of that will be on the LA Sparks weekly um show, but i I'll still give critiques here with just the the frustrated fan experience because I'm a fan of this team specifically. So um watching us lose to the links, you know, all by almost 20 points. I didn't think it would be 20, but maybe 10 that links are playing great basketball. And if he's a collier, they got Courtney on the team. Now, I mean, they're, this is a great team and I'm not saying that the sparks are great, but you could statistically, you could guess that, right? And we played the Phoenix mercury and lost, it lost that one, but
00:03:08
Speaker
We had the energy in the preseason to to to do it, but I don't think we're that great at closing games right now too. So even if the preseason games to start us at a state end, those outcomes might have been different. So, you know, we lost one in Chicago that we should have stole. Um, Dallas wins. We're going to lost
Upcoming Matches and Player Health
00:03:26
Speaker
by one point. You want to kind of steal the wins where you can, but now we're going into a challenging part of the season where, um, I asked the Erica and, and Ray, you know, it's fatigue there because they just came off their first long road trip and they're like, we're not using that as an excuse, which I respected immediately.
00:03:43
Speaker
But also too, you know you go from playing the Lynx to playing the Dallas Wings, to playing the Aces, to playing the Storm, to playing the Lynx. Every team in the WNBA is good right now. Every team in the WNBA is good right now. um The Washington Mystics, you know they're figuring it out. They got great players, they'll catch you slipping is what I'm saying. They'll catch you slipping. There are only two teams that have worse records than the WNBA and the Sparks right now, and that's the Indiana Fever and um the Washington Mystics. but every team right now is a threat. Then we're going to play the New York Liberty. We on this long stretch of road game in July. There is a break for the Olympics this summer. So it's like,
00:04:25
Speaker
What are we going to do? And then coach, he's saying that um we don't have a lot of time to practice. There's not a lot of time to dedicate towards the practice to make these changes. So you're trying, you're learning and you're building the plane. Why are you flying? You got a rigorous 40 game season back to back to back to back to back. You playing three and four games a week. It's grueling, but as a fan, we can lock in and and wait and wait for these players. We're back finally 100% healthy. Leisha Claritin was concussed the last time we played the Dallas wings. We just got them back on the team yesterday. Lexi was nursing her ankle. She went out limping in the third or fourth quarter this last game. you know So everybody's not back at 100. Ray had the flu. you know We want to see Ziya play more. We hear y'all. We hear y'all. I'm um'm also intrigued as to you know why people have been playing the amount of time that they've been playing. um Specifically, Stephanie Talbot, I want to see what
00:05:25
Speaker
The hype is about, I'm ready to see that. She's been getting some elevated minutes here, so maybe she'll she'll have a game where she'll just pop out and hit us with something that we've never seen, but we gonna be
Fan Support and Future Engagement
00:05:36
Speaker
patient with the Sparks. Even if it's a losing season, we gonna be excited. They're playing competitive basketball. I don't have a losers mentality. What I'm saying is, if you gonna be a fan, you gotta ride. Pick a side. But once you over there, don't try to come over here. Okay? All right. Well, I have had a great week with basketball. I'm back in crypto dot.com Marina this week. Just was there last night. We'll be there again tomorrow on Friday and then for another game on Sunday. And I'll tap back in with y'all on a podcast then. But for now, I'm also going to start showing you the press conference footage. So if you want to see the press conference footage from coach Miller and the players before and after the game, tapping, I'm going to link it in the video right after this. I'm going to just keep it and you just let it play in the background so you can hear what's up and what's down.
00:06:24
Speaker
Thank y'all so much for tapping into the spark. Make sure you like, share, subscribe, and follow me on social media at DJTreesieTrees. That's DJT-R-I-C-E-Y-T-R-I-C-E. I will see y'all on the next episode.
Team Effort and Culture Development
00:06:55
Speaker
tv my question for you today is what are some things that you learned from the road trip and some adjustments that you're making here in this game today?
00:07:07
Speaker
Taking a young team on the road for three consecutive games and you know continually prepare um proud of the fight in an incredible atmosphere in Indiana to Obtain our first road win was special for that group and to come back after previously Losing a close game at home to Indiana. So really appreciated their maturity of their preparation in that um And then obviously my hiatus, you know for the Mack Hall of Fame I was an incredible opportunity to watch the coaching staff rally together and around a really young and talented coach in Nola Henry and watch the players buy into her. She's been with me now four years between Connecticut and l LA and she has an incredible basketball mind.
00:08:02
Speaker
um So to have more experienced people like Steve Smith and and Camille Smith around her um and watch the support of the players even though they came up short and had a disappointing first half in Chicago to watch them and how they supported each other and attacked it and and their understanding of the moment that I had to with my family and and those 11 years were so special at Bowling Green and the Mac. um And then you know then Phoenix obviously appreciated the 46 point second half. But again, the sense of urgency and and the attention to detail in the scouting report that we didn't get done to give Phoenix confidence in that first half was disappointing. But this group keeps competing, this group keeps fighting back and putting themselves, I think we had a possession late to get it to seven.
00:08:59
Speaker
um in the Phoenix game and you know we were down you know by 20 in that game. So this this crew is not giving up. This crew is not satisfied with where they're at, but um excited. you know there's The lessons this year in this league, and it's not just for us, but the lessons this year in this league are in-game because we just don't have time to practice. Tonight starts our nine games in 18-day stretch. uh, with seven or six of those on the road. Uh, so including l LA, I think we're in six different cities in the next nine games in 18 days. So, um, this learning year is in game and can we make adjustments out of timeouts? Can we be good and take a deep breath and communicate well at halftime, um, and see our growth there because you can't correct a lot of things when you have nine games in 18 days in six different cities.
00:09:58
Speaker
Hey, Coach, what's the latest on Leisha and Lexi Brown? Leisha is cleared tonight to go. So excited that way. Lexi Brown is also cleared to play tonight. So um yeah I don't know what 12 looks like, because I haven't had 12 yet. I don't think one time in LA, but i'm excited to have 11 players available tonight. Coach, Jared just here from the Daily Mirror. And sorry.
00:10:29
Speaker
You talk about like how the team is learning in the game and how everything is just kind of, you know, there's not a lot of time, but what has surprised you about this unit the most? um
00:10:42
Speaker
they' Their belief and the culture that they want to create um You know, we're trying to create the word that's been used lately as standards. um And they they are realizing when ah we're not playing up to what our standards are. um So um I love the fact that they're coachable. I love the fact that um Even though it's a bill that they will allow me, they don't always love it, but they will allow me to coach hard um in demand of them. um You know, we have a and we have to have a sense of urgency tonight. And what a great test because no one's in my mind playing better offensively than Minnesota. They're sharing it. They're moving it.
00:11:29
Speaker
um What I think they do really special, and in Cheryl and I get to work with USA Basketball, and we've really enjoyed our time together. I've learned a ton from her, um is that screening angles matter. um And we both are huge believers that offensive efficiency is, are you clean and crisp and and and in short areas? And what's impressive when you watch Minnesota is their tempo into an action and out of an action. They sprint to screens. They come aggressively at a great tempo off of screens, be it on ball or off the ball.
00:12:09
Speaker
So um you know again, i'm i'm I'm diverting from your question, but you know that this team is learning how to to learn from a game, move on, and start to prepare for the next game. And um they're going to get better. And it's going to take time with this unit. We've got two rookies in the starting lineup now. We've had some injuries. so we floating people in and out. Um, so, um, I'm not discouraged. Um, we know who we are. Hey, coach, this is a Minnesota team that was, uh, vocally upset about power rankings and things of that nature that had them kind of in the bottom part of the league before the season started. What are you seeing from them as a top three top 14 right now? Maybe your first couple of concerns.
00:13:02
Speaker
I think the thing that Minnesota has put together is a team that plays really hard um in the likeness of Cheryl. They are offensively, tremendously efficient right now. And again, it's the tempo, it's the little details, their screening angles, they' their physicality at the offensive end. you know Everyone talks about physicality at the defensive end. They are as a physical screening team as there is in the league. in in elite so um You know, they they just they put together and a really nice roster defensively. They're leading the league in steals. So they're finding ways to be disruptive, especially their post game. Both Collier and Smith are disruptive post players. um So they're they're there's a lot of
00:13:53
Speaker
It's fun because I like watching them play because they have tons of congestion They have tons of flow to the ball and you if you look at our pillars defensively, it's You know, like you can watch Minnesota and see those same pillars. So um You know, they have three former Sun players that I coached and enjoyed coaching playing well for them So I'm happy for them, but it'd be a great test for us tonight Coach, we said the OPM may be a multi-time All-Star in Las Vegas, but I feel like this isn't really the first time she's been a number one option on a team. And what do you think has made her so successful and efficient in that role? Just big picture so far.
00:14:29
Speaker
Attitude. um Her mentality has been great coming into the year. She wanted the shoulder, the burden of being the go-to player. She wanted it. um She's in great shape. um you know She's in a good head space coming off of last year. Obviously, last year was a lot. And the birth of her child, the trade, late and unexpected to us. um And she was a rock star for us last year, playing in all 40 games when We just had an injury-filled season, so she was kind of that rock for us. But it's her mentality, it's her attitude. She's showing up every day to be the go-to player and believes that she's a go-to player. You've heard her verbalize that she wants to be an All-Star, and she's playing like an All-Star. You know, records matter into voting at times for awards, but De'Erick and Hamby is playing as well as anyone in the league. Last question. Coach Michael Matthew here in Family TV.
00:15:23
Speaker
For you know most outside viewers, they look at the point guard position as being a key reason to the turnovers and things like that. ah What are you gonna be looking for tonight from your point guard play to kinda help when it comes to the turnover issue? You have fun to have leisure back, right? you know You start the season out with your veteran point guard having a triple double and soon after that, you know, McCowen has, you know, had two people working cussed in back-to-back games and it is what it is, right? You know, and so, um you know, we've had to play Lexi some at the point guard position. She's truly a two guard.
00:15:57
Speaker
But Aries come along away now and and baptism by fire to be caught up to speed with our system and and fitting in. So really happy with the growth through this stretch without Leja of Airy. But it would be really nice to have a veteran point guard back. We're going to need it because of their disruption on defense. They are tremendous at getting deflections, and which leads to their transition efficiency and steals. ah But I'm excited to have know those two point guards. I'm excited to be able to move Lexi back to more of her natural position. ah you know She still has to be ready to play emergency point guard. Ari's still you know not 100% from her ankle sprain, but she's getting it out for us. So i I'm excited to see if we can now, with more true point guards back, to bring back our turnovers down low. but
00:16:51
Speaker
There's gotta be a sense of valuing the basketball and getting shots on goal because for the most part, like we are pleased with some of our shooting percentages. We need more shots on goal. Thank you. Thanks.
00:17:16
Speaker
mic right Just, you know, you were able to be impactful today. and I think a key thing was the way that you were able to move without the ball. How and how important is that to your game? Yeah, um I just want to come in and bring energy. And, you know, we emphasize a lot on moving without the ball and cutting to the ball because, you know, they're being pretty cluttered in the paint. So I just was trying to do the things that we were looking for. But yeah, I just most of the time just trying to bring energy when I come into the game.
00:17:51
Speaker
questions for dereica You still had a pretty good shooting night offensively, you know given the circumstances, but there were a few passes that looked like they were just a little bit out of. position for you and you had to kind of lean over and reach over. It wasn't a prime position for you. What's the communication like with the guards and the wings on beating the ball where you want and where those thoughts are on the floor? oh That just comes with time and, you know, players learning how to play with each other. or We knew that they were going to be overly physical and that their post players are really good defensively and making, pushing catches out and getting their hands on a lot of balls and they ball pressure. um that We were, we were just soft and we were vulnerable to their ball pressure. It's got to be better.
00:18:38
Speaker
Hey, De'Arica, I'm Ray. This question is for both of you. Coming off of that long road trip, how much did fatigue affect tonight's performance? We can't use fatigue as an excuse. You know, everybody has the same schedule and rather you get it earlier, you get it late, there's still everybody's playing with 40 games a season. So we can't complain about fatigue. Hey, Derek, Alfredo here with Sporting Tribune. You know, despite your career numbers you've been putting up earlier in the year, you know, the team has now lost seven out of the first nine games. As leader of this team, how can you kind of keep your teammates motivated, focused, and determined to kind of, you know, take care of the weekend series? Yeah, that's what we just discussed in the locker room. We gotta we gotta find the heart and the passion that we were playing with the first.
00:19:21
Speaker
like the preseason games in the first three or four games of the season and losing is deflating. But bigger picture, we know it's a long season. We know we're rebuilding in a sense. People got to find their confidence again. We can't shoot 26%. I mean, 77 shots is incredible, but 26% is embarrassing. For the Erika and Andrea, how do you change the mindset or how does the team change the mindset to playing tougher and Like you said, not not be soft. I mean, you've got a light firing under people's butts and figure out the best way to get them to respond. And that's going to be different for everybody. Little things you can do to find confidence, get in the gym, watch more film, get in a playbook, and keep playing and competing in practice.
00:20:11
Speaker
And just flat out be tougher. Yeah, that's like you that's hard, you know and Unfortunately, you can't necessarily teach that but you got to find a way to spark it Hey question for both of you guys I know it's been a tough stretch and obviously this is a tough game But what are some positives that you guys can take out of this? I know that I know it's always good to look on the bright side of things sometimes, so what's something that individually you guys will be taking out on this game? We got another game in two days, and we get to keep playing basketball, and this this is our job, and it's it's fun, and we got another game in two days. I agree. This is for either one of you. Can you discuss how critical it is for your point guards to be to be on in order for you all to have success?
00:21:10
Speaker
I mean, I feel like it's an everybody thing. I mean, obviously like the point guards have to kind of get us together, but I feel like it's just hard effort from everybody all around. Thank you, ladies. Thank you. Thank you.