On the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Natalie Heavren chats with The Next’s Phoenix Mercury beat writer Tia Reid about exactly what’s propelled the team to it’s 12-6 record so far this season. They discuss the “Big 3” — Satou Sabally, Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas — as well as some of the team’s game time strategies, what the rookie are contributing, and more.
Heavren opens the show by asking Reid how the trio has been doing over the past few games, especially after some of them have missed some time on the court. “It’s interesting seeing them adjust, because [Kahleah] Copper missed so much time, and Alyssa Thomas missed some games,” Reid explains. “But so far, everything looks smooth with how [Copper] has integrated in and all three of them playing on both sides of the ball.”
Later on, Heavren addresses head coach Nate Tibbetts’ ‘position-less’ style of basketball, and she asks Reid how it has materialized for the Mercury over the first 18 games of the season. “It’s very interesting,” Reid says. “It was kind of this abstract idea of like, okay, how is this going to work?” Reid then goes onto identify what exactly makes the Mercury’s basketball position-less: Thomas running in dribble handoffs, repeated inverted screens, and some players who are “roamers,” as Reid describes — playing a little bit more of a free-floating role rather than a traditional position.
“It’s an interesting mix of how things have gone,” Reid says. “But I mean, through 18 games, it looks to be pretty successful.”
Heavren closes out the show by asking Reid what she’s looking forward to seeing as the season continues. “I think the thing that is going to be the most interesting to me is rotations and seeing, you know, are they going to change, or how much they’re going to change,” Reid says. “And I’m looking forward to seeing if they can really compete against this Minnesota team.”
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“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.