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00:00Before we debate who should win WNBA Rookie of the Year, let's highlight the excellence we have seen out of both Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in their first 20 or so games in their WNBA careers.
00:16There was some thought, J.Y., with this young momentum carrying over into the W from historic and prolific college basketball careers that maybe it would take CeCe some time or Angel Reese a couple of hard knocks to learn their way into WNBA.
00:32Not so much historic starts to their WNBA careers.
00:37We start with Angel Reese last night, her 13th consecutive double-double.
00:42That's 13 in a row.
00:44The new all-time record for the most double-doubles consecutively in WNBA history, single season or even into multiple seasons.
00:53That record now belongs to Angel Reese.
00:56What has been the best part of Reese's game adapting to the W level?
01:01Tell you what, she attacks the offensive boards like something I've not seen in a long time.
01:07And I think her ability to attack the offensive boards and rebound what we call out of her area, meaning not right in front of her.
01:14She moves left and right and she chases rebounds.
01:17Her ability to do so has been fantastic.
01:20To me, that's been the best part and the worry I had with Angel earlier on is her ability to finish.
01:29Well, she's starting to finish better.
01:31Listen, does she have some games where she struggles?
01:34But, you know, she's got her shooting percentage up to 42%.
01:38That may not look good.
01:39Folks, it was at 35% before this streak started.
01:42So she's getting, she's starting to finish a little bit better around the basket.
01:47She's shooting 75% from the free throw line.
01:50And the team has been competitive.
01:52I know they lost to Seattle last game.
01:55But she has been really competitive, playing really well.
01:58And she's finishing around the basket.
02:00And if she can finish with the rebounds, that makes her really dangerous up to 14.1, 11.9 this season.
02:06WNBA has to love this, Coach.
02:09If the season ended today, both the Fever and the Sky would be in the playoffs.
02:13They would love to have all of those eyeballs on these tremendous rookies heading into the playoffs.
02:17Which brings us up to Kaitlyn Clark.
02:18Historical things as well.
02:20The first rookie in the WNBA to collect a triple-double.
02:23Now averaging 16.7 and 6 per game.
02:26Talk about her as compared to Angel Reese at this point.
02:29Both of them playing well.
02:30But also Kaitlyn Clark coming around here playing some great basketball also.
02:34She's playing great.
02:36And let's be honest.
02:37Guys, like, I don't know if I can say this the right way.
02:40I'm going to say it.
02:41She didn't even play that great shooting the ball.
02:43She shot 3 of 12 from 3.
02:45Which means she only missed one shot inside the lane.
02:48Inside the 3.
02:49So to me, she still has ways that she can get a little bit better.
02:54But what is she doing?
02:56Her assist turnover ratio is getting better.
03:00Right?
03:01But to me, as well as she is playing, I think, Donnie, the fact that other players around her are starting to play better.
03:10Aaliyah Boston had 18 and 8 in that win.
03:13Melissa Smith had 12 points.
03:16Kelsey Mitchell hit some shots.
03:18So to me, Kaitlyn now doesn't have to feel like she's got to be at Iowa where she's got to give you 25, 30 points a game to win.
03:26She can give you 17, 18 points.
03:29But she can get you 8, 9, 10 assists.
03:31She can give you 7, 8, 9, 10 rebounds.
03:33And she can impact the game in other ways.
03:36She needs other players to be able to score to help her.
03:41As they are doing that, Indiana is winning.
03:45And obviously, this is what the biggest performance is.
03:48Not just the fact that she had a triple-double, but a comeback win versus the best team in the WNBA.
03:53That was a monumental performance by the entire Fever team.
03:589-13, the number for Indiana.
04:00Slightly better than that win percentage for Chicago.
04:038-12 for the Sky.
04:06There's only been 38 triple-doubles in the history of the WNBA since 1997.
04:13Kaitlyn Clark, in only 22 WNBA career games, has won of those 38.
04:19And she is still a favorite at minus 360 to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
04:24But the gap is tightening.
04:26And the number on Angel Reese, specifically, is shortening as well.
04:30J.Y., at this moment, who wins the WNBA Rookie of the Year award in your estimation?
04:36I thought Reese was coming until the triple-double.
04:39They kind of shut it down because it was against the Liberty.
04:41I still think it's Kaitlyn Clark.
04:43And I'll go on record saying this right now.
04:45Indiana, Chicago, both make the WNBA playoffs.
04:50They'll probably be in that 7-8 seed.
04:53Dallas, terrible. They're not going to make it.
04:55Washington, not going to make it.
04:57Sparks, not going to make it.
04:58Atlanta Dream, not good enough.
05:00They make it.
05:01And honestly, that is exactly what the WNBA is going to want to see.
05:06The fever now minus 770 to make the postseason.
05:10Chicago, minus 235.
05:13The odds outlook backing up, what our coach J.Y. has to say.
05:17A fadeaway to the break.
05:18An hour number three on the horizon.
05:21On the other side, come back and join us on the early.
05:28We'll be right back.