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00:03what's good everybody welcome back to another edition of liberty lately dexter henry alongside
00:08the great women's sports reporter for the new york post madeline kenny maddie what's going on
00:12how you doing i'm good i'm good how are you i'm doing good i'm doing good we are in the
00:18you know
00:18past the midpoint of this w season just you know grinding along both of us just grinding along here
00:24we've got a lot to talk about on this episode we have some news surrounding benai jelaney hamilton
00:28who we've been talking about for a while finally have some news on that i'll talk about the liberty
00:32aces matchup coming up on sunday that should be a big one so uh let's get into it maddie i'm
00:38gonna
00:38start with this for you when you first heard the news came down on thursday the liberty releasing
00:45benai jelaney hamilton when you first heard that were you surprised by the decision after everything
00:49that we've talked about or was the biggest surprise that this happened after the trade deadline
00:56i don't think i'm surprised for either of those things i'm i think i'm just surprised that
01:00ownership or management decided to do it right uh knowing that there was definitely going to be
01:07some blowback from the fan base knowing what benai jelaney hamilton meant to this means this
01:11organization she came here in 2021 when the and took a risk by coming to a team that was losing
01:19more
01:19than it was winning and was very much a foundational player for the the franchise turnaround and you
01:25know she put her body on the line she has like a quote with roz that i used in my
01:30story where she
01:31basically just said that she was going until the wheels fell off uh in 2024 and obviously played a
01:36big part in helping them win that championship was out all of last season because of injury
01:42stayed in market for the most part worked with andrew wade was seen around town with chris
01:47demarco at all these different events along with like niara savoli and stuff and then just never
01:53really got her season off the ground went from being a starter to coming off the bench to racking
01:58up dmp's the writing had been on the wall that you know this wasn't this wasn't working um after
02:06they couldn't move her on the trade deadline it just kind of felt like it was a matter of time
02:09especially with the way that maureen fatooks had been playing and the way that they had been
02:13talking about her it almost felt like maureen was and i had written about this for a few weeks now
02:18that maureen that was really playing her way onto the roster um and then you start to do the math
02:24and you have to figure out well who someone's got to go to add somebody and banagia kind of just
02:29felt
02:29like the odd woman out so to speak um but again it's it's for it's unfortunate just championship windows
02:37they don't stay open because of sentimentality and that's kind of the the difficult part of this
02:44business but but i don't think people are going to remember banagia for um this season i i think that
02:52they're going to remember her for every all the contributions that she's given to this organization
02:57and what she means to the franchise yeah i want to come back to that in a second about what
03:01she means
03:01to the franchise and i've seen reaction i'm sure you've seen it too you know from the fan base um
03:08to her release you know it has been you know not as positive and a lot of fans wanted you
03:14know this
03:14we've been talking about this wanted to see her play um i guess regardless of how difficult this
03:19season became we know as you just mentioned that banagia was a foundational part of the liberties
03:24rise in their first championship i sometimes say this maddie deserve doesn't have anything to do with
03:29it but did she deserve a more graceful ending or do you look at this like look there's simply no
03:34clean way to move on from a player with that kind of history it's always going to be rough at
03:39the end
03:39where do you land on that uh i mean i think that there can always be a graceful way of
03:47parting ways with a franchise player and all of that i think unfortunately just the way that this
03:53whole entire season was handled with her um there was miscommunication at times regarding
03:59what her role was going to look like you know obviously she stepped away early on in the season
04:03for personal reasons the team supported her through that comes back she's coming off the bench
04:08and it just kind of again i think that the lack of play it's it's one of those chicken and
04:13the eggs
04:13type thing right like she wasn't getting playing time because she looked a step slow and
04:21wasn't didn't reclaim her her form uh post-surgery the way that the team had hoped her to so she
04:29wasn't getting playing time but then could you argue that because she wasn't getting playing time
04:33and consistent minutes that that was hindering her ability to find her flow i mean you know and so i
04:38think it's it's kind of a complicated thing but but yeah i mean i i would just love to know
04:45how
04:46benijah feels about it because if benijah is at peace with it then you feel a lot better about
04:51like this this decision and honestly i have to believe everything i know about benijah is that
04:57as she might be and i don't want to speak for her this is me purely speculating but obviously this
05:02probably is disappointing that how the season has gone um but also maybe this allows you know if she
05:12doesn't end up on another team which it's very possible she could there's lots of teams that
05:15have cap space to sign her right now but if she were to not play for another team like this
05:20gives
05:20her the time to mentally physically emotionally reset before 2027 um and obviously she'll be an
05:27unrestricted free agent yeah i've you know i've been wondering too you know where she goes from this
05:32um also what what is the impact on this team she was close with a lot of ladies on this
05:36team
05:37um jonquil jones uh being one of them i i wonder how that impacts you talked about how fans will
05:43remember her and i agree with you i don't think fans are going to think about this season and how
05:50little she played maybe they'll think about the release and they won't like that but do you think
05:55five ten years from now um when we look back at this and look at this back at this era
06:00of liberty
06:00basketball that fans will remember benijah as that great two-way player that you mentioned came to
06:06this team when they were losing was really part of that core of them winning how do you think fans
06:11will remember her yeah i mean i think they'll remember her for all the right reasons you know
06:16um for for what all of her contributions early on the way that she helped deliver that championship
06:22like that that run in 2024 was special and the thing about championships is sometimes you know like
06:29they're not guaranteed and so you've really got to enjoy and embrace when your team does win it
06:34because there's no it could very well not happen again you know what i mean there's so much that
06:39goes into winning a championship and she was a glue player and they missed her last season and that was
06:45very uh evident and people would talk about that you know the way that she was like that connected
06:52tissue of the team and even when she wasn't playing this season you could see her be a leader on
06:58the
06:58bench or in practice or in the huddles and stuff like that and so i think again she'll i don't
07:04think
07:04anyone's gonna you know this is not a blemish on benijah you know in her her career and what she
07:11means the liberty this season i don't think it's a blemish on her um and so i think again they'll
07:16they'll remember her for all the right reasons yeah i think so and i i will say this before we
07:20move on
07:21i they've they've missed a player like her all season i think you and i have agreed especially
07:26when we looked at this team defensively um and you know they're not going to be able to replace her
07:33they're not going to be able to replace what she gave what she was i'll even say that with respect
07:36to
07:36her what she was when she was at her healthiest they're not going to be able to replace her so
07:40with that being said the liberty they also announced on thursday they signed marine for two to a
07:45multi-year deal and you gotta look at this they chose the 25 year old over an established veteran
07:51and when you look at that is jonathan colp simply rewarding the player who has performed better right
07:56now or do you look at this as a sign that the liberty of beginning to transition toward a
08:01younger faster backcourt do you just look at this as a transition here for the liberty
08:06i think a little bit of both like if bedajah lane hilton stopped playing then she's essentially
08:11a wasted roster spot you know and marine fatuques had really played like but i just benching
08:18coincided with marine being injected into the rotation on a consistent nightly basis and so it
08:24again seemed like inevitable and i think that this is both an investment in the near term like this
08:31season they think that marine is going to be able to help them um play meaningful minutes she's
08:38obviously shown uh poise in close games like late game execution that she was huge in that overtime win
08:45um in dallas and so i think that there's a lot of confidence in her and the way that she
08:50plays and
08:51obviously she's played on big stages before she was um you know in the olympics in paris and so
08:57i think there's a lot of confidence in her um and then also yeah i think there is like a
09:02long-term
09:02outlook with her because she did sign for multiple years and you know maybe this is like a new era
09:08they're really leaning into their they like their french guards clearly yeah yeah they do pauline
09:14astia marine fatuques they definitely like their french guards you said that they think that she's
09:19ready to play meaningful minutes um and look the multi-year deal like you said it lets us know that
09:25they think she's part of the future i guess my question to you is is she ready to play meaningful
09:29postseason minutes right do you believe that she's ready for that right now or is this more about
09:35okay we just want to lock her in she can be part of the future what she can become down
09:39the road
09:40um is she ready to play meaningful postseason minutes right now i would say she's more ready
09:46than a few other players on the team to play postseason minutes now is she going to be closing a
09:52game five i don't know necessarily it depends on how that game is going and the flow of the game
09:58obviously but but i do think that she like provides a lift and gives the team a lot and
10:03i think that you know we're gonna see her they didn't make this move without having like the
10:08postseason in mind yeah that that would be fair i would think so need look at the minute she's been
10:13getting it she hasn't even had some games where she's been on the floor late um though it can bode
10:18well for her as we go down the stretch here and to the postseason hopefully for the liberty uh
10:23speaking of the postseason liberty looking good lately uh they've won six out of seven
10:28after they went through that rough two and eight stretch in july what do you think's been the
10:32biggest reason for the turnaround what's been cooking for the liberty that we've seen lately
10:37i think that they're just kind of like learning to win together again like you know they went on
10:43that eight game win streak but there was a lot of like they had a lot of ugly wins and
10:48there's been
10:48ugly wins in this this stretch this season but i think you know sabrina unescu has been on a tear
10:54um she's looked really good over like the last nine ten games i would say um jj was kind of
11:01in a little
11:01bit of a funk out of the all-star break but is back to you know i think they're being
11:07way more
11:07intentional about finding her inside and getting paint touches and um branda stewart continues to be
11:13brianna stewart and put up an mvp caliber season um i think there's just a lot of pieces clicking
11:19right now and i think um you know there's been a lot of cases of them outscoring the other team
11:25and not necessarily beating the team by like really good defense but i do think that in this like stretch
11:33of six of the last seven games we have seen their defense have like better moments and more consistent
11:41stronger defensive possessions you know what i mean and so i bet there's a little bit of like uh
11:46they're starting to turn the corner on that end and um again i think when you get like a leone
11:51feedback which for for all i know is the intention you know um when you get her back she's going
11:59to
11:59only elevate this this team especially on that end i think they really are realizing how um important
12:05she is yep they really didn't know that already yep yeah yeah they really really miss her two-way
12:11play um we'll see how soon she can return you mentioned sab and how good she's been playing um
12:16we know also how good she's been on the international stage won gold at the 2022 world cup 2024 olympics
12:22but she was left off the 2026 world cup team caitlin clark page beckers new generation of guards
12:29moving in here was that a defensible basketball decision to leave off sab or has her resume earned her
12:35more benefited the doubt that she should have been on the team
12:40i think it depends on who you ask ask because there's seems like there's a lot of people that
12:46i've talked to are really torn about it um some people you know point to well who would you not
12:52have on the roster if for sabrina um you know i'm i made i put out my roster prediction at
12:59the
13:00before the official roster came out and i i basically said it was going to be the
13:04i thought it was going to be the 2024 olympic roster with a few minor change minor changes um and
13:10those changes would be like instead of diana taurasi and jewel lloyd you have caitlin and page
13:15and then instead of melissa thomas then you have like a ryan howard and uh there was one or britney
13:24griner instead of britney griner you have she was on the roster so so yeah like i thought that those
13:29were going to be the changes but it's now you have angel reese instead of like a sabrina unescu too
13:36so i was like one player off so um you know i think it was kind of you you would
13:43have loved for
13:44sue bird she doesn't have to get into the the specifics of her conversation with sabrina but
13:51just to provide it would have been nice if she at her press conference yesterday provided some like
13:55clarity on her decision making process um you know i think there's five bigs on this roster and
14:00you just just giving uh an idea of why they went the way that they went um again it's a
14:08basketball
14:08decision right like why you should be able to explain a basketball decision um but i think yeah
14:14it's unfortunate because i also at first was like oh maybe it's the injuries you know she was injured at
14:19the beginning of the summer but you can't say that because the fisa collier is on this roster along
14:23with kelsey plum who both also missed significant times so um yeah yeah it was it's it's it's gonna
14:31be weird to watch a us team usa without a sabrina unescu yeah i thought the same thing too at
14:37first i
14:37thought injuries and then the exact same reaction you had i was like oh kelsey kelsey plum's on there
14:42and if he's a collier who not hasn't played much this season at all um is on there but starting
14:47to
14:47look good and in form do you think i guess one follow-up on that is maybe for sad because
14:52of the
14:52injury she's had is this good for her to not play and just to have to be able to focus
14:58more on liberty
14:59basketball or do you also think this could motivate her i know you haven't got to talk to her yet
15:05we
15:05the media hasn't got to talk to her yet since yeah yeah i mean i think like knowing sabrina she
15:10wants
15:10to play i'm sure she as she like respects the process and you know respects the decision i'm sure
15:17there is that underwhelming like you know that layer of you that's like man i really want to
15:21play and i want to represent the u.s on an international stage um so yeah if you want to
15:27look at a silver lining sure she's going to rest majority of september her and jj are going to get
15:33rest that's going to be big for the liberty um brianna stewart's obviously probably going to play
15:38heavy minutes at the world cup leone fibich probably going to play heavy minutes at the world cup like
15:43there's a lot of there's a lot of french players and honshu you know obviously those rosters haven't
15:49been released but assuming they're going to make their national teams and even raquel carrera is
15:55another one who you know could make the spanish team so there's gonna be a lot of liberty players
15:59there so i think the fact that jj and sabrina are going to get rest silver lining in all of
16:05this for
16:05sure um i could also see sabrina because she is so um competitive and the way that she is wired
16:17that
16:17she will use this as fuel and motivation to go win a championship like i i could see her pouring
16:25everything now into like the liberty not that she wasn't pouring everything before but i think that this
16:30just adds like the the heat under her seat is just a little bit hotter um and you know the
16:38the a sense
16:38of urgency and desire to to win is going to only uh increase you know what i mean so i
16:45think that
16:47that's how i view it at least yeah i don't think she's like i don't expect her when she talks
16:51to the
16:51media to come out and say you know that she's pissed off about this or anything i'm not saying that
16:56she should be it shouldn't no i mean she's a professional yeah yeah but i do think i could
17:01see her using this as fuel i'm with you on that i could really see her using this as fuel
17:04especially
17:05with the way she's been playing her form recently has been really good she'll get the rest and i think
17:11uh she'll have a little bit you know extra in the tank you know you guys didn't have me on
17:16the roster
17:16i believe i belong in there i think she belonged on the roster personally but you know these decisions
17:22that are made um and we'll see how it goes all right last thing maddie uh sunday big game liberty
17:29battled aces at the barclays center uh the team has won three games in a row liberty has after that
17:35baseball series sweep of the seattle storm but the aces we noticed they are a different standard
17:39what do you need to see on sunday to believe that this liberty turnaround where they've won six out of
17:44seven is real and can carry into the postseason what do you need to see on sunday
17:48them beating the aces they need a win they need a double i mean yeah yeah you need a win
17:54for sure
17:55um i mean look the liberty i've had some success over the aces this season like obviously won the
18:00commissioner's cup and i think this is a good matchup for the liberty um obviously they're still
18:06without leo and satisopoli nothing's changed on that front to my knowledge um and so they'll be
18:12playing down those two players but i think that the liberty just it's got to be like a full 40
18:19minute
18:19effort it's got to they got to be focusing on the defensive end and letting like you know getting
18:25the rebounds to then push it in transition to to score on fast break opportunities and stuff like
18:31that and just have to play like scrappy hard-nosed defense i think that's i think this is a game
18:37where
18:38you can't let the aces like mess you can't let the aces dictate the the pace of the game
18:46yeah and it's funny i the reason i even asked this too is that yes obviously they want to get
18:50a win but
18:51i know for some people at this point it's like oh you hey can they still play good and considering
18:55the
18:55last game they played against the aces out in vegas they lost that one where the aces did dictate
19:00the tempo yeah i think it's important for them to handle that and then get a win here on sunday
19:04it would be really good could be seven out of eight it could have really good vibes going into
19:08next week we'll see how all that goes for the liberty uh good stuff maddie i will see you at
19:14the barclays center on sunday that should be a good one we'll see if the liberty can win that one
19:18um we'll see uh what the reaction is to from the rest of the team with benajelaney hamilton being
19:24released we'll check out all of that so stay tuned and maddie and myself we'll have more coming
19:29your way on liberty lately maddie thank you and i'll see you sunday see you later
19:33you
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