A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The WNBA finals start tomorrow. The Golden State Valkyries hosts the Atlanta Dream. Doug Feinberg, basketball writer for the Associated Press is here with a preview. Doug, so both teams swept their semifinal brackets. What are you most excited about as the series is about to begin?
DOUG FEINBERG: Well, A, I'll say that the thing that really gets me excited for this series - that we'll have a first-time champion. Either Golden State will win their first title in their second year in existence, or Atlanta wins their first title after making the championship round a couple times earlier on in the 2010s. So first-time champion is always a great thing to see.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Las Vegas Aces has pretty much dominated the last, like, few years of the WNBA, so, it'll be - yeah - it'll be nice to see a brand-new champion for once. Now, looking at both teams, they seem like they both play really good defense, but especially the Valkyries. They have the best defense in the league. They also have the second-lowest-scoring team in the WNBA. So that defense must be really good.
FEINBERG: Yeah. You know, offense is going to be tough to come by for both teams in this series. And what's the old adage? Defense wins championships.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
FEINBERG: That can't be more correct than this when you have Golden State - as you mentioned, the best defensive team this league has seen in a long time. And Atlanta's not far behind them. They're great at turning teams over, getting steals, getting points on the fast break. So it's going to be tough to score for both teams but should be fun for those who love watching defense.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Now, the Atlanta Dream, they - you know, you mentioned how they have not been in the final since 2013. They got Angel Reese this year, made a lot of moves, but she was the biggest one. What has her season been like with the Dream?
FEINBERG: You know, it's been one of those situations where players make moves, and you think, OK, maybe it works out. She has been fantastic. She's been the missing piece for Atlanta this year. She's the best rebound this league's probably ever seen. She's been a great defender, won the defensive player of the year for the league and just has been one of the sort of bright stars of this league since she joined a couple of years ago and has her first chance to sort of be on the biggest stage league has with the finals.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. You know, and looking at the Valkyries, one more thing with them - they are also the best home team in the WNBA, and they have the home-court advantage. So I got to imagine Atlanta probably wants to steal one or two - Game 1 or 2 - to try and take it back to Atlanta and not have to leave.
FEINBERG: Yeah, I mean, Ballhalla, as they love to call it...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
FEINBERG: What a fun place to watch a basketball game. They sell out every game, 18,000-plus fans. They get into it. The energy is incredible. Atlanta is going to be sort of hard-pressed to get that steal, to get that first victory there. But they're pretty good on the road themselves, so it should be, I think, a good chance for them to try and do something and steal a Game 1 or Game 2 and bring the thing back to Atlanta with a chance to win the title.
MARTÍNEZ: Overall, Doug, it seems like the WNBA - this is their first season under this big new deal that they had, this broadcasting deal. It seems like this has been a successful season all the way around.
FEINBERG: Yeah. I mean, the record attendance, record ratings. People are paying attention to this league. Obviously, there's been a couple things in the news that have created some buzz and interest on the controversy side, but for the most part, it's been a fun season to watch, and you have two of the best teams playing for a title.
MARTÍNEZ: I don't want to ask you to predict a winner, Doug. I know that the Associated Press maybe doesn't do that, but what do you think? I mean, who do you think is going to win this thing?
FEINBERG: I think whoever can establish themselves better defensively will be the one to win it. I like going for the fun story of the Golden State Valkyries as a second-year expansion team winning their first title.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. Doug Feinberg, basketball writer for the Associated Press. Doug, thank you very much.
FEINBERG: Thanks, A.
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