Meghan McKeown Talks Fever, WNBA Finals Picks, Title Contenders & Expansion

What's up fever nation I'm Alex Golden and I'm Casey Johnson and welcome back ladies and gentlemen to another episode here of the

fever podcast on the set in the face podcast network and I'm gonna get out of the way because my coach over here Casey Johnson

had an awesome day on Monday afternoon he not only got to see the one and only teaching McConnell but he also got to meet

his sister Megan McConnell who is on the Indian a fever training camp roster so you met him both I gotta know more about this experience.

Well you know I am proud to report that the entirety of the McConnell family is exactly the type of people that you think that they are and I do mean the entirety of the McConnell family Alex.

I know this is a fever podcast but if I can take you back to the last game of the season two years ago of the Indiana Pacer season is that game against the Hawks where they scored like a billion points.

And before the game my wife and I are sitting in the in the teen store and we're looking around and I'm wearing my T.J. McConnell jersey and all of a sudden I feel this

good on my back and this guy comes around me you know kind of the mid fifties white hair and he goes hey that is my favorite player and I was like dude me too.

He shook my hand he was like I was like yeah man I love him he's like yeah absolutely and I you know talked for a minute about you know oh I you know I love the

effort now you know he never stops I love players like that effort players are like my thing and he was like yeah yeah he goes hey you know who that is.

And I kind of I was like well yes we've been talking about him for like a minute now then he goes that's my son.

And I was like what and yeah it was T.J. McConnell's dad and he stopped me in the middle of the team store just to thank me for buying his son's jersey.

Which is like so cool. So then we're over in the Benz pretzel line shout out to Benz pretzels shout out.

And we oh my gosh we're standing there in the line I'm just I'm so I'm so I'm fat I'm so focused on this pretzel that I'm about to eat.

And this is like what once I get in that line I'm laughing because I've been there I've been there.

From way over to my left I hear hey that's my guy right there that's my dog that's my guy and I turn it as T.J. is dead and he's coming up and he gives me a fist bump and everybody around me is just staring at me.

So I kind of have to be that guy and I'm like that's T.J. McConnell's dad you know.

Oh man you know he's just he's like that you know he's so crazy but I you know I took my yeah he has no big deal I took my jersey to get it signed I put it up to have T.J.

And I said this is a very important jersey to me because your dad stopped me in the middle of the team store to thank me for wearing it.

And I kind of told him the story and T.J. went yeah that I mean that he will do that that's what he does that that's he will you're not the first you're not the last.

And I was like yeah and then I told him about the pretzel line part and he was like oh my god he's like yeah that's my dad he said you tell Megan that story Megan will tell you the same thing.

And so Megan is over there and she's like I don't know just like preparing to meet her next person you know taking your five seconds while you have it before the neck and T.J. turns to her and goes Megan you have to hear this story about dad.

And she was like wait what and so I you know I slid down I started telling her the story and she's like that's my that's that's my dad I was like I kind of I kind of felt like a snob because I had to tell everybody around me like oh that's that's T.J.

That's that's T.J.'s dad and she's like oh my god yeah no big deal just you know we're just cool we're to and I don't just too genuinely awesome people.

It was just I don't know it was it was an absolute lovely experience and you know for whatever you can certainly tell that they are both still just people.

In a way that you know not everybody that you meet is both of them are just are just awesome people and shout out to Indy card exchange who keep having.

Pacers player there we met been shepherd there they were talking to us about some other stuff that they potentially have in the works it really really awesome people really awesome card shop and.

I love going there both to shop and for the meet and greets um but yeah just just an absolutely wonderful experience overall candidly in a week where I really needed one yeah um that was that was definitely a bright spot for me.

Yeah and just say from behind the scenes you know we're wishing KC the best of luck with everything going on in his personal life but what a way to kind of just give yourself a little bit of a distraction from what's going on and obviously.

Megan McConnell is going to become a fan favorite if she does make this roster we're still unsure about that but at least she will get to play in front of fever fans for a home game on Thursday against the Dallas wing so we know they're going to probably play a lot of players and give them an opportunity just to kind of prove

themselves and you know Megan's been a little bit of a journey woman in her career so it'd be cool to see her land somewhere stay healthy but.

I just love that her and TG were able to make this happen and how cool is it to potentially have a brother sister you know playing for the same franchise same organization but two different teams right so I just I just

isn't as really cool but Casey do you want to let the listeners know what we have coming up for them here in the second segment of our show.

We have up in the second segment Megan McHughan she is an amazing analyst she does a lot of work for college basketball a lot of work for the W and she's a game analyst for the for the Connecticut son we had such an enlightening conversation with her.

I definitely want to get her back on here at some point because she just is such a fountain of knowledge.

Yeah and she and she pays attention like she really like when we say game analysts like she really understands the game and she remember stuff that she sees and it's just like some people just like that they watch

something one time and it just sticks with them and they can just talk about it and we're able about she's seen so many players and if her just be able to talk about so many different players on the fever

roster as well it was just incredible to me so really excited to have her on the pod and then of course that I'll wrap it up for our show today after that conversation but we always

enjoy just talking with different people and learning about this team so with that being said let's go ahead and take a quick commercial break and then we'll be right back with the

great Megan McHughan.

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all righty fever nation joining us now on the fever focus podcast is Megan McCune and we love her great work that she does for I

on ESPN and of course a game analyst with the Connecticut sun Megan thanks so much for coming back on the pot I know that you're

originally on set in the pace a couple years ago in the in the fevers first playoff run playing the sun but now we're here for this next

season for the W so how are you doing

doing great thanks for having me on yeah it's hard to believe that like college basketball was less than a month ago in terms of when that

ended ended on the championship game and then it was the draft and now like here we go like hit the floor running full speed ahead

I'm excited to see what this season brings out a lot of new talent in the league a lot more players in the league new team

just really exciting overall especially with the new cba yeah absolutely and you talk about the wba draft just taking place not too long

goes so obviously the the fever take Raven Johnson and then they just add to this roster by all their off season moves I was curious

you know what did you think about how the fever went about building the roster for this upcoming season well the first

in that jumps off to the page to me whenever I look at this roster is wow they can play fast which is exactly what you

want with the player like Caitlin Clark who is so good at pushing pace and scoring a transition and getting people in positions to score

when I look at like a Monique Billions for example I can just picture it happening running down the floor that's going to be a really nice

tandem with Clark in terms of you know potentially being a target for her in the fast break Maisha Heinz out on really good pick up strong physical

you can really do some damage and the two man game just been picking roll situations I love Thai Harris coming in as well she's a really nice

like point guard option who has played for Stephanie white in Connecticut and the story Walker came bro just a really nice

wing player who's athletic can get to the rim just all the right thing so I'm excited to see how these additions in free agency also kind of

help with you know Alia Boston bring Kelsey Mitchell back was massive of course seeing Clark healthy was really

exciting that preseason game but it's going to be you know important for this team overall to stay healthy if they

want to have a deep run in the season. Yeah and I mean it has absolutely been a race for arms in this

offseason period I mean especially with it being so truncated I you know I heard one of the one of the players

and you know you got to decide where you want to go in like two days which is a lot you know closer together than normal

but it the fever in an interesting position because they seem like they were in a spot almost to finish off their

roster more than making some sort of a crazy play to upgrade any like really huge core pieces do you think

because I've noticed some fans being like why didn't they do more why didn't they go after the big fish

what do you think the ceiling on this fever team is as it's constructed because I feel like some people have a tendency

to underrate the people who are already there umbrella a little bit didn't go out for the big fish you got

Caitlin Clark Kelsey Mitchell and Alia Boston got three all started what do you want you know

and maybe maybe it's that you didn't get like a Neko Guma Cape perhaps but like you have to think about

how this roster is currently constructed and like Alia Boston to me as somebody that's going to continue

to grow and get better and be one of the best players in this league coming up this season I'm really high on her

I think her ceiling doesn't exist in the limit Kelsey Mitchell is playing some of the best basketball in her career

which is crazy because she's been playing for almost 10 years in this league.

You know Clark I think is really exciting young player that a lot of people want to play with

and she certainly brings a ton of eyeballs to the television everywhere she goes.

So there's a lot of excitement around this franchise and I think Stephanie white's a great coach

and she understands what it's like to win in this league.

So to me like you don't you don't need to go out and get home run hits when you have such a strong core

I thought they did a great job adding pieces of what they need and ultimately they're able to add players

that can play fast and create a lot of possessions for this team this year.

I was curious from watching the fever play the liberty to kind of get us kicked off your preseason basketball

what were your early impressions from the fever even though they set out some of their core pieces.

I was really impressed with the defense.

I'm just more so it's more than 20 points off turnovers right like you know 24 turnovers by the liberty

but it's going to be important to not only get stops but also being able to capitalize off of them which is always huge.

So to me that was the piece set stuck out it's hard in the preseason games to kind of like get a really good feel

when you know players are playing limited minutes, Boston didn't play less, see how it didn't play.

So a lot of I'm curious what the lineups are going to truly look like

overall you know like Kelsey Mitchell I thought looked really good money villains good to get her kind of

running up and down in the system getting used to playing with Clark and company.

So to me I thought it was a really good showing obviously I don't know how much you can necessarily take from it

but if anything you got to feel good knowing that like you have bodies that can play fast

and ultimately you can make people pay for their mistakes.

Yeah and you know this is something that we've noticed is that if there's anything that you can take

maybe from the the first preseason game it's that at Raim Johnson is going to be hard to keep off of the floor.

She played so fantastically and of course Stephanie white such a defensive coach as you know so well and she I heard somebody make the point the other day on another show.

She has made it a point to see Raven Johnson a lot just in her assignments right.

She has done commentary for a lot of those SEC games she's seen Raven Johnson so much is this not especially you know

because you know so well from from her time in Connecticut is Raven Johnson not a picture perfect Stephanie white player.

I'm laughing because I was at in Sacramento with Stephanie white for yes I was doing studios she was calling that sweet 16 elite

dating with Raven Johnson where she was a stud to get South Carolina back to the final four.

So yes she got a lot of close and personal looks of Johnson.

What makes Raven Johnson so special is that defensive piece like she's so smart she understands angles so she's able to you know

even if she's on the help side she can get into the right spot so we're even if she's two passes away she's always in the right position helpful wise

and then she's got great athleticism and quickness to get into a passing lane on a skip pass or whatever it might be like she really gets caught in the wrong rotation

and she's able to recover because she's got great instincts she really stepped up for South Carolina this past season

and I felt was the catalyst to get them into a position where they could get to the final four

and it all started with her defense so when you have that in addition to her IQ she's become a much better shooter for the course of her time in South Carolina

she was I think by the end of her senior year was shooting 39 or 40% from beyond the arc so if you can just come in and not do anything too crazy

defend well get a rebound maybe get an assist she's not going to be the first option within the offense

she wasn't the first option within South Carolina as offense in college but she does so many good things on the floor that it's hard to imagine that she wouldn't get some significant minutes as a rookie

and I think it's great that she kind of has role clarity as well just coming into this team already that's got so many veterans and so many stars on it that you're going to kind of dominate

she fits right into that perfectly and of course playing at South Carolina with Leo Boston does help as well kind of make it more of a seamless transition

but we've talked a lot of glowingly things are things glowingly here about the fever do you see any areas of concern with how they built the roster this off seas

you know the only thing I look at is one making sure that you have like bodies in the post league is so physical you can get into foul trouble

so like do they have enough depth in the front court like you add some nice pieces but you know I'm kind of looking at if Boston were to get into foul trouble

you know or billions gets into foul trouble high and so you I'm curious how that's going to go just making sure they're not foul prone

and then the other is just staying healthy like I think that at this time of year like you know you don't want to get bit by the injury bug too much

and I know a couple players on this roster have missed time throughout the course of the last couple of years just with nagging injuries

so they can just find ways to stay healthy and defend without valiant I think they're a pretty good shape

and one thing that would definitely be a concern with just about every team in the w it's almost like a blanket statement like when we have a store meetings at my work everybody gets dinged on cleaning because the store is not generally clean

one thing that every single franchise is going to have to worry about as we're moving forward is the fact that this league is about to expand so much

and not only that now you've got the developmental positions to contend with what are your thoughts moving forward on how teams can even approach this concept of building a team's season

over season when now the expansion draft is going to be nearly a yearly thing that you have to factor into your plans all of these spots

all of these people who might go to other teams especially signing these big deals with expansion teams

what does this look like behind the scenes for the league?

I think as has been kind of evident I think everyone's figuring it out as they go just because like this is unprecedented right

like in what league do you have for what four or five straight years in expansion draft in the off season

like that just doesn't happen often now it's a great sign of the times it's positive that the footprint of the league has expanded there's a demand for it there's excitement around it

you're adding more roster spots to a league where there's so many free women's basketball players coming out of college or playing overseas

that simply couldn't get a roster spot because there was only 144 of them and now you're able to add even more and more

I love the developmental spots when you add two of those now you have 30 extra spots in the WMBA for players who

would likely have a really hard time getting their foot in the door in the league and having to go play overseas

so like this is a really good problem to have as for navigating that's why you pay you know the GM's all this money

and the scouts and stuff those are people all you know way smarter than I am in terms of how to construct a roster

but it's certainly something it's going to have to be fluid and I I just think all the time you like you don't know what you don't know and you just got to

like learn on the fly as quickly as you can so it's definitely an interesting sign of the time it but the other factor is

every single team the league is dealing with it it's not just one particular team you know we talk about over the course of the season

so and so it's got a travel here there and there there they everybody hurts at the end of the day

I've been playing 44 games this travel schedule it's going to be tough at certain areas but every single team at one point or

another is going to have to deal with it so everyone's in the same boat at the end of the day.

I think it's a great point because I think sometimes you just get so you know fix it on your team and your roster building

but it's not just your team that has to go through that but there's been a lot of movement obviously with free agency

there are so many free agents this off season. Did you feel like there was a team that stood out to you that

man that team looks really good after free agency?

Los Angeles I thought kind of hit a home run getting Neko Gumake arguably one of the biggest you know

free agents who went to a different team and I think you know for her to return back to L.A.

very exciting for her I would assume she will plan on retiring there but I look at you know that roster

you kidding me you have Neko Gumake and then you have a potentially hopefully healthy

Cameron Brink like that's your front court and that's before we even get into Dierka Hamby

who I think has put together some really convincing performances to potentially you know consider

being like a first team all WMBA type of player and then you have Kelsey Plum

who just continues to shine and dazzle wherever she goes I'm such a fan of hers

and watching her game so to me like they got better and that's a team

that probably has been on the back burner at the course of the last couple of years

but Neko Adam Linn has been able to do and she's a really smart basketball mind coming in last season

I'm excited to kind of see how that team shakes out.

Well you know as we start to wrap up here I think that we would be remiss not to mention that

perhaps the biggest free agent acquisition of the entire free agency period

has gone to actually just the city of Houston.

You know the franchise that you spend so much time with there in Connecticut is now Houston owned

and you know we all understand that the plan is that they're going to be moving out that way

and you know as a professional but also as somebody who's been around this team for so long

what's been running through your head lately as this whole transition process start?

You know it's crazy but I will say this Connecticut basketball fans are fantastic.

You know I've had the opportunity to call Connecticut Sun Games I'm going into my third season

and it does not matter like two years ago when I started when Stephanie White was there

at Los Atomas to want a bonner like that whole entire team that was basically comprised

to go win a championship like the attendance was rocking and the gym was loud

but even last season when they were in the bottom of the W there were still so many people there

like there was never an empty gym and so those fans show up.

It's a great atmosphere.

Mohegan Sun's done a great job.

You know hosting this team and everybody I've dealt with in the front office

from you know top to bottom has been first class and how they treat people.

So I'll always be grateful to the Connecticut Sun.

I think it's a great fan base.

The Northeast is fantastic.

Obviously they got Yukon or when there's a Husky fan but also you know

there's a lot of Connecticut Sun fans so I think it's a great place to have a team

normally thankful that I got to be a part of it in any way.

Yeah it's going to be weird not having the sun you know have a team after this season

but hopefully they can have a memorable season just to give all those fans.

So as we sign it off here I'm going to put you on the hot seat.

I want to get your way too early finals prediction.

Who do you think are the two teams that make it to the WNBA finals as of right now?

You know I feel like this is like so boring to say but I feel like right now

biggest in New York like I mean how can they not be right now and you think

of everything they've been able to do with retaining some of their great players

their cores.

I mean New York I had sought to do software like that's insane to think

that they're going to you know have so much talent on one roster

and then Asia Wilson is the best player in the world and she continues to

somehow get better year after year and I don't even know how because she's

you needed everything she does.

So to me right now it's New York Vegas at the moment is who I have is my

really you know obvious answers to to make the finals.

I was hoping we might hear Lil Indiana fever there but I appreciate you not being

you know listen there's no no reason why why they couldn't certainly make a

case.

We got to play I got to see Leo Boston in a uniform first before we you

know start giving them some uh that type of props.

Yeah no I'm excited about the people it's like it's like I hear people say you

know there's a reason why we need it the the center court and throw the ball

up in the air you know because it pretty much.

Not anything can happen.

Yeah no exactly you know I think a lot of teams are focused on winning the

off season and winning the press conference and that time has passed now you got

to let your game do the talking.

All right everybody well she is Megan McEwen she is great you can find her on

Ion covering the W as well as ESPN and of course she is a game analyst for

the Connecticut Sunset Megan.

Thank you so much for your time we hope that you have a great season and hopefully

we can get you back on the podcast here throughout the year as well just to

kind of catch up and see how the W is doing.

Thanks guys.

.