On the Beat With the Dallas Wings 08/01/20

The WNBA Dallas Wings stand at 2-2 after losing to the Las Vegas Aces 79-70.Sunday. They face the Chicago Sky tonight.
After Saturday's practice, the Wings held a media session featuring Assistant Coach Bryce Agler and players Tyasha Harris and Bella Alarie. 

My food question to the Connecticut Sun's Jacki Gemelos went so well, I decided to make continue it for a full story online for Global Traveler. The answers were not quite as entertaining as Gemelos gave me, but they were still interesting and I think they enjoyed the change of pace from the usual basketball questions.

Go to WNBA.com for more info on the league and all teams. Check Johngy's Beat, GlobalTravelerUSA.com and GlobalWomensSportsRadio.com for my recurring WNBA coverage.

On the Beat With the Dallas Wings 07/30/20

The Dallas Wings stand at 2-1 after beating the Indiana Fever 76-73 on Friday night. Next up for the Wings are the Las Vegas Aces, who are 1-2.
The media session from 07/30/20 featured Assistant Coach Crystal Robinson and players Megan Gustafson and Bella Alarie. Coach Robinson discussed practices in the bubble versus regular practices. Gustafson talked about having her jersey number retired by the University of Iowa. Alarie talked about scoring her first WNBA points.

Coach Robinson played college ball at Southeastern Oklahoma State, before being selected by the New York Liberty in the first round (6th overall) in the 1999 WNBA draft. She played seven seasons with the Liberty and two more with the Washington Mystics before retiring after the 2007 season. All told, she played 245 games and averaged 10.2 points, 2 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.7 rebound per game.

She began her coaching career as an assistant with the Mystics in 2007. After a few coaching stops in high school and college, Robinson returned to the WNBA as an assistant with the Seattle Storm in 2018. She joined the Wings last season as an assistant to coach Brian Agler.

Gustafson had a stellar career with the Iowa Hawkeyes, including winning the Nasmith Player fo the Year and the AP Player of the Year in 2019. Her #10 jersey was retired by Iowa earlier this year.

She was selected by the Wings in the second round of the 2019 WNBA draft. Although she was released prior to the season, she resigned with the team in June 2019. She saw action in 25 games and averaged 2.9 points per game. 

This was my second media session with Alarie. We're old friends now, but I resisted the urge to ask her more questions about her father Mark, a former NBA player. My friends know I am fascinated by family connections, especially generational family connections, but I kept that in check and focused on her.

Go to WNBA.com for more info on the league and all teams. Check Johngy's Beat, GlobalTravelerUSA.com and GlobalWomensSportsRadio.com for my recurring WNBA coverage.

On the Beat With Dallas Wings 7/23/2020

I attended another Dallas Wings media session as the Wings gear up for their WNBA season opener this afternoon. This session featured rookies Bella Alarie and Tyasha Harris. I wrote more about the session at Dallas Wings Media Session (Bella Alaire, Ty Harris, UA) for Global Women's Sports Radio.

Prior to her WNBA career, Harris starred at South Carolina, where she became the first Gamecock to record 700 assists, finishing with 705. That is good for 10th all time in the SEC. She was selected by the Dallas Wings in the first round (7th overall) in the 2020 WNBA draft.

Alarie was a three time Ivy League Player of the Year while starring at Princeton. She started all 106 games during her time at Princeton. She was selected by the Dallas Wings in the first round (5th overall) of the 2020 WNBA draft.

Bella is also the daughter of former NBA player Mark Alarie. The elder Alarie starred at Duke, before being selected by the Denver Nuggets in the first round (18th overall) of the 1986 NBA draft. After one season with Denver, he played four more with the Washington Bullets (now Wizards), finishing his NBA career after the 1990-91 season. All told he played 325 games and averaged 7.5 points per game.

My friends and loyal readers know I have a fascination with sports families. The Alarie connection is even more special. I have only found Karl Malone-Cheryl Ford, Nate-Natalie McMillan, Harvey-Tamika Catchings and Antonio-Kaela Davis as other father-daughter NBA-WNBA combos. I also found Pamela-JaVale McGee as the opposite, a mother son combo.

I asked Bella about her father and she talked a bit about his guidance and advice.

Check GlobalWomensSportsRadio.com for my recurring WNBA coverage. Also check WNBA.com for more info on the league.