Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
W NBA Great Celtics Scout extraordinaire, mister Championship versus a
great person, one of our favorites. Here on The Rob
Double Show with Ben Darnell and Ashley, How are you dear?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm doing great. How are you guys good?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I always get sad when some of the greatest athletes
from all their different sports retire, and this is probably
one of those for a lot of people, especially here
around New England and Yukon. Kind of sad when Sue
Byrd retired, just as sad now that Diana Tarassi is saying,
uh that that she's done playing. What were your thoughts
when you heard this yesterday?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Uh? Well, I've known for a while, so yesterday was
I mean, I've known that this was coming for a while,
probably for like a year, and when I finally heard yesterday,
it's it's the end of the era. It's sad, you know,
but she's she's given to the game, given so much
to the game, and her legacy and accomplishments of what
(00:56):
she's done is just unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Take us back to after the thirty nine and oh season.
I was watching so much Diana stuff and I saw
you doing an interview about this and talking about like
the disrespect the team had after Sue had graduated. You
went thirty nine and oh, your national champs, and now
all of a sudden, nobody can you know you guys
aren't good enough because you only have Diana and that's
(01:22):
not going to be enough. Take us back to like
that offseason and going into that season and maybe what
you saw in Diana those couple of years that flipped
the switch and what sparked her into having such great performances.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Absolutely, So, I mean, I gotta go. I gotta start
in the locker room after we won, after we went
thirty nine and oh CD, Chris Daily was complaining and said,
we're going to the n next year. So you told
us in the locker room that we're going to the NIT.
We're all right, say no State, Oh my goodness. Yeah.
(01:58):
I was like, you guys are going to and we're
going to in NTE next year, Oh my goodness. And
we were just like, dang, no respect. So we weren't
getting any respect from our coaching staff, we weren't getting
any respect from the media. I think we were preseason
sixteen that year, going into next season, and I think
one of the things that you saw in in Diana
(02:19):
was just like her leadership qualities and how we all
just rallied together. So that season it was really like
us against the world, and we really wanted to win
for each other. And you can tell whenever someone was
having a bad day or someone was having a bad
shooting day from the court, she would just be like,
it doesn't matter, you know, shoot the next one, and
(02:41):
just really being a motivator and it's still in confidence
in each other on the court and then off the court,
we always had a great time. So I'm sure you
guys have seen some videos and some of the things
that how she is off the court and we always
had fun, and I think, like I think the game's
going to be with her. You know, she provided an
(03:03):
intensity on the court that had been unmatched, where I
think Becky said it great, where she was just like
she could be a fierce competitor, and then afterwards she's
going to ask you like, hey, let's go, let's go
have a cocktail, let's have dinner afterwards, And she left
it on the court and she's just one of the
best to ever do it. And I'm I'm happy that
(03:24):
we've all had a chance to see her grow and
mature and have a twenty year career in the WNBA.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I mean, having played against Hall of famers, played with
Hall of famers. Everybody's got different egos and stuff like that,
and you kind of nailed it with her being tenacious
on the court and being a goofball off the court.
I also think she doesn't have a big ego. Everybody
talks about how much how she helps and motivates everybody else.
That's the way I describe the greatest players of all time.
(03:54):
They make everybody around them better. Would you agree with that?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
One hundred percent? I mean, I think you know, people
were so in awe of Caitlyn Clark, and rightfully so,
Like Caitlyn did some really great things last year in
her rookie season and at the end of her college career.
But don't get it twisted. Banna ain't been at this,
(04:18):
do you know, Like she's the one who, really, if
she wanted to, could score forty points. All right, But
it was about the team and for all of us
being included and all of us making sure that we
are doing what we need to do so we can
have our ultimate goal which is winning.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Did she get into anyone's face? Do you remember a time?
Can you share that time?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
There's been a couple of times.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Are you one of those people?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
No, I'm the only person she's never gotten an argument
with me. Why tell you that.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
I'm I'm the peacemaker, You're Switzerland? No, No, I'm I'm
there like, I'm just I'm literally there's no I am
the no judgment zone, and I will I was like
a mediator sometimes I will hear both sides of the
argument and we could talk about what's going on and
(05:17):
then like pretty much what happens at the end when
I'm like, all right, no, you were in the wrong.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
You know, here's why pop pop pop, then you know
you gotta be better. So and I think everybody, uh,
you know, respecting me for that because I was just
you know, it didn't matter what you did, as long
as we were all together.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Talking to Ashley Battle about the great career of Diana Tarassi,
I brought this up in the first segment. I'm sad
that we didn't get to see her playing Europe. Uh
and see all of those games she won six euro
League titles. What what's it like to play abroad and
how was she received in other countries?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I mean she she was received phenomenal. I mean, I
think you have to understand, like her parents are Italian
and Argentinian, so she speaks Italian and Spanish, and you know,
so when she's well received in Italy, well received in Spain,
she's really you know, it's not just an American icon.
(06:18):
She's global. You know. Her teams in Russia were some
of the best basketball teams you know, put together and
they won all the time. I mean, there's never when
there's one person that I know that has one on
every level that she's played in and it's her.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Do you have any stories of amazing feats of strength
or just oh my gosh, I can't believe I just
saw a person do that. Dibbs and I just the
locker room stories that we have on maybe even guys
that people don't even know about, but we have seen
in practice things that people don't see on television, don't
see in the big game, but in practice they have
just racked off something that no one else we've ever
(06:56):
seen do something like that before. Do you have any
stories like that with Dinane in it?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I mean, one saying that's for sure. I mean in
practice it was. And practice was crazy, like you guys
don't like understand. I mean, my freshman year, they came
off of a Yukon was coming off a national championship
with everybody returning, and I'm talking about we had fifteen players,
probably twelve of us played in the WNBA, Like I mean,
(07:26):
so our practices were nuts, you know what I mean.
And I think like the growth that you would see
within practice, it would be crazy, Like our practices were
more competitive sometimes in our games that we played in,
and I think, you know, just the just the growth
or just things like just shooting it from half court
with easy and just making it on the first try.
(07:47):
She's like, all right, I got something done, you know
what I mean, Just stuff like that that you're just
in all of But the hard work and determination that
she put into her game throughout, you know, it's no
wonder that that she's the best. And and I think
the injuries too. I mean there's been, yeah that she's
played through, you know, back problems in her senior year
(08:11):
at Yukon, and you know, we end up winning a
national championship, but she could really only play in the
games and she wasn't practicing and and we needed we
needed her, and she needed us to to help and
do what we needed to do as well. And I think,
you know, it's just she's just unmatched. And I think
(08:34):
the I think the game is really gonna miss how
intense she was, how like awesome and competitive, petitive she was,
and even I mean last season she had a great year.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yeah, she had a.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Great year last season. She just didn't have any legs
towards the end. And when when I saw the changes
that they made, I was like, you know, in our
group chat, I'm like, I don't know, she really go
and retire. You know, they may they may have a
shot at winning it again. And so we were and
(09:09):
then we're just like, naw, she's really going to retire.
So we knew pretty much all year last year that
she was going to do it. I didn't know she
would wait until the season almost starts to to say
that she was going to retire. But we're we're all
super proud of her and the things that she's accomplished.
And I will say this, like our group chat last night,
(09:34):
it was very uh, congratulatory, and then it turned into
a roast. Yeah, so I think I think that's you know,
that's our relationship where we've been a family. We've been
a family since since I was kids. Really like I've
(09:56):
known her. I've known her almost all my life and
and I think that camaraderie in that sisterhood is just
a bond that us yukarn gals have and will never
go away.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Kobe Bryant nicknamed her the White Mamba. Vanessa Bryant had
some very kind things to say about her. She spoke
at his memorial after his death. How hard did it
hit her when Kobe Bryant died.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
I mean, I think for the world it was it was,
you know, it's trade that we bring him up. I
was talking to my best friend this morning and his
name came up, and one of the first things I
said was, I still can't believe that they're gone. Yep,
And it's it's I think it's hard for the world,
(10:42):
the sports world to fathom. I mean, Gigi would have
been a freshman this year and just imagine Yukon with
her on the roster this year. Like, I think they
would be one of the favorites to win, and they're
still one of the favorites, but with her. I think
they would be even a number one Sea going into
the tournament. And I think it's been a difficult situation
(11:04):
for the world, and then for those that knew them personally,
it has been imaginable because you just don't believe it.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
If you were trying to describe Diana's game to a
little girl that's never seen her play, and you just
say she was the greatest, she was really competitive, Like
what specific things basketball wise would you explain to this
little girl of why she was so good.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Uh. One of the things that made her so good
is her passing ability. I think you know, she really
modeled her game after Magic Johnson as her favorite player,
and just how she was able to she would see
the play developing before it happened, and she made her
teammates better. But then also she can crush you offensively.
(11:55):
She could do whatever she wanted to do on the
on the court, and she wasrobably the best shooter on
the court. She's probably the best passer on the court.
If she wanted to be the best rebounder on the court,
she would have done that too. And there's just not
an ounce of basketball that she hasn't mastered. And you
can't say that for a lot of a lot of
(12:16):
different players. And I think that's why people consider her
the goat and the and the greatest to ever do it.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Well. I think of her like a Tom Brady. What
will she do now? I mean, you know, when the
cheering stops and not going to camp and all that
kind of stuff. You know, she said herself that that
she's full, she's happy, but the competitiveness never leaves us.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
No, you're right, And I mean, and she and Sue
have done some media stuff. I'm sure they're going to
have another run at, you know, during the final four.
And she I just know one thing. If she goes
on TV, there needs.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
To be like but especially if South Carolina's playing, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
They're gonna have to be a you know, if this
is an art rated show. But I think, you know,
she could do whatever she wants to do. If she
wants to go in the front office. I'm sure there's
gonna be teams that would love to hack her and
pick her brain for her knowledge if she wanted. I mean,
I want to say, Rob Polinka has asked her to
be on the Lakers front office every year for like
(13:20):
the last ten years. He's been asking her, you know,
so like she can, she can go be in the
front office she wants to coach. I'm sure she could
do that if she wants to run Iron Women's Because
I saw her a picture posted. I was like, bro,
you're doing an Iron Woman and she's like, yeah, just
(13:40):
the leg of it. I'm like, all right, So, I
mean this is talking about someone who can can, who
wasn't very fond of the tracks running. It's riding twenty
miles in an Iron Woman competition. So I mean, whatever
she puts her mind to, I have no doubt that
she'll be able to do it. And I'm looking forward
(14:00):
seeing what she does in the next chapter. And who knows,
maybe she just wants to be a mom, you know,
and just kind of relax and spend time with their
kids and family.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
All right, one uh one w n B A question.
I'll put it that way for you before you run
away from us. What the hell is going on with
my ct son?
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Come on and Ammonium? You know, it's one of those
things where, uh, you know, it looks like they're doing
the Sam Presty method, you know, trying to acquire acquire
a bunch of assets to build within the draft. You
(14:42):
know they're gonna they're gonna have a hard time. They're
gonna have a hard time getting uh you know, high
end free agent going to going there. So and you're
you lost a couple of players. Uh through free.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Agency, we lost everyone, lost everyone.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Okay, Yeah, there's that eye everybody you know. So it's like,
all right, well now you got to figure it out,
like what do you want to do? So right now,
the I'm sure the idea is to grab as much
draft capital that you possibly can and build through the draft.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Are you calling any games or are you just scouting
right now?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
No? I am, I'm calling. I'm gonna do in studio
Big East. I think the ninth or the tenth one
of those.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I love it. Well, anytime you're around here, let us know,
so we can go out and have drinks or what whatnot.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Right, Okay, that sounds great.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
All right, love you all right, Astley Battle everybody. Thank
you girl,