Rivals Reunited | Cash & Catchings
Throughout the history of the WNBA, great teams and legendary players have waged epic playoff battles that have left a lasting impact on the league.One of the WNBA’s most notable rivalries featured three-time WNBA Champion Swin Cash and newly-named Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings, who met four times in the postseason, including twice in the Conference Finals.Swin and Tamika sat down to revisit and relive many of those matchups, as well as a memorable meeting in college on the biggest possible stage, in this latest installment of “Rivals Reunited.”
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- It has been a war each and every time they have gone out on the floor.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: That was part of y'all game plan. Wear her out.
SWIN CASH: And the game plan was always the same. Stop Tamika Catchings.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: They went from the bad boys to the bad girls, real bad, like, this is just all bad.
SWIN CASH: We are not going to get pushed around. It's not who we are.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: At this point, nothing else matters. Oh, lord have mercy.
SWIN CASH: Catch--
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: Who is that?
SWIN CASH: The bob.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: Oh, yes, the bob is there. There it is. If you haven't seen it, you're going to see it now.
SWIN CASH: Look, I said you were a little more consistent with your hairstyle.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: I was. Thank god--
SWIN CASH: Especially early on for us, like--
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: [INAUDIBLE].
SWIN CASH: I had no idea when I did this.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: I don't remember that.
SWIN CASH: Because it was only for picture day. I didn't play like that.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: Yeah, I always had the braids one way or another. Back to the days, UCONN Tennessee.
SWIN CASH: 2000.
- Welcome to Philadelphia for the NCAA women's national championship game.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: Going into the season, I felt like every year we were preparing for playing against you guys.
- It's an intense rivalry as you know between Connecticut and Tennessee that has been a war each and every time they have gone out on the floor.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: Due to that game, I just think like you guys started the game just hitting. And it was just like man, we weren't ready for that.
- Tennessee is trying to be aggressive. That's great, but they're just forcing the issue.
SWIN CASH: Then that's when coach was like, you got a back door. Get to the basket. And we were prepared because we used to run splits every single day. Catch, when I was sleeping, I would be dreaming about splits.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: [INAUDIBLE] about split.
SWIN CASH: Oh, my goodness, like I have to be able to flash the ball, backdoor cut, backdoor cut.
- [INAUDIBLE] on the penetration. Here you see [INAUDIBLE].
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: We were so aggressive, because that's how we had won games all season long. But we didn't adjust. For us, our adjustment was play harder, play harder, get higher on the passing lane, which almost made it easier. So
Yeah, can we go back. Now I see what happened. I want to go back to 2000. I want to replay the game.
- And Conneticut has done it. They have won the national championship here at Philadelphia.
SWIN CASH: What I remember about this, Sue said she was going to do the dive. And if you watch her flying down, I said, I will join you. But you see, I kind of put my hand down. I [INAUDIBLE]
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: So you go W. You go Detroit. I'm in Indy. You are part of the bad boys. They went from the bad boys to the bad girls real bad. This is just all bad in Detroit.
SWIN CASH: All bad.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: And and all bad. I'm like, how you get [INAUDIBLE] with a ladies team and you transform this team into-- like literally, y'all were the bad girl, seriously?
SWIN CASH: Yeah, you know what it was, [INAUDIBLE], it was like, Isaiah Thomas was coming around and Rick Mahorn. And every city we went to, guy would just pop up and talk to us about oh yeah, this is what we used to do. And this is the bad boys, and that was the mentality we took on. So now everything has to come through us in Detroit.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: 2007, eastern conference finals, we went all the way to game 3.
- [INAUDIBLE] on three. 1, 2, 3, [INAUDIBLE]!
SWIN CASH: The game plan was always the same. Stop Tamika Catchings We ran different bodies at you to make sure that even when you felt like oh, I got a breather. There's somebody that's smaller on me. It's like all right, now you have to think about how do I get my shot off this way?
Then we put Katie on you. And it's like, all right, she's sticking to my hips. She's physical. So can I go around her?
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: Yeah, I really remember Katie. Just her elbowing me and grabbing my jersey. People ask all the time, who's the hardest person you've ever been guarded by? It's Katie.
I would sit in my room and mentally try to like get myself prepared. And I was physical. I knew I was a physical player. So having to go against you guys and getting beat up, like I felt that was part of y'all game plan. Like wear her out.
- Tamika, it always comes down to Indiana and Detroit. What are your thoughts about the shock series after they've eliminated you each of the last three years in the playoffs?
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: I'm excited about playing Detroit again, actually. One of the things we continue to talk about every year is just to get to the championship, you have to go through Detroit. The only way that this story ends is by allowing us the opportunity to play the giant that we've had to face for the previous four years.
- And it's apropos that Tamika Catchings grabs the final rebound. And the final, Indiana 72, the Shock 67.
SWIN CASH: Getting over that hurdle, what was your thoughts, just like how hard you had to work to get that team, that franchise there? Because it doesn't happen without you.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: So you remember they did the top 15 players? They started naming all these players with their championship.
- Cheryl's historic basketball career includes four WNBA titles. Diana is a two-time WNBA champion with the Phoenix Mercury.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: And I remember at that moment, I was like gosh, I'm one of the few out of the 15 that have never won a championship. So it's like that one weight that's on your shoulder, and you're just like, oh-- So it gets to 2012, eastern conference final, Katie Douglas goes down.
- Katie Douglas is on the floor in pain.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. We win, and we advance in the play in Minnesota. They got Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, [INAUDIBLE]. I mean, like they're just loaded.
Everybody automatically-- you know what? [INAUDIBLE] going to win in three. Don't worry about it.
Game one, [INAUDIBLE] win the game, and everybody is like, oh, that's a fluke. There's no way Indiana wins another game. Game two, they beat us. But in that game, Jeanette Pohlen goes down.
And now our number one and our number two players are down. So it's like if we lose that game, get back to Indi. I remember third quarter, look up at the scoreboard like we're up by 30.
- Minessota hasn't scored in five minutes.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: I'm like, I'm dreaming right now.
- Indiana has won the WNBA championship for the very first time.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: I finally joined you, being one--
SWIN CASH: [INAUDIBLE] championship rings.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: [INAUDIBLE] three WNBA championships. I'm like, yes, I finally got one. And I'm cool with that.
SWIN CASH: I started out in Detroit with Bill, right? And then, you know how the league happens. And I ended up going to Seattle and eventually Chicago and end up in New York. And guess who's my coach again? Bill Laimbeer.
We go into 2015. We just had all the different pieces. I mean, we were dominating that year in a fashion that we knew like this is our moment.
- You've got great individual contributions. But you've also got nice team play. Every night someone else is stepping up.
SWIN CASH: And I remember whenever the playoff stuff came out, and I looked down at it, and I said, ain't this about a-- and at that moment, before the playoffs even began, I started prepping them because I said, we are going to have to play Indiana. And they're like, oh, well, they have to go here and play there. And I said no, no, no, I know her. We're going to have to play Indiana. So are we prepared and ready to play that team?
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: [INAUDIBLE] we got this. Right from the beginning.
- Let's go.
- We are New York.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: Come on. We won at home. And then we came to you guys, and y'all beat us. And Bill, for whatever reason--
SWIN CASH: Oh, my, don't tell me this, sis.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: This is it. This is it.
SWIN CASH: Do not tell me this.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: I did my press conference. And as I'm coming out, he's coming down the hall. And he just had that smirk on his face. And I said to him, this ain't over. And he was like ha ha.
All right, we'll see. There are certain coaches that would just make you angry and make you mad because if that's not your natural tendency, you're going to come into the game mad about something he said. And it's going to throw you off your game.
But at this point, nothing else mattered. I was determined. We can beat this team. We got to believe in it. We got to work hard together. Let's go [INAUDIBLE] on 3. 1, 2, 3.
- (ALL): [INAUDIBLE]
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: You have to carry me out on a stretcher for us to lose this game.
- Things getting a little out of hands for Bill Laimbeer's Liberty.
- And the Indiana Fever take it 76 to 70.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: Well, it's interesting because when we talk now, we don't really talk about our playing days. We talk more about-- we're both married. You got Saint. And how's he doing? And the transition-- because both of us have now transitioned into the next phase of life.
And so you just look at the different phases and how our lives have intertwined and how and why we have become so close. The orange ball, the orange and white, that's what brought us together. And it's really cool to be able to have opportunities like this.
SWIN CASH: Faith, family, and fellowship is [INAUDIBLE] about.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: That's it-- and love.
SWIN CASH: And love. I love you, sis.
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: I love you, too.
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