# Why Player-Coach Connections Fuel March Madness Success + Expansion Draft 101 Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/no-offseason-the-athletic-women-s-basketball-show-6528302/why-player-coach-connections-fuel-march-madness-success-expansion-draft-101 Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/no-offseason-the-athletic-women-s-basketball-show-6528302/why-player-coach-connections-fuel-march-madness-success-expansion-draft-101.md Podcast: [No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/no-offseason-the-athletic-women-s-basketball-show-6528302) Published: 2026-03-27T10:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/no-offseason-the-athletic-womens-basketball-show/episodes/why-player-coach-connections-fuel-march-madness-success-expa Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6818a0d4eb737caf8ca3e31e/e/69c5e54926c1fb9c07a1085c/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/no-offseason-the-athletic-women-s-basketball-show-6528302/episodes/why-player-coach-connections-fuel-march-madness-success-expansion-draft-101 Duration seconds: 2913 ## Resource Zena and Layshia begin by discussing the uncertain future of WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert before turning to the upcoming expansion draft, where they analyze potential player selections and the strategic decisions facing new teams.  They then explore the vital role of coaching, particularly under high-pressure circumstances, emphasizing the importance of trust and communication between coaches and players. Drawing on memorable game moments, they highlight the impact of player-coach interactions and the balance between intensity and care, showing how trust is crucial in challenging situations. We close things out with Layshia’s Lens, featuring a buzzer-beater moment. REFERENCES:  Adam Silver praises Cathy Engelbert, but hasn’t discussed her future with WNBA board by Mike Vorkunov WNBA sets expansion draft for April 3 as Toronto and Portland begin to build rosters by Curt Anderson WNBA expansion draft big board: Who will Toronto and Portland select? by Sabreena Merchant Maryland coach Brenda Frese went viral for yelling at Oluchi Okananwa. There’s more to the story   by Elise Devlin __ No Offseason is a part of The Athletic Podcast Network Email us: NoOffseason@theathletic.com Sign up for the No Offseason newsletter! YT:  @No-Offseason  IG: @tanooffseason TikTok: @no_offseason Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/no-offseason-the-athletic-women-s-basketball-show-6528302/episodes/why-player-coach-connections-fuel-march-madness-success-expansion-draft-101/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/no-offseason-the-athletic-women-s-basketball-show-6528302/why-player-coach-connections-fuel-march-madness-success-expansion-draft-101.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.