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This week in the WNBA began with a bang when the Los Angeles Sparks blew it all up and fired head coach and general manager Derek Fisher. Previously, we lauded Fisher and the Sparks for their work in the offseason, but he had only 12 games with his newly assembled roster.
A day later, the New York Liberty made headlines when they traded 2019 No. 2 pick AD (who uses they/them pronouns) to the Atlanta Dream. The move helped the Liberty clear the appropriate salary-cap and roster space to welcome back French guard Marine Johannes, who in only two games has made an impact on not only the team but also the league. If you haven’t seen that behind-the-back no-look pass, you’re welcome:
On Sunday, the excitement continued when Sabrina Ionescu picked up her second triple-double in an 88-86 loss to the Chicago Sky. Her 27 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists marked the fastest triple in WNBA history, as she recorded it in three quarters.
Later Sunday, Arike Ogunbowale was ejected at halftime for kicking a ball into the stands. It’s a league rule that players can’t do that. And finally, the early returns for 2022 WNBA All-Star voting have come back with MVPs A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Candace Parker leading the way.
Which teams are still struggling, and which ones are getting past their early struggles?
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This was a frustrating week for the Minnesota Lynx, one that began with an 88-69 loss to the Liberty in Brooklyn. Afterward, Minnesota announced that franchise cornerstone and future Hall of Famer Sylvia Fowles had injured her right knee. Head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve said Thursday during her podcast, The Cheryl Reeve Show, that Fowles injured cartilage, will go through treatment and will be evaluated in a week to 10 days.
When it played Friday at home, Minnesota welcomed back stretch big Damiris Dantas and point guard Moriah Jefferson. Dantas had been out since August 2021 with a Lisfranc injury and scored nine points on 3-of-11 shooting against the Washington Mystics. The Lynx shot an abysmal 32.8 percent from the field in the 76-59 loss.
Kayla McBride was also ruled out Sunday with ankle and foot pain. The Lynx lost their third game in a row, 84-80 to the Indiana Fever, on a non-call on a missed layup by Nikolina Milic.
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The Fever are still struggling, but they snapped a five-game losing streak with an 84-80 win in Minnesota on Sunday. Amid their struggles, 2022 No. 2 pick NaLyssa Smith has proved she belongs in the W. In the past week, she has shot 23-of-38 from the field, or 60.5 percent. Against the Lynx especially, Smith was Indiana’s top performer, putting up 21 points on 10 shots, including 2-of-2 from three-point range, to go with 14 rebounds and four assists.
Though Smith’s star was bright, the Fever defense was the worst in the league this past week, finishing with a 110.4 rating while giving up 88.3 points per game in three contests. Indiana’s rebounding has also faltered. During that stretch, it averaged 29.3 boards, tied for second-worst in the W. In May, the Fever fell in the middle of the pack on the boards, collecting 35.5 per contest.
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The Sparks played only one game, against the Las Vegas Aces, but there’s still so much to discuss and so many questions. Let’s start with the news: L.A. moved on from head coach and general manager Derek Fisher. The writing has been on the wall since Fisher benched Candace Parker in the 2019 playoffs. But what was shocking was the timing. Fisher was promoted to GM following the 2020 season, and he took steps to improve the team offensively by signing Liz Cambage and trading for Chennedy Carter in February. Was it a coincidence that in his last game, they played less than 14 minutes each?
Also, why wasn’t defensive wizard Latricia Trammell given a chance as the Sparks’ head coach? In the offseason, she had been a finalist for the Liberty and Phoenix Mercury openings. Instead, Fred Williams, a close friend and ally of Cambage’s, was elevated on an interim basis. In L.A.’s first game with Williams at the helm, the Sparks couldn’t guard A’ja Wilson. Cambage and Carter played more minutes but scored in single digits in an 89-72 loss.
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The Liberty continued to move on up. In their second game against the Lynx at home, New York blew Minnesota out of the water with an almost triple-double from Sabrina Ionescu. A few days later, it continued its winning ways against struggling Indiana, winning 97-83 on the road with 31 assists, by far the team’s highest tally this season. But before the Liberty defeated the Fever, New York made some moves to improve the team.
The Next’s Spencer Nusbaum reported Wednesday that the Dream were acquiring AD. The Liberty received Megan Walker, whom they waived, and the rights to Spanish prospect Raquel Carrera. New York then could sign Marine Johannes, the crafty combo guard the team knew would make an immediate impact. In two games, her flare and athleticism has propelled the Liberty and taken some of the ball-handling pressure off Ionescu, who racked up her second triple-double in an 88-86 loss to the defending champion Sky.
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The Mercury turned their seven-game losing streak into a three-game winning streak and built upon their win against the Sparks with victories against the Dream at home and Mystics on the road. While New York registered better offensive and defensive ratings than Phoenix this week, the Mercury got the edge because of their strength of schedule (the Dream’s No. 1 defense and the top-five Mystics, though Elena Delle Donne wasn’t available, so take that as you will).
While Phoenix stars Tina Charles, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Diana Taurasi and Diamond DeShields have led the way with double-digit scoring, the bench became even shorter this week when the team announced that wing Sophie Cunningham will be out for weeks with a sprained elbow ligament. Keep an eye on the bench production. In the Mercury’s two wins this week, the bench scored 13 and 18 points. But it has just 202 points this season, the second-worst mark in the W.
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While the Dream lost two games, they remained competitive against two talented teams in the Seattle Storm and Mercury. The league’s top two defenses in Atlanta’s and Seattle’s went head to head and produced the gritty, low-scoring game that was expected. But, once the Dream lost two-way point guard Erica Wheeler to a foot injury, the Storm took advantage in the third quarter by building a 13-point lead. The Dream shot 36.2 percent from the field.
Atlanta also added AD in a trade with New York. The Atlanta native is still finding their way in professional basketball since returning from long COVID-19. Since Wheeler was unavailable, head coach Tanisha Wright got a good look at AD. In 25 minutes in the Dream’s 90-88 loss to the Mercury, they scored six points to go with three assists and three rebounds. What stood out was AD’s four personal fouls, which reflects where they are defensively. They are still struggling to stay in front of opponents, something Wright and her staff hope to address.
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In a two-game set against the Storm, the Dallas Wings struggled defensively. The team has been lauded for its improved buy-in on that end of the floor, but it struggled against Seattle, which is still trying to find its way after multiple players were in the health and safety protocols. The Wings dropped to a 102.3 defensive rating, eighth overall. In their first game against Seattle, Dallas wasn’t ready for the Storm’s willingness to go to superstar Breanna Stewart. The Wings were late to rotate with seconds left in regulation and allowed Stewart to catch the ball way too deep in the paint. By the time the help from Awak Kuier came, there was no stopping Stewart from picking up a foul and giving her team the lead with a pair of free throws.
The second game was headlined by the drama that ensued going into halftime. Arike Ogunbowale was ejected for kicking the ball into the stands following a half-court heave. Ogunbowale tweeted about the incident from the locker room. That set the tone for the rest of the game, as Seattle seized control in the third. While the Wings got within a point with two-plus minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Storm scored the last four points and won 84-79.
After the game, head coach Vickie Johnson held her player accountable. “We’re not on the soccer field, we’re on a basketball court, and you have to respect the game, period,” she said.
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It wasn’t as pretty as maybe head coach Noelle Quinn would have liked, but Seattle found a way to win all its games this week. Against the defensively potent Dream, the Storm got by with Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart leading the way offensively. Loyd put up 26 points on 17 shots, and Stewart scored 19 on 15 shots. While neither performance was efficient, Seattle played hard enough to defeat young and gritty Atlanta. Also, Ezi Magbegor registered five blocks. Five!
The Storm’s two wins against the Wings proved they were the more experienced and composed team. But they still have work to do. While Seattle continues to tinker with its roster now that everyone has returned from injury or the health and safety protocols, a concern I have is how the bench of Briann January, Epiphanny Prince, Stephanie Talbot and Mercedes Russell is being used. All are capable pieces, so it’s concerning that the Storm are 10th in bench points per game with 16.8.
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The Mystics had a mostly productive week, which is why they moved up a spot. They began with two wins, one a close one at home against the defending champion Sky and then a convincing victory at the struggling Lynx. Key pieces Alysha Clark and Myisha Hines-Allen emerged as the players head coach and general manager Mike Thibault knows them to be. Against Chicago, Clark was super efficient, scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Versus Minnesota, Hines-Allen was just as good, scoring 17 on 6-of-8 shooting.
But against the Sky, Elena Delle Donne left after the first half with back spasms. She remained out against the Mercury after taking her scheduled rest against the Lynx. Thibault wanted to be cautious. Washington’s loss came against the more confident Phoenix, whose stars are playing in rhythm. At home, the Mystics fell 99-90 after running out of gas in overtime. The teams combined to shoot 55 free throws. “I think they outworked us tonight,” Mystics guard Ariel Atkins said. “And you don’t want that. That’s not a good feeling.”
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The Connecticut Sun had a strange week wherein they defeated the Fever 88-69 with 38 bench points, including 18 from reigning Most Improved Player Brionna Jones and 12 from sophomore DiJonai Carrington. While Connecticut turned the ball over 16 times, it still outscored Indiana 42-30 in the paint.
A few days later, the Sun fell 83-79 to the visiting Sky in a game in which Emma Meesseman couldn’t be stopped. She scored 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting. But what was strange about this one was that Connecticut used only seven players with backup point guard Yvonne Anderson, rookie Nia Clouden and Joyner Holmes picking up DNPs. The morning following the loss, Anderson was waived, which begs the question: Is Curt Miller looking to add another point guard to fill the void left by Jasmine Thomas, who’s out for the season with a torn ACL? A seven-player rotation won’t get the franchise its first championship.
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The defending champions had a tough schedule and to go 2-1 was impressive. As I alluded to on the previous slide, this was Emma Meesseman’s week. While she struggled against her former team, the Mystics, on Wednesday, she emerged as the Sky’s most dangerous offensive player against the Sun and Liberty. Switching teams and systems will always require an adjustment, but Meesseman looked like a vintage version of herself—you know, the player who was the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP.
For the Sky to reach their ceiling, the work ahead will be figuring out how to best use international players Li Yueru and Julie Allemand. Another question about Chicago, now that Allemand has arrived, is how James Wade will make sure Dana Evans continues to grow in the rotation. I also worry about Ruthy Hebard, a pick-and-roll savant in college, and how she can make an impact.
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The Aces played one game this week, but in that one game, A’ja Wilson put the league on notice. Not only is she going after a championship but maybe also another MVP trophy. In a system led by Becky Hammon that favors offensive production from the guard spots, Wilson finally got her night to ball out. Playing with some juice against former teammate Liz Cambage, Wilson scored 35 points on 13-of-23 shooting to go with 11 rebounds and four blocks. Defensively she was a pill as well, using her length and agility to make it hard for L.A. to get an open look.
Another observation I’ve made about Las Vegas is its defensive improvements. The Aces are third overall in defensive rating, but in May, they were sixth. In June, Las Vegas has the second-best defense in the league. What still remains concerning, however, is the bench. Theresa Plaisance has filled in with Jackie Young still nursing a sprained ankle. But maybe when French rookie Iliana Rupert arrives, the Aces might get more production.
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