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While Unrivaled’s youngest club opened the season with two wins, Breeze since has suffered from their inexperience, dropping two-straight games.
Is Breeze’s two-game slide just a stumble, with the squad soon stabilizing? Or, will the club’s youth present challenges as they try to return to the win column?
Those questions will begin to be answered when Breeze meets Mist on Monday night (8 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV.)
Breeze’s undefeated start could be considered a bit lucky, as the club collected two victories in spite of poor 3-point shooting and too many turnovers. Breeze, however, compensated for those weaknesses by outrebounding opponents, getting to the line and finishing their 2-pointers. While Breeze has begun to shoot better from deep, a decrease in their rebounding and free throw advantages contributed to losses.
The solution for Breeze’s woes, however, probably seems simple. More Paige Bueckers, please!
A 1-for-8 first half against Vinyl on Saturday night, could not prevent Paige from finishing with an Unrivaled career-high 25 points, in addition to eight rebounds and seven assists. Bueckers also extended her free throw perfection to 11-for-11, keeping her in the clubhouse lead in Unrivaled’s inaugural Free Throw Challenge.
But while more Paige seems like the easy answer, it’s worth asking if that’s ideal.
With Aari McDonald sidelined, Bueckers already is Breeze’s sole reliable ball handler. If she needs to create her shot in the halfcourt on nearly every possession, in addition to almost always bringing the ball up, the club risks wearing her down, both for end-of-game situations and for a hoped-for playoff push.
Just as Vinyl was, Mist will be intent on making Bueckers work for everything, with one of Veronica Burton or Allisha Gray marking her every move. A big rotation of Breanna Stewart, Alanna Smith and Li Yueru also can cause trouble for Breeze on the interior, preventing Dominique Malonga and Cameron Brink from finding easy buckets around the basket. That Mist creates the most steals per game also is a concern for turnover-prone Breeze.
An epic PB masterclass, for better or worse, thus seems like Breeze’s best path back to victory. And even then, a similarly scintillating effort from Stewie, Allisha or Arike could result in Breeze dropping a third-straight game.
Is this BG a game-changer for Vinyl?
A huge reason why Breeze is desperate to avoid a three-game skid? Brittney Griner.
BG had her best-ever Unrivaled game on Saturday night, applying all the advantages that come with being 6-foot-9. Griner protected the rim, cleaned the glass, finished at the hoop and set crushing screens. She tallied 17 points and seven rebounds, and while credited with two blocked shots, she altered a number of others.
If this is the version of BG that Vinyl gets moving forward, a club that seemed undersized, primarily due to Griner playing limited minutes, becomes a potential force, combining the bully ball of Griner and Dearcia Hamby with the sweet shooting of Rhyne Howard and the all-round activity of Courtney Williams, Erica Wheeler and Rae Burrell.
Similar to Breeze, Lunar Owls, Vinyl’s opponent on Monday night, profiles as a favorable matchup for BG (9:15 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV).
Head coach Teresa Weatherspoon deployed Griner against Breeze to nullify to size of Malonga and Brink, whereas Owls, in contrast, lack any threatening size, most often using 6-foot-3 Aaliyah Edwards as their lone big. And while she’s had a productive start to the season, an engaged Griner can eliminate Edwards’ effective drive game. BG’s overall presence on the interior could also encourage Lunar Owls to resort to jacking up 3-pointers, an offensive strategy that they thus far have not been shy about, but that has not brought them close to a victory.
With another big game from BG, Vinyl should cruise to a third-straight victory while sending Owls to 0-5.
