The Commissioner’s Cup has come and gone, and the Minnesota Lynx found themselves back on top after a victory over the reigning Cup champion New York Liberty.
Surely, they landed atop the Winsidr staff’s power rankings this round? And yet…
The Lynx, while finishing off that impressive victory, did not end up at number one in voting amongst our staff. We saw a ton of movement at the top, while the bottom rung of teams mostly stayed put with a few movers.
We’re right around the corner from the Olympic break, and with another week of games in the books, we’re back with another ranking of all 12 WNBA teams after a fun weekend of national TV hoops and a week of surprising victories (looking at you, Dallas Wings!)
Let’s take a peek at the results and discuss.
Biggest Increase – Las Vegas Aces (+3)
“Wow…whoever could have seen this coming?,” I say, in the most monotonous and “I told you so” tone ever.
Of course, a Las Vegas has recovered after getting a healthy Chelsea Gray back into the starting lineup. The overreactions to a slow start for a team led by current MVP-favorite A’ja Wilson were laughable, and the Aces have begun to truly turn it around thanks to Wilson, Gray and an underrated streak of play from guard Jackie Young.
Young has averaged 18.9 points per game (PPG) along with 5.4 assists (APG) and 4.7 rebounds (RPG), and has been a super solid two-way player for the Aces in her last four games with the team. Her and Wilson – who, by the way, has averaged 23.8 PPG along with 10 RPG, 2.5 steals per game (SPG), three APG and 1.8 blocks per game (BPG) – have been major bright spots for Vegas as they’ve climbed back in the rankings and in seeding against stiff competition. Add in Gray, who just had her first double digit scoring game since coming back from injury in the teams’ fun win over the struggling Washington Mystics on Saturday, and teams who may have been previously finding some success against the Aces are going to start to feel the former champs get back into chip-mode. It may be the safest bet to assume that they will just keep pace and stay somewhere in the top 3 or 4 in the WNBA’s standings.
Biggest Decrease – Connecticut Sun & Los Angeles Sparks (-2, tie)
Let’s start with the Connecticut Sun, who had maybe the most surprising drop this week. Not surprising because of their play, which has seen them fall to 8th overall in scoring in the WNBA at 79.8 points per game (PPG) and just 30.8 percent from three point range. But, surprising because this is a team led by veterans Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner.
They dropped three games against the Atlanta Dream, Seattle Storm, and Las Vegas Aces since our last power ranking, which makes us wonder if they have what it takes to really compete with teams on a similar level. In the Aces game, the team just struggled to contain Wilson without getting Thomas into foul trouble, and struggled to find scoring outside of DiJonai Carrington and Bri Jones. In the Storm loss, they were overwhelmed by the scoring from all of Seattle’s starters, whereas the Sun only really had scoring coming from Thomas and Bonner. Then, against the Dream, they just couldn’t keep up with Atlanta’s bench scoring or the heater that Allisha Gray went on late in the fourth quarter. So, in all, it is what it is for Connecticut. You trust they can right the ship, but you wonder if they maybe need to find a way to get some three point shooting in the building to stretch their floor out.
For the Sparks, this feels understandable. They’ve obviously had some incredible performances from Dearica Hamby who is averaging 18.4 PPG along with 10.3 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 1.5 SPG this season. You also have some confidence in their future watching rookie Rickea Jackson settle in and average 10.1 PPG along with 3.4 RPG this season. Outside of those two, though, this team has just felt like a randomized collection of some sharpshooters, some bigs, and no one that can actually find synergy with one another for more than a few games at a time.
Team To Watch – Phoenix Mercury
While they dropped a big game to the Indiana Fever over the weekend – shoutout Kelsey Mitchell – they were just one good look away from a potential game winner from Diana Taurasi, only spoiled by a muffed punt of a play from Natasha Cloud and Brittney Griner.
Despite that loss, the Mercury is 9-9. They have clearly survived the time Griner missed to open the season, aided by Griner averaging 19.9 PPG along with 7.4 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.5 BPG since coming back. They’re now starting to see how their offense can work with shooters like Taurasi, Kahleah Copper, and Rebecca Allen all sharing the floor together and working to get Griner the ball in the post. That coupled with a recent uptick in Cloud’s shooting is troublesome to see if you’re a team happy to try and exploit her typical inability to hit from deep.
Another bright spot for this Mercury team? Their second unit – something that I was actually concerned about to begin the season. Natasha Mack has slid back into a backup role for Griner, and that’s given her room to grow as a rim protector and rebounder against other teams’ second units. In addition, Sug Sutton has been a steadying guard for Phoenix off the bench, and she’s a great table setter to stagger into rotations that head coach Nate Tibbets is still formulating.
Copper, I think, has been the biggest key for this team, though. Her defensive intensity is palpable, while you always feel good about her getting the ball in her hands in late shot clock situations and whenever Griner is seeing double teams and needs to make a quick pass out of the paint. Her averaging 21.8 PPG along with 4.4 RPG, 2.2 APG, and 1.2 SPG is a testament to the impact she’s had in her first year with the squad. Looking ahead, I expect to see Copper and the rest of the Mercury continue to look more and more comfortable with each other on the floor, leading to more wins and keeping up with the Aces in the standings.
