Five on Six
Five takeaways from each of the WNBA’s six opening-weekend games
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The first Wubble weekend is in the books! Each team has only played one game, but in this shortened 2020 season, that means almost five percent of the season is behind us. So what did we learn from each game?
Seattle Storm 87, New York Liberty 71
The Liberty won’t go down without a fight this year. The general consensus entering this game was that the Storm were the top team in the league and the Liberty were headed for 12th place. This game didn’t necessarily do anything to change that view, but new head coach Walt Hopkins had his rookie-laden team competing hard. The margin was in the single digits for much of the second half as New York battled to stay in the game in spite of sub-35% shooting, and this ended up being the closest game of the day.
Layshia Clarendon is a fantastic fit for that Liberty offense. Hopkins wants to spread defenses by going five-out, and in the opener, it was clear who benefits the most from that look. Clarendon got to the rim — and thus the free throw line — seemingly at will against a staunch Storm defense. They led all scorers in the game with 20 points, including 10 at the stripe. If the Liberty continue to shoot 21% from three, defenses will start to pack it in, but most defenses they face won’t be as hounding as Seattle’s.
Sue Bird is still really good at basketball. The WNBA’s all-time leader in assists hasn’t played in a WNBA game since 2018, but she didn’t miss a beat in her return. Less than three months before her 40th birthday, Bird led both teams with five dimes, and she knocked down three of her five attempts from deep. If anyone had any doubts, Bird dispelled those right away. Fine wine, as they say.
Sabrina Ionescu is not an instant savior. Okay, we already knew that — no one expected the heralded rookie to take the Liberty to the playoffs right away. And she did a lot of things well — most notably, rebound. But she shot 0-for-8 from behind the WNBA line, which is a step back from the NCAA distance. Although another 0-for-8 is unlikely, it was a good reminder that even the very best will likely struggle when they jump to the next level.
Brett Hankison, Jon Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove are the men that murdered Breonna Taylor in March. None of them have been charged. It’s time to arrest them.
Los Angeles Sparks 99, Phoenix Mercury 76
The Sparks have forgotten about how last season ended. Derek Fisher’s squad was a well-oiled machine in the opener. Connected and confident, the Sparks nearly hung 100 on a Phoenix team that many expected to be improved this season. Six players scored in double figures, including three off the bench. And speaking of that bench...
LA has added some legitimate depth. Led by offseason acquisition Seimone Augustus, formerly of the Minnesota Lynx, the Sparks’ second unit did some serious work: 43 points, eight steals, and 17-of-27 from the field. “Money Mone” didn’t miss in her debut for her longtime archrival, hitting all four twos and both threes. Between Augustus, Brittney Sykes, Kristine Anigwe, and Te’a Cooper, Sparks newcomers accounted for 38 of those 43 bench points.
Los Angeles guard Brittney Sykes puts up a layup during the Sparks 99-76 win over the Mercury on Saturday. (Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via GettyImages)
The Mercury still can’t figure out the third quarter. Phoenix got outscored by over 17 points per 100 possessions in the third quarter in 2019, despite outscoring opponents in the other three quarters. Only the Liberty were worse in the third quarter last year. Saturday was more of the same for the Mercury as the Sparks won the third quarter, 30–8. The rest of the game was practically even (69–68), but if Sandy Brondello’s team is going to return to the top half of the standings, they will have to start coming out of the locker room with momentum.
Nneka Ogwumike clearly got some shots up during the layoff. The ninth-year veteran is known for efficiency — she’s finished in the top four in the league in field goal percentage in five of her eight seasons. But coming off of an unprecedented four-month stretch with gyms closed and sports canceled, some players were bound to show a little rust. Not Nneka, though. Ogwumike poured in a game-high 21 points on 6-of-6 shooting from two, 2-of-2 from three, and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. Anyone waiting for her first missed shot will have to wait until at least Tuesday.
Brett Hankison, Jon Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove are the men that murdered Breonna Taylor in March. None of them have been charged. It’s time to arrest them.
Washington Mystics 101, Indiana Fever 76
Mike Thibault can coach. Duh. He’s the winningest coach in WNBA history and a three-time winner of the Coach of the Year Award. But somehow Washington’s roster depletion made a lot of people forget about all that. The Mystics are without four starters from last year’s championship team — including reigning MVP Elena Della Donne — as well as offseason addition Tina Charles, and they were picked to finish in the middle of the pack by most writers and pundits this year. That may change after Saturday — the defending champs played even better than the 25-point margin would indicate.
Myisha Hines-Allen is a matchup problem. Marianne Stanley, then an assistant coach for the Mystics, told Jenn Hatfield last year that “it’s a matter of time before the opportunity presents itself” for Hines-Allen. It was a cruel irony that Stanley’s prediction came true at her own expense — Hines-Allen’s opportunity presented itself against Stanley’s Fever on Saturday, and the talented Swiss Army knife feasted to the tune of 27 points and 10 rebounds. Her full arsenal was on display: post-ups, threes, drives to the basket. She even brought the ball up the court at times. The missing starters have cleared the logjam in front of Hines-Allen, and she’s ready to shine in 2020.
Teaira McCowan may need some more time. After a strong finish to an incredibly efficient rookie season, there were high expectations for McCowan this year. Those might need to be tempered for the time being. The 6-foot-7 center came off the bench to play a mere 14 minutes, despite only committing one foul, and she scored just one point while missing all four of her field-goal attempts. A frontcourt of Hines-Allen and Emma Meesseman is a tough matchup for traditional bigs, so McCowan’s playing time should only increase from here. But Indiana fans may need to be patient.
There’s no reason to panic for the Fever. For a team that’s trying to get back to the playoffs for the first time since the Tamika Catchings era, Saturday’s result was not a good start. But that may not be the same Fever team that takes the court for much of the 2020 season. Neither 2019 All-Star point guard Erica Wheeler nor 2020 No. 3 overall pick Lauren Cox were available, as the former has yet to arrive to the bubble and the latter was still in quarantine after arriving on Thursday. Between improvement from McCowan, growth in Stanley’s system, and the expected contributions of Wheeler and Cox, the Fever may very well be just fine.
Brett Hankison, Jon Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove are the men that murdered Breonna Taylor in March. None of them have been charged. It’s time to arrest them.
Minnesota Lynx 77, Connecticut Sun 69
Crystal Dangerfield was the draft steal many thought she was. Back in April, plenty of mock drafts had Dangerfield going in the first round — some even had her going to the Lynx at No. 6. Instead, Reeve took Mikiah Herbert Harrigan with the sixth pick, but she was still able to snag Dangerfield 10 picks later. Herbert Harrigan didn’t play on Sunday, but Dangerfield fueled the Lynx comeback from an early double-digit deficit with 10 second-half points and some shifty moves.
The Sun miss Courtney Williams. Unsurprisingly, Alyssa Thomas was terrific in this game, and DeWanna Bonner looked exactly like she did in Phoenix. What Connecticut is missing, however, is a scorer in the backcourt. Thomas and Bonner combined for 39 points; the four guards who logged minutes totaled 18. Curt Miller’s squads are always going to defend, but being the lowest-scoring team in the league, as they are through the opening weekend, isn’t going to cut it if the Sun want to make another deep playoff run.
Minnesota’s spacing is still an issue. Last year, the Lynx made under one-third of their threes, which was ninth in the league. That allowed opposing defenses to focus more on Sylvia Fowles in the paint. One of Cheryl Reeve’s goals in the offseason was to improve her team’s shooting in order to give Fowles room to operate. That didn’t pan out in Minnesota’s first game — the team finished 4-of-17 from three. The good news is that it didn’t bother Fowles too much — she imposed her will in the paint en route to 17 points and 18 rebounds — and the shooting percentages should improve as players shake off the quarantine rust and acclimate to the unique backdrop of the IMG Academy sound stage-turned-basketball court.
Conditioning is important this year. Well, it’s always important, but in a season filled with roster unknowns and player opt-outs and preceded by a national shutdown, depth for some teams will not be what it typically is. This was the case in this game, as the Sun ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Entering the game with nine players available, Miller played all nine, and his team appeared to be in control through the first three quarters. But Reeve emphasized to her players the importance of entering the season in shape, and that proved to be the difference in a fourth quarter that her team won 27–12.
Brett Hankison, Jon Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove are the men that murdered Breonna Taylor in March. None of them have been charged. It’s time to arrest them.
Chicago Sky 88, Las Vegas Aces 86
The Sky have options. Chicago’s trio of All-Star guards all turned in underwhelming performances on Sunday. Diamond DeShields’ knee limited her to five points in 15 minutes; Courtney Vandersloot didn’t score outside of a 62-second stretch in the second quarter; Allie Quigley made just one of her five three-point attempts before burying the game-winner. Yet reigning Coach of the Year James Wade found a way. Kahleah Copper, who got the start in place of DeShields, led the team with 18 points, Gabby Williams came off the bench for 14 (along with a team-high seven boards), and Azurá Stevens added 12 in her Sky debut. When things start clicking for the stars, watch out.
Without Liz Cambage, the lane is A’ja Wilson’s playground. Wilson’s numbers took a dip last year after a stellar rookie campaign in 2018, and that had nothing to do with the caliber of her play. The addition of Cambage prior to the 2019 season created fewer minutes, fewer field goal attempts, and more traffic in the paint for Wilson. As a result, her scoring average dropped from 20.7 to 16.5 and her rebounding sank from 8.0 to 6.4. This year, expect Wilson to routinely put up 20-10 games again; she began the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds in this game.
Angel has found her wings again. On August 7, 2018, Angel McCoughtry suffered a torn ACL in what would end up being her final game in an Atlanta Dream uniform. Opinions varied on what she would bring to the Aces: On one hand, McCoughtry is a top-five per-game scorer in league history. On the other, she’s coming off nearly two years away from the game and is set to turn 34 before the season ends. On Sunday, we got our answer — the veteran picked up right where she left off in a dazzling 25-point showing.
Bill Laimbeer has a new look for the Wubble. A picture is worth more than 1,000 words for this one.
Brett Hankison, Jon Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove are the men that murdered Breonna Taylor in March. None of them have been charged. It’s time to arrest them.
Atlanta Dream 105, Dallas Wings 95
Hollywood is here! Chennedy Carter made her much-anticipated WNBA debut on Sunday, and she did not disappoint. Nicki Collen put the ball in her hands from the tip, and she sliced through Dallas’ defense both in the half court and on the break. Finishing with 18 points, including three and-ones in the second half, the rookie also demonstrated her ability to create for teammates with eight assists. Like her fellow hyped rookie guard, Sabrina Ionescu, she struggled from the field (5-of-16), but when it mattered most down the stretch, she made plays to stave off Dallas runs.
Allisha Gray thrives off the bench. The 2017 Rookie of the Year started every game in her first two seasons and 29 of 34 last year. This year, she asked Brian Agler to bring her off the bench so she could get a feel for the game. The Wings didn’t get the win, but that experiment got off to a successful start for Gray, as she tied for a team-high 19 points and at times picked up the slack when starting guards Arike Ogunbowale and Moriah Jefferson went cold.
Atlanta can fill it up. The Dream failed to top 90 points in any game in a 2019 season that saw them finish in last place in the standings and in many offensive categories. On Sunday, they dropped 105 on Agler’s Wings with contributions from a plethora of sources. Every single starter tallied at least 16 points, and Monique Billings had a cool THIRTY. With Carter running the show and athletic bigs like Billings and Elizabeth Williams, this team is going to run. When Glory Johnson and Courtney Williams get back in the mix, this may turn into one of the most fun teams to watch this year.
Dallas has a two-headed point guard. The return of Jefferson from injury and the addition of first-round draft pick Ty Harris both got a lot of attention for a team that was paper-thin at point guard last year. In the Wings’ opener, the combo combined to play exactly 40 minutes, logging 20 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc while adding five assists. Harris in particular looked ready for the league, and the chemistry she developed with Gray during their national championship run at South Carolina in 2017 doesn’t seem to have faded — Harris hooked up with Gray three times in the fourth quarter, including this one that brought the Wings within two late in the game.
Brett Hankison, Jon Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove are the men that murdered Breonna Taylor in March. None of them have been charged. It’s time to arrest them.
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also buy Her Hoop Stats gear, such as laptop stickers, mugs, and shirts!
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