WNBA Preview 6/20

We have a nice three game slate today featuring the Wings vs Sun, Mystics vs Dream, and the Storm vs Aces.

Wings vs Sun (7:30pm ET)

Injuries:

Wings - Luisa Geiselsoder (OUT), Luisa Geiselsoder (OUT), Maddy Siegrist (OUT)

Important quotes the game before:

Wings -

Rotations and Player Roles:

"Yeah, decided to make a change to the lineup just as we continue to search for the right combinations and the right start... With Natalie, I think she’s doing a tremendous job with that group and they have a ton of key players missing... she’s got that group really playing connected and together."

Kaila Charles’ Versatility:

"She was who she was on the floor—you see it, she’s versatile, she was guarding fours, she’s guarding point guard, she guarded everybody and then her just tenacity to the boards, getting us extra possessions all the time. So that effort and energy is just contagious and so just glad that she’s back with us."

Offensive Rebounding and Second Chances:

"Anytime you can—you know, we took 15 more shots than them, 14 offensive rebounds, Kaila, DiJonai with four a piece, that’s a part of our identity, we talk about it, we teach it, we emphasize it... right now we need those second chances especially when they went zone a little bit too, being able to get us some second chances when we didn’t score right off the first one."

Rotational Adjustments:

"Just conversations throughout with DiJonai, with our team and just felt it was the right time to make a change and give Aziaha a look."

Sun -

Morrow on Defensive Mindset and Competing:

“Honestly just staying confident. I’ve been working extremely hard to put myself on the floor and when I receive my opportunity, being ready. So just staying confident.”

“I know that [my matchup] was going to be a tough assignment but not backing down from the challenge for sure... knowing that I can compete and be able to sit down, defend, be able to stay in front of my man any night and that’s my goal. I want to be able to be a defensive stopper. So just working towards that.”

Transition Offense and Stops:

“When we get stops and get into transition, I think that’s what we like to do and that’s what was working for us in the first half. Our key was just try to continue to get stops and against a really good team like this, that’s a hard thing to do. And we had a couple stretches there where we were able to do that and get going in transition and make the extra pass and make really good passes.”

Rasheed Mazian on Defensive Execution:

“Defensively we did the stops at the good moment... We over-help on certain actions so we give them some too easy shots. But yeah, so I think that for me this is easy fixes. This is something easy to fix.”

Fixable Mistakes:

“We miss some free throws, we miss some layups, some mistakes in defense... we over-help on certain actions so we give them some too easy shots. But for me, this is easy fixes.”

The Sun have been a tough team to watch this season but they are facing a Dallas team lacking depth in the front court but they are still not giving up much there. The front court still has played well enough to defend the paint and post ups which could affect Tina Charles scoring some because a third of her points come from post ups. You would like to attack the Wings in transition but the Sun are not a team that likes to push the pace. The next spot to attack this defense is spot up shooting which would point towards Marina Mabrey, but could be tough and probably needs to rely on volume here because the Wings are first in defending the pick & roll ball handler.

Something that can benefit her in that instance is dishing out passes as she has been averaging 13.4 Potential Assists per game in her last five games (according to Andrew Wade). With a 4.5 assists line and facing the worst assists defense in the league, there is a lot of potential there. Some recent guard assists performances in the last five games are:

• Veronica Burton (5)

• Chelsea Gray (5)

• Alyssa Thomas (10)

• Courtney Williams (8)

• Kelsey Plum (9)

Someone has to benefit from those assists and it probably has to be a roller so possibly Olivia Nelson-Ododa or Tina Charles, but Olivia does not rely on being a post up player as much, plus she has potential to draw fouls here which is where a quarter of her points come from. Getting boards can be tough when facing the Wings because they have been emphasizing crashing the glass and trying to get second chance points. Only two players have recorded 9+ boards in the last five Wings games. My guess is Olivia rebound line will be listed around 8.5 when available and she has been a great rebounder in her rookie year but her minutes have been capped. It is a guessing game of whether she’ll get more or less than 25 mpg.

Pick & Roll handler and spot up shooting are bottom two which points towards Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale. They could also be dishing out assists as well considering the Sun are allowing the 3rd most per game. Since Paige returned from her concussion, Arike is averaging 13.3 Potential Assist per game while Paige is averaging 12 Potential Assist per game. With Arike having a 4.5 assists line, that seems like good value for how she has been passing.

Something we must note is how DiJonai Carrington is now coming off the bench and to be fair it was time for it to happen as she’s had a +/- of -7.7 which is the worst on the team. Aziaha James is starting in her place instead. Going back to the scoring aspect of the guards, Paige could be in a tough spot as almost half her shots are from the midrange and the Sun allow the 2nd fewest attempts there. Players like Ariel Atkins (4/11), Courtney Williams (0/10), and Chelsea Gray (3/7) who specialize in midrange shots have struggled. The players who can get to the free throw line off drives are the ones who succeed in scoring as Wings Sun allow the most free throw attempts per game.

Mystics vs Dream (7:30pm ET)

Important quotes before the game:

Dream -