LAS v IND:
The Sparks made a lot of backcourt changes in the opening week of July. Let me start off by saying, justice for Julie Vanloo. The Valks organization blindsided her by waiving her after Belgium won the EuroBasket championship! Fiebich noted this before Liberty’s Thursday game:
“It’s just tough for her, obviously. If I would win the European Championship and I would not be able to celebrate with my team and get cut the next day, then I would be fuming. I can only imagine what she’s feeling right now… As an emotional player and person that she is, that would be probably double [for me].”
Suited up for LA last game without a name on her Jersey, though played just 2 minutes – didn’t even know the playbook. She will be joining her Belgium teammate Julie Allemand, who played 38 minutes against The Liberty.
Rae Burrell returned from her right leg injury suffered in preseason, looking to climb up in minutes until likely being a starter, yet likely to remain around 15 minutes vs Indiana. Her return, along with Vanloo, marked the waiving of Odyssey Sims & Shey Peddy.
Cameron Brink remains out against Indiana, but note that her return from a long ACL recovery is likely coming within the next few games.
With all the backcourt changes, Plum still notched a healthy 8 assists off of 15 potentials – yet Allemand was second to her with 9 herself. The Sparks use a ton of high screen handoff action, but Hamby did notch just 5 potentials, her lowest mark in games with >25min since the start of June.
This meeting will be a rematch of a meeting between these two 10 days ago, where Sparks won by 10. Pretty shocking result, given The Fever have won 3 straight games since that that event – including a Commissioner’s Cup win and an absolute domination over Las Vegas.
Clark (groin) remains out for her 5th straight game.
We saw a ton of similar defensive approaches from Indiana vs Las Vegas as we’ve seen from The Mystics, where they high trap off PnR (notably on Jackie Young, 13 Pot). This will almost certainly extend to Kelsey Plum today, who did shoot just 11 times in the meeting prior.
The Sparks in their L10 games have surrendered the most PITP in the league, at over 39 per game. They also surrender the most OPP STL and OPP BLK, while ranking dead last in DRTG (CON doesn’t count anymore). IND had 16 stocks in the prior meeting.
However in that meeting, it was LA who won that battle with 42 PITP. Azura Stevens went 8-9 in the Restricted Area, while Hamby was 4-4. Azura has notched double-digit Points in 12/12 games against non Top-3 Rim defenses with 24+ minutes.
Indiana has also ranked as the league’s worst Post Up defense, which specifically helped Stevens and Rickea Jackson.
Sparks handoff offense is a pretty solid counter at least. For sizing purposes, Indiana has to use Lexie Hull on Rickea Jackson. Rickea defenders have thrived on the glass:
– Allen 5 Reb (26min), 4 Reb (19min)
– Gabby 4 Reb
– Jackie 8 Reb
– Hull 9 Reb
– Sabrina 6 Reb
The Fever have been the best rebounding unit in their L10 games, surrendering just 30 per game. Meanwhile, LAS has allowed 7 starters in their L10 games to notch double-digit rebs after Stewart had 14 last game; All 7 of these starters were Power Forwards or Centers.
Natasha Howard now has logged three straight double-doubles. Natasha Howard is the frontcourt usage leader for this team with Clark/Dantas out this season, and joins Kelsey Mitchell as the only two players with >20% usage rate this season with CC off.
Kelsey Mitchell has notched her best passing volume since the start of June, yet Aari McDonald continues to run the show. 7 assists vs Las Vegas in 31 minutes, remaining pretty blowout proof. Without Peddy/Sims in the mix, McDonald
GSV v MIN:
The Valks are back to full strength, welcoming Salaun and Zandalasini back from EuroBasket. Nakase is seemingly favoring Kaitlyn Chen over Vanloo. Only Carla Leite is out today.
The Valks defense has allowed the fewest PITP in their L10 games at just 27 – being the only team allowing sub 30. Alanna Smith notched just 1 total FGA last meeting in a 11 point Minnesota victory. The Valks won 6 of their next 7 home games after, yet now it’s The Lynx’s term to have a month at home.
Of course, the nature of their suffocating interior defense has left them surrendering the 3rd most OPP 3PA. This isn’t a weakness, however, as opponents are only shooting 30.2% on these looks. Top option shooters haven’t found a ton of success:
– Clark 0-7
– Sabrina 1-7 (Burke 9 3PA)
– Arike 3-8
– Atkins 2-6 (Nurse 11 3PA)
McBride could see a ton of looks from off ball sets, yet only put up 3 total looks last meeting as Thornton stayed on her hip. All three of her looks came from transition.
Courtney Williams with 17 FGA last meeting, as McBride handling would just lead to immediate blitzing from GSV – hence her zero halfcourt set 3PA. All action through Williams today, while avoiding the length Salaun & Thornton defensively.
Janelle Salaun returns after a month, and her last game for The Valks was her best of her WNBA season – producing 21 Pts and 8 Rebs in her 39 minutes of action. Would love to back her again, but Nakase can throw out any rotation here.
This influx of players is likely why Thornton’s lines are by far the lowest we’ve seen since May. She is averaging 17.6 PPG in the last 30 days yet has a 12.5 Pt line, which may be a bit steep of an overadjustment against a Lynx defense whose strength is their perimeter.