Author: Caleb Bets

The All Star Break is about to begin, but not until these final five games are over with. The schedule for tomorrow is here:
ATL @ CHI | 11 AM CT
PHX @ MIN | 12 PM CT
GSV @ SEA | 2 PM CT
IND @ NYL | 6:30 CT
LVA @ DAL | 7 CT

Let’s start in Chicago, which is a team that has certainly been improving it’s play, yet will be without both Angel Reese and Atkins for Wednesday. Big problem, as these two lead the team in usage over Chicago’s last 10 games while also dominating their minutes. Elizabeth Williams has played the most minutes without this duo (nor Vandersloot), yet Onyenwere leads in USG at 24.5%, yet a majority of these rotational players land between 17-25%. Banham is likely to have full command of the offense here, with some minutes from Van Lith as well.

Cardoso has hauled in a quarter of the team’s defensive rebounds in the last 30 days with Reese off the court, no longer having to defer to anyone. Last time Chicago faced ATL, Reese notched 19 rebounds. Yueru, Jonquel and Austin also have notched a double-double against The Dream in their last 10 games.

Rhyne Howard is going to miss at least all of July as well, but Atlanta has enough pieces to recoup the losses here. Chicago in their L10 games is the 3rd worst DRTG, notably due to allowing the most transition points (and most off their turnovers). Jordin Canada currently leads the team in percentage of points coming from fastbreak, making up a quarter of her production.

Think what is most impressive from Canada has been her pure passing domination, averaging 7.2 APG across her last 5 games; She has notched 10 (Lynx), 19, 13, 17 and 22 potentials in these games as well. CHI is ranking 10th in OPP APG amidst their defensive struggles, and Canada’s top targets this season (all tied at 17) are Gray, Jones and Griner. Canada also leads this team in FGA/30 with Rhyne off the court (12.3), which somehow correlates to her overall passing success as well, as she has 5+ assists in every game with 12+ FGA since the start of last season.

Chicago has typically forced all action away from the rim with Cardoso in the lineup, which is likely to remain true with Williams taking Reese’s place. Slow feet there with good shot blocking ability, would expect a lot of pullup jump shots. Allisha Gray has averaged just 6 3PA per 30 with Rhyne off this season, yet threes did make up 27 of her 44 total shots in this sample.

Gray has also averaged 6.2 RPG in games with >28min without Howard since the beginning of last season, with 9.5 per game this year. It’s an odd correlation, yet CHI does allow the 3rd most rebounds to Forwards in their L10 games, while I have also tracked frequent success from opposing 3/4s (Onye/Reese defenders):
– Citron 8 (Onye) & Iriafen 10 (Reese)
– James 4 (Onye) & Geiselsoder 7 (Reese, 16min)
– Court 8 (Onye) & Collier 8 (Reese, 16 chances)
– Court 8 (Onye) & Collier 7 (Reese)

The ragtag Phoenix team is taking on The Lynx in Minnesota. These two faced off just a week ago, where Alyssa Thomas exploded for a career-high of 29 points. The three games that Phoenix have played without both Sabally and Copper – who remain out Wednesday – have been three miraculous victories. These victories included a 30 point domination over Dallas (15 Ast), a close win over Minnesota (29 Pts), and a road victory over GSV in Ballhalla (17p-11r Double-Double).

AT MVP campaign is building, and this game against Napheesa Collier could level the playing field as we enter the break.

“No question about it our offense let us down… We didn’t rise up to the physicality that Phoenix played with in loading the paint, not enough help” – Reeve after loss to PHX.

“Minnesota does a good job of taking away our threes. We’ve kind of struggled in that area, so there was a lot of room to work for AT. … She did it attacking downhill. She found it on her rolls. … We kind of lived in the paint tonight and when you take away the threes, that’s what you got to look for is scoring in the paint. … It was a heck of a performance by her.” – Thibbetts

Sami Whitcomb notched 6 assists (team-high) against MIN last meeting, with 5 of those going to AT. Both of her season-high assist games have come against Minnesota, yet she has yet to notch over a single 3PM against the best Spot Up team this season.

Will note, this is Minnesota’s 9th game already this month, while Phoenix has played just 4! This is preventing The Lynx was pulling away, as they have now kept six straight games within 15 points. Courtney Williams had by far the best game vs PHX with her 21 Points off a team high of 18 FGA, and just two of those looks were from behind the arc. A lot of her action was through PnR with Collier to attack AT’s drop coverage. So glad she’s an All-Star.

Phoenix’s defense has been unreal, and have the best DRTG in the 3 games without Sabally/Copper. In these three games, they are Top 3 at limiting OPP PITP and Fastbreak Points. This defense will see a slight hit in productivity with Monique Akoa Makani out (concussion). However the one thing they cannot control is their lack of size, which has left them surrendering 14.7 2nd Chance Pts (most) and 19.4 F Rebs (3rd most) in this span. Recent bigs have been successful:
– Collier/Smith 7&9
– Yueru/Geis 7&8 (limited mins from blowout too)
– Billings 9 in 19min

Alanna (14) and Collier (17) led in chances, and both were in great position all game – good spot to target.

Seattle gets to host The Valks, who just lost a heartbreaker to The Mercury on Monday. The last time Golden State faced The Storm, they absolutely crushed them by 27 points in Ballhalla.

“I thought they did everything better than us. 20 to 4 in fastbreak points. We are 2nd in the league in PITP, it was 48-18. It’s embarrassing, it’s bullshit effort on our part, as professionals we have to come out every night” – Skylar Diggins-Smith

The Storm’s paint defense has not improved since, as they have allowed the most OPP PITP in their L10 games at 38.6 per game. The Mystics just contributed another 48 PITP inside against them! This is going to likely be a drastic shift in Valks offense, as they just scored 10 total PITP against The Mercury. In games where GSV have scored 35+ PITP (which includes two 45+ vs SEA), player trends have included:
– Thornton 10, 15, 16, 22, 18 and 22 Pts (15.5 FGA in 4GP w/ 30+ min)
– Burton 8, 7, 5, 3, 9, 6 and 12 Ast (7.5 APG w/ 25+ min, 15.3 Pots)

Thornton has 14+ Pts in 9/9 games with 13+ FGA against non-T3 defenses.

Seattle, despite addressing it often in their postgame, also cannot rebound for sh*t. They are leaking the 2nd most in their L10 games, with by far the most frontcourt rebounds. Recent performers (L5 GP):
– Allisha Gray (SF) 11 Reb / Brionna (C) 10 Reb
– Charles (C) 10.5/gp
– Iriafen (PF) 10 / Austin (C) 7 in 23min
– Ionescu (SG) 9 / Sabally (C) 6 in 20min

The Valks are by far the best Paint defense this year, but also that is a biproduct of surrendering the most OPP 3PA in their L10 games at 28.6 per game. Phoenix just shot 29 threes against them with 22 PITP. They absolutely love to collapse on any and all inside action, which is going to be a shock for Seattle’s offense who faced a very porous Mystics interior.

Magbegor & Ogwumike just combined for 28 FGA, which is more than their total FGA through two entire meetings against Golden State (26). Expecting both of these two to regress significantly, while SDS could command attention here.

The final 30 seconds in the TD Garden on Tuesday featured a groin reaggravation to Caitlin Clark, and given this is the second leg of their back-to-back along with entering an extended break, she has no real reason to suit up on the road vs The Liberty. Just going to focus on NYL offense here.

Sabrina Ionescu has averaged 28.5 PPG against Indiana thus far, coming off 20 shots per contest. Now at this point in the season, that volume isn’t even outlandish for her, as she has had at least 18 shots in 4 straight games. The Indiana Fever defense isn’t known for doubling, so individual matchups for Sabrina and Stewart are favorable.

I question the competitive nature of this game given Fever’s scenario.

The Aces are heading to Dallas to face the Wings, and are crawling back to an even record. After losing three straight halfway through June, A’ja Wilson decided to take matters into her own hands, and has scored 22+ Pts in 6 of the 7 games she was able to finish (got hurt vs The Liberty).

The Dallas Wings have been running a new double-big lineup that consists of both Li Yueru and Geiselsoder as they lost Nalyssa Smith in a trade to Aces (revenge!). I would love to back some Nalyssa Smith, yet with Megan Gustafson returning to the lineup, it seems that Smith has been relegated back to low playing time – she saw just 9 minutes last game. Someone please give this girl some run!

This DAL lineup sucks, as they are giving up 40 PITP per game despite the increase in size along with being just 1-3 since it’s implementation. Their depth of McCowan and MHA does not provide any defensive improvements. However, DiJonai Carrington having a shot at returning to the lineup. Unsure how A’ja won’t continue to roll, as she has averaged 35.3 PPG vs DAL in her three meetings across the last two seasons with 22 shots per game.

No team has given up more assists to guards in this 4 game span than DAL has, at 14.1 per game. Notable POA numbers have been:
– Caitlin Clark 13 Ast (25min) / McDonald 6 in 20min
– AT 15 Ast, 10 Ast

Jackie Young had 5+ Ast in every game with A’ja against DAL, yet if Wilson’s jumpshot is falling over these DAL bigs, then any Aces player can seemingly thrive. Young has personally notched 17+ Pts in all 4 meetings, averaging over 20 PPG as she gets to attack inside.

This Aces team is a statistical paradox. In their L10 games, they are ranking 1st at limiting OPP 3PA, RPG, APG and 2nd Chance Pts… yet they’ve won just half of those games. In the sole meeting this season, The Wings attacked them purely through their backcourt:
– Arike 17 FGA
– Dijonai 16 FGA
– Bueckers 19 FGA

Arike has had this teams number, with 28.8 PA across the four meetings since 2024 with 17.5 FGA per game.

The slate begins at noon, for a matchup that likely was expected to be a top game of the season entering June, given the headliners of Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark. However, the sophomore slump for Clark has been in full effect. Caitlin Clark has made just 4 of 35 3PA across her last 5 games. However, it is good that she is back at home, which this season has been an astronomical difference in play. Clark this season has shot 40.3% from deep at home, sinking 3.6 makes per game off of 8.9 attempts. However, throw her on the road and that number is 3.6%. THREE POINT SIX PERCENT! She has made just 0.3 per 7 attempts, insanity.

The Wings have allowed the highest OPP 3P% in their L10 games, with Whitcomb, Citron, Copper, Allen/Banham and Mitchell all notching over 40% shooting off 5+ attempts against DAL in just the last 5 games.

The meeting between these two just two weeks ago was an Indiana victory without Clark, as Kelsey Mitchell dropped 32 points – marking her season high and third straight game with 30+ points against The Wings. Clark has also had 24+ in all three 2024 meetings. As The Wings have now started a double-big lineup of Yueru and Geiselsoder, which discourages them from doing a ton of doubling. Good handoff action is what allowed Sami Whitcomb to notch 36 points, so a lot of pullup 3s in store here.

The success has most come from slashing bigs though:
– Copper 33 Pts (17 FGA) / Satou 20 Pts (15)
– Austin 18 Pts (15)
– Natasha Howard 15 (10)

Natasha Howard fits the bill, and also helps when she is facing her former squad. She also picked up 13 rebounds, which is a shocking figure vs this lineup. In DAL’s L10 games, only Howard and Reese have averaged over 7 DREB.

Indiana’s defense has surrendered the fewest fastbreak points in their L10 games, at just 7.1 per game. Arike Ogunbowale is probable to return to the lineup, which likely relegates JJ Quinerly to the bench. This should reopen Paige to thrive as a passer, and with Arike vs below average defenses has averaged 6.4 APG. In Paige’s last 3 games with JJ/Aziaha in lineup, she only notched 8 potentials per game – compared to 12.6 in the 5 games prior.

Not a great spot to back her however, as IND is allowing the fewest OPP APG in that span, which may just be due to how much they are fouling. They have struggled mightily as a Post Up defense, which doesn’t really play into DAL’s strengths unless Yueru can build off her 18 Pt performance vs CHI (season high).

The New York Liberty just had 5 days of rest, and get to be at home against Atlanta. In their last 5 games, they have allowed the 2nd most OPP RPG and the 2nd most OPP APG. They have been addressing this issue for a while, and noted this after the win over Las Vegas (allowed just 32 Reb):
“The mindset and things that we wanted to focus in on were rebounding, getting to the free throw line, and just moving the ball. … The way that we started stayed pretty consistent throughout the game. Like the ball was flying all over the place and just finding the open person.”

Sabrina and Fiebich notched 8 & 9 rebounds to lead the team. Cloud will return this game after some hip discomfort. If Fiebich is set on crashing the glass in Jonquel’s absence, then it makes her 3.5 line intriguing.

The 32 Rebounds and 13 Assists that Aces notched are pale in comparison to the 38 Rebounds and 27 Assists that ATL notched against NYL just 3 games prior. Allisha with 15 RA to Canada’s 13. A part of these high numbers is out of The Liberty’s control, as they are the league’s leader in PACE, so a lot more possessions in store. Canada got up to 19 potential assists, the highest potential count of any ATL player this season.

In the last 10 games, ATL is allowing the 3rd lowest OPP 3PA, along with the fewest Corner 3s, Pts off TOV. As a result, ATL has struggled mightly against the Pick-and-Roll system. They currently rank 10th or worse at limiting points from PnR Handlers, Rollers, Post Up, Handoff and Off Screen.

It’s likely we see a lot of Pick-and-Roll with Sabrina/Stewie, so both sides are scoring threats. Recent duos have been succeeding:
– Sabrina / Stewart 15 & 18 FGA
– Wheeler / Ogwumike 17 & 14 FGA
– Court / Phee 16 & 18 FGA
– Paige / Yueru 15 & 9 FGA
– Atkins / Reese 22 & 11 FGA
– Hayes / Thornton 10 & 14 FGA
– Clark / Boston 17 & 10 FGA

First meeting this year between Seattle and Washington. The Mystics have allowed the fewest OPP 3PA since Austin entered the lineup (6-3 in that span). Only one opposing starter has made over 2 threes vs WSH, while Young, Loyd, and Rhyne were the only two ball handlers to notch over 5 3PA. Jackie had two buzzer beater attempts. They have ranked Top 4 in DRTG, OPP PTs off TOV and 2nd Chance Pts in this span. Guards have struggled:
– Atkins 10 Pts (7 Ast)
– Court 5 Pts / McBride 7 Pts
– Paige 16 Pts (7 Ast, in Reg)
– Rhyne 13 Pts (6 Ast)
– Gray 13 Pts (8 Ast) / Jackie 13 Pts
– Arike 14 Pts
– Williams 10 Pts (8 Ast)
– Atkins 11 Pts (5 Ast)

Thus, the people that have thrived in these games vs WSH have been the frontcourt. Reese/Williams just combined for 26 FGA and 42 Pts (20+ each), and Collier poured on 28 Pts (21 FGA) the game before. Expecting Gabby Williams to continue rolling, yet Nneka Ogwumike in for a good spot as well.

Seattle’s defense has so much length and lateral movement, which garnered them the 2nd best DRTG and allowing the 2nd fewest OPP 3PA in their L10 games. The main hole of this defense comes from their rebounding, as they have let up just under 40 rebounds per game. This has been addressed in frequent postgames:
After NYL: “The biggest thing is finishing possessions with rebounds. I’ve been challenging Gabby to rebound the ball… sometimes we have to remind her who she is… Our Achilles heel was giving up O’ boards, our issue with it was just being fundamental and boxing out… we will continue to emphasize it.” – Quinn
After CON: “We’ll play defense and then we don’t seal it off with the rebound or… we don’t score. … At this level, you have to be able to do that. … We want to continue to play in transition after getting stops off of one shot on goal.” – Ogwumike

As Connecticut takes on Los Angeles, it’s going to be a game of non existent defense. Despite CON being just 1-9 in their L10 games, they actually rank slightly better in DRTG than LA does – though both of these teams are dead last in the league. Sparks are allowing the most PITP in that span while playing at a Top 3 PACE, making me most intrigued by The Sun’s young core in Nelson-Ododa and Saniya Rivers.

Rivers’ points have increased every single game across the last 4, while seeing her season-high in minutes last game at 35. Was assigned to Gabby Williams, so likely to sit off Rickea Jackson today. The Sparks have allowed the 2nd fewest opponent rebounds in their L10 games, notably (by far) the fewest Guard rebounds. In turn, they are actually in the B3 to rebounds surrendered to opposing forwards (Hamby/Rickea defenders).

CON’s defense is swiss cheese, similar to their opponent, so can take any spot you wish. They are not only the worst rim defense on the season, yet also the worst Spot Up defense. As mentioned prior, the worst rebound defense is a title also held by this team, giving up 38.6 per game. Azura Stevens in her last game vs CON had 17 rebounds, yet that was a season ago. Opposing to LA, they let up 25 OPP Guard RPG, making up 64% of the total rebounds let up. LA, who was the best team at limiting G reb, allows just 7.

The now 7-13 Sky just took down the league’s top squad in Minnesota. This was their first win of the season against a top .500 team (0-10 prior). The Lynx not only have 18 wins, but also are leading the league in both offensive and defensive rating. The Sky are now 4-3 across their last 7 games, yet all three of those losses were within 5 points – including a road matchup against this Lynx team.

The key? Angel Reese. Chicago’s only All-Star has certainly been playing like it, as Reese has averaged 18.7 Pts, 15.7 Rebs and 4.3 Asts in that 7 game span. She now has notched 7 straight 15+ Pt double-doubles as well, tying the longest streak in franchise history. Her 5 game span of 15+ Pts and 15+ Rebs was also two games longer than the previous longest streak in WNBA history, shared most recently by A’ja Wilson last season (unanimous MVP).

After an incredible Unrivaled offseason, Reese was on my A-List entering her sophomore year, yet the start of Chicago’s 2025 season was particularly awful. I wrote an article earlier this season titled “The Sky can’t get worse”, and it was true. The Chicago Sky opened the year 0-3, a start we have seen from teams in every season, yet lost those three games by an average margin of defeat of 25 points. In that three game span, they posted these metrics:
– 84.3 ORTG, 114.1 DRTG, -29.8 NETRTG
– 26.0 Player Impact Estimate
– 0.83 AST/TOV Ratio, 24.1 TOV%

This would have led to the worst ORTG since the 2000 season and the worst NETRTG of all time. The team was a disaster, with their biggest offseason acquisition Ariel Atkins being team low in usage and the offense being a turnover machine. However, despite losing Vandersloot to an ACL injury, The Sky are resilient.

In the 7 game stretch, Chicago is ranking 4th in offensive rating, 3rd in PACE and 6th in defensive rating. Now, Cardoso has returned from AmeriCup to bolster this frontcourt. The second half of the season is going to be an exciting push for playoffs.

Minnesota plays their 2nd leg of the back-to-back, and with both of the games being early they aren’t even getting a full 24 hours of rest (in addition to the travel). This is their first, and will be their only, back-to-back for the 2025 season; Also helped to have 3 days of rest before this, so they should be okay.

The Lynx just lost by eight to Alyssa Thomas and The Mercury. AT now jumped Caitlin Clark in MVP odds (+650) after a 29 Pt performance (career high), insanity. Half of her 24 total FGA were jumpshots, and pretty open too as MIN collapsed often on Ball Handlers or inside. I have never seen PnR beat that Lynx team so consistently.

Luckily, they face Los Angeles. The Sparks in their L10 games have surrendered the most PITP in the league, at nearly 40 per game. In their last game, Indiana just poured on 46 PITP. Howard and Boston both poured on 20+ Pts. They also surrender the most OPP STL and OPP BLK, while ranking dead last in DRTG (CON doesn’t count anymore).

Napheesa Collier just had to go at Alyssa Thomas all game, yet now will garner a much more favorable matchup in Azura Stevens. She has notched 27.5 PPG vs LAS this season, off 23 & 35 points, along with notching 3.5 stocks. She would join a solid list of other power forwards to thrive:
– Reese 24 Pts (19 FGA)
– Howard 21 Pts (11 FGA)
– Stewie 17 Pts (17 FGA)
– Ogwumike 26 Pts (16 FGA)

Phee is over in 70% of her last 30 games with 16+ FGA, and 85% of her last 15 games with 17+.

Alanna Smith is the team leader in stocks, yet just had her first game of the season with none against PHX. However, now is a great time for a comeback. Other frontcourt players who are Top 5 in SPG or BPG this season:
– Gabby 8 Stocks
– A’ja 6 Stocks
– Magbegor 6 Stocks
– Stew 3 Stocks
– AT 3 Stocks

Great fantasy option, given the value of stocks. She will guard Azura Stevens.

Attack the Sparks inside or attack them from the perimeter, both are effective. LA is also surrendering the 3rd most opposing 3PT attempts and makes in the same 10 game span. All their opposing leaders in threes of course came from deep:
– Sabrina 9 3PA
– KMitch 7.5 3PA per game
– McBride 7 3PA per game
– Banham 8 3PA

McBride shot 7 3PA in both meetings vs LA this season.

The Sparks have been an average rebounding unit, yet those who have thrived are the players anywhere from the 3-5, as long as they don’t defend Plum. 6 starters (all PF/Cs) notched 10+ Reb vs LAS in their L10 games. Atkins, Gray, Williams, Cloud and Burton were all Plum defenders and subsequently the only players to play 30+ minutes and not notch at least 5 rebounds.

With Karlie Samuelson now injured, it’s likely that Courtney Williams takes Plum defensively. She has already notched 5 or fewer rebounds in the last 5 games vs LA, yet just 3 per game since Plum joined the squad.

While Williams is a high-effort defender, she will definitely grade as one of the easier assignments that Plum has had to face. She got up 16 shots regardless of who MIN threw at her (Williams or Samuelson), yet her shot quality was much higher vs Courtney, with 9 shots alone inside the paint.

Azura Stevens is going to be a key part at keeping that lane free for Plum to drive, as she is being defended by Alanna Smith who is one of the best shot blockers in the league, so that 3ball needs to fall. The Sparks have yet to face MIN and lose by less than 14.

A’ja Wilson is out with the wrist injury she suffered vs NYL. With her off the court this season yet with Jackie/Chelsea/Loyd on, those big three have notched:
– Jackie: 30.8% USG (1st), 33.3% AST (1st)
– Chelsea: 24.5% AST
– Loyd: 10 FGA per 30 (2nd)

Loyd has notched 16.7 PPG in the three without A’ja this season, firing up 8 3PA in all three games.

The Mystics are now even more likely to continue to apply high pressure on ball handlers. The Mystics have allowed the fewest OPP 3PA since Austin entered the lineup. Only one opposing starter has made over 2 threes vs WSH, while Young and Rhyne were the only two ball handlers to notch over 5 3PA. Jackie had two buzzer beater attempts. They have ranked Top 4 in DRTG, OPP PTs off TOV and 2nd Chance Pts in this span. Guards have struggled:
– Atkins 10 Pts (7 Ast)
– Court 5 Pts / McBride 7 Pts
– Paige 16 Pts (7 Ast, in Reg)
– Rhyne 13 Pts (6 Ast)
– Gray 13 Pts (8 Ast) / Jackie 13 Pts
– Arike 14 Pts
– Williams 10 Pts (8 Ast)
– Atkins 11 Pts (5 Ast)

Consistent trends. Chelsea led the squad with 15 potentials last time these two faced, followed up by Jackie with 9.

Thus, the people that have thrived in these games vs WSH have been the frontcourt. Reese/Williams just combined for 26 FGA and 42 Pts (20+ each), and Collier poured on 28 Pts (21 FGA) the game before. Nalyssa Smith, the new Aces addition, could be in for a good day.

The Mystics are 5-3 since Austin has joined the starting lineup. During this stretch, they faced The Aces without Sykes and still managed an 11 point victory. This was their second highest scoring output of the year (94), where they only scored more against The Flint Tropics. Citron led this charge with 21 Pts off of 13 total FGA.

This game was a peak of Hammon’s frustration, and also where she first showed the “platoon swap” as she benched the entire starting lineup early in the 3rd Quarter. Here were all her quotes postgame:
“Terrible. Start to finish. We lost every quarter but that fourth quarter and a lot of that is because our bench came in and competed and did a great job. That’s what we’re going to need… just not no togetherness defensively honestly… we’ve played eight quarters against this team and we’ve played hard and competed in two of them. Two out of the eight.”

Sykes hasn’t played the Aces in over two seasons now, and also has been a lot more passive in the last 3 games since she returned from injury. Has been deferring a lot of isolation matchups in favor of the WSH frontcourt, which should continue today as LVA has ranked B3 to both Post Up and PnR Rollers this season. Granted, Sykes did have her most involved game vs CHI with 12 FGA in 32min.

Given the Aces are also limiting 3s hard as a direct note of Becky Hammon, expect Sykes, Austin and Iriafen to attack inside.

Shakira Austin on her 4 dimes vs CHI noted, “That’s always been something I’ve wanted to show. As a versatile post player who can pretty much attack anybody and have an advantage, I also am able to dish it out and find my teammates. … That’s just who I want to be is a versatile playmaker who plays on both ends.”

Three games today tip off before noon local time as summer camps persist, with the earliest being Connecticut hosting Seattle at 9:00 AM ET. Both of these teams were given two full days of rest in preparation of the for the early game.

The Sun faced The Storm just under two weeks ago, where SEA did what is expected of every CON opponent with a 16 point victory. Granted, The Storm were up 27 points entering the fourth quarter, which left Magbegor & Ogwumike to notch under 25 minutes of playing time.

Williams led the team in minutes at 31, remaining blowout proof and receiving good word from Coach Quinn after their most recent win over Liberty:
“I rely on Gabby to score the basketball, and I think she’s been in on teams in which that wasn’t necessarily her first or second option. This year for us … her aggressiveness in transition or getting downhill … there’s a dynamic aspect about her that’s different from our other primary scorers. … It’s just about consistency and the confidence, not letting the confidence drop and our team is pouring into her.”

Just to get it out of the way, here is where the 2-16 Sun have landed defensively in their L10 games:
– 13th in OPP RPG (40.7), 12th in OPP APG (21.5)
– 13th in NETRTG, ORTG, DRTG, 2nd Chance Pts
– 11th in OPP PITP, 13th in OPP Rim FGM
We’ll focus on the first half, where Seattle’s rotation was standard. The Storm were able to notch 52 points in these 20 minutes, had 37 FGA and just 5 total turnovers. Seattle has cracked the top four in PACE in their L10 games, despite their first 10 being just 11th in that mark.

Skylar Diggins-Smith notched 16 Pts off 8 FGA in this half, yet all five of the starters got up at least 4 FGA. The fantasy leaders for Seattle in this period:
– Gabby Williams 29.2 (9p-6r-4a w/ 3 stocks)
– Magbegor 22.3 (10-4-3 w/ 1 stock)
– SDS 22.2 (16-1-4)
– Ogwumike 15.3 (6-4-1 w/ 1 stock)

On the full game, the trio of SDS, Williams and Wheeler each notched between 10-13 potentials in a pure triple-headed attack. But high blowout risk games pose the biggest benefit to the 2nd pick of the 2025 draft: Dom Malonga. She played a season high of 20 minutes last game vs CON, and then just dropped a near double-double (10p-8r) in just 11min of action against NYL. After that game, Ogwumike noted, “Every game is a learning experience for Dom, we don’t have a lot of time to practice and improve. We expect her to come out and do her thing”.

Seattle’s defense went full switch vs Liberty, as Nneka said, “There is just so many threats on the team, so we couldn’t afford being out of position. We wanted to make sure our switching kept lanes closed and then we can seal for a rebound“.

If there has been anything to critique Seattle for this season, it would be their rebounding. The only team who has allowed most rebounds in the L10 games is their opponent, as SEA gives up 35.9 Reb per game. This was from Quinn last game:
“The biggest thing is finishing possessions with rebounds. I’ve been challenging Gabby to rebound the ball… sometimes we have to remind her who she is... Our Achilles heel was giving up O’ boards, our issue with it was just being fundamental and boxing out… we will continue to emphasize it.“

Not worth having a note on CON offense, this team shouldn’t even exist this season. Without Mabrey, this team has lost every game by a minimum of 16 points, average of 24.6.

Caitlin Clark has returned for Indiana, and will be thrown immediately into the Valkyries trap. Kayla Thornton was her defender. This Valkyries team is not afraid to throw doubles at anything or anyone, as their lateral movement allows for constant switching. The most common of these is high screen on Ball Handlers off PnR, or collapsing inside on the Roller. Best way to beat this team is through quality downhill drive-and-kick action, quick PnR or offball action.

The biproduct of this is that GSV surrenders by far the most OPP Corner 3s in the league. The true ATL starting rotation can stick a lot of players here (Howard, Canada, Gray), yet the bench unit of Coffey and Caldwell lead the team in actual volume. High kickout frequency from bigs has left to a number of good assist numbers:
– Alanna Smith 6 Ast (19min)
– Hamby 5 Ast / Azura 4 Ast
– Shepard 5 Ast
– Satou 5 Ast
– Breezy 5 Ast

These 6 players were each in the top 10 assist numbers against Valkyries in their L10 games. Aliyah Boston last meeting notched just 1 assist… off of 9 potentials.

The Valkyries are the league’s best Paint defense in their L10 games, surrendering just 28 Pts in The Paint per game. They are 2nd to Minnesota in DRTG in that span. However, given how high The Valks have to apply pressure to Caitlin Clark (who was 0/7 in the prior meeting), it allowed the Fever frontcourt of Howard and Boston to get frequent 1v1 Post Ups that other teams were unable to generate.

Granted, Clark has made just 1/23 3PA in her last three games, and now coming off a groin injury which may bring a minutes limit. Due to this shooting struggles, I could see Valkyries lowering their pickup trap point until she can prove her shot is falling; Currently, a Boston Post Up is a much higher quality look than a Clark three.

Indiana’s defense has been slipping, now in the B4 in their L5 games, though their actual offense has remained Top 3 in that span. While they have allowed the fewest OPP APG in the L10 games, but that could be due to they allowing the 2nd most OPP FTA. Indiana has allowed 12 players to notch 20+ points in the L10 games, which is pretty absurd. This is such an even spread as well, as exactly 6 of those players were backcourt players.

The top contender to succeed in any Valks game is Kayla Thornton, whose entire scoring production oddly came from deep last meeting vs Indiana. She only played 20 minutes due to heavy foul issues. As a result, she didn’t man defend Clark in the 2H (Burton did) – instead residing off Lexie Hull. Could leave her in better rebound positioning. Will have to see if GSV elects to keep her off to avoid a similar disaster, despite The Valks winning that game by double digits.

The Mercury are still without Copper and Sabally, which left Sami Whitcomb to notch 36 Points in a 30 Pt victory over The Wings… what??? With this PHX duo off the court this season, Natasha Mack and Alyssa Thomas leads the team in usage rate at 27.5% each. Thomas is responsible for 48.8% of the team’s assists in this sample, notching 15 last game (which was 65%!), yet in total is just 7.5 per 30min.

It is hard to tell if the new PHX lineup is as strong defensively as their 85.7 DRTG last game suggests, but they certainly are a high pressure unit. This was effective in keeping constant 2 focused on Bueckers, yet it did seem beatable through deep seals.

Alanna Smith was the only Minnesota starter to cover their individual scoring line in all meetings vs PHX this season, yet shot just 6 times in the only game with Collier – compared to 15 without her. This is even less of a dip than what Courtney Williams had, with 18 FGA w/o Collier and just 6 when alongside her. MIN beat PHX by 23 in the only meeting with their full squad.

Alanna has yet to notch 6 rebounds in the 8 meetings vs PHX since the start of last season.

Will note again that Angel Reese has been an absolute monster on the glass, and now has had 5 straight games with 15+ Pts and 15+ Rebounds, which is the longest streak in WNBA history. The other three players to notch 3 straight games? A’ja Wilson in 2024 (MVP), Jonquel Jones in 2021 (MVP) and Lisa Leslie in 2006 (MVP).

Despite Angel Reese averaging an astonishing 17 RPG in her last 6 games, Chicago as a team has still given up over 35 RPG in that span (4th most). Chicago’s starting lineup now includes Onyenwere instead of Rebecca Allen. Here were the other recent leaders (>25min):
– Courtney 8 Reb (Atkins defender) & Collier 7 (Reese)
– Peddy 6 (Atkins) & Hamby 10 (Reese)
– Thornton 6 (Atkins)
– Gray 5 (Atkins) & Jones 11 (Reese)
– Citron 8 (Onye) & Iriafen 10 (Reese)

Paige likely to sit off Onye here, while Geiselsoder should be assigned to Reese.

The Sky have allowed Top 3 Pts at The Rim this season, which has remained true across their last 10 games. They also remain a B3 DRTG, notably as they allow the most Pts off TOV and in transition. WSH just notched 31 FTA against Chicago, with 20 of those being from Austin and Iriafen. Somehow this team only made 17 of those, but I digress.

Granted, Chicago has also struggled mightily at defending the perimeter. They are the only team in the L10 games to surrender double-digit OPP 3PM, off the 2nd highest volume. The Mystics only shot 15 of these on Tuesday morning, yet they shoot the lowest 3PA per game as a team this season. Admittedly, DAL is also B3 on the year in perimeter volume.

Tomorrow will be the earliest game of the WNBA season, with The Mystics hosting The Sky at 11:30 AM ET. The Mystics have already beaten Chicago this season, while holding a 3-1 record against them the season prior.

The storyline of the evening begins with Brittney Sykes, who spent her entire social media month of June asking for fans to vote in the All-Star game, just to miss out to rookie teammates of Citron/Iriafen. This season, Sykes is averaging career high marks in points (17.9) and assists (4.6), while tallying on a steal per game. She has yet to receive an All-Star nod in her 9 season career.

Last time she faced Chicago, she notched 32 Points off of 24 FGA. The Sky have allowed Top 3 Pts at The Rim this season, which has remained true across their last 10 games. They also remain a B3 DRTG, notably as they allow the most Pts off TOV and in transition. Great for a defense to offense player like Sykes.

Sykes, when facing a below average Rim defense (who isn’t a Top 3 DRTG) with 28+ minutes, has averaged 31.6 PRA per game – over her 24.5 mark in 7/8. Guards that love to go downhill against Chicago, who will remain without Cardoso (AmeriCup) to bolster the rim, have thrived:
– Plum 22 Pts (4/16), 20 Pts (6/17)
– Hayes 13 Pts (4/13, 4/7 FT)
– Gray 22 Pts (7/17)
– Copper 16 Pts (5/12, 23min)

Granted, Chicago has also struggled mightily at defending the perimeter. They are the only team in the L10 games to surrender double-digit OPP 3PM, off the 2nd highest volume. This has blossomed even further to near 30 OPP 3PA allowed per game since they last faced The Mystics. Granted, Washington has shot just 15 3s against them, with a third of those being from Sykes.

Washington shoots the fewest 3PA per game this season, at just 16.8. Citron leads the team at 4.4 per game.

Despite Angel Reese averaging an astonishing 17.4 RPG in her last 5 games, Chicago as a team has still given up over 35 RPG in that span (4th most). In the last meeting, Citron (Allen defender) and Austin (Cardoso defender) led the team with 9 rebounds a piece. Chicago’s starting lineup now includes Onyenwere instead of Allen. Here were the other recent leaders (>25min):
– Courtney 8 Reb (Atkins defender) & Collier 7 (Reese)
– Peddy 6 (Atkins) & Hamby 10 (Reese)
– Thornton 6 (Atkins)
– Gray 5 (Atkins) & Jones 11 (Reese)

Consistent trends here, despite WSH defying them. Should expect Sykes and Iriafen to thrive here.

The Mystics defense has been shifted since Austin joined the starting lineup 7 games ago. In this 7 game span, they have allowed just 5.9 3PM per game (1st), while ranking Top 5 at limiting OPP RPG, APG, 2nd Chance Pts and Fastbreak Pts.

Despite limiting assists well, we have seen primary ball handlers notch consistently high assist numbers due to this WSH lineup having a tendency to trap:
– Gray 8 Ast (15 Pot)
– Atkins 7 Ast (11 Pot)
– Paige 7 Ast (17 Pot)
– Court 4 Ast (14 Pot)
– Canada 4 Ast (13 Pot)

Atkins notched 16 potentials vs Minnesota last game, now averaging 14.3 per game in the three without Cardoso. In games where she has double-digit potentials, she has notched 6, 5, 4, 7, 5, 3 and 7 assists.

Will note again that Angel Reese has been an absolute monster on the glass, with 16+ rebounds in five straight games. She now has had 4 straight games with 15+ Pts and 15+ Rebounds, which is the longest streak in WNBA history. The other three players to notch 3 straight games? A’ja Wilson in 2024 (MVP), Jonquel Jones in 2021 (MVP) and Lisa Leslie in 2006 (MVP).

The Mystics haven’t allowed over 10 rebounds to any player since Austin has joined Iriafen in the starting lineup.

The WNBA 2025 All Star Roster has been set, formatted by team (starters, reserves*):
(DAL) – ^Paige Bueckers
(IND) – *Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell
(MIN) – *Napheesa Collier, Courtney Williams
(ATL) – Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard
(NYL) – Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart
(SEA) – Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, ^Gabby Williams
(LVA) – A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young
(WSH) – ^Sonia Citron, ^Kiki Iriafen
(PHX) – Satou Sabally, Alyssa Thomas
(CHI) – Angel Reese
(LA) – Kelsey Plum
(GSV) – ^Kayla Thornton

We have 5 new All Stars (marked with ^), with the most controversial being the rookie Mystic duo in Citron and Iriafen. This is mostly due to the snubbing of Brittney Sykes, whose career high of 17.9 PPG along with 4.6 APG (team high) and a steal failed to garner her first ever All Star appearance. Almost all of her tweets in June were voting reminders, so this stings. She joins a “snub list” of Hamby, Brionna Jones, Azura Stevens and Arike Ogunbowale.

As a sidenote, this was also the backbone for Sykes’ Most Improved Player campaign, yet Thornton is now a clear frontrunner (+25).

The first game today is Atlanta hosting Golden State, a battle of two winning teams. The Valkyries are the league’s best Paint defense in their L10 games, surrendering just 27 Pts in The Paint per game. They are tied with their most recent opponent, Minnesota, in being league-best in DRTG in that span. Just 28 of The Lynx’s 82 Pts in the last contest came in the paint.

This Valkyries team is not afraid to throw doubles at anything or anyone, as their lateral movement allows for constant switching. The most common of these is high screen on Ball Handlers off PnR, or collapsing inside on the Roller. Best way to beat this team is through quality downhill drive-and-kick action, quick PnR or offball action.

The biproduct of this is that GSV surrenders by far the most OPP Corner 3s in the league. The true ATL starting rotation can stick a lot of players here (Howard, Canada, Gray), yet the bench unit of Coffey and Caldwell lead the team in actual volume. High kickout frequency from bigs has left to a number of good assist numbers:
– Alanna Smith 6 Ast (19min)
– Hamby 5 Ast / Azura 4 Ast
– Shepard 5 Ast
– Satou 5 Ast

These 5 players were each in the top 10 assist numbers against Valkyries in their L10 games.

The Dream defense is borderline the opposite of Golden State’s, as they have allowed the fewest OPP 3PA in their L10 games, which includes the fewest Corner 3PA. As a result, ATL has struggled mightly against the Pick-and-Roll system. They currently rank 10th or worse at limiting points from PnR Handlers, Rollers, Post Up, Handoff and Off Screen.

This seems best for Tiffany Hayes, who will also be the squad she played her first decade in the league for. She dropped 20 Points in her last full game vs Atlanta. It’s likely we see a lot of Pick-and-Roll with Hayes and Thornton, so both sides are scoring threats. Recent duos have been succeeding:
– Sabrina / Stewart 15 & 18 FGA
– Wheeler / Ogwumike 17 & 14 FGA
– Court / Phee 16 & 18 FGA
– Paige / Yueru 15 & 9 FGA
– Atkins / Reese 22 & 11 FGA

Arike Ogunbowale failed to make the All-Star team for the first time since her rookie year, yet won’t be able to get revenge due to a thumb injury keeping her out against Phoenix. She missed the last meeting between these two just 4 days ago, but that didn’t stop Dallas from notching a shocking 9 Point victory (they were up 18 at halftime!).

The top two performers of this game? Kahleah Copper and Aziaha James, who dropped 33 and 28 Points – yet Satou and Paige also broke the 20 point mark as well. Aziaha is a bucket, and had 20 of her points in the first half off a perfect 7/7 shooting. Get a lot of shades of Allisha Gray, as another lefty with a silky smooth jumper and slashing ability. Issue for PHX is that both Copper and Satou will be out today.

With this PHX duo off the court this season, Natasha Mack and Alyssa Thomas leads the team in usage rate at 27.5% each. Thomas is responsible for 48.8% of the team’s assists in this sample, yet that is just 7.5 per 30min.

The Wings started a true double big lineup of Li Yueru and Geiselsoder, which left them with a +12 rebounding record. PHX needs to be effective from pull up shooters in Akoa-Makani and Whitcomb in order to find success here. Whitcomb gets up 12 shots per 30min.

Sunday’s selection of games tips off at noon with The Liberty hosting Seattle at Barclay’s. New York was the best team at home in the 2024 season, boasting a 16-4 record that has trickled over to a 7-1 record to kick off the 2025 campaign.

These two played their first and only meeting on the season thus far on June 22nd, where The Storm posted up a double-digit home victory. However, The Liberty were short Ionescu, Jones and Fiebich for this game – two of whom will now be present. Fiebich is likely to defend Gabby Williams, who posted up 16 FGA – joining both Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith in that volume – against the weak NYL defense.

Leonie Fiebich played 33 minutes in the starting lineup for her first game back with the team, and held her primary defensive assignment of Rickea Jackson to just 8 points off 3-10 shooting. However, the 6’4″ German product can switch onto anyone, and that length still didn’t prevent The Sparks from notching 40 PITP.

Only LA has surrendered more OPP PITP in their L10 games than NYL, who are giving up 38.6 PITP themselves. The top volume within 8′ against NYL in these 10 games has come from these players:
– Hamby 12 FGA
– Iriafen 10 FGA
– Williams 10 FGA
– Boston 9 FGA
– Angel 9 FGA
– Brionna 8.5/gp

Seattle as a unit already prefers to operate inside, so this is going to be another mountain that The Liberty have to climb.

Another NYL defensive trait we’ve witnessed over this span is just how much Reb+Ast they have been allowing.They are ranking B3 in OPP RPG, OPP APG, and OPP 2nd Chance Pts. The best RA performers against NYL in their L8 games:
– Clark 17 RA (8 Reb, 9 Ast)
– Allisha 15 RA (9 Reb, 6 Ast) / Canada 13 RA (5 Reb, 8 Ast)
– Alyssa Thomas 23 RA per game (12 Reb, 11 Ast)
– Rhyne Howard 16 RA (7 Reb, 9 Ast)
– Gabby Williams 16 RA (6 Reb, 10 Ast)
– Burton 15 RA (5 Reb, 10 Ast)
– Plum 15 RA (7 Reb, 8 Ast)

Absolute insanity. Expecting the two leaders in pass volume of Gabby Williams and Diggins-Smith to both thrive.

Natasha Cloud is back on Cloud 9, currently leading The Liberty in PPG across their last three games at 19 PPG; The scoring bout is especially impressive when you factor that she was notching just 5 PPG in the 11 games prior. This has been purely intentional, with double-digit field goal looks in each of the contests, will see if it continues today at noon.

“My job as a point guard is to get two feet in the paint whether that’s for myself or to spray out to my teammates and put them in successful situations so… with starting these games… I just wanted to be more aggressive getting downhill so… I can be the best version of myself for us.”

In the L5 games, Seattle is giving up the most PITP, beating out today’s opponent by 0.4 PITP per game. Brondello did a full benching of Nyara Sabally, who saw just 5 minutes of action and lost her starting spot for Kennedy Burke (30min).

The Aces take on Connecticut after receiving a beating from The Fever, and if they lose this game then Becky Hammon may explode. She noted this after Indiana:
“How many layups they got? They were in the paint downhill layups all night. And quite frankly, they were the first half um of our of our first game, too. So, uh when you’re giving up layups, those are those are hard to to combat. But we had no presence on either end of the floor.”

“Maybe we shake something up. I don’t know. Maybe shake up the starting lineup. We got to look at something because starts haven’t been good, you know, and and it’s tough to to know that”

Granted, Connecticut is still dead last in both ORTG and DRTG over any span of the season – this team is another level of bad. Perhaps the most shocking metric in their L10 games is the 40.1 OPP RPG let up per game. This has featured 12 individual starters notching 8+ rebounds despite 11/12 playing under 31 minutes.

In the prior meeting two weeks ago, Las Vegas notched 45 Rebounds. They also opened this game up on a 19-0 run. All 5 Aces’ starters notched 4+ rebounds in the opening half while the scoring group of Gray, Young, Loyd and A’ja each produced 8+ Points off 6+ FGA.

The Sun haven’t played a game yet in July, while Tina Charles hasn’t played a 4th quarter in two straight games due to blowouts. The Aces remain the worst Paint defense on the year, while not improving much over their recent games. Don’t know if I could promote any full game spots for Connecticut, yet frontcourt players with 10+ 1H minutes have been able to succeed vs Las Vegas (L5 Games):
– ONO 12 PRA
– Howard 17 PRA / Boston 22 PRA
– AT 16 PRA
– Austin 12 PRA / Iriafen 11 PRA

Tina Charles is set at 10.5 1HPRA.

The final game is Chicago at Minnesota. The Lynx are now 10-0 at home, being the final remaining undefeated team on their home turf this season. While a matchup vs Chicago is one they would typically win with ease, The Lynx are on the second leg of their back-to-back in addition to Alanna Smith receiving a number of injuries last night that she failed to return from. Unsure if she plays today.

Angel Reese has been on an absolute rebounding tear over the last 4 games, with 16+ in each contest as she remains without her frontcourt teammate Kamilla Cardoso (AmeriCup). The Lynx have remained in the bottom third as a rebounding unit. In the 2 games that Cardoso has been gone, we saw Hamby post up 20 Pts along with Thornton notching 29 herself.

Atkins has been running nearly all 40 minutes since Cardoso left, and is often splitting facilitation duties with Rachel Banham. However, the tougher the defensive matchup the more Chicago relies on Atkins solely due to her offensive security while remaining defensively solid.

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.

The Liberty are struggling without their non-American starters in Jonquel Jones (ankle) and Leonie Fiebich (EuroBasket Tournament), posting a 109.4 DRTG in their last 5 games (11th on year). While a victory over Atlanta did come in these last 5 games, that was the only game where Jonquel was able to run over 10 minutes – they lost 3 of the other 4 games.

They are about to be home for 8 straight games once July begins.

This prior meeting just shy of two weeks ago featured Sabrina Ionescu’s best scoring performance of the season, going for 34 Pts off 12-20 shooting. Sabrina’s last two games vs ATL has recorded 30+ Pts each. 12 of these 20 shots were off Pick-and-Roll, Handoff, or Off Screen action; Atlanta ranks 11th or worse in OPP Pts scored from all three of those playtypes, including recently:
– McBride 18 Pts (11 FGA)
– Atkins 29 Pts (22 FGA)
– Arike 21 Pts (14 FGA)
– Citron 17 Pts (14 FGA)
– Mabrey 34 Pts (22 FGA)

The NYL offense when facing ATL is so dependent on Pick-and-Roll or Handoff scoring that Cloud notched just 5 assists off of 9 potentials – the lowest potential mark she has notched in the Fiebich-less games. In fact, Courtney Williams on Friday was the first player in the entire month of June to notch over 6 assists vs Atlanta.

The Dream offense remembered Griner on Friday, after Smesko directly addressed her lack of involvement in postgame:
“That’s on me. We got to find her a way to get more deep touches, she is so good around the rim. We have had games where we have been hitting the threes, so it was easy to forget about the post presence with Bri and BG. Got to figure out a way to get her more involved in the offense”

The first play of the following game was immediately drawn up for BG, who ended the game with 16 Points, the first time she notched over 10 points in the last eight games. However, she still ran only 24 minutes in regulation without closing the 4th Quarter.

NYL’s current defensive weakness is their perimeter defense, surrendering the most OPP 3PA this month at 29.3. In addition they are B3 in OPP RPG, OPP APG, and OPP 2nd Chance Pts. The best RA performers against NYL in their L5 games:
– Alyssa Thomas 23 RA per game (12 Reb, 11 Ast)
– Rhyne Howard 16 RA (7 Reb, 9 Ast)
– Gabby Williams 16 RA (6 Reb, 10 Ast)
– Burton 15 RA (5 Reb, 10 Ast)

Rhyne, Gabby, and AT saw a large majority of their rebounds as defenders of Breanna Stewart. However, Rhyne matched up with Stewart as the ATL duo was able to match with NYL’s double-big of Sabally/Jones. Likely Burke starts instead of Gardner for size. Granted, matchup has seemed to be irrelevant as 16 starters in just these five games have 5+ Reb against The Liberty. NYL is a poor OREB unit without their key pieces.

Chicago rematches Los Angeles just 5 games later, and also was The Sky’s only win at home in June; Back on the road here. This most recent meeting came right after HC Tyler Marsh’s important press note on Chicago’s perimeter defense, “Just running people off the line at this point. Teams make a lot of threes because they also shoot a lot of threes against us and so we have to adjust to that… knowing that teams are playing kind of outside in against us, so just higher level of aggression running people off the line.”

The Sparks shot 7-26 from deep in the head to head, but then The Valks shot 11-30, so unsure if they made any significant improvements.

The Sky will be without Cardoso for the foreseeable future as she participates in AmeriCup for Team Brasil, which will make their interior defense almost as poor as their perimeter. This is screaming for another good game from the LAS frontcourt in Hamby and Stevens. Hamby in particular is intriguing, as a majority of her game was directly defended by Cardoso, yet now gets to take on the veteran Elizabeth Williams. At 32 years of age, Williams and Reese individually allow the highest OPP PITP per 30min when they are on the court.

Hamby notched nearly 3/4s of her 14 FGA in the prior meeting with Williams on the court, even going right at her when Cardoso was being checked for a concussion here.

Plum notched 16 potentials in the prior meeting as LAS attacked from deep, and should be in for an easier day as the paint defense softens. Sims returns, yet this hasn’t affected Plum’s facilitation duties. Of the players to notch over 10 potentials vs CHI, only 66% of what Plum has averaged vs this team thus far, they produced:
– Dream: Canada 8, Rhyne 4
– Mercury: AT 8 & 15 Ast
– Liberty: Cloud 8, Sabrina 7
– Wings: Paige 8, Arike 7, DiJonai 6
– Fever: Clark 10, Boston 5, McDonald 3

Luckily for Chicago’s offense, The Sparks have had the 3rd worst DRTG in June and the worst in their last 5 games. In that 5 game stretch, they have surrendered nearly 40 PITP per game, while also ranking B3 in OPP 2nd Chance Pts, Fastbreak Pts and APG. This inside damage has logically been dealt by the inside players:
– Collier 32 Pts (16 FGA)
– Cardoso 27 Pts (15 FGA) / Angel 18 Pts (12 FGA)
– Ogwumike 26 Pts (16 FGA)

All in the L5 games. Atkins led this team in potentials vs LA (13), and in the first game without Cardoso (20!).

Kahleah Copper almost fully back so this Mercury Trio is in full swing, which would make them even deadlier than they already have been. With Copper, Phoenix is 4-0, coming off a dominant 15 point victory against The Liberty. This win was logical, as NYL’s weak perimeter defense aligned perfectly with a PHX offense that leads the league in 3PA per game.

The Aces, however, have been a horrible Paint defense instead – surrendering the 2nd most PITP in their L5 games. Alyssa Thomas, of course, leads the charge in Paint FGA per game (9.0 with Copper), yet Copper has produced more than Satou has since her return.

At a certain point in the 3rd Quarter last game vs Mystics, Becky Hammon benched the entire starting lineup out of pure frustration. She noted, “Terrible. Start to finish. We lost every quarter but that fourth quarter and a lot of that is because our bench came in and competed and did a great job. That’s what we’re going to need… just not no togetherness defensively honestly.”

Then we got this too from Dana Evans:
“Becky’s been kind of teasing a platoon swap, a five in five out in that third quarter. It happened tonight… just to pick our starters up… we got to give them a boost. We got to be a spark off the bench.”

Sabally was the only starter last meeting to notch over 3 DREB, ending with 7 herself. The Aces team in general has conceded the 3rd most OPP RPG this month, and PHX’s zone leaves Satou in great position each time to be the beneficiary. Satou joins this list of frontcourt players to succeed in June:
– Alanna 13 Reb
– Shakira 13 Reb / Iriafen 9 Reb
– Thornton 11 Reb
– Boston 10 Reb
– Stevens 10 Reb / Hamby 8 Reb
– Ogwumike 10 RPG / Gabby 8 RPG

The Mercury defense has ranked relatively mid-pack in all key categories, yet do rank dead last in OPP Fastbreak Pts this month. This fits Jackie’s profile the best, yet historically it has been A’ja Wilson who has dominated this team. Averaging 31 PPG across four 2024 meetings, A’ja notched 21+ Points in all 4 games along with 14.5 RPG. Of course all PHX data has to be taken with a grain of salt, as the team had a complete offseason transformation from being one of the worst defenses last year.

Unsure what needs to be said about this Minnesota game, as hosting The Sun to kick off their homestretch is a recipe for a dominant victory. With Mabrey out for 2-4 weeks due to a hyperextended knee, the Sun get even worse, as she has the single-biggest impact on their ORTG as anyone on the team – going from 92.1 to 83.8 when she’s off the court. CON rankings in the month of June:
– 13th in OPP RPG
– 13th in DRTG / ORTG / NETRTG
– 13th in OPP Rim FGA / OPP FTM
– 12th in OPP 3PM

Collier had 33 Points, 6 STL+BLKs and 11 Reb in the prior meeting. Smith had 6 stocks in just 18 minutes of action (foul issues).

The Ballhalla tour continues, as they are on their 5th & final home game before being on the road for 8/10 July games. The Valkyries at home are 4-2 this month, 3rd in both DRTG & NETRTG in this span. Their defense on top options in those games was absolutely suffocating:
– Clark 11 Pts (14 FGA)
– Ogwumike 6 Pts (6 FGA) / Williams 9 Pts (8 FGA)
– A’ja 17 Pts (13 FGA) / Jackie 4 Pts (7 FGA)
– Sabrina 1 FGM (11 FGA) / Stew 2 Pts (2H)
– Atkins 20 Pts (16 FGA)

The Valkyries have allowed just 27.8 OPP PITP per game this month, a league-best mark, as Natalie Nakase’s team loves to collapse inside. They have surrendered high OPP 3PA volume as a biproduct, yet that is more often shown through a team’s supporting cast. Ogwumike should struggle, yet SEA offense is so spread out.

The Valkyries offensive players are a revolving door, seems like a pure hot hand approach. Kaitlyn Chen, the first ever Taiwanese WNBA player, had just 5 total points on the season before running 25 minutes and doubling that on Friday vs Chicago. In turn, that was Burton’s first non-blowout game with sub 25min all June.

The last time Burton faced SEA, she notched 9 assists off of 15 potentials. She has averaged 7.8 APG at home with 25+ minutes on the court – but Nakase can go to anyone at anytime, only Thornton has been safe.