The FIBA World Cup starts in less than a month, and its effects are already starting to be felt in the WNBA season.
Several teams practice keeping minutes before the tournament. The Golden State Valkyries have French star Gabby Williams on a reduced workload in August, and the Las Vegas Aces just benched A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young — all of whom will compete for Team USA in Berlin — for the second straight day. despite the Aces playing a nationally televised game in New York.
Some teams seem to be handling injuries more conservatively with the World Cup on the horizon. Kelsey Plum sat out six weeks with a left calf injury as the Los Angeles Sparks knelt, then missed the second half of the Phoenix Mercury’s loss to the Washington Mystics on Sunday with calf tightness that, for all intents and purposes, eliminated the Mercury from the playoffs. Leonie Fiebich, a key player for host nation Germany, has not played for the New York Liberty since July 3rd.
Portland Fire and Dallas Wings have already temporarily suspended two players (Luisa Geiselsöder and Costanza Verona) who will compete in the World Cup. Geiselsöder’s absence opened the door for rookie Jordan Harrison, who entered the Fire’s rotation two games earlier, to be promoted to a standard contract.
It was also fun to see Team USA get away with players who will represent America in September, such as Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin against the Atlanta Dream’s Rhyne Howard and Angel Reese and Mercury’s Plum and Kahleah Copper. Or a Minnesota Lynx veteran Kayla McBride’s historic day against Paige Bueckers and the Wings.
The tournament might only last 10 days, but its shadow is proving to be much longer.
In trend
Washington Mystics
The last time the Mystics had a winning streak of at least seven games was in 2019, the year Washington won its only title. It’s probably unfair to hold the Mystics to the standard of that team, led by MVP Elena Delle Donne when she posted a 50-40-90 season in the league, but Washington continues to roll. Five of the seven in this streak are against current playoff teams. The Mystics are finally starting to prepare for the postseason, as evidenced by the acquisition of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton this week, to ensure the presence of veterans down the line.
It’s unclear Washington needed reinforcements the rest of the way, though, given how well the big three of Citron, Iriafen and Austin (are we using the CIA nickname? I’m torn) are performing. For today, let’s focus on the production of Austin, who put herself in the MVP and All-WNBA conversation as the Mystics soared to the top of the power rankings.
Austin averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds last week and went on a streak of four straight double-doubles. She was strong in the post, difficult to contain herself in movement and shot the ball well from distance. That range allowed Washington to play Austin next to Lauren Betts, though both are nominally fives, to give the rookies more minutes.
In the last three games, Austin has also recorded seven blocks, and that seems to underestimate her defense. She anchored a defense that surrendered about 33 points in the paint, better than what Washington’s second-best defense usually concedes. That came despite playing against Atlanta, the WNBA’s leading scorer. Austin played suffocating defense in her singles match against Angel Reese, but was also an excellent rim protector in help against Bueckers and Copper.
Shakira Austin Block Party
Sabreena Merchant
Connecticut Sun
Just one game for the Sun this week, but their young core put together strong performances to pull off an unexpected win against the Mercury. I’ve had my eye on Aaliyah Edwards since Connecticut traded Aneesah Morrow and freed up the forward position for the UConn alum. Edwards had some impressive displays of strength against Phoenix, closing down her space and rolling to the rim. She had 14 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench, leading the Sun in both categories.
Aaliyah Edwards shows her strength
Sabreena Merchant
The game was a good reminder of what Connecticut has in Nell Angloma, who hasn’t broken out in the same way as some of the higher-scoring rookies in her class. Angloma was disruptive defensively against a Mercury team with explosive perimeter scorers. She held her body in front of Copper and disrupted the surrender. It’s unclear what she brings offensively outside of transition, but any team could use a strong wing defender.
The Sun also got some useful minutes from Sania Rivers, who showed off her burst in the closing minutes on several drives. One ended with a Kennedy Burke strikeout and the other resulted in a layup. Connecticut has a lot of interesting pieces among Edwards, Rivers, Anglo, Leïla Lacan and Charlisse Leger-Walker — it’s unclear how they all fit into the puzzle of a winning team, especially since there aren’t many gaps, but there are plenty of bright spots.
Trending down
Phoenix Mercury
The Mercury are now in a worse playoff position than when they made the Plum trade, and hopes of developing continuity with Plum have taken a bit of a hit now that her left calf injury flared up against Washington. Phoenix is likely to prioritize Plum’s availability for Team USA given its dwindling WNBA postseason hopes. However, part of the purpose of trading now instead of chasing Plum in free agency was to get more games together with Thomas, Plum and Copper, and those plans could be in jeopardy.
In the immediate future, the Mercury’s offensive and defensive ratings were worse over the past week than before the trade deadline. A plum would be nice one practice with her new teammates, as she was a bit happy with the loss (she called herself Turnover Tammy during a recent in-game interview) and the group isn’t on the same page. There are more than a few examples of Plum throwing an errant pass where he expects to find Thomas or another teammate.
Phoenix has used three starting lineups in the four games since Plum arrived, though that won’t likely happen again with her on the bench (when her minutes were limited). Mercury hasn’t yet figured out which combinations work best, highlighting the difficulty of pulling out mid-season. A team like Connecticut that played one game in a 10-day span would have time to practice integrating a new player with heavy usage. Phoenix is in the worst possible situation with five games in nine days on the road, exacerbating an already challenging process.
Rookie of the week
Jordan Harrison, Portland Fire
(Reminder: This is not the best rookie of the week, rather a player that caught my eye)
Credit to Cotie McMahon, who may have been the deciding factor in Washington’s 20-point comeback against Dallas, but Harrison went from developmental to standard contract this week. That deserves the Fire Guardian credit.
Harrison was out of the rotation until this week, then unexpectedly played second-best minutes for Portland on Saturday when Carla Leite went down with a sprained knee (the other team was potentially very cautious with the injury before the World Cup). She finished her two games with 21 points and 10 assists. Even when she’s not getting an assist, Harrison is good at moving the ball and rotating opposing teams because she’s so quick to get downhill and collapse defenses in the paint.
At 5-foot-6, Harrison was a surprising force on the glass, leading the Flames with seven rebounds to beat the Seattle Storm. It’s also not surprising that she reads passing lanes well given her time at West Virginia (a heavy-pressing team). Harrison can be outmatched in the post at her size, but if the other team wants to orient their offense around the point guard, that might not always be a bad thing.
Play in a circle
Dallas Wings at Indiana Fever, 7:30 PM ET Friday, ION
The last four spades no. 1 take the court together: I joke a lot about Rivals Week in the WNBA, but it’s hard to find too much fault with this pair. The first matchup between these teams on the opening weekend was stunning theater, but they haven’t met since. The Wings start Azzi Fudd and went through quite the odyssey in their frontcourt before returning Alanna Smith to the starting five along with Jessica Shepard.
The Fever also shook up their power forward position by starting Makayla Timpson alongside Aliyah Boston. Indiana’s defense wasn’t nearly good enough in the first game of the season, and Timpson helps fix that problem, but Dallas is a top-five Wa offense and an improved defensive back line isn’t exactly helping Bueckers. Both teams could use the win to clinch a playoff berth, as the Wings have dropped to eighth and the fever is barely keeping Washington on its home court in the first round.
