Aces emphasize playing better defense down the stretch of the WNBA season

Las Vegas Aces defender Jewell Loyd (24) defends against Indiana’s Caitlin Clark astatine Michelob Ultra Arena connected July 12. Photo by: Steve Marcus

The Las Vegas Aces mislaid the close to a relaxing, carefree All-Star break, astatine slightest if they heeded their coach’s words.

In their last crippled of the unofficial archetypal fractional of the WNBA season, the Aces blew a nine-point pb with 8 minutes to play to suffer 100-99 astatine the Washington Mystics connected July 22. Coach Becky Hammon fumed implicit the collapse, brushing disconnected suggestions that arguable officiating played a relation by saying the decision was “on us.”

“We’re not wherever we privation to be, obviously,” Hammon said successful her postgame quality conference. “Until we commencement playing defense, we’re not a superior team. We’re conscionable not.”

Hammon challenged her players to clasp “the worth of the antiaircraft end” earlier they instrumentality to the level for a brace of location games this week. The manager has lamented her team’s antiaircraft effort dating each the mode backmost to grooming camp, but it whitethorn truly beryllium sinking successful now. 

“I deliberation we tin each instrumentality a beat,” reserve guardant Cheyenne Parker-Tyus said. “We person a bully small break, truthful instrumentality this All-Star interruption to fastener in, ticker immoderate movie and spot however we tin beryllium amended arsenic a squad connected defense.”

Hammon is simply a maestro astatine motivating her players and getting the champion retired of her teams, truthful it’s foolish to question her message, but the Aces look to beryllium successful a amended spot than she depicts. They were 18-8 astatine the All-Star interruption for the third-best grounds successful the league.

The Minnesota Lynx (22-6) lapped the contention arsenic the champion squad successful the regular play truthful far, but the Aces swept 3 games with the second-place Golden State Valkyries (19-8).

Last season, the Aces infamously bottomed retired to 14-14 with a franchise-record 53-point nonaccomplishment astatine location to the Lynx connected August 2. That Vegas team, of course, went connected to triumph its 3rd WNBA Championship successful 4 years.

“Last year, we mislaid a batch of games that I felt similar we could person won,” Hammon said. “This year, I consciousness similar we’ve been winning immoderate games that person covered immoderate warts. It’s my occupation to support it existent with them and recognize that sometimes it’s harder to larn these lessons done winning, but the lessons are inactive determination to beryllium learned.”

All of those lessons close present are connected defense. The Aces stay 2nd successful the league—behind the Indiana Fever—with a 113.2 violative rating. But they’re eighth, up of lone teams with losing records, with a 107.4 antiaircraft rating.

Superstar Most Valuable Player frontrunner A’ja Wilson is the lone subordinate connected the squad who grades retired arsenic an supra mean defender by precocious metrics. She’s averaging a career-high 2.4 blocks per crippled and is regularly cleaning up sloppy perimeter defence arsenic a rim protector, but she needs much help.

“There are times particularly successful hoops erstwhile you person to enactment your caput down and bash the soiled work, particularly connected the antiaircraft end,” Hammon said. “That’s wherever you truly physique your character, not erstwhile it’s casual and fun. You physique it erstwhile it’s pugnacious and it doesn’t consciousness bully and it’s uncomfortable.”

Many akin problems plagued past year’s slide, but intelligibly the Aces solved the puzzle, and there’s nary uncertainty they’re susceptible of doing that again.

Reserve defender Dana Evans proved portion of the solution successful 2025 by coming successful for high-intensity antiaircraft spurts, and she’s conscionable returned to the level this play for her archetypal 3 games aft suffering a limb injury. Forward NaLyssa Smith, who starts alongside Wilson, caught occurrence arsenic a defender for a ample portion of the playoff run.

Las Vegas’ defence needs work, but it mightiness yet beryllium committed to the repair.

“Pressure is simply a privilege,” guardant Brianna Turner said. “We person a batch of opportunities coming up truthful we person to look up and hole what we tin moving forward.”

This communicative appeared successful Las Vegas Weekly.