Phoenix Mercury teammates, center Natasha Mack (No. 4) and forward Alyssa Thomas (No. 25) celebrates during a home game against the Los Angeles Sparks on June 13. (Photo: Phoenix Mercury)
PHOENIX — Just two days after they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks in overtime at home, the Phoenix Mercury practiced on Monday, looking to flush a heartbreaking outcome against their Western Conference foes.
The Mercury prepare to welcome A’ja Wilson and the defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces, in a finals rematch at the Mortgage Matchup Center on Wednesday.
Mercury Prepares for a 2025 WNBA Finals Rematch at home
The last time these two teams met was when Phoenix won the season opener by 33 points on May 9, and since then, they have gone 3-11 and sit 13th in the WNBA’s standings.
“That’s the hope,” head coach Nate Tibbetts said when asked how he could remind the team how well they played in the season opener on Monday.
“Feels like a long time ago, probably the same for Vegas. That was obviously one of the better games that we played this year. We want to keep trying to play better basketball, and that’s something we’ll talk about tomorrow. Today was a lot of focus on us.”
Forward Alyssa Thomas, a defensive anchor, notes that the biggest challenge in the team’s 4-11 start is their defense, which got the Mercury to the WNBA Finals just a year ago.
Last season, they finished in the top five in the WNBA in defensive rating with 100.4. Through 15 games, Phoenix ranks 11th in the league in defensive rating at 108.7 and has a NET rating of -5.3.
“Definitely unfamiliar (territory) to me,” Thomas said. “A lot of it is our defense. We’re struggling to guard anybody. That comes down to: 1: pride. 2: learning from our mistakes and coming in here, being accountable.”
Since the start of the season, the Mercury has been playing with a sense of urgency while patiently building team chemistry with the new players they brought in through their recruiting overseas. Tibbetts explained that Saturday’s game was the best Phoenix has played so far this season, in which guard Kahleah Copper led the team scoring her new career-high in points with 41, despite the loss.
“You can always rely on your defense,” Tibbetts said. “We had chances to win that game the other night with our defense, but couldn’t come up with it down the stretch. For me, it’s just consistently relying on the defense to be better. We can be better at that defensive end. Offensively, we made a step the other night, as far as our execution, but that’s going to have to carry over. But, night after night, you’ve got to rely on your defense.”
Sami Whitcomb’s Presence is Missed for Mercury
Over a month ago, the Mercury announced that guard Sami Whitcomb would miss four to six weeks of action due to a left knee arthroscopy. She is entering her sixth week of the rehab process as she prepares to return to the court to make her season debut for Phoenix.
Last season, Whitcomb was one of the key players in the team’s special run to the WNBA Finals, known for drilling a game-tying three-pointer that led to the team’s thunderous comeback from 20 points in Game 2 of the Semifinals series against the Minnesota Lynx.
In a preseason game against the Japan Women’s National Team at home in late April, Whitcomb looked like she was ready to go, making three of her five attempts from the three-point line in the Mercury’s blowout win.
“She still has a lot to work back into, so I don’t even put that kind of pressure on her,” Thomas said of Whitcomb. We have a lot of great shooters within ourselves, and yeah, we’re just not getting the open ones yet, but at some point, they’ll get them off.”
“That’s the hope,” Tibbetts said. “The (Monique Akoa Makani), Sami (Whitcomb), and (Alyssa Thomas) three-player lineup was a top three or top five three-player lineup in the league. She’s a connector, she plays her butt off, she can make shots, she does a really good job playing with AT, and her inverted pick-and-roll stuff. Sami is a big (contributor), we missed her.
“Again, I thought to start camp, we looked very connected, the ball was popping, we were very disciplined, and she was a big part of that, and so we have missed her. Obviously, we’ve got to get her back one hundred percent, but we’re excited to get her back when she’s ready.”
Accountability Starts with Mercury Coaching Staff
Given the Mercury’s record through 15 games, Thomas emphasized the need for Tibbetts and the coaching staff to take accountability to turn the season around.
There were times when Phoenix had several errors on the defensive end in the team’s 11 losses; one of the examples was the home loss to the Minnesota Lynx on June 1.
“I think as a coach, there’s always a balance,” added Tibbetts when asked about Thomas’ statement. “Accountability, to me, is doing things right when they’re asked of you. You’re not going to be perfect, obviously, but we’ve got to be closer to perfect than we’ve been, and we just got to keep competing. I think that’s an area, and the accountability that we can make a step in.”
“What made us great last year was the ability to read,” Thomas said. “This year, I feel like it’s been really choppy (in terms) of who we want in different spots. We’re struggling to read what the defense is giving us. Video helps with that, seeing what we’re not doing, but there’s also not knowing the players, not knowing the teams the way that they should, or just not being in the WNBA. When you’re around for a long time, you know how different players come to guard and then how we take advantage, right now we’ve got to do a better job with that.”
