NFL
By: Brock Vierra
To say that the Aces were sloppy against the Seattle Storm would be an understatement. The Aces, in a 78-65 home loss, were outscored in three separate quarters and never led at the end of a single quarter throughout the contest. One would think, considering the recent and deep history between the Aces and the Storm, the Aces would have a chip on their shoulder coming into the game. I’m not doubting the Aces’ willingness to be physical or to play hard. That was made especially evident by Kelsey Plum’s vibrant display of emotion but it seems mentally they were off and the Storm seemingly took advantage of advantageous matchups.
Perhaps there was a lack of focus due to the retirement of Sue Bird and the departure of Brianna Stewart, the former stars of the Storm. Perhaps since those players were gone, the Storm retreated into being just another opponent in the eyes of the Aces. But I think it’s something different. I think it’s what I’ve been predicting for quite some time. The Aces’ lack of depth has overworked the starting core.
Depth downs Aces again
While the Seattle Storm employed a nine player rotation, Vegas stuck with their typical eight. In fact, Vegas has stuck with the eight player rotation since their first game against the Phoenix Mercury. Heavily reliant on former Iowa Hawkeyes Megan Gustafson and Kate Martin, GM Natalie Williams had to coarse 34 year old Tiffany Harris out of retirement to make up for her weak business dealings this past offseason, regarding her bench.
Maybe it was weak business dealings or just the result of the multiple moves to build a championship roster. Whatever it is, it is clearly harming the team. Kelsey Plum played 40 minutes last night. A’ja Wilson played 36. With strenuous efforts like these, it’s no wonder the Aces were outscored in the game and on points off of turnovers.
The Storm outscored the Aces 16-9 off of points off turnovers. The Storm committed 13 turnovers to the Aces 14. That a massive difference despite having similar opportunities. The lack of capitalizing off of these gifts of possessions is due to the Aces inability to hustle. The Aces lack the killer instinct, the instant attack. They’re too tired, too overworked.
Things weren’t made better by Harris. Harris, a two-time National Champ and WNBA All-Star shot 1-8 in 23 minutes of work. Her shot, rusty as expected considering she was chilling on the couch two weeks ago, tanked the Aces three point percentage with her 1-6 shooting from behind the arch. Harris isn’t a one off case of the issues involving the guards on this team. Plum played decent with 18 points but Jackie Young was lost in space.
Young, the star guard for the team is typically a reliable shooter. On Friday night, this was not the case. Young shot an awful 1-12, including 1-6 from three.
Long story short, the Aces are in a world of trouble. When the Aces lose, they lose bad. Very bad. No one can win a championship with that much ups and downs. If Natalie Williams doesn’t get her roster in order and give Becky Hammon more options, this team is going to blow a tire. A tire blow so bad, Williams would begin planning her offseason moves before September.
The team falls to 5-3 with the loss. They’re 3-2 at home and 2-1 on the road. Not favoring one environment to another means the issues fall solely on the roster. Now roster building isn’t easy and finding talent in this market is very tough. The benefit is that the team is only one more player away to giving the stars their rest.
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