NFL
By: Stephen PridGeon-Garner
There’s great parity across the WNBA this season.
We’re seeing some absolutely great individual and team basketball being played over the last week of play. From Candace Parker and Moriah Jefferson’s triple-double efforts to impressive road wins from the likes of the Mystics and Liberty.
The tiers have been established within the parity, as the Sky and Aces have certainly staked their claim at the top of the top.
Just below them are the Sun, Storm, and Mystics.
In the “potential to punch up” tier below them are the Wings, Liberty, Dream, Mercury, Sparks, and Lynx.
Here are this week’s power ranks.
(Last week’s rankings are in parentheses).
1.) Chicago Sky: 14-5 (2)
The reigning champions are presently amidst their third three-game winning streak of the season already, and it’s presently the longest in the W. They’ve yet to put their true potential stamp on the offensive end for a sustained period, yet they continue trekking forward amassing impressive wins and do so in a variety of ways.
They’re also first in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and effective field goal percentage while coupling that with one of the most effective defenses.
As they continue to feel out their rotation n experiment with lineups, look for them to find a sustained consistency to then properly gauge them.
2.) Las Vegas Aces: 14-4 (1)
The natural ebb and flows of a season, especially for a team with some lacking depth in terms of production outside of their top-six, has seen minimal repercussions.
However, of late they’ve struggled at times offensively, especially in the halfcourt, and defensively the same with rotations as well as ball containment.
Though Wilson and Plum have continued to be dominant, there’s been early signs of potential fatigue with their approach in extremely top-heavy production. They still have the best record in the W, but keep an eye on them over the next few weeks.
3.) Connecticut Sun: 13-7 (3)
The Sun are about what I expected thus far, very dependent on the dictating, reading, and reacting of their defense that’s typically dominant.
They have struggled shooting from deep, and when teams can get away with both packing the paint as well as warding their guards off from paint touches, their flow can resemble being stuck in the mud.
Compound that with the absence of three-point shooting in a viable or effective volume, and you get the picture of how tumultuous playing from behind to climb back can be for them. Nonetheless, they’re stamped both as a top-5 team as well as a contender, flaws and all.
4.) Washington Mystics: 13-9 (5)
This is a very fun team that shows its punching power whenever they’re whole. The issue is how frequently their wholeness surfaces.
They’re 10-4 when Elena Delle Donne plays, and the team looks like a completely different machine doing so. Her dynamic presence and abilities, from the frontcourt now, make for a thorn in the sides of even the most versatile pieces (see her back-and-forth play from this weekend’s matchup with A’ja Wilson).
Nonetheless, independent of Delle Donne s availability is the youthful exuberance of the ever-active Shakira Austin (especially defensively!) and the all-around generalship of (ALL-STAR SNUB… SMH) Natasha Cloud. They have “enough” to make things interesting enough to tilt the scale in a series with anyone.
A fun schedule is ahead for them as well.
5.) Seattle Storm: 11-7 (4)
Tried, tested, and true, the Seattle Storm are just as ever-steady as any contender. Granted, they’ve had their spells offensively this season, they’re built for postseason play, and have now added to that readiness with the addition of Tina Charles.
They’ve had their issues scoring, especially when getting into the depth of their rotation. Insert one soon-to-be hall of famer and you do a pretty solid job in addressing that, with a three-level threat that can self-create or do so off the catch. Also adding another player as adept as anyone in the W on the block.
It’ll be interesting seeing how minutes are staggered with Magbegor, whose praises I’ve sung all season long for her defensive dominance/versatility as well as coming around offensively. Whether any stagnation ensues will be fun to follow as they trek forward with a competitive schedule ahead.
