Becky Hammon’s overreliance on A’ja Wilson was bound to get caught some day or the other, but has Indiana bitten off more than they can chew? We’re in the WNBA semifinals, and the stakes are high. Las Vegas is looking for chip number 3 in four years, while Indiana, for now, is looking to return to the finals for the first time since 2015. So, it would make sense for Stephanie White’s squad to try and restrain the league’s MVP, right? Wrong. The sign of great players is how they respond when threatened, and A’ja Wilson came out with all guns blazing in Game 2 of the second round.

Wilson was smothered in the paint by Aliyah Boston in Game 1. The six-foot-five forward’s physicality and defensive pressure proved too much for the Aces star. Wilson’s solution? Pull some MJ and Kobe highlights out of her bag. The six-foot-four center was shooting mid-range jumpers like nobody’s business and dropped 25 on Indiana’s head. Her sudden shift caught everyone off guard, but according to analyst DeMita, it’s all thanks to Fever’s own strategy.

Rachel A. DeMita, on the latest episode of the Courtside Club, talked about how Indiana’s early defensive planning led to Wilson’s second game comeback. “A’ja Wilson has not been as efficient as she normally is around the rim. But what changed in her game today is she was hitting a lot of mid-range shots,” DeMita said, pointing out how that’s not normally her style of play. And sure, A’ja Wilson can shoot, but we’ve never seen it at this volume.

During the regular season, Wilson made 63 midrange jumpers out of the 144 she attempted. But that’s the thing–she isn’t lights out from beyond the paint. If we look at her efficiency, it’s the highest within the restricted area at almost 70%, and she still shoots close to 50% within the rest of the key. But outside of it? The field goal percentage drops dramatically.

In fact, a lot of her shooting is related to creating separation in the post. If you stop her drives or post-ups, what does she do? “She likes to do a little turnaround jumper, a little turnaround floater when she’s in the paint. But if you look at her shot chart? She was out there hitting these mid-range jumpers, and Aliyah Boston wasn’t guarding her there.” Rachel DeMita explained. After all, you don’t become the MVP by being a one-trick pony. A’ja Wilson’s bag is deep, and Indiana has her reaching depths we’ve never seen before.

So, is that gonna be a problem for Stephanie White’s team? Probably.

Shooting middies and threes is not in A’ja Wilson’s scouting report, so it’s a spontaneous development that the Fever will need to manage. However, they do have an interesting conundrum at hand: Do they live with Wilson’s shooting within the arc? After all, she only averages about 43% outside of the paint, making it quite an inefficient shot for her. Because the second Aliyah Boston starts guarding the Aces star, she’ll open driving lanes and end up exposing the paint. And we know exactly what happens when you give her access to the rim…

You don’t even need to look that far back to see her dominance inside the paint. Just take a look at Game 3 against Seattle. Wilson’s impressive 38-point performance included just one made jumper, while she missed many. But within the key? There wasn’t anyone more efficient or dominant than her. So, what will Indiana decide to be the lesser of two evils?

If they do tighten up on Wilson, it will solve Las Vegas’ biggest issue–overreliance. A’ja’s shooting will create space for the rest of her teammates to go to work inside or exploit PnR mismatches. Moreover, the four-time MVP has been putting her leadership skills to good use, motivating her peers to do better. After all, teams win more when everyone chips in. But what effect will that have on the Aces’ offense? Let’s find out!

A’ja Wilson’s leadership poses a threat to Indiana at home

The thing about superstars is that they have a lot of influence. Not just on their fans and supporter bases, but on their teammates as well. Often, the best players are made to be leaders because game respects game. And when we talk about A’ja Wilson’s leadership, it’s not only by choice, it’s also because no one else can fill the void.

Credit where credit is due, Wilson has been working on using her influence to shape her team’s identity. “My leadership skills looked different this year, it wasn’t something that I was used to,” Wilson said. “I had to put us all together as a team and figure out what makes people go.” Her words highlighted a very important aspect of leadership–handling individuality.

Everyone’s different; no two people are cut from the same cloth. What makes leadership challenging, however, is managing different personalities and requirements while working towards a common goal. But A’ja Wilson is on the right path, and her teammates are starting to recognise it too!

“She’s communicating and talking a lot more in huddles and meetings and organizing us, little things on scouting reports during practice.” Chelsea Gray said about the Aces forward and her progression towards leadership. “Her ability to relate and talk to everybody on different levels all the time has been great this year, and everyone has needed that.”

The real test of A’ja Wilson’s leadership is yet to come. It’s easy to win Game 2 at home when you have your own fans and your own crowd. But what about when nearly 17,000 people are praying for your downfall? Imagine the pressure, the lights, the crowd. That’s exactly what Gainbridge Fieldhouse is going to be like on the 26th, and we can’t wait to see if A’ja Wilson can walk the walk after talking the talk to her teammates.