Eight games into the season, the Phoenix Mercury seems to have forgotten how to win. Their two wins against the Las Vegas Aces and the Chicago Sky seem like a long time ago, as they have lost six in a row since then, with their latest defeat a blowout at Minnesota. In fact, this is the first time since 2023 that Phoenix have dropped six straight games, prompting team veteran Kahleah Copper to double down.

“(I) lost 7 straight,” Copper said during an interview with Clutchpoints reporter Hayden Cilley. “I won a championship, so that’s just what’s in my mind right now, and I do want to come out of it. But just every day, not falling into the record and what that says and whatever.”

“I think that we have to continue to hold this standard of what it takes to be a championship team. What it took for us to do that last year, it’s not easy. It just doesn’t carry over just because you did it. So for us it’s about just everybody looking in the mirror, I think,” Copper continued. “I told them this before. Everybody’s here for a reason, everybody has a job to do, and it’s like a puzzle. Everybody’s got to do what they bring to the team, whatever that is. You got to bring it every single night, so, I think that’s where we are right now.”

Copper’s assessment does make sense. At this moment, it’s too early to determine the ceiling of any team. Yes, Phoenix has fallen down the standings after six straight losses, but that doesn’t mean the season is slipping away. There is still plenty of time for the Mercury to turn things around and get back to winning ways.

As Kahleah Copper said, she has been a part of such a comeback in her career. It was the 2021 WNBA season when Copper used to suit up for the Chicago Sky. The Sky lost seven in a row at one point in the regular season and trailed 2-7 early in the season.

But they managed to win the next seven in a row and eventually went on to win the Championships. A recent example is the Las Vegas Aces’ campaign last season. Becky Hammon’s team was 9-11 at one point in the season, but they still went on to clinch the title. There are enough case studies for the Phoenix Mercury to follow and turn things around.

And to be honest, they even have the required players. With veteran leadership from Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper, Phoenix can definitely follow the same roadmap. But the thing is, they will have to work as a unit to cover their weaknesses, which, at the moment, seem too many.

Defense has been Phoenix’s primary weakness since opening night. The team has one of the worst defensive ratings in the league currently (110.0). Furthermore, Copper’s team has also given away 80+ points eight times this season. The Minnesota Lynx’s blowout is just another example of how poorly they have been at making defensive stops this season.

Phoenix let Minnesota dictate the game from start to finish. The Lynx shot a scorching 64% from the field and 59% from three, consistently finding quality looks against the Mercury defense. To make matters worse, Phoenix turned the ball over 14 times, handing the Lynx 23 easy points.

Even head coach Nate Tibbetts wasn’t pleased with the collective effort of his team in the game. “We weren’t close tonight… we’ve battled in some games, and tonight we did not,” Tibbetts said in the post-game presser.

But for Kahleah Copper, the team’s problems extend beyond just defense, and she was clear to pinpoint it in the post-game press conference.

Kahleah Copper Addresses the Phoenix Mercury’s Lack of Offensive Efforts Against the Minnesota Lynx

Of course, when you lose a game 111-77, nothing much has gone right in your favor. Yet despite that, offense has been Phoenix’s stronghold for most of the season. In fact, the team has scored 83.7 points per game this season. But against the Minnesota Lynx, they failed to reach their season scoring average.

Phoenix scored just 34% from the field against the Lynx and converted just 10 of 27 from deep. Kahleah Copper led the night with 18 points, but Alyssa Thomas struggled, finishing the game with 6 points. Copper was clear in highlighting the team’s lack of offensive effort in the post-game press conference.

“I thought offensively our spacing wasn’t great early on,” Copper said, according to beat reporter Stephen PridGeon-Garner. “I just thought we needed to play harder offensively, I mean, like we know what we have to do. Move, get the ball side to side, but yeah, we missed a lot in the paint and then sending them down in the transition.”

These are the aspects of the Phoenix Mercury where the team will have to double down on them urgently. Of course, they still have plenty of games left. But, as Copper said, they will need to make that individual and collective effort to put the team in an advantageous position moving forward in the season.

And as the seniors of the team, it will be Kahleah Copper, Alyssa Thomas, and DeWanna Bonner’s responsibility to lead the other players on their team down this path of resurgence.