The Las Vegas Aces are on a two-game skid heading into the game against the Connecticut Sun. The Aces have won just 50% of their last eight games, and head coach Becky Hammon has called out her team to show more collective responsibility as the regular season nears its end and the defending champions gear up for the playoffs.
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“Everybody needs to be competing at a really high level. First of all individually, you bring the appropriate effort and focus and energy, and you do that one by one and then you show up collectively for each other. So, it’s spot in that, so just some consistency. I don’t think we’re gonna lack juice tonight. We better not,” Hammon said, as per WNBA reporter Arion Armeniakos.
The Aces’ glaring loss versus the Atlanta Dream on August 18 exposed the tactical gaps in their setup. The Aces committed too many mistakes, recording 17 turnovers leading to 18 points for the Dream, compared to just 11 for the Dream, which yielded only eight points for A’ja Wilson and Co. They also struggled with their shooting from the field, registering a field goal percentage of 40, compared to the Dream’s 45%.
Before that, the Aces’ aspirations of defending their title were put to the test as they faced the league leaders, Minnesota Lynx, on August 15 at the Michelob Ultra Arena. They struggled with their shooting efficiency, converting only 31 of their 69 field goal attempts, displaying an FG% of just 45, compared to the Lynx’s FG% of 50, as they made a comfortable 32 of their 64 shots.
The Las Vegas Aces also didn’t look like they were threatening the Lynx from their perimeter play, as they went just 9-of-28 from beyond the arc in this game.
The run of results from their last six games means that Las Vegas has only been able to defeat a single team, the Washington Mystics, in back-to-back games. They have lost to all the top eight teams within this span, including the New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, and the Atlanta Dream.
Beyond Wilson and Jackie Young, the Aces roster is not in the top tens on any statistic. The team are third in scoring mostly because of Wilson’s consistent powerhouse performances. They are currently ninth in rebounding and 11th in steals, pointing towards some slack on the defensive side of things. These are issues Becky Hammon and the team will need to iron out before the playoffs begin.
While the Aces have already qualified for the playoffs, there is little margin for error at the moment. After the Dallas Wings’ victory against the Fever, they are just two games ahead of the Atlanta Dream and are tied with Indiana with a 24-13 record.
Securing a top-four position would be crucial to get home-court advantage. Slipping down further in the table could turn costly, with just seven regular-season games left.
Becky Hammon’s call for collective responsibility hints at a deeper issue: the Aces’ reliance on just one player.
Are The Las Vegas Aces Too Reliant On A’ja Wilson?
The reigning MVP A’ja Wilson is putting up numbers that surely justify another MVP crown this season as well. She is averaging 26.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game this season, and leads the league in points per game. She is also third in rebounding with 9.7 rpg, behind only Atlanta Dream’s Angel Reese and Wings’ Jessica Shepard.
Wilson has featured in all but three of the Aces’ games this season, and in the last six Aces games, she has been the top scorer in three of them. However, critics have pointed out that Las Vegas have become somewhat too accustomed to Wilson’s offensive prowess leading them to victory.
The Aces’ dependency on A’ja Wilson can be gauged from her abnormally high usage rate of 33.1%, as per Basketball-Reference. For context, Aces star guards Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young have usage rates of 18.7% and 24.4%, respectively. Even on the Fever roster, Caitlin Clark has a lower usage rate of 32.2%. She contributes a staggering 17.9% of the team’s assists as well as 18% of the team’s rebounds this season.
Without Wilson on the court, the Aces lack an elite shot-blocker and an anchor for their interior defense.
On the offensive side, the gap between Wilson and the Aces’ next top scorers is huge, with Jackie Young averaging just 18.6 points per game as compared to Wilson’s 26.1. Chelsea Gray, Chennedy Carter, and Nalyssa Smith are averaging just 12.3, 12.2, and 11.9 points per game, respectively, to close out the Aces’ top five. Wilson, the reigning MVP, leads the team in four of the five major stats – points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. An injury to Wilson would hamper the team’s championship chances severely.
Against tactically disciplined teams such as the Minnesota Lynx, the Aces’ overreliance on just one player has proved costly. They need to find ways to supplement Wilson and get the results back in their favor; thus, the call for more collective responsibility from Becky Hammon.
The Aces would hope to get back to winning ways against the Sun on Thursday.