Mercury begin three-game road trip vs. Sun
The Phoenix Mercury are improving at handling adversity, their coach says.
They’ve won the last two games without 6-9 center Brittney Griner, still leading the WNBA in scoring, albeit against teams at the bottom of the league standings. But San Antonio, after losing 81-64 at Phoenix on Sunday, turned around to upset New York 93-81 on Tuesday, proving the any-winis-a-good-win adage.
Griner, who suffered knee and ankle injuries July 14, is expected to be out for four more games. The next three are on the road starting Friday against Connecticut then Sunday vs. Washington, both 14-9 and a game ahead of the fifth-place Mercury (13-10). Phoenix is at Dallas on Aug. 10 and home against Seattle on Aug. 12.
“I’d take .500, if you get anything more that that it’s an extra bonus,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said of the upcoming four games. “No game is easy without your best player. We’ve just got to hang in there. I think we’re getting better. They’re coachable, they’re trying. Now it’s just execution and doing the little things well and hopefully that’s good enough.”
The Mercury bench scored 41 of 81 total points against San Antonio, 43 of 86 against Chicago on July 28 and 41 of 91 against Atlanta (an overtime game) on July 25. That’s the sort of group production necessary to replace Griner’s 22.3 points per game and to keep guard Diana Taurasi (18.7 ppg) from trying to win games by herself.
Taurasi scored a combined 65 points in losses to Indiana on July 19 and Atlanta then 22 in wins over Chicago and San Antonio. Guard Monique Currie has averaged 19 off the bench in the last two games with Camille Little and Cayla George having big games against Chicago. Rookie Alexis Prince played 20 minutes against the Sky and is emerging as a viable rotation player.
“Leaving that Chicago game, I said stay ready, your opportunity is coming,” Brondello said. “But when you get in, I want you to be aggressive, not passive. She’s got some really good skills. It’s hard to
FRIDAY’S GAME
play 12 in this league, but she’s learned a lot just by watching and she’s getting the opportunity now.”
Prince is a 6-2 guard from Baylor taken as a third-round draft pick. She is long and athletic and will be playing in Spain after her first WNBA season.
“I’ve been learning a lot,” Prince said. “Even though I haven’t been getting the time on the floor, I still feel I’ve been getting better. The speed is different, you’ve got to pick up on things a lot faster. I feel a lot more confident if she was to put me in now and I think they see every day my progression.