Mercury face tough road trip heading into Olympic break
The Phoenix Mercury always have had Olympians to brag about, but their results in Olympic years haven’t been memorable.
In 2004, 2008 and 2012, the Mercury failed to make the WNBA playoffs. In 2016, they were 10-14 going into the Olympic break and 6-4 after Rio, willing their way into the last of eight playoff berths then making the most of the opportunity to reach the semifinals.
This season, even with five Olympians, the Mercury are below .500 at 7-8. Three of their final four games before the Olympic break are against WNBA coleaders (through Thursday) Seattle and Las Vegas, and the other is Saturday vs. Minnesota (8-7), a team they lost to 8682 on Wednesday.
So there’s a lot on the line for the Mercury in the next nine days if they are to stay near .500 instead of falling as far as five games under.
“We need a sense of urgency,” coach Sandy Brondello said Friday. “We don’t want to dig ourselves a big hole and really claw our way back after the Olympic break. We’ve got some really good teams we’re facing. We need to be better, that’s what it comes down to.”
After Minnesota, the Mercury are at Las Vegas on Wednesday then play home/away games against Seattle on July 9/11. The final three are Commissioner’s Cup games with the Mercury in a position to influence whether the Storm or Aces will represent the Western Conference in the Cup final, Aug. 12 in Phoenix.
Connecticut is close to wrapping up the East berth in the lucrative Cup final.
“Every game is important, I don’t think one is more important than another,” Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith said. “Obviously tomorrow we want to win that series with Minnesota. The next game against Vegas, we want to tie that series then the same with Seattle. Every game in this league is important. We definitely want to be locked in so we can try to have good momentum going into the break.”
Playoff tiebreakers are important in the WNBA. The Mercury hold that edge over Chicago and Los Angeles but have lost it to Connecticut and Dallas. Three more such tiebreakers could be decided in the next four games depending on results and it will be for sure vs. Minnesota in the final regular-season meeting.
Six of the Mercury losses are by eight points or less, a trend partly attributable to Diana Taurasi missing nine games
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The Mercury (7-8) and Lynx (8-7) are playing for the second time in four days with a WNBA playoff tiebreaker advantage on the line. Phoenix won the first meeting 77-75 in the season opener May 14 and Minnesota won 82-76 on Wednesday. The Lynx are 21-3 vs. the Mercury since late 2015, including playoffs.
due to injury. Transforming close losses to wins now is essential if the Mercury are to take at least some anxiety away from the 13 games coming up after the Olympics.
“A couple of the early losses, we got down in the first half and had to fight back,” Diggins-Smith said. “Not finishing quarters, being outrebounded is what those losses have in common, then fourth quarter execution we have to be better. Turnovers, offensive rebounds, points in the paint are commonalities.”
The Lynx had a 39-22 rebound edge Wednesday with 12 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points including a game-clinching jumper with 26.5 seconds left. “We’ve got to make sure we’re finishing the play,” Brondello said. “(Layshia) Clarendon got the offensive rebound,” leading to her late basket. “We need to execute and do the little things better. It’s one percenters in those kind of situations.”