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Mercury Notebook: Griner's return alters optics
The Phoenix Mercury are 7-7, ranked fifth in the league and third in the West, with a Net Rating of -4.6, which ranks eighth in the league.
The tides have turned as the return of Brittney Griner has allowed the Mercury to play to the principles in style and functionality that it was assembled to play, aligning with coach Nate Tibbetts’ philosophy.
Griner’s presence has shifted the way that teams look to defend, match up with, and generally approach a bout with the Mercury. That alone has given the team a completely different feel.
I made sure to emphasize on multiple episodes of our PHNX Mercury Podcast that the team simply couldn’t be accurately or fully assessed while operating without her because she is so key in the process for them.
She’s also, independently, simply one of the most dominant forces the WNBA has seen in its 28 years of existence.
The collective accountability she holds all five opposing defenders to — whether she has the ball inside the arc, is screening and rolling, or is handling topside — makes her a walking advantage, and a chess piece Tibbetts can move all around the offensive chessboard, to keep defenses in “can’t be right” scenarios.
On the other end, Griner is a rim-protecting chess piece that is also capable of defending away from the porch but is ever-present in the conscience of players who probe with a live dribble around the paint.
You can see her presence play into the psyche of offensive players’ decision-making process when she’s hovering around the floor in drop coverage.
In that, she also has the ability to impact the ball in ways that allow for her screen navigators up top to recover — as she finds the midline and angle to split between the ball handler and when the roller gets downhill — and not lose leverage or control of the action.
She restores order in a litany of different contexts for the Mercury, tangibly in skill and dynamic, but also intangibly with her personality and IQ, which makes this team whole.
Let’s dive into some of what’s caught my attention of late.
“Mercurial” Brittney
Life without Brittney Griner was tough sledding for the Mercury. You could see their desire to play certain ways on both ends of the floor, but they simply couldn’t, given the lacking personnel and how defenses reacted to them without her on the floor.
Without Griner, teams would cycle through coverages, sometimes focusing on the prowess of Taurasi as a three-point shooter and general tough shot-maker, as well as Kahleah Copper’s prolific three-level scoring (which we’ll get to in a bit). Ultimately, they knew they could bank on mostly taking away the paint and keeping their defensive shell intact with switching.
Without Griner, the Mercury still had pieces that could puncture a defense with drives in different contexts of offense — with drives serving as their best way to invert their offense from the perimeter-heavy approach — but they didn’t have that interior piece to consistently undo opposing principles, make opponents react to generate rotations, and best balance/optimize all that they have in versatility on the perimeter.
Insert one Brittney Griner, and off presence alone, all of those things are solved offensively.
Defensively, without Griner, we first want to extend a hat tip to Natasha Mack for her defensive efforts in providing versatility in the scheme, defending well in space as a helper and rim protector while staying active with deflections.
However, what Mack provided was the sole presence at the time, and even that came with some limitations in playing both extended minutes and operating in a capacity far exceeding the Oklahoma State product’s expected role.
The volume of switching from the Mercury on the perimeter, while great in the process, especially for the personnel they’ve compiled, didn’t hit the same because of the inverse of the issues they saw on offense — size, presence, and ability on the interior.
For those reasons, we’ve also seen a stark contrast in the Mercury’s execution, functionality, and upholding of schemes with Griner now back in the lineup for them defensively.
I mentioned the Mercury’s league ranks in advanced stats in the opening.
The graphic above depicts how they’ve fared in a split manner, with and without Griner. Notice the stark contrast in effectiveness on both ends of the floor.
Off presence alone, she shifts things. This is Griner operating in not quite her full capacity yet, mind you.
Let’s look at some other individual numbers pertaining to Griner. We’ll preface that this is a smaller sample size, being just four games played, but the impact and runway to sustaining is undeniable.
With Griner on the floor this season, the Mercury have an offensive rating of 110.9 — which is both nearly 14 points per 100 possessions better than when she’s off and four points per 100 possessions better than the league-leading New York Liberty in rating (106.9).
They’re operating at a league-best efficiency on offense with Griner on the floor.
There’s myriad reasons why her general presence, then functionality, are all so impactful.
I spoke with Nate Tibbetts prior to Griner’s regular season debut about that.
The quotes “we need to let BG, be BG” and “I think all great offenses have different options,” and “the rest of the league has to make a decision: Are they gonna double her or play her one on one,” stood out most to me.
In the first action of her 2024 campaign, we saw plenty of the elements in making opponents have to react that I’ve spoken about, (as did Tibbetts) — in addition to skill development and growth from Griner that surpassed last season.
Phoenix uses her as a screen to then set up shop for post positioning.
Minnesota looks to fight to front the post, while also electing to double from the low angle. This ends up being really great post defense, but simply does not matter.
Post spacing is something the Mercury had to adjust to, but have nailed consistently in conjunction with integrating Griner.
Notice the way they re-space around her post-touch, as well as her patience as pressure is applied on the double. Then, in their spacing, the cut from Allen to shift the defender playing two, to open Copper.
From there, Griner’s pass after patience has both great pace and accuracy. Copper is able to pull the first rotating defender, and her plus-1 pass is then quicker than Collier’s rotation off the double, back to Allen — and it’s an Allen 2 (foot was on the line).
That play alone encompasses plenty of Griner’s offensive value.
Her gravity, the defensive capital spent to guard her, her court mapping and ability to pass off of what she sees coverage-wise, how teams doubling her creates an advantage for Phoenix, and how they can attack in spacing off of her touches.
It unlocks a whole different layer for the Mercury to dictate to opponents from the inside out.
In addition to her post touches and scoring or facilitating there, she’s also been a piece the Mercury have been able to use as a hub for movement offensively.
They’ve used her to connect things for them in the halfcourt plenty, and it’s often resulted in a positive outcome.
Sometimes they do so in delay from their 5-out spacing, with their guards screening for each other to then play with the opposing center away from the rim, opening up backdoor opportunities.
Other times, they’ve used her in “Angle Pop,” where she sets an angle pick-and-roll screen, then plays off the pop to the second side, where one guard clear cuts to create space, and the other flows into a hand-off with Griner.
The uniqueness of ‘Angle Pop’ is that the clear cut from Allen not only creates space in respacing, but also forces the backside defense to toggle responsibilities.
Allen’s man, who’s following, would become the lowman, and be in charge of rotating over to Taurasi on the cut. However, because of the cadence at which their respacing is occurring, they’re able to distort the Wings defensive shell, and score.
Also, her screening impact has been abundantly functional, allowing her not only to free up Mercury teammates in advantage creation, but also create an advantage for herself.
This three-play sequence exemplifies that well.
Notice the screening impact and how it forces defenses to react. She’s able to create space for her guards to either shoot or drive — engaging her matchup. That then either presents an opportunity to score for them, or, in turn, allows her to then take on the guard defender, on the late-switch, like we see on the final play.
I spoke recently with Kahleah Copper regarding Griner’s screening and how unique it is:
These are repeated contexts they can manipulate in scenarios, ad nauseam, via many tandems.
Sidenote: The Taurasi-Griner pick-and-roll tandem is still ultra-effective, and with the players they now have space around them, as well as how Taurasi still has to be covered in bringing two to the ball — defenses are consistently in a bind when defending the Mercury.
Additionally, the spacing and multiple renditions that they cycle through give her breathing room inside and optimize her touches — which is something I asked her about following their recent win at Dallas.
She’s already Taurasi’s top assist receiver this season.
Defensively, with Griner on the floor, the Mercury defend at an efficiency (90.6 points allowed per 100 possessions) in effectiveness that’s 0.1 better than the league-best Connecticut Sun.
I’ll note that having Bec Allen back certainly helps plenty in this as well, but it’s Griner as the anchor and on the interior, that unlocks the aggressiveness and nuance in scheme on the perimeter, to play impactfully.
Nonetheless, Griner’s activity and ability in her drop coverage, but also in space, and impacting the ball, keeps things intact.
That ability to play with size in space while maintaining the disposition and upholding the principles in place, on consistency, speaks to her greatness defensively.
A lot of times, the value she provides comes from the attempts that are thought about, but never taken by opponents at the rim — while also enabling her teammates to be more aggressive up top knowing she’s behind them.
Additionally, within all the switching at the foundation of their defensive process, is Griner being a master organizer as advantages are naturally created when switching at the volume they do.
Where things would go awry in their switching, she’s now able to neutralize and help keep their shell intact.
It’s subtleties, even more than the loud box score stats, that encapsulate her impact for the Mercury defensively. She’s a true anchor that also has plenty of versatility and ability to be so in the scheme — venturing up to the level of the screen for switching, containing and contesting in space, and being able to get into some flat hedging.
Generally, the ways Tibbetts can move her around the chess board on both ends of the floor present the Mercury with opportunities to dictate — which is something that they’ll certainly lean into more as the season progresses.
I’ll continue to watch for her screening impact, how and where she’s spaced (especially when on the second side of actions), and for their spacing around her post-ups in relation to the double teams she inevitably sees.
As I’m writing this, she’s also been named Western Conference Player of the Week, after averaging 26.5 points per game, 9 rebounds per game, and 2 assist per game in just her second week back.
Clutch Kah
Kahleah Copper has had a prolific, career-best start to her 2024 season.
I’ll be documenting her many feats as the season goes on, but what continues to impress amidst it all is her mindset, the featuring, and her time on task-ability in execution in the clutch for the Mercury this season.
Disclaimer: Clutch is defined as any game within five points, in the last five minutes.
I present to you, Kahleah Copper’s Clutch stats this season.
These numbers are downright absurd.
The volume, on efficiency, when considering how she’s guarded as well, really speaks to the dominant space she’s operating in.
I ran over some film of Kahleah earlier in the season, operating without Griner I’ll also note, and how she steered the wheel in the clutch against the Atlanta Dream.
We’ve seen this play out in similar manners since, including a game-winner in front of the home crowd against Minnesota — in Griner’s regular season opener.
In said game, the Mercury were down five with three minutes left. The Mercury outscored the Lynx 12-5 the rest of the way.
Copper scored the final 10 points for Phoenix, going 4-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 from deep — capped off with a game-winner.
We saw the most recent rendition of the “Clutch Kah” files against Seattle, where she was
Granted it was done so with the lead, her ability to close for this team — with the style of play customary to her — helps to properly position everyone else on the floor.
Let’s start with how she’s featured.
From the sideline out of bounds, they get her on the move with a dynamic touch, flowing her into a spread pick-and-roll with Griner.
Make note of the spacing, as they have the right wing cleared, Taurasi in the strong corner, and have action going away from the two-side.
Notice then, the pace changes from Copper, following the aforementioned screen angle from Griner. Copper is then able to engage the big in coverage, then look at the timing and touch as she delivers to Griner.
Lastly, see the exuberance not just for scoring herself, but even in assisting.
Notice here, a more static pick-and-roll than the previous, but it’s self-creation here as Griner flows into the second screen (veer screen) for Taurasi.
Copper’s pace changes in addition to the aggressive, curved angle on her drive, pinning Horston under the rim, eliminating the direct defender and the rim protector’s angle.
The control she’s playing with is indicative of how the game is slowing down for her in this space.
On another more static pick-and-roll, let’s make note of a few things.
First, notice where she’s picked up, and how high up the floor the point of the screen now is — in relation to the basket. That’s a ton of real estate Copper can get downhill into.
Add to that, that this rep — like the reps spoken on in the film session above vs. Atlanta — is a variation of Spain pick-and-roll (pick-and-roll action where the screener’s defender receives a backscreen — combining a pick and roll with a backscreen), in success with the pick on-ball), and you see the way the spacing is manipulated in the middle third of the floor.
(Hat tip to Taurasi for the screen that discards Magbegor)
Notice the manipulation of space on this rep, and how Taurasi communicates to keep said spacing prior to the start of the action.
This one takes place along the outer thirds, and we see it’s again Spain pick-and-roll.
Notice the craft on the inside-hand finish, after another, more rounded angle drive to win on leverage with Ogwumike at the corner.
Phoenix, as you can see, is keeping the ball in her hands, manipulating space around primary action, and imploring for her to get downhill.
For these reasons, she’s been so consistently able to be so impactful in the clutch. Her natural mindset combined with Tibbett’s process and the spacing dynamics in structure and personnel that they can dictate with, all perfectly complement her array of skills.
The organic match has made her the league’s most impactful clutch scorer, on efficiency, this far.
Mercury shot profile
The Mercury shot profile has shifted some since Griner has returned, and it’s something I asked Tibbett about prior to their matchup with the Aces last week.
Prior to Griner’s return, they took a league-best 29.7 attempts from deep, were second in makes (9.9 per game), and led in rate of attempts and percentage of points from deep.
Since Griner’s return, they’re fifth in attempts (25.3), sixth in makes (8.3), and have seen the efficiency slip some.
I’ll be curious to see, as Tibbetts mentioned, if Griner finds context to get up attempts, but also if they can regenerate more pace to play in the open floor, and keep a defense in rotation to unlock said volume from deep in the half court.
The trade-off here, however, is the points in the paint.
Prior to Griner’s return, they were 11th in the league at 28.4 points in the paint per game.
Since she’s returned, they’re fourth at 40.5 per game.
Watching for the synergy within their profile playing to respective games, and the balancing of it taking place, will be a fun dynamic to gauge within their offensive process going forward.
Mercury tidbits
- Natasha Cloud has 36 assists to Kahleah Copper this season, the third highest of any player combination in the W
- Phoenix is fourth in assists per game at 19.9
- Phoenix maintains a league-best volume of attempts from deep at 399
- Phoenix is second in three-pointers made with 132
- Natasha Cloud is second in assists per game at 7.5
- Kahleah Copper and Brittney Griner are the second duo in WNBA history to each score 28+ points, and record 6-plus rebounds while shooting 55-plus percent from the field (vs. Seattle) — the Mercury are also the only team in 2024 to have two games with two 25-plus point scorers (Copper and Taurasi on May 25)
- Copper has five 30-plus point games this season (most in the WNBA), and Phoenix is 4-1 when she’s done so
- Copper has 3-plus makes from deep in a WNBA-best 10 games, surpassing her total from 2023 of nine.
Top photo of Brittney Griner via Getty Images
Follow Stephen PridGeon-Garner on Twitter
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