Mercury Vets, Rookies Helping Team to Excellent Start

When it’s said a team looks completely different, it can often be a bit hyperbolic. However, this Phoenix Mercury team is quite literally different. The team has returned just two players from last year, Olympic gold medalist guard Kahleah Copper and forward Natasha Mack. To further hammer this point home, neither Copper nor Mack have played a game yet this year due to injuries. It’s all been the newcomers. But together, these newcomers have banded together to get the Mercury off to one of their best starts in team history.

Mercury Rookies Impressing

By combining defense and youthful exuberance, Monique Akoa-Makani has quickly become an integral member of the Mercury rotation. Her basic stat numbers don’t necessarily leap off the page or scream future face of the WNBA, but the intangibles have endeared her to the Phoenix fanbase and her teammates. In an unconventional twist, Akoa-Makani often sets screens for forwards, especially Alyssa Thomas. 

“First of all, I’m happy that the coach trusts me with that,” Akoa-Makani said about setting screens. “I just try to do my best to catch the player because I know as soon as I hit the right screen, (Thomas is) gonna get to the rim. That’s a job that I take very seriously.”

This has opened up the offense for the Mercury. As a team, the Mercury are shooting 34.8 percent from 3, good for the fifth best mark in the league. Akoa-Makani can also often be seen pressing the opposition’s offense, guarding them the full 94 feet. Fellow rookie Lexi Held does much of the same, averaging 2.2 steals per game. This puts her tied for sixth in the league, and the only player in the top-26 averaging under 20 minutes a night.

Heading into Friday night’s game against the Minnesota Lynx, the rookies have combined to hit 37 3-pointers, a WNBA record through the first five games of a season by a group of rookies. Akoa-Makani, Kathryn Westbeld and Kitija Laska rank in the top five in the WNBA for 3-pointers made per game at second, third and fourth-most, respectively. With a three against the Lynx on Friday, Westbeld became the first rookie in Mercury history to make a 3-pointer in six straight games to start a career.

Satou Sabally had high praise for her younger teammates.

“(Laksa) just came in and had an immediate impact, but everyone, even Kat (Westbeld) shooting these threes and really being ready to play and make crunch time shots,” Sabally said. “That’s a lot to do as a rookie.”

SABALLY AND THOMAS

Another key factor has been Thomas’s ever present All-Star capabilities. This year she’s averaged a career-high eight assists per game and nearly career high in points at 15.2 a game. All the while she’s been her usual self on defense and crashing the glass to the tune of 7.6 boards a game.

Just like in her previous stop in Connecticut, Thomas has been able to act as the team’s de facto point guard. With her 15 assists against the Sky, she tied a franchise record for assists in a game. Showcasing her versatility, Thomas’ stat line of 10 points, seven rebounds, 15 assists, three steals and two blocks marks the first time in WNBA history that a player reached those totals in a single game.

“You’ve got to have great players to be good and she’s one of them,” coach Nate Tibbetts said. “I just noticed 15 assists about 10 minutes ago, and she probably could have had 20 if we’d made more shots in the first half. AT is starting to gain trust by seeing our young players make shots. They’re not afraid, they keep firing away. We talk about throwing strikes, not balls, she throws strikes every time.”

Sabally has also been critical in helping the team succeed in the absence of Copper. She’s averaging a career-high in points at 20.8 per game despite her 3-point percentage dropping nearly 20 percent from last year. With some positive regression, the Mercury will surely benefit from her shot coming back to form. Her scoring was highlighted in the season opener against the Storm where she scored 27 points to go with six rebounds, and in the Mercury’s game against the Lynx where she had 26 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in a tight loss.

The chemistry between Sabally and Thomas has been evident.

“Alyssa Thomas is the best at pushing it forward,” Sabally said. “I’m pretty good at it too, and that way it’s really hard to guard us. We kept the tempo up and I think we dictated the game through that by setting the tone on the defensive side.”

Added Thomas: “I think it’s been natural. We just kind of feed off each other. We still have a lot to learn, but at the same time we are able to do what we do. I think it works well together.”