Last week, the Phoenix Mercury opened up their season in Las Vegas to take on the Aces. Although Phoenix showed a resilient effort and didn’t back down, the back-to-back champions proved to be a force that Phoenix simply didn’t have an answer for.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!A’ja Wilson proved to be too much for the Mercury to handle, scoring 30 points while pulling down 13 rebounds and dishing out five assists. Wilson shot 10-f0r-22 (45%) from the field, and got to the charity stripe 11 times, converting upon 10 of her free throws.
Phoenix couldn’t stop the two-time MVP. Tibbetts and his squad went to a zone defense at times — one that was picked apart by Wilson at the top of the key and the elbow.
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Wilson is a player that you normally can’t stop, and can only hope to contain. With the Mercury without the services of Brittney Griner, their job became exponentially harder. However, in the shadows of a dominant performance came one hidden gem on Phoenix’s side.
In just her fifth WNBA game ever, Phoenix’s Natasha Mack showed promise on the defensive end. Staying vertical down low and playing smart defense in pick-and-roll actions, Mack stepped up in Griner’s absence and proved she belonged.
In one-on-one situations, Mack was forced to take on the Wilson assignment in just her fifth game in the league. As aforementioned above, one can only hope to slow down a player of Wilson’s caliber. However, thanks to her mobility and size, Mack showed spurts of high-level defense against a generational talent.
As Phoenix returns to Las Vegas just a week later, Mack will be forced to guard Wilson yet again. She discussed the process of guarding Wilson the first game of the season, and what she looks to do better after watching the film.
The Phoenix Mercury will be hosted by the Las Vegas Aces tonight for the second time in three games this season. Our @LaCertosaSports asked Natasha Mack about her matchup against A'ja Wilson, and what she learned after watching last week's film.#ValleyTogether #LVAces #WNBA pic.twitter.com/c2h0Rtohn7
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) May 21, 2024
“It’s really just roll with the team, just trusting me, even though I’m like a rookie,” said Mack ahead of Tuesday night’s contest. “Watching film, I know I can put a little bit more pressure on her. I was letting her get too many easy shots, not really pressuring her, knowing she’s a good shooter and drives left a lot. So working with [the team], they helped me out a lot.”
“Mack has been absolutely phenomenal,” said Sophie Cunningham. “She gets her hands on ball, she blocks shots…I think something that we all really love about her is how mobile she is. For us to have her, she’s so unorthodox, that’s tricky for people to go against her…For her to have her first matchup against A’ja who’s a phenomenal player, I think she did a hell of a job.”
Phoenix will look to get revenge on Las Vegas tonight at 10 p.m. MST.
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Justin LaCertosa covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @LaCertosaSports
