On Tuesday night, the Phoenix Mercury overcame the odds, defeating the Las Vegas Aces for the first time in two matchups this season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Led by yet another scoring outburst from Kahleah Copper, Phoenix did what it couldn’t do in its season opener and toppled the back-to-back champions. Despite Copper’s performance, it certainly wasn’t a one-woman show in Las Vegas.
Phoenix received 27 points from its bench, compared to Las Vegas’ two bench points. Head coach Nate Tibbetts has been adamant about the development of his bench unit and has done all that he can to put his players in the best positions to impact winning basketball.
Of course, not every player will suit up for 30 or more minutes like some of the starters. But Tibbetts realizes the importance of building “camaraderie” within a bench unit. He sees value in running nine to ten woman rotations and instills in his group the message that his players should make the most of their minutes.
"I'm really happy [with] the way some of our bench players played."
Following Phoenix's win over Las Vegas, Nate Tibbetts highlighted the Mercury's bench unit, specifically the contributions from Sug Sutton and Liz Dixon.#ValleyTogether #WNBA pic.twitter.com/81Bmk8B20z
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“I’m really happy [with] the way some of our bench players played,” said Tibbetts. “Sug Sutton had an unbelievable training camp for us. If you were to ask her, she’d probably tell you she’s a little disappointed in our first two games. She was fearless, she [made] three three’s. And Liz Dixon was awesome. Came in and played extremely hard, her and Natasha Mack just flew around and protected the paint, set good screens. We’ve got nine players, [and] we’re going to play them every night. And we expect them to come in and give us a lift, and they did tonight.”
The average age of this new-look Mercury squad is roughly 29.9 years old. For the most part, this is a group of veterans compiled together for an opportunity to compete. However, there are still fresh legs on this team, and Tibbetts realizes the importance of developing his young players and maximizing their capabilities.
Phoenix’s ‘young core’ isn’t necessarily young on the surface. However, this is the first season where Dixon (23), Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (25) and Mack (26) are receiving quality minutes in the WNBA. Although some players on the team carry larger roles than others, Tibbetts is impressed by his group’s sustained effort and work ethic, and values their abilities to put them in the best situations to impact the game.
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“I think just their effort, their willingness to come in and work every day,” said Tibbetts. “We know that we’re a veteran group up front — we’ve got a lot of young players that are backups. These are first time minutes for a lot of them, besides Sug [Sutton] and Sophie [Cunningham]. So, yeah, [Sophie] has come in and played the two, she’s played the three, she’s played the four, now she’s playing the five. I’m super happy for Sug, because she hadn’t played great the first two games. But we’ve got a veteran group, I’m trying not to play them big minutes, that’s the goal. We want to look at things big picture, we want to build some camaraderie and belief in our bench. And I’ve kind of told them, I don’t know when or how long you’re coming in, but you’re going to get in that game and make an impact, and they’ve done that.”
Tibbetts is doing everything he can to build continuity for a revamped Mercury squad, and thus far, it seems to be working. Based off in-game results and the perspective of those on the team itself, Tibbetts is working to restore order for this group. He sees the value of every woman on the roster one through ten, and will continue to put his personnel in situations to succeed as the season progresses.
Kahleah Copper dominates with 37 points, guides Mercury to 98-88 victory over Aces
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Justin LaCertosa covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @LaCertosaSports
