Las Vegas Aces focusing on team defense under Becky Hammon

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Sunday, May 8, 2022 | 2 a.m.

The Las Vegas Aces are going to score a ton of points this year. That’s a given.

Under former coach Bill Laimbeer, the 2021 squad led the WNBA in scoring (89.3 points) and offensive efficiency (107.1 rating), and the roster remains loaded with talented and highly skilled players. With new head coach Becky Hammon installing her player-friendly “pace and space” system, buckets should come relatively easy for the Aces.

But while most of the discussion surrounding Hammon’s arrival has been focused on how she’ll tweak an already killer offense — smaller lineups, quicker ball movement, more 3-pointers — the determining factor in Las Vegas’ quest for a championship will probably lie on the other end of the court.

Simply put, the Aces are going to light up the scoreboard. The question is, can Hammon get them to play the kind of defense that will deliver the franchise’s first WNBA title?

After the first preseason game, an 89-86 road loss to the Minnesota Lynx, Hammon said getting stops will be a season-long emphasis.

“We’re just trying to keep the ball in front of us, protect the paint,” Hammon said. “It’s going to be a team effort for us. We’re a little bit on the small side, especially when we’re banged up right now. A lot of rebounding [is] more about position and that mindset to go get the ball when you’re a little bit undersized.”

The Aces home opener is today at Michelob ULTRA Arena against the Seattle Storm (7 p.m., ESPN2).

Las Vegas ranked second in defensive rating last year (96.0), but the team was closer to seventh place than it was to top-ranked Connecticut. There is room for improvement.

The Aces lost All-Star center Liz Cambage in free agency, so the double-big looks preferred by Laimbeer are a thing of the past. A’ja Wilson is now the team’s lone anchor in the middle, and the former MVP understands her role will be different.

With Las Vegas defaulting to small-ball, Wilson has to make her presence felt under the basket.

“Something that coach Becky always says a lot is, ‘We’re small,’” Wilson said. “And it’s crazy to think that we’re small when I’m standing at 6-foot-4, but in our league we are small.”

In addition to her 18.3 points, Wilson averaged 1.6 blocks and 9.3 rebounds per game in 2021. Her 7.3 defensive boards ranked her fourth in the league.

Hammon has a stable of guards that should be able to turn up the tempo in Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, but before they can get out in transition, the coach wants them to crash the glass and help Wilson sweep up missed shots.

“We can’t run if we don’t rebound. We’ve got to secure the ball and finish out our defensive possessions in order to run to the other end,” Hammon said. “It’s going to be a team effort for us.”

Wilson agrees with her new coach and believes the Aces can be a defense-and-rebounding team despite their size limitations.

“The biggest thing we’re going to have to do is rebound the basketball, and it’s going to take all of us,” Wilson said. “I think last year, we would get so used to twin towers blocking the paint. Cool. But I think now, it’s so much more of gang and team rebounding that we’re going to have to win every single night. And it’s going to be tough, because those battles, we might be on the bottom side of it, but at the end of the day it’s going to take all of us. It’s not just going to take me guarding the center, it’s going to take all of us helping one another.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.