Aces take on challenge of ‘best team all year’ in Liberty

The WNBA’s back-to-back defending champions have to face their 2023 Finals foe before they can three-peat, but the Aces aren’t necessarily viewing the matchup through the lens of the playoffs.

“I don’t even think we’re looking at it as the semis,” coach Becky Hammon said. “We’re looking at it as the New York Liberty, and we got mad respect for them. Kicked our butt three games. They’ve been the best team all year.”

Game 1 of the best-of-five semifinal series starts at noon Sunday in New York.

The top-seeded Liberty completed a regular-season sweep of the No. 4 seed Aces, although the 75-71 loss Sept. 8 was a promising effort, as the Aces nearly pulled off the victory in its first outing without star forward A’ja Wilson since 2019.

This season, many of the Aces’ inflection points can be traced back to the Liberty.

Wilson broke down in tears after falling 90-82 to the Liberty on June 15, as the Aces dropped to 6-6, equaling their losses for all of the previous regular season. The Aces went on a six-game winning streak after Wilson’s tearful presser.

Similarly, the Aces came out of the Olympic break with a 79-67 home loss to the Liberty on Aug. 17, and Wilson subsequently limited herself to wearing white T-shirts and sweats afterward. The uniform shift kick-started a streak of stellar performances that helped cement her recent unanimous MVP win.

Now, the road to the Finals runs through New York, and Hammon likes her team’s odds.

“I think we’re a pretty resilient group,” she said. “So our focus is on Game 1.”

Mentalities

Hammon has said on multiple occasions that the Liberty are playing like a team on a mission. Point guard Courtney Vandersloot told ESPN recently that losing to the Aces left a “scar” on the Liberty, the only original WNBA franchise that has yet to win a championship.

But Hammon doesn’t think that’s something the Aces will be able to use to their advantage.

“They play very organized. They play very disciplined. So they’re not an emotional team,” she said. “They’re just about business.”

She noted that the Liberty are bolstered by its many “poker faces,” including 2023 league MVP Breanna Stewart, who Hammon said wouldn’t even crack a smile while “dropping 50 (points) on your head.”

That’s what Hammon wants the Aces to do as well: stay even. Wilson doesn’t think that will be a problem, rebuffing the idea of a rivalry between the teams.

“I feel like it’s more so on their end,” Wilson said. “I feel like they would feel some type of way, obviously. But when it comes to us, I don’t think we’re feeling anything other than we just need to go in and just do us.”

That said, it’s no secret that Wilson was motivated to her third MVP this year by a fourth-place vote she received last year as Stewart won the award.

This year, it appears Wilson could be bolstered by a potential Defensive Player of the Year snub, preventing her from winning the honor for three straight years. The award has yet to be announced, but reportedly went to Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, even though Wilson led the league in blocks per game, recorded a career-high steal rate and set the WNBA’s single-season record for rebounds in a game.

Then and now

Wilson said the Aces and Liberty are completely different teams than last year, and Hammon agrees.

“I think we might be better defensively than last year’s team as of late, where I think last year’s team was probably a little bit better offensively than this team,” Hammon said.

The Aces led the league in offensive and defensive rating last season. While they led the league in points per game this season, Hammon said the Aces’ shooting can improve.

Last year, the team benefited as Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray all had career years.

“That just hasn’t been the case this year,” Hammon said. “We’ve had to grind, and we’ve had to work, and we’ve had to work together.”

Tiffany Hayes, whom the Aces signed midyear out of retirement, has been so effective off the bench that she won The Associated Press Sixth Player of the Year award. Megan Gustafson has shined at moments at center, while veterans Sydney Colson and Alysha Clark have remained constant.

Hammon said it’s the “most talented team” she has coached since she arrived in Las Vegas.

“We’ve also had more internal adversity than we’ve ever had,” Hammon added, alluding to players’ personal issues, league investigations into the team and a lawsuit against them.

“We didn’t fall apart when it was hard,” Hammon said. “And that gives me a lot of faith.”

Contact Callie Fin at clawsonfreeman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.