As the WNBA soars into its third decade – Hip, Hip, Hooray!
– the scoring charts are topped by two of the tallest players: 6’8” Britney
Griner of the Phoenix Mercury (23.1 ppg) and Minnesota’s 6’6” Sylvia Fowles
(20.9 ppg). The Top Ten also includes the “length” of Tina Charles, EDD and
Stewie as well as a 6’2” package of extraordinary athleticism named Nneka.
Curiously, despite the presence of all these impactful
“Bigs” and more, the ladies of the WNBA as a whole are emulating their NBA
brethren in their liberal use of the three-point shot. This season’s overall
usage rate of .260 is the highest it’s been since 2012 and has been exceeded in
only three of the circuit’s first 20 campaigns.
Perhaps fittingly, Sun sophomore post Jonquell Jones (52.9%)
and Lynx power forward Rebekkah Brunson (50.0%) are the WNBA’s most accurate long-distance
snipers.
The following rankings reflect play through Friday, June 23.
An explanation of the criteria is available here. An index of the season's b-weekly rankings is available here.
No.
1 Minnesota Lynx, 10-1 (11)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 1
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 1]
KK: +5; (6 Road Wins
– 1 Home Loss) / No. 1 overall
Flow: +6.09; (45.5 stops
OF opp [No. 1] – 39.5 stops BY opp [No. 2] / No. 1 overall
Striping: -0.18;
(+1.00) conversions [No. 4] – (+1.18) opp conversions [No. 8] / No. 8 overall
SPOR-t: +152; (646
[No. 1] – 494 [No. 1]) / No. 1 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Lynx rank in the bottom third of the “W” in defending the 3-ball, yielding
10 out of 22 to Connecticut in their sole loss.
No.
2 Phoenix Mercury, 7-5 (15.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 7
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 2]
KK: +1; (4 Road Win –
3 Home Losses) / No. 4 overall (tied)
Flow: +2.00; (43.8 stops
OF opp [No. 3] – 41.8 stops BY opp [No. 7] / No. 3 overall
Striping: +0.58;
(+0.71) conversions [No. 6] – (+0.13) opp conversions [No. 3] / No. 3 overall
SPOR-t: +14; (527
[No. 9] – 513 [No. 2]) / No. 5 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Mercury were the league’s best Offensive Rebounding team (.299) during
Weeks 5 & 6.
ABACUS INFOMERCIAL
Masters of the Craft
(Part 1)
Which teams are
performing the rudimentary skills of the game most proficiently at both ends of
the floor? Let’s consider six elements of play: FG shooting, three-point
shooting, Points per Game, Offensive Rebounding, the matter of turnovers and
the SPOR-t score of our ratings. These teams hold a Top Four rank offensively
and defensively:
FG%: Minnesota
3FG%: NONE
PPG: Los Angeles, Minnesota
OR%: Connecticut,
Minnesota
TO%: Atlanta
SPOR-t: Connecticut, Minnesota,
New York
No.
3 Connecticut Sun, 6-5 (16.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 11
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 7]
KK: +2; (4 Road Wins
– 2 Home Losses) / No. 2 overall (tied)
Flow: +0.45; (42.3 stops
OF opp [No. 4] – 41.8 stops BY opp [No. 8] / No. 8 overall
Striping: +0.45;
(+1.09) conversions [No. 3] – (+0.64) conversions [No. 5] / No. 4 overall
SPOR-t: +98; (611
[No. 2] – 513 [No. 2]) / No. 2 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Sun have shot 3’s at a 40+% rate in 6 of their 11 games.
No.
4 Washington Mystics, 7-5 (17)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 2
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 3]
KK: 0; (2 Road Wins –
2 Home Losses) / No. 6 overall (tied)-3
Flow: +1.75; (41.3 stops
OF opp [No. 6] – 39.6 stops BY opp [No. 3] / No. 4 overall
Striping: +0.67;
(+2.17) conversions [No. 1] – (+1.50) opp conversions [No. 11] / No. 2 overall
SPOR-t: +31; (601
[No. 3] – 570 [No. 6]) / No. 4 overall
Abacus
Revelation: The Mystics hustle their way to over 10 OR’s per game.
ABACUS INFOMERCIAL
Scoring Pace 24 games
[72 overall]
100+ points: 2 games
[5 overall]
90-99 points: 12
games [30 overall]
80-89 points: 19
games [47 overall]
70-79 points: 12 games
[45 overall]
60-69 points: 1 games
[14 overall]
<60 points: 2
games [3 overall]
No.
5 Los Angeles Sparks, 8-3 (20.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 8
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 5]
KK: +2; (2 Road Wins
– 0 Home Losses) / No. 2 overall (tied)
Flow: +2.91; (41.0 stops
OF opp [No. 7] – 38.1 stops BY opp [No. 1] / No. 2 overall
Striping: -0.47;
(+0.77) conversions [No. 5] – (+1.18) opp conversions [No. 8]) / No. 9 overall
SPOR-t: -7; (568 [No.
5] – 575 [No. 7]) / No. 7 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Sparks are the league’s most accurate shooters (.488).
No.
6 New York Liberty, 7-5 (27)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 5
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 7]
KK: -1; (2 Road Wins
– 3 Home Losses) / No. 9 overall
Flow: +1.33; (42.3 stops
OF opp [No. 5] – 40.9 stops BY opp [No. 6] / No. 5 overall
Striping: -0.62; (+0.33)
conversions [No. 10] – (+0.96) opp conversions [No. 7] / No. 10 overall
SPOR-t: +47; (579
[No. 4] – 532 [No. 4]) / No. 3 overall
Abacus Revelation:
Oddly, the Libs rank first in FG defense (.411) but last in 3FG defense (.376).
No.
7 Atlanta Dream, 5-6 (29.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 4
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 4]
KK: +1; (3 Road Wins
– 2 Home Losses) / No. 4 overall (tied)
Flow: +0.73; (43.8 stops
OF opp [No. 2] – 43.1 stops BY opp [No. 10] / No. 7 overall
Striping: -1.36;
[-1.32) conversions [No. 12] – (+0.05) conversions [No. 2] / No. 12 overall
SPOR-t: -5; (533 [No.
8] – 538 [No.5]) / No. 6 overall
Abacus Revelation: The Dream own the lowest TO rate (.123) in the
league.
ABACUS INFOMERCIAL
Scoring Differential
24 games [72 overall]
1-5 points: 10 games
[21 overall]
6-10 points: 4 games
[24 overall]
11-15 points: 3 games
[11 overall]
16-20 points: 5 games [8 overall]
>20: 2 games [8 overall]
No.8
Dallas Wings, 7-8 (32)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 3
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 9]
KK: 0; (4 Road Wins –
4 Home Losses) / No. 6 overall (tied)-3
Flow: -3.00; (39.3 stops
OF opp [No. 11] – 42.3 stops BY opp [No. 9] / No. 10 overall
Striping: +0.03;
(+0.70) conversions [No. 7] – (+0.67) conversions [No. 6] / No. 7 overall
SPOR-t: -36; (567
[No. 6] – 603 [No. 11]) / No. 8 overall
Abacus Revelation: The Wings stand No. 4 in per-game scoring despite
ranking tenth in FG% and 3FG%.
No.
9 Seattle Storm, 6-6 (32.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 9
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 5]
KK: -2; (1 Road Win –
3 Home Losses) / No. 10 overall (tied)
Flow: +1.08; (41.0 stops
OF opp [No. 7] – 39.9 stops BY opp [No. 5] / No. 6 overall
Striping: +0.29;
(+1.96) conversions [No. 2] - (+1.67) opp conversions [No. 12] / No. 5 overall
SPOR-t: -78; (524
[No. 10] – 602 [No. 10]) / No. 11 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Storm allow the opposition a whopping 10 Offensive Rebounds a game.
ABACUS INFOMERCIAL
Masters of the Craft
(Part 2)
Are not the
exceptionally inept worthy of some recognition? Here are the teams that hold a
Bottom Four offensive and defensive ranking in our key elements of play: FG
shooting, three-point shooting, PPG, Offensive Rebounding, Turnovers and
SPOR-t.
FG%: Dallas
3FG%: Indiana
PPG: Chicago,
Indiana, New York
OR%: Indiana, Los
Angeles, Seattle
TO%: Chicago
SPOR-t: Chicago,
Seattle
No.
10 Chicago Sky, 3-9 (35.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 11
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 10]
KK: -2; (3 Road Win –
5 Home Losses) / No. 10 overall (tied)
Flow: -4.92; (40.9 stops
OF opp [No. 9] – 45.8 stops BY opp [No. 12] / No. 12 overall
Striping: +1.04;
(+0.38) conversions [No. 9] – (-0.67) opp conversions [No. 1] / No. 1 overall
SPOR-t: -83; (515
[No. 12] – 598 [No. 9]) / No. 12 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Sky rank No. 2 in FG defense (.419).
No.
11 Indiana Fever, 6-6 (37)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 6
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 12]
KK: 0; (1 Road Win –
1 Home Loss) / No. 6 overall (tied)-3
Flow: -2.00; (37.7 stops
OF opp [No. 12] – 39.7 stops BY opp [No. 4] / No. 9 overall
Striping: -0.75;
(+0.63) conversions [No. 8] – (+1.38) conversions [No. 10] / No. 11 overall
SPOR-t: -64; (549
[No. 7] – 613 [No. 12]) / No. 10 overall
Abacus Revelation: The Fever miss fewer
free throws per game (2.58) than any other team.
No.
12 San Antonio Stars, 0-13 (38)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 12
4-week Abacus Rank: No. 11]
KK: -6; (0 Road Wins
– 6 Home Losses) / No. 12 overall
Flow: -4.46; (40.2 stops
OF opp [No. 10] – 44.6 stops BY opp [No. 11] / No. 11 overall
Striping: +0.12;
(+0.27) conversions [No. 11] – (+0.15) opp conversions [No. 4] / No. 6 overall
SPOR-t: -55; (524
[No. 10] – 579 [No. 8]) / No. 9 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The still winless Stars rank No. 4 in defending the three-point shot.
Abacus Revelation for
the Road / Random Ranking – Points per Possession Differential
Through 72 games, the WNBA has scored 11,789 points on what
compute to be 11,175 possessions – a rate of 105.5 points per 100 possessions.
Minnesota +16.0
points per 100 possessions [112.0 (No. 2) – 96.0 (No. 1)]
Los Angeles +8.3
points per 100 possessions [112.9 (No. 1) – 104.6 (No. 5)]
Connecticut +5.4
points per 100 possessions [108.4 (No. 5) – 103.0 (No. 4)]
Phoenix +4.9 points
per 100 possessions [104.8 (No. 9) – 99.9 (No. 2)]
Washington +4.8
points per 100 possessions [116.6 (No. 3) – 106.8 (No. 9)]
Seattle +2.0 points
per 100 possessions [108.7 (No. 4) – 106.7 (No. 8)]
New York +0.9 points
per 100 possessions [106.0 (No. 7) – 105.1 (No. 6)]
Dallas -3.6 points
per 100 possessions [107.0 (No. 6) – 110.6 (No. 11)]
Atlanta -4.0 points
per 100 possessions [97.0 (No. 10) – 101.0 (No. 3)]
Indiana -8.1 points
per 100 possessions [105.8 (No. 8) – 113.9 (No. 12)]
Chicago -10.2 points
per 100 possessions [96.1 (No. 11) – 106.3 (No. 7)]
San Antonio -12.4
points per 100 possessions [94.4 (No. 12) – 106.8 (No. 9)]
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