WNBA 2018 6-week Progress Report

Through six weeks and 89 games of WNBA 2018, the competition has seen its share of ups and downs – from Minnesota’s surprisingly slow start to glitzy Los Angeles thriving on its stout defense. Even up-and-coming contenders like Sun and Mystics have alternated some stretches of stellar play with others that are sorta less-than-mediocre.

The extremes of this season’s play were best exemplified in a 48-hour span by Big-time Hoops’ first excursion into the nefarious netherworld known as Nevada, the Las Vegas Aces. While falling in Dallas a couple of Fridays ago, Bill Laimbeer’s youngsters managed but one paltry offensive rebound (plus one team offensive board) despite misfiring on 35 FGA’s. Two days later while losing at home to the Phoenix Mercury, rookie stud A’ja Wilson herself had seven of the squad’s NINETEEN (plus five more attributed to the team) O-boards.

Though each performance has been matched one time this season (Indiana, 1; New York, 19), those are the extremes of this year’s “second chance” performances. In all, a team has posted fewer than five OR’s 21 times so far; a team has accrued more than 15 just six times – half of them coming at the expense of Ms. Griner and her Merc.

The Season by the Numbers (per-game per team) thru 89 games

Possessions: 79.4

Points: 81.5  [PPP: 1.026]

FG: 29.7 – 67.7, .438

3FG: 6.4 – 19.0, .336

3PAr/Usage rate: .281

FT: 15.7 – 19.9, .791

(Off – Tot) Reb: 8.8 – 34.1  [OR% .257]

TO: 14.2  [TO% .156]

Stats and data represent play through Thursday, June 28.

An explanation of the criteria for ranking is available here.

An index of bi-weekly ratings available here.

No. 1 Seattle Storm, 11-5 (11.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 1

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 1]

KK:  +1; (4 Road Wins – 3 Home Losses) / No. 5 overall (tied-4)

Flow:  +2.88; (43.6 stops OF opp [No. 5] – 40.8 stops BY opp [No. 2] / No. 1 overall

Striping:  +1.41; (+2.47) conversions [No. 1] - (+1.06) opp conversions [No. 8] / No. 1 overall

SPOR-t:  +42; (580 [No. 2] – 538 [No. 8]) / No. 3 overall

Abacus Revelation: Seattle opponents attempt the fewest 3FGA’s in the league (16.6 per game).

No. 1 Connecticut Sun, 9-6 (11.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 3

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 1]

KK:  +3; (4 Road Wins – 1 Home Loss) / No. 2 overall (tied)

Flow:  +1.67; (43.6 stops OF opp [No. 6] – 41.9 stops BY opp [No. 4] / No. 3 overall

Striping:  +0.50; (+1.47) conversions [No. 5] – (+0.97) conversions [No. 4] / No. 5 overall

SPOR-t:  +118; (640 [No. 1] – 522 [No. 4]) / No. 1 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Sun struggle to defend the 3-ball (368), last in the league.

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%: Connecticut, Phoenix

3FG%: Minnesota

PPG: NONE

OR%: Minnesota

TO%: Atlanta

SPOR-t: Connecticut, Minnesota

 No. 3 Phoenix Mercury, 11-5 (18)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 10

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 3]

KK:  +4; (7 Road Wins – 3 Home Losses) / No. 1 overall

Flow:  +1.50; (43.9 stops OF opp [No. 4] – 42.4 stops BY opp [No. 5] / No. 4 overall

Striping:  +1.38; (+2.41) conversions [No. 3] – (+1.03) opp conversions [No. 5] / No. 2 overall

SPOR-t:  -67; (500 [No. 10] – 567 [No. 11]) / No. 11 overall

Abacus Revelation: Taurasi & Co. rank No. 1 (.359) in 3-point accuracy and No. 2 (.348) in 3-point usage.

No. 4 Los Angeles Sparks, 11-4 (18.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 4

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 4]

KK:  +3; (4 Road Wins – 1 Home Loss) / No. 2 overall (tied)

Flow:  +2.20; (42.8 stops OF opp [No. 9] – 40.6 stops BY opp [No. 1] / No. 2 overall

Striping:  0.00; (+0.90) conversions [No. 8] – (+0.90) opp conversions [No. 2]) / No. 8 overall

SPOR-t:  -5; (522 [No. 7] – 527 [No. 6]) / No. 6 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Sparks’ .471 FG shooting leads the WNBA.

No. 5 Washington Mystics, 10-5 (19.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 2

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 5]

KK:  +1; (4 Road Wins – 3 Home Losses) / No. 5 overall (tied-4)

Flow:  +1.27; (42.7 stops OF opp [No. 10] – 41.5 stops BY opp [No. 3] / No. 5 overall

Striping:  +1.37; (+2.43) conversions [No. 2] – (+1.07) opp conversions [No. 9] / No. 3 overall

SPOR-t:  +4; (570 [No. 3] – 566 [No. 10]) / No. 5 overall

Abacus Revelation: Washington improved its per-game scoring by 9.8 points from Fortnight II to Fortnight III.

ABACUS INFOMERCIAL

Scoring Pace 33 games [89 overall]

100+ points: 3 games [11 overall]

90-99 points: 13 games [31 overall]

80-89 points: 22 games [54 overall]

70-79 points: 21 games [61 overall]

60-69 points: 5 games [18 overall]

<60 points: 2 games [3 overall]

No. 6 Minnesota Lynx, 8-6 (22)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 8

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 9]

KK:  +2; (4 Road Wins – 2 Home Losses) / No. 4 overall

Flow:  +0.64; (43.5 stops OF opp [No. 8] – 42.9 stops BY opp [No. 6] / No. 6 overall

Striping:  -1.04; (+0.54) conversions [No. 10] – (+1.57) opp conversions [No. 11] / No. 10 overall

SPOR-t:  +69; (554 [No. 4] – 485 [No. 1]) / No. 2 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Lynx outplayed their opponents by 5.60 possessions per game during Weeks 5 & 6.

No. 7 Dallas Wings, 7-7 (27.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 6

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 7]

KK:  +1; (3 Road Wins – 2 Home Losses) / No. 5 overall (tied-4)

Flow:  -0.14; (44.4 stops OF opp [No. 2] – 44.6 stops BY opp [No. 7] / No. 8 overall

Striping:  -0.36; (+0.57) conversions [No. 9] – (+0.93) conversions [No. 3] / No. 9 overall

SPOR-t:  +9; (530 [No. 5] – 521 [No. 3]) / No. 4 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Dallas defense generates 44.4 “stops” per game, No. 2 in the league.

ABACUS INFOMERCIAL

Scoring Differential 33 games [89 overall]

1-5 points: 3 games [21 overall]

6-10 points: 10 games [31 overall]

11-15 points: 12 games [17 overall]

16-20 points:  3 games [9 overall]

>20 points:  5 games [11 overall]

No. 8 Atlanta Dream, 7-7 (33.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 9

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 6]

KK:  +1; (3 Road Wins – 2 Home Losses) / No. 5 overall (tied-4)

Flow:  +0.43; (46.8 stops OF opp [No. 1] – 46.4 stops BY opp [No. 12] / No. 7 overall

Striping:  -1.32; [-0.75) conversions [No. 11] – (+0.57) conversions [No. 1] / No. 11 overall

SPOR-t:  -23; (495 [No. 11] – 518 [No. 2]) / No. 9 overall  

Abacus Revelation: The Dream’s FG defense (.410) leads the league.

No. 9 New York Liberty, 4-10 (35)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 5

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 8]

KK: -4; (1 Road Win – 5 Home Losses) / No. 11 overall

Flow:  -2.07; (43.6 stops OF opp [No. 7] – 45.6 stops BY opp [No. 10] / No. 10 overall

Striping:  +0.86; (+1.94) conversions [No. 4] – (+1.04) opp conversions [No. 7] / No. 4 overall

SPOR-t:  -32; (491 [No. 12] – 523 [No. 5]) / No. 10 overall

Abacus Revelation: Liberty opponents attempt 7.79 more FT’s per game, the league’s worst differential.

No. 10 Las Vegas Aces, 5-11 (37)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 12

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 11]

KK:  -2; (3 Road Wins – 5 Home Losses) / No. 9 overall

Flow:  -0.56; (44.3 stops OF opp [No. 3] – 44.9 stops BY opp [No. 8] / No. 9 overall

Striping:  -3.31; (-1.25) conversions [No. 12] – (+2.06) opp conversions [No. 12] / No. 12 overall

SPOR-t:  -17; (525 [No. 6] – 542 [No. 9]) / No. 7 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Aces were the league’s most sure-handed team (TO%, .135) during Weeks 5 & 6.

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%: Indiana

3FG%: Indiana

PPG: Chicago, Indiana

OR%: Phoenix

TO%: Chicago, Minnesota

SPOR-t: Phoenix

No. 11 Indiana Fever, 1-14 (38)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 11

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 10]

KK:  -7; (0 Road Wins – 7 Home Losses) / No. 12 overall

Flow:  -4.13; (41.7 stops OF opp [No. 11] – 45.9 stops BY opp [No. 11] / No. 12 overall

Striping:  +0.40; (+1.43) conversions [No. 6] – (+1.03) conversions [No. 6] / No. 6 overall

SPOR-t:  -18; (518 [No. 9] – 536 [No. 7]) / No. 8 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Fever are the WNBA’s second-best defensive rebounding team (.772).

 No. 12 Chicago Sky, 5-9 (40)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 6

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 12]

KK:  -3; (1 Road Win – 4 Home Losses) / No. 10 overall

Flow:  -4.00; (41.1 stops OF opp [No. 12] – 45.1 stops BY opp [No. 9] / No. 11 overall

Striping:  0.04; (+1.18) conversions [No. 7] – (+1.14) opp conversions [No. 10] / No. 7 overall

SPOR-t:  -87; (520 [No. 8] – 607 [No. 12]) / No. 12 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Sky scrapped their way to nine Offensive Rebounds per game during Weeks 5 & 6.

.

Abacus Revelation for the Road / per-game missed three-point shots

In 89 games, WNBA players attempted 3,389 three-point shots. They have been off-target on 2,250 of them – an average of 12.6 misses per game per team.

Las Vegas 6.56 missed treys [3FG%: .340, No. 8]  

Minnesota 9.57 missed treys [3FG%: .356, No. 3]

Los Angeles 9.80 missed treys [3FG%: .341, No. 7]

Chicago 11.86 missed treys [3FG%: .349, No. 6]

Atlanta 12.86 missed treys [3FG%: .268, No. 12]

Indiana 13.13 missed treys [3FG%: .318, No. 9]

Connecticut 13.93 missed treys [3FG%: .355, No. 4]

Phoenix 14.19 missed treys [3FG%: .359, No. 1]

Washington 14.40 missed treys [3FG%: .357, No. 2]

Dallas 14.79 missed treys [3FG%: .312, No. 11]

New York 15.36 missed treys [3FG%: .313, No. 10]

Seattle 15.44 missed treys [3FG%: .352, No. 5]