WNBA 2018 8-week Progress Report

Through its first eight weeks and 122 tip-offs, WNBA 2018 has been nothing if not “streaky.” Looking at the season in two-week segments, only three teams can be said to have played consistently – only the Seattle Storm posting a “winning” record in all four Fortnights. (Indiana and New York have been steady losers.)

The Connecticut Sun paired and explosive 7-2 opening month with a rather odious 3-8 second. As they were securing coach Mike Thibault’s 300^th career win, his Mystics were flip-flopping stretches of crisp (5-1, 4-1) play with sloppy (1-3, 2-3) performance. Recent champions Minnesota and Phoenix broke slowly from the starting box (especially the Lynx) but appear to have righted their ships.

And Brian Agler’s “Showtime” Sparks had their strut in style until a crowded schedule slowed their roll to 2-5 over Fortnight IV.

Maybe the New Kids on the Block we should be watching most closely are just now flipping the switch in North Texas.

A sport seems to get unpredictable when it puts a franchise in Las Vegas, huh?

The Season by the Numbers (per-game per team) thru 122 games

Possessions: 79.3

Points: 81.8  [PPP: 1.032]

FG: 29.9 – 67.9, .440

3FG: 6.5 – 19.0, .341

3PAr/Usage rate: .280

FT: 15.4 – 19.3, .798

(Off – Tot) Reb: 8.7 – 34.1  [OR% .255]

TO: 14.0  [TO% .156]

Stats and data represent play through Thursday, July 12.

An explanation of the criteria for ranking is available here.

An index of bi-weekly ratings available here.

No. 1 Seattle Storm, 15-6 (10)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 1

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 1

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 1]

KK:  +3; (6 Road Wins – 3 Home Losses) / No. 2 overall (tied-3)

Flow:  +3.52; (44.3 stops OF opp [No. 4] – 40.8 stops BY opp [No. 1] / No. 1 overall

Striping:  +1.14; (+2.52) conversions [No. 3] - (+1.38) opp conversions [No. 9] / No. 2 overall

SPOR-t:  +50; (579 [No. 2] – 529 [No. 4]) / No. 4 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Storm throttled its opponents into sub-40% FG shooting during Weeks 7 & 8.

 No. 2 Phoenix Mercury, 14-7 (16)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 10

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 3

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 3]

KK:  +6; (9 Road Wins – 3 Home Losses) / No. 1 overall

Flow:  +1.10; (44.1 stops OF opp [No. 5] – 43.0 stops BY opp [No. 7] / No. 3 overall

Striping:  +1.26; (+2.57) conversions [No. 2] – (+1.31) opp conversions [No. 7] / No. 1 overall

SPOR-t:  -63; (500 [No. 11] – 563 [No. 10]) / No. 11 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Mercury’s Griner-led D holds the opposition to a league worst (best?) .418 FG shooting.

No. 3 Connecticut Sun, 10-10 (18.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 3

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 1

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 1]

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

Flow:  +0.55; (43.2 stops OF opp [No. 7] – 42.6 stops BY opp [No. 4] / No. 6 overall (tied)

Striping:  +0.10; (+1.30) conversions [No. 6] – (+1.20) conversions [No. 6] / No. 8 overall

SPOR-t:  +91; (620 [No. 1] – 529 [No. 4]) / No. 1 overall

Abacus Revelation: Connecticut’s FG shooting dipped from .459 to .414 during Weeks 7 & 8.

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%: Dallas, Phoenix, Seattle

3FG%: NONE

PPG: Seattle

OR%: Dallas, Minnesota

TO%: Atlanta, Indiana, Washington

SPOR-t: Connecticut, Dallas, Seattle

No. 4 Dallas Wings, 12-8 (19)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 6

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 7

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 7]

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

Flow:  +2.40; (45.1 stops OF opp [No. 2] – 42.7 stops BY opp [No. 5] / No. 2 overall

Striping:  -0.20; (+0.70) conversions [No. 10] – (+0.90) conversions [No. 2] / No. 9 overall

SPOR-t:  +69; (578 [No. 3] – 509 [No. 2]) / No. 2 overall (tied)

Abacus Revelation: The highest-scoring squad in the circuit (87.3 ppg), the Dallas offense has generated 93.3 points per in their last six games.

No. 5 Minnesota Lynx, 12-8 (19.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 8

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 9

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 6]

KK:  +3; (6 Road Wins – 3 Home Losses) / No. 2 overall (tied-3)

Flow:  +0.85; (43.7 stops OF opp [No. 6] – 42.9 stops BY opp [No. 6] / No. 4 overall

Striping:  -0.50; (+0.90) conversions [No. 9] – (+1.40) opp conversions [No. 10] / No. 10 overall

SPOR-t:  +69; (549 [No. 5] – 480 [No. 1]) / No. 2 overall (tied)

Abacus Revelation: Currently third from the bottom, the Lynx struggle holding on to the ball (TO%, .166).

ABACUS INFOMERCIAL

Scoring Pace 33 games [122 overall]

100+ points: 4 games [15 overall]

90-99 points: 14 games [45 overall]

80-89 points: 17 games [71 overall]

70-79 points: 25 games [86 overall]

60-69 points: 5 games [23 overall]

<60 points: 1 game [4 overall]

No. 6 Washington Mystics, 12-8 (23.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 2

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 5

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 5]

KK:  0; (5 Road Wins – 5 Home Losses) / No. 8 overall

Flow:  +0.55; (41.9 stops OF opp [No. 10] – 41.3 stops BY opp [No. 2] / No. 6 overall (tied)

Striping:  +1.10; (+2.63) conversions [No. 1] – (+1.53) opp conversions [No. 11] / No. 3 overall

SPOR-t:  +3; (567 [No. 4] – 564 [No. 11]) / No. 6 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Mystics forced 25% fewer TO’s during a rather lackluster Fortnight IV.

No. 7 Los Angeles Sparks, 13-9 (26)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 4

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 4]

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 4

KK:  +1; (5 Road Wins – 4 Home Losses) / No. 7 overall

Flow:  +0.73; (42.3 stops OF opp [No. 9] – 41.5 stops BY opp [No. 3] / No. 5 overall

Striping:  +0.48; (+1.23) conversions [No. 8] – (+0.75) opp conversions [No. 1]) / No. 5 overall

SPOR-t:  -25; (509 [No. 9] – 534 [No. 6]) / No. 9 overall

Abacus Revelation: Over the last 28 calendar days, the Sparks had back-to-back open dates just twice – logging 14 games in the process.

ABACUS INFOMERCIAL

Scoring Differential 33 games [122 overall]

1-5 points: 9 games [30 overall]

6-10 points: 6 games [37 overall]

11-15 points: 8 games [25 overall]

16-20 points:  5 games [14 overall]

>20 points:  5 games [16 overall]

No. 8 Atlanta Dream, 10-9 (31.5)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 9

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 6

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 8]

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

Flow:  +0.53; (46.1 stops OF opp [No. 1] – 45.6 stops BY opp [No. 11] / No. 8 overall

Striping:  -1.18; [-0.08) conversions [No. 11] – (+1.11) conversions [No. 4] / No. 11 overall

SPOR-t:  -18; (508 [No. 10] – 526 [No. 3]) / No. 7 overall  

Abacus Revelation: The Dream’s strong 3FG defense went to sleep in Fortnight IV, allowing .408 opponent shooting from deep.

No. 9 Las Vegas Aces, 9-12 (35)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 12

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 11

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 10]

KK:  -1; (4 Road Wins – 5 Home Losses) / No. 9 overall

Flow:  +0.48; (44.5 stops OF opp [No. 3] – 44.0 stops BY opp [No. 8] / No. 9 overall

Striping:  -3.26; (-1.05) conversions [No. 12] – (+2.21) opp conversions [No. 12] / No. 12 overall

SPOR-t:  +5; (542 [No. 6] – 537 [No. 8]) / No. 5 overall

Abacus Revelation: Now No. 3 (.757), the Aces have placed among the upper half of the league’s defensive rebounding teams all season.

No. 9 New York Liberty, 6-14 (35)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 5

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 8

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 9]

KK: -5; (3 Road Wins – 8 Home Losses) / No. 11 overall

Flow:  -2.00; (42.8 stops OF opp [No. 8] – 44.8 stops BY opp [No. 9] / No. 10 overall

Striping:  +0.23; (+1.55) conversions [No. 5] – (+1.33) opp conversions [No. 8] / No. 6 overall

SPOR-t:  -21; (514 [No. 7] – 535 [No. 7]) / No. 8 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Liberty improved their offensive rebounding by three per game – while shooting more accurately, too – during Weeks 7 & 8.

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%: Chicago, Indiana

3FG%: NONE

PPG: Indiana, New York

OR%: Phoenix

TO%: Chicago, Minnesota

SPOR-t: Indiana, Phoenix

 No. 11 Chicago Sky, 7-13 (37)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 6

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 12

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 12]

KK:  -4; (2 Road Wins – 6 Home Losses) / No. 10 overall

Flow:  -4.25; (41.3 stops OF opp [No. 12] – 45.5 stops BY opp [No. 10] / No. 11 overall

Striping:  0.58; (+1.73) conversions [No. 4] – (+1.15) opp conversions [No. 5] / No. 4 overall

SPOR-t:  -109; (512 [No. 8] – 621 [No. 12]) / No. 12 overall

Abacus Revelation: The Sky top the “W” in 3FG accuracy at .369.

No. 12 Indiana Fever, 2-18 (41)

[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 11

4-week Abacus Rank: No. 10

6-week Abacus Rank: No. 11]

KK:  -9; (1 Road Win – 10 Home Losses) / No. 12 overall

Flow:  -4.40; (41.5 stops OF opp [No. 11] – 45.9 stops BY opp [No. 12] / No. 12 overall

Striping:  +0.20; (+1.30) conversions [No. 6] – (+1.10) conversions [No. 3] / No. 7 overall

SPOR-t:  -53; (495 [No. 12] – 548 [No. 9]) / No. 10 overall

Abacus Revelation: Pokey Chapman’s pesky Fever induced 15 opponent TO’s per game during Weeks 7 & 8, No. 2 in the league.

Abacus Revelation for the Road / Random Ranking – Points per Shot (FGA) Differential

In its first 122 games, WNBA 2018 produced 19,921 points while attempting 16,567 field goals – a rate of 120.2 points per 100 shots.

Seattle +14.4 points per 100 shots [129.1 (No. 2) – 114.7 (No. 1)]

Phoenix +13.9 points per 100 shots [129.1 (No. 3) – 115.5 (No. 4)]

Dallas +11.5 points per 100 shots [129.1 (No. 1) – 117.6 (No. 5)]

Minnesota +4.6 points per 100 shots [119.5 (No. 6) – 114.9 (No.2)]

Washington +0.3 points per 100 shots [125.8 (No. 4) – 125.5 (No. 10)]

Las Vegas -0.1 points per 100 shots [119.3 (No. 8) – 119.4 (No. 6)]

Los Angeles -1.6 points per 100 shots [120.7 (No. 5) – 122.3 (No. 8)]

Chicago -2.7 points per 100 shots [119.3 (No. 7) – 122.0 (No. 7)]

Atlanta -3.5 points per 100 shots [111.7 (No. 11) – 115.2 (No. 3)]

Connecticut -5.4 points per 100 shots [118.1 (No. 9) – 123.5 (No. 9)]

New York -13.7 points per 100 shots [112.6 (No. 10) – 126.3 (No. 11)]

Indiana -18.6 points per 100 shots [108.8 (No. 12) – 127.4 (No. 12)]