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]
