‘Three-peating is hard’: how loss of focus cost the Las Vegas Aces a dynasty
AThis time last year, the Las Vegas Aces seemed on the verge of becoming a dynasty. They had just swept aside the New York Liberty and became the first WNBA team to win back-to-back championships in more than two decades, reducing a much-hyped clash between the superteams to one-way traffic. Those Aces were one of the best teams ever seen in men’s or women’s basketball, at least since the KD Warriors. It wasn’t just their 34 regular season wins (more than any WNBA team in history) or their record-breaking efficiency numbers. It was the execution, the intensity, the discipline and the attention to detail: they were so selfless, so dialed in and everyone looked like they were having a good time. Their vaunted core four of A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray were each under contract for at least another year. What can go wrong?
But the Aces’ bid for a three-peat never quite left the launching pad. Candace Parker re-signed during free agency before announcing her retirement at the start of training camp. They got off to a 6-6 start as Gray worked her way back from a foot injury suffered in last year’s WNBA Finals, posting as many losses in the first month as she did last year. Wilson continued to show she is the best player in the world, earning a third Most Valuable Player award and becoming only the second player to win it unanimously, but Las Vegas was too often undone by backcourt inconsistency and the loss of their defensive identity. Wilson hinted at this the following August her 42-point outburst went down in a defeat against one of the league’s worst teams.
“We’ve seen snippets in games where we have enough to get the job done,” Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of: Do we want to get it done? The trust is there, the conversation will always be there. But are we going to do everything we can to make it happen? Are we going to do the extra little things? And that’s what will get us there.”
Ultimately, the Aces’ own responsibility was not enough. A strangely rough season finally ended Sunday afternoon with an 86-72 loss to the Liberty at Michelob Ultra Arena in the WNBA playoff semifinals.
Since capturing their second straight title on New York’s home floor last October, the Aces have lost five in a row to the Liberty: all three regular-season meetings and the first two games of their best-of-five semifinal series. The Aces were finally able to pull one back in Game 3, but were an ice-cold 7 of 30 from behind the arc and 32.8% overall in Sunday’s ouster as New York closed out the show in style.
“This team was built to take us out, and we did it,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “I think their group deserved it. They deserved it all year.”
The Aces’ season loss was a microcosm of their entire year. Wilson turned in another standout performance with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots, but found herself undermanned against Liberty’s attacking pair of Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, who combined for 33 points and 20 rebounds. The backcourt offered a fraction of last year’s efficiency, with Gray (six assists, seven points), Young (1-for-10 from the floor) and Kelsey Plum (5-for-16) all below their level. On the other hand, New York’s ability to spread the floor and fill from beyond three-point range exposed the Aces’ defensive shortcomings.
“We changed the way this league plays,” Hammon said. “That is something our team can be proud of. We sped it up and spaced it out. I think it’s been great for our game.”
But perhaps the biggest factor in the Aces’ decline was the loss of their competitive advantage, something Hammon has alluded to for months. Some of it could be due to physical and mental fatigue: the entire core of the Aces played at the Paris Olympics, while much of the competition enjoyed a three-week break. But the Las Vegas coach delivered her bluntest assessment yet after Tuesday night’s Game 2 loss in Brooklyn, which pushed the Aces to the brink of elimination.
“The feeling was different than the jump,” Hammon said. “And this is why three-peat is hard, let’s be real. The whole league has been pissed off for the last eight months and my players are in commercials, and this and that and are fucking celebrities. And you get distracted. That’s why it’s difficult. Because human nature is distracting.”
Hammon was less caustic after Sunday’s ouster, her first season-ending loss after winning titles in her first two years on the sidelines, but the message was consistent. The Aces were defeated by a better team, but their loss of focus and intensity was all on their side and completely preventable.
“We’re going to have a lot of hard learning lessons,” Hammon said. “It hurts now, but I promise it will hurt tomorrow, probably worse, because it goes down the next day. You have to build habits and do your work in a way that you think you deserve to win. That you believe you deserve to win. Ultimately, our shortcomings became a bit noticeable.
“We have some great things to build on. We don’t have it every year. That’s not the way this works. You can’t flip a switch. But that’s actually the beauty of sports. The work and the dedication and the buy-in and the playful enthusiasm and the will and will will always come out in the end.”
Just wanting more will only be part of it. The Aces have decisions to make on Plum, Alysha Clark and Tiffany Hayes, all unrestricted free agents. Already tight on cap space, the depth issues dating back to their championship years won’t be easily resolved. And they won’t pick until 16th overall in next year’s draft, after their first-round pick was pulled by the league after an investigation found they violated rules regarding workplace policies and impermissible player benefits.
With an excellent Wilson in the fold, the Aces will never be far from the top. But Hammon is well aware that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“New York has really had great will and determination this entire year,” Hammon said. “We talked a lot last year. I’m sure they heard it, and they’re going to have to give us a slap next year. It will be a long offseason for us. And for us, we’ll be back next year, and I’m sure the level of focus will be very different. I can pretty much guarantee that.”