WNBA basketball is officially back, and it looks quite different than last season for many teams—including the Las Vegas Aces.
After finding themselves at a crossroads this offseason and being forced to rip off their homegrown band-aid, we are finally getting a glimpse of the new-look Aces in action. While we are only two games into this journey, there are still some observations to be made on the squad.
The full half of the glass
We are going to kick things on a positive note because there is a lot of optimism for this squad this season, so let’s start things on the right end of the spectrum.
The Aces are 1-1 and currently sitting at .500 after playing their first two games of the season, following up an opening loss to the New York Liberty with a convincing win over the Connecticut Sun. In their matchup versus the Sun, the Aces appeared to be clicking at all levels, especially Jewell Loyd and A’ja Wilson, who combined for 42 points and 15 rebounds in a 87-62 victory The Aces also got strong contributions from Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, who both tallied double-digit scoring and were a part of the starting lineup that all achieved a plus/minus of +25 or higher.
The Aces seemed to be flowing on their terms as they controlled this game on the defensive end. They recorded nine steals, four blocks and held the Sun to a field goal percentage of 34.4 percent.
The empty half of the glass
While the Aces did look good versus the Connecticut Sun, they also did not look so good against the Liberty. Sure, it was against the defending champs and the first game of the season, but when you’re the Las Vegas Aces—results like that aren’t customary.
The Aces did not look like themselves and were outplayed by the Liberty from the tip. The Liberty led the Aces in every statistical category on the afternoon—except committed turnovers, fouls and 3-point percentage (and only one of those is a positive)—en route to a dominant 92-78 victory.
While this was the first time the new edition Aces played a game together and it happened to be against the defending champs, it was still an unacceptable showing from a team that has long prided itself on their championship level of play.
Next game mentality
It’s only the beginning of the season and the Aces are sitting at one loss and one win with an entire season ahead of them. It is important to understand that this season is going to have its learning curves, it’s going to have its lightbulb moments and there will likely be ups and downs as the Aces continue to navigate roster changes and create chemistry on the court.
The house is not on fire by any means, and while this season will be interesting, I do fully believe that this team is built to contend.
