Can anybody stop the Aces? That鈥檚 the question Women鈥檚 National Basketball Association fans have been asking for a while now. It isn鈥檛 simply that the defending champions have won eight straight contests and sport a stellar 24-2 slate matched only by the 1998 Comets since the league set up shop 27 years ago. It鈥檚 that they鈥檙e running roughshod over their supposed competition in so doing; they鈥檙e first on offense and a smidge below the top on defense, resulting in a plus-15.5 points differential 鈥 two and a half times more than the second-running Liberty. Little wonder, then, that they鈥檝e already clinched a playoff berth, never mind that they still have 14 regular season games to navigate.
To be sure, there were indications from the outset that the Aces would be among the handful of bona fide contenders for the crown. After all, they didn鈥檛 just bring back essentially the same roster that won them the hardware last year; they augmented it, most prominently taking in former Most Valuable Player awardee Candace Parker to underscore their talent advantage. And, don鈥檛 forget, their brain trust is led by reigning Coach of the Year Becky Hammon, set to be enshrined in Springfield next weekend. In short, it would take a superteam to even come close to challenging them.
Significantly, that credible opposition was supposed to have been formed by the Liberty in the off-season. Following a successful recruiting binge that netted them heavyweights Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Courtney Vandersloot, initial prognoses had them sharing the marquee with the Aces. From the get-go, however, it was clear that they, too, could be playing catch-up ball. As good as they have been, with a 20-6 record that is by far the best in the history of the pioneer franchise, they remain more like a collection of great talents on a squad than a great squad of collected talents.
Unless and until the Liberty are able to find the cohesiveness that marks collective success, they will find their ceiling to be much lower than that of the Aces. For all their obvious firepower, they suffer from occasional lapses in concentration. It鈥檚 not that they lack effort, even on defense; it鈥檚 that they are not able to translate it to wire-to-wire ascendancy. It鈥檚 why they鈥檝e had difficulty putting supposed patsies away, and why they either get to squander big leads or need to climb back from big deficits much too often for comfort. They鈥檙e getting better, but, with the postseason drawing near, it鈥檚 fair to ponder if they still have enough time to sharpen their weapons to the degree they need.
So, yes, the Aces are headed for a repeat, and, yes, they鈥檙e focused on their ultimate objective. They realize they have to keep putting in the work, and are acting accordingly. And if the rewards keep coming, it鈥檚 because they deserve them.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
