The IX Basketball’s Jackie Powell was live on Friday evening in Phoenix, where the Las Vegas Aces completed a sweep of the Phoenix Mercury to close out a third WNBA title in four years, taking Game 4 by a score of 97-86.
Powell provides a look into the sights and sounds from Game 4, plus the disappointing and emotional conclusion of the season for the Mercury. Powell, courtesy of Aces owner Mark Davis, also provides a quick update on the ongoing investigation into the Aces’ potential salary cap circumvention, along with some thoughts on CBA negotiations from Chelsea Gray.
Powell on how the Aces got it done in Game 4 to secure the sweep Friday night:
To be quite honest, this felt very similar to how Game 3 went down. The Aces came out quite strong. They hit a lot of threes to begin this one. The Phoenix defense didn’t have it to start. And to be quite honest, it really struggled throughout this WNBA finals. And we’ll get into why the Phoenix defense struggled later in the show, but the Aces moved the ball quite well.
In the past, they would win games, but sometimes it would be via a lot of one-on-one play. But what was super impressive [in Game 4] was just how they were able to work the ball in the halfcourt. And in addition to playing well in transition, it made the Aces a much more dangerous team, because, as we saw tonight, the Mercury really, really struggled in their half-court sets, and the Aces took advantage
Powell on Hammon evolving both tactically and emotionally, as Becky Hammon got emotional in her availability, prompting A’ja Wilson to shield her with a championship towel for a moment:
It stuck out to me because when Becky Hammon first became a head coach in this league, her shell was very hard. It was very hard to to get to know her and to understand why she coached the way she did.
And initially — and I include myself in this — I was quite critical of how she didn’t really play her bench. She did not rest her stars at the appropriate times. But that has changed. Her bench played a critical role, not only throughout these finals, but throughout the entire playoffs.
So that, in addition to really balancing the different parts of her personality with her players in order to get them to buy in. She’s just a really fascinating not just coach, but person to cover.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports on YouTube as attention turns from this WNBA season to the impending and packed offseason. Plus, the college season is just around the corner.
