Alyssa Thomas' Clarity on 'Attack' Strategy Against Fever Defense Raises Eyebrows

A comment Phoenix Mercury star forward Alyssa Thomas made when speaking with the media after her team's 86-77 loss to the Indiana Fever on June 22 is raising eyebrows.

"Offensively, we know we can attack them however we want. That's one of the key emphases when you play them. Just moving them and trying to get to the basket," Thomas said when asked about the Mercury's ability to get open shots during Monday's game, per a YouTube video from The Ballers Magazine.

"I think when we do that, and attack them, and get to the free throw line, it's a different game," she added.

Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) rushes up the court against Indiana Fever forward Myisha Hines-Allen (2) | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Why Alyssa Thomas' Sentiment About Fever Defense Doesn't Check Out

This response from Thomas was interesting, given how clear and confident she was about her team's ability to successfully "attack" the Fever on defense. The reason it's raising eyebrows is that the Mercury weren't all that successful on offense against Indiana.

Phoenix averages 82.2 points per game on offense, which means that the 77 they scored on Monday was below-average. Their 41% field goal percentage last night was also below their season average of 42.7%, and they also shot 20% from three-point range, which is a huge decrease from their season average of 32%.

All of this indicates that the Mercury had a tougher time on offense against Indiana than they usually do in other games. So Thomas' certainty about knowing that Phoenix can attack Indiana "whenever they want," and that success is as simple as moving them and trying to get to the basket, doesn't quite check out.

Granted, Thomas could mainly be referring to getting to the foul line. The Fever are on pace to average more fouls committed per game (23.9) than any other team in WNBA history, and committed 23 fouls against the Mercury last night. This led to 21 free-throw attempts for Phoenix, of which they made 16.

But the Mercury fouled the Fever 25 times, which resulted in 29 free-throw attempts for Indiana (22 of which were made). So this strategy to attack the Fever's defense didn't manifest, at least not in line with how Thomas spoke about it.

One would imagine that Thomas and the rest of the Mercury's roster will take these lessons learned from Monday's game and try to implement them against the Fever when the two sides rematch on Wednesday.

Therefore, fans can probably expect Phoenix to keep attacking the Fever in the paint and trying to get to the free-throw line. Then again, given that Thomas is shooting 68.9% from the free-throw line this season and was 60% from the stripe last night, this might not be the best strategy to produce points.

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