Becky Hammon Shares Only Way Aces Can End Their Losing Streak
Once again, the Las Vegas Aces are starting the season with mixed performances. They lost to the Phoenix Mercury by 30 points in the regular-season opener before going on a four-game win streak with dominant victories over the Los Angeles Sparks and Connecticut Sun. Now, after a 95-87 loss to the Dallas Wings, they are on a two-game losing streak.
After the game, Becky Hammon was very unhappy with two things: the Aces’ lack of free throws and her team’s defense. While Hammon called it a “problem” that Awak Kuier had more free throws than A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chennedy Carter combined, she believes that a failure to lock in on defense for 40 minutes is what’s truly holding the Aces back.
“Anytime we give up 95 to 100, my team is probably going to lose,” Hammon said in the postgame media availability, per the Aces’ YouTube channel. “Until we figure that out, we’ll continue to lose. Until we want to play defense for 40 minutes, we’ll just continue to take these bumps on the chin.”
The Aces struggled to contain the Wings’ offense in the second half
The Aces went into halftime with an eight-point lead. They narrowly won both quarters and looked like they mostly had things under control. Then, they allowed the Wings to score 27 points in the third quarter and a total of 50 in the second half.
Too many of those second-half points were wide-open looks due to missed rotations, bad helpside defense, and close-outs that were either too slow or non-existent.
The Wings finished the game shooting 49% from the floor and 45% from three.
This has also been an issue in other games
The Aces’ defense has had its ups and downs this season, and the downs are costing the defending champions wins. They gave up at least 95 points in all three of their losses and even let the Sun score 94 points in a close win.
Las Vegas currently ranks twelfth in opponent points per game with 88.6 and tenth in defensive rating. The Aces also allow the most second-chance points per game, regularly failing to close out possessions.
Those are weaknesses the Aces may be able to overcome against teams like Connecticut, but they can cost them valuable wins against the better teams in the league and may even lead to an early playoff exit if they persist into the postseason. The Aces proved last season that a bad start doesn’t have to mean much for them. However, if they don’t lock in defensively every game, this could quickly go from a bad start to a disappointing season.
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Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.