The Las Vegas Aces were deemed as favorites coming into the series against the Valkyries, but little did they know that they would be squashed like a bug by Natalie Nakase and her ladies. The Aces were thoroughly suffocated and somehow limped to the final quarter, which ended in a disappointing 71-60 defeat.
A’ja Wilson clearly tried to do her best but the three-time WNBA champion did not find enough horsepower in her team to pull off a win. The reason for the defeat is clearly the Las Vegas roster in itself, with the team seeing plenty of injury woes this season. With several talented players out injured, the team is severely lacking in rebounding, something that the Valkyries made good use of.
“All we talked about for the last 48 hours is rebounding and blocking them out and we didn’t do it.” head coach Becky Hammon said.
So did the Las Vegas Aces lose because of injury woes? Injury woes are aplenty in such a competitive league like the WNBA and this cannot be a solid reason for the Aces’ defeat. The primary reason why Las Vegas was defeated is because the bench has been highly underutilized this season.
Becky Hammon, unlike Natalie Nakase, failed to give opportunities for her bench players to get more playing time. This means that the top talents like Wilson and NaLyssa Smith have been taking much of the load, while others on the bench have not been used at all. On the other side, we have Nakase, who has been regularly rotating her players more than a Ferris wheel, ensuring that each and every one of them is capable of playing competitively. Now, this is a lesson that all coaches can take home today!
Las Vegas Aces Struggled Against Golden State’s Bench
The Las Vegas Aces got slap on the wrist in Game 1, which was basically the gods of basketball chiding Becky Hammon as head coach, for not giving enough attention to the bench. The Aces practically died as a result of Golden State’s bench, with Kaitlyn Chen playing like the eighth wonder of the world in offense.
At this point in the post-season, it is highly questionable if the Aces will be able to lean into their bench. However, they will need to trust their players, including those sitting on the bench, to bring their A-game if they need to help A’ja Wilson keep scoring and rebounding.
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