What’s wrong with the Aces? Here are 3 reasons the team is struggling

A’ja Wilson missed a potential game-winning shot in the final second against the Dallas Wings on Tuesday, but it was clear she wasn’t the reason the Aces lost.

Wilson scored 42 points — the most in the WNBA this season — as the back-to-back defending champions lost to a team with the league’s second-worst record.

Even with the WNBA’s best player, the Aces are 18-12 — their worst record since they were 19-12 in August 2019. They are 6-8 against teams above .500.

So what’s wrong? If you ask Wilson, it’s simple:

“We’ve seen snippets in games that we have enough to get the job done,” she said. “It’s just a matter of, do we want to get it done? The confidence is there, the talk is going to always be there.

“But are we going to put the work in to get it done? Are we going to do the extra little things? And that’s what’s going to take us there.”

The Aces have 10 games left in the regular season to figure that out, beginning Friday against the Atlanta Dream at Michelob Ultra Arena. Here are three areas of concern:

1. Defense

Coach Becky Hammon sounds a lot like Wilson when she rips the Aces’ defense after games.

The Aces have a 105.6 offensive rating, second to the Liberty. The problem is their 101.3 defensive rating is seventh in the 12-team league.

It’s a weird shift for a team that made its name on defense last season, finishing with a 97.7 rating. This season, Hammon has been clear she hasn’t liked the defense since Day 1 of training camp.

“Last year is last year,” she said before Tuesday’s loss. “I think you have to let this team form its own identity, because nothing carries over. Even though you’re looking at the same faces, same bodies, the soul is different. So we have to be here in the present and not live in the past, myself included.

“You have to get back to just old school accountability. Play defense or come sit next to me are your options.”

2. Lack of depth

Hammon’s threat to sit players is weakened by the fact that she hasn’t gone deep into her bench this season.

Forward Kierstan Bell is healthy but hasn’t played since early July. Veteran guard Sydney Colson hasn’t appeared in three of their six games since the Olympic break, and guard Kate Martin is averaging two minutes per game during that stretch.

The team is even struggling to find a consistent fifth starter, giving veteran forward Alysha Clark and center Megan Gustafson the opportunity over center Kiah Stokes since returning from the break.

“We’re going game by game and seeing just whatever the other team has for us, offensively and defensively,” Hammon said. “We’re just trying to figure it out.”

That has been a struggle, as neither Gustafson nor Clark recorded a rebound against the Wings. Stokes had two in 14 minutes.

The Aces were critiqued for their lack of depth last season, but they were aided by a strong chemistry that permeated to the reserves in the WNBA Finals.

Hammon said the team is “fighting human nature” as it struggles with trusting one another this season.

“We’re still figuring it out that we’re best when we bring out the best in each other,” she said. “But how am I supposed to feel good getting up and doing my job when sometimes you got my back and sometimes you don’t? And so those are just little inner workings of the team … They love each other like crazy; trusting each other on the court’s a different animal.”

3. Olympic fatigue

It doesn’t help that the team’s stars aren’t at their most refreshed as the postseason looms.

The Aces sent six players to the Olympics, including the “Core Four” of Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.

“There’s definitely a little bit of a fatigue factor,” Hammon said. “I know a couple of them were a little bit dinged up — still able to go but definitely not themselves. Jackie hasn’t been herself since she’s been back.”

Young is averaging 11.8 points since returning from Paris, a drop-off that has included games with two and four points.

Gray said many teams have benefited from a month of rest during the break and the return of players who were injured.

“In this league, anybody can be beat, anybody can win,” she said. “The records really don’t paint the whole picture. And there’s a lot more parity.”

Contact Callie Lawson-Freeman at clawsonfreeman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.