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Four WNBA teams to pay attention to post-Olympic break
Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi were two of six Phoenix Mercury players to play in the Rio Olympics. USA TODAY Sports

Four WNBA teams to pay attention to post-Olympic break

While the result was preordained with the United States capturing a sixth consecutive gold medal over the weekend, women’s basketball in the Summer Olympics provided a sterling platform of some of the best players in the world. And though many of those players ply their trades elsewhere, a significant contributor to the infusion of talent came stateside through the WNBA.

A league-record 26 players (23 active plus three players under contract who did not report to training camp) represented nine of the 12 Olympic teams, including three apiece for Australia and Brazil as well as two each for Serbia and Spain. In short order, these players will return to their respective WNBA teams in hopes of making a run at the WNBA Finals this fall.

When the Olympic break ends on Friday, the transition back to the grind of a playoff chase could be harder for some teams than others, so here are four teams to keep your eyes on for the remainder of the regular season.

Phoenix Mercury

Arizona’s team had a league-high six players in Rio. Its leaders, Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner, have a bit of work to do as at 10-14, the Mercury has suffered from some uneven play throughout the season. The challenge will also fall to their teammates Lindsey Harding (an American playing for Belarus), Sonja Petrovic (Serbia), Marta Xargay (Spain) and Australia’s Penny Taylor, who is retiring from the league at season’s end.

Phoenix may be the most fascinating team coming back into league play because while it may not take long for the team to find its rhythm together as a unit, you wonder if there’s enough depth on the roster to make a run for one of the lower playoff seeds. Having half of the roster playing more basketball than the rest might be a test of stamina and energy before even adding the stress of trying to resurrect the season.

Minnesota Lynx

The concerns for Phoenix can somewhat be said for the defending champions, who are on a mission to assert themselves as the greatest dynasty in the league’s 20-year existence. Four Americans came from the Lynx — Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen and Sylvia Fowles. They also happen to be four-fifths of Minnesota’s starting lineup (Rebekkah Brunson is the remaining starter).

In some regards, the Olympics could have been two weeks of nonstop practice for the foursome. However, each of them played significant minutes in the tournament. On top of a title defense and a season-long battle with the Los Angeles Sparks for Western Conference supremacy, they may face similar questions as Phoenix about proper resting of players in the stretch run.

Yet, the Lynx are three-time WNBA champions for a reason, so it would be foolish to discount them.

Los Angeles Sparks

Of course, the excellence of the Olympic team in Rio almost makes you forget the biggest controversy coming into the summer, when Candace Parker was unexpectedly left off the roster. In a sense, you can say that the snub added a bit of a “prove them wrong” element to Parker’s game this season, as her Sparks had been trading off all-time records with the Lynx. Both teams clinched playoff positions before the break, with the Sparks holding a half-game edge over the Lynx.

The rest that Parker got should be a major help given that gunning for history can exhaust any great team. Considering that the Lynx had four active players in Rio, if the Sparks further distance themselves in the standings, it won’t be a surprise if the Olympic break is looked upon as the separator between them.

In addition, Ana Dabovic started for Serbia and played well, so despite a lesser role in Los Angeles, you wonder if the Sparks’ lone Olympian could have earned herself more minutes.

New York Liberty

In a sense, if there’s one team that can get the post-Olympics bounce through the final weeks of the season, it’s the Liberty. Tina Charles, who was the leading MVP candidate for the majority of the season, was the lone Olympian on the roster. Though she carries the bulk of the offense for New York, she didn’t have nearly the same responsibility for Team USA thanks to the frontcourt depth along with Sue Bird, Taurasi and Moore leading the offense. Charles played well in a smaller role and fewer minutes, so perhaps she can return to MVP form for a well-rested Liberty team that sits atop the Eastern Conference standings.

Of course, the Olympic break impacted several more teams with playoff aspirations. With the 9-15 Seattle Storm trying to sneak into the playoff picture, all eyes will be on Bird’s knee, which caused her to miss the semifinals against France (she returned in the gold medal game).

The stars for three Eastern Conference teams were also major contributors off the bench for Team USA: Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry led the bench mob, while Indiana legend Tamika Catchings and Chicago’s Elena Delle Donne added frontcourt depth. Respectively sitting fourth, fifth and sixth in potential playoff seeding, those three will have to lead their franchises for better positioning in a new, conference-less postseason.

What will make this postseason run so different from any in the previous 19 seasons in the league is the latest, expanded format. The top eight teams, regardless of conference, will make the playoffs. The teams with the two best records will receive byes to the semifinals (which are now the third round) and hold homecourt advantage in those best-of-five series. The teams with the third and fourth best records will receive byes into the second round, which will be single-elimination games. The remaining four teams will play in single-elimination games in the new first round.

So it’s safe to say that the playoff chase is going to be a bit frantic. Over the coming weeks, we’ll find out how much, if at all, the Summer Olympic break added to the chaos. 

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