Mercury visit Seattle Storm with a focus on defense

The Mercury came up short against the Las Vegas Aces on Friday night, 86-83, and head coach Nate Tibbetts has said that the team’s defense is their biggest strength for wins. The team began the season with a defensive-based identity, but Phoenix has struggled to find that identity since the All-Star break.

Phoenix showed glimpses of that first-half defense during its last homestand, but a 10-point deficit against the Aces put the Mercury on their heels.

“I think our defense always fuels our offense,” said Tibbetts after Friday’s game, according to the team’s post-press recording. “… When we can get stops and look to push, we’re pretty good.”

Despite the second-half slump, Phoenix continues to own the league’s second-best defensive rating at 99.2. With the defense starting to return, the team is now focusing on other areas, such as rebounding.

“We played incredible defense, we just didn’t secure the rebound,” said guard Kahleah Copper, according to the team’s post-press recording. “… We cleaned up the turnovers and then we played good defense, but we needed to secure the rebound.”

Although Phoenix remains in fourth place in the standings, the playoff race continues to tighten and the Mercury are hoping to rediscover their defensive identity to improve their rebounding. The loss against Las Vegas only fuels the team to perform better.

“We’re not satisfied, we want to be great, we want to win,” Copper said. “So, yeah, we’re just trying to keep the standard the standard. We’re not here for moral victories or anything like that. We ultimately… want to win.”

The Phoenix Mercury and the Seattle Storm face off on Sunday, Aug. 17, at 3 p.m.