Women's Basketball 24.7

"There is no offseason"

The Loophole One Top Prospect Should Explore

by

With young players taking a large share of the spotlight in this past college season, scrutiny about the WNBA’s draft rules is greater than usual.  The rules did not end up changing with a new CBA so there should not be any expectation that future prospects will be able to accelerate their draft clocks at this time.  There is one talented young player who is in an unusual situation because of the draft rules issue that used to get all of the attention, the one that created a difference in draft time for players who were considered international.  Emerging Lithuanian wing Juste Jocyte turns out not to fall under the international designation, which would keep her out of the WNBA longer.  Given the current rules, this year would be the one time where she could take action to move her draft year up to the same year as international players born in the same year as she was.  Is there a loophole that she can use that would allow her to be drafted earlier?

Family Background:

Jocyte’s father Alvydas Jocys played college basketball in the United States, first at the North Platte campus of Mid-Plains Community College for two seasons then at NAIA school Bellevue University for two seasons.  As part of his career, he worked at Lithuania’s embassy to the United States.  That proves to be a critical detail in this situation because it meant that his daughter was born in Washington, D.C. in 2005 as opposed to another country.  Birthplace is a key component of draft eligibility in the CBA and is obviously not something that can be changed after the fact.  That the family subsequently moved to Lithuania does not matter.  Jocyte’s older brother Rokas is also a promising young basketball player who is playing in Italy with Stella Azzurra Roma, which has a strong history of player development.

Early Notoriety:

Jocyte’s first moment on the global stage was at the inaugural Jr. NBA World Championship in 2018 as she was one of the players selected to represent Europe.  Her team made it through the international bracket to the final game as she received the Teamwork award at the conclusion of the tournament.  Even at that time, she was beginning to show the scoring ability that was going to gain her notoriety the next summer.  In 2019, playing two years up for Lithuania’s U16 team, she led her team in an impressive run through the knockout stages as they lost a heartbreaker to Russia in the final.  While the country has a long and storied basketball tradition, recent success for their women’s teams had been hard to come by and everyone was looking forward to the team participating in a global youth championship in 2020, but the pandemic delayed those hopes.  Her play during the tournament demonstrated an impressive arsenal of skills at her age, allowing her to consistently execute high degree of difficulty shots as the team increasingly put the ball in her hands during crunch time.

Playing in France:

After a strong start to the domestic league season in Lithuania, Jocyte made her senior national team debut in their EuroBasket qualifier against Albania in November right before her 14th birthday.  That was also the time that moving out of the country and developing in a different environment became a serious consideration.  Tony Parker had long been actively involved in the roster construction of ASVEL and when the club added Lyon’s premier women’s team to the group, also took on that role for that part of the club as well.  Nicolas Batum also had a role with the club and in this case, played a critical part in the recruiting process.  The duo convinced her and her family to agree to a three year plan for her to develop there, which has reportedly now extended through 2025.  While there were also opportunities to play with their youth team in France’s third division and school obligations, she was quickly handed a top division debut and the youngest debut in the current incarnation of EuroLeague.  The wait for her to play significant minutes in a critical club situation continues, but she played extensively with the national team during the rest of their qualifying campaign, showing additional promise as a secondary playmaker.

Draft Rules:

Section 1 of Article XIII of the CBA is the one that covers player eligibility for the draft.  Subsection e is the one that covers Jocyte’s status as a non-international as it states “For purposes of this Section 1, an “international player” means any person born and residing outside the United States.”  Most non-internationals then fall under paragraph i of subsection b for their earliest draft eligibility as “will be at least twenty-two (22) years old during the calendar year in which such Draft is held” is the first part of the first possible entry criteria.  As we discussed here, that is two years later than the age at which international players can enter.  Non-internationals do have more options listed in the following two paragraphs if the player “has graduated from a four-year college or university prior to such Draft, or “is to graduate” from such college or university within the three (3)-month period following such Draft” or “attended a four year college or university, her original class in such college or university has already been graduated or “is to graduate” within the three (3)-month period following such Draft” then she can be in the draft.  Unlike the NBA, there is no age requirement for the last two items so a non-international player can get to the WNBA sooner than the age 22 year.  Quanitra Hollingsworth enrolled at VCU when she was 16 so she was drafted at age 20, turning 21 after the season and therefore reaching the league a year earlier than would typically be expected for a player born when she was.

Possible Loophole:

Given those rules, this is the last year that Jocyte could enroll in college in the United States and then leave college and be eligible for the 2025 draft, assuming that she would not actually stay in college and graduate early.  The language in the CBA specifies a four-year school, but that does not seem to address the possibility of schools in other countries that typically award degrees after three years as there is no mention of the location of the school, unlike for international players.  Also, as a non-international, there is no reference to actually competing or exercising eligibility in school, merely attending, so online courses would probably be sufficient to qualify under this criteria.  Not necessarily needing to play would also mean not needing to qualify under the criteria necessary to play sports and simply being able to be admitted as a regular student might be enough.  Some people have wondered if young Americans could play professionally overseas and accelerate their draft clocks.  As shown here, that would not be possible without also attending college, which could be done without planning on actually staying there.

International Names to Know for 2021 Draft

by

With college players all having the option to return for another season, this year has a lot more draft flux than usual.  On the other hand, the international draft class is one of the deepest in recent memory even with a number of top players born in 2001 opting for the college route.  Teams have been more aggressive in recent seasons in using picks on international players, even reach prospects, and with the talent available this year, we could be looking at a record number of international picks in the twelve team era.  The rules continue to be the same as players born outside of the United States in 2001 who have never exercised intercollegiate eligibility in the United States can only be selected in this draft and will be free agents if they are not picked.  Players born in 1999 who did go to college, but left, and have never been eligible for a draft are also in this draft, but technically do not fall under the category of international players.  With a lot of players for teams to evaluate, here are some of the names that could be called later this year (club team country indicated if different from player’s national team):

Awak Kuier, PF, Finland, Virtus Eirene Ragusa (Italy)
She may have achieved notoriety for her dunking, but Kuier has been quietly developing into this draft’s premier international prospect.  With many of her peers playing on teams with older players, spending more time on a youth-focused team in Finland ahead of her decision between college and professional careers may have actually helped her long-term.  She was encouraged to shoot from distance and allowed to attack from the perimeter off the dribble and continued development in both areas will help her continue to fit in as a modern post player.  After opting against college, she signed in Italy for this season and has fit in well with the team concept and shown a few flashes of what she can accomplish.  Finland’s less than elite status among Europe’s women’s basketball hotbeds means that she has a tougher path to prove that she is deserving of the higher level playing gigs and accompanying salaries, meaning that her willingness to showcase herself in the WNBA may be stronger than players from other countries and should preserve her value as a pick.

Shyla Heal, PG, Australia, Townsville Fire
Known as a sharpshooter, Heal has worked hard on becoming a more complete point guard and it showed in her time as a starter on a strong Townsville team.  While she is not quite at the playmaking level of a traditional passer, her game has become more complete ahead of her year in the draft and is a threat to pass or score when she attacks the paint.  The ability to shoot out of spot up situations will also continue to be important with more and more taller players preferring to start possessions with the ball in their hands.  A point guard sized player whose offensive game does not suffer off the ball can provide value to any team.  Her consistent improvement and the greater likelihood of Australian players being willing to come over when ready make her a reliable pick.  Not playing a competitive game for months before the draft may leave her out of the spotlight, but decision makers will certainly be ready to rank her among the rest of the prospects.

Florencia Chagas, SG, Argentina, Empoli (Italy)
Having challenged herself at a young age by choosing to leave home for Italy, Chagas has been limited to garbage time minutes in past seasons, but playing for Empoli this campaign has given her ample opportunities.  She has demonstrated flashes of scoring touch at this level, but not necessarily the playmaking that has generally led her to being labeled a combo-guard.  She does have the height to play on the wing so continuing to develop that scoring ability can pay off in the future.  Argentina has had solid national teams in the past, but are looking for the next talismanic figure to push them back into the top trio in South America and she could become that player soon, but probably not alongside her sister Luciana, who opted to suit up for Uruguay.  With her WNBA dreams and the benefits that becoming a contributor at that level could bring for the rest of her career, she would be a reliable pick, but is still a few years away from earning a chance on a roster.

Raquel Carrera, PF, Spain, Valencia
Top Spanish prospects have had the habit of trying the college route lately, pushing back their draft clocks, but Carrera chose to sign with ambitious Valencia and fight for playing time on a team pushing for trophies.  She has put up solid numbers as a part of the rotation and figures to also challenge for national team recognition in the future.  While she figures to be a solid scorer in the future, she does land in a tricky place when it comes to European archetypes translating to WNBA play.  It is not clear at this point whether she would be able to play consistently in the post at the highest levels and her range is still expanding in this phase of her career.  Further development in the next few years could provide a payoff for a team rolling the dice late in the draft.

Laura Meldere, PF, Latvia, Reyer Venezia (Italy)
Having spent several years in Italy already, Meldere has been steadily learning her craft from more established players and preparing for the future.  Unfortunately, given how the draft works, a pick has to happen this year or she is a free agent and it is hard to see how there will be much more information to base a decision on between now and then.  Her team was undefeated until recently, so not cracking their rotation is not a concern.  The likelihood of her being picked has been severely hurt by the lack of youth national team play last year where she would have been able to play a number of games as the feature scorer and show her ability to rebound and defend against her peers.  Teams that have been scouting the younger prospects for a while could choose to roll the dice late here.

Gili Eisner, PG, Israel, Hapoel Rishon LeZion
After a few impressive scoring displays as a youngster, Eisner was on the radar as a potential future elite outside shooting threat with some combo ability as a secondary playmaker.  Over the offseason, that playmaking ability was refined and she entered the season as her club’s point guard.  While that decreased the percentage and volume from distance for a while, her assisting ability started to push the league’s top passers whose professional careers have been defined by their passing and despite efforts to sign another lead guard, her team will be relying on her for the rest of the season.  Judging performance in the Israeli league can be difficult, but she did show playmaking ability in one of the national team’s qualifying games.  Given her potential at two key skills, she could be a canny pick late in the draft with the hopes that a few more years of development like the last one will get her to the required ability to contribute at a higher level.

Goksen Fitik, PG, Turkey, Cukurova Mersin Yenisehir
After a promising last season, there were some hopes of a bigger role for Fitik this season.  Her club decided to bring back a player with preferences for initiating the offense on most possessions so she took a more complementary role for several months.  Roster changes since then mean that she now is in firm control of the offense.  She immediately showed that she could be a confident playmaker at this level and is also now in a position where she can hunt her shot when the time is right.  With her counting numbers steadily climbing, decision-makers will now have the footage they need to make a decision and as a result, she could get that late round look where international picks make the most sense.  Her shooting range still needs some improvement although she has had the chance to launch her fair share from distance in this new role.

Maxuella Lisowa Mbaka, SF, Belgium, Braine
A player who has been on the radar from this class for years, Lisowa Mbaka may ultimately go undrafted without the right exposure for this season.  She was been a part of the rotation for Belgium’s powerhouse club from a young age and had excellent numbers in youth national team play a couple years ago, especially against the United States.  This season, Braine was not in EuroLeague and despite two strong games from her, failed to advance in EuroCup.  Their roster is no match for their opponents domestically and making sure that everyone gets their chances has taken away some opportunities for her to feature.  While she can contribute in a variety of ways, the lack of range extension over time as she has had to downshift positions at her height is a major concern for her reaching the next level as a player.  In a typical season, there probably would have been a path for her to play her way to a late pick, but this past year might not be enough.

Dragana Zubac, SF, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pecsi (Hungary)
Few leagues have devoted as much resources to giving young players the opportunities to develop on the court as the one in Hungary.  While there are hopes for a draft pick in the next few seasons from among their native players, teams in the league have also aggressively brought in players from other countries.  As is the case with other emerging Bosnian players, Zubac left the country to play elsewhere at a young age, heading to Romania last season alongside her sister Nikolina, but they are in different countries this campaign, giving her a separate spotlight.  Her last stint in youth national team play was the one that made her a player to watch as she had significant responsibility in trying to avoid relegation at home.  The region has traditionally been a strong source for draft picks, but has not provided one since 2015 and this might not be the year either with Zubac still proving herself at the club level.

Iliana Rupert, C, France, Bourges
It is surprising that the reigning EuroLeague Young Player of the Year can be falling below the radar, but it has been an unusual season for Rupert.  Virus cases have hit Bourges hard all season starting from opening day and then an injury kept her out of action for months.  Given that this is her one chance to get drafted, teams will be hoping that there is a little more recent tape to go off of before they pull the trigger.  She is more of the traditional scoring post player and will need to continue to add to her game.  While she has said all the right things about wanting to play in the WNBA, but her draft stock will definitely fall because teams will be wary of national team commitments.  She has already been fast-tracked into the full national team and their success and the tough competition that players face to keep their places on the team likely mean that she will be unavailable for partial or full seasons over time.  After some of the higher level American prospects come off the board, a team could find tremendous long-term value out of a calculated risk.

Marine Fauthoux, PG, France, Lyon-Villeurbanne
Another player identified as having potential early, Fauthoux signed at Lyon this season after Tony Parker cleared space in the rotation for her as he was constructing the roster with the chance to take the keys to the offense.  Results have been somewhat mixed as the team’s ambitions continue to rise on the national and international level.  She has also played for the full national team and figures to be involved there heavily in the near future, which could drop her draft stock.  While she has a fairly complete game as a point guard, she has not really demonstrated elite ability at any one skill so it may take a few years for her to contribute at a high level overall.  Teams seem to be more conscious of the upside of international picks in the second half of the draft these days and this is certainly a case where unexpected value could arrive a few years down the line compared to the college prospects available at that point.

Kendra Chery, SF, France, Landes
After a bit of bouncing between teams in France, Chery challenged herself to continue to prove her credentials as a prospect with a move to Landes this season.  She has managed to get a very solid number of minutes on a team in continental play and chasing trophies domestically.  That said, she is still working on carving out a role above opportunistic scoring, but has demonstrated intriguing possibilities long term on the defensive end.  Of particular concern at her height is a lack of makes beyond the arc.  This was an absolutely loaded birth year class in France even if not all of them end up being WNBA or elite European level talents and in comparison to some of them, she will have a lot more film available of her play when it comes to making that draft decision late.

Zoe Wadoux, SG, France, Villeneuve-d’Ascq-Lille
It had been a fairly quiet season for her, but Wadoux caught fire behind the arc in Romania during the EuroCup group stage and helped her team qualify for the knockout round.  That potential as a shooter is what will help her develop a role over the course of her career, but her domestic league season has not given her much opportunity to show that her ability over a larger sample size.  That difficulty in fighting for playing time in a competitive league is what has driven a number of French prospects to pursue the college route in recent years.  The inconsistency in playing time and the resulting challenge in assessing her shooting ability will probably leave her out of the draft picture.  Further development into a clear role could see her gain interest as a free agent in the future.

Janelle Salaun, SF, France, Villeneuve-d’Ascq-Lille
While she did not enter the season as her team’s highest-rated draft prospect, Salaun had a solid start to her season and earned more playing time than expected as she moved clubs over the offseason.  As the season has progressed, that has not necessarily parlayed itself into additional opportunities to move from the fringe prospect category.  She is one of a number of prospects who greatly missed the chances afforded by youth national team play most years.  Being able to play last year would have given her the ability to confirm the promise of her 2019 play with France’s U18 national team where she demonstrated capabilities to shoot from a range that is not normally part of her club play.  She would have been more of a feature player if she could have played last summer at the U20 level and given more indication of 3-and-D possibilities in the future.  Instead, she is likely to remain an interesting name for the future from this season.

Marie Pardon, PG, France, Tarbes Gespe Bigorre
A team with a rich point guard tradition, Tarbes has recently provided many opportunities to young guards looking for the minutes to showcase themselves and build their careers.  Pardon has had the chance to be the starter all season long and has certainly showcased her playmaking ability with the third highest assists per game in the league so far.  While she has focused on getting her more experienced teammates their shots in the flow of the offense, she will have to increase her own scoring ability in the future to reach her full potential.  At this point, she is probably on the outside looking in when it comes to draftability, but she is having to take on more responsibility than most players her age and having a good season in a tough league with defenses that can challenge young players.

2020 Player Stats

by

Ever since last year, the WNBA website has provided additional statistical information besides the traditional categories.  Courtney Williams and Seimone Augustus, the mid-range experts of their generations, scored more than half of their points from mid-range.  Sugar Rodgers scored 80% of her points from beyond the arc with Shekinna Stricklen and Julie Allemand each exceeding 70%.  Diamond DeShields and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough each scored more than 20% of their points from the fast break.  6 players score more than 30% of their points from the free throw line led by Tierra Ruffin-Pratt.  Paris Kea was remarkably only assisted on 6.7% of her made two-pointers while Brianna Turner and Mercedes Russell were helped on more than 87% of their makes.  Kea also took matters into her own hands beyond the arc, only being assisted on 30.8% of her makes there while a third of Chennedy Carter’s long-range makes came without an assist.

Usage:

15 players terminated at least a quarter of their team’s possessions when they were on the court.  It is no surprise that Chennedy Carter and Arike Ogunbowale top the list given their roles.  Phoenix’s absences mean that their usage mix will continue to change for the postseason.  There are usually a few unexpected names on this list because the metric does a good job of capturing players who look for the their shot off the bench or in limited minutes.  Paris Kea does stand out as a player who signed with her team late, but made sure that she showed what she could do once she arrived.

Effective Field Goal Percentage:

Using effective field goal percentage allows for better comparison of field goal percentage by taking into account the extra point from a made three-pointer so that post players are not the only ones at the top of the ranking.  9 players exceeded 60% using this measure and it was a good mix as Ruthy Hebard was expected to do most of her damage close to the basket, while Alysha Clark uses shots from all over the court, and Julie Allemand shoots about 70% of her shots from beyond the arc.

Rebounding Percentage:

Separating rebounding by end of the court is always useful because different teams place different levels of emphasis on offensive rebounding.  15 players grabbed at least 8% of their own team’s misses when they were on the court and 15 players grabbed at least 20% of the other team’s misses when they were on the court.  Connecticut is one of the top offensive rebounding teams and Beatrice Mompremier was the individual leader while also doing a good job at the other end.  Teaira McCowan, Natasha Howard, Monique Billings, Brianna Turner are on both lists with the last two being the exact same rank on each.  Amanda Zahui B is the clear leader on the defensive end, but only grabs 2.8% of New York’s misses so the separation of the statistics better measures her impact.  Candace Parker also does not crash the glass as much on the offensive end as Los Angeles had the lowest offensive rebounding percentage in the league.

On/Off Rating:

121 players played more than 10 minutes for their team including Essence Carson and Shey Peddy for two teams.  Napheesa Collier played 85.5% of Minnesota’s minutes with Arike Ogunbowale following at 84.0% and Betnijah Laney, DeWanna Bonner, Julie Allemand, and Kelsey Mitchell also playing over 80.0% of available minutes.  Let’s look at how the teams played with those players on the court compared to when they were on the bench.

Offense:

16 players had their teams average at least 107 points per 100 possessions when they were on the court.  Seattle’s offense was great, but it was particularly efficient when Sue Bird was available.  In a playoff scenario, Las Vegas will be hoping that limiting Angel McCoughtry’s minutes to half of the available minutes will leave her fresh for the big moments.  Chicago was certainly happy to have Stefanie Dolson available again and Minnesota also benefits from having Odyssey Sims.  Erica McCall’s inclusion may be surprising, but she joined the Lynx at the right time as their offense hummed about equally with or without her on the court since her signing.  That is the weakness of only using this figure as players who play on great offensive teams get a boost regardless of their individual impact.

Measuring the difference in offensive rating between when a player is on or off the court instead, provides a different picture of how players impact their teams.  When Chicago has Courtney Vandersloot on the court, they play like the best offense in the league, but when she is on the bench, they are more than 5 points worse per 100 possessions than the worst offense in the league or a 29 points per 100 possessions difference.  16 players have their teams play 10 points per 100 possessions better on offense when they are on the court, including Napheesa Collier at 25.4 points and Myisha Hines-Allen at 23.5 points.  Using this metric is important for players on the worse offensive teams as 7 players on this list were on bottom half offenses and improving on offense includes figuring out the right combinations going forward.

Defense:

17 players had their teams give up fewer than 94 points per 100 possessions when they were on the court.  Half of them play for Seattle, which had the best defense overall, but there are other interesting results.  Connecticut played better defense since Briann January was available and Kiki Herbert-Harrigan also stands out as a player whose team performed well defensively in her limited minutes.  Remarkably, Shey Peddy made the list for her minutes on both of her teams.

17 players had their team give up at least 7 fewer points per 100 possessions when they were on the court than when they were on the bench as Shey Peddy again makes the list twice.  Given how dreadful Indiana was on defense, they may want to examine why they performed so much better as Lauren Cox got minutes later in the season as Kathleen Doyle was the next person on the list and Tiffany Mitchell’s absence for part of the season did not help.

Net:

Simply using the raw net rating for on court time obviously is biased towards the players on the top teams as Seattle and Las Vegas account for 15 of the 19 players whose teams outscored by their opponents by at least 10 points per 100 possessions when they were on the court.  The 4 players who are not are of particular interest given that all of them have missed portions of the season due to injury.

Using the difference in net rating between on and off court time is more instructive as 20 players had their teams perform more than 10 points per 100 possessions better when they were on the court when they were on the bench.  Courtney Vandersloot tops the list with her impact on the offensive end as her team is outscored by almost 19 points per 100 possessions when she is on the bench.  Behind her, Seattle is actually outscored when Alysha Clark is not on the court.  Using this metric can provide helpful information for struggling teams as Indiana outscored their opposition when Lauren Cox was on the court and New York was particularly outgunned when Leaonna Odom and Amanda Zahui B, who just missed this list, were not on the court.

Lineups:

24 different full lineups played at least 66 minutes.  Unfortunately, the one with the highest net rating is no longer viable due to injuries for Washington.  Las Vegas’s bench heavy lineup of Danielle Robinson, Sugar Rodgers, Jackie Young, Dearica Hamby, and A’ja Wilson is the surprise next most effective due to their success on defense.  Connecticut relied on their starters heavily last year and if they can get their preferred lineup on the court for the playoffs could be dangerous as they were strong as well.  Phoenix is missing players, but they can still field a strong lineup of Skylar Diggins-Smith, Diana Taurasi, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Brianna Turner, and Kia Vaughn, which has had the best offensive output of currently possible lineups.  Seattle will also looking to get their preferred starters back to playing as many minutes as possible as they were the second most played unit behind Washington’s current lineup, although their lineup with Jordin Canada replacing Sue Bird was the third most common combination.

2020 Career Stat Update

by

Having fewer games this season and players opting out or being unavailable to play limited the milestones that we thought would happen this year, but plenty of players climbed the charts in various statistical categories.  11 players are in the top 50 in all 5 categories, but Tamika Catchings is the only player to be in the top 12 of all of them while Candace Parker is in the top 27 on each list.  Highlighted players in each category played this year.

Points:

Diana Taurasi continued to be the career points leader by a large margin, but the reduction in games did prevent her from a legitimate shot at hitting the 9000 point mark this year.  Candace Dupree is now all alone in 5th place and Seimone Augustus jumped into the top 10 and crossed 6000 points.

Rebounds:

We have a new rebound leader as Sylvia Fowles was able to pass her longtime teammate Rebekkah Brunson this year and be the first player to reach 3400 rebounds.  Candice Dupree reached 3000 boards and Nneka Ogwumike reached 2000.

Assists:

Sue Bird being back meant that she could add to her lead at the top of the list.  Courtney Vandersloot continued to race up the charts this year, joining the top 5.

Blocks:

The lack of games certainly slowed the pursuit of Margo Dydek’s block total this season, although there are plenty of active players lower on the list trying to climb the ranks.

Steals:

Tamika Catchings can continue to rest easy about anybody approaching her career mark in this category, although the return of Sue Bird did give us a new player in the top 5.  The closeness of players in the rest of the rankings means that players will be able to climb these charts easily with a full season next year.

2020 Team Stats

by

After an unusual regular season, let’s look at how teams fared in a variety of statistical categories, especially compared to last season, which had more games and was not played at a single site.

Net Rating:

Teams are sorted by their offensive efficiency with the green bar representing offensive rating and the blue bar representing defensive rating.  The net rating is the difference between them.  Seattle had the best figures in both categories while Las Vegas, which won the tiebreaker for the top seed, was second in both.  The other two teams that earned a bye have the third place marks with Minnesota having the stronger offense and Los Angeles possessing the stronger defense.  The four non-playoff teams had the four worst defenses while New York’s offense was especially poor.

Changes from 2019:

The green column represents the change in offensive rating from last season with a positive number indicating improvement.  The blue column represents the change in defensive rating from last season and a negative number represents improvement.  The yellow bar combines them and shows the change in net rating and a positive number shows improvement.  Of note, Seattle was the only team to have an improved defense.  They also had the largest improvement in offensive rating to have a substantial overall improvement.  After Washington had such an impressive offense last season, it is no surprise to see the impact of missing players on their ratings this year.  For the teams with new coaches, Indiana improved on offense, but that was offset by the worst change on defense while New York’s defense was a little worse than last year’s league worst, but saw a bigger drop on the offensive end.  Also of note, offensive rebounding generally decreased this season and pace increased.

Rebounding:

The x-axis represents the percentage of available defensive rebounds a team grabbed and the y-axis represented the percentage of available offensive rebounds that a team grabbed.  It is no surprise that Las Vegas had the best defensive rebounding again and the two teams behind them were the same as last year as well with Washington pushing ahead of Connecticut this year.    Phoenix had the poorest defensive rebounding, which they also struggled with last year, and Seattle’s overall defense is impressive given their rebounding.  Minnesota had the best offensive rebounding just ahead of Connecticut, which led last year.

Home Team Designation:

Much had been made of the apparent difference in performance for the team designated as the home team even though teams have all been playing in the same location.  It only got more bizarre at the end of the season as the final record for home teams was 66-66.  Las Vegas, Minnesota, Chicago, and Dallas had the same amount of wins regardless of the designated home team.  Indiana had four more wins for their home games while Connecticut had four more wins when they were not the home team.  Seattle, Los Angeles, and Washington had slightly more wins as home teams while Phoenix and Atlanta had one more win as the away team and neither of New York’s wins came when they were the home team.

Diving into the differences in various statistical categories, there may not be an easy explanation.  Atlanta had a better offense and defense at home and rebounded better, but still ended up winning one fewer game when they were the home team.  They and Las Vegas play faster at home and turn the ball over more often, a problem that also plagued Connecticut in their games as the home team.  Las Vegas played substantially worse on offense in home games, but they were incredibly stingy on defense, nearly allowing 10 fewer points per 100 possessions while also rebounding better on both ends, all for a net total of the same wins at home as away.  Indiana was 8 points better on offense and 2 points better on defense per 100 possessions as the home team, which certainly explains why they won five games as the home team while only one away.  Connecticut’s offensive rating was only marginally worse at home, but their defense played much worse as the home team, explaining their discrepancy.  Seattle had the second biggest improvement on both offense and defense as the home team.  The most interesting data will be if the final three series go four or five games as there will be more data between the same teams and same players.  The chart below shows net rating changes for home teams sorted by biggest improvement at home.  The green bar represents offense and positive means better at home while blue represents defense and negative means better at home with the yellow being the combined total representing the difference in net rating as the home team.

Shot Selection:

Las Vegas has been singled out for their decision to not shoot from distance and their final totals for the season have them shooting about five times as many shots from inside the arc as beyond it.  Atlanta was the next most likely to attempt field goals from two-point range doing so slightly more than three times more than from distance.  New York’s new offensive philosophy was  evident as they shot 41.5% of their attempts from beyond the arc, with Dallas behind them at 38.9%.  That philosophy becomes even more clear when you look at where their points come from as they only have a league low 8% of their points come from mid-range two-pointers.  Interestingly, despite the difference in opinion on three-pointers, Las Vegas and New York lead the league in percentage of points scored at the free throw line at over 21% while Chicago gets 86% of their points from field goals.  Indiana does not get many points from turnovers or the fast break, lagging greatly in both categories compared to the rest of the league.  A rather unusual statistic is Phoenix’s assist percentage as they lead the league in assisted two-pointers, but have the lowest percentage of their three-pointers assisted.  Las Vegas has the third best percentage in both categories.  Dallas, Atlanta, and, by a slim margin, New York scored more than half of their two-pointers without an assist.

International Names to Know for 2020 Draft

by

After a pair of drafts with a large number of international players picked and significant attention paid to top prospects, it should no longer be a surprise that young international players are being considered for picks.  The two recent strong classes are being followed by a relatively weak class that is going to reduce the enthusiasm for international picks this year.  International players that were born in 2000 who have never enrolled in college in the United States will be the ones eligible for this draft.  Last year also saw the first two picks of foreign players who left college to turn professional since 2013 so while they are technically not considered international players, any player born in 1998 who left college early is also eligible for this draft as well as any players who left college after they could have made themselves available for the last draft.  While this year’s draft may not have the star power of recent drafts on the international side, those looking forward to 2021 should know that that one is shaping up to be one of the deepest international draft classes ever.  With that said, here are some names to be familiar with in case they are called on draft day:

Li Yuan, China, PG, Shandong
After two players from China were drafted last year, more attention is being paid to the country as new measures have been taken to improve basketball development there.  Li has had a number of chances to play for the national team from a young age and plays with an impressive degree of fearlessness as a result.  Unfortunately, with that level of confidence she still has a long way to go when it comes to decision making and cutting down on turnovers.  There will be plenty of film if national team competition as well as WNBA preseason games to review before the draft, but if she is not ready for a WNBA roster spot, questions will be asked about her development to possibly get to that point as she is not always challenged on the club level.  The potential that is apparent may be enough for someone to use a late round pick on her.

Chen Mingling, China, C, Xinjiang
Solid performances at the last U19 World Cup put Chen on the map and she has since gotten more chances on the senior level.  Unfortunately, she has ended up in club situations where there are already other post players, limiting the amount of time available for her to be properly evaluated.  She does not have the projected upside of the two young Chinese post players picked last year, but the competition she faces could help her develop in the future.  A team could be tempted to pick her late with the hope that her offensive skillset rounds out over time and that her rebounding translates at higher levels.

Park Ji-Hyun, South Korea, SG, Woori Bank
While the country continues to pour resources into the game on the professional level, development of high level talent has not always been successful.  Two years after having a player drafted, the next Korean hope will be eligible this year.  Park is a guard who can do a little bit of everything and, along with a handful of senior team appearances, she has made an impression on the world stage at a youth national team level.  Her height means that she will have to fully transition to a shooting guard outside of local league level and with that will come the need to vastly improve her shooting range and ability.  It is unlikely that any team sees enough right now, even for a late pick, but she is a player to watch down the line.

Luisa Geiselsoder, Germany, C, Donau-Ries
Already in contention for the scoring title, Luisa Geiselsoder has been very impressive in league play after a busy summer at the youth national team level and then senior team appearances in the fall.  Her post play is excellent, but she may need to demonstrate more range when she goes up against taller players and tougher competition.  The level of play in Germany has improved recently while still giving ample opportunity to young players.  While some of them have taken that exposure to grab college opportunities, Geiselsoder is one of a number of players in the near future who will be in the draft conversation.

Leonie Fiebich, Germany, PF, Wasserburg
The best international prospect in this draft may be one who has not even played a game this season.  Fiebich had an impressive season with the German powerhouse in their last campaign, but suffered an injury at the U19 World Championship.  The rules of the draft mean this is the one chance for teams to pick her before she becomes a free agent and the uncertainty will probably leave her off everyone’s boards for now.  If she comes back strong next season and continues to show a varied offensive skillset, she will certainly become a name to keep an eye on in the future.

Billie Massey, Belgium, PF, Sint-Katelijne-Waver
One half of a twin duo, Billie Massey plays with a relentlessness that makes her a rebounding machine.  She has played quite well for her local club in Belgium, but it will be a big step for her to reach an elite level in Europe or possibly the WNBA.  While the energy level will translate, her height will probably require a transition to being able to play the small forward position at least some of the time, meaning a need to increase her offensive range.  A team could take a chance late on her in the hopes that she will continue to do what it takes to improve as a player and move on to a higher level of competition.

Becky Massey, Belgium, PF, Sint-Katelijne-Waver
Like her sister, Becky Massey has shown a lot of promise in her young career.  Her offensive game is becoming more refined and she has a natural scoring instinct.  One of the difficulties in evaluating young internationals comes in situations like this when a player is one of the older players on her team, giving her more opportunity than most players her age, but also not knowing whether her accomplishments are simply due to those increased opportunities or could scale up in a different environment.  Becky is likely to be undrafted, but she should be ready for a move to a higher level soon where her long term future will be more clear.

Oceane Monpierre, France, PG, La Roche Vendee
Originally headed to Syracuse, Monpierre did not end up attending, which has allowed her the opportunity to play another season with the same team and put in some solid performances at a high level of club play.  Unlike many other young French players who have opted for college and more playing time, she has gotten the minutes to prove that she belongs, but will need to show more in the next few months to become a draft-level prospect.  If she continues to develop, she could be back on the radar, but a lot of attention in the next year will be paid to an incredible group of 2001 born players in France.

2019 New Player Data

by

In the past few years, the WNBA has made more statistics available to the public on its website.  While these statistics have been available in the past and some of them have been released, the ability for anyone to access it and use it for their own work allows for new levels of insight.  This season, several new options are available.  In addition to some of the individual statistics made available in the past few years, statistics can be searched for on specific two, three, four, and five player lineups.  Also widely released for the first time are teams’ on/off ratings, which are a quick way of measuring how teams perform when certain players are on or off the court.

On/Off Rating:

With on/off rating, it is possible to see a team’s efficiency when a player is on or off the court, making it possible to tell the difference in efficiency when a player is off the court.  It is not a perfect measure of a player’s impact because it is reliant on many other factors, including the other players on the court, but it can provide unexpected observations.  The 107 players who played at least 340 minutes with a single team are included in this sample with stints with different teams not combined in these statistics.

Offense:

25 players had their team score 6 or more points per 100 possessions more when they were on the court than when they were not on the court and they are shown in the image above in order of the size of the difference in offensive efficiency.  It is no surprise that Chicago’s offense was much better with Courtney Vandersloot on the floor as both a facilitator and scorer as they tried many solutions to deal with the minutes that she was not on the court, but she was not the top player on the list.  That honor goes to Natasha Howard as Seattle’s offense was absolutely dreadful when she was off the court, but 22.4 points per 100 possessions better when she was on the court.  This type of statistic is also useful for trying to figure out whether a player might deserve more playing time.  Some of the players with lower minutes percentages played less due to working their way back from injury, but one name that stands out on this list is Marine Johannes, an offensive spark for New York in a number of games.  After joining the team late, it took her a little bit of time to settle in her role, but in 45% of available minutes, the Liberty’s offensive was scoring over 8 points more per 100 possessions.

The first measure penalizes players on teams with strong offenses overall so here are the top 25 players in terms of how efficiently the offense was with them on the court without comparing it to the offense without them.  Washington’s dominance is clear here as they hold the top eight places and Courtney Vandersloot prevented them from being the top nine.  The Los Angeles Sparks should be excited about having Candace Parker available for full minutes in the playoff as they have played well with her on the court.

Defense:

The 20 players above were the ones whose teams played better defense by the most with them on the court than with them off the court.  The surprise players at the top of the list did not play that many minutes overall, but New York’s defense was better with them playing, giving up 12.6 points per 100 possessions less with Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe on the court.  Right behind Rebecca Allen was a more expected name in Natasha Howard as Seattle would have been the league’s best defense by several points if they played the way they did while she was on the court, but played like the worst defense in the the league when she was not on the floor.  Right behind her was Ariel Atkins as she helped Washington defense and their offense when she was playing.

The 23 players above had their teams give up less than 94 points per possession when they were on the court.  Many of the players at the top of the list were not playing starters’ minutes over the course of the season.  Las Vegas had the league’s toughest defense and they were particularly stingy during the minutes that Sydney Colson played as she beat the next player on the list by three and a half points per 100 possessions.  Not surprisingly, she was not the only player from the team on the list with four teammates joining her.  While their teams played poor defense overall, Camille Little, Maite Cazorla, and Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe all made the overall list and it may be worth trying to figure out what those teams did differently with them on the court for the future.

Net:

20 players had their teams have higher net ratings by at least 10 points per 100 possessions with them on the court.  No player had a higher difference than Natasha Howard as Seattle outscored their opponents by 7.4 points per 100 possessions when she was on the court, but were outscored by 26.6 points per 100 possessions with her off the court, a total swing of 34 points per 100 possessions.  While the players on the top half of this list played heavy minutes, there are a number of players below them with lower minutes totals, especially on struggling teams that could merit additional study for additional playing time.

24 players had their teams outscore their opponents by at least 6 points per 100 possessions while they were on the court.  Washington dominated this category with the top seven places.  Connecticut was the next team to get on the list as they played well with the players in their starting lineup.  30 players had their teams play better both on offense and defense when they were on the court.

Lineups:

Not only is it now possible to easily find out how a team performs with a particular player on the court, detailed lineup data is also available.  The information is only one tool in the process of evaluating player performance, but it can be useful, especially in finding combinations that teams should try more often.

Five:

57 different lineups have been on the court together for at least 40 minutes.  Given their play as a team, it is no surprise that a Washington lineup had the best net rating as the combination of Ariel Atkins, Aerial Powers, Natasha Cloud, Elena Delle Donne, and LaToya Sanders played 91 minutes together in 9 different games and outscored their opponents by 35.6 points per 100 possessions during that time.  The same Mystics lineup with Emma Meesseman instead of Powers played 82 minutes together in 7 games and also bettered their opponents by over 30 points per 100 possessions.  The only other lineup to reach that mark was a fairly surprising Las Vegas lineup that plays very few minutes together, but has been played in many games as Dearica Hamby, Sugar Rodgers, Sydney Colson, Liz Cambage, and Tamera Young have been very strong in 60 minutes of play over 20 games.  In terms of continuity, no lineup can beat Connecticut’s starters, appearing in all but one game and playing 558 minutes, 225 minutes more than the next lineup.  Courtney Williams, Jonquel Jones, Alyssa Thomas, Shekinna Stricklen, and Jasmine Thomas have outscored their opponents by 8.7 points per possession during that time.

On the offensive end, the lineup that has had the best efficiency is a Chicago group that could see more time together in a playoff setting as Diamond DeShields, Cheyenne Parker, Astou Ndour, Courtney Vandersloot, and Allie Quigley had an efficiency of 132.7 points per 100 possessions in 65 minutes together in 10 games.  The Mystics had four of the next five most potent offensive combinations.  On defense, the Aces lineup mentioned above was the stingiest, allowing only 73.8 points per 100 possessions.  Seattle’s lineup of Mercedes Russell, Jewell Loyd, Natasha Howard, Alysha Clark, and Shavonte Zellous was next at 78.4 points given up per 100 possessions in 51 minutes over 10 games.

Four:

195 different 4 player groupings have spent at least 80 minutes on the court together.  Again, with Washington’s overall statistical domination, it is no surprise that nine of the top ten combinations are from their team.  Ariel Atkins, Emma Meesseman, Elena Delle Donne, and Latoya Sanders have been on the court at the same time for 90 minutes in 8 games, outscoring their opponents by a whopping 42.8 points per 100 possessions during that time.  The only non-Mystics groupings that broke the 120 points per 100 possessions barrier were Chicago’s Diamond DeShields, Cheyenne Parker, Astou Ndour, and Courtney Vandersloot, who only played 80 minute together over 13 games, and Phoenix’s Brianna Turner, Brittney Griner, Yvonne Turner, and Leilani Mitchell, who featured in 12 games for 96 minutes.  The Las Vegas combination of Dearica Hamby, Sydney Colson, Liz Cambage, and Tamera Young was the only group to allow less than 80 points per 100 possessions, doing so in 86 minutes over 23 games.  They were followed by Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier, Lexie Brown, Danielle Robinson, and Sylvia Fowles, a group that played 115 minutes together in 26 games.  Odyssey Sims replacing Brown in that lineup was the only combination that appeared in all 34 games with Chicago’s most frequent starters playing 33 games and five different Connecticut combinations also played all but one game, being the top five sets in minutes played.

Three:

Team building these days often revolves around star trios.  194 different trios played at least 200 minutes together this season.  Washington again had the strongest combinations, boasting ten of the top eleven groupings in overall efficiency, led by Ariel Atkins, Elena Delle Donne, and LaToya Sanders, who outscored opponents by 31.3 points per 100 possessions in 496 minutes over 30 games.  The only trio to break up the Mystics party was Sydney Wiese, Chelsea Gray, and Candace Parker, who played 206 minutes together in 19 games for Los Angeles.  Washington’s lineups were particularly potent on offense, but Chicago groupings featuring Astou Ndour and two of Diamond DeShields, Courtney Vandersloot, and Allie Quigley were also quite efficient.  There was much more variety on defense with different teams occupying the top three spots.  Dearica Hamby, Sydney Colson, and Tamera Young were on the court for 211 minutes together over 29 games and gave up fewer points than any other trio per possession.  The Sparks had the next entry with a trio of Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and the Ogwumike sisters and the Phoenix’s trio of DeWanna Bonner, Leilani Mitchell, and Camille Little also gave up very few points when they were on the court together.  No trio played more together than Napheesa Collier, Odyssey Sims, and Sylvia Fowles of Minnesota, featuring in every game for a total of 754 minutes.  Connecticut’s starting lineup showed their continuity again, being ten of the next fourteen most played groupings in various combinations.  Chicago’s starting backcourt played 712 minutes together in 33 minutes while Seattle’s starting frontcourt played 663 minutes together in 31 games.

Two:

Lineup data can also be stretched out to duos as 166 pairings played at least 340 minutes together this season.  Washington pairs made up the entire top ten in net rating, led by Elena Delle Donne and Ariel Atkins, who outscored opponents by 28.7 points per 100 possessions on the court together in 622 minutes over 30 games.  A number of Connecticut pairings were efficient, led by Shekinna Stricklen and Jonquel Jones, but after them were two surprises as completely different Sparks lineups, Nneka Ogwumike and Riquna Williams and then Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and Sydney Wiese, featured.  Delle Donne and Atkins topped the charts when it came to offensive efficiency, followed by eleven other combinations of Mystics players before the Chicago couple of Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley checked in with 829 minutes played together in 33 games.  The Ogwumike sisters were reunited this season and played on the court together for 363 minutes in 29 games, outscoring opponents by more than 10 points per 100 possessions during that time, which was fueled by their defensive rating being the strongest of any pairing.  They were followed by the Delle Donne-Atkins duo and then the Minnesota newcomers Napheesa Collier and Lexie Brown.  The other new duo that was considered worth watching before the season was the twin towers in Las Vegas and they ended up playing 429 minutes together in 25 games, outscoring opponents by nearly 3 points per 100 possessions during that time behind solid defense.  The Minnesota combinations revolving around Napheessa Collier, Odyssey Sims, and Sylvia Fowles played in all the games with the one featuring Collier and Sims averaging over 27 minutes a game together for a leading total of 934 minutes.

2019 Career Stats Update

by

A number of big name absences from the league this year led to fewer milestones being reached than was expected at this time last year.  Nevertheless, new players have found their way on these lists and others have climbed since last last year.  Highlighted players were in at least one game in 2019.

Points:

This is a list that was strongly affected by player absences.  Diana Taurasi was expected to extend her lead and approach the 9,000 point mark, but only ended up adding a handful of points from the total that she finished at last season.  Cappie Pondexter ended up retiring earlier than she planned and Sue Bird, Angel McCoughtry, and Maya Moore also did not add any points to their career totals.  Candice Dupree did manage to climb into the top 5 and Tina Charles jumped past a number of players into the top 10.  Sylvia Fowles is the newest player in the 5,000 point club, racing past her teammate to do so.  There are two new players on the list as DeWanna Bonner will again be in position to surge past a number of players next season and Crystal Langhorne also makes an appearance.

Rebounds:

There was almost a second consecutive season with a new rebounding leader, but Sylvia Fowles will have to wait until next season to pass Rebekkah Brunson.  She will need to continue to crash the boards as Tina Charles could follow her right into second place soon too.  There is one new player on this list as Nneka Ogwumike will approach 2,000 rebounds soon.

Assists:

Unfortunately, Sue Bird was not able to add to her total and chase the 3,000 assist mark, but there was plenty of movement on the rest of the list.  Courtney Vandersloot continued her impressive pace from recent seasons and could be chasing 2,000 assists by the end of next season.  Tanisha Wright retires in the top 10.  The two newest players on the list are Jasmine Thomas, who is already challenging the top 20, and Leilani Mitchell, who just made it to the 1,000 assist club.

Steals:

Nobody is in position to catch Tamika Catchings in this category and this is the list with the fewest number of players active this season on it.  Tanisha Wright managed to make the list before retirement.  The other new player is Candace Parker, making her the only player to be in the top 30 in all 5 of the main counting stats.

Blocks:

Brittney Griner continued her quest for the all-time record with another strong season, but she is still a number of seasons away.  The newest players on the list are DeWanna Bonner and Sancho Lyttle.

2019 Advanced Player Stats

by

With the regular season done, let’s take a look at how players fared in some of the less traditional statistical categories.  Players included averaged at least 10 minutes per game and appeared in at least 17 games, a total of 112 players.  Teams listed are the current team for players who played for more than one team this season.

Usage:

Usage measures what percentage of offensive possessions a player terminates while she is on the court.  It has many uses, including helping understand the impact of bench players or those who play fewer minutes who carry a big offensive load when they are on the court as a few players on this list would not be considered immediate guesses in this category.  15 players terminated more than 24% of their team’s possessions this season.  Tina Charles was the main focus on offense again for New York, ending up with the highest usage of any player.  The Rookie of the Year award race has been revealing how people feel about different factors for the award.  Arike Ogunbowale is in the conversation because of her scoring and having the second highest usage helps show the scale of scoring opportunities available to her when she was on the court.  Natasha Howard was given a much larger role than last year due to injuries and she ended up third on this list.  The two highest usage players from last season ended up being teammates and it was unclear how that would impact each player.  While both saw declines in usage, especially A’ja Wilson, they did both continue to have big roles in the offense.  There were several cases of high usage trios last season becoming high usage duos to injury as Brittney Griner and DeWanna Bonner for Phoenix and Tiffany Hayes and Alex Bentley for Atlanta saw their percentages climb.

Effective Field Goal Percentage:

Effective field goal percentage gives players more credit for three point field goals than the traditional percentage, which counts all field goals as the same, regardless of location.  14 players hit the 55% threshold in this category.  It is no surprise that a known long range bomber like Allie Quigley benefits from this measure, being the only player to exceed 60% this season.  Washington’s powerful offense is explained quite clearly with this list as they had four players in the top nine.  The way that this measure still accommodates players with different approaches to scoring is shown by teammates Brittney Griner and Leilani Mitchell being next to each other on the list.

Rebound Percentage:

Rebound percentage measures the percent of available rebounds a player grabs when she is on the court.  It can also be separated into offensive and defensive rebounding, which helps considering different rebounding strategies that different teams employ.  25 players grabbed at least 7% of their own team’s misses when they were on the court and 25 players grabbed at least 16.0% of the other team’s misses when they were on the court.  Even with the separation of the two categories, fourteen players appear on both lists.

Separating the lists did not change one fact.  When Teaira McCowan was on the court, she was a force on the glass, grabbing a quarter of her opponents’ misses and grabbing more than two percentage points more of her team’s misses than any other player.  Having two lists does showcase Jessica Breland, the second best defensive rebounder, but a player who is not as active on the other end of the floor.  Atlanta had the worst defensive rebounding percentage overall, but Breland and Monique Billings certainly should not be blamed as they did their part.  Rebounding at the top end is certainly a team effort though Liz Cambage and Dearica Hamby did help Las Vegas have the best mark on the defensive end.  Connecticut’s combination of Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas helped them on both ends and the addition of Theresa Plaisance late in the season could help them corral their opponents’ misses when either is off the court.

2019 Team Stats Recap

by

With the regular season over, let’s take a look at how teams rank in some statistical categories.

Net Rating:

The blue bar represents the points a team averaged per 100 possessions and the red bar represents the points given up per 100 possessions.  The difference between them is the net rating and teams were placed in order of offensive rating.

The Washington Mystics finished the regular season with three more wins than any other team and it is easy to see why as their offense was more than 11 points better per 100 possessions than any other team in the league, only around half a point less than the gap between the second best offense and the worst offense.  While their defense is only in the middle of the pack, that offense will give the other teams in the playoffs plenty to worry about, especially over the course of a series.  The top five seeds in the playoffs also have the league’s five most efficient offenses.  Chicago had the second best offense, but defense could be a concern in a one game playoff situation as they were the only playoff team to have a worse defense than one of the non-playoff teams though Atlanta finds no comfort in that fact after scoring more than 4 points less than any other team per 100 possessions.  The strong defenses are all very close together in efficiency, but it is no surprise to see Bill Laimbeer and Las Vegas at the top of the list while his former team New York languished at the bottom of the rankings.

Changes from 2018:

A lot has been made of the decrease in offense all year around and with the regular season done, the final numbers continue to show that trend.  The blue bars are the change in offensive rating with a positive number meaning an improvement from last year.  The red bars show the change in defensive rating with a negative number meaning an improvement from last year.  The green bar is the change in net rating with a positive number meaning an overall improvement from last year and teams are ranked in order of their improvement in that category.

Only two teams ending up improving on their offensive efficiency from a year ago as Washington did so impressively and Indiana went from the league’s worst offense to one in the middle of the pack while tying for the biggest improvement in wins this year.  Unsurprisingly, that led to every team except for Atlanta improving on defense and the Dream’s decline in both categories gave them the largest overall decline as they also had the biggest drop in wins from last season.  The other two teams to also win seven more games than last season had the two biggest improvements on defense.  Las Vegas improved to be the best defense overall, but Chicago’s improvement is also big news as they were coming off a season of having the worst defense, but no longer have to rely completely on their offense to win games.

Rebounding:

Separating rebounding into two categories is more useful for examining how teams rebound, especially given that different teams have different strategies for offensive rebounding.  The x-axis represents the percentage of its own misses that a team rebounds and the y-axis represents the amount of the other team’s misses that a team rebounds.

Connecticut is one of the elite rebounding teams regardless of what end being looked at, ranking first on the offensive end narrowly second on the defensive end.  Las Vegas is also a solid offensive rebounding team, but their prowess on the other end in limiting second chances for their opponents likely contributes to their stingy defense.  Phoenix is the second worst team at securing defensive rebounds, but are even less effective on the other end, grabbing the lowest percentage of their own misses by a bigger margin compared to the next worst team than the gap between the second worst team and the best.  Chicago is that next team, but their lack of second chance opportunities did not slow down the league’s second most efficient offense.

Phoenix already had a lowest offensive rebounding percentage last season, but managed to drop nearly 2 percentage points in that category for this year.  Atlanta and Dallas also experienced declines in both categories while Washington and Las Vegas were the only teams to improve at both ends.  Los Angeles had the biggest improvement in offensive rebounding, which could be the result of their coaching change creating new philosophies at that end.  Chicago’s improvement in defensive rebounding was the biggest, no longer making them the worst in the league, and likely helped their overall defensive improvement by reducing the number of second chances available to their opponents.

Home vs. Road:

The blue bars show the difference between home offensive efficiency and road offensive efficiency and a positive number means that the team plays better offensively at home.  The red bars show the difference between home defensive efficiency and road defensive efficiency and a negative number means that the team plays better defense at home.  The green bar shows the difference in net rating with a positive number meaning better overall efficiency at home.  Teams are in order of the largest improvement in net rating when playing at home.

Teams are generally expected to perform better at home than on the road and that proved to be the case as every team other than New York won more games at home.  In net rating, they were only marginally better on the road as they played better offensively at home, but worse defensively.  Only Phoenix also played worse at home defensively, but that was offset by having the third largest improvement in offense on their own court.  Atlanta was the only team to play worse offensively at home, but their defense was better at home by the third largest margin so they still played better overall there, but they and the Liberty were the only teams with negative net ratings on their own courts.  Washington outscored teams by nearly 22 points per 100 possessions at home and had a much lower margin on the road, but still managed to be one of two teams with a positive net rating on the road.  The other team was Las Vegas, something that could make them a tough opponent in a playoff series.  A potential Storm-Sparks matchup in the playoffs would be intriguing as Seattle played the best road defense in the league while Los Angeles played the best home defense by a substantial margin.