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Mercury, sans Copper, delivers on offseason talk that should give fans hope for 2025 season

Everything I’m about to write is with the caveat that it’s only been one game, but…

As important as we expected Alyssa Thomas to be to this team, she’s even more crucial to the Mercury’s success than we could’ve imagined.

Star guard Kahleah Copper underwent a successful left knee arthroscopy & is expected to be out 4-6 weeks while center Natasha Mack is out 2-3 weeks with a lower back injury.

 

Thomas’ nickname is “The Engine” for a reason and The Engine was running on all cylinders, stuffing the stat sheet with 20 points (8/13 FG), seven boards, and five assists.

“Summertime with structure” is how head coach Nate Tibbetts described Phoenix’s flow in the open court.

Even if she didn’t directly get the assist, it felt like every time she was involved, good things happened. Whether it was a dish from her or a hockey assist – there was a ton of energy through ball movement initiated by Thomas.

“We worked on [the off ball movement] a lot in training camp,” Thomas said. “A lot of new faces. A lot of people that have never played in the league, let alone with each other…A lot of conversations in training camp and just explaining how we want it to look.”

“Her passing is contagious,” Tibbetts said. “How can you not with the plays that she makes for others? Just trying to build trust; this is a good step in the right direction.”

That ball movement gave Satou Sabally room to operate and she showed all the tools she’s been working on at that state-of-the-art practice facility, putting up 27 points (9/17 FG) and six rebounds – the most points ever in a Mercury debut.

“Where it really started was the defense,” Sabally said. “Setting the tone and getting those steals and stops. Alyssa Thomas is the best at pushing it forward. I’m pretty good at it too…We kept the tempo up and we dictated the game through that.”

Adversely, when Thomas was off the court, it wasn’t pretty.

You can write off some of it to the first game when players are still learning each other, but we’ll have to see someone rise to the challenge of being a facilitator when Thomas is on the bench.

Looks like Sevgi Uzun could take the mantle or perhaps Sami Whitcomb, though I believe for this roster to reach its potential, Whitcomb should primarily be working off ball (especially when Copper returns).

Whitcomb’s elite shooting ability is way too important coming off screens to take her out of those actions by making her play point guard. 

Thomas is not only Phoenix’s floor general but its defensive anchor too.

Lots of teams say they’re going to “hang their hats” on defense, but not many show it.

The Mercury, sans Copper and Mack, played inspired defense against a highly touted and deeply talented Seattle Storm roster.

 

Every time it felt like Seattle was going to erase Phoenix’s lead, the Mercury stopped the bleeding rather quickly. That’s not something we could’ve said about last year’s squad.

The Storm shot 33% on 21 of 63 shooting from the field and scored just 59 points compared to the Mercury’s 81. 

“Super proud,” Thomas said. “Any time they got back in the game, it was on us when we weren’t playing with that same intensity…when we play defense, we’re able to get out and run.”

Another aspect I’ll be keeping an eye on this season is how Tibbetts’ system flows now that he’s got his program in full effect and had another offseason working with general manager Nick U’Ren on building a roster made for said system.

Tibbetts mentioned throughout training camp that the squad’s shot profile will be focused on creating space to put up a ton of treys and open the lane for layups. 

Creating space is one thing, converting is another. PHX shot 33% from downtown and nearly 52% from the field representing exactly the kind of shooting team they could be this season.

Granted, it’s only one game, but Tibbetts’ group showed many green flags that should give the fans hope in this post-Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner era.

More sights and sounds from the 2025 Mercury home opener:

 

 

 

 

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