Los Angeles Sparks 2018 WNBA season preview
By Ben Dull
The Los Angeles Sparks have made two straight trips to the WNBA Finals, and their core is primed to get them there once again. Point guard Chelsea Gray earned an All-Star nod and All-WNBA honors in her first year as a full-time starter. Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike (who each earned All-WNBA honors as well in 2017) form one of the the most dynamic and versatile front lines in basketball.
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The team started its offseason by re-signing 2017 Defensive Player of the Year Alana Beard and restricted free agent starting guard Odyssey Sims. General manager Penny Toler nabbed young Russian forward/center Maria Vadeeva with the eleventh overall pick late in the first round of the draft and signed unrestricted free agent Cappie Pondexter to further bolster the backcourt.
The Sparks were the only team in the WNBA to win each regular season series in 2017. This group is all about remaining steady in its day-to-day approach. From head coach Brian Agler to Parker to Ogwumike to the players coming off the bench — that message comes through loud and clear from each of them. Some choose to write answers of that ilk off as dull and uninteresting. But the Sparks take pride in that focus, and they’ve been very successful in carrying it out to a tee.
Los Angeles has won 26 games in back-to-back regular seasons, clinching a coveted top-two seed both times. The Sparks posted top-two offensive and defensive ratings in 2016 and 2017.
It’s tough to poke a hole in a roster that returns all of its key contributors. There are no obvious candidates to regress in a big way, though Beard is entering her 13th season. She averaged 30.8 minutes per game in the regular season in 2017, her most since 2012. Even if Agler needs to scale her minutes back some, in steps Essence Carson. Carson is one of the most capable and respected wing defenders in the league. She was a starter for all of 2016 and the start of last season until missing some time due to a pulled groin. Sims joined the starting group and held onto the spot upon Carson’s return to action.
The addition of Pondexter gives this team a lot of lineup flexibility for this upcoming condensed schedule. Carson can be available to play even more minutes at the three spot to spell Beard or slide up if Agler elects to play small on occasion. Pondexter gives them another playmaker with 38 playoff games under her belt, including Finals victories in 2007 and 2009 with the Mercury. Gray played the second-most minutes in the league last season (Ogwumike and Beard also finished in the top-10). The Sparks are now in a better position to scale those back some to ensure that their core pieces are as fresh as possible heading into the postseason.
Neither Gray nor Sims has even turned 26 yet. Go back and watch the tape or even just look at the box scores, though. These past two Finals have been about each team’s top seven, namely the starters. Keeping legs fresh in June and July will pay off for the teams that can afford to do it. More than perhaps any other team, the Sparks are constructed to lean on their bench more often.
We’ve made it this far without mentioning Riquna Williams or second-year guard Sydney Wiese. Williams missed the 2016 season after suffering a torn Achilles playing overseas. She played in 23 regular season games last year, missing a chunk of time with a knee strain. She was the third player off the bench in the Finals last season behind Carson and Jantel Lavender, the unsung member of the team’s core.
At full strength, Williams is a wonderful offensive talent. She’s a career 33.1% three-point shooter, though her reputation as a microwave scorer likely bumps that up a few points in the minds of her opponents. That’s when her first step can really kick in, allowing her to get into the teeth of the defense. She also has quickness and length to pressure opposing ball handlers well beyond the three-point line and keep them from getting right into their set actions.
Wiese was asked to do it all when she starred at Oregon State. At this point in her pro career, it’d be unfair to paint with too broad of a brush. She is a knock down shooter, which brings immediate value by itself. This team might really become unguardable if they can give Wiese even more run with Gray, Parker, Ogwumike and one of Sims/Williams/Pondexter.
Up front, it’s been noted that Vadeeva is indeed coming over for her rookie season this year. To the possible dismay of teams that passed on her, she’s been thrust into a very favorable situation where she’ll get to play without being asked to do too much. As mentioned earlier, the Sparks could go smaller if they wanted to, but their bigs are so versatile defensively and bring enough shooting that it would likely never be advantageous to do so.
Most nights in competitive games last season, Lavender would check in for either Parker or Ogwumike toward the tail end of the first or once one got in foul trouble. Early in the second, Agler was able to send one All-WNBA big back in to spell the other. This three-headed frontcourt makes the Sparks very tough to guard for all 40 minutes, and they hold down the fort defensively with any of the three possible configurations. There may be nights where Vadeeva doesn’t play and it wouldn’t be an indictment at all of her WNBA-readiness. If she hits the ground running, especially on the defensive end, it’s possible all three vets will each be able to finish games logging fewer than 25-28 minutes.
Ogwumike and Vadeeva were teammates overseas during the offseason. It will be interesting to see if Agler is intentional in pairing them together for short stints from the jump. Vadeeva can certainly shoot and pass, and she isn’t afraid to put her shoulder right into somebody to finish at the rim with a feathery hook shot. The important areas to monitor in her early minutes: defensive rebounding and defending out in space, especially in the pick and roll.
We’re splitting hairs by now, which is entirely the point. The rich have gotten richer. Given health, the Sparks are poised to lock down a top-two seed once again to secure a double-bye into the semifinals. Relatively speaking, the Minnesota Lynx have more questions that need to be answered with regard to their bench. For those dreading the idea of yet another Finals rematch, take heart. Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix got a lot better this offseason, as did the other playoff contenders.
Given 20-some fewer days to play the same number of regular season games, a shakeup in the standings feels inevitable. There’ll be less time to work a starter back from an ankle sprain, and general fatigue will come into play even more. As more teams experience the harsh reality of a one-and-done playoff exit, the races for a top-two seed will continue to heat up with each passing year.
LA’s 12th roster spot is the only big question facing Penny Toler and Brian Agler in the preseason. The presence of Wiese and Vadeeva may hurt the chances of a young player looking to make this roster. Toler may opt for a veteran with a very specific set of skills to best equip her team to win now.
Lynx head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve has noted that she may consider starting the season with 11 players rather than 12. Don’t be surprised if the Sparks end up doing the same. Leaving that spot open would allow them to scoop up anyone that surprisingly comes available as other teams make tough roster decisions prior to the start of the regular season. Marissa Coleman was a big get for the Liberty. Los Angeles won’t need to do much to sell itself to the next vet to hit the open market. Such is life for a team with three All-WNBA performers and a coach that has won WNBA titles with two different franchises.
If Sparks fans have one frustration with the team over the past two seasons, it’s this: In both Finals series, the Sparks went home for a Game 4 up 2-1 with a chance to close out the Lynx. The Sparks won the title in 2016 with a Game 5 victory in Minnesota. Last year, Minnesota bludgeoned the Sparks on the offensive glass in the final two games of the series after falling behind 2-1 en route to their fourth title in franchise history.
The Sparks may keep the same goal as last year for the regular season — to win every series. You’d struggle to find an analyst or pundit that would disagree with the idea that Minnesota and Los Angeles remain the two best teams in the league on a collision course for a third consecutive meeting in the Finals.
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The Sparks sure would love to get there and take on the Lynx again, where three wins would secure a series win of the highest order — two of three in a WNBA Finals trilogy for the ages.