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2019 WNBA Season Preview: The Sparks are going big

By Sabreena Merchant

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 3: Candace Parker #3 of the Los Angeles Sparks and Nneka Ogwumike #30 of the Los Angeles Sparks speak during the game against the Connecticut Sun on July 3, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 3: Candace Parker #3 of the Los Angeles Sparks and Nneka Ogwumike #30 of the Los Angeles Sparks speak during the game against the Connecticut Sun on July 3, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Sparks have more Ogwumikes than anyone else, by far

One year ago at this time, the Los Angeles Sparks were the class of the WNBA alongside the Minnesota Lynx. Both teams were fresh off of consecutive finals appearances against one another with one championship apiece, and the league placed the burgeoning rivalry as its marquee draw on opening day. A barn-burner back-and-forth game ending on a Chelsea Gray buzzer-beater seemed to augur a third consecutive season of Sparks dominance.

Instead, the team fell down a tier. A middling offense wasn’t enough to support a dominant defense, and the compressed schedule exposed a lack of perimeter depth. Los Angeles finished as the sixth seed, winning one playoff game against the Lynx before ending the season in dispiriting fashion in a blowout loss to Washington.

During the 2019 offseason, the Sparks didn’t really address any of their weaknesses from last year. And yet, despite coming off of a campaign that fell below expectations, Los Angeles is full of enthusiasm. This is a team that has instead doubled down on its strengths, and is hoping that approach will lead it back to its perch atop the league.

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The three major offseason acquisitions in Los Angeles were head coach Derek Fisher, All-Star center Chiney Ogwumike, and first-round draft pick Kalani Brown, another center. A team that was bereft of secondary perimeter options elected to use its best assets to get even bigger.

In some ways, that makes sense. The Sparks’ greatest strength last year was its high talent level, even if there wasn’t quite enough to go around. When the team’s All-Star bigs, Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike, shared the court together, Los Angeles had a plus-9.4 net rating (per Positive Residual), compared to 1.4 overall. For context, the WNBA champion Seattle Storm had an overall net rating of plus-8.8.

The problem was when either of Parker or Nneka Ogwumike was on the bench, the team cratered. Parker’s rating without Ogwumike was minus-5.8 and Ogwumike without Parker had a minus-4.4 rating. This is where Chiney Ogwumike and Brown can immediately make an impact for the Sparks. If they can exceed the production of Jantel Lavender, then the team can tread water in the minutes where Nneka and Parker don’t share the court.

Chiney Ogwumike should easily be able to outpace Lavender’s contributions. The only statistic where Lavender bettered Ogwumike last year was assist rate, and that was a marginal gap, while Ogwumike was a far superior scorer and rebounder who generated a ton of foul shots.

It’s harder to say how Brown’s game will translate from the collegiate level. However, she at least has a strong history of playing alongside another big, Lauren Cox at Baylor, and seamlessly shifting between the high and the low post depending on what the defense was giving.

The plethora of bigs on the Los Angeles roster makes Fisher a natural fit as coach. His NBA success as a player came on teams with multiple bigs, specifically for the Los Angeles Lakers, where Phil Jackson’s triangle offense enabled two players to work out of the post simultaneously. Fisher tried in vain to incorporate principles of the triangle while head coach of the New York Knicks, but he should have more success with the caliber of players on the Sparks.

Nevertheless, the problem with spending so many resources on frontcourt players is the gaping hole that leaves in the Los Angeles backcourt. Parker can transition to being more of a wing player, but even with the former MVP moving down to the three, the Sparks only have four proven perimeter players: Parker, Gray, Alana Beard, and new addition Tierra Ruffin-Pratt. None of those four are primarily point guards, and only Gray is a fearsome outside shooter, so Los Angeles will have to generate offense in unconventional fashion.

Two of the Sparks’ primary perimeter players from last season – Essence Carson and Odyssey Sims – are no longer with the team, which gives an opportunity for some younger players to crack the rotation. Alexis Jones, Marina Mabrey, Karlie Samuelson, and Sydney Wiese all have a theoretical offensive skillset that is lack on the current roster, but they’ll have to prove it against WNBA competition. Riquna Williams was recently re-signed, despite her legal problems.

Fisher is also an ideal coach for this group of players, as a late draft pick who had to earn minutes during his playing days. He has the experience of being the low-usage guard alongside a dominant perimeter player and two skilled post players, and can serve as a valuable mentor for the young guards tasked with sharing a backcourt with Gray or Parker.

It is worth noting that the Sparks signed Alina Iagupova from Ukraine over the offseason. The shooting guard would be an instant boost in the perimeter rotation, after she averaged 19.0 points and 6.9 assists per game playing with Gray for Cukurova in Turkey. It is unclear if she will join the league this season, though she is not on the Ukrainian EuroBasket roster.

Regardless of the gaps in their depth, there is no denying the front-line talent the Sparks possess. The Los Angeles starting lineup of Gray, Beard, Parker, and Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike are all former All-Stars, and all but Beard played in the All-Star game just this past season.

The defensive potential of this group is also tremendous; big lineups may cramp the floor on the offense, but they do same on the other end. Defense could be the saving grace of this team as it figures out how to come together on offense. The Sparks were the second-best defensive team in the league each of the last three seasons, and are on track for a similar finish this year.

On paper, there is a lot to be excited about, especially with so many of the league’s best players (Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore, Liz Cambage) sitting out this season, or at least part of it, for injury or other reasons. Los Angeles may not have the most complete roster, but it does have enough pieces to compete in a slightly watered-down WNBA landscape.

The Sparks will be a unique team in the 2019 season. They may be zigging while the rest of the league zags, but the path of emphasizing size and owning the paint has earned them success in the past. They will be relying on that formula once more.

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