WNBA news: Experienced Mercury ready to mix rookie trio into rotation

Some youth added to a veteran roster

PHOENIX — She was as sure of a thing as a prospect could be entering the WNBA. But when Brittney Griner remembers her first professional season, the first memory that stands out to her isn’t the dunk in the first game.

It was the mountain of difference between the college game and the pros, and finding out what a player needs to do in order to be successful in the WNBA.

“I came in green, just as green as ever. That first game, a lot of people remember I got a dunk, but I remember we lost,” Griner said. “I remember waking up like, ‘Oh, okay, this is the WNBA. This is not what I thought.’ Looking from the outside in in college, you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna come in and everything’s going to be good, smooth sailing in.’ You go from being top dog and everything’s being ran through you, you’re doing all the big things for your school normally.

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“And then you get here, and it’s like, ‘Alright, we need you to do your one little thing great.’ To find that and hone in on that and kind of relearn your game again, that’s what it was. I was like, ‘Okay, I can block shots, I’m big and I’m right there in the middle of the paint, alright cool. Let me find my WNBA game.’ So that was kind of tough my first year, and the speed of the game was definitely faster than college.”

As the Phoenix Mercury prepare to kick off the 2019 season with a nationally-televised game at Seattle on Saturday, general manager Jim Pitman and head coach Sandy Brondello seem to have set the Mercury up to have a quarter of their roster be occupied by their top three draft picks from last month’s WNBA Draft: forwards Alanna Smith and Brianna Turner and guard Sophie Cunningham.

“All rookies, including Arica Carter in that third-round pick, have been really productive for us in training camp,” Brondello said. “We’ve got some tough decisions to make as we lead into that first game.”

Smith, the Stanford forward from Australia who has played for Brondello on the Australian national team (including in workouts before WNBA training camp began), seemed destined to be selected by the Mercury with their first selection at eight and was a near-lock to make the roster.

“Alanna’s been pretty spectacular,” Diana Taurasi said. “Obviously she has synergy with Sandy with the Opals and the Australian national team. She stepped onto the court in practice and knew all the plays before we did, so she’s a step ahead of [what] a rookie would be in this situation.”

For Turner, a forward from Notre Dame selected 11th overall by Atlanta but traded to Phoenix for center Marie Gulich, making the roster was not a lock. But her growth in the two weeks of trading camp has left the Mercury with no choice but to keep her.

“It’s amazing to see how easy it’s been — well, for Alanna Smith, it’s really easy since I coach her with the Opals and things are very similar — but for Brianna Turner, just how she continues to get better with more time she spends in the system,” Brondello said.

Taurasi called Turner the “wild card,” adding, “This kid has so much ability and she’s barely scratching the surface. I think the first couple of days was a big adjustment for her … I think, in two weeks, she’s probably improved more than any player I’ve seen in a long time.”

Finally, for Cunningham, even after the Mercury took the Missouri guard with the first pick of the second round and 13th overall, she knew she was going to have to earn her way onto the roster and couldn’t dwell over what Pitman and Brondello would do.

“It’s outside my box and helping me grow,” Cunningham said, according to Jeff Metcalfe of the Arizona Republic. “If I put my best foot forward, I’m going to land somewhere. I really hope it’s here. I’d be blessed to play with Diana and BG (Griner) and DeWanna Bonner under Sandy. But I’m going to control what I can control, and that’s really the only thing I can do.”

But with Phoenix’s trade of guard Stephanie Talbot to the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday, it appears that Cunningham did just that. Her tenacity throughout camp and during the two preseason games — including hitting the game-winning basket at Seattle — has impressed the famously ruthless Taurasi.

“Sophie has been a breath of fresh air with her competitiveness,” Taurasi said. “Willing just to compete on every possession, doesn’t matter if she’s playing against DB or she’s playing against the practice guys or she’s playing against Seattle. She does not see an opponent, she just sees a wall and she’s going to go right through it. I can appreciate that.”

With Taurasi’s back injury keeping her sidelined for at least a month of the regular season, Phoenix will obviously rely on the rest of their roster, led by Griner and DeWanna Bonner, and their roster will have seven players that will have played 10 or more seasons in the WNBA. But with Taurasi counting for a roster spot, the Mercury will inevitably use all three rookies as they open with 11 healthy players on the active roster. Brondello feels like Phoenix has the right mix to weather the Taurasi injury and the long season.

“Credit to our veterans, they’re just great leaders. They can’t win it on their own. We know that we need a strong bench and we have to get a deeper bench, and we’ve done that this year,” Brondello said. “I think the rookies, it’ll be a learning curve for them, and that’s normal, but we’re comfortable with where they’re at. I think the more experience they get, the better they’ll get.

“Look, it’s a great blend. I want basketball players, but you still need veterans out there to lead the rookies and act as a more cohesive unit when you have that.”

It will challenge all three in a seemingly endless variety of ways, but perhaps the biggest challenge in the rapid turnaround from a full college season, ending sometime in late March or early April, to the start of their professional careers, from the start of training camp in early May all the way through the regular season and postseason in early October.

Smith admitted there was temptation to think about the full slate ahead of her senior season, but wanted to focus on winning a championship for the Cardinal and put off thoughts about her professional career until after the season. But now, with the “whirlwind” few weeks of transition she described as “crazy fun” behind her, knowing what to do to help herself physically becomes vital.

“It’s a grind and you have to prepare your body for that,” Smith said. “So definitely a little bit of rest, getting your body right. But also, when it came close to it, conditioning and strength wise, too. This is a different level, and if you’re not ready for it, it shows.”

And for Cunningham, who played, 1,196 minutes this season (36th most in Division I) and averaged more than 34 minutes per game for Missouri, there’s nothing that the mind can’t trick the body into feeling.

“When your dreams are coming true, you don’t feel that,” Cunningham said. “You don’t feel that grind, you don’t feel that your body hurts. You’re sore and you’re tired at times, but in the big picture, you’re just trying to make your dreams come true.”

Cunningham’s dreams have tended to come true during her career. From the moment she committed to Missouri coach Robin Pingeton in eighth grade, she wanted to raise the Tigers into a Top 25 program nationally. She wanted to be the face of the program and build interest in her hometown of Columbia, Missouri. She wanted to reach the WNBA.

And now, with the first two already checked off and the WNBA roster spot appearing to be hers, she’s ready to do whatever it takes for the Mercury and cross off the only dream she didn’t accomplish in college: winning a champion.

“It is a long season in college, but I’m hoping this team here has a pretty long season as well,” Cunningham said.

In order for Phoenix to be able to do that, they’re going to need all three rookies — Cunningham, Smith and Turner — to be factors at points throughout the season.

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