The Phoenix Mercury are in the WNBA Finals this year. This sports writer likes their chances

The WNBA Finals get underway on Friday night time in Las Vegas as the Aces tackle the Phoenix Mercury.

This is the Mercury’s first journey to the finals since 2021. The Aces received the championship in each 2022 and 2023.

Sabreena Merchant, sports writer for the Athletic, joined The Show to speak about the upcoming collection.

Full dialog

MARK BRODIE: Sabreena, if somebody had informed you at the starting of the WNBA season that the Phoenix Mercury can be in the Finals, what would your response have been?

SABREENA MERCHANT: They will need to have made some sort of midseason commerce to get to this level.

BRODIE: Yeah, this is, I imply — I do not know what the odds had been at the starting of the season, however I’m guessing the Mercury had fairly lengthy odds to get right here.

MERCHANT: Yeah, I feel there have been 4 groups that the majority groups anticipated to be in this place. Among them the Las Vegas Aces, but additionally New York, Minnesota and Indiana. And Phoenix has taken out two of these groups to get to this level. So they’ve undoubtedly earned their rights to be in the WNBA Finals.

BRODIE: So how did they do it? Because this is a workforce that just about overhauled its complete roster in the off season.

MERCHANT: Absolutely. This is a workforce that returns two gamers — by the way, starters from final yr’s group — however solely two gamers out of the 12 from final yr’s group. And that they had an unbelievable off season, bringing in Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally, who had been arguably the two finest gamers on the free-agent market. And they each determined to come back to Phoenix and the Mercury had been capable of purchase each of them. They received some good veterans, together with Sami Whitcomb and DeWanna Bonner, who ended up coming midseason who’ve supplied some depth.

But I feel the actual masterclass that no person actually anticipated from Phoenix was the manner they stuffed out their bench. And it was a bunch of gamers that lots of people round the league hadn’t heard of and weren’t conversant in their video games as a result of they had been new to the WNBA, though that they had performed a number of of them, , like a number of years in Europe in abroad leagues.

And they actually held down the fort whereas Alyssa Thomas was injured a little bit at the begin of the season, and Kahleah Copper missed the first a part of the season. Like all these gamers who did not have a whole lot of expectations coming into the season, which I feel is indicative of Phoenix as an entire, and but instantly form of acclimated to the degree of WNBA play.

And that’s what enabled Phoenix to compile such common season report and be in this place to be competing for a WNBA title.

BRODIE: All proper, so that you talked about the Las Vegas Aces. They’ve clearly received some WNBA championships in latest years. So how do these two groups up in phrases of, , they now have a better of seven collection right here?

MERCHANT: Yeah, historic better of seven collection — first time in WNBA historical past. But you consider Phoenix Mercury, they are coming collectively on the fly, proper? This is a workforce that is been collectively for all of 1 yr, basically. And the Las Vegas Aces, though they are a little bit completely different this yr in their roster, the core of this workforce has been collectively for fairly a while.

And they received two titles collectively in 2022 and 2023, with the similar head coach, Becky Hammon. And that offers them, I feel, the expertise benefit in this collection. That’s the No. 1 factor you take a look at. But , these are two groups that are comparatively conversant in one another simply from a participant perspective.

Alyssa Thomas has performed in opposition to the Aces in the finals as just lately as 2022. Satou Sabally’s final foray into the playoffs was in 2023. She misplaced to the Aces. Kahleah Copper’s final time in the playoffs, , in 2023, she additionally misplaced to the Aces. So there’s some, , experiences that I’m certain Phoenix wish to erase from their recollections and, , set these off with a win.

But for those who assume nearly the common season, Vegas beat this workforce thrice throughout the common season. The solely win that Phoenix collected was a recreation that A’ja Wilson did not play. And I’m certain that they’ll acknowledge that. Not actually one you may go and look again on if A’ja Wilson did not play. So some common season mojo that they are going to have to beat. But that is one thing that they did in opposition to Minnesota.

And I feel what the Mercury will say is that they are simply taking part in higher at this time of the yr. You know, they’ve turn out to be a greater rebounding workforce, they turn out to be a greater defensive workforce, a greater fourth-quarter execution workforce as we noticed in Minnesota after they completely crushed the Lynx in three consecutive fourth quarters by the tune of about 38 factors to win these video games.

So I feel primarily based on the manner the Mercury are taking part in proper now and the manner they’ve come collectively —and that is to be anticipated contemplating, once more, how new this workforce is, proper. They’re simply studying one another in actual time. It’s onerous to place an excessive amount of inventory in these video games that occurred in in June and August.

BRODIE: OK, so I’ve received to ask, in The Athletic, you choose the Mercury in six. Are you standing by that at this level?

MERCHANT: Yeah, I’m standing by it. You know, I, I hate to go in opposition to the, the finest participant in the collection, which, all due respect to Phoenix Mercury followers, I nonetheless consider A’ja Wilson. … And the Aces do have house court docket benefit. But, , having watched the Aces by the course of the playoffs, like they’re sort of right here by the pores and skin of their enamel. Game 3 in the first spherical in opposition to Seattle, they may have simply misplaced that recreation to the Seattle Storm. One made jumper by Skylar Diggins and the Aces are heading house after that collection.

And in opposition to Indiana, a workforce that simply barely discovered sufficient our bodies to placed on the court docket, prefer it took time beyond regulation of Game 5 for the Aces to shut out that workforce, even when the individuals had been taking part in with out their finest gamers in Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.

And as spectacular as it’s that the Aces have gotten to this level — contemplating, , they had been beneath 500 at the halfway level of the common season — I simply have not been completely bought by their consistency throughout the playoffs.

Whereas the Mercury have simply seemed a lot tighter, a lot extra composed and a lot extra stable to their id that I consider that, , Alyssa Thomas will lastly break by. I feel Satou Sabally is taking pictures the ball fairly properly, and that makes them extremely troublesome to protect.

And I’ve simply been very impressed by Nate Tibbetts and the manner he is put his gamers in a place to succeed. Fun little nugget about this matchup is that each of the coaches are from South Dakota and truly grew up taking part in highschool basketball the similar yr. Becky Hammon truly performed in opposition to groups coached by Nate Tibbetts’ dad in South Dakota.

So they’ve a really lengthy historical past going again in opposition to each other. But all that to say is that I feel Nate has discovered how this Mercury workforce works they usually’re simply taking part in higher than Las Vegas is correct now. And as a lot as I went on this little rant about momentum earlier, I do consider that that high quality of play goes to carry up over this last collection.

BRODIE: All proper, let me ask you one different query earlier than I allow you to go, Sabreena. The WNBA commissioner is predicted to talk main as much as the finals tipping off tonight. And it has been a little bit of every week for her after getting some criticism from —

MERCHANT: You may say.

BRODIE: Yeah, from some star gamers. What are you anticipating her to say? What are you listening for from her right now?

MERCHANT: You know, I feel the very first thing can be how she characterizes the conversations that Napheesa Collier associated and if she would share the similar phrases that Napheesa Collier’s did in phrases of describing, like, gamers being grateful for WNBA, giving them their platform. And, , being beholden principally the WNBA for each good factor that has come in direction of them.

I additionally marvel how she’s going to attempt to spin the public messaging in order that the league can get extra individuals on their facet in phrases of those negotiations. I do know the phrase sustainability might be going to come back up fairly a bit simply in phrases of how the league must retain a few of its income and income to maintain the league functioning, versus giving it to the gamers.

But principally I simply marvel how accountable the league goes to attempt to be for the points that the gamers have identified — not simply throughout this week, however over the course of the common season. Or if it should be extra of, “We’re the best league in the world, we have the best officials in the world, we’re putting a great product on the court, and we look forward to maintaining the status quo.”

So, it’s going to actually be an evening in Las Vegas with all of these items occurring.