Phoenix Mercury training camp observations: Nate Tibbetts' updates
Here is everything that stood out at practice and from Nate Tibbetts' media availability at Phoenix Mercury training camp on Sunday.
PHOENIX — With the Phoenix Mercury’s first week of training camp in the books and with preseason basketball two days away, coach Nate Tibbetts gave a series of updates during his media availability on Sunday.
During the practice portion on Sunday, the players were once again split into two groups. Kahleah Copper, Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally, Kalani Brown, Celeste Taylor, Sevgi Uzun and Kathryn Westbeld were on the black team.
Natasha Mack, Sami Whitcomb, Anna Makurat, Megan McConnell, Shyla Heal, Lexi Held, Alexis Prince, Monique Akoa Makani and Temira Poindexter were on the purple team.
Copper, Thomas and Sabally have played in the same group in each of the team’s practices while the other players have rotated alongside them.
Here is everything that stood out and what was noteworthy after Sunday’s practice and media availability.
Tibbetts keeps cards close to his chest
Tibbetts kept his cards close to his chest when asked which players have impressed him the most at training camp.
“You’ll (be able to) tell when we make the final cuts I guess,“ Tibbetts said with a grin on Sunday. “We’ve had some good performances across the board at different times.
“I think it’s been an extremely competitive camp and time will tell.”
WNBA teams will be required to finalize their rosters by 2 p.m. MST on Thursday, May 15. The Mercury will need to cut their roster down from 19 players to 11-12 players.
Last year instead of cutting players one by one, the Mercury cut seven players the day after the team’s last preseason game to trim their roster down to 11 players.
Phoenix will play two preseason games, first traveling to play the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday before hosting the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday, May 11.
A sluggish start and Alyssa Thomas the competitor
After a scheduled off-day on Saturday, Tibbetts said the team got off to a slowish start on Sunday but responded well.
“This was a good day today. We needed today,” Tibbetts said. “Two days ago we had our best practice, (followed by a) day off. We got off to a slow start but we responded.
“Defensively, I’ve been really proud of how we’ve competed on the ball.”
Tibbetts also said some of the Mercury’s players got their “first taste” of Alyssa Thomas’ competitiveness on Sunday. Thomas is entering Year 12 in the league and finds herself on a predominantly young team.
Of the 19 players at training camp, there is an average age of 26.5 years and nine of the players have never played in a regular season WNBA game.
Only Thomas, Sabally, Copper and Whitcomb have more than three years of WNBA experience coming into this season.
“There’s a certain level that she holds herself to and others. And that’s important. She’s gonna speak it. She’s not gonna hold back,” Tibbetts said of Thomas.
“But her finding that balance between pulling people along and giving them a hard time. She’s gonna do it her way. We’re here to help her along that way but there’s a standard that she believes in and we believe in.”
Kahleah Copper and Satou Sabally avoiding the ‘manure strip’
Tibbetts also talked about Copper and Sabally’s shot selection on Sunday and said both of them have been avoiding the midrange.
At the beginning of last season, Tibbetts routinely said he wanted his team to take 35-40 3-pointers per game and to avoid taking midrange jumpers.
Dating back to last season, Tibbetts has referred to the midrange as the “manure strip,” and has said Sabally has done a good job of avoiding taking midrange jumpers.
“I can count on one hand the number of midrange shots that (Sabally) has taken since she’s been here, so you know that makes me happy,” Tibbetts said.
“She’s doing a great job getting to the rim. She’s in great shape, she’s physical, she’s big. They’re gonna take some midranges late in the clock, hopefully in the playoffs, those types of things, but they both have a good understanding of what we’re looking for.”
Mercury starters to play in preseason vs. Las Vegas Aces
Tibbetts confirmed the team’s starters will play in Tuesday’s preseason game against the Aces, though he said the starters may see more of a reduced role.
“I would guess our starters don’t play big, big minutes,” Tibbetts said. “I want everyone to experience a WNBA game. I think that’s important. They’ve all come here and competed extremely hard and so we’ll see.
“I wouldn’t say there’s gonna be big minutes by the starters, but they’re definitely gonna play.”
Celeste Taylor the shooting guard
One of the biggest question marks Tibbetts had near the end of last season was, “Is Taylor a one or a two?”
Tibbetts put that question mostly to rest on Sunday when he said he sees Taylor more as a shooting guard than as a point guard.
“I would say she’s probably more a two,” Tibbetts said Sunday. “She’s a combo (guard). As we know from (Taylor) she competes, she’s good off the ball, there’s gonna be times where she initiates offense, but I’m not gonna just put the ball in her hands and say she’s a true one.”
On Sunday at Mercury training camp, Taylor played both as a point guard and as a shooting guard, but has more often than not played off the ball during the first week of training camp.
In lineups with Uzun, Uzun played point guard and Taylor played shooting guard, while in lineups without Uzun, Taylor played as the point guard.
No further updates on Laksa, Pueyo and Musa
Kitija Laksa (Famila Schio/Italy), Murjantu Musa (Tarbes Gespe Bigorre/France) and Helena Pueyo (Casademont Zaragoza/Spain) are all competing in their respective playoffs for their European club teams and will arrive to camp late.
Laksa’s team won Game 2 in the Italian league final on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead and will play Game 3 on Thursday.
Laksa has said she will report to camp after the Italian season concludes, but how much she participates in camp will not matter too much as the Latvian wing will almost certainly make the final roster as she is on a protected contract.
Musa’s team advanced to the French playoff finals on Sunday, while Pueyo’s team advanced to the Spanish playoff finals on Sunday.
“Yeah, that’s a good question,” Tibbetts said when asked when Musa and Pueyo will report to camp.
“It’s a weird feeling. You want them to do well, but part of you wants them to lose so they’re here, right? Which is messed up, but you want to see them do well, so we’re happy if it goes (longer) for Musa and Laksa, but obviously we want to get them here so we can get them in our system.”
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