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By MARIA VASQUEZ
Cronkite News
PHOENIX — The defending WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury head into their sixth postseason in the last seven years still looking for an identity.
“We’re still a work in progress,” said coach Sandy Brondello.
The Mercury open the playoffs Thursday against the Tulsa Shock without Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor, who are out for the whole season. Isabelle Harrison, who the Mercury picked up in the 2014 draft, is also out with a torn ACL. Despite the setbacks the Mercury are trying to defy the odds.
“We still have areas for improvement,” said Brondello. “I think we’re doing decent with the adversity we’ve had to face with players sitting out. But I still think we can go to a whole other level and hopefully we’ll see that in September.”
The Mercury’s success comes down to teamwork, a cliché they have proven accurate.
“Our bench gives us life,” said center Brittney Griner, who missed the first seven games of the season because of a suspension. “We always have a good supporting cast and that’s what it takes, it takes a whole team. That’s one thing I’ve seen, before I got here and while I’ve been here. We’ve always had people that know their roles and come in and give us good minutes and produce.”
A good supporting cast has saved this season with so many key players out.
“It’s been interesting,” said guard/forward DaWanna Bonner, laughing. “It takes a good couple of minutes to find your rhythm. We just got to the practice court and played with each other a little bit and it finally just got there. It took a lot of work, but credit to that practice court and Sandy for putting us into positions and situations to make us look pretty good as a team.”
In the last seven years, the Mercury have prospered despite a coaching change, key players sitting out and 32 different players passing through the franchise.
The Mercury won their first championship in 2007, but it wasn’t until 2009 that their postseason runs became consistent. That same year they drafted Bonner, who helped the Mercury secure their second championship and has become a staple in the team’s success.
In 2010, the Mercury acquired Candice Dupree, who became another crucial piece to their future success. Dupree set a franchise record for highest field goal percentage in a season. But the Mercury lost in the Western Conference finals.
With their core players returning, the Mercury entered 2011 with high expectations. Bonner won her third consecutive WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, becoming the only player in league history to win the award three years in a row. The team advanced to the Western Conference finals for the third straight year but came up short once again.
In those three years, 15 different players wore the Mercury uniform but the team managed to continue making deep postseason runs.
“We’ve had a great group of girls that have been through here,” Bonner said. “Our talent has been great, that’s what the market is known for. We have a lot of people who work hard and understand what it takes to get there. At the beginning of the season you have that goal and mindset, and towards the end we just so happen to be in the playoffs.”
After reaching the Western Conference finals for three consecutive years, 2012 was uncharacteristic for the Mercury. They lost Taurasi and Taylor, their two leading scorers, to injuries. Taylor missed the entire season with an ACL tear in her left knee and Taurasi’s minutes were limited because of a strained left hip flexor. Dupree also missed part of the season because of a knee injury. With so many key players out, the Mercury posted the second-worst record in the league.
Following the devastating season, 2013 brought changes to the team. The Mercury drafted Griner with the No. 1 pick and fired coach and general manager Corey Gaines. The Mercury returned to the Western Conference finals under interim coach Russ Pennell.
A rebuilding season loomed in 2014 with Brondello as the new coach but it was the complete opposite. The Mercury won their third championship with the best record in the league (29-5).
The Mercury didn’t lose a beat in transitioning from Gaines to Brondello. The team was ready for a change.
“She’s a great coach,” Bonner said. “It was a great time to bring her in because we were struggling a little bit. She just put everybody in a position to help us win and made everything a little bit easier for us and that was what we needed at the time. She did a great job and we just bought into her system.”
