LV Aces HC Issues Stern Locker Room Demand After Explaining 4th Quarter Collapse by A’ja Wilson & Co.

Becky Hammon is her squad’s biggest cheerleader. But she’s not afraid to call the Aces out when they’re off their game. And after tonight’s meltdown against Seattle, her postgame comments sounded way too familiar. Because, just days earlier, after barely scraping by Washington despite shooting a rough 24% from three, she didn’t sugarcoat it at all. “With the exception of the second quarter, I thought defense was pretty good. Our offense was very unorganized. It looked dysfunctional. It looked like not us.”

Well, turns out that warning didn’t stick. Here’s the wild part: the Aces have A’ja Wilson, who just dropped a historic 35 points and 13 rebounds against the Sparks while becoming the first WNBA player ever to hit 35/10 with 3+ blocks and steals in a game. But tonight? That same squad lacked an offensive grip. It shouldn’t come off as too shocking, though. In the 2023 season, the Aces’ bench averaged 10.2 points per game. It ranked them near the bottom of the league.

American-Russian WNBA coach Becky Hammon speaks to Reuters about detained WNBA basketball athlete Brittany Griner during an interview at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, U.S., August 2, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

However, many things have changed since then, and an unacceptable gap of 9 points, solely in the 4th quarter against Seattle, could have cost them a win. If it wasn’t for the dominant first quarter saved the Aces’ bacon. A’ja Wilson and the squad came out firing with a 27-17 lead, but you could see it slipping away as the game went on. By the fourth quarter, Gabby Williams (who went off for 20) and the Storm completely flipped the momentum. They straight up outscored Vegas 23-14 down the stretch.

And Becky Hammon, like always, did not hold back from taking accountability in the postgame interview. The interviewer asked her “Just wanted to get your high level evaluation of that fourth quarter. What was working so well for the Storm and where were the Aces struggling?” It’s a fair one to ask, weren’t we all just thinking that? So without any hesitation, Becky responded. “I just thought they were the aggressors”. Hammon cut right to the issue.

“I thought we got on our heels a little bit”. She even admitted, that in some moments, the Aces lost control. Then came the gut punch. “You never want to walk away from any quarter or game saying, ‘Oh, they were more aggressive.’ They had to be more aggressive.” For a coach who prides herself on toughness, that’s the ultimate indictment. She continued, “So, you know, just in the scheme of a race, if somebody’s pressing the accelerator and you’re not, that force doesn’t work out generally in your favor. So, I want us to stay in attack mode a little bit more offensively.” And it was the final verdict, that we’ll hopefully witness the Aces to stick by on Sunday against the Valkyries.