Five Steals, Big Impact: Florez Makes Her Case
Alicia Florez’s five-steal performance off the bench in the Mystics' historic 124-123 quadruple-overtime victory over the Portland Fire fully represented her gritty play, the importance of point guard depth, and how quickly player roles can change during a WNBA season.
After starting point guard Georgia Amoore exited the first half of the Mystics' game against the Fire on Sunday with knee soreness, coach Sydney Johnson turned to his bench.
Lucy Olsen, Alicia Florez, and Cotie McMahon had time at the point guard spot in Amoore’s absence, but of the three, Florez impacted the game the most on the defensive end.
Florez ended the night with eight points, four assists, five steals, and one block, in 34 minutes, with two of her steals coming in the overtime periods.
Her performance epitomized how good defensive outings are built on micro details that aren’t fully represented by box scores. Especially during a night in which Portland’s Carla Leite, Alicia’s primary assignment, took over with 32 points, 19 of those coming across the four overtimes.
Although Leite finished with 32 points, Florez’s impact wasn't about eliminating her scoring. It was about making every possession difficult by pressuring one of Portland's hottest offensive players for four overtimes.
A few Florez related defensive possessions that show the difficulty of staying with a guard of Leite’s caliber.
Physical ball pressure made life for her assignment tougher, and she disrupted Portland’s offense by forcing turnovers, taking charges, and funneling correctly into her shot-blocking help.
As a result of her defense and calming presence at times on offense, coach Sydney Johnson said Florez helped “settle” the team while navigating relentless Portland full-court pressure.
With her spark, the Mystics had a chance to win in regulation, leading 87-84 with Florez at the line.
Coach Sydney Johnson comments on Portland’s pressure and a quick note on Alicia Florez’s part in handling that pressure.
Florez went 0-for-2 on the free throws, representative of Alicia’s offensive growth opportunity for the rest of this season, and Portland’s Carla Leite was able to score a miracle banked three-point shot at the buzzer to set the stage for a marathon.
In overtime, what really stood out to me was Florez's ability to keep battling, which changed how Portland attacked, often slowing down to force switches on bigs with Leite.
While Portland continued to get and abuse switches on screens and picks for Leite, the constant pressure of Florez was important in helping Washington control the pace late, and as time expired in the fourth overtime, Portland runs a great sideline out of bounds play for Leite and despite a struggle to get around the screen, Florez follows and despite a good running look, the shot doesn’t fall.
A big night for a guard that stayed ready after she only saw two minutes on the floor in Washington’s previous outing.
What This Night Means
First, this shows how important defensive motor can be in a basketball game, especially on a night when an opposing perimeter scorer like Leite is on.
At the highest levels of basketball, there are often nights you can’t stop an opposing scorer; you can only hope to compete and make things tough. After plenty of pressure from Florez, the Fire’s leading scorer, Leite, missed a key free throw late in the 4th overtime, and the pressure following the screen that made a good look at the end look a bit rushed is how impact looks some nights.
Overall, Mystics fans should like to see more Florez on the floor going forward, but in the wake of Georgia Amoore’s knee soreness and the unique abilities of the other point guards on the roster, it seems like guard by committee would be a beneficial way to rotate over the next few games, assuming everyone is healthy.
Based on what she’s shown thus far, it looks like being a bench spark is where Alicia is this season, but if she can develop her shooting, Florez has other traits that could make her a consistent starting-caliber WNBA point guard down the line and an effective rotation guard that can make spot starts if necessary in the meantime.
In a game that never seemed to end and also saw the scoring career highs of Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, and Michaela Onyenwere, defensive effort on the perimeter from Florez helped flip the momentum in the second half.
As someone who thoroughly enjoys the micro-skill/talent of motor, watching Florez play is a delight, and there is still plenty of room for the 22-year-old rookie to grow as the season progresses.
