Themes Defining the Mystics Through the First Quarter
Through roughly a quarter of the WNBA season, the Mystics are now 6-7. There have been plenty of ups and downs thus far, so today I’m highlighting moments/sequences that have defined the Mystics this season, either directly or as major team tropes.
A Week of Game-Winners
Growth and development for this Mystics team is still the motto.
While there are segments of fans who are anxious for a contender more than half a decade separated from the Mystics 2019 title, what we saw last week against Indiana and Toronto shows that building a true contender will be a growing process, and that is much of what has been echoed by the team and observers all year.
The buzzer-beater loss against the Fever highlighted the way this team fights through adversity, as they were able to come back after trailing most of the game after Kiki Iriafen went down with an injury.
The second half run the team went on in the Fever game highlighted what the team can be with improved outside shooting, and the second half comeback they allowed against the Tempo later that week highlighted stretches when turnovers can make the offense anemic, but I have to give credit to Toronto's Marina Mabrey for her late game heater that evaporated the Mystics' lead.
The outside shooting has been indicative of the Mystics' guard play, as they are relying heavily on Georgia Amoore, who is still getting back into a groove after her ACL injury. But we’ve seen stretches where if her scoring is going, the Mystics can be a tough team to stop.
Against Indiana, Washington had heartbreak after coming back from down 17, and in their game against Toronto, they had the joy of a last-second victory after almost conceding a comeback of their own, leading to a Sonia Citron game-winner off a Lauren Betts jump-ball win.
This stretch of games is super important to understanding the team because it highlights the waves of strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the ball, and also how the Mystics are winning games at a level that is expected, but there is still plenty of room for the team to grow and cut down on mistakes that raise the floor of the unit.
Battling Through Injuries
In the loss to the Indiana Fever, Kiki Iriafen went down with an ankle injury. While the injury wasn’t super serious, Kiki has missed three games since, her absence has forced the Mystics to find a way to make up for her 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
First, we see the increased attention and responsibility on Sonia Citron and Shakira Austin. Citron becomes an easier cover for defenses, despite her three-level scoring ability, purely since teams can allocate more bodies in order to either slow her down or force the ball to another scorer on the perimeter.
However, Citron has shown that she’s incredibly tough to stop and even joins the boards, as evidenced by her season-high 11 rebounds in a game without either Kiki or Shakira against Connecticut.
As the focal point of the front court, Shakira greatly benefits from Kiki’s activity on the boards and the chemistry between them, but she’s recently had knee soreness develop, which has led to her missing one game thus far, leaving the Mystics relying even more on their youth and depth.
The Mystics have utilized their UCLA rookies in Angela Dugalic, who stepped into the starting forward spot when Kiki went down, and Lauren Betts, who saw an uptick in minutes off the bench and even had a career-high 18 points against the Toronto Tempo, and a solid outing in her first career start vs Connecticut, a game where the Mystics also missed Shakira Austin in addition to Kiki Iriafen.
Stepping up greatly is veteran Michaela Onyenwere, who’s averaged 18.5 PPG the last 4 games and has added a boost to the much-needed outside shooting for the club.
Injuries provide a picture of the organization's goals in how they handle player safety. In the clip below, coach Sydney Johnson discusses the team's “mindful” approach.
In my opinion, I’m in favor of being a bit more conservative with star injuries, especially for a team with more long-term goals.
With these moments over the last few weeks, you can see how the pieces are supposed to fit together, but at this moment, it’s like staring at the puzzle pieces on the box instead of seeing significant progress in the image being built.
At 6-7, the Mystics have shown enough flashes to suggest the foundation is there, but now it is time to see how the individual bright spots we’ve seen can help form a more consistent, cohesive unit.
With either an increase in perimeter shooting or ways to help the scorers be more efficient, and a decrease in some youth-related turnovers, the Mystics can truly take strides in the right direction as they work to become a team that can match their potential.
Make sure to stay tapped in with District of Buckets as we continue following this important start in the Mystics' master plan.
