10 THINGS TO EXPECT in COMMISSIONER'S CUP:
Aces @ Liberty | 6.30.26
1) The Commissioner's Cup tips off today at 7PM ET, featuring The Aces vs The Liberty at Barclay's. The Liberty have lost 3 of their L4 games, yet that one win was against The Aces. Last game vs Valks was likely a bit more of a resting scenario for NYL, though Satou Sabally will remain out here with a concussion. Neither of these teams are really in top form here.
Breanna Stewart on playing Vegas in CC: "The toughest part is that we fly cross-country tomorrow and have to play the next day. But we're very familiar with Vegas' game, obviously knowing there's gonna be some tweaks and changes to their scout and also ours."
2) A'ja Wilson is questionable here. She hurt her ankle against Chicago, to which she returned from, but some swelling overnight could put her availability in question. She noted, “It’s alright. It’s an ankle so it’ll snap back. I should be good after some nice treatment.”
Of course have to presume she's in for analysis sake, otherwise unsure how Aces can remotely compete with NYL's size.
3) The Liberty team is sitting 14th in PACE in their L7 games, while The Aces are down at 12th... in for a slow one. In this same span, NYL is sitting 1st in OPP FTA, CnS 3PA, and against Post/Hook play.
In turn, they are allowing Top 5 Pullup, Rim, and Floater rates.
4) Leonie Fiebich was the Chelsea Gray defender, and she guarded her full court as often as possible. Gray notched an impressive 11 Pts in the 2H of last game (9 in 4Q), yet did so off 4/5 shooting (2/3 from deep).
Gray also notched 8 assists this game, 6 of which were at the rim. Normally that's a strong distribution, but 3 of those were kickouts to tough drives while 2 were exceptionally impressive. Can watch tape here.
As hard as this matchup is, Chelsea Gray rises in big moments.
5) A'ja defended by Jonquel Jones, which leaves Nalyssa Smith the tall task of Breanna Stewart. Smith produced just 7 points and a single rebound in the prior H2H. Her rebound edge remains low given her defense on Jones paired with A'ja sitting on the block for contesting shots + rebound collection.
With Chennedy Carter back in action, Smith's ceiling is also a bit lower, albeit LVA should pursue her size here. Would expect Smith at 24-27min here.
6) In relation, A'ja is going to have a tough time inside. She ended the prior meeting with just 16 points, with 5 of her 7 makes being from jumpshots. Solving A'ja is how you can solve The Aces. The Liberty look to always front A'ja and have Jonquel present for any paint touch.
This 3-ball will be open for Wilson, but she went 0/3 in the 1H and did not shoot another in 2H.
The defense on A'ja still had two halves, where the 2H she shot just 7 times and drew Jonquel as a primary assignment more often than in 1H where Jonquel would be helper.
7) A'ja scoring 26 Pts will be a tall task if she can't get downhill or at the stripe, though volume can remain high as all of these 2nd/3rd level jumpshots are open. Jonquel did have 3 fouls in the first 4 minutes of the 2H, so possible she goes back to the roaming spot we saw in 1H.
Jonquel had just 5 rebounds, while Sabrina notched 10 -- with 9 on the defensive end. She guarded a lot of Jackie, but also Loyd in corners. Without pinpointing where these NYL frontcourt players will be defensively, the whole NYL rebound committee seems like guesswork.
8) Aces defense is remarkably similar to NYL's in June, sitting 15th vs Pullup frequency while being Top 5 vs Post, CnS and FTA.
Starting Aces assignments were Smith on Jonquel, Talbot on Stewie, and A'ja off Satou. Satou got up three 3PA in her 8 minutes of play with this assignment. This was the game Satou got hurt, and in the 2H we saw A'ja directly on Stewart and Gray matched on Fiebich.
Astier started on Sunday in place of Satou while Laney-Hamilton started 2H here, so will see which lineup DeMarco goes with.
In theory A'ja should be able to post up better rebound numbers here and posted up 16 rebounds per meeting last season.
9) Stewart with 20 points against the Talbot assignment off 16 FGA. An 18.5 Pt line in general is low for Stewie, and facing into a weak Pullup defense should be a recipe for success here.
Her shot diet was incredibly difficult, going just 1-2 at the rim. I was more surprised at Jonquel's lack of volume given her size advantage over Smith. Rather, putting JJ into actions to get good looks for Sabrina against Smith's drop seemed like priority. NYL can generate good volume here, so may just leave Jonquel on short end of the stick.
Can't back Sabrina at the 2.5 3PM line; She hasn't notched 3 makes in any of her 8 games this season.
10) Pauline Astier has capitalized the most in minutes without Sabally, playing 23 & 25 in the last two games while Johannes has remained below 20 minutes. Worth noting that Laney-Hamilton is still ramping up back from injury, so could see 15-20 herself here as well.
Pretty shocked to see every punter so heavily on Harper’s overs today.
Rookie in a must win game at MSG? This is a game for the veteran Fox.
🪜 Fox to 20 points.