It\u2019s easy to pinpoint how Becky Hammon\u2019s reputation as one of the WNBA\u2019s toughest coaches sprouted.<\/p>\n
From yelling during timeouts to furrowing her eyebrows before explicit postgame rants to the media, the fourth-year Aces coach often showcases why she\u2019s someone who fans often joke they\u2019d be nervous to upset.<\/p>\n
But as the Aces extended the league\u2019s longest active win streak to seven games with a rout of the Dallas Wings on Sunday, smiles were in healthy supply from Hammon and her players.<\/p>\n
Those grins were a reminder that there\u2019s another side to the Naismith Hall of Famer, which could be key to her team blooming just in time for ideal postseason positioning.<\/p>\n
Hammon planted the seeds of success early, presenting each of her players with a plant at the start of the season. She started with small personalized pots, which displayed each player\u2019s name along with a unique saying she thought they should see.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryday, they can read it. Now, some of them \u2014 their plants are still alive, which is amazing. But it was just about building something that you had to do every day. You have to give that plant a little bit of water every day. It has to have a certain amount of sunlight,\u201d Hammon said. \u201cIt was just about sowing good roots. Having a good base.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hammon, a friend to any good metaphor, found another way to describe the potential impact of her gift of greenery: \u201cUnderstanding the difference between being planted and being buried.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s an idea that surely resonates with the Aces. They started the season deep in a hole.<\/p>\n
Just last month, headlines lamented the former back-to-back WNBA champions spending most of the first half of the campaign at under .500. The new-look Aces had already lost three games by 20-plus points by the All-Star break, a notable decline after having only recorded two such defeats in Hammon\u2019s first three seasons combined.<\/p>\n
Now, it appears her team has pushed through the dirt.<\/p>\n
Three-time MVP A\u2019ja Wilson and forward Kierstan Bell, the Aces\u2019 leading scorers in their most recent win, couldn\u2019t help but laugh upon Bell\u2019s admission that the plant she received from Hammon is now dead.<\/p>\n
\u201cMine was saying, \u2018Keep joy,\u2019 \u201d Bell said of her custom pot. \u201cAnd I think I\u2019m just doing that. And you know, the beginning of the season wasn\u2019t going really well for me, but my teammates had my back. (Hammon) had my back. And so I think this organization is just family. At the end of the day, we\u2019re here for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giving Becky<\/p>\n
Hammon knew the message she selected for Bell would be important because she listens to her players.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here to serve them, get the best out of them, do what\u2019s best for them \u2014 not only individually, but as a group,\u201d Hammon said.<\/p>\n
Doing what was best last month meant sitting veteran guard Jewell Loyd, at her request, and starting Bell instead. The Aces are 9-1 since that change.<\/p>\n
Loyd said she told Hammon in multiple conversations that she simply wanted to help the team win. It took Hammon a while to agree that moving a two-time champion to the second unit would help, but she ultimately gave in.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly on, I thought in a lot of ways, our group was pressing,\u201d Hammon said, naming Loyd, Wilson and point guard Chelsea Gray. \u201cAnd now we\u2019ve all just kind of settled in. No one\u2019s going anywhere. We\u2019re all on this ship together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after, Hammon gave again \u2014 in a different way.<\/p>\n
She relinquished some of her control over pregame preparation, empowering Wilson to lead her teammates through the defensive scouting. It yielded improvements in back-to-back wins before a historic 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Aug 2. The Aces haven\u2019t lost since, and have continued their new method of collaborative analysis with no plans to stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re trying to get greatness out of each other and also giving them that security of being themselves,\u201d Hammon said. \u201cOverall, players operate better in freedom. I\u2019m just trying to give you a little structure, but at the end of the day, I want you to be basketball players. I want you to use your brains. \u2026 Go out there and hoop and I\u2019ll help you along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next, Hammon will likely give some of her time to rookie Aaliyah Nye, who started the season as a key shooting threat on the perimeter but has been held scoreless in three of the team\u2019s last five games.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s maybe hit a little wall. But I think more than anything, it\u2019s probably mental,\u201d Hammon said. \u201cSo, I\u2019m gonna have to take her out to dinner or something and talk about that, and how she\u2019s gotta let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of the consistency Hammon hopes her players expect from her, which she compared to a friend you can count on to always answer the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one\u2019s gonna outgive me. I know this,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re gonna get stuff from me. That\u2019s what I think leadership is about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com.<\/a> Follow @CallieJLaw<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n Up next<\/p>\n Who: Dream at Aces<\/p>\n When: 7 p.m. Tuesday<\/p>\n Where: Michelob Ultra Arena<\/p>\n TV: NBAtv<\/p>\n Radio: KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)<\/p>\n Line: Aces -1; total 164<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s easy to pinpoint how Becky Hammon\u2019s reputation as one of the WNBA\u2019s toughest coaches sprouted. From yelling…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":157311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-157455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115053452676402417","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}