Phoenix head coach Nate Tibbetts has agreed with that sentiment at multiple points this season. A variety of factors have contributed to the impression that the Mercury have looked a step behind on defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Help needed<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the season<\/a>, Tibbetts noted, \u201cAny time you have a team with Alyssa Thomas on it, you\u2019re going to be an elite-level defensive team.\u201d But so far, that\u2019s been far from the truth.<\/p>\n Currently, the Mercury\u2019s 109.1 defensive rating is 10th in the league<\/a>, meaning that they\u2019re allowing teams to score 109.1 points per 100 possessions. They\u2019re also giving up 87.8 points per game. Last year\u2019s Mercury team was fifth in defensive rating<\/a> at 102.5 and fourth in opponent points per game at just 80.1.<\/p>\n Phoenix has allowed its opponents to score 95 or more points in three of six games this season. That only happened four times in 44 games<\/a> last season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe won a lot of games last year with our defense, and it\u2019s going to be the same way this year,\u201d Tibbetts said. \u201cI thought [Thomas] and [guard Kahleah Copper<\/a>] really set the tone at that end, and that is going to have to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s a bit disingenuous to compare last season\u2019s team to this new one, especially considering the small sample size early and the fact that key returners Monique Akoa Makani<\/a> and Sami Whitcomb<\/a> have yet to suit up this season. But at the same time, just how bad the defense has looked at times is alarming for a team that should have physicality and aggressiveness as its baseline.<\/p>\n For how good Thomas is as an individual defender \u2014 she\u2019s a perennial WNBA Defensive Player of the Year candidate \u2014 she alone can\u2019t solve the team\u2019s defensive woes. There are simply too many responsibilities to put onto one player. Center Natasha Mack<\/a> is a helpful rim deterrent, but no matter how much her conditioning improved in the offseason, it\u2019s unrealistic to expect her to consistently play 30-plus minutes per game.<\/p>\n Kyara Linskens<\/a>, the Mercury\u2019s only other true big, has yet to find regular playing time, which has led to undersized and inexperienced forwards like Noemie Brochant<\/a>, Val\u00e9riane Ayayi<\/a> and Marta Su\u00e1rez<\/a> having to play up on defense. That strategy has led to shaky results. For example, against the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday, Su\u00e1rez fouled out just nine minutes into her WNBA debut.<\/p>\n In that game, the Sparks scored 60 points in the first half and seemed to get whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it. Guards like Kelsey Plum<\/a> led a 3-point shooting barrage, as the Sparks shot 15-for-32 from deep. And Dearica Hamby<\/a> dominated in the paint, finishing with 27 points and 15 rebounds and converting from the free-throw line 11 times.<\/p>\n The frustration during and after the game could be seen on the faces of the Mercury coaches and players, Thomas specifically.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDefense is a want, it\u2019s a will,\u201d Thomas said postgame. \u201cIt\u2019s the point of attack. Teams are coming in and getting anything and everything that they want against this. So for us, we have to decide if we want to defend.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about knowing personnel, knowing what the game plan is,\u201d she added. \u201cWe have to do a better job all around. It starts with our preparation and knowing the teams and what they want to do. We have to start over with our defense, and we got to find people that want to defend.\u201d<\/p>\n Opposing ball-handlers have too often been able to turn the corner and force the Mercury defense to rotate. When the burden shifts to help defenders, openings elsewhere on the floor put additional stress on Phoenix\u2019s interior defense and require Thomas to cover multiple responsibilities within the same possession.<\/p>\n Mack being the lone consistent rim protector has become an especially difficult problem against teams with multiple physical frontcourt players, who have been able to wear down the Mercury and consistently generate traffic around the basket, leading to open threes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe just got to help each other,\u201d Copper told reporters after the Toronto game. \u201cIf you know someone\u2019s not in the right place or somebody\u2019s getting beat one-on-one, we just got to cover for each other. We got to fly around more. I think we fell into some one-on-ones, not having each other\u2019s back, not being in the gaps. Being better collectively [will] ultimately help our team defense.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women\u2019s Sports Daily<\/strong> Can\u2019t defend the 3<\/p>\n The most glaring flaw in the Mercury defense is the inability to defend the 3-pointer. The Los Angeles game was the second game in a row in which Phoenix\u2019s opponent made 15 3-pointers on over 40% shooting. That can be chalked up to the other team simply making shots at an above-average rate, but Tibbetts pointed to something much more concerning: Teams are getting comfortable against them.<\/p>\n \u201cTeams are just getting comfortable, and we\u2019re not doing a good enough job of getting to their shooters,\u201d Tibbetts said after the Los Angeles game. \u201cThat\u2019s disappointing to give up 60 in the first [half]. It\u2019s not what good defenses do. We decided to turn it up and held them to 37 in the second half, but the threes are a problem right now for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bad sign for a team that wants to thrive on making opponents feel uncomfortable. Tibbetts pointed to breakdowns in attention to detail, including an instance against Los Angeles when Phoenix failed to pick up Plum and she just walked into a 3-pointer.<\/p>\n That was just one of multiple occasions this season where the Mercury failed to match up on defense, leading to shooters getting free looks at the basket. Tibbetts called it \u201ca lack of focus\u201d after playing Toronto \u2014 a game in which Tempo guards Brittney Sykes<\/a> and Marina Mabrey<\/a> combined for 61 points on 10-for-22 3-point shooting.<\/p>\n The result is that the Mercury have allowed the second-highest opponent 3-point percentage<\/a> in the league at 37.3%. Opponents have made 60 3-pointers against the Mercury, while Phoenix has made just 49.<\/p>\n That 33-point gap has been significant, as the Mercury\u2019s average margin of defeat in their last three losses is just 7 points. Fewer threes allowed here and there could be the difference between Phoenix being 2-4 and being 4-2 or even 5-1.<\/p>\n \u201cBecoming Caitlin Clark\u201d<\/strong> is out now!<\/strong><\/p>\n Howard Megdal\u2019s newest book is here! \u201cBecoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar\u201d captures both the historic nature of Clark\u2019s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.<\/p>\n On the bright side\u00a0<\/p>\n The good news for Phoenix is that all signs point to this period being the lowest it will get defensively. That\u2019s because the team will naturally adjust in three areas as time goes on.\u00a0<\/p>\n For one, associate head coach Kristi Toliver<\/a> is taking over the defense for the first time after spending the last two seasons focusing on the Mercury\u2019s offense. Second, the Mercury have relied on many players who are not only new to the roster, but also new to the WNBA. And third, everyone across the league is having to adjust to changes in how the game has been officiated.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s dive deeper into each of those areas.<\/p>\n By pretty much all accounts, Toliver is one of the top assistants in the league<\/a> and it\u2019s only a matter of time until she becomes a WNBA head coach. The learning curve she\u2019s facing is a natural challenge to her vast basketball IQ. Now tasked with overseeing every detail of the team\u2019s defensive game planning \u2014 from scouting opponent tendencies to identifying personnel strengths and weaknesses across the league \u2014 her process remains the same. The assignment is just different.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s challenging just to change my perspective and how I\u2019ve looked at the game, just obviously just watching offense and focusing on that side of the ball,\u201d Toliver told The IX Sports. \u201cWhen you\u2019re coaching defense, you obviously know what your team does offensively, but now I feel really comfortable in understanding what other teams are trying to do, especially when it comes to preparing scouts or just knowing every single team, and their actions and their personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n As that process of dissecting what opponents are trying to do and how Phoenix can disrupt it becomes more familiar, it\u2019s reasonable to expect the Mercury\u2019s defensive execution to improve, too.<\/p>\n Phoenix\u2019s new players also need to adjust. Newcomers from overseas like Jovana Nogi\u0107<\/a>, Ayayi, Brochant and Linskens arrived late to training camp, yet they\u2019ve already been tasked with large responsibilities. Additionally, their learning curves include factors that make it more difficult than the typical \u201cnew player on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Linskens, for example, told reporters after a shootaround that she\u2019s still not used to the WNBA\u2019s defensive three-second violation, which is absent from the league she competes in overseas. Perhaps that contributes to why she hasn\u2019t cracked the rotation as a consistent backup center. Tibbetts also pointed to the challenge that the language barrier presents for international players, specifically on the defensive end.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve added some players that speak a couple different languages,\u201d Tibbetts said. \u201cWhen we call a coverage, when we say it in English, we know it, but they\u2019re trying to translate it at times and they may have just come from another team overseas that was calling something completely different.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you hear coverage called, you can\u2019t think about it. It\u2019s got to happen quick. I feel like we\u2019re getting into our coverages quicker, and that just takes repetition.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, in the offseason, the WNBA made it a point of emphasis for officials to limit physicality on the court. That\u2019s led to an uptick in fouls called across the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n At first glance, that would seem like bad news for a Mercury team that built its identity around relentless pressure that often went unpunished by the whistle during its run to the 2025 WNBA Finals. In reality, the numbers suggest the opposite.<\/p>\n Phoenix is averaging 19.3 personal fouls<\/a> per game. That\u2019s the third-fewest in the league, despite playing in a game against the Minnesota Lynx that had 50 total fouls and one against the Sparks that had 49. Tibbetts has repeatedly pointed to defending without fouling as one of the primary benchmarks he uses to evaluate the team\u2019s defense. By that measure, the Mercury have actually done their job.<\/p>\n Your business can reach over 3 million women\u2019s sports fans every single month!<\/strong><\/p>\n Here at The IX Basketball<\/a> and The IX Sports<\/a>, our audience is a collection of the smartest, most passionate women\u2019s sports fans in the world. If your business has a mission to serve these fans, reach out to our team at BAlarie@theixsports.com<\/a> to discuss ways to work together.<\/p>\n![\"Los](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/USATSI_29024756-683x1024.jpg\")
Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike (right) shoots over Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) during a game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on May 21, 2026. (Photo credit: Rick Scuteri | Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
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