Note: WNBA.com’s Race to the MVP, released every Wednesday during the season, is
the opinion of this writer and does not reflect the views of the WNBA or its
clubs.
Archive: Preseason | Week 1 | Week 2
It’s time for the latest installment of Race to MVP, which has begun to take
shape along with the league standings. The only new face this week is Tiffany
Hayes, who’s putting up career-best numbers in scoring, rebounding and
three-point shooting for the surging Atlanta Dream. Other than Hayes and
Seattle’s Jewell Loyd, this list is dominated by frontcourt players.
Here are your Week 3 rankings:
1. Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota Lynx Last Week: 1 Stats: 20.0 points, 61% FG, 10.7
rebounds, 2.3 blocks, 2.0 steals
Another week, another Western Conference Player of the Week award for Fowles.
The Lynx are now 6-0 with Fowles as their leader in points, rebounds, blocks and
steals. She has shot better than 50 percent from the field in every game so far,
and on the other end of the court, Fowles leads the league in defensive win
shares for the second straight season.
2. Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury Last Week: 3 Stats: 20.2 points, 58% FG, 7.4
rebounds, 3.8 blocks
The Mercury had only one game in the past week, and they won by a
franchise-record margin of 42 points against the Dallas Wings. As a result,
Griner played just 23 minutes. She still blocked four shots and remains the key
cog of the league’s best defensive unit. Phoenix is allowing just 67.2 points
per game, by far the fewest in the WNBA.
3. Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks Last Week: 2 Stats: 21.4 points, 60% FG,
46% 3FG, 5.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals
The Sparks dropped to 2-2 with a pair of road losses before bouncing back at New
York on Tuesday. Ogwumike had a solid all-around performance against the
Liberty, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting (her fourth 20-point
outing in five games), seven rebounds and four steals. She and the defending
champs now have a full week to recuperate before hosting Chicago.
4. Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics Last Week: 5 Stats: 19.8 points, 49%
FG, 98% FT, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 blocks
Delle Donne has guided Washington to three straight victories, including two
over her former team in convincing fashion. With Emma Meesseman now away at
EuroBasket Women 2017, Delle Donne will need to shoulder even more of the
scoring load. And no, that percentage above is not a typo: Delle Donne is
39-for-40 at the free throw line.
5. Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm Last Week: 4 Stats: 21.4 points, 55% FG, 58% 3FG,
1.4 steals
After making 10 field goals in each of her first three games, Loyd was much
quieter in Seattle’s pair of wins this past week. The Storm have several players
that can fill it up – Alysha Clark just scored 22 points against Indiana – and
Loyd showed her versatility with five assists on Sunday. Seattle is now 4-1, and
Loyd still has ridiculous shooting percentages across the board.
6. Tiffany Hayes, Atlanta Dream Last Week: Unranked Stats: 19.8 points, 43% FG,
5.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals
It’s no surprise that Hayes is putting up big numbers, but few could have
predicted a 4-1 start for the Dream with Angel McCoughtry not around. Hayes
guided Atlanta to an upset of the defending champion Sparks over the weekend,
dropping 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 9-of-11 at the foul line. She’s
getting to the line a league-high 8.0 times per game and converting 78 percent.
7. Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx Last Week: 6 Stats: 13.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.8
assists, 1.5 steals
Moore has still yet to find a rhythm on the offensive end, as she’s shooting
just 32 percent through six games. And yet, it’s her mere presence on the court
that keeps the undefeated Lynx rolling: Minnesota scores 85.9 points per 40
minutes with Moore in the game, compared to just 68.2 points per 40 minutes with
her on the bench. She owns by far the best plus-minus on the team.
8. Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks Last Week: 7 Stats: 15.8 points, 45% FG,
9.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.0 blocks, 1.3 steals
Parker’s numbers so far are eerily similar to last year, when she was the
league’s only player to rank in the top 15 in points, rebounds, assists, steals
and blocks. The Sparks are just 2-2 in games Parker has suited up this season,
but the two-time MVP has been stellar in all but one of them. Her 5.3 assists
per game rank first among all frontcourt players.
9. Tina Charles, New York Liberty Last Week: 8 Stats: 18.6 points, 44% FG, 44%
3FG, 7.8 rebounds
The Liberty went 0-2 this past week, but Charles has picked up her game after a
slow start to the season. She’s averaging 25 points on 51 percent shooting and
8.3 rebounds over her last three games. Charles also made four of her seven
three-point attempts in that span, and after adding the three-point shot to her
repertoire last season, appears to be confident from deep once again.
10. Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm Last Week: 9 Stats: 13.3 points, 8.3
rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.3 steals
The Storm needed to vastly improve on their 16-18 record in 2016 for Stewart to
go from Rookie of the Year to MVP. Here they are at 4-1, and Stewart has started
to come alive with averages of 16 points and 10.5 rebounds over the last two
games. She’s still shooting just 35 percent overall after converting 46 percent
as a rookie.
