The Las Vegas Aces received a major blow to their three-peat hopes following their home loss against Seattle. A clinical effort by the visitors combined with some sloppiness by the defending champions resulted in a 78-65 result in favor of the visitors. Following this, the big names such as A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum of the franchise reflected on their Commissioner’s Cup outing.

Gloomy faces were featured in the media address after the Aces were embarrassed on their home turf. One of the reporters wanted to get a clearer picture of the physical and mental state of last year’s WNBA Finals MVP A’ja Wilson. At the post-game press conference, Wilson replied, “Physically I’m hurting. But at the same time, I’m just going to continue to work through with all of my teammates. Everybody is hurting in some type of way. This league is hard. Every loss I feel like we across hurts. But at the end of the day, it means we have a lot more growing to do.” 

The complaint about a hectic schedule is not the only complaint coming from the Aces’ camp. Earlier, many have pointed out the issue. Fever’s 11 games in a span of 20 days resulted in players like Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston taking a heavy toll on their bodies. On a more recent note, the Phoenix Mercury guard Natasha Cloud also expressed her frustrations regarding this tight timetable. Following her encounter with the New York Liberty, she said, “I personally think that this schedule is crazy. Obviously, we understand that we have an Olympic break, and all those things that are pushing these games up early. ” 

In the meantime, the loss points towards a lot of gray areas that the Aces need to address quickly.

What are the vulnerabilities of A’ja Wilson and Co.

The Las Vegas are currently placed seventh in the league in terms of defense. An overall average of 80.7 points was conceded in each contest. After last night’s game, the Aces stand in the fifth position in the overall standings.

In addition to this, their lapses in the backcourt were clearly visible as Skylar Diggins-Smith was able to score 19 of her 21 points in the second half. This was after they trailed the entire first half by being just 29% efficient from the field along with their 10 turnovers.

A tough night for the back-to-back champions indeed. However, their lack of defensive skills has been a running problem for the team on a three-peat mission. Due to the very same reason, Becky Hammon had let Dyaisha Fair go because despite being an offensive menace, her defense was not as curated as Las Vegas would have liked. One thing is for certain, this team is only being held back by their defensive deficiency.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.