The Washington Mystics played with just six players in their 90-71 loss to the Connecticut Sun on June 29, highlighting the team’s current short-handed four-game losing streak.
Washington’s losing streak has been a rather quick one, playing four games in a 10-day span. During the stretch, the team has been without its leader: point guard Natasha Cloud.
The Mystics have been trying to fill her void on the court without practice since they only had two or three days in between each game. Mystics associate head coach Eric Thibault said this week’s practices have allowed the team to work on running the offense without Cloud.
“We’ve been trying to do it without practice, which is really, really difficult,” Thibault said Wednesday. “Even just having a few days of practice, going over some different ways to initiate the offense should help.”
Even though Cloud hasn’t been able to play with an ankle injury, her presence is still felt by the team.
“She is always talking,” said Mystics guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. “You can feel her on the court because she’s right on the sidelines, talking in the huddles.”
Ahead of Saturday’s game at the Chicago Sky, the Mystics injury report is littered with players listed as out, including forwards Elena Delle Donne, Myisha Hines-Allen and Erica McCall.
“I feel like this team has had every excuse in the book to fold and we have fought through so much,” said Mystics forward Theresa Plaisance. “Just to have this time, I think the heart’s there, I think the trust is there for one another.”
This week, the Mystics didn’t have a weekday game, giving them seven days in between games for the first time since the beginning of May. After Saturday, the Mystics will have a month off for the Olympic break, allowing players from WNBA teams to represent their countries in the summer games.
“I think this has been a really good time for us to … get back on our feet, in terms of resting bodies and bringing people back off of injury and just working on the little things,” Plaisance said.
Plaisance said the team has been working on spacing on the court and ball movement before Saturday’s game at Chicago.
“We were really touching up on these little things to make one last push before the break and then set the standard for when we come back,” Plaisance said.
“Offensively just getting back to fundamentals on screening and using screens,” Thibault said. “Everything is tied to getting in sync more with teammates.”
The Chicago Sky are led by guard Courtney Vandersloot and forward Candace Parker, both priorities for the Mystics on the defensive end.
“Just honestly making everyone uncomfortable,” Walker-Kimbrough said. “Just making Vandersloot uncomfortable is going to be very big. With her and Candace, I feel like they make their team go.”
Parker is averaging 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds this season for the Sky, while Vandersloot is averaging 11.4 points and 8.7 assists a game.
It may just be a regular-season game, but the Mystics want to cap the first half of the season with a win.
“We may be down numbers, but I guarantee Chicago doesn’t care that we’re down numbers,” Walker-Kimbrough said. “We going in there, trying to get this win and definitely build on what we’ve been working on this week and eventually come out with a win.”
