Becky Hammon is off to a hot start as the headcoach of theWNBA 'sLas Vegas Aces .- She has the Aces
shooting , and making, more threes than ever, and it's brought them to new heights.
Becky Hammon is quickly showing that she's the type of head coach she promised she'd be: a damn good one.
In just a few weeks at the helm, the former San Antonio Spurs assistant has lifted the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces from a top contender to the team to beat. And much of the Aces' renewed success stems from one simple adjustment Hammon insisted she'd make from the moment she signed on to become the franchise's next head coach.
"We probably will shoot a few more threes, to be quite honest," Hammon said with a chuckle during her introductory press conference.
In each of the four seasons after the San Antonio Stars moved to Las Vegas and rebranded as the Aces, the team attempted fewer shots from behind the arc than any other in the league. The result, unsurprisingly, was that Las Vegas ranked dead last in made three-pointers per game for three seasons running — and second-to-last in former head coach Bill Laimbeer's final season coaching the squad.
Even with a handful of superstars capable of draining shots from range at his disposal, Laimbeer was adamant that his team "take three-point plays the old-fashioned way: a bucket and a foul," as he once told The Las Vegas Review-Journal. But Hammon was quick to take a different approach — and so far, that shift is paying off.
Through the first month of the 2022 season, the Hammon-led Aces led the league with a whopping 10.6 treys per contest while attempting 25.8 three-pointers each game — good for second-most in the WNBA. With a league-high three-point shooting clip at 41.3%, Las Vegas is absolutely cashing in from beyond the arc.
Just this week, the Aces tied the WNBA record with 18 made three-pointers in a 28-point rout of the Los Angeles Sparks.
"Obviously we were pretty locked in from the jump," Hammon said after the contest. "As many threes as we made, which is great, I was actually more happy with our defense holding that team to 76 points. We played with a lot of possessions, we played with a lot of pace, but when we defend, we become special."
And for all of Laimbeer's fears that too much three-point shooting could prevent a team from getting to the free-throw line, Hammon's squad appears to being doing that a healthy amount, too. The Aces attempt 22.3 free throws each game and make 18.1 of them — just behind the league-leading Connecticut Sun for second in both metrics.
All in all, Hammon's shift has led Las Vegas to incredible offensive success to start the year. The Aces lead the league with a 112.5 offensive rating after scoring a whopping 93.3 points per game — making them the only team in the WNBA to average more than 90 points per contest.
Teams across the league have only broken the 100-point threshold four times this season; Las Vegas is responsible for three of them.
It's no wonder, then, that an offensive juggernaut of this caliber has found itself atop the WNBA standings. With a 7-1 overall record — and a perfect 5-0 slate in Commissioner's Cup games — the Aces are a full two games ahead of the next team in the Western Conference.
But even with all of her early success, Hammon doesn't believe what she's brought to Las Vegas is all that remarkable.
"It's really simple," she said after the record-tying win over the Sparks. "If you're guarded, move it. If you're open, shoot it."
"It's not very genius."