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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
After practice Monday, and one day after a rugged 67-64 slugfest win over the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA Finals Game 1, Dearica Hamby rested on her back on a padded courtside bench just beyond the baseline at Michelob Ultra Arena.
About 20 minutes later, she was answering questions about her right knee contusion injury a month ago when the athletic two-time WNBA All-Star and former Sixth Player of the Year landed awkwardly on a layup attempt against the Atlanta Dream at Michelob Ultra Arena.
The six-foot, three-inch Hamby, known for running the court and also battling in the paint for rebounds, told LVSportsBiz.com today that the knee injury was in the back of her mind when she was playing against the Seattle Storm in the WNBA Semifinals last week. Las Vegas knocked out Seattle, three games to one, to advance to the Finals against the Sun.
In a back-to-the-future convergence in Finals Game 1 Sunday, Hamby returned to her spark-off-the-bench role. Aces coach Becky Hammon, knowing Connecticut’s heralded physical play required a big body off the bench, picked Hamby to go toe-to-toe with the Sun’s rough-and-tumble bigs like 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones, a six-foot, six-inch bruiser.
And Hamby responded.
“She was phenomenal. She was ready to go. I just got to the point where I was like, my biggest, baddest beast is sitting over there,” Hammon said after Sunday’s game. “I’ve just got to throw her in. They want to play a rough game; she’s my girl.”
Hamby said being called the “biggest, baddest beast” by Hammon was “a compliment.”
Connecticut’s rough contact style was well-suited for Hamby.
“I enjoy the physicality,” Hamby told LVSportsBiz.com Monday after practice at Michelob Ultra Arena. “I’m not playing with fear.”
Indeed, Hamby’s re-emergence as a defensive and rebounding impact player against Connecticut could be the X-factor for the Aces, known for its high-octane, 90-points-per-game offense.
Aces Assistant Coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson referred to Hamby’s high motor an physicality as pivotal traits for Las Vegas against a Sun squad that likes to bang bodies and create contact.
Thomas-Swinson acknowledged that it took a few playoff games for Hamby to knock the “rust off the wheels.”
Hammon was not pleased with the Aces’ first half performance against the Sun yesterday, but said Las Vegas’ defensive effort in the second half was up to standard.
The Aces trailed Connecticut, 38-34, at the half, but gutted out a tough 67-64 win at Mandalay Bay.
“We know they’re physical,” said Aces guard Jackie Young, a soft-spoken former number one draft pick who won the WNBA’s Most Improved Player award this season. “We have to match their physicality. We played at their pace. At the end of the day, we have to play at our pace.”
Hammon said the Aces can do better Tuesday. Tipoff at Michelob Ultra Arena is 6 PM.
“We played right into their hands,” Hammon told LVSportsBiz.com. “We had a lack of ball movement. We can do better.”