A First Look at WNBA Numbers

Though the Storm is more than a tenth of the way through the 2008 season, it's still very early. Nothing shows that more than the fact that 10 days into the season the Minnesota Lynx is still sitting on one game played. Still, it's never too early to at least glance at the advanced statistics.

In terms of Offensive Rating, the surprising 3-0 Connecticut Sun laps the rest of the league.

Team       ORating
------------------
Connecticut  114.8
Los Angeles  109.4
Minnesota    106.6
Phoenix      102.1
San Antonio  101.1
Chicago      100.3
Detroit       99.0
Seattle       98.8
AVERAGE       96.5
Sacramento    90.6
New York      90.2
Indiana       89.7
Houston       85.2
Atlanta       84.0
Washington    83.8

Talk about a disparity between the haves and the have-nots - look at that gap between the Storm and the Monarchs, bridged only by league average. That San Antonio's offense has played so well early despite some subpar shooting from Becky Hammon and two games without Ann Wauters should make the rest of the WNBA afraid. Very afraid.

Team       DRating
------------------
Indiana       83.8
Connecticut   84.9
Minnesota     86.7
Los Angeles   90.5
Detroit       91.3
New York      93.7
Chicago       94.3
Washington    95.0
San Antonio   95.9
AVERAGE       96.5
Seattle       98.2
Houston      100.9
Sacramento   102.9
Phoenix      107.0
Atlanta      114.3

Definitely a skewed distribution in terms of Defensive Rating; nine of the 14 teams in the league are above-average, in no small part because the Dream's defense has been a nightmare. (Sorry, bad pun.) Phoenix's defense also has to be a major concern - weren't the Mercury supposed to be better at that end with traditional post players? Don't look for Connecticut and Minnesota to maintain their lofty defensive perches, but the Fever might easily lead the league in Defensive Rating wire to wire.

Too early for Pythagorean records, at least as long as the Sun is projected to win more than 34 games and Atlanta to lose more than 34. Moving ahead, here are your early leaders in PER, including some surprising names.

Player              Tm   PER
----------------------------
Charde Houston     MIN  43.1
Sidney Spencer     LAS  37.7
Katie Douglas      IND  34.7
Sophia Young       SAS  34.4
Lisa Leslie        LAS  33.9
Candace Parker     LAS  32.9
Lindsay Whalen     CON  31.2
Nicky Anosike      MIN  30.9
Candice Dupree     CHI  30.2
Plenette Pierson   DET  29.2

I don't count on Houston, Spencer and Anosike staying up there with more minutes, but Pierson's fast start might not be a fluke. Bill Laimbeer ought to get her more time so the Shock gets off to better starts.