WNBA Numbers Update

The latest weekly update on the advanced WNBA statistics shows a lot of interesting movement. Let's start with per-possession offense and defense, shall we?

Team          ORating     Team          DRating
---------------------     ---------------------
Phoenix         104.5     Indiana          88.9
Minnesota       103.3     Los Angeles      91.0
Detroit         102.5     San Antonio      92.9
Connecticut     102.1     Detroit          95.1
New York        101.9     Washington       96.0
Chicago         101.2     Seattle          96.1
Los Angeles      99.7     Connecticut      96.8
Seattle          98.5     Houston          97.8
AVERAGE          98.0     AVERAGE          98.0
San Antonio      96.4     New York         98.9
Sacramento       95.1     Sacramento       99.6
Washington       92.9     Minnesota        99.9
Houston          92.6     Chicago         101.5
Indiana          90.8     Phoenix         109.0
Atlanta          90.6     Atlanta         109.1

For the first time all year, it is the Phoenix Mercury that boasts the league's best offense. With Le'coe Willingham playing great basketball, the Mercury has missed Penny Taylor on offense much less than we expected. On the other end ... not so much.

The trend for Minnesota's Offensive Rating isn't good. Two weeks ago, the Lynx were at 110.7. Last week, that dropped to 105.9, still good enough to lead the league. Now, their rating is 103.3. Naturally, that's gone hand-in-hand with a five-game Minnesota losing streak.

Connecticut took a hit at both ends of the floor during a five-game road trip despite going 3-2.

From a more positive perspective, the New York Liberty boasted the league's worst offense a year ago. Now, the Liberty sits fifth in the league. Remarkable turnaround. And since when have the Mystics been a defensive force?

Let's look at the standings based on point differential, shown by expected wins over the course of the 34-game season.

Team          ExpW    Team          ExpW
------------------    ------------------
Los Angeles   23.8    Detroit       24.4
San Antonio   19.7    Connecticut   22.4
Minnesota     19.4    New York      20.0
Seattle       17.6    Indiana       18.8
Houston       14.2    Chicago       15.8
Phoenix       13.4    Washington    13.5
Sacramento    13.2    Atlanta        1.8

The Sun and Silver Stars tumble. In the actual West standings, Minnesota and Sacramento are tied at 6-6. A look at point differential shows that the Lynx (who have lost six games by a combined 27 points) has played much better than Sacramento (whose six losses are by a combined 83 points). In the East, Washington is a game and a half up on Chicago in the standings, but the Sky has been the far more competitive team.

As usual, we wrap up with the leaders in John Hollinger's PER for individual players.

Player              Tm   PER
----------------------------
Tasha Humphrey     DET  33.4
Diana Taurasi      PHO  29.4
Lauren Jackson     SEA  26.9
Lindsay Whalen     CON  26.3
Janel McCarville   NYL  25.8
Tiffany Jackson    NYL  25.4
Lisa Leslie        LAS  25.4
Cappie Pondexter   PHO  25.1
Sophia Young       SAS  25.0
Candice Wiggins    MIN  24.9

Humphrey just snuck over the 100-minute threshold for entry (she's played precisely 100 minutes) and thus leads the league, almost entirely on the strength of her huge game against Phoenix on ABC. We'll see if she keeps up that pace. Taurasi has caught fire for the Mercury and leads the legitimate regulars.

You could probably surprise a lot of people by telling them that, statistically, the best frontcourt duo in the league plays for the New York Liberty. McCarville has played great since a slow start, while Jackson has been terrific off the bench all year. (Still, I'm going for Leslie and Candace Parker, who ranks 11th, if I'm picking top duos.)