Shakira Austin's defensive impact is being felt the most in her absence
Shakira Austin's defensive impact is being felt the most in her absence originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Shakira Austin is her own unicorn. Few, if any, players in the WNBA have the versatile and impactful skills that Austin brings to both the offensive and defensive sides of the court. But as the center is in the middle of her recovery from a hip injury, the Washington Mystics are feeling just how big of an influence she has on the team's self-professed best in the league defensive unit.
Ever since Austin left midway through the Mystics' June 25 contest against the New York Liberty, Washington's defensive stats have trended in the wrong direction.
Prior to her injury, the Mystics were boasting a 90.7 defensive rating. Defensive rating is a stat that attempts to fully encapsulate a team's overall defensive impact beyond just points. Elements like pace, number of possessions, free throw attempts are all factored in. Over a month of the season had passed with only Washington and the Las Vegas Aces staying well ahead of the pack in terms of defensive rating. It's what the organization has bragged about for over a season, earning the title of best defensive team in the league. Without it, the team's record certainly wouldn't be 10-8 right now.
But since the injury and having two weeks' worth of games, the defensive rating has fallen off a cliff. Washington's defensive rating since June 26 is 110.6, the second-worst in the league.
The Mystics anticipated that there would have to be improvements defensively to make up for Austin's loss. Having the three all-defensive team guards (Natasha Cloud, Ariel Atkins and Brittney Sykes), however, appeared to give the team some wiggle room. But without her, Austin's impact is becoming even more evident.
"She probably does something on this team that is hard to replace defensively," head coach Eric Thibault said of Austin following the injury. "I think her combination of mobility and rim protection is very unique in our league. If it was easy to replace that every team would have somebody like her and they don't. That's probably the biggest thing (we'll miss)."
The lack of rim protection and rebound is something the team has rallied around. Austin leads the team in rebounds (7.8 per game), offensive rebounds (6.2) and blocks (1.0). Using a collective effort, and a boost from new trade acquisition Queen Egbo, those are areas where the Mystics have remained relatively consistent. Their third-best 33.4 points in the paint per game average ticked up to 39.2 points (6th) in her absence. Defensive rebounds fell from 27.1 per game (5th) to 25.4 (6th).
That's not as drastic as the defensive rating change. Still, the production - or preventing another team's production - isn't happening at the same rate.
Each of the five games Austin has missed is among the eighth-most points allowed by Washington this year, allowing 86 or more points in every game. Prior to Austin's injury, there were seven games where the Mystics kept opponents to under 70 points. If you factor in the Liberty contest where she left early, it would be six of the top eight point-totals for Washington's opponents.
Sunday's loss to Connecticut was an example where Thibault wanted to make the drop-off in defensive execution a point of emphasis. For him, it's not because of a lack of effort or the right personnel.
"We did not execute many coverages right," he said. "I just kind of told the group that we got two people in Queen and Linnae (Harper), they got an excuse for not being clear on what we're doing. But everybody else should be a lot more up to speed on what we're calling and what we're trying to execute."
"It's not a matter of effort a lot," Thibault later continued. "It's a matter of listening to your teammates, of focus and understanding the game plan. We double and triple-check a lot to make sure everybody's clear on the game plan. And then we shouldn't have breakdowns."
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, the Mystics have fallen from the No. 1 defensive rating on the season to second with a 96.9 rating. The Aces are the new leaders at 95.9.
During the All-Star break, the team is expected to reevaluate Austin's hip injury and potentially announce a timeline for when to expect her back. Friday night was her first appearance on the team bench, in street clothes, at a game since the injury. She has not attended any of the media segments of practice.
There have been flashes where Washington has shown it can compete with the top of the WNBA throughout the year. If there's anything clearer than the Mystics need Austin to be a part of that, it's what they haven't done without her.
The franchise knew missing her was going to be a big loss, but as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
