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WNBA Season Preview 2019: Every team’s biggest question

By Miles Wray

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 19: Kayla McBride #21 of Las Vegas Aces handles the ball against the Minnesota Lynx on May 19, 2019 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 19: Kayla McBride #21 of Las Vegas Aces handles the ball against the Minnesota Lynx on May 19, 2019 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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As the 2019 WNBA season gets set to tip off, here’s the biggest question facing every team.

Unlike the 82-game NBA season, there is little to no time to sort out an issue with team fit or chemistry during the 34-game WNBA season. The margin between success and failure is perilously thin: in 2017, the 27-7 Lynx and 26-8 Sparks had their second consecutive titanic clash in the WNBA Finals. Even though neither team sustained any significant losses, in 2018 they struggled to records of 18-16 (Minnesota) and 19-15 (Los Angeles) before quickly bowing out of the playoffs. Many teams are heading into the 2019 season with a plausible path to achieving sky-high potential — but there’s not room for everyone at the top: here are the most pressing questions facing each WNBA team as they begin the 2019 season.

Atlanta Dream: Does defense really win championships?

Of the four teams who reached the semifinals in 2018, three of them were among the top four WNBA teams in offensive points per possession: Seattle, Phoenix, and Washington. Atlanta was the odd team left out, ranking ninth overall in the category, keeping company with the lottery teams. Not that Atlanta advanced so far on a fluke: they had by far the league’s best per-possession defense, which they used to clamp down on Seattle’s league-best per-possession offense, winning the regular season series 2-1. The Dream knew they would head into the season while legendary scorer Angel McCoughtry still recovered from injury — and doubled down on the defense-first strategy by getting bigger, adding 6-foot-1 Nia Coffey, 6-foot-4 Lynetta Kizer, and 6-foot-5 Marie Gülich. In addition to returning most of their key rotation players from last year, the Dream figure to win a lot of games 64-60 while putting together coaching-clinic-perfect tape on defense. But will a likely anemic offense prevent the team from reaching playoff contention if/when McCoughtry returns?