Since returning from the All-Star Break, the Sparks have gone 7-3, scoring in triple digits five times and going over 90 eight times. But despite massive nights on offense, they’ve still allowed 92.8 points per game in their wins alone. In a season where their offense has shown up — 86.3 points per game and a league second-best 46.1% shooting from the field — their struggle has remained clear: they need to get stops.
At the All Star Break, the Sparks announced the addition of WNBA veteran coach Latricia Trammell as special assistant to head coach Lynne Roberts. The aim? Improve the Sparks defense as they make a “push for the playoffs,” according to Coach Roberts. Around the same time, the Sparks saw the return of center Cameron Brink, following thirteen months rehabbing from an ACL tear.
Coach Trammell spoke to The Next about Brink’s impact on defense: “She’s an incredible player when it comes to her verticality and being able to protect the rim. And she’s defensive minded. She loves the offensive end, but defense is her secret weapon, and so she just kind of anchors what we’re wanting to do defensively.”
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Since Brink’s return, there has been a visible shift in defensive tone, communication, and interior deterrence. Rotations look cleaner and guards look more empowered to play freely, go for steals, and take risks on the defensive end knowing that they have Brink behind them in the post.
“Well, [having Brink in the paint] allows [guards] to be more aggressive on the ball and pick and roll situations in the coverages that we want to execute, because the guards know that they get by that she’s there to protect them,” Coach Trammell said.
Last year, in the 15 games she played, Brink led the league in block percentage, or the percentage of 2-point field goal attempts blocked, with 9%. This year, she’s sitting at 13.1%. She’s blocked 13 shots in 90 minutes.
While her impact has been clear, the Sparks’ team defense will need to continue to improve if they want to make a push to the playoffs. Per Azura Stevens, what the Sparks need, first and foremost, is consistency. “I think we show flashes where we are good defensively, but we don’t always,” Stephens said to The Next. “It’s not always consistent. So I think that the next step for us is being more consistent, consistent for 30 minutes.”
Cameron Brink’s return may provide the spark, but uniform defensive effort across all five players, smart rotations, and match-up discipline still remain necessary. Without those changes, that anchor doesn’t hold.
A huge challenge in making those defensive adjustments is the Sparks’ current schedule, according to coach Trammell. “Since All Star Break, we’ve had two and a half practices, and we have been in a lot of new things defensively, and so a lot of the teaching has been just film sessions,” Trammell said. “And so, that’s love and hate, right? Just because a lot of players need those reps. But again, we’re trying just to be as aggressive as we possibly can. […] I think it’s more of the players being bought in — which they are — and just executing the game plan, minus the practice time.”
This was clear in the game against the New York Liberty, which the Sparks lost 105-97, allowing the most points they’d allowed in regulation all season. Repeatedly, smaller players like Julie Allemand and Julie Vanloo were getting switched onto Belgian National Team teammate Emma Meesseman, allowing her to shoot an efficient 9-15 from the floor as she used her height to her advantage in the post. Allemand showed frustration in huddles, gesturing to teammates regarding how she wanted to handle the pick-and-rolls.
Working with an offensive-minded coach like Roberts, Trammell notes that the two do a good job of “bouncing off of each other.” Trammell praised Coach Roberts’ comfort in bringing someone in, noting that it “says a lot about her and her will for this team to be successful.”
As the Sparks continue to attempt to claw their way out of ninth place, they’ll need to find that balance of keeping up their pace while getting repeat stops on the defensive end.
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