2019 Phoenix Mercury season | |
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Coach | Sandy Brondello |
Arena | Talking Stick Resort Arena |
Attendance | 10,193 per game |
Results | |
Record | 15–19 (.441) |
Place | 5th (Western) |
Playoff finish | 8th seed; Lost in 1st Round to Chicago |
Team Leaders | |
Points | Brittney Griner – 20.7 ppg |
Rebounds | DeWanna Bonner – 6.5 rpg |
Assists | Diana Taurasi – 5.3 apg |
Media | |
Television | Fox Sports Arizona (FS-A) |
The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season tipped off on May 25, 2019 versus the Seattle Storm. [1]
The Mercury's season started with the news that star Diana Taurasi would miss a significant part of the season due to a back procedure. [2] The team started out the season 5–5 by the end of June. This record included a three game losing streak immediately followed by a three game winning streak. July proved more of the same as the team posted a 5–4 record. A two game losing streak split five wins. In August, the team went 5–6, but did secure a playoff spot. Taurasi returned for six games during the season. However, the team finished on a four game losing streak to end the season 15–19. This record earned them the eighth seed in the playoffs.
As the eight seed, the Mercury traveled to the Chicago Sky in the first round. The Mercury are the only eighth seed to win since the WNBA switched to its current playoff format in 2016. However, they could not repeat the feat this season when they lost by 29 points.
The Mercury did well at the end of season awards with Brittney Griner leading the WNBA in scoring, Brianna Turner making the WNBA All-Rookie Team, and Leilani Mitchell winning the WNBA Most Improved Player Award.
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | Alanna Smith | Australia | Stanford |
2 | 13 | Sophie Cunningham | United States | Missouri |
3 | 32 | Arica Carter | United States | Louisville |
Date | Details | |
---|---|---|
February 1, 2019 | Re-Signed G Briann January [3] [4] | |
Re-Signed G Yvonne Turner [5] [6] | ||
February 6, 2019 | Signed G/F Essence Carson [7] [4] | |
March 21, 2019 | Re-Signed F Sancho Lyttle [8] | |
March 22, 2019 | Re-Signed G/F DeWanna Bonner [9] | |
April 10, 2019 | Traded C Marie Gülich to Atlanta for F Brianna Turner [10] | |
May 21, 2019 | Traded G Stephanie Talbot to Minnesota in exchange for Minnesota's second round pick in the 2020 WNBA draft [11] |
2019 Phoenix Mercury roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Alicia Yamamoto Indiana
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2019 pre-season game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0)
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2019 pre-season schedule |
2019 playoff game log Total: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1) | ||||||||||||||||||
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First Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)
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2019 playoff schedule |
# | Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Los Angeles Sparks (3) | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 15–2 | 7–10 | 10–6 |
2 | Las Vegas Aces (4) | 21 | 13 | .618 | 1 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 11–5 |
3 | Seattle Storm (6) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 10–6 |
4 | Minnesota Lynx (7) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 7–9 |
5 | Phoenix Mercury (8) | 15 | 19 | .441 | 7 | 9–8 | 6–11 | 5–11 |
6 | e – Dallas Wings | 10 | 24 | .294 | 12 | 8–9 | 2–15 | 5–11 |
First round: Single elimination (Sept. 11) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 15) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 17 – Sept. 24) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1 | Washington Mystics | 97 | 103 | 75 | 94 | ||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Las Vegas Aces | 93 | 4 | Las Vegas Aces | 95 | 91 | 92 | 90 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Chicago Sky | 105 | 5 | Chicago Sky | 92 | 1 | Washington Mystics | 95 | 87 | 94 | 86 | 89 | |||||||||||||
8 | Phoenix Mercury | 76 | 2 | Connecticut Sun | 86 | 99 | 81 | 90 | 78 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Connecticut Sun | 84 | 94 | 78 | |||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Los Angeles Sparks | 92 | 3 | Los Angeles Sparks | 75 | 68 | 56 | ||||||||||||||||||
6 | Seattle Storm | 84 | 6 | Seattle Storm | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Minnesota Lynx | 74 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.
Legend | |||||||
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GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader |
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brittney Griner | 31 | 31 | 32.8 | 46.4 | 33.3 | 80.8 | 7.2 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 20.7 |
DeWanna Bonner | 34 | 34 | 32.9 | 37.7 | 27.2 | 91.6 | 7.6 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 17.2 |
Leilani Mitchell | 32 | 27 | 30.3 | 44.1 | 43.0 | 82.9 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 12.8 |
Briann January | 32 | 26 | 26.6 | 39.0 | 37.8 | 83.7 | 1.3 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 6.5 |
Yvonne Turner | 29 | 14 | 20.5 | 34.3 | 32.9 | 87.8 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 6.4 |
Essence Carson | 23 | 13 | 18.5 | 35.2 | 34.1 | 78.4 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 5.8 |
Diana Taurasi | 6 | 6 | 21.5 | 10.3 | 4.2 | 94.4 | 3.2 | 5.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 4.3 |
Brianna Turner | 29 | 12 | 15.9 | 53.8 | 0 | 73.1 | 4.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 4.0 |
Camille Little | 29 | 0 | 14.7 | 43.5 | 33.3 | 80.6 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 3.9 |
Sophie Cunningham | 32 | 5 | 12.2 | 35.4 | 30.4 | 88.2 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 3.1 |
Sancho Lyttle | 20 | 2 | 12.5 | 41.9 | 25.0 | 62.5 | 2.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.9 |
Alanna Smith | 18 | 0 | 7.4 | 19.5 | 11.1 | 50.0 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
DeWanna Bonner | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | June 10, 2019 | [12] |
Briann January | WNBA Community Assist Award - May | June 27, 2019 | [13] |
Brittney Griner | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | July 8, 2019 | [14] |
DeWanna Bonner | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 15, 2019 | [15] |
Brittney Griner | |||
Brittney Griner | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | September 3, 2019 | [16] |
WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month - August | September 4, 2019 | [17] | |
Peak Performer: Points | September 9, 2019 | [18] | |
Brianna Turner | WNBA All-Rookie Team | September 16, 2019 | [19] |
Leilani Mitchell | Most Improved Player Award | September 18, 2019 | [20] |
The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). One of eight original franchises, it was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began.
Diana Lorena Taurasi is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and is considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history. She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2004), three WNBA championships, a historic five Olympic gold medals, one WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2009), two WNBA Finals MVP Awards, five scoring titles, and three FIBA World Cups. She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams and fourteen All-WNBA teams. In 2011, she was voted by fans as one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time, and was named by the league to its 20th and 25th anniversary teams, respectively the WNBA Top 20@20 in 2016 and The W25 in 2021. Also in 2021, she was selected by fans as the league's greatest player of all time. On June 18, 2017, Taurasi became the WNBA all-time leading scorer and on June 27, 2021, became the first player to surpass 9,000 points. On August 3, 2023, Taurasi became the first player to score 10,000 career points. Her penchant for scoring in crucial situations has earned her the nickname "White Mamba", coined by Kobe Bryant. Taurasi is one of 11 women to win an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup, and a WNBA Championship.
Penelope Jane Taylor is an Australian former professional basketball player and assistant coach. During her 19-year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she won three championships. She also won the WNBL title with her first club, the Australian Institute of Sport, and played in China, Italy, Turkey and Russia. As part of the Australian woman's national team, Taylor won two Olympic medals and led the Australian Opals to a gold medal at the World Championships, winning tournament MVP honours ahead of teammate Lauren Jackson.
Brittney Yevette Griner is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's national basketball team and a six-time WNBA All-Star. She was additionally named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.
The 2009 WNBA season was the 13th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Mercury won the WNBA Finals for the second time in franchise history. On June 6, the Mercury and LifeLock entered a multi-year marketing partnership to launch the first-ever branded jersey in WNBA or NBA history. A press conference was held at the NBA Store in New York City with Phoenix Mercury President and COO Jay Parry and LifeLock CEO Todd Davis to make the announcement. The partnership ran through 2011, and the LifeLock name was on the front of Phoenix Mercury’s player jerseys and on warm-up suits. The Mercury and LifeLock ware the first to finalize such an agreement following the WNBA’s decision this off-season to make this opportunity available for its teams and sponsors. As part of the partnership, LifeLock offered a one-year complimentary membership to season ticket holders of all WNBA teams.
Briann January is a former American professional basketball player for the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and current assistant coach for the Connecticut Sun. After a successful college career at Arizona State University, January was drafted by the Indiana Fever with the sixth overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft. She has also played for the Phoenix Mercury, the Connecticut Sun, and the Seattle Storm.
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The 2017 WNBA season was the 21st season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season began on May 14.
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The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season tipped off on May 14.
The 2018 WNBA Playoffs were the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2018 season. The Seattle Storm won the team's third WNBA title, sweeping the Washington Mystics 3–0 in the best-of-five WNBA Finals.
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The 2020 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on July 25, 2020, versus the Los Angeles Sparks.
The 2021 WNBA season was the 24th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 14, 2021, at the Minnesota Lynx.
The 2021 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2021 season. The Chicago Sky won their first WNBA championship.
The 2021 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2021 presented by YouTube TV for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2021 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The finals featured the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury facing off against the sixth-seeded Chicago Sky, a rematch of the 2014 Finals. The Sky defeated the Mercury in 4 games, winning their first WNBA Championship, as well as Chicago's first professional basketball championship since 1998.
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