Mercedes Russell

... and over again.

Like, uh, Mercedes Russell on the bench there, I'm sure she was on that Seattle team when Chelsea had the greatest shot-making run of all time in the 2022 postseason.

But that's what's so interesting to me about-

Mm

However, they were not afraid to be physical.

And notice who did not get any time tonight, who was the first sub off of the bench last time, is Mercedes Russell.

And the thing that we say so many times is, and I understand where Steph and her coaching staff were coming from in this respect, right? You can't teach size.

And Asia Wilson has, like, she is a sizable wing in the NBA.

And I think no reason to stray from that.

But I was surprised about the early substitution to get Boston out of there was Mercedes Russell.

Played one stint, that was it.

And that main stint that I'm alluding to was the first player off the bench there to spell Boston, I think, five minutes into the game.

Um, but you've got to wonder if, if it's something that's, that's the main thing.

Cause it, it is, you know, not to go like Brian Windhorse on it, but it's just a very odd thing for Mercedes Russell to be the first sub off the bench.

Um, but I also think there are times when it's weird because Stephanie White has a tendency to have a real belief in her system to a fault.

And when they are falling behind, then she still trusts in the system.

Monique Billings in the frontcourt.

I mean, Mercedes Russell in the front court.

There's going to be, to your point, a lot of mixing and matches with different line of combinations.

But just in general, which second unit wave, I guess, do you have more confidence in?

The random offensive rebound likely going to be there.

Does she knock down enough threes to kind of supplement things and make life even more difficult for the Aces? This is something I'm fascinated by.

And then from there... almost regardless of the Aliyah Boston help, which of the reserve bigs are going to be the most consistent? Is that going to be Mercedes Russell, defend the post, make life difficult for Asia, screen, get offensive rebounds? Is it going to be Monique Billings? Do we see the finishing, the transition play, the defense perk up? Who does Mikayla Thompson guard is going to be one of the more underrated but fun subplots for me because she has been tasked with defending a little bit of everyone.

She's become the more prominence in the rotation for Indiana.