LAS VEGAS — The wait continues. But for how much longer?
Both Chelsea Gray and the Las Vegas Aces are in a holding pattern as Gray attempts to return to the court following the injury to her lower left leg suffered during last year’s WNBA Finals and has kept her off the court since.
“When you see her, you’ll see her,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said Saturday before her Gray-less team lost to the New York Liberty 90-82 at a sold-out Michelob Ultra Arena. “But she’s getting close.”
How close? Hammon admitted she has a plan in mind to bring Gray back, albeit slowly and let her work her way back to full capacity.
“You always want to use common sense,” Hammon said. “There’s a certain way to get a player back on the floor.”
It’s more than just managing minutes. It’s about chemistry and how the insertion of a key player impacts the rest of the group.
In Gray’s case, it won’t be that hard. With her high basketball IQ and her experience along with the respect her teammates have for her, she should get up to speed fairly quickly.
For the Aces, who are 6-6 after falling to the Libs in front of a record MUA regular-season crowd of 10,424, there’s still plenty of time to figure things out. Defensively, they’ve missed Gray’s leadership and her ability to slow down the opposition’s transition game. She is also a good perimeter defender and the Aces have struggled guarding the 3-point arc this season. So there’s no question Gray has been missed on the floor.
As for Gray herself, she needs to stay patient. Her experience will remind her that you don ’t just flip the switch and become the “Point Gawd.” She’ll need to play her way back into game shape and get her antennae fine-tuned to make the heady plays she’s famous for.
There’s still just under 3/4hs of the season to play and the reality is for the Aces, they can continue to tread water a little longer if need be until Gray is back on the floor and is her normal self. But the sooner she’s back, the better for Las Vegas. Perhaps we’ll see her debut Wednesday when Las Vegas hosts the Seattle Storm, one of four teams to have already beaten the Aces on their home floor this season. A year ago, the Aces lost just once at home in posting a league-best 34-6 mark.
Despite her inactivity thus far, Gray was named earlier this week to the 12-person U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team roster and she was put on the team with the expectation that she will be the Chelsea Gray everyone knows and has seen in the past. So there may be some internal pressure on Gray to meet that standard.
But first things first. Gray, who became a first-time parent in February with the birth of her son Lennox, needs to return to the WNBA and help her team before helping her country.
“We’re trying to get ourselves right before she comes back,” Hammon said, alluding to the team’s defensive struggles that have contributed to the 6-6 start. “Some of our problems, she can’t fix.”
Hammon’s right when she says good defense is 95 percent effort. When the Aces are committed to stopping the opposition, they win. A’ja Wilson has had a tremendous start to her season, averaging a double-double of 28.6 points and 11.7 rebounds while shooting 51.4 percent from the floor while setting a WNBA record of consecutive games with 20 or more points with 17 in a row after finishing with 21 agains New York. But that hasn’t been enough at times.
Saturday, the Aces were playing uphill for most of the contest. And once Jonquel Jones stepped on the floor, well, it wouldn’t have mattered if Gray was playing or not. The Liberty forward simply dominated with a career-high 34 points and Hammon’s gals still haven’t figured out a way in two seasons to slow her down.
Throw in a tough afternoon for Aces guard Jackie Young for good measure and it was easy to see why Las Vegas is a .500 basketball team at the moment. Young was 4 of 12 from the field in 31 foul-plagued minutes and finished with just 10 points and six assists along with three turnovers.
Perhaps the presence of Gray could’ve picked up the slack for Young. But as Hammon said, the Aces have some things to figure out without her for the time being.
“We’re not a very good team right now,” Hammon said. "We haven’t had that edge all year. We’re not hungry.
“We miss Chelsea. There’s an element to that. Everything is connected. It’s like a snowball effect. Chelsea knows how to stop the bleeding.”
An emotional Wilson, her voice cracking and on the verge of tears, said she’s not accepting the current mediocrity being displayed.
“I want to be the best person,” she said at the postgame podium. “I want to be the best teammate. I want to be great for my team.
“It’s hard as s— but it starts with me. I’m going to be here every day for my team. I’m not going to back down, ever.”
Perhaps help will be arriving soon. One thing’s for certain, there’ll be no chance for a three-peat until the Aces sort things out, with or without Gray.
