As previously reported in the many parts of the Red Shirt Theory, we examined the least essential member of each NBA team. The Ensigns of the SS NBA, the Red Shirts provide the least on the court while being there enough to be noticed. Today we tackle the Red Shirts of the WNBA.
Atlanta Dream
Celine Dumerc
The lowest PER for a regular contributor, Dumerc pulled down 8.3 PER on a .420 True Shooting percentage, but I don’t think Dumerc was blazing as the Dream were pretty stacked and held tight to their starting rotations against a weak eastern conference. She averaged 3.3 ppg, on a .295 FG%. She was a rookie last season, so she’s more on the floor than the ceiling at this point.
Chicago Sky
Tamera Young
The eight-year veteran played in every game and averaged 6.7 points per game, but with 9.8 TOV% and an Offensive WinShare of 0.3, that leaned her more to the negative scale. Her FG% per game was.438, but no three point attempts. Young may have just been a victim of her surroundings, as the offensive direction running through Epiphanny Prince, Elena Delle Donne and Sylvia Fowles, it seems she may have just been too cold to really get going.
Connecticut Sun
Kayla Pedersen
Pedersen only put in 313 minutes in 31 games, so she was pure garbage time player, but someone has to be a Red Shirt. Her 6.6 PER, WinShare of 0.2, TOV% of 23.8 (the highest of her career) was coupled with 1.5 ppg on only 1.4 FG attempts a game. So, no shooting and a losing the ball is not a great combination, even if you’re wasting time until the end of a quarter.
Indiana Fever
Sydney Carter
Carter was on the lower scale of games played with 23, but in a 34 game season that’s more than enough to get an opinon of her Ensign status. Her third team in three years, Carter had a 3.9 PER, TOV% of 26.1, WinShare of -0.8, 3.2 ppg, FG% of.288 per game earned her a measly one game appearance in playoffs for all of 5 minutes.
Los Angeles Sparks
Lindsey Harding
Harding is another 8 year vet, but took a steep decline in her production from the 2013 season. Dropping from 360 points to 178 points, her game average declined from 10.9 to 5.7. Her PER was 8.4, TOV% 16.5 and WinShare/48 is -0.019. She did average 3.2 assits and 1 steal per game, but her offensive prowess might be done for if she can’t recover.
Minnesota Lynx
Tan White
It was hard to find a weak link the Lynx this year, but Tan White’s 4.9 ppg, especially on .400 FG% is a little low. Only attempted just under 5 shots a game is difficult with a team with a number of ball handlers, but a TOV% of 15.4 and an Offensive WinShare of 0.0 means the Lynx players are going to think twice before getting her the ball.
New York Liberty
Alex Montgomery
The Liberty are almost a little too similar to their coaches former team. While Bill Laimbeer has had success in coaching the Liberty are the 8th in Pace, the last in offensive rating, but the 4th in defensive rating. So maybe that explains the 8.8 PER of Montgomery. She also has a 13.4 Usage Rate, while holding a Turnover Percentage of 18.0%. Five points per game, 3.9 rebounds per game and her total points dropped. While off the bench for the Liberty last season, Montgomery did better, but starting 20 of the Liberty’s games was maybe too much for her.
Phoenix Mercury
Anete Jebabsone-Zogota
The Mercury mopped the floor with the rest of the WNBA this season, but were still without some weak spots. Fortunately for the Mercury, the Latvian guard only put in 340 minutes in 32 games because otherwise they might have been in more trouble. Zogota’s PER dropped to 3.9, her TOV% spiked to 19.1 and her WinShare/48 drops to -0.043. Woof.
San Antonio Stars
Shameka Christon
Ten years in the league and Christon actually had a bounce back year from 2013. Her PER jumps from 7.9 to 9.8, but her ppg sinks to 3.6. Her FG% was .355, which wasn’t that bad for her, but it’s probably her ceiling at this point. A TOV% of 6.6 and a Usage Rating of 17.0% is decent, she gets the Red Shirt based on rebuilding, but her shooting needs to do something more positive.
Seattle Storm
Alysha Clark
The third-year forward has been slowly ascending on the Storm, but the worry about her is that she might plateau. Her WinShare/48 stayed the same from 2013 to 2014 and was cut in half compared to her rookie performance. Her PER was a 9.6 and True Shooting Percentage dipped to .525. Her TOV% dropped considerable to 15.1, while her Usage Rate stayed mostly the same. In her two games she played in the playoffs, she averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game. Those are promising stats, but the fact that you haven’t seen that production during the season could be worrisome.
Tulsa Shock
Angel Goodrich
In her second year, Goodrich’s per dropped to a 5.8 in 28 games. Her TOV% ballooned to 42.5% and her usage rate dropped to 11.8%. She also managed 1.0 ppg. She attempted less than a shot a game, so that point actually gives her .500 FG%, but for 6.3 minutes a game that’s really bad. She finished the year with 29 points, dropping from the previous year of 136.
Washington Mystics
Bria Hartley
The Mystics were without much offensive firepower and with the possibility of Ivory Latta leaving, Bria Hartley needed to step up. That mostly did not happen. There were worse statistical players on the Mystics, but none had the expectations that Hartley had. A PER of 10.1 is pretty good, but her TOV% of 19.9 cannot be long term for a guard that started 29 games.Her assits of 3.1 and rebounds of 2.1 per game are an okay start, but the Mystics need a lot of help.
Elevator Doors 