Aces firing on all cylinders — and so is ‘cohesive’ coaching staff

NEW YORK — Sydney Colson likens the Aces’ coaching staff to a machine.

All of coach Becky Hammon’s lieutenants — first assistant Natalie Nakase, assistant and head of player development Tyler Marsh and assistant Charlene Thomas-Swinson — have a specific role to play that makes the reigning WNBA champions run smoothly.

To say Hammon’s staff is firing on all cylinders ahead of Game 3 of the WNBA Finals might be an understatement.

“They know one another better now,” Colson, the Aces’ veteran reserve point guard, said. “They know us better, and that helps them lead us better.”

The top-seeded Aces have been the definition of dominant during the playoffs. They swept the No. 8 Chicago Sky, then swept a very different No. 4 Dallas Wings team in the semifinals.

Now, facing the No. 2 New York Liberty in one of the most anticipated WNBA Finals in recent memory, the Aces are just one win away from another series sweep and an undefeated playoff run to become the first repeat champions since Lisa Leslie’s Los Angeles Sparks 21 years ago.

The Aces and Liberty will play Game 3 at noon Sunday at the Barclays Center in New York.

“You spend so much time with each other, you’re bound to get to know each other on a deeper level,” Hammon said.

Added Marsh: “We’re cohesive on and off the court as a staff. We’re cohesive on and off the court as a team. When we combine together, when we stick together, the sky’s the limit for us.”

Hammon’s assistants shined during their first season together. They led the Aces to the first championship in franchise history and built the foundations for this year’s potentially historic run.

They accomplished all of this despite barely knowing each other. Hammon was hired in December 2021, and added Nakase and Marsh in February and March 2022, respectively. Thomas-Swinson officially joined the staff a day before training camp began in April.

Marsh said the coaching staff was learning each other’s tendencies on the fly while also trying to bond with the players and create a winning team.

Hammon’s staff then had an entire offseason to continue to build on its success and develop more chemistry. Thomas-Swinson and Marsh said communication is quicker, and even unspoken at times. Both credited Hammon with creating an environment in which assistants feel trusted enough to take action when they see fit.

“Our biggest asset is how humble Coach Hammon is,” Thomas-Swinson said. “Becky is very humble, takes pride in what she does with her work. And we take the same approach. Again, we just want to be able to answer and be able to put our best foot forward to get what she wants out of us. It’s a stellar staff.”

It’s not like this everywhere, Colson said. She’s been on six teams during her career, and she said some teams don’t respect their assistants or don’t practice hard for the coaches.

The compatibility of Hammon’s staff is appreciated by the players. Colson said they know which coach to send to talk with specific players after a difficult practice or game. She also said the coaches treat players as humans and athletes, which in turn encourages the team to play harder for them.

“Knowing people,” Colson said, “knowing the things that make people tick, knowing what they care about, asking about the things that are going on off the court, demanding the best from them on the court, they’re able to do that because there’s a relationship behind it.”

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on X.