Liz Cambage has had a good and bad impact on the Aces’ success. Recently, she has re-signed with the Las Vegas Aces for the 2021 season after sitting out for the 2020 season due to Covid-19 health concerns and pre-existing medical conditions.
Cambage signed for her first season with the Aces in 2019. The Las Vegas Aces were 21-13 and ended fourth in the conference. In that season, Liz Cambage averaged 15.9 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and averaged 25.2 minutes per game. This isn’t bad for a six-foot-eight player, but the issue is how she changes the gameplay.
When Cambage is on the floor, the Aces will run their plays through her which makes sense since she will most likely be the tallest player on the court and they could easily run plays where she will set picks to get players open. But the issue is that she tends to takes her time to get up the court and the team has to wait for her to set up the play. By then, the defense is already in position and ready to defend. This slows down the momentum for the Aces.
Cambage however, does have a positive impact on the team. Whenever she is on the court, she is great defensively when guarding around the rim. Her presence on the court makes defenders change how they play defensively. She is a player to go after the ball when it is thrown her way.
The 2019 Aces team didn’t have a lot of tall players. They had players who were playing at the forward and center position which wasn’t their true position. The Aces succeeded that season from being the type of team score off fast break points.
For the 2020 season, the Aces did really well. They signed veteran Angel McCoughtry, who became their second leading scorer. The Aces were 18-4 in the regular season, won their conference finals and made it to the championship, but unfortunately lost 0-3 to Seattle Storm.
The Aces’ success from the 2020 season was based on their ability to move quickly around defenders and be able to get fast break points. With the new adjustments to the team, we will see how well Cambage will adjust with the team.
