SBN Arizona WNBA Western Conference Finals Preview: Defending Champion Mercury Like "A Bunch Of Sharks"

Of course Phoenix Mercury coach Corey Gaines can’t just say that his defending champion team has a strong killer instinct.

He has to be more creative than that, according to SBN Arizona.

Shark Week started Monday for the Phoenix Mercury. That’s the kind of killer instinct that coach Corey Gaines thinks his team is playing with now that “money time” is here.

“They’re veteran players and they’ve got the taste of the championship, they’ve got the taste of the playoffs and they know what has to be done. I think that helps them and they kind of thrive and they kind of feed off of it. It’s like a bunch of sharks, once they taste that blood they start going … they’re being very aggressive right now,” Gaines said.

Expect fireworks.

This series will undoubtedly be fun but as is quite evident from the preview, defense — not the Mercury’s trademark offense — is what will define this series.

But of course, that doesn’t mean that offense isn’t a motivation for good defense.

There’s also a strong incentive to play good defense and because this is still the Phoenix Mercury and that carrot is still an open shot.

“When we get all those things done there’s a prize at the end of it because once we get that rebound and run, and we’ve been running so hard, once you know you might get an open layup, we’ve been running hard with four or five of us down the court so it’s a real incentive and we’ve got that really down well now,” Taylor said.

The whole preview is worth a read for perspective on how the other side is approaching a seemingly daunting task: beating the Seattle Storm in KeyArena.