Kahleah Copper continues to expand her offensive impact in new surroundings

To move to 12-10, the Mercury defeated the Dallas Wings 100-84 on Wednesday. Copper, the Mercury’s player of the game, scored 32 points. It was her seventh game scoring 30 or more points this season, the most in the league. Copper had scored at least 30 points in two of the Mercury’s three previous contests against Dallas. In the lone matchup she didn’t score 30, she had 29 points.

“I think you just get in a zone,” Copper told reporters after Wednesday’s win. “Everything feels good, everything looks good. Shit is wide open.”

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Copper’s prolific outing on Wednesday was also her second 30-point game in the month of July. Through four games this month, she’s averaging 28.0 points per game and the Mercury are 3-1.

Within the last four years prior to joining the Mercury, Copper began to establish herself as a prolific scorer. In 2020, she started every game for her former team, the Sky, and hasn’t come off the bench since. It was the first season in which she averaged double-digit points, tallying 14.8 per game.

Now with Phoenix, not only is Copper vital to the Mercury’s offensive success, but she is the team’s No. 1 option, as shown in Phoenix’s June 7 defeat of the Minnesota Lynx. Despite head coach Nate Tibbetts originally designing the game-winning play with guard Diana Taurasi taking the last shot, Taurasi told him to have Copper take it. Copper hit it to give the Mercury the win and finished the game with 34 points.

“I think it meant a lot,” Copper told reporters then of what it meant to hit that shot. “Just going back to the timeout the play was drawn for [Taurasi] and she was like, ‘No, we’re gonna run it for Kah. She gon’ score.’ So Nate’s like, ‘Aight.’ He drew it back up and we went out there and we executed like to the tee and I was just in a position to just knock down a big shot.”

Despite being in her ninth year in the league, Copper is still expanding her game and developing as a basketball player. She still uses her typical downhill style of play but has expanded the scenarios in which her speed and athleticism come into play.

Playing with center Brittney Griner, the Mercury often utilize pick-and-rolls in their offensive sets. It’s been an adjustment on both fronts for Griner as a screener and for Copper and the Mercury’s other guards utilizing the screens. But with the team’s chemistry continuing to build on the court, Copper has been able to unlock a new level of play in a style of offense that’s relatively new to her.

“She’s been so good, it would not be smart of us not to have the ball in her hands,” Tibbetts told reporters Wednesday. “So I think our team understands that. She’s getting more comfortable in pick-and-roll. I’m guessing this is probably the most pick-and-roll she’s run … I think she’s super comfortable on the pick-and-rolls, obviously, getting downhill, playing in the paint, and that puts a lot of pressure on the defense, especially when we’ve got the space around her. … So it’s like anything. The more you do it when you’re a talented person — and she’s super, super talented — it’s gonna get easier for you.”

Between the pick-and-roll ball handler and the roll player, the Mercury are scoring a combined 1.96 points per possession, according to Synergy Sports. They also make up a combined 31% of the Mercury’s play types. As the ball handler, Copper has 0.899 points per possession on pick-and-rolls, and her 6.9 pick-and-roll points per game lead the league.

While settling into her role as one of the league’s top scorers, Copper has maintained a humble mindset. After every high-scoring game, she never hesitates to give the credit to her teammates.

Wednesday she was giving credit to her teammates’ shooting ability as a reason why she’s able to find so much success on drives in the paint. After a 30-point performance against Seattle on June 16, she told reporters she was, “just in a perfect position,” surrounded by other offensive threats like Griner and Taurasi. After the Mercury’s first rematch with Dallas, Copper gave credit to her teammates for instilling in her the confidence to play at the caliber and score as efficiently as she does, especially in clutch situations.

“It’s a testament to them because when I miss shots, they’re just so encouraging, or even when I turn the ball over just trying to make the right play,” Copper told reporters then. “I had six turnovers. Not one time that I hear my teammates, like, ‘Come on’, everything was just super encouraging. So when you have that confidence and you know they have that belief in you, you’re able to make those plays.”

It’s not just Copper’s current coaches and teammates who recognize the guard’s star power and development as one of the league’s premiere talents. Indiana Fever guard and Copper’s close friend and former college teammate Erica Wheeler is seeing an unprecedented version of Copper.

“Playing with her in college, she’s a completely different player now,” Wheeler told The Next. “Like she’s way more explosive. She always had it in there but right now she’s playing the best basketball that I can possibly ever see her play.”

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The Mercury are hoping that Copper’s high level of play continues in their last three games before the All-Star break, all of which are on the road and two against teams that have already defeated the Mercury this season. 

“She’s a great player,” Tibbetts said. “She’s seen blitzes. She’s seen drops. She’s seen switches, so I don’t think she’s kind of shocked by anything, or surprised. But she’s evolving into a pick-and-roll player which is something that we’re excited about.”