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The WNBA released its second power rankings poll on Tuesday. Given that the Mystics have a 1-3 record and were ranked eighth in the preseason, it's not a surprise that they fell to tenth in the second set of Power Poll Rankings.
Here is the full list below:
Rank | Team | Points | Previous Week | High | Low |
1 | Lynx (13) | 167 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2 | Sparks (1) | 152 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
3 | Liberty | 130 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
4 | Wings | 121 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
5 | Fever | 120 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
6 | Dream | 95 | 11 | 5 | 9 |
7 | Sky | 81 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
8 | Mercury | 69 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
9 | Storm | 65 | 9 | 7 | 11 |
10 | Mystics | 39 | 8 | 9 | 12 |
11 | Sun | 37 | 10 | 9 | 11 |
12 | Stars | 16 | 12 | 11 | 12 |
The poll doesn't stop with the aggregate. Here are the voters, who they write for, and where they ranked the Mystics:
Voter | Writes for | Ranked Mystics | |
Rhiannon Potkey | Ventura County Star | @Rpotkey | 10 |
John Altavilla | Hartford Courant | @jaltavilla | 9 |
Deb Antonelli | ESPN | @debbieantonelli | 11 |
Michelle Smith | ESPN | @macsmith413 | 10 |
Mechelle Voepel | ESPN | @mechellev | 9 |
Patricia Babcock-McGraw | The Daily Herald | @BabcockMcGraw | 10 |
Kent Youngblood | Minnesota Star Tribune | @BloodStrib | 10 |
Percy Allen | Seattle Times | @percyallen | 12 |
Terrence Thomas | San Antonio Express-News | @en_terrence | 11 |
Brian Gosset | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | @Gosset | 12 |
David Woods | Indianapolis Star | @DavidWoods007 | 10 |
I'm not surprised that Washington dropped in the rankings from last week. And you shouldn't be surprised that some voters have placed them last considering that they lost three straight games at home fighting uphill battles every time.
The Mystics are 1-3, lost their three games by double digits, and ninth in offensive and defensive team rating. Their lone win came against a Connecticut Sun team that they also struggled with until overtime.
Before you start hitting the panic button on the Mystics' season, it should also be noted that they lost to the Sparks, Liberty, and Wings who are the second through fourth ranked teams in the league. Bottom line, the Mystics' schedule has been tougher than most other teams over the first week of the season.
In addition, they have some players out due to injury like Ivory Latta, and many players like Emma Meesseman and Kia Vaughn did not report to camp on time. It's not an excuse, but the Mystics are still playing their way back into form.
It's still early though and the Mystics can still catch up this season in the power rankings, and more importantly, the standings. They will play the ninth-ranked Storm on Thursday night followed by a Sunday match against the eighth-ranked (but probably underrated) Mercury this week. Barring two consecutive blowout wins, it's unlikely that the Mystics will suddenly catapult into the Top-4, but either way, they need to play better this week against two tough teams in the Western Conference.