The key to making the WNBA finals, a 2 way point guard with a league best Assist/Turnover Ratio

[u/RodBlago1699]

I'm surprised this has not gotten more attention. But finals feature teams with great two way point guards who create turnover on defense, but don't turnover the ball on offense. Burton lead the WNBA in assists to turnover ratio and was tied for 4th in steals and Canada was 3rd in assist/turnover ratio and 2nd in steals.

Watching these 2 go to head is gonna be a joy for fans who appreciate 2 way basketball.

[u/Who12Kah5900]

It's not football, you can just say good basketball player.

[u/paintedtoesandelbows]

Was this the case last season? If not, then you can’t really draw this conclusion.

[u/jo2thenah]

I think VB needs to step it up for the finals for the Valkyries to win. Yes, she had clutch shots in the Aces series but overall I think she struggled with scoring and assisting.

[u/ginamon]

I am so happy to see Canada get her flowers. She deserves it.

[u/TheAveragebroShow]

It's also fair to mention that Canada's elevated her game well beyond what she did in the regular season.

[u/GolfOtherwise3420 → u/TheAveragebroShow]

She's elevated her scoring and 3 point shooting in the playoffs. In the regular season, she was consistently in the top 3 in assists and steals. Her scoring has been phenomenal, so far.

Burton's scoring is actually lower in the playoffs compared to her regular season average, mainly due to scoring 4 to 8 points in the three Aces games.

[u/tore_a_bore_a → u/GolfOtherwise3420]

Canada is a 26% career 3-point shooter at 50% in the playoffs. She's so hard to guard if she's able to make her 3s.

[u/TheAveragebroShow → u/tore_a_bore_a]

that's always been the swing skill for her. She's always been able to get to the rim at will, but hitting 3's makes he much more dangerous

[u/GolfOtherwise3420 → u/TheAveragebroShow]

She said she has been working on improving in some areas, from the beginning of the season. And, told Smesko she wanted to watch a ton of film to see how she could improve. She's always been hard to guard due to speed. I think Smesko instills a lot of confidence in his players to take 3 point shots. I know she will face better defenders on the Valks, so it will be a challenge, for sure, but I have always believed and appreciated her talent and skill.

[u/anonimauzantnomo]

I’m just glad Jordin Canada is getting some (positive) attention. I didn’t catch that many Dream games, but when I did, I was always blown away by how she hard she works on both ends of the floor. Especially considering her size.

[u/herecomesthewomp]

Defense wins championships. A tale as old as time. I think this is more important in the W because the variance on offense seems to be higher than in the NBA. You can always rely on defense though. The Dream help their odds by being a better offensive rebounding team and giving themselves more chances. If you're going to have to rely on outscoring your opponent with bad defense for 9/15 games in the playoffs, it's not gonna happen. I can't fathom the 7 seconds of less offense working in the W.

[u/ASpanishInquisitor]

That's a noticeable strength of these two teams sure. Two years ago the starting point guards for the teams in the finals were Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Williams. The key to making it isn't formulaic. Strengths help and weaknesses hurt is about as far as it goes.

[u/GolfOtherwise3420 → u/ASpanishInquisitor]

Courtney has become a pretty good defender in recent years.

[u/ASpanishInquisitor → u/GolfOtherwise3420]

Courtney is fine defensively for the most part. Her offense is a bit suspect if anything. It's really boom or bust with her being a more scoring oriented guard that relies almost exclusively on the midrange. Not a bad player for sure but I mention her because she's not really the ideal PG either.

[u/Who12Kah5900 → u/ASpanishInquisitor]

Court is a shooting guard playing the point.

[u/GolfOtherwise3420 → u/ASpanishInquisitor]

Courtney is not the ideal PG; but, oddly enough, she averaged a bit more assists last year than Miles did this season and Courtney also led the team as PG to the #1 seed in 2025. But, Miles is the more pure PG, although I think her assist rate needs to improve.

[u/ASpanishInquisitor → u/GolfOtherwise3420]

Miles was honestly also more of a score first PG too. Difference there was that she's actually just a better scorer in general. An ideal PG can be either pass or score first - doesn't really matter to me. But to be great you've gotta be efficient with it.

[u/GolfOtherwise3420 → u/ASpanishInquisitor]

By "pure", I mean a better passer. I actually don't think a "score first" PG is best for winning championships. You have to have the right balance of scoring and assists and it's essential to get all the other starters going with their scoring.

Look at the PGs that have won 3 or 4 championships, such as Lindsay Whalen, Sue Bird, Chelsea Gray. They all have significantly fewer field goal attempt averages than Miles. Not saying Miles can't do it as a score first PG, but I think history shows more success with more balance. Even looking at other champions over the last 7 or so years, such as the Sky (with Vandersloot) or the Mystics (with Cloud), those PGs averaged less than 10 shots a game.

[u/ASpanishInquisitor → u/GolfOtherwise3420]

Completely context dependant. What you need as an ideal PG is good decision making in order to get the most out of as many possessions as you can. If you're an elite scorer as a PG then it turns out that oftentimes getting the most out of a possession involves looking to score the ball. There's nothing inherently wrong with that.

[u/GolfOtherwise3420 → u/ASpanishInquisitor]

I agree that making the right decision is important, in the moment; but, a primary part of your job as PG is to help your teammates get open and in situations where you can facilitate. You won't win playoff games unless 3 or so other starters get in a flow of scoring.

I haven't analyzed it, fully, but I just can't think of a score first PG that has won a championship in the WNBA in a long, long time. In the playoffs, defenses could focus on limiting the passes/assists to teammates and keeping those players from getting into grooves. And, just let the PG take plenty of open shots. That's a strategy that can win you games.

[u/lrivas_14]

Wings have a bright future when they’re healthy again

[u/goofygal1566 → u/lrivas_14]

Who is their two way PG??

[u/lrivas_14 → u/goofygal1566]

Not even gonna dignify this with an answer

[u/goofygal1566 → u/lrivas_14]

i am not joking. Paige is PG but she don't D up like that.

[u/RodBlago1699 → u/goofygal1566]

She played great D the final 2 games vs Golden State.

[u/goofygal1566 → u/RodBlago1699]

2 out of 45 games is hardly impressive

[u/GolfOtherwise3420 → u/[deleted]]

The whole topic of this thread is PGs with the best assist to TO ratio who are also elite defenders. There are really on two in that class. Other PG's have other strengths on offense, shooting efficiency, etc. while being decent defenders or even above average on defense. But, Canada and Burton are at the top with elite defense, along with excellent assist to T/O ratio.

[u/LovePeaceTruth → u/GolfOtherwise3420]

This.

[u/Cute_Repeat3879]

The Dream's two playoff opponents both struggled with sub-par point guard play.