"She gets away with trucking more people" - WNBA fans rip Mercury coach for flipping stance on Alyssa Thomas’ officiating

Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts defended his player, Alyssa Thomas, after WNBA officials voiced their concerns about her. Basketball is a physical sport, and getting in contact with other players is inevitable. However, there are those players who are more passionate about securing the ball, which leads to more physicality.

Thomas undeniably has the passion and intensity, which is why many consider her to be one of the most physical players in the WNBA. However, the referees feel like it's difficult to officiate Thomas because of the fiery spirit she has.

Coach Tibbetts voiced out his opinions and said:

"The thing that I just get disappointed in is hearing our officials say that she's hard to officiate because she plays so physical."

While this may come as a concern for the Mercury coach, fans on social media believe otherwise. Some were baffled by how Tibbetts defended Alyssa Thomas. Others straight up pointed out how physical Thomas gets on the court. Here's what some fans said on X:

HoustonHawkeye

@HawkeyeHouston

@ClassicJpow She gets away with trucking more people than anyone in the league - even Stewart. That's not skill - that's just beef. It's hard to feel sorry for her when she gets away with that and so many more body blows in the lane.

Trent Harvey

@TheTrentHarvey

@ClassicJpow For once the officials are right. Though she should be easy to officiate, and 9/10 when she drives in the paint it should be a charge.

ReallyNotBearsFan480

@BeenBannedX3

@ClassicJpow Well if they did it right she'd foul out by halftime

Lindsey E. Dixon

@lindseyedixon

@ClassicJpow Ummm... she's the roughest player in the league. By far. And gets the least whistles for dirty plays. He should be quiet unless it's "thanks refs for all the help".

KC

@Kailamom11

@ClassicJpow lol. He should be grateful the officials let AT beat up on Phee all series or he wouldn’t be in the finals.

Adrien Caine

@AdrienCaine

@ClassicJpow Coaches having to pretend their obvious dirty player is just treated unfairly is so cringe man.

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Alyssa Thomas' lackluster performance results in another loss in WNBA Finals

The Phoenix Mercury once again came up short after the Las Vegas Aces secured Game 2 with a 91-78 victory. After missing her free throws in Game 1, Alyssa Thomas was expected to make a comeback in Game 2. However, things turned out otherwise for the Mercury star.

Overall, looking at her numbers, Thomas did a little bit of everything. She added 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. However, compared to her numbers in Game 1, it was a bit lackluster, which made it more difficult for the Mercury to keep up with the Aces.

Looking at Game 1, Alyssa Thomas had a double-double performance. She put up 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. While the Mercury came up short, it was only a three-point deficit. With that in mind, it was a huge factor for Phoenix that Thomas couldn't deliver on Sunday.

Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper did all that they could to try to keep the game within reach on Sunday. Sabally nearly had a double-double performance with 22 points and nine rebounds. As for Copper, she added 23 points.

The good news is, it's a best-of-seven series. The Mercury still has plenty of opportunities to turn the series around.