Days after firing head coach Vanessa Nygaard, the Phoenix Mercury have a newfound confidence according to the woman who is replacing her, interim head coach Nikki Blue. Blue said he is already seeing a difference in the players.

“Our players just have had a renewed sense of confidence,” Blue said. “The way that they came in over the past 24 hours has been great, too. [Practice] was good. I didn't know what to expect. I wanted us to just have tons of energy, and they exceeded my expectations.”

The Mercury started the season 2-10 after getting swept in the first round of the playoffs last year. The return of Brittney Griner was expected to spark Phoenix back into championship contention, but instead, the Mercury are on their second head coach of the season 12 games in.

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Injuries haven’t helped the Mercury either. Only four players have appeared in all 12 games so far this season and Griner and Diana Taurasi missed a combined six games so far. Blue said that's put Phoenix in a tough spot.

“We are in a tough position. We are pretty banged up. We have a couple of different circumstances going on. It's going to take patience. So, we're gonna come out and give it our all every chance we get. Vanessa is a friend, and she reiterated, ‘You're ready Nikki, you're going to do a great job.'”

The Mercury have lost five games in a row and have the worst record in the WNBA. Phoenix made the playoffs with a 15-21 record in 2022 so there's still a chance they can turn it around and sneak in though there is plenty of work to do before that happens.