In many ways, the 2014 Phoenix Mercury season was like a dream.

Only it wasn’t.

In her first season on the Mercury bench, Sandy Brondello guided the franchise to a league-best 29-5 record and the highest single-season win total in league history en route to capturing the 2014 WNBA Championship.

Phoenix improved its win total by 10 games from 2013 (29-5 vs. 19-15) and in the process, authored a 16-game winning streak, marking the second longest in WNBA history. The Mercury also set franchise records for highest winning percentage (.853), highest home winning percentage (.941, 16-1), most consecutive home wins (15) and most consecutive road wins (seven).

Again, like a dream. But real.

The Mercury’s 2015 season, however, would begin with a vastly different feel. Brondello had the difficult challenge of integrating seven new players to her squad in a hurry: Shameka Christon, Monique Currie, Cayla Francis, Alex Harden, Leilani Mitchell, Noelle Quinn and Marta Xargay. Additionally, Brittney Griner wouldn’t make her 2015 debut until the team’s eighth game.

Needless to say, at first glance, it’s been an uphill battle for Brondello this year.

But that’s not at all how she sees it.

“Look, every year there are challenges,” she said. “We went through some last season and there have been some this year. But it’s all in how you look at it. It’s my job and the coaching staff’s job to help get the team as prepared as we possibly can be no matter who is on the floor.

“I’m proud of how our players have stepped up as a unit and we’ll definitely continue working to improve each and every day.”

In spite of what many perceived to be severe road blocks, Brondello has helped guide the Mercury to a 16-11 record after 27 games, good for second place in the Western Conference and just 2.5 games behind the first-place Minnesota Lynx. With the Mercury’s victory over the Lynx Sunday, Phoenix won the season series against the Lynx for the second consecutive season and are now 6-2 (.750) vs. Minnesota since Brondello arrived. They had dropped 10 games in a row to Minnesota prior to her tenure.

Not surprisingly, coaches around the league are starting to take notice of how instrumental Brondello has been to the Mercury’s success over the past two years.

“Sandy’s a great coach,” Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve emphatically stated. “I don’t know who spearheaded the hire, I think (Diana) Taurasi gets credit but obviously Jim Pitman is the one behind it and saw something in Sandy and Sandy has just done a great job. When Dee’s (Diana) not going to play and Penny’s not going to play, everybody goes, ‘Oh, Phoenix is tanking.’ I can assure you, Sandy has other ideas and Sandy is doing a great job as always.

“She’s a great coach.”

Brondello made headlines in 2014 for her insatiable way of preparing for each game. She spends countless hours studying film of the opposing team while also finding ways to maximize the Mercury’s strengths based on matchups, etc.

Making adjustments – both in-game and between games – is Brondello’s greatest strength as a coach. Case in point: Remarkably, their loss against the Sparks on August 21 gave the Mercury their first three-game losing streak in 74 games — a streak that began on August 3, 2013. The 74 games since their last three-game losing streak marked the longest active streak without a three-game losing streak in the WNBA.

“Phoenix is a great team and Sandy (Brondello) is doing a great job with them,” Seattle Storm head coach Jenny Boucek added. “You really have no margin for error because they have a lot of weapons.”

The “margin of error” Boucek referenced largely stems from Brondello’s insatiable attention to the basic fundamentals of basketball.

No other stat illustrates this point better than the Mercury’s focus on taking care of the ball. Phoenix currently averages 12.3 turnovers per game which is tied with the Chicago Sky for the fewest in the WNBA. In fact, on July 5 at Los Angeles – in a game that went into overtime – the Mercury recorded a franchise-low four turnovers. That total tied the WNBA record (sixth time in WNBA history) for fewest turnovers in a game.

The Mercury are on pace to potentially set the WNBA record for fewest turnovers per game in a season (the 2013 Minnesota Lynx averaged 12.12 turnovers per game – 412 turnovers/34 games).

Taking care of the ball at this rate simply doesn’t happen if the players don’t buy into Brondello’s philosophy on both ends of the floor. That is to say, Brondello has a natural character trait of inspiring confidence throughout the team regardless of the situation they’re in. Indeed, the Mercury recording four come-from-behind wins of 10 or more points this season certainly supports this.

Again, it’s imperative to keep in mind the context behind Brondello’s accomplishments. There are seven new players on the Mercury in 2015; team chemistry rarely develops this quickly, if at all. There should be no question that Brondello is a leading candidate to repeat as WNBA Coach of the Year.

Nobody can predict the future, so the 2015 WNBA Title is still anyone’s game. But if I’m a Mercury fan, I’d feel pretty good about the person guiding the ship.