Final score: Storm 55 – Comets 58 (L) (8-12)

by: Laura Brand-Bauer (beancounter)

As confessed in the forum, here’s what I wrote before the game – modified only for wrong verb tenses and such:

I wasn’t exactly looking forward to this game. And that’s only partly because I fell on my arse while trying out my brand-new in-line skates on Alki Wednesday night and couldn’t figure out how to be pain-free while sitting and jumping up and down and screaming and such. (Note to self: Tailbone injuries are PAINFUL – don’t do that again!)

No, the main reason I wasn’t looking forward to it is because the Comets are H-O-T hot (despite their two-game and nearly 3-game losing streak) and the Storm have been, well, not (despite the glorious win over the Fire on that famous Independence Day celebration). I don’t think anyone in all of WNBA fandom expected the Storm to win last night. And no one was disappointed on that note.

BUT but but, you’re saying, that’s not fair – it was a great game! You bet your sweet bippy it was!! It is true that the Storm lost, but they were more in this game than they’d been in any all week and it was a pleasure to witness it. There was that moment when the game was tied at 45 a piece when I really thought we were going to pull it out and chalk up a big W. It felt really good for that moment. And even for the rest of the game.

Some random and not so random thoughts:

Before the game started my husband, The Dork, predicted that the team with the most rebounds would win. This was not a terribly risky bet and proved true: Comets 40 – Storm 27. The Dork is eerily prescient sometimes.

Pleased to see Storm fans cheer for Houston stars and generally being respectful and such. That is one of the things I really like about women’s basketball. If this were baseball we’d have had to boo Edna when Sacto was in town. Okay, not exactly (since she doesn’t make jack for salary), but you know what I mean.

We had the lead once! 4 – 2 in the first three minutes. And then at five minutes in I remember being impressed that we were only down by 2. Then at 7+ minutes in we were down by 10. That felt more familiar and was the same spread at the half: 20 – 30. When I saw that Houston’s FG % was 51.9% at the half I did not believe it. I was certain that they NEVER miss.

At the beginning of the game the two women sitting in front of me kept turning around and giving me dirty looks every time I yelled about something. I reminded them that there are MANY empty seats that they could move to if they didn’t like it. (Announced attendance just over 5,000.) They ignored me after that. They also didn’t stand up for the “new tradition” of standing until the first basket is made. What the heck planet were they from?

The first half had its slow moments, but I could see a newly fired-up Storm beginning to emerge. It looked like they were starting to run some kind of offense. I couldn’t tell you what it was exactly, but there was a LOT less dribbling out the clock and then taking panicked shots. Maybe it’s just that whatever offense Lin is trying to coach is actually starting to work?

Also did anyone notice that all the players were contributing? It seems that the ban has been lifted on anyone but Lo-Jack (sorry, but I like that one) and Meek shooting. Katy drained a big three. Charmin plays wicked defense that makes me just giggle in my seat. I was laughing out loud watching her battle the Princess Thompson and winning! Both Meek and Jamie looked hotter than they have for a while. Jamie’s D is also coming back to form. Meek had a beauty fast break basket in the first half. Unfortunately I think she missed 2 of them in the second.

Overall they looked much more like the “new” Storm than they looked like last year’s team. But I still wish we’d see more follow-thru on penetration and more penetration and more shooting. An awful lot of lining up around the perimeter and not moving off it. I get frustrated with Meek missing so many goofy shots, but at least she’s taking shots! You can’t make’em if you don’t take’em.

In the last seconds of the first half Jamie made an outrageous steal against Princess Thompson (go Jamie!) who then immediately went into her Oscar-winning “I got fouled” act – looking for microscopic scratches on her arm, pouting, showing off to the refs and such. She is so good at it, but the refs weren’t biting tonight. In fact, overall the officiating seemed better than it has been lately. And I say that in spite of what looked like a couple of bad calls.

Also, a big thank you to the Storm folks for bringing Bungee Ball back for one of the timeout events. We still love Bungee Ball! Much better than some of the lame things they trot out and even better than the halftime jokey obstacle course-like thing they did.

We have got to come up with a nickname for Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (SdO) so that we can say her name before the game is over. She’s off the IR and played briefly. Her D is fun to watch cuz she’s tenacious and thin and gangly and quick. She was out as fast as she was in though. I look forward to more minutes from her. Speaking of the IR, Stacy is now on it. That depresses me because I sure liked what she was doing at the 3 position earlier in the year. I haven’t heard what her injury is.

The moment of the game though was Simone’s closest thing to an Alley-Oop I’ve seen yet. It wasn’t quite, but it was so beautiful. Can I just say that Simone has absolutely EMERGED this year and it is such a thrill to see her play? She was the high scorer last night with 19 points! (And where was the Simone Zone last night? Were you guys there and I was just blind? You would have loved that!)

Jamie lit it up in the final moments of the game with some inspired shots. This was a much better back-to-basics game for the Storm, and I feel a whole lot more like I do now than I did before! (Clever witticism from my kid sister.)

After the game during the teams’ meet and greet I saw Tina Thompson hugging and petting Sonja and appearing to reminisce together. Remember Sonja knows from winning, having been the Comets’ point guard before she was left unprotected in the expansion draft. Swoopes was there with the hugging, too. A nice moment.

The Dork says that he thinks it’s a lot harder to play this game than it is to criticize it. I think there’s something to that .

Notes:

Howard wasn’t there. Dang, he missed a good show from our chicks (fan term of endearment).

Van was dapper in charcoal gray with a red shirt and red pocket square.

Sheryl was wearing a groovy sparkly headband – ever fashion forward.

Quacy’s new beehive hairdo is quite cute.

Through one of the timeouts in the second half Sheryl watched the Storm Troop the whole time. She was smiling and jiving a little bit. Maybe she liked it because Lavonte was wearing a sparkly headband too.

There was a kinda strange mood tonight. Fans were pumped and yelling with a lot of good stuff to yell about – better offensive work, normal high quality defense, moments of brilliance, etc. But there was something low-key about the atmosphere at the same time. The Dork noticed it too. Did anyone else?