Final
score: Storm 74 Shock 69 OT (W) (9-15)
Attendance
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4323
Anthem
Xtra Notes | Of course there are. What am
I thinking, that people will quit seeing the anthem as their
opportunity for the ultimate cover song and just sing it
the way it was written? This is our national anthem for
crying out loud, not Wind Beneath My Wings
Anthem
High Note | Okay for a guy, I guess
Anthem
Style | R&B lite
Fan
Noise | Louder as the game wore on
Signs
| It wasn't the signs so much as the painted
faces
Fan
Psyche | Finally!!!
Halftime
| Storm Quest
It
isnt always pretty. It takes longer and is harder than it
should be. But you know what, a win is a win is a win. And Ill
tell you something else, these summaries are a lot easier to write
after a win.
Lets
just get to the highlights.
Jamie
Redd Super Woman. Two 24 point games in a row. She hits
a couple shot-clock beating threes tonight that keep the Storm
in the game and turn out to be major momentum boosters. She seems
to be the only guard who is either being allowed to or has the
initiative to drive the lane. The all-time leading scorer for
the University of Washington is finally making some prime-time
shots.
Team
defense. We all know that this season the Storm are undeniably
one of the best defensive teams in the league. They are third
right now for lowest opponents scoring. Of course, the flip
side is that they are the lowest scoring team in the league, so
even keeping most teams well below their averages means the opponents
are still scoring more points than the Storm. Youve got
to know that Coach Dunn is telling the players that the shots
will start falling, that forcing turnovers will start leading
to easy offense. Well, they are forcing turnovers and playing,
at times, incredible team and individual defense. Passes are getting
tipped, inbound balls are being stolen, and shots are being blocked.
There is one sequence that the stats wont reveal where the
Shock drive to the basket and get blocked, a Shock player gets
the rebound and goes up, gets smothered by an LJ and Special K
sandwich and loses the ball, rebound Storm. The crowd responds
to every defensive play the Storm make by going nuts. The team
still isnt converting turnovers into fastbreaks, but they
do better tonight in eventually turning turnovers into points.
Simone
Edwards the Jamaican Hurricane strikes. Simone doesnt
have a necessarily outstanding game by putting up a lot of points
or rebounds. She does, however, get some key rebounds and gets
the basket that ties the game and forces an overtime. She seems
to be in the right spot at the right time throughout the game.
Sonja
Henning she shoots, she scores. Sonja only gets 6 points
tonight, but she finally seems to be looking for her shot. And
maybe more importantly, she gets 4 offensive rebounds that give
the Storm extended life. Only Lauren and 2 Shock players get more
total rebounds than Sonja, and no one gets more offensive rebounds
than she does. She may not be an offensive powerhouse, but she
can make the plays that can turn the game around.
Lauren
Jackson Rookie of the Year. Yes, Im going out on
a limb and, as an amateur member of the media, am proclaiming
Lauren as the ROY. Tonight she puts on a complete show, offensively
and defensively. Maybe having both Mom and Dad in the stands is
helping, and if so I think Mr. and Mrs. Jackson should be given
a complimentary Northwest Suites apartment for the whole season
next year. Laurens stat line looks wrong, because she had
at least 3 blocked shots and we are certain that she had more
than 9 rebounds. She is all over the court. At one point near
the end of regulation, she goes down and kind of scoots backwards
a few feet. She gets some help getting up and looks like shes
hurt. KeyArena was quieter than Ive ever heard it. Like
the tough-minded player she is though, she walks it off and continued
to play. Its a good thing that they have a couple days rest
before the next game.
The
game isnt all highlights. This is our beloved Storm after
all.
There
are a couple of stretches where the confidence and crispness in
running the offense seems to go out the window. Unfortunately,
these lulls happen at key times like the end of the game.
There is a period of about 3 or 4 minutes where the dribble, dribble,
dribble rushed bad shot scenario happens over and over. Luckily,
the Storm defense is able to keep Detroit from getting too far
out of reach.
Team
defense. There is the good (see above) and the really bad. The
Shock break down the Storm on several occasions and get wide open
shots under the basket, or get wide open drives from the three
point line to the basket, or get wide-open visions-of-Sophia-Witherspoon-daggers-to-the-heart
three pointers. The Shock build a 9 point lead during the first
part of the second half that gets the crowd into the oh-no-not-again
mode. But, tenacious D, sparks off of the bench and good offensive
execution gets the Storm back into the game.
Like
I say at the beginning, this is a win and well take it gladly.
The only disappointing thing about tonights game is that
this should have been the sell-out, not last Friday against the
Fire. If more people could have seen the Storm play tonight, they
would know what us die-hards know the Storm can play great
and have it within them to beat anyone on any given day.
Notes:
As
I say above, Laurens parents are in the crowd tonight. Angie
and I ask them about the whole Aussie, Oi cheer thing. We did
get some emailed advice from a very informative Australian fan,
but she admitted that we need to hear it to get the timing right.
So, tonight we go to the source. We ask Laurens father,
Gary, about the cheer and he tells us how to do it. He says that
it is simple enough and isnt sure why we need help. Cool.
So Lauren hits a three and we do the cheer. After the game, he
understands why we need help. A/ were not saying it fast
enough, and B/ were pronouncing it Awwcee instead of Auzzee.
Next time, Lauren will think shes been transported back
to Canberra. Yeah, okay.
By
the way, Laurens parents are just about the nicest people
weve met.
Michelle
Edwards is on the bench with a cast on her left foot. She had
surgery last week and is out for the season. The Seattle Times
has mentioned that she may retire. Again, we hope that we get
an opportunity to let her know how much we have appreciated her
time in Seattle before the end of the season.
Before
the game, we see Howard Schultz, Mr. Starbucks and owner of the
team, talking to Coach Dunn. Being in the 18th row, we of course
cant hear what is said. Coach Dunn is talking and gesturing
a lot while Howard seems to listening stoically. We choose not
to speculate, but merely report the exchange.
One
of the timeout entertainments features two teenage boys doing
one of those shooting contests where they are supposed to shoot
from designated spots on the floor. Apparently, this basic tenet
of the competition is too much for them to handle because they
both ignore the spots. Also, apparently they see this as an opportunity
to show those girls that basketball is a boys, er
mans, game. They showboat, try to show off their skills,
and end up missing the rim, backboard and net on several shots.
Neither of them gets more than a couple baskets. They get a few
boos for their grand show of skills.
The
announced attendance is 4,323. This may have been the number of
tickets sold, but there are maybe 1,500 people in the stands.
Weve got to give the small crowd credit though. When the
game gets tight and the Storm come back, 1,500 sounds like 5,000.
Before
the game, Angie and I met up with Stormrocks and Sassy Sue from
the stormfans.org forum to discuss the upcoming stormfans.org
end of the season party. Thats right, were having
a party and youre all invited. As soon as all the details
are finalized, you will be the first to know. Keep an eye on the
forum.
After
the game, both Astou Ndiaye-Diatta (current Shock forward, but
more importantly a former member of the Seattle Reign) and Semeka
Randall come out and answer some questions from a small group
of fans. Because tonight is the YMCA night, they are asked to
talk about their experiences with the YMCA. Both talk about how
as kids the YMCA gave them a place to go and activities to do
that helped keep them out of trouble. Astou also volunteers when
she can with the YMCA. Semeka is asked a few questions about the
transition from high school to college and the difference between
college and the WNBA. She paints a pretty good picture on how
demanding college sports can be. She details what her daily schedule
was and made the point that she had to be self-disciplined because
no one was there to tell her to go to class or do her homework.
Tennessee has requirements for their athletes to do well in class
(like sit in the first three rows, or go to certain hours of study
hall), and Semeka says that it was tough. But, she finished college
in 3 and a half years. As for the difference between college and
the WNBA, its the physical play. She says that she feels
like she can run with anybody, but the physical play has been
an adjustment. She also points out that she has been playing basketball
since August of 2000 almost an entire year without a break.
Fatigue has been a factor for her. Since Tennessee went so far
in last years NCAA tournament, Semeka wasnt able to
take a rest between the end of that season and the draft camp.
It started the week after the NCAAs finished. She also says, with
a big smile, that it has been tough going from chartered flights
at Tennessee for travel to the commercial flights that the Storm
have to take. She is going to take a month off after the end of
this season. Her plans are to go play in either Israel or France
during the off season.
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