Final score: Storm 82 – Mercury 53 (W) (13-9)

Attendance | 6753

Anthem Watch | We missed it.

Fan Psyche | Please Hammer, don't hurt them!

Game Highlight | How Sandy got her groove back.

Halftime | Storm Dance Troupe and friends.

Game Photos | Game Photos (Scott Larson)

This was one of the few "we better beat this team" games of the season and even then as soon as anyone said something along those lines they would qualify it with a "but you can't take them for granted statement." Well, the Storm didn't take the Mercury for granted and got the job done in convincing fashion.

The Storm came out of the gates on a mission and never really looked back. Lauren again put up monster numbers and had her way with the Mercury front line. She and Kamila combined on the defensive end to completely deny Slobodanka Tuvic - she ended the game 0-11. Sue's knee must have been feeling good because she went a little nuts herself and ended up with 17 points. She had Tamicha Jackson all over her the whole game and it seemed like she responded to the increased defensive pressure by saying, "Okay, defend this" and taking it right at Tamicha. TJ did get 6 steals, so you can't say that Sue was at 100%, but she was certainly a lot more offensively minded tonight.

The two really good signs for the Storm tonight were that Sandy Brondello finally started hitting some baskets and that the bench got some solid playing time at the end of the game and was able to extend the lead.

I don't think Sandy is completely out of the woods yet because a couple of her shots that would normally go were still a little wide right, but she's working through the slump. We think it might be because she was wearing her hair a little different tonight - in a normal pony tail instead of her usual 'do. Whatever it was, she didn't look as tentative as she has the last couple of games. She had her speed burst stop and pop move working which lead to her 9 points. You may be thinking 9 points isn't really getting out of a slump, but I think it was more her body language and how active she was that to me signaled that she has her confidence back - or is getting it back. I would bet that she does much better than 9 at Sacramento tomorrow.

The bench got some decent playing time and once again played well - for the most part. The Mercury started pressing the Storm bench hard and caught them off guard. With only Rita on the floor as a decent ball handler, the Storm benchies (Sun, Mac, Alisa, Rita and Simone) had some major difficulties getting the ball out of the back court. I think 2 or 3 of Tamicha's steals came during this period. Coach Donovan stuck with the bench players and let them work through it. They eventually started getting past the press and burned the Mercury a couple of times so Phoenix let up. By the end of the game, the bench had gotten the lead back up to where the starters had left it - at 29.

Alisa looked a lot better than she has recently. Jrod and I were talking about this after the game and we agreed that it may just be a matter of playing time for her. In closer games, she may only come in for a couple minutes at a time and not really be able to get "settled" in. When she is left in for longer stretches, she gets herself under control and starts performing like she has in the past. She had 6 rebounds in 11 minutes. She also did much better at catching and controlling the ball.

I don't know what the coaching staff would consider a good stat line for the bench or what will required of the bench to propel the Storm through the playoffs, but I think that 19 points and 16 rebounds is improvement and closer to what they need to produce more consistently.

Lauren, who scored a double double with 26 points and 10 rebounds, got the post-game interview with David Locke. I hope those of you on the radio could hear us - we were doing the "MVP" chant as loud as we could.

Other notes:

The Storm recorded a team record for rebounds in the first half with 28 (I think).

The Storm are also tied for the second best home record in the league and have won 5 straight home games - the longest such streak ever for the team. This is good news because we have 7 more home games and only 5 road games.

Ray Allen, who is becoming a fixture at Storm games, came out and took part in the "choo-choo train" bit during a second half timeout. It was pretty funny to see him out there towering over most of the kids.

Slobodanka Tuvic's hair was gelled back in such a way that it constantly looked like she was standing in a strong wind. Shelley, our "next door" row mate said it looked like Tuvic rode her bike to work.

Doppler went on a silly string rampage in the section across the floor from the Storm bench. There was a silly string escalation in which he sprayed a bunch of fans, they sprayed him back, and then he came out with a silly string bazooka and hosed them all down. It looked like they were all having a lot of fun.

Doppler also did his Polaroid routine and put a little spin on it. He would take kids out onto the floor, position them, snap a picture and then give it to them. He made his way down the west side of the court until he got to the north end where John Curley was sitting. Doppler took a polaroid of John and his family, then threw it on the floor and stomped on it. Those two have issues. Doppler also took some "mission impossible" shots of the Mercury huddle and had a little girl run them down to the Storm huddle. She looked real serious the whole time. Even some of the Mercury players were laughing.

Adia was sitting at the end of the bench with an industrial strength knew brace on. She looked like she was in pretty good spirits and took part in all the Storm huddles. This was a complicated process because she had to have one of the ball girls being her the crutches she is using ahead of time so she could stand up. After the huddle, away went the crutches until next time. Adia was also the subject of a timeout video featuring Assistant Coach Jenny Boucek on the proper mechanics for shooting a basketball. Adia was pretty funny to watch on the bench because she kept ducking down behind one of the other Storm players while the video was playing.

On a side note, apparently not everyone in the stands watched the instructional video because during one of the timeout fan basket challenges, both of the shooters had horrible shot mechanics - no wrist flip at all.

Submitted by | BrrringIt

What a great game!  I brought a friend who had never been to a WNBA game and she said, "I can't believe what I've been missing!" A new fan. is born.
 
I'm feeling better about next year's Olympics taking our best players after seeing our bench bringing it in the last 6 or so minutes. They were AWESOME!
 
As usual, incredibly crappy refs. That slick-backed dude was watching some other game than the one we were. Maybe with Val in the house she took note and will look into better training or corrective lenses for these twits.
 
Thanks to whoever read my original complaint and kept the freaking blimp put away until after the post-game interview. I actually heard everything LJ-MVP (those are her new initials) said!
 
Speaking of which, the "MVP, MVP" chant was great, especially with the previously mentioned Val in the house.

Submitted by | Storm2004

After our girls got off to such a fast start in this game I think every one smelled blood in the water. We became ravenous for a big victory over a bad team.  
 
Scary moment: At one point Sandy got crushed between two Mercury players going for a loose ball. Knocked heads with one of them. Shook out the cobwebs and both girls got up after a few seconds. Could have been much worse.  
 
Speaking of Sandy: Nice of you to join us again. Must be the ponytail.  
 
I really liked the Doppler polaroid routine. At one point he took a picture of the ref's butt as he walked away. Seeing the little girl run from the Phx huddle to the Storm huddle with the picture was classic.  
 
Adia was there crutches and all. At the end of one time out, as the team put their hands together, she was too far away...so she used her crutch.  
 
The combination of Sue and LJ is scary good. These two pieces fit together perfectly.  One without the other would be still be good but the two of them on the court at the same time is unstoppable. And it's only going to get better.  
 
At one point I saw LJ alone in the paint on defense. I thought," How would you like to be the other team trying to drive on that?" Get that sh** outta here!
 
Today my day has already been made. I received a nice surprise in the mail today from the Storm. What a difference a year makes! It's not enough to make the playoffs. Firetruck that. Let's take it all!

Submitted by | JRod

Damn what a game!  Thank you to whoever returned Sandy's game. We all appreciate it greatly. Sandy got off early and you could just see the confidence return. Good onya, mate. Only please, no more being the middle of a sandwich again, it's just too scary.
 
Sue's game returned as well. 17 points, it was great to see her getting up and down the floor so well. Rest up Sue we need you.  
 
Mac is just awesome. She plays with such intensity. Defensively this player is definitely a keeper. The defensive intensity that Mac plays with is reminiscent of MM. Sun had a decent night as well. LJ's little dance, after Sun hit a shot was priceless.  
 
I, too, would love to see TJ and Tully go at it one on one. While TJ is quicker, Tully is more tenacious and the better defender.
 
Loz is just a monster, a stud, and definite MVP!  In the last 3 games, LJ has score 30, 27 and 26 points. That means, unless my math skills are worse than I thought, she has scored 83 points-in the last 3 games. OMG.  
 
Thank you to wnbafanforever. I told him, at the end of the game, that we had to get an MVP chant started.  Between the 2 of us and with the assistance of others in the vicinity--it echoed through out Key Arena. Lauren's reaction was priceless. A color change of various shades of red and an aw shucks kind of look.  
 
I also called David Locke and got on the air,last night It was right at the end of the show, in fact I was the last caller, so I guess no body heard it. But, I'll say here what I said last night. I saw LL play when she was in college. If you compare LL and Lauren--Lauren is quite simply the better player, period.