Final score: Storm 79 – Comets 69 (W) (1-1)

Attendance | 7,219

Anthem Watch | Kids choir

Fan Psyche | That's more like it.

Game Highlight | LJ in the post, LJ for a double double.

Halftime | Girls' bball scrimmage.

SF.O Keyword of the Game | Betty! Betty! Betty!

Game Photos

Let's review.

Game 1 - LJ on the perimeter, LJ scores under 10 points, the Storm have no answer for the Sparks' zone defense, players don't seem to know what to do with the ball, everyone is tentative and seemingly disinterested and the Storm lose — badly.

Game 2 — LJ in the post, LJ scores a double double, the Storm still struggle against the zone defense but work through it by attacking and hitting their shots, there is less miscommunication (there is still some, but not as much) and better execution with the ball, everyone is playing with energy, determination and some fire and the Storm win — solidly.

I hope the LJ as a small forward on offense concept has been added to the heap of bad ideas and stays there. If Coach Donovan needed any assurance that Lauren Jackson is indeed a very good power forward, she got it tonight. News articles about LJ being woefully out of shape be damned — she played through whatever was slowing her down and showed some of that dominance and relentlessness that help propel the Storm into the playoffs last season. During the Storm's run in the second half, Lauren controlled the Houston posts, was fighting for every rebound and going right at them on the offensive end instead of settling for jump shots. Maybe having her mom Maree in the stands gave her a much needed lift. Maybe her mom told her to quit screwing around out at the three point line and kick some butt inside. One can only speculate.

Betty was forcing things in the first half and was the only Storm player who seemed to be trying to break down the Houston zone defense. The Comets were successful early in cutting her off and forcing her into turnovers or into very difficult shots. She didn't give up, however, and once the rest of the team started playing with some heart the Comets weren't able to triple team the shooters and Betty started finding open creases for layups or short range jumpers. She helped lead the charge in the second half as the Storm regained some, not all, but some of their confidence, poise and punch that we saw at the end of last season. She heard it from the crowd towards the end of the game as she went to the line for a couple free throws.

Sue is the engine that drives this team right now and the short time that she was off the court the rest of the train started to derail. Zara and Wright may develop into decent back-up point guards, but for now the difference between having Sue in and one of them in is dramatic. Last season when Tully came in for Sue, the personality of the team changed but there wasn't a tangible let down. This season, it's dicey when Sue comes out. Hopefully, the back-up guards will get their WNBA legs quickly. Until then, we've got Sue playing 38 out of 40 minutes.

One of the best pieces of news from tonight's game is that Iziane Castro Marques is the real deal. I want to see how she does against the Silver Stars on Sunday, but I think she ought to get the starting nod for the small forward spot from here on out. Besides the fact that she scored 12 points, she was also very good defensively against Swoopes and Arcain. I also really, really liked that she seemed to be the only Storm player other than Sue who had the confidence in her own passing ability (and in LJ or Janell to catch the ball) to get the ball into the post above or around Houston defenders. The post player's ability to make their move is dictated often by where and how the perimeter player gets them the ball. Izzi seems to "get" that and was looking to pass into the post more often than she was thinking to pass it back around the perimeter. The same could not be said about the other guards (except Sue of course). Izzi is not gun-shy about shooting the ball either — something we've not been able to say about our small forward position very often. I like her play. I like her unflappable personality. If she can replicate what she did tonight, we're going to be much happier fans this season.

Janell had a rough first half. She got a couple beautiful blocks, but missed on two or three front-of-the-rim shots that were heart breakers. She turned it on in the second half and found her rhythm. A potentially troubling issue, and perhaps something for the Q&A tomorrow, is that anytime she is off the court she has those big heat pads stuffed down her shorts on her right hip — the one she injured last season that caused her so much pain. Is it a matter of just keeping that spot warmed up so she doesn't reinjure that muscle? Is it that the injury still isn't fully healed? Something to keep an eye on for sure.

All the rest of the team got a little playing time, but all of them were in single digit minutes. Coach Donovan was relying on the "one mistake and you're out" substitution method tonight, so the bench players were up, in, foul/missed defensive assignment/turnover, and out. They combined for 3 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist. You could argue that none of them were in long enough to have a real impact. I would argue that they weren't in very long because they didn't have any real impact. Last season (yes, there will be continuing comparisons to last season), when Tully, Chelle or Adia came in, you knew that they would bring energy and find some way to get things going — either with a good shot, strong rebound or steal. So far, our current benchies aren't "bringing it."

So what was the bad?

The Storm still don't have a good answer for the zone defense. The Comets went into it early and used it to stymie the Storm in the first half.

There were still too many instances where Storm players seemed to be out of position both on offense and defense — allowing the Comets to get uncontested layups, or bumping into each other because two players went to the same spot and bungled the play.

They had poor shot clock awareness and had a couple fairly unforced shot clock violations. One was right after a timeout. There really is no excuse for getting a violation during a play right after a timeout.

Overall, there was much, much less bad than good — still not at the level the team was at the end of last season, but I think we can all see the way back to that level.

Other Notes:

The Championship banner was moved to its permanent position on the east side of the arena, and it was joined by a Western Conference Champions banner.

The crowd, although smaller than the crowd from opening night, was much more into the game. The Foam Finger Guy was back and leading the charge with crowd instigated cheers. I think this is a vital point — the fact that the Storm crowd doesn't wait for the big screen to cheer (usually started by FFG) is something that sets us apart from other WNBA crowds. The Storm respond to that energy, as we saw tonight. Now if we can get Big Lo back, we'll be back to full strength.

I'm not digging the Storm Dance troupe/Hip Hop Crew very much. Maybe it's the encroaching curmudgeon in me, but I don't like to see pre-teen kids doing dance moves that simulate sex. Also, why is flopping your arms around such a crowd pleasing move? If your answer is that I'm too old to understand, I can accept that, but I still think it's kinda dumb.

So we go from 60+ fouls down to 34 in two games? Hmmm. Either the players have adjusted to the new no-touch rule with amazing speed, or the refs are treating it the way it should be treated — call the foul if the touch is actually impeding the offensive player. If it isn't, don't call it.

I wish Michelle Snow would stop wearing that red mouth guard.

I don't know if this is a funny thing or a sad thing — as the Storm left their post game huddle, they looked around for the t-shirt bin so they could throw t-shirts. When they couldn't find it, they all looked very confused. It was funny, but also a little sad that they have become so trained to expect the t-shirt throwing thing every game. The staffer eventually showed up with a supply of green shirts and everything was back to being right with the world.

Sue's mom and dad and LJ's mom were at the game and got some arenavision time. Sue's mom looked nonplussed and enjoyed the spotlight. LJ's mom looked like she wanted to duck behind Doppler.

Betty had a Bible verse written on her shoes. I didn't get a close enough look to see the whole verse, but she had it written on both shoes.

Swoopes and Arcain are fun to watch in action.

I think Swoopes' little boy traveled with the Comets. Coach Donovan gave him a big hug during the pregame warmups.

Fee Ragland got a nice reception during the intros, but didn't play.

I took some photos and will get them up soon. I've got a bit of a break over the next few days and will be slamming on some Stormfans updates.

Submitted by | jilly1217

2 words:

WELCOME.

BACK.

National anthem - fine. Kids. Cute. Whatever.

First half - the comets looked like nobody could ever beat them. They looked flawless. Swoopes was just dreamy to watch - everything she touched turned into points. Snow and Arcain were not far behind her. We didn't play badly, like we did against the sporks. They just played SO amazingly. And you know how sometimes a player from each team seems to go basket-for-basket against each other? Well, they were doing that but it was within their team. Swoopes would score. We'd turn it over and Snow or Arcain would score. lather, rinse, repeat.

Half-time...oh to be a fly on the wall in the locker room.

2nd half: 53 points. Say it with me, everyone:

53 points!!!

Betty was on fire, Lauren was a maniac, pulled a double-double - she was rebounding and shooting like mad. It felt like we barely gave up *one* rebound during the entire half. Izzy is the perfect 5th starter. Sue stepped up constantly through the game and was hot. It was crazy, it was wonderful, it was what we've been waiting to see since we won the championship.

Um, nice to have LJ back in position where she should be, eh?

Did i mention that we had a 53 point second half?

Extra special love to betty who, during the post-game interview, gave all of credit to the fans.

Submitted by | Shobe

Looking for positives at the end of the first half, all I could come up with was that the air conditioning was nice in the Key, with high 80's degree day outside.

Watching the first half, I could not recall of any pre-season prediction that had Houston making the playoffs. Yet here they were, playing, at mid-season fourm for twenty minutes.

Apparantly, most writers did not take into account the impact Janeth Arcain would have on the Houston, after taking a year off to play with the Brazillian Olympic team. She showed her worth with 14 points and two steals. Appartantly she is the second most athlete in Brazil behind only Pele.

(An aside) If so, that's truly mind boggling because I read a book that told of Pele going to the beach in Brazil, with his face completely concealed under a big hat, and he was still mobbed because everyone regonized his legs!!

Really, the first half looked like a continuation of the LA debacle. Lauren Jackson, quite frankly looked ordinary, and while not shooting an LA like 23% from the field, the Storm did kick it up to 33% in the first half.

Still, Houston ended the firts half ahead by 14 by a 40-26 score.

What Betty Lennox said after the game, and what Sue Bird and Lauren said at the STH event today, was probably what everyone was thinking at halftime. All the players agreed they were not playing with passion. To have any chance in the game, the players knew they had to play with that fire.

And did they ever!

Lauren looked like the LJ of last year. She stepped up and outscored Shery Swoopes 12 to 6 and regained her dominance in the paint.

Betty looked like the MVP of the Finals scoring 18 of her 24 points in the second half.

It looks like Izzy has earned the small forward postition, at least for a while.

In spite of all this, Houston did mangage to retake a seven point lead (I think it was) on a really ugly line drive shot by Swoopes that somehow happened to go in.

Instead of accepting her good luck, Swoopes started gripeing at the ref, and got a technical slapped on her giving the Storm the free throw and the ball. The Comets lead quickly vanished again after this.

What was Swoopes thinking? Her garbage shot somehow went in and she starts talking trash afterwards? Hey, don't look a gift hourse in the mouth.

The rest of the way the Comets did not execute and were not aggressive on defense at all.

Warning signs going into the SASS game tomorrow: The Storm recieved only three points from its bench in 29 minutes of play--all coming on free throws.

While we are all waiting for Zara to work her way into the roatation, we still don't have anyone to really back up Sue on the point. Hopefully this gets worked out before the team goes on the road, otherwise Birdy is going to run herself into the ground without any one coming in to give her a rest.

Finally, ever wonder what is in those evelopes that that the blimp drops down on the crowd during the games? The person behind me snaged one and inside was a four dollar gift certificate at Starbucks.

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