Submitted by | Norwester

Well, that was fun. Everyone scored (thus we got some bench production), the benchies got some quality time of the court with Sue and Lauren, we won. Perhaps the Houston game was a bit more exciting and fun, because there was more drama and it felt a little less like drowning baby chicks. But I'm supremely happy to go to 2-1, and get another home win under our belt as we build up to the long June road trip. Sue looks (and by all accounts is) in the best shape of her life, LJ's shot is coming, Izzy's shot wasn't as automatic, but she was a contributor and FAST, and Betty was Betty (at least until she got tackled into our bench ).

I don't know precisely what poor, hapless San Antonio's issue(s) is(are). They've got some brilliant players on paper. Feenstra had some great defensive stops. Thomas and Ferdinand are right up there in skill level. McCray has put up numbers in the past (and was featured in one of those "basketball is basketball" commercials ). They've got PeeWee at point, which is supposed to be a boon...I mean, she's an Olympian and former All Star. Is that just because the East hasn't had the best point guards in the past? Is there a lack of leadership? They just didn't seem to gel out there, and were sniping and yelling at one another on misses and turnovers. Of course, the more they laid on the hard fouls (did Betty even play a handful of minutes in the second half after that hard tumble at the end of the 1st?) the less I felt sorry for them. Both Sue and Lauren had to shake off shots to the head (thank you Ms Chantelle "Elbows" Anderson), and they were basically assaulting LJ all night. She hit the deck more than once in a basketball scrum. Of course, she also dove to the floor more than once after several loose balls. Hmm, perhaps trying to fill a role left sadly vacant by our other Australian, Tully.

Pre-game we were entertained by some Northwest Ballet kids doing some interpretive-type dance to some jungle-beat or African drum like music. It was interesting I guess, though I don't think I quite had a handle on it. They move a lot better than I do, anyway, and were working hard out there.

Before the game I was thinking that I'd like to see better bench production, and Zara start to get comfortable. I think we got a bit of both. Zara is still lacking a little in on-court direction, but her shot is coming. And to be fair, even Sue has to work extra hard when she's on the court with mostly benchies, as Zara often finds herself. The refs also worried me some before the game commenced, but turned out to be largely a non-factor.

We seemed looser as a team in shoot-around. The anthem was serviceable, and fairly no-frills. No flag, though. Yes, I will bring that up every time because otherwise it hangs from a rafter right above my head, and that's awkward for saluting. The crowd was a bit sparse, but fairly responsive. The Dance Troupe must be on vacation with their families because we didn't see them all night, contributing to a luke-warm reception for the Hip Hop Squad. Also, they must be re-tooling the Fan Instruction video, now that we have a starting 5 pretty well nailed down, because they didn't show it at all before the game. And still no Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Alas.

We started the game with some missed shots and a foul on Betty. Watch Betty's fouls this season; is she the new Kamila The Foul Magnet rather than JB? Time will tell. Meanwhile, Janell scored our first points on an &1 at 18:09, 3-2 Storm. This was followed by a foul on Janell, then a traveling call as we looked a bit ragged to start out. LJ drove in from the wing, and wasn't able to finish, but got to the line to tie it at 5. LJ had some really smooth and agile drives this game, beating her defender and weaving through the defense. Now if that finishing shot can go in, there's another weapon in her arsenal.

It was striking to me how close the stats were at half time. Both teams shot fairly poorly in the 30% range, the same number of rebounds and points in paint, similar assists. The only difference was basically free throws, as the Storm got to the line three times as much. So we're still working on our game as a team, but it's getting there. We finally edged ahead for good at about the half-way mark in the half.

An LJ block leading to a Sue Bird fast break and score off a Betty Lennox assist put us up 7-5. LJ just missed some outside shots that I'm confident will eventually start falling, but meanwhile we often managed to keep the ball in play, and Betty hit a deep jumper to keep us up 9-7 at 15:23. Time out.

During the break, we got a bit on the arena-vision called "Fast Break" with Chelle this time. She'd like Halle Berry to play her in a movie about her life, loves Crunch Berries, her favorite movie is Godfather, nicknames are "Chelle" or "A.T." They're showing a lot more media clips (from the Simpsons for Chelle, or Seinfeld for Sue, for instance) this season. It's entertaining. Good times.

Out of the time out LJ missed a chippy, but Betty had her back again. SA answered with a quick lay-in, and at 13:30 Sue got clocked by Ferdinand in the jaw and had to spend a moment shaking it off. Meanwhile JB missed a chippy and SA took the lead at 13 minutes. Then Simone came in a scored. LJ went to the line on a very nice drive that just rimmed out. Frustrating. They're all over her out there, but she just keeps working. Another time out at about 11 minutes and the Hip Hop Squad made their first appearance. LJ goes to work out of the timeout, puts it in the hole and it was 17-15, Storm.

The game was still fairly close at this point so I don't know why the claws were coming out from SA this early. McCray basically tackled Sue's ankles to prevent a fast break, and Feenstra was basically just pushing LJ out of bounds. I thought the refs should open up their eyes and call more than just 3-seconds calls. Sue went to the line for two, then hit a three on the next possession after JB (wisely) passed up a long open jumper. Simone bobbled a turnover on a pass from Tanisha, but Sue's fantastic D forced PeeWee to travel. She said post-game that she had a feeling the coaches have been trying for the past couple of years to get her to play defense like this, so why not start this year?

After a timeout Janell and Betty came out with the benchies, and when Chelle made 2/2 from the line at 7:27 it was suddenly 24-15, Storm. At this point Chantelle Anderson fouled Betty (foul being a euphemism for the tackle she laid on her, unless I have this hard foul mixed up with another one halfway through the second half; sometimes my notes are missing some details), but the announcer mistakenly said the call was on #7 on our team (Zara) prompting a strong chorus of boos. Whoops. We'll cut him some slack because he was a fill-in for Kilbreath, plus who's to say it wasn't the refs just being dumb? Betty hit both free throws putting us up 26-15, and LJ and Izzy checked in.

LJ had another nice drive that just missed. But JB blocked SA at the other end, and Betty finished a fast break putting us up 13 with 5 or so minutes remaining, and forcing a timeout by San Antonio. The rest of the starter checked in. Izzy ended up streaking down the court on a fast break, drawing a foul. Unfortunately she missed both free throws, but SA was missing wide open shots, and with 4 minutes to go Betty put us up 30-15 from the line. LJ seemed to find her shooting touch and answered SA's score with a jumper of her own. Simone got blamed by the refs for completely missing the backboard on a turn-around jumper (essentially throwing it out of bounds in the act of shooting). Sue protested that the ball had been tipped by SA, to no avail. The consensus in my section was that Simone has her shooting issues, but she's not that bad. Timeout, Seattle.

We had the game well in hand at this point, and there was never a real worry that it would get away from us the rest of the game, though I was nervous that we'd relax too much too soon. Our players never seemed in danger of that, however, probably due to the memory of the LA game in their minds. LJ dove to save an Izzy loose ball along the sideline, then seemed to find her rhythm and scored her 10th points on a bucket with 2 minutes left in the half. LJ also showed some leadership when she grabbed Izzy's jersey and tugged her away from the ref after a foul call which had her sporting a comically surprised butter-won't-melt-in-my-mouth who-me look, even though she was hanging over her assignment's back. We were quite amused.

Betty hit a sweet shot. And Sue stood near half court waiting for time in the half to run down, then went into motion, ran a play which was busted, the ball squirted loose and rolled around, LJ picked it up and laid it in as the buzzer sounded to a standing ovation. We gave them love as they entered the locker room. Unfortunately the refs killed out buzz by taking those two points away upon review Whatever. Boo.

HT: 36-25, Storm

Sue opened the 2nd half in style with a 3 from the corner. 39-25, Storm. On a subsequent possession JB lost the handle and the ball was bouncing around on the floor by her knees. There was a mad scramble for the ball, which ended up a jump, but during the tussle Chantelle elbowed LJ in the head and LJ threw her to the ground. According to David Locke #7 tried to say no hard feelings to LJ, but LJ was just like yeah, I know what you were doing. Huh.

So the game continued with LJ getting hacked to death, but JB fortuitously picking it up and laying it off the glass. 43-27, Storm. The Hip Hop Squad came out again during the subsequent San Antonio time out. I would probably like them more if they weren't all about gyrating their hips. Come on! They aren't little kids, but they're still jail bait. Izzy hit a 3 out of the time out to clear this disturbing image from our minds. LJ powered another shot up and in, then Izzy drew a foul and hit 2/2 from the line. 50-31, Storm.

I don't know how much else can be said about the game. Even at this point Sue was moving really well. LJ was clearly rather tired, but that didn't stop her from diving for loose balls, and regaining some touch on her outside shot. #50 about killed Betty (maybe this was the tackle). Sue hit a 3 to make up for an LJ mini-travel. She hit another with 10 minutes to go to increase our lead to 64-37, Storm. At this point it was kind of difficult to keep our energy up as a crowd. There were still moments of perfection, like an LJ &1 to make it 67-39.

The bench got some really good minutes here at the end of the game, and held their own. Plus everyone scored, including some players' first WNBA field goals. There were sparks of brilliance from Zara. TW still needs to adjust to the fact that she's not the most athletic person on the floor anymore, and she can't just turn the corner and expect to be clear to the basket. Battle found a great seam and lay the ball in to a rousing cheer as everyone scored! Wasn't that just like the last time we attended an Open Practice before a game? We blew out the opposition, and every player scored. Now for a month without our players (well, except for next weekend's Tully game).

Shed gets the assist of the game for rescuing Lauren's mum, who looked a tad uncomfortable crammed into one of the regular stadium seats, and leading her down to their extra floor seat right around the corner from the Storm bench. She looked much more comfortable there. I don't know how tall people handle those regular seats...myknees nearly brush the seat in front of me (though I also slouch).

I forgot to mention it in my last report, but I heard that Elise looks positively skeletal. Is she sick? (or even worse, did she go on the Lindsay Lohan/Nicole Ritchie diet?).

Everyone should be paying attention and doing their part in the All-Star voting right now. We're at a disadvantage compared to other teams in the league because we only have like 4 home games before the voting closes, so vote early and often, people.

I totally forgot Sandy Brondello was a SA Asst Coach. I spotted her chatting with Sue on the court and had to check my roster to jog my memory. Apparently she got a big hug from Lauren. She got some love from the crowd when she was introduced, as did Edna Campbell. It was like Old Home week in the Key.

What's with all the noisy prompts that did little to fire up the crowd or allow us to get into a rhythm? We're not Sonics fans. We don't need noise to make it sound like we're into it. If you can't help us, just stay out of our way and let us do a "De-fense" or a "Let's Go Storm." I say.

Storm are now 33-6 in their last 39 games at home.

The $3 item of the game was a poster of the casual 2004 team photo taken in front of the Seattle sky line. Ah, memories.

The spinning lights logos on the bottom of the scoreboard were back.

Sue did the post-game interview with David Locke. She was most excited about having zero turnovers, and gave Izzy props for the way her game is coming along.

Once again there was no Bucket-o'-shirts for the players to toss to the crowd. Don't tell me this went the way of cost-cutting too?! Everyone misses it. Bring it back! (Or, alternatively, get your acts together and bring the bucket out).

On the way home I saw a sign on the side of the bus that had the championship trophy and basketball with the words "They turned sweat into metal." It was awesome. Even the panhandler on the sidewalk inquired about the team as I walked by, I choose to believe because he was genuinely interested, and not because he was trying to get some of my nonexistent change.

Special End-Note: I will be out of town next weekend. Imagine my dismay when my attendance at a conference scheduled over the off-season conflicted with the only game that had Tully coming to town...to get her ring, no less! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make me feel like I was there. Bring on the game reports next Saturday, Stormies. I'll be reading them eagerly.

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