Final score: Storm 71 – Mystics 78 (L) (8-10)

Attendance | 11080

Anthem Watch | Decent, straight-forward, no complaints.

Fan Psyche | They can't keep shooting like that, can they?

Game Highlight | Sue going crazy with the scoring for a few minutes.

Halftime | Dodgeball.

SF.O Keyword of the Game | To borrow from Star Wars Episode III, "Noooooooooo!"

Game Photos

Even thought this was our annual mid-day game and I had plenty of time to write my Gameday after the game (well, after I got home from work since I had to go back to work directly after the game), it took me a full 24+ hours to try and gather my thoughts about this game and the Storm. To be honest, I still don't really know what to say. The real reason I'm sitting down to write this now is that we have another game tomorrow night (Friday) and I can't hold two games worth of stuff in my head.

This game, for me anyway, kind of defies an easy analysis. Did the Storm really play that poorly on defense or were the Mystics simply able to hit every open shot? I don't think the Storm really blew their defense to warrant an opponent shooting 60% for the game. Yes, the Mystics were able to successfully switch on the Storm defenders and take advantage when the defense was out of position. That didn't happen all the time, though, and I would put it at maybe accounting for a few more-open-than-normal Mystic's baskets.

In the second half, 3 out of the 4 three-point shots D-Nasty hit were totally contested with a Storm defender nearly in her jersey with her. She hit them anyway. Beard wasn't blowing past people, but she was out jumping her defenders and was taking shots moving side-to-side, falling back, in traffic — not what I would call easy looks. She hit them anyway. Tameka Johnson did blow by defenders and a couple way-too-easy layups, but she also got stopped cold several times and had to dish it off... to someone who invariably hit their 18-foot jump shot.

We can't point to the refs for this one. Yes, there were some excruciatingly bad calls — how is it that the sideline ref who is 40 feet away from the basket can call an offensive charge when there were players between her and the play blocking her view of the Storm player under the basket while the endline ref who is 6 feet away from the play doesn't call anything? — but nothing that directly changed the outcome of the game (I'm talking about you Bonita. Oh, I'm waiting for you to come back to the Key. Bring earplugs. Bring earmuffs for that matter.) Yes, I do think the refs are letting other teams get away with stuff they are calling against the Storm, but since we're halfway through the season the Storm should be expecting that and should have made adjustments to it. Suzy just needs to accept that she is going to get called for crap phantom fouls and find a way to play defense with aggression anyway. All of them need to do this and to be quite honest one of the major problems this team has right now is the fact that they have been unable to adjust to the refs. It's not going to get better. It's probably going to get worse. Deal with it, adjust to it and move on.

The Storm seemed to be getting their act together on offense with much better ball movement, attacking the defense more quickly before the defense gets set, and doing a better job with turnovers (exception Janell - with a whopping 7 TOs credited to her. Yikes). The Storm were still driving into double and triple teams, and it wasn't just Betty who was doing that. One of the reasons this game is a real head scratcher is that the Storm seemed to do better than normal on offense. We had three players in double figures. We got some scoring from the bench. We were hitting three pointers. We didn't ever let the Mystics get too big a lead... until the end. Betty was a non-factor through a combination of foul trouble and a fall into the camera row that left her limping off the floor. Izzy was on fire. LJ was working very hard on both ends. Sue started hitting in the second half. The Storm didn't play poorly. The Mystics played a little bit better.

I get the sense that the Storm are waiting for "that play" or "that run" — the turning point that will signal that they are "back." Every time LJ shoots a three, you can almost hear her thoughts of "This is the One" aloud. Same thing for Sue with her run to the paint, stop and pop jumper that has refused to go in (except for a short time in the second half of this game and during the ENTIRE All-Star game). Same thing with Betty and driving to the basket looking for a foul. "This one is going to be the One." Every time "that one" doesn't come, it gets a little bit harder on the next shot or drive. Their intense need for the plug to pop on whatever is blocking them from going on a 6-game win streak in which they pummel all comers oozes out of them.

Coach Donovan is visibly frustrated, as are they all. It was interesting and I think very telling that LJ, Sue and Coach Donovan all three did so well at the All-Star game. Let's face it, Sue could have easily been given the MVP award - her stat line was nearly identical to Swoopes' line. I know I was sitting there thinking, "Where has THIS been?" LJ as well, hitting shots from all over the place. Coach Donovan talking smack with Dawn Staley. Talk about swagger — all three of them had it at that game. Why? Because they were relaxed. There was no real pressure AND they knew that they deserved to be there. As a result, they had a great game and performed like they were still on top of the league.

It seems to me that they are overthinking all of it. Everyone is focused on what is wrong and what needs to be fixed. You know what? Who cares what's "wrong." Just play. What does the Storm really have to lose? No one considers them capable of getting back to the Finals and most put them in the Playoffs only as a nod to the fact that the Storm won the Championship last year (or were afraid of maybe getting burned again like Anne Meyers and her last place Storm, last place Sun prediction last season). Most people out there want to see Seattle fail. So what. Just play. Take the pressure off yourselves and I bet whatever's "wrong" will fade to the background.

Just play.

Other Notes:

5000 screaming kids. 'Nuff said.

The little boy who did the player intros did a fantastic job. Coach Donovan went over and gave him a much-deserved high-five once the lights came back up.

Doppler and his "friends" celebrated Doppler's "birthday." They were pretty tame this year. No gang silly string attacks on John Curley like last year or really any faux-fur related humiliations at all. The mascots vs. kids dodgeball game at the half was mostly a bust since the kids threw like, well, kids. It would have been much more entertaining to get some adults in there. Then we would have seen some mascot carnage. Violence against mascots is my #3 all time favorite thing and we didn't have near enough of it.

Apparently, the LJ free throw "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" crowd got the memo about not doing it right as she's shooting. That, or enough of them took a pass on the day game that it never got going.

LJ had on some new shoes. I got pics.

The real reason the Storm lost? No pregame high-five from Coach Boucek. A little backstory... The team, coaches and all support staff do high-fives before every game. All three of the coaches have a set order for who they high-five. Coach Donovan has gotten very insistent in the past when one of the trainers forgets and she has to wait for them. She won't continue until she gets everyone and in the right order. Coaches Kenlaw and Boucek do the same thing. Coach B does her round after the starters have left the bench and make their way out to center court. Angie and I noticed this ritual last season when we started sitting right behind the bench. We joked about putting our hands up to see if any of the coaches would high-five us since we're that close. At last season's STH party, Angie mentioned this to Coach Boucek. Ever since, Coach B has added me to her routine. Every home game last season that she high-fived me, we won. This season, she's forgotten three times. LA was the first time. We lost. The second game she forgot, she missed me on her normal pass, then realized it and gave me a "virtual" high five after the game started. I can't remember if that was the Minnesota game or not. Let's assume that it was. We lost. At this game, since I had come from work and was going back to work, I didn't have on my normal green "Go Storm" shirt. I was in camouflage (red shirt). No high-five. We lost. I sense a pattern.

One of the camera people was wearing a cow costume. She took a Betty knee in the udders when Betty went sprawling into the camera row in the first half.