Final
score: Storm 90 – Lynx 76 (W) (3-3)
Attendance
|
8105
Anthem
Watch | Bleh. Girl needs a metronome.
Fan
Psyche | Just get LJ the damn ball!
Game
Highlight | LJ to Sue to Izi fastbreak.
Halftime
| Kids cheerleader/dance team.
SF.O
Keyword of the Game | Chin music.
Game
Photos |
Scott
L | Rick
| Scott
E
I'm
glad that Minnesota already had their first win before getting
to Seattle. Knowing how things go for us, if the Lynx had
still been 0 for everything, tonight would have been their
night.
They
looked good through the first quarter and a half or so. The
Storm weren't playing very solid defense and the Lynx were
able to capitalize with open shots right under the basket
and open jumpers on the perimeter. It wasn't until the Storm
really started to exert pressure that they Lynx started to
unravel.
Oh
yeah, it helped that Abrosimova sat out most of the first
half and third quarter after her head and LJ's chin made bone
jarring contact. It also helped that Ohlde got into early
foul trouble and was kind of a non-factor.
The
big bright spot for the Storm's defense is that they held
Augustus to 13 points, her season low. The Storm were also
able, with the full court press, to force some turnovers and
get the Lynx into shot clock trouble. During one of the preseason
events, Coach Donovan said that she was going to do more full
court defense this season and we haven't really seen it until
now. Against the Lynx's rookie starting guard Harding and
their backup Quinn, who looked so shaky with the ball the
Storm should have been going after her like Kobayashi
and a plate of hot dogs, the press was great. Against
other, better point guards, maybe not.
Offensively,
tonight was all about LJ. 12-15 with 3-4 for three and 3-3
on free throws — all I could do was think what might
have been in Sacramento the other night. She looked great
and even shook off the collision with Sveta to steamroll the
Lynx posts. She also seemed a lot more relaxed than in the
game against San Antonio. She wasn't yelling at the refs (as
much, come on, this is LJ we're talking about), nor was she
yelling at her teammates. She got yanked from the game very
early and it wasn't clear from our vantage point on why, but
it didn't seem to affect her mood. She was smiles the whole
time.
The
rest of the starters had a balanced night with Sue leading
the way with 8 assists. Betty is still a little off and Izi
wasn't able to completely run wild like she did in the earlier
games, but they both were able to produce when needed. Janell
got off to a very slow start, but picked it up after being
benched for awhile.
The
cringe factor for tonight's game came from the bench. With
a lead hovering around 20, Coach Donovan put the bench in
with about 4 and a half minutes left. If not for a late Gearlds
three, the five bench players accounted for 3 points (all
free throws) on 0-6 shooting, 3 fouls and 2 turnovers. Not
exactly the kind of stat line you want to see. The whole time
I was watching Ely and Fluker throw the ball off the glass
— not even close to going in the basket — all
I could think was, "What Would Barb Do?"
I
do like Fluker's hair.
Other
notes:
Betty's
brother, Clarence, got a happy birthday announcement on the
big screen and was introduced as the best dressed fan in the
WNBA. That has to be the truth. I wonder if he gives season
ticket holders a discount at Leroy's, the men's clothing store
he owns? I could work a salmon colored suit, don't you think?
Wendy
Palmer was awarded the game ball from the San Antonio game
to commemorate her 3000th point. Usually, we lose when things
are awarded or commemorated before the game. Perhaps Wendy
has finally broken that curse for us.
Fluker
does have some good moves... dance moves. She was joining
in with the Storm Dance Troupe during the player intros and
was hitting their routine really well.
We
got the first real mention about the Storm's future by a player
when in the postgame interview LJ said something about keeping
the team in Seattle. There's no real doubt that she'd be cored
by the team if it came down to that, but with next year being
an Olympic year she could always fall back on the "I'm
staying home to work with my national team" gambit if
the Storm move to OKC. If that does happen, I really don't
expect to see LJ on the team, one way or another.
Page
2
|
