Final score: Storm 90 – Sparks 71 (W) (9-7)

Submitted by Norwester

The win we earned in this game makes me feel a little better than the blow-out against New York. I expressed concern regarding our NY win because we relied so heavily on our outside shot, and I worried that we'd revert to our old losing ways if our shots quit falling. Happily, in my mind the scrappiness we showed in this game, particularly early when our shots weren't falling with any consistency, is evidence that this team has turned a corner in establishing an internal identity. We did not panic, or try to go against our game plan, or turn into a group of individuals, each trying to accomplish more. Every player continued to play with intensity, share the ball, and we continued to take good shots. And that's a key: even though our shots were missing, they were the shots we like/need our team to take, and the Storm were persistent, all the while controlling the boards, passing crisply, sharing the ball, and showing really good movement both with and without the basketball. There were very few times that I can remember when we were all just standing around waiting for something to happen. Thus, this has been a very good home-stand for us. Hard times are ahead, with Sue leaving for an indefinite amount of time (though best case: two weeks) for knee surgery, and so many upcoming games on the road. It's going to be critical that players like Betty and Izi continue to step up, that we continue to get Lauren touches, that JB overcomes her injuries to make her presence felt in the post. And our bench...that's another developing bright spot. Wendy says she's finally feeling normal again, and it shows in the energy she's giving out on the court. These blow-outs have been good times to get the benchies some playing time, and I no longer automatically cringe when they enter the game. Tough times are likely ahead. But good times are possible as well.

First I have to say that Jilly scared the crap out of us before the game because she thought she saw Wendy in street clothes. Fortunately, she was mistaken. Whew. We forgive you, Jilly.

Due to the ESPN-factor only the starters were introduced for both teams. Cooper received some scattered boos, but there weren't any other notable moments. I was concerned with how small the crowd seemed early, and wondered if the early start time confused people. Luckily the refs did their best to extend the length of the game so that even late-comers could get two hours in . However, the crowd has been consistently responsive to happenings on the court this season, and tonight was no exception. We kind of beat the "Beat LA" chant into the ground, but it was also used to good effect. Storm fans don't care if this team is down. History alone drives us to encourage our team to go for the throat. Watching the game later on ESPN I was pleased with how well "Beat LA" carried over the air-waves. Other notable crowd moments: instantly going medieval on the Sparks when Sidney Spencer hit Bird in the nose (really good reaction time on the boos), and getting a couple of M-V-P chants to be heard over ESPN in relation to Lauren, despite her embarrassment.

The ESPN factor had all the players standing around cooling their heels for quite some time until tip. JB scored our first points going 1/2 from the line. I don't know what was up with our poor FT percentage tonight, but that 1/2 early (not that we expect JB to make all of hers) was just a harbinger of things to come. Happily we were rebounding really well early. This is how it all ties together for us. Even if we aren't making shots, if we're getting rebounds we can run the floor, and we run the floor very well (who wouldn't with Sue Bird at point?). The refs were blowing their whistles early and often, but mostly LA was the victim early on. Late in the game is when it became really annoying, particularly those touch fouls on the perimeter, but at least they pretty consistently called stuff like this all game. Anyway, halfway through the 1st quarter we were down 8-10 after a couple of defensive breakdowns and some turnovers, but we were playing well, and there was an upbeat sense in the Key that pretty soon these shots would start falling and we'd surge ahead.

A typical play for this somewhat frustrating sequence: Shyra gets a steal and leads the fastbreak, I cringe a bit as she takes it in herself rather than dumping it to the trailing LJ, but she managed to draw the foul missed both FTs LJ got the rebound but missed her shot however Betty got the rebound but also missed her shot . It was up and down like that all quarter. 1Q: 18-17.

T checked in at the end of the 1st right after Sue finally hit a 3. One of those "player finally gets in a rhythm and we pull them" substitutions. However, perhaps we could look at it another way. Perhaps it's "I want to give this player a rest, but don't want them to think they're in the dog house, so I'll take them out of the game on a high note" substituting. Anywhoo, T started the 2nd as well. LJ had a great move to the basket negated by an offensive foul. A flop, but an easy and obvious one to make. However, what's the rule about standing right under the basket when a player is in the air? I know that in the meNBA there's that crescent in which you can't draw a charge because it's dangerous for all the dunkers coming down. Is there something similar for the W?

The second quarter continued in the up and down fashion typical of our early play. We'd do something good offensively, then let them get an easy or fast score over our defense. Or we'd be hit with a referee turnover (e.g. carry). We chanted some more Beat LA. LJ stopped to get some more gum. We had several possessions where we'd get like three tries to score, and still not capitalize. Betty started going crazy offensively, but we kept leaving LA's sharp-shooters open. The crowd got up and loud with under a minute to go, but as was typical the rhythm of the game was disrupted again with Mwadi going to the line. Happily, LJ hit a 3! I was rather concerned with the amount of time she spent on the perimeter, and also that Izi had largely disappeared, but Betty kept us afloat, and of course we can usually count on Lauren for a well-timed shot. HT: 40-36

LJ stuck around to speak with Heather Cox. We started up the MVP chant as best we could on short notice at our end, and on her way off court Lauren stuck her tongue out at us (something you couldn't really see on TV). Then, to top off that fun, we got the dog races for half-time! The Jet City Jumpers! I literally jumped out of my seat in glee. Perhaps some of you have no idea what I'm talking about, but they have two teams of like four dogs, and they set up two rubber tracks down court with a ball at the end, and the dogs all have to run down court over the hurdles, grab their ball, then run back. The first team for which all dogs finish, wins. Each team is a combination of little and big dogs. I also think they're all rescued dogs. The collie-type dog on the one team was clearly the deciding factor due to its intensity, usually matched up with the more happy-go-lucky running of a black-lab type on the other team. Good times.

Mmm, it's likely old news by now (I don't read or watch anything about the game before I write this report, so I've been on a fast, which has been killing me, though I can watch the game again if it was televised and I recorded it...speaking of which, didn't anyone record the Minnesota game that we lost? I'm still looking for a copy, if possible, as a thank you for all my hard report-writing? ), but Shona Thornburg was spotted getting concessions during half-time.

I do miss Thunderstruck being played at the beginning of the 2nd half, now that someone has mentioned it. It always seemed so appropriate for a team called Storm.

JB again scored our first points, on an assist from LJ, signaling the crowd to sit down. There was another loose-ball vs. court-side concessions issue early on in the quarter, as Betty chased down the basketball and kicked over a beer or soda or something. Clean up on aisle 22. We really came out of half-time on fire. Sometimes a team is physical and takes us out of our game, but we seem to be able to stand up well to LA's brand of physical, for some reason. Perhaps it's all mental, as we gear ourselves up to beat them. Moore yanked LJ to the ground during a JB free throw, and LJ got up hot from that and had some heated words for her opponent and the officials about that. Cue the reappearance of Lauren's sweet baseline turnaround jumper, followed by a 3. That's right.

I was surprised (though perhaps I shouldn't have been) by how well Sidney Spencer played this game. She was very confident out there. She sadly showed some physical bordering on LA-thuggishness moves later on (the nose!), but there's something to be said for players getting a lot of reps right out of college. I kept watching her confident play and wondering how it would have been for Katie to not be buried on the bench early. Different situations, though. I expect Katie to get some more reps with Sue gone for a while, anyway. Come on, Katie.

Other 3rd quarter observations:
JB really has that flop-but-not move down pat, where she goes all Matrix with the back-bend making it appear that she really did get hit, but also leaving her in a position to continue to play defense, etc. Keep up the good work, JB!
Isn't just one (or maybe two, after all the warm-up video sets us up for that) Aussie/Oi chants good enough per LJ highlight-reel move/trip to the free throw line? I like it, but I'd like to see it used more judiciously, and certainly not in the middle of her shooting free throws (that's just bad form).
It was very scary when Betty went down and did not get right back up. No one around me knew what had happened, suddenly she was just laying (or is it lying...gaucho?) there, writhing but not getting up, while play passed her by. Fortunately, she was able to get up and walk to the locker room after the frightening delay. The crowd went crazy when she rejoined the bench a couple of game minutes later, a reaction which paled in comparison to the mad-house the Key became (briefly) when she actually checked back into the game towards the end of the quarter.
Ely is showing some defensive chops out there, and I really think that's what's giving her the minutes-edge over Katie right now (who still seems just a step slow out there on defense), but she needs to drive and dump it to LJ more rather than taking the shot herself...it would make her more potent; this is an area where Katie is stronger than Ely. I've been very impressed with Katie's grasp of the pick and roll this year, and remember some great assists to both JB and LJ in previous games.
It started to get a little out of control at the end of the quarter. LJ and Paige got tangled up, and I'm surprised no technicals were called, given the technicals Lauren has been charged with at the least provocation earlier this season. Then Sue got hit in the face by Spencer, which nearly immediately brought the crowd--booing--to their feet before the refs could even register that anything had happened, at least way before any calls were made. Sue can be excused for missing the ensuing technical free throw, but she made up for it with a subsequent 3.

Sue's 3, then Betty's tip at the buzzer really got the crowd LOUD at the end of the 3rd. 3Q: 70-50. The second and third team efforts to get that last tip typify the intensity the Storm brought to this game, and the play that put us up 20, having thoroughly out-played the Sparks even when our initial shots weren't falling.

Storm Movie Magic had us rolling in the aisles (see below). Sue and LJ got applause for being named as Western Conference All Stars. My question is, where did Yo come from? Last I checked she wasn't even in the running for center with JB and Ruth, but suddenly she's the winner? Weird. Did they get the ballots from a previous year mixed up with this year? Or is this a "you're going to retire soon, so here's some votes" type of thing? Whatever. Sue beat out Catchings for most votes overall, which surprised me (and amused me) as well. Too bad she won't be appearing. Perhaps she can still go to some parties, since she'll be on the East Coast anyway for surgery.

The 4th quarter drug on and on behind a plethora of referee whistles. LA mostly bore the brunt. A couple of their players fouled out to the delight of Storm fans, but still, even we were yelling "let them play!" Perhaps this was a response to the physicality at the end of the 3rd, but it soon was clearly unnecessary. Call the obvious and let this drubbing end, already. I'm glad I set my TiVo for an extra hour! The starters played a surprising amount. I was glad LJ was given enough time to exceed her scoring average, and Sue to get a double-double. Betty was also in fine form, and I hope that continues. It was gratifying that our starters didn't let up on intensity. For instance, upon being called for her 4th foul LJ heatedly started to approach one official, but Sue waved her off. I know some people (not me; don't flame me) have complained that Sue is too complacent in the game, but there was more than one time in this one that she calmed one of her team mates down, like in this instance, and it really worked to refocus everyone on playing the game. When Sue loses her cool, we often fall apart. Who's going to play that role during her rehab?

The crowd got typically excited when Katie came off the bench. Izi got a standing ovation, mostly as carry over from the previous game, but she had some decent play here. LJ bricked some more free throws, but she and Sue also got standing ovations when they checked out. With three minutes to go Katie had the ball and everyone within hearing range of my seat was yelling "shoot it!" She did, scoring, bringing us all (and LJ and JB on the bench) to their feet in celebration. Happy that Katie successfully scored, and happy that every one of our players scored this game.

Final observations: on one fast break run by T, Wendy ran the floor with her, but T took the shot herself. She made it, but aren't you supposed to reward your bigs for running the floor with you? I know Sue always appreciates it. I guess this further illustrates that T has a shooting guard's mentality, not a point guard's. We got on our feet for the final minute, and there were audible groans when time kept being stopped for a plethora of ref-whistling. Did they have a quota or something? Then T turned it over in the back court to Baker, who took it in for a score, and each of the players on the bench just put their faces in their hands. That's all right. Katie redeemed it all with a fast break alley-oop to Ashley to end the game!

Ely handed out the game ball. Sue stuck around to talk to ESPN as the players gleefully threw t-shirts to the crowd (it's always nice to see LJ literally skip over to the bucket to grab an armful to distribute). Alan interviewed Wendy about how she's playing great basketball lately: she says the players just want to leave it all out on the court for the fans, that every day gets better for her personally, and she's starting to feel normal physically again. As a bench player, they're just focusing on helping the starters however they can, and it's exciting to be playing good ball. Hopefully they can bring us back some wins from the road.

Run-off

Sue and Wendy were reportedly appearing in the Discover Card Lounge post-game. Hopefully some loyal Stormfans attended and can share their experiences.

StormVision pre-game: a feature from LJ and Betty going to a local Boys & Girls Club as part of the Be Smart. Be Fit. Be Yourself. campaign. LJ had fun, but Betty seemed to really shine, getting in there and showing the kids how to strengthen their core muscles, getting them to be all competitive. LJ talked about teaching stretching, but had high praise for Betty's efforts. Betty said she had a blast...that it just gave her a chance to feel like a kid again. This sequence was shown again on the ArenaVision later in the 1st quarter.

Alan & Adia Game Breakdown: of course the "intense rivalry" was mentioned; earlier on StormVision the Sparks were even referred to as the "dreaded LA Sparks." Even lacking some big names, LA is a team the Storm are always happy to beat. A&A talked about Mwadi playing well as of late, and Taj always being a potentially scary opponent, as well as Fernandez their surprising rookie point guard from Spain. LJ's been a scoring machine lately, and Sue is getting her assists, but in the future couple of weeks it's going to be really tough to play the same teams repeatedly (LA and Houston), so it's important to get on a roll before the All Star break.

There were a couple of Public Service Announcement type commercials shown on ArenaVision through the game featuring Betty Lennox, and they were very fun. In the first Betty was wearing a personal flotation device (life jacket) and extolling the importance of wearing one. In another she came on wearing a bike helmet with the same message of being smart while having fun by protecting yourself.

Heidi was wearing her odd, hooded leisure suit thing, but Anne looked very sharp in her brown blouse/cream slacks/cream and brown jacket, and Shelley's orange jacket and orange-striped blouse was fun too.

Pre-game was a tribute to Carly Stowell. Her mom, dad, brother and coach came to center court to accept an autographed Storm jersey with Carly's name on it from Betty and Ashley, while a quick tribute/montage was played on the ArenaVision. Clapping. Partial standing ovation.

Also pre-game Karen Bryant and Anne Donovan presented Sue with the game ball for distributing her 1000th assist last game. That got a full standing ovation. However with these pre-game ceremonies I got the feeling that fans were holding back a little. Both presentations were cool in their own ways, but I think we fans are wary now of injecting too much emotion into any pre-game moment, lest we cause the team to lose, as emotional happenings pre-game have had a tendency to cause in the past.

The Sparks' team captains were #32 Christi Thomas and #00 Murriel Page, and joined LJ and Sue at center court to present the Jr. Captains with signed balls. It's actually rather disorienting to have two new faces representing the Sparks like that, but I guess epitomizes the changes the organization is enduring.

Pacific Medical Injury Report: LLL taking the year off the have a baby, LaToya Thomas calf. There was no mention of Temecka Johnson, so those of us in the Key were left wondering (until we could check why post-game). Storm: none (weak applause).

Cathy Crosslin, a local STH who has been performing the anthem since the inaugural season, sang the anthem with minimal frills. It was a little slow and uneven for me, but I really enjoyed the tone of her voice and consider it a creditable performance.

So I'm watching the game, right? And who do I see practically sitting on the bench with our team? Our own Scott and Angie! Hmm...two groups of Stormfans.org sitting in these seats the past two games, both blow-outs. Coincidence?

There was actually some competition this time in the Discover Card Free Throw Line Shoot-out (the winner getting $50 in Discover Card Gift Cards), with (excuse my name spelling) Devon at our end beating Marcel at the other 6-5. She was off initially at our end, and the assistant was hindering the process by not handing the next ball over very quickly, but she recovered to win.

Mid-second quarter they ran a new game called the Doppler Word Scramble Challenge where two tables were set up on court and two contestants raced to make a word or words out of all of the letters before time was up, then Doppler judged the winning word(s). A TABLE and BEAT LA were the results...guess which won? (Hint: right before Doppler hauled out the Beat LA signs for some more chanting).

The Mini races were better run this game, after an all-time low last game. The PA guy did a call of the race while in progress, and the red (121), green (110) and gold (106) cars all represented sections. My seat-mates thought I was quite odd for my screech of victory when the gold car won. Hey, even though I no longer sit in 106, they're still my peeps. Doppler tosses t-shirts to the winning section.

Microsoft Play of the Half: one of Betty's acrobatic buckets.

Early in the 3rd the winners of a raffle benefiting the Lennox Foundation 22 were announced.

Between the 3rd and 4th quarters, when everyone was all happily riled up anyway at the gutsy play of the Storm, we were treated to another installment of Storm Movie Magic. As amusing as LJ's delivery was for Jaws, this one may win the award this year, featuring T as Renee Zellweger in Jerry Maguire. Tom Cruise delivers his line about "you complete me" then Tanisha: "Shut up; just shut up! You had me at hello." Trust me, it was hilarious.

Page 1