Final
score: Storm 111 – Mercury 101 (W) (14-15)
Attendance
|
7759
Anthem
Watch | No singer, just piped-in arena organ
and the crowd singing along. Probably the best anthem performance
this season.
Fan
Psyche | 35 points in the first quarter? More.
38 points? More. 40 points? That might be enough to cover
our third quarter slump. Maybe.
Game
Highlight | Got to give it to Katie Gearlds.
It's amazing what giving a bench player more than a couple
minutes at a time on the court will do for their shooting
confidence. Hmmm.
Halftime
| Didn't see it. I was up at the auction spending
money. Oh, and to all those who bid against me? Know that
I will not be denied.
SF.O
Keyword of the Game | Holy Triple-Digits,
Batman!
Game
Photos
| Rick
| Scott
L | Scott
E
Wow.
This
was arguably the most complete offensive game the Storm have
played this season. By complete, I mean that our starters
performed fantastically (like the usually do — see the
recent San Antonio game) and actually got significant support
from the bench. I can't really say this was a complete defensive
game because, come on, the Storm gave up 101 points.
The
almost utter lack of defense against Taurasi, Pondexter and
Miller was hard to understand. How many times do you allow
the opponent's guards to run the floor coast-to-coast for
a barely-contested layup? During the first quarter when both
teams are trying to run, run, run, I can understand being
a bit lax. But when those three players are getting to the
basket at will over the course of the whole game, you have
to ask yourself what's going on with the Storm's mindset.
After
Pondexter burned you for the 6th time with an end-to-end drive
and layup, maybe it would be a good idea to pick her up at
the half-court line, or heck maybe even the three-point line.
Nope, not tonight. There was an open invitation for anyone
in a purple jersey to waltz right in, and hey, let's foul
just to give them that extra bit of KeyArena hospitality.
As
the Storm poured it on in the first quarter, I kept wanting
them to run up the score even higher knowing that a/ they
couldn't keep it up for much longer, b/ Phoenix would stop
being so turnover happy, c/ Phoenix was easily capable of
turning around and hitting us with a 40-point quarter and
d/ the Storm's recent track record of early leads and late
implosions.
Of
course, none of that really came to pass. Well, it did, just
not as extreme as it usually is. Phoenix did hit us with a
35-point quarter, they did stop turning the ball over, the
Storm scoring did sputter (when compared to a 40-point quarter)
and the Storm did fade at the end, just not enough to let
the Merc steal the game.
The
Mercury outscored the Storm in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters,
but because the Storm bench produced and everyone except Janell
(who, let's face it, can't be expected to do a ton since she
has 3 freakin' torn tendons in her wrist) kept scoring, the
Storm were able to keep the Mercury from running away with
it.
As
porous as the Storm's defense was, the Mercury's was worse.
They couldn't gang-cover LJ because other people were scoring.
Phoenix had some decent success by throwing a zone at Seattle,
but that didn't last once Coach Donovan brought Sue and Betty
back in and their outside shooting and drives broke down the
zone.
About
the Storm's ability to attack the zone defense — the
team still sucks at it. I would think by now with so many
recent examples of teams shutting us down with zones that
Coach Donovan would have found a way to consistently deal
with that defense.
On
the other hand, it was great to finally see Coach Donovan
allowing some of the bench players to get decent, consecutive
minutes in the game. I imagine that she expanded her rotation
to combat the fatigue factor due to the back-to-back games
and the draining way in which the Storm lost in Sacramento.
Whatever her reasons, it obviously paid off. Katie got an
early basket and then actually started looking to score instead
of pass. Ashley didn't score much, but she was able to establish
herself for a bunch of rebounds and inside intimidation (no
blocks, but she made the Merc think about going in). Even
Tanisha had her moments. Her biggest stat of the night was
a big fat zero — no turnovers. She also channeled Lin
Dunn too much and with her stand, dribble, dribble, dribble
routine allowed the Mercury to run their zone and claw back
into the game.
This
was a great win and it was nice to be happy about the Storm
again. But, this kind of game just hammers home how much this
season has been about underachieving and missing potential.
The Storm has this kind of game in them. Our bench has this
kind of performance in them. They are better than a sub-.500
record. Much better, and not only because of LJ's presence.
My hope is that they can ride this win into a win streak to
end the season, propelling them into the playoffs. I don't
have any illusions that we'll be able to get out of 4th place,
but it would be nice to take 4th instead of simply out-lasting
LA or Houston. It would also be great for the bench to get
and keep their confidence in themselves — so long as
Coach Donovan shows that they have her confidence. Regardless
of who we meet in the first round, we have a chance. The team
needs to believe that, even if it's hard for us to believe
it too sometimes.
|
