Final
score: Storm 81 – Lynx 67 (W) (16-17)
Attendance
|
8144
Anthem
Watch | Big-time voice, not sure she needed
the microphone, I liked her performance but then I'm biased
Fan
Psyche | REVENGE — okay, how about just
out last them?
Game
Highlight | Defense in the first quarter and
decent bench production. Holy crap, did I just type that?
Halftime
| $50,000 shot that only earned about $1200
SF.O
Keyword of the Game | Fight! Gym Rat called
it!
Game
Photos | Scott
E
This
game started out very promising and ended very ugly. Not so
ugly that the Storm lost, but when you're just a smidge better
than the worst team in the league it's hard to even say that
a win is a win.
At
the beginning of the game, it was apparent Coach Donovan was
using this game as a tune up for the playoffs. This was clear
in two ways. First, the Storm's defense (at least early on)
was very aggressive. Way more aggressive than we've seen in
other recent games. In fact, they were playing a lot more
like other teams played us — fast hands breaking up
passes, tipping the ball out of the dribblers' hands, closing
out on perimeter shooters and running back on transition defense.The
team had a lot of energy and focus and were really disrupting
the Lynx.
It
was also great to see Ashley being aggressive with her shot.
She and Izi were the only Storm players to score for quite
awhile. I remember commenting to Angie that it was a good
sign that the two of them were getting baskets even before
LJ, Sue or Betty. If these two can pick up early scoring,
it can only take pressure off LJ and Betty later on.
The
second thing I noticed about Coach D's game plan was her short
rotation. The Storm only played 8 deep tonight, leaving Ely,
Lewis and Ndiaye-Diatta on the bench. Lewis wasn't surprising
since she's rarely getting any playing time already. Ely had
apparently gone straight to the doghouse because she's been
DNP lately. Astou is a little more surprising given the amount
of time she's had on the court since she was signed. With
her and Ely out however, that just meant more time for Ashley
and I think we all can agree that is a good thing.
I
think it is safe to say that Ashley has stepped in for Janell
without a whole lot of let down. Her rebounding and blocks
are certainly there and she's gaining more confidence with
her shot with every game. Her free throws are an adventure,
but that will come around too (I hope). It's also safe to
say that she could dunk the ball if she really wanted to.
I saw her jump up for a rebound and would swear that her head
was just a couple inches from the level of the rim. I understand
the hesitation to dunk, but once a player does it that first
time and gets it out of the way they suddenly have one of
the highest percentage shots in their arsenal. Just think
how many of those offensive rebounds Ashley gets could turn
into immediate points if she just went right back up and stuffed
the ball. I don't care about the showboating aspect of the
dunk — I want the easy points. So Ashley — dunk
the damn thing.
The
team's energy started to drain away part way through the second
quarter and they allowed the Lynx to creep back into the game.
We of course then had our normal third quarter meltdown, but
the Lynx helped out by having one of their own. The two teams
matched each others' 10 points in the quarter. I haven't checked,
but that might be a combined low for the Storm and an opponent.
Truly a fugly quarter.
Credit
Augustus for the Lynx's ability to stay in the game. It didn't
matter who was on her, how close they were to her, how many
hands in her face there were — she would rise up and
hit from just about any distance from the basket. It was almost
sick watching her score at will. Unfortunately for the Lynx,
the Storm did what they could to stop her not by defending
her more aggressively (it doesn't really work), but by keeping
the ball from getting to her. The Storm "limited"
her to 28 when it looked like she could have dropped 40 on
us.
LJ
on the other hand, if possible, looked worse tonight than
she did the other night against the Mystics. By worse, I mean
more depressed and more unmotivated to be out on the court.
Being LJ, she still nearly got a double double, but man was
it hard to watch her being so uncomfortable and unhappy. All
you want to do is wrap her up in a blanket, sit her in front
of a tv and give her a big bowl of chicken soup or something.
When she finally came out at the end of the game, she just
looked wrung out.
The
Storm were able to turn the game around in the fourth and
behind great play by Wendy and some scoring from everybody,
put the Lynx down and kept them there.
The
game ended with a few fireworks. Wendy and Stansbury got tangled
up and harsh words were exchanged. Ashley got in the middle
and kept them apart while others held the two back. Both of
them continued the jawing until the dual technicals were called
and the refs stepped in. While Wendy is fierce when she's
on the court, Stansbury has the bulk. It would have been a
nasty one for sure, and with only 6.7 seconds left kind of
a waste had it resulted in suspensions. Still, it's good to
get the blood pumping every once in awhile.
One
more regular season home game to go. We only have LA standing
between us and a 3-game win streak and a 17-17 record. Ugh
— why'd I have to go and bring that up? Oh well,
bring it on LA.
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