Final score: Storm 83 – Mercury 77 (W) (7-3)

Submitted by Norwester

This game was fun to watch, and not even so much for the game, since both teams were struggling to hit shots from the floor, but more for the gamesmanship going on out on the court. Clearly these are teams of players perhaps currently more closely connected than any other in the WNBA. How many Spartak Moscow players were on the floor at once? 4? Then you throw in the UConn connection, the National Team connections (both US and Australia) and when they get out there and start playing I can't help but be amused at the antics, the trash-talking, and the competitiveness because there's no bitter undertone, at least not in my mind. Sure, Taurasi is a punk, but it's the sort that entertains me. I can't help it. She reminds me of my little sister. This isn't LA or Detroit, this is our sister team the Phoenix Mercury. You bet I want to beat them, but for bragging rights rather than delighting in forcing them to experience the humility of defeat.

While our shooting percentage sucked, as has become something of a habit this year, there were too many positives to dwell on that. I'm still worried at the amount of time our starters have to spend on the floor over all, particularly Sue and Lauren. We can't keep falling apart offensively (and to a lesser but noticable extent defensively) every time Lauren leaves the floor. And Sue is only human. I'm pleased with the way the scoring was spread among our starters, with the way Yo was able to stay out of foul trouble for the most part, with the way Sue was able to rack up the assists and rebounds even with her shot not falling, and with the way that as a team we controlled the tempo of the game for the most part. I'm astounded at how much Sheryl seems to be coming along with every game, regaining her form reportedly due to a ton of hard work and practice. Shyra continues to be unable to work within the flow of the offense, but came off the bench with excellent energy on rebounds and put-backs.

I'm actually really glad that we haven't quite come together as a team. It gives us somewhere to go, and also motivates us not to sit on our laurels and bask in our greatness, but to work to achieve some future potential that we haven't seen yet, but have gotten close enough to taste.

It was "Dads and Daughters" night at Key Arena, with the approach of Father's Day. In case you were unaware, there were numerous reminders. They really take a theme and run with it. Some of the events were amusing, but was I the only one slightly uncomfortable during the dancing portion at half time? I brought a Storm game virgin to the game. She suggested that if we each took a drink every time they used the phrase "Dads and Daughters" we'd be snockered right quick.

After like three games in a row going the "wrong" way, Phoenix finally brings us back to our more accustomed pattern: offense near our bench at the end of the game. Hurray! During pre-game warm-ups Diana was was at the free throw line and LJ came up behind her, slammed the ball down out of her hands and body-checked her. Smiles. Chat, chat, chat as they wander over to the tunnel entrance and meet up with Sue, Adia, and A-rob. Everyone seemed to be in really good spirits. Planning the details of the post-game Diana birthday celebration perhaps? Diana followed them all off the court, though most the rest of her team remained on court, warming up.

There was no pre-game preview with Adia and Dick because the sound was on the fritz. The anthm was performed by Jammin & USA, from Salt Lake City. I was actually standing behind them as we waited for the doors to open, and they all started singing some sort of Christain song I didn't recognize as we approached the ticket scanners. That was an interesting experience: surrounded by happily singing youth. The anthem itself was a bit unconventional with its tempo changes and such. I think I prefer a more straight-forward style, but despite a kind of shaky last note, they brought it home pretty well in the end.

Tangela Smith was looking snazzy in street clothes, but made the Pacific Medical Center Injury report with a bruised knee, and did not play. The Storm continue to defy the odds by having a clean bill of health.

I groaned when I saw that #7 Clarke Stevens was a ref. I can't always necessarily remember why (or if) they deserve it, but I have negative associations with him, among others. Was he part of the Houston debacle? Anyway, he was accompanied by newby #34 Maj Forsberg and #9 Denise Brooks-Clauser. FYI, you can access refs names by number here. If you read further down the page you will see that our old buddy Kurt Walker has moved up to the NBA! As far as the game went, I guess they did all right. I'd probably have been more bitter as a Phoenix fan than I was as a Storm fan, but that's likely because we won. There was crap pretty much spread both ways, and Cappie tends to get out of control: at least they were calling charges tightly early.

Mazzante and Pringle got some love in intros, as did Quigley, Miller and Farris were well-received as well, but Taurasi got the most applause, followed closely by Cappie. We opened the game inauspiciously with a turnover, but Sheryl scored our first points a half-minute in with a free throw (drawing a foul on the offensive rebound) that didn't even move the net. Sadly she missed the 2nd, but Phoenix earned a couple of quick team fouls in the early going. Yo absolutely moseyed across the court to take the ball out of bounds off of one (she doesn't hurry for anybody ), but all the attitude in the world couldn't help us make the chippies. Fortunately Sheryl was on fire, and LJ was working her butt off for everything she got. This would continue the entire game, as the Mercury made her work for everything, but in one memorable sequence she fell/dove out of bounds on one sideline to save the possession, then sprinted back in to catch the ball from Sue and turn and make a shot at the other side. Whew!

There was a lot of back and forth and lead changes. Ties. Diana picked up 2 fouls, and Cappie earned her 3rd before the 1st quarter was over. Swin went to the line on that to put us up 3, but we promptly left Mazzante wide open and it was tied again at 18. Our bench came in for a quick stint, and Ashley recorded a block and Shyra worked the boards like a champ, earning a trip to the free throw line. 1Q: 20-18

LJ largely managed to stay out of foul trouble all game. At one point early in the 2nd a foul was called, and she immediately started running off at the mouth thinking it was on her, letting the ref know how wrong they were. Turns out, it was on Swin. Whoops. Well, all right then. A bit later the refs earned their first real boos by not calling Cappie on a charge when she completely bowled Beck over. Sure, she'd already picked up several, so perhaps they were laying off on her, but the fouls were still there, particularly based on what they had been calling. Meanwhile Ashley seemed to be finding some rhythm, Swoopes continued to be on fire, and Coach brought LJ to the bench for some well-earned rest.

Sadly, that rest was short-lived as our offense started to hiccup. Coach sent LJ to the scorers table, and Corey Gaines promptly sent Taurasi there as well. They had a nice chat as they waited until LJ had to interrupt to cheer wildly as Sheryl made a very improbable shot as the shot clock expired (a symptom of our aforementioned LJ-less offensive problems). Sadly we did not get back on defense and the Mercury got it right back. Shyra was in but having a really tough time during this stretch, seeming kind of tentative on her passes and having to take a lot of direction from Sue, and hence picking up a couple of turnovers. Her execution just has not been there, but fortunately she didn't hang her head, and she redeemed herself later.

Frustration and chippiness characterized the end of the half. LJ wasn't getting the calls we thought she should, meanwhile we had more team fouls than Phoenix. With around a minute to go Yo and Taurasi got tied up under the Mercury basket at our end. A foul was called on Yo. But then neither would let go, their arms wrapped around one another, and as Diana started to drag Yo away like that, Yo pulled her around by her arm. So we had flailing arms, and scowling going on, and if Sue hadn't run into the middle of things to calm it down, and reassure the officials, there definitely would have been some Ts called. As it was, the fans let it be known that at least Diana should have earned a T by booing. It was actually very good times. We called a timeout. Right before the inbounds Diana bodied up on LJ and they trash-talked a little bit; LJ was smiling, but when the pass came it wasn't a very good one, and 3 Mercury players converged on LJ and stole the ball. Turnover. Timeout. LJ was very unhappy about that one. I couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or angry (or both) but she trudged back to the bench with her face in her jersey. We all know Diana loves the head games, and it seemed like LJ lost her focus a little bit. HT: 36-35

There really wasn't much real rhythm either way to end the half. Each team had some runs, but our offense did not look smooth, and it seemed like Phoenix was just missing shots they'd normally make. There was a lot of fun back and forth, though. And despite our poor shooting percentage, and abysmal 3-point shooting (1 of 13 ), we were winning on rebounds and had 12 assists on 14 made field goals. Excellent.

There was some dancing at half-time for our entertainment. Phoenix was already waiting to get back out on the court before it was even over. That's a quick half-time talk! There were still like 7 minutes to go. The Storm came out at their customary 3.5 minute mark, or so. It was good to see LJ's energy seemed up, particularly given the amount of work Phoenix was making her do. That box and 1 is brutal! I don't know what Sue and LJ were talking about, but LJ grabbed Sue by the shoulders and and was (mock) shaking her.

Of course Taurasi gave the Mercury the lead right away with a 3-pointer to start the 3rd. Again we scored first from the free throw line; Yo actually hit both free throws and looked good doing it, but other than that we couldn't buy a shot. Particularly Sue. She was taking good shots, but just missing everything, which clearly frustrated her. She got a bit of rest at this point, and while T is not a point guard she handled the ball during this time. Yo really worked the boards at one point when it looked to be another one-and-done on our end, got the ball to Swoopes, who quickly rifled it to LJ under the hoop to put us back in the lead 46-44, then Sheryl promptly drew a charge on Cappie! Her 4th! The crowd jumped to its feet as a timeout was called.

It was fun to watch LJ suck all the defense to her side of the court (or wherever) repeatedly, but it was gassing her so she go to rest a bit again at the end of the 3rd. She had 12 hard-won points by the end of the quarter, and 12 rebounds. And Shyra really performed off the bench. Katie came in too, and she got stuffed. Gotta work on a quicker release, I guess. But Shyra was really working the offensive glass consistently, to either put it back up and in or draw a foul, and it was really helping us create a small cushion. 3Q: 56-49

As the 4th quarter started they started playing that riff from "Iron Man" and Doppler was head-banging. Doppler can't really carry that off, at least for that song. He's too lovable and fuzzy, with his big googly eyes, and it sounds too hard core with its growling guitar. I'm just saying. LJ finally hit a 3 at the beginning of the quarter. Sue got to the line not much later, and on her way past to go down court Taurasi had words for her. I don't know what they were, or what kind of bet was made, but Sue uncharacteristically missed the first, and half looked over her shoulder towards the other end of the court where Diana was standing and smiled ruefully. The crowd suddenly got Loud and she made her 2nd. We missed a lot of free throws down the stretch, though. Players who are usually dead on (like LJ and Sue). I can't explain it, except to say that they (meaning Diana) got in our heads.

Cappie ran over Shyra to no call on another charge that should have been assessed to Ms. Pondexter. The thing was, Shyra was not getting up, but was rather writhing around under the basket at that end of the floor. Her nose? Is she missing teeth? It was impossible to tell at that point, but she was finally able to get up and walk off under her own power, a towel over her mouth and no blood from her nose, to a standing ovation from the crowd. A concerned Taurasi and Pondexter shot a look to LJ right before play resumed, inquiring about Shyra's status, and LJ gestured to her mouth, then said that Shyra would be fine. Shyra returned a couple of minutes later to cheers from the fans, and she showed the bench her tongue. Ouch.

Meanwhile, Diana scored over her age. Then she hit the ground as Yo's foot caught her ankle. Incidental contact? Travel? No, foul on Yo. The crowd freaked out about this for some reason, but then the Key Arena fans don't always need a reason except in their own minds, right? Myself, I'm looking up at the score with like 4 minutes to go and it's in the 60s, and it just felt like the Storm had been successful in turning the game into something of a defensive grind-it-out. This may have been a function of all the missed shots, but I was pleased with our overall ability to dictate tempo. It remained to be seen whether our half-court offense could be efficient enough to hold the lead, particularly when DT was making crazy 3-pointers with a hand in her face. She was carrying her team on her back and practically keeping them in it single-handedly.

With 3 minutes to go Phoenix entered the penalty and Cappie picked up her 5th. We held on. Hardly any lead feels secure against the Mercury, but we were maintaining. With a minute left only up like 4 or something, LJ went to the line as Willingham fouled out. Took her own sweet time leaving the court, too, and it made the refs just look incompetent, like they weren't sure whether she should be leaving, or what. LJ only made 1/2 to make it 77-72, but Swin rebounded the 2nd and was totally clothes-lined by Pringle! Then she only made 1/2. The ugly Day-o chant made a brief resurrgence , and with less than a minute to go we all got to our feet. It was electric, then Cappie made a 3 to get Phoenix within 3. Dicey. Come on, Storm. What could we use at this moment? Another end-of-the-game Sheryl Swoopes dagger 3-pointer! The place went crazy, and LJ played stone wall defense at the other end, blocking the shot and tapping the rebound out where T got it under control. Though she also only hit 1/2 free throws. Then Sue hit 1/2 again. Oh, well. We basically ended the game at the line. Swoopes and LJ checked out to big cheers. And with 20 seconds or so left they started playing "Another One Bites the Dust." And Ashley got another block.

Diana had 37 points. She was unconscious out there. We are 6-0 at Key Arena, which is a mercy with our big back-to-back Texas road trip, followed by what promises to be a tough Connecticut game. Dick Fain interviewed Yo, called her a point-center due to her 4 assists. She countered that she also had 5 turnovers, so perhaps got a little too happy and needs to calm down. She credited her teammates for supporting her through her foul woes as of late. "It's my 10th year and the refs hate me." She maintained that she'll continue to be aggressive and do whatever her team needs of her. As far as recent success, she give a lot of the credit to having been able to just work with Sue and LJ more, after not having them in camp. They talked a bit about Sheryl, about how she's looking better every game. Yo says that she and Sheryl laugh about their "old bones" but said that she's doing it the old fashioned way: hard, hard work. Every day after practice she puts in extra time, and it's paying off, and Yo says "that's what we have to do." She also gave much love to Shyra "that's my little sister." She said Shyra had been stressing lately (as is appropriate, given her propensity for turnovers, I say), but that Yo talked to her. I don't have the quote, but to paraphrase Yo said that if Shyra's tanking, she's gonna give her a spanking. <shaking head>

Run-off:

They've been mixing the shoot-around song up this year. Tonight it was back to Jay-Z "Show Me What You Got"

Pre-game was a little mid-court Read to Achieve presentation, where 5 or so kids from a local elementary school, the "reader leaders" for their school (must read at least 20 minutes/day, 5 days/week), got to receive a certificate and hand shake from Sheryl Swoopes and Tanisha Wright. They seemed pretty happy about it.

Jr. Captains Kaitlin and Brandon met Pondexter, Taurasi, Bird and Jackson at center court; the High 5 Fans were Jeff and Mwende.

Seat upgrade trivia (the crowd actually knew the answer this time): which WNBA player was the first to reach 600 steals. Joel answered (B) Sheryl Swoopes correctly. He got to move to the good seats to the tune of "Movin' On Up," the old Jefferson's theme. See? Sometimes I recognize songs.

Sue's dad was introduced between quarters to cheers. I wonder if he was invited to the party. Also Bobby Engram was there with his daughter, who was a cutey who was all about waving at the camera, and at one point participated in the t-shirt toss (hey, he's a receiver not a quarter back!). Later Ashley's father also got a warm fan reception when introduced.

One game break contest (Dad and Daughters, of course) had the traditional Dance Off, but the three contestants were actually 3 pairs of fathers and daughters. The 1st group just went to town, and the 2nd dad went crazy, totally embarrassing his daughter (by her body language) , the 3rd group was a very small girl, and her dad whirled her around to big smiles from her, but the 1st group won (based on audience applause).

Half-time featured a swing dance and a more traditional ball-room dance by two father-daughter teams. On the first team it was the daughter who'd been in competition, and they kept it pretty cute and light. It's still weird, because no matter what there's this sort of this undertone of sexuality to dancing, right? This was exacerbated even more with the second group. The dancing was pretty cool, actually, but the music was pretty hard core, and it was hard to get over that this was a father-daughter duo. In that one it was the father who had been a competitor. Oh, and I don't like to stereotype, but that's not going to stop me: it also occurred to me that perhaps the average sports enthusiast isn't all that enamored with ballroom dancing.

Other participants in the t-shirt toss were the fathers of the Dance Troupe girls.

Between the 3rd and 4th quarters they set up cones center court then dad and daughter teams had to race around them in a relay on these big tricycles. One girl wasn't getting anywhere, and Doppler had to basically push her around the circle. Too small? And who put the helmet on over her eyes like that? Another contestant took the turn way too wide, so the 1st team won easily.