Ever since the last game where the Lynx embarrassed us in our own house through 2-3 quarters, many Storm fans have had their eyes on this game with words like "revenge" and "redemption" in mind. I don't know about my readers, but I was fairly confident coming in that the Storm would win this game. With a healthy Lauren Jackson we are a great team, but without Lauren Jackson we're still a very good basketball team. Perhaps people have heard of All-Stars Swin Cash and Sue Bird? ;)
Anyway, I was mostly worried about how we would fare on defense without Lauren's size and quickness. Going into the game she was listed as "day to day", but I think it's been clear that she's been dealing with some sort of issue for a while. During this time, I loved watching the fan interaction with our ailing superstar. You could just feel the potential energy gather in Key Arena every time Lauren got the ball, almost like people were moving to the edges of their seats waiting for something positive to happen for her. Every shot, every steal, every rebound and the crowd would go crazy, thinking this would be the play that got her going. With the news running around pre-game that she'd be out for 3 weeks minimum with a hip injury, it seems we'll have to wait longer for that. But the Storm has a history of rallying in her absence in the regular season. So it will be interesting to see how things go.
It was Lauren Jackson MVP bobblehead night, so the crowds were lining up early to enter Key Arena. There were some scattered sprinkles of rain, but nothing to dampen the spirits of veteran Storm fans. They've instituted some more controlled circumstances than in the past (make a note, I haven't done a bobblehead give-away night in person for 3 years). They put up ropes to funnel the lines down to a single one on each side of the entrance. They also instituted a policy where they hole-punched your tickets! :o Oh, no. I mean, I get it, so I didn't argue. They don't want people getting into line multiple times. It makes sense, so I actually appreciate it. But some of us keep the books of tickets fairly pristine, whether for scrap-booking or because we're hoarders. There could be many reasons. The ticket-punchers were very reasonable, though. They punched where I wanted them to, and didn't even really punch the hole out, just pressed hard enough to make a mark. 8-) There were some arguments in line when other, newly-arriving fans tried to crowd to the front rather than go to the end of the line. Such is the passion of Storm fans. ;)
It was a good crowd on hand. We usually get much better attendance on the weekends, and it's really a minority of fans who show up just for their bobbleheads, then leave, and people love their BHs, so I think there were extra fans due to that, too. There were also multiple gay-pride groups in attendance. It was Go Green night, rather than Pride night, so there were no real thematic elements to that, but the in-arena announcer highlighted them a couple of times, and wished us all Happy Pride, and they show signs at some point during each game, and the over-sized Seattle Storm Pride sign got a lot of applause, though the "President Obama, the Storm will see you now" sign "won". I also really liked the "Revenge is a dish best served at the Key" sign. There were some good ones. 8-)
Our refs were Kurt Walker, Cameron Inouye and Maj Forsberg. It always frightens me when I look at a group of refs and think: is Kurt Walker the best of the bunch? I also heard some odd news after the game...that Cameron Inouye is married to
Pre-game the rumor was flying around that LJ was diagnosed with a labral tear in her left hip. Better than stress fractures recurring in her back, in my opinion, but still not good. :( Then during the VA Mason Team Report the announcer said it was a back injury. Mass confusion. Since cleared up. Indeed we're looking at a hip labral tear(http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hip-labral-tear/DS00920). Ouch. LJ came out in street clothes during intros, and sat rather gingerly on the bench after that.
The Storm came out in their green road uniforms for Go Green night. We used to always lose these games, but I think we've broken that curse over the past few seasons. Pre-tip the announcer explained the road greens, then also said that we were kicking off Pride Weekend, which got swelling cheers from the crowd, which was fun. Camille Little jumped up the ball for the opening tip, and the Storm controlled. We didn't score on our opening possession, but it wasn't long until L'Coe connected from the post.
The refs were sure calling it close early, though. In addition, they really seem to be calling a lot of off-the-ball action this year, which is frustrating for the fans and the players, I think. I'm not against it in principle, but in practice (e.g. the Tulsa-Seattle game in
In this game we were helped early as Brunson picked up a couple of fairly quick fouls.
Sue was our most consistent scorer here in the 1st part of the game. In the first 8 minutes she had 7 points and like 3 assists. And that's with the Lynx covering the pick and roll really well. She had matched the Lynx in scoring. ;D She didn't score at all in the 2nd half, I think, which confused me because the Lynx guards aren't known for their defensive prowess. Consequently, I thought that Sue would have eaten them for dinner. However, Sue was working extremely hard all game to keep our offense flowing. Extremely hard. And at this point, perhaps she needs to be getting everyone else going offensively. I mean, it worked for us, right? Early on here she got her first bucket off a completely broken Storm "play"/scramble for the loose ball, calmly sinking a 3. Charde Houston continues to be a "chucker" such that I was always pleased to see the ball in her hands because I knew that she would just shoot it. I like Charde fine, so I'm not trying to be mean, but it seemed in this game that she didn't pass the ball around, and the Lynx consequently didn't make the Storm defense have to work very hard if she touched it anywhere near the 3-point line on in. Perhaps those are Cheryl Reeve's instructions. But since her touch was off for this game, I was pleased every time I saw the ball in her hands.
With 2 minutes to go in the 1st quarter the Lynx were forced to call a timeout down 20-7, and we gave the Storm a standing ovation. 8-) Our defense looked great. Our offense looked serviceable, and the Lynx were missing shots that they were shooting with unconscious accuracy last game. We were totally limiting their transition, perhaps due to Brunson being benched with fouls. But Storm fans were loving it, feeling like it was a little bit sweet, sweet revenge for the 28-8 1st quarter back on 9 June. ;) The refs tried to kill any momentum the game had at this point with a succession of weird/off-the-ball calls. At one point LJ was having an intent conversation with Cameron Inouye on the sideline near the bench. Then Sue, Jenny Boucek and LJ put their heads together on the bench, with L'Coe sliding over to put in her two cents as well. Love to see Lauren involved, despite being unable to play right now.
Non sequitur: who is sweating all over the ball? Game play was stopped a couple of times for the refs to dry the ball off! :o
Towards the end of the quarter the crowd was really into it. Hornbuckle totally traveled, and you couldn't even hear the whistle because the fans reacted so loudly. "Oh!" The energy was great, and we were feeling good...then the Storm nearly allowed the Lynx to kill that going into the quarter break with a terrible turnover, leaving the Lynx with the last shot versus the Storm. Luckily the Lynx missed the last shot, and Sue popped up off the bench to tell Tanisha and the other players that they were fine. that everything was fine, and to let it go, or perhaps just don't let it happen again. ;) 1Q: 21-8, Storm
So far this young season, I have to say that Cheryl Reeves has been the most blatant coach at working the refs. They let her walk out and corner them. Multiple times Agler had to protest that she couldn't keep the game stopped just to talk to the refs. It wasn't as bad this game as last game, when our momentum was killed in order to review a 3-point shot from 3 minutes or so prior. That was possibly not her fault, though. I heard one person postulate that it was the first stop in game play since LJ's 3, and that it was all on the refs. So, OK.
After a pretty good scoring clip in the 1st quarter, scoring was sparse in the 2nd. Our defense can hold for a while, but if we don't also put the ball in the bucket, we start to lose our energy, both the team and the fans, and we start having defensive breakdowns as a result. By the time the Lynx had clawed their way back to make it 25-21, the fans were unhappy, and the Storm were forced to call a timeout and reassess. >:( :P We like defense, but offensive success is what fuels us, and it was looking terrible in this stretch. You start to get restless, grumbling noises directed at the team, not just the refs, and you can feel the dissatisfaction as a fan, so I wonder how if affects the team?
To inject some levity into the proceedings, we got our 3rd mini game of the season: "Shootin' the Shirt" with Katie Smith. :D OK, that got a chuckle out of me, but it was twice as funny because of the reaction of the players as they introduced the game on video on the Arenavision. Katie Smith opened by saying that because she's new to the team, she spends a lot of time "shooting the shirt with my teammates. " At this point LJ and Katie Smith burst out laughing and laughing. Anyway, the game is that they each take the t-shirt gun and shoot from around half court to some targets set up at the basket. Each got 3 shots. Katie managed to hit one of the targets. Lauren remarked at how powerful the gun was. Come on, Lauren. Don't tell me a country girl like you hasn't shot a few guns in her day! :D ;) Just kidding. LJ missed each of her shots, and Katie won.
Coming out of the game break L'Coe broke the Storm scoring drought with a put back, keeping a cushion at 27-23 and the crowd goes crazy. Seriuosly, it's like a power keg in there when multiple possessions go poorly...everyone just waiting for anything. A couple plays later, after playing awesome defense on Seimone Augustus Camille then runs down the court to receive a pass and score as the Storm continue the mini-run started by L'Coe, and the Lynx call a timeout. We really just start playing more aggressively on offense here. Camille and Swin especially finish out the half strong, and even though another dumb turnover at the end of the half once again killed some of our momentum. We could have been up by 14 or 15, but sadly we had to be content up 10. Half: 35-25, Storm
I want to take a moment to mention how hard Swin is working in the post and the paint. Relentless on the boards and the put backs, and solid on D. She's not invisible, but since her plays are often brutal pick ups off rebounds, etc., or creations of her own by slashing through multiple bodies on the wing, her contributions are sometimes not as noticeable as Camille Little's spinning post moves and L'Coe Willingham's sweet screen-slipping. However, she's really been working hard down low, particularly in the absence of her outside touch so far this season. We see you, Swin. ;)
The momentum-killing turnover was quickly forgotten as the Jet City Jumpers were our half-time entertainment!!! 8-) All right, I love the dogs. Clearly. But you'd have to hate dogs or fun not to like it. (It consists of two teams of dogs racing over jumps down the length of the court where they pick up a ball, then back; they're so happy and excited, and there's such a variety of dogs that it's super fun).
As far as team dynamics, I don't know what it means that only like 6 of them came out for shoot around out of the half, and that was with only 3 or 4 minutes left. But the others trickled out to play the game, anyway. ;) Tanisha seemed to spend a lot of the 1st half on the bench, but I'm unsure why. To start the 2nd half the Lynx were scoring much too easily. We finally scored only just over a minute in, but they'd hit a couple of quick ones too to narrow the gap. Then L'Coe came up lame. And after some additional play Sue was giving some sort of big speech to Tanisha out on the court. I don't think Tanisha's defense has been suffering this year, but it seems like she's still searching for her offensive awareness. Then after Sue talked to her, they approached the bench and Brian jumped in her other year. Poor Tanisha. In stereo! She appeared calm about it, though, nodding her head and trying to take it all in.
Maya Moore was largely a non-factor this game, but the two buckets I remember her scoring were both really memorable. It gives you a glimpse as to her potential, because she's not forcing anything, though she perhaps needs to assert herself a bit more. In this instance it was a really nice one-handed shot coming across the lane. And I guess T didn't pick up whatever Sue and Brian were trying to impart, because here about halfway through the quarter she got called to the bench, replaced by Katie Smith, and she did not seem happy about it (though knowing this team, she's just as likely frustrated with herself as annoyed with Coach for pulling her, or the refs). She grabbed her towel, and marched right to the very end of the bench, sitting there with really prickly body language.
Nothing was really getting going for us offensively, though. We had a lot of good ideas, and were getting players in the right positions, but our passes kept floating up too high, or going long, and we had a bunch of turnovers as a result. And some of it may have been due to subtle holding by the Lynx as well. Also, just how many steps does Lindsay Whalen get, refs? I know it's all the rage in the
Oh, well. Despite some miscues and offensive woes, we clung to a lead, even with the refs calling another foul on T when Augustus basically tripped over her own feet. ::) The quarter was half way over, and it was 41-37 and had been that way for a while. Or so it seemed. I mean, our defense was sticking strong, but that's not as useful if we're sucking as well. :P An Arob block of Whalen got us up and to our feet, but the Lynx tied it up anyway. But this was an even more important play than just this defensive stop. Arob also got a couple more blocks this game, but if you watched closely later in the game, despite having an open lane Whalen actually hesitated when she saw Ashley, and passed instead. Nice, Ashley. Way to put your mark on the game. 8-)
Katie Smith's shot was really off, though she hit some free throws. Honestly, we seemed to be having the most success when we attacked the basket and drew fouls, but I guess that's easier said than done. Right around here with 4 minutes or so to go in the quarter, I got the word that
Tanisha, who had been really effective on defense, but not on offense really came out on fire in the 4th quarter! 8-) You go, Tanisha! She quickly put 5 Storm points up on the board, and Swin was really working it as well. In addition, Sue was clearly very involved in directing the team offense, like the three of them decided "enough is enough". :) Out of the ensuing Lynx timeout the fans were all on their feet and cheering...but unfortunately Augustus hit a jump shot. :P
Energy was up overall, though. This was the fourth quarter, after all. But the Storm fell into a kind of trap that we do without Lauren in the game, and Sue not looking for her shot because she's focusing so much on getting people to run the plays properly: who wants to take the shot? We had good ball movement, but sometimes it seemed like that's all we'd have: ball movement. We don't have our one superstar who we know we're going to get the ball to, so sometimes it's like no one wants to own it and step up and take the shot. This sapped some of our energy, but everyone got riled back up when Swin appeared to be mugged, but the jump ball with Whalen (who came in late) was called instead. ::) Then Tanisha was forced back to the bench on another BS call. Sigh.
But with around 4 minutes to go, any positive play was getting the fans to their feet, which is a fun energy to experience. Generally things were going our way, too. Camille had a nice &1 (missing the free throw, though she's usually clutch from the line) to put us up 11 and time was running out on the Lynx. They called a timeout. I've decided that Sue sprints to the bench (when timeouts are called when she's at the opposite end) in order to maximize the time she can sit and drink. She's seriously several lengths ahead of any of her teammates, and plops right down in her center seat on the bench, quickly swiveling to grab two cups. Out of the timeout "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses was playing, and Lauren was singing along on the bench. :) Gotta love it.
Maya Moore had a really nice tip in basket. But then she fouled out, accompanied by the arena friendly version of the Cee Lo song "Forget You". It also put the Lynx into the penalty, and Swin's free throws put us up by 13. At this point Cheryl Reeves seemed to concede and lined up four players at the scorer's table to sub in. Storm fans got to their feet, and with a minute left the Lynx finally got to check in. The announcer said, "Checking in for the Lynx...everybody", which got a lot of chuckles from the crowd, though I heard that the officials weren't amused. :D The Lynx made some pretty meaningless buckets to narrow the gap a touch, though I didn't like the Storm turnovers that led to them. "Another One Bites the Dust" began to play. 8-) Happy fans.
Our team defense did an awesome job of keeping Brunson above the free throw line most of the game. We boxed out hard, and though Augustus got some jump shots, for the most part we really shut the Lynx down. It was awesome to see. We completely dictated the tempo of this game, similar to how we owned
Also, a note, there's some <uneducated> chatter about Sue Bird because she never really leads the league in assists. I defy anyone to actually watch a few Storm games (and I'm not talking crappy road games in
Tanisha was the Microsoft Player of the Game. The gist of the interview: Dick Fain pointed out how she really played the role of hired gun on defense this game. She shut Maya Moore down, then when Augustus made a couple shots in the 3rd, they moved Tanisha over on her and she never really got going. Plus she really sparked us in the 4th. Was revenge a factor? They just wanted to come out with focus and effort, and to not get in an early hole. And hopefully they can "steal" some games away. She also hopes to see some fans on the road (they notice, road trippers).
Important Note: Brian Agler won his 200th game tonight. Way to go, Coach. 8-) That's a pretty remarkable milestone. He only currently ranks behind Van Chancellor, I believe, for numbers of wins.
Run-off:
- Next give-away is July 9: Team Poster Night.
- Everyone make sure you're voting for the All-Star Game starters: http://www.wnba.com/allstar/2011/asb/ballot.html?referrer=asb11_mainTopStory
- This year there's also a 2nd vote going on for Top 15 players in the WNBA in its history thus far. Several current Storm players are on the ballot of 30 names, deservedly so. Make sure (once they fix the technical difficulties you're supposed to be able to vote once a day...though right now it only lets you do so once) you vote for the Top 15: Http://top15players.wnba.com/
- In addition to Carter Subaru planting a tree in the Mountains to Sound Greenway for every 3 pointer the Storm make this year (sparse so far this year :(), Safeco is donating $5 (up to $15K) per assist made to the Community Assist program, which is pretty cool. Particularly in this economy, and with so many services being cut, every little bit counts.
- Whatever happened to Doppler's anemometer? I miss it. His assistant made an appearance, though :)
- The Team Shop Item of the Game was the LJ MVP photo for $5.99
- The product-placement continues this season with a game break in the 2nd quarter surrounding the new
USA - Doppler Trivia: how many UConn alumni between the Storm and Lynx? 1, 2, 3 or 4? I hope that you answered 4: Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Charde Houston, Maya Moore
- Between the 3rd and 4th quarters the Fans did the Shoot the Shirt mini game to pretty lack-luster results. They had to stand on the court and aim for a banner clear up at the ceiling in the corner above the fans. So the fans were happy, getting to catch 6 t-shirts. But none of the shots was close. Either the shooting fans have to move significantly closer to the targets, or they need to put targets on the court, then toss them to the crowd. The prize was a year of free car washes, so I guess they ended up splitting them?
your usual precise, entertaining report, norwester. just a couple things: it's 'reeve' not 'reeveS'.
ReplyDeletealso, they were punching tix last year on giveaway nights; not sure if they did it the season before that...it's soooooooo long ago to try to remember. :) here's a hint: if you don't want them punching your tix, leave them at home. you can print them off the storm site online for any game (just log into your account); who cares if a piece of 8X11 paper ticket gets punched, right? :)
and here's a puzzler for you: why were they not handing out the 'go green' bags on the east side? people were having to talk their way out the west side door, grab a bag, and talk their way back in. piss poor planning on the storm's part.
Thanks, scullyfu. Duly noted about Reeve. I try to be a stickler for name spelling too, so I'm grateful for the correction.
ReplyDeleteBeing as I haven't been here for two years, I wasn't aware of the new "punch your ticket" policy until I arrived. Your "print it out" strategy is a good one, though I'm kind of amused by the circle on my ticket. It's like it's authentic: I was there and I used this ticket.
I didn't get a Go Green bag because I was on the East side. I wondered if that was a give-away. That is poor planning, but what can you do?