The Storm Spend One Quarter Thinking About Giving Away, Decide Against It
Instead They Show How Damn Good They Can Be, Even When Playing Just OK.
After the first quarter this one wasn’t really in doubt, right now the Storm is just a better team than their opponents last night, the Atlanta Dream. The first quarter however was not that great, turnovers plagues our delightful friends and it looked like the second game of this road trip had already drained their brains. The second quarter proved to be decisive though as the Storm settled down and pushed out to a ten point lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. The offense was a little stagnant but you can do that when you have Stewie and Jewell Loyd and the quickly becoming my favorite bench player Epiphanny Prince shooting a combined 18-32 from the field and getting buckets almost whenever they wanted.
The Dream had their chances though, they got more turnovers than the Storm, they went to free throw line more than the Storm, they blocked more shots than the Storm, and they got more steals than the Storm. The thing is though they shot like garbage and their rebonding dominance for their last matchup with our pals in green and white was flipped. When you can’t make a ding dang basket or get the carom from those bricks, well you’re giving your opponents the materials to build your tomb and the Dream indeed did end this game inside of a very elegant pyramid (I’m assuming the Storm would build them something nice).
Two deeply relaxing wins in a row for the Storm was delightful for me, your humble Storm chronicolor (a word that I cannot believe I spelled correctly the first time!) in advance of what should be a real heavyweight matchup with the east leading Connecticut Sun. There are still some things Noelle Quinn needs to clean up but I think we’re starting to see this team round into form and it looks real real good.
Brain Drizzles
That first quarter Storm seemed to be pressing that first quarter, the offense was sloppy and overly focused on mismatches, leading to some tunnel vision and turnovers. I know that Katie Lou Samuelson has a size advantage on Courtney Williams but Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart have advantages on everyone, let Katie Lou fill in those spots where she can and let the focal points of the offense be those focal points.
The pick and roll defense was waaaaaaayyyyyy better tonight, that second quarter was suffocating. Minus the crazy amount of free throws (more on that later), the Dream scored 2 points the whole damn quarter. That runway to the hoop that was wide open in the first matchup was closed. That defensive adjustment and the flipping of the rebound disparity augurs well for Noelle Quinn’s ability to make game to game adjustments and move this team in the right direction.
EPIPHANNY PRINCE! The extra n is for No Misses because the Brooklyn native was nearly flawless off the bench. Piph scored 11 in just over 12 minutes with a great mix of three pointers, hesitation moves to the basket, and midrange shots, providing that creative bench scoring that the team has been looking for. I think she can be that fourth scorer that this team needs to take the pressure off of the Stewie/Yung Sue/Boss Loyd triumvirate (I’m really working hard not to say “big 3” this season because I find it to be a very boring phrase!) and find those buckets when the second unit staggers a little.
THAT BEING SAID there was a hint of Jordin Canada not being the Jordin Badada (just trying this one out) that she’s been so far this season. She shook loose a little bit last night, making a couple of those death defying drives to the hoop that electrified fans so much the last few seasons. She’s still got me worried about the post-Bird point guard situation but this was a positive game from Jordin.
Less positive was Candice Dupree who led the bench in minutes, missed shots, and turnovers. I deeply love her veteran slow motion game but she looked a little cooked out there last night. Something to monitor.
The officiating last night was a little hinky at best. Between a couple of deeply weird travelling calls against Ezi Magbegor and a real loose interpretation of an illegal screen call against Stephanie Talbot I wondered if these referees’ children had been taken by dingos or something. There were bad calls for both teams so I can’t complain too much but inconsistent calls make me want to tear my hair out!
WE DONE! Until after the pfp (possible finals preview) with the Sun on Sunday (but let’s hope it’s more of a Stormday, ugh I’m so sorry!)!