We (by that I mean me) and the Storm are back! And one of us is $500,000 richer!
You can probably guess which one!
Yooooooooo! Much like the WNBA we are back from our break! Unlike the WNBA we spent ours driving across the country (more like around the country but people don’t really say that I guess? Like, driving “across” the country implies that you go from one part to another then stop, but we went in a circle. When I say “around” the country though it kind of implies that we were sort of aimlessly bopping around taking weird back roads and like getting lost which was not true! We had a plan! We went to places! We just ended up back home! Someone else come up with a better term for our road trip, I’ve got to get back to this blog (also don’t go to Wall Drugs, it sucks.)) instead of having a dumb pointless Olympics that I definitely watched in many hotel rooms around (still feels weird) the country. Last night the Olympic break ended and the second half of the WNBA season began with the first ever Commissioner’s Cup final, a game I was certain the Storm were going to go through the motions of after having almost half the roster play in those dumb ass Olympics (which again, I watched a ton of, renewing my every four years love of both water polo and volleyball and adding some foil into the mix just for fun but also because of the cool helmets.). Folks, I was WRONG WRONG WRONG because the Storm stomped the Connecticut Sun wire to wire to win the very fake looking Commissioner’s Cup and the not at all fake $500,000 ($30,000 for each player) and they did it with ease.
This one was over in the third quarter when the Storm, backed by the three gold medal winning Olympians, stretched out to a nearly 30 point lead with their regular mix of good defense, fast break points, and timely shooting. While some of the other players looked a little rusty/recovering from COVID (I’m looking at you Katie Lou), there were some encouraging signs from the players that missed out on traveling halfway around the world to play in empty stadiums that cost way too much money. Jordin Canada was more aggressive with the ball in her hands, driving more, shooting more, making herself more of a threat and that’s what the Storm will need during these last 11 games because Sue Bird needs a damn break (also the best thing about watching the dumb Olympics is finding out that Sue Bird’s mom dates someone named Harry Dank and he looks the least like someone who would have that name). It was also encouraging to see a little bit of that second unit Epiphanny Prince/Ezi Magbegor pick and roll that I was hoping for despite Piph playing limited minutes due to back issues. Overall it was about a good outcome as you could hope for given the circumstances.
Brain Drizzles:
The WNBA trade deadline is in just over a week and I hope the Storm will be active, I think they need one more big wing/stretch four scorer off the bench to alleviate the stress on their very thin frontcourt. This is explained a little better over here at Her Hoops Stats (though I’d hope for someone with a little more range than Monique Billings), a great resource for any WNBA fan.
Driving around (I just want a term that’s less, I don’t know, aimless?) the country rules and everyone should do it… after they get vaccinated.
Parking a car late at night in certain neighborhoods in Queens sucks real bad.
THAT’S IT FOR ME! Haven’t written a dang thing in 6 weeks so hopefully I’ll have spun the engines up a little more after the Storm’s next game, Sunday against the Chicago Sky! BYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEE!