Storm Tracker (June 2-8)
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June 2-8 Record for the week: 2-0 Overall Record: 2-3 Standing: 4th, Western Conference |
Tuesday, June 3, 2003
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Saturday, June 7, 2003
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Player of the Week
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24.5 ppg, 13.5 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 6-15 threes, one franchise record, two career-highs
Seeing as Jackson was named WNBA Player of the Week, this was not a difficult selection. Through the Storm’s first three games, Jackson had played well but had yet to dominate the way she is expected to. Then, Tuesday against Sacramento, Jackson had what she termed “the game”, scoring 22 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Jackson was also a force at the defensive end of the court, blocking three shots. Included was a crushing rejection of Penicheiro that helped slow Sacramento’s early momentum. If that was “the game”, what was Saturday’s even more dominant performance? To be fair, Jackson only dominated the second half, making just one shot – though she did grab eight rebounds. In the second half, Jackson went off to secure the Storm’s victory, scoring 22 of her career-high-tying 27 points and grabbing six more boards to tie the franchise’s record and set a new career high. It ranks, along with a 27-point, 7-rebound, 8-block effort against the Utah Starzz last August, as the best performance of Jackson’s career. In addition, during Saturday’s game Jackson became the youngest player in WNBA history (at 22 years, 26 days old) to score 1,000 career points.
Weekly Happenings
 Brondello has been feeling it in the Key. Jeff Reinking/WNBAE/Getty |
After sitting out the final minutes of the Storm’s home opener against the Sparks because of what was diagnosed as chondromalacia in her left knee, Bird was questionable to play against Sacramento. She gave it a go and was able to play nearly a full game, but was not her usual self. The injury has hurt Bird’s shooting stroke, possibly because she’s not getting as much lift on her jumper from her left leg. At the same time, Bird committed 12 turnovers over the Sacramento game and the first half of the Phoenix game. In the second half of that game, she effectively controlled the ball, handing out six assists and committing just one turnover. “In the first half I was trying a little too hard to do the things I normally do,” Bird told media afterwards, “but the second half I just played within myself and used my teammates and it really worked for us.” Bird did not practice last week in order to rest the knee, but has returned to practice this week. Aside from forward Danielle McCulley, who remains on the injured list, Bird’s injury is the only one for the Storm. Rookie forward Jung Sun-Min saw action in both of last week’s games.
Storm Dominates the Boards
The opening road trip’s rebounding problems, when the Storm was outrebounded by an average of eight rebounds per game, are now a distant memory. Seattle dominated the glass this week, grabbing 75 rebounds over the two games to opponents’ 54 boards. Jackson was the big key, pulling down half as many boards (27) as opponents did. Through five games, Jackson is fourth in the WNBA with a 9.4 rpg average, which would represent a dramatic improvement over her first two seasons. Jackson’s been supported on the boards by Barnes, who is second on the team with a 4.6 rpg average from her small forward position. Overall, the Storm has now passed its opponents in rebounding, outrebounding them 33.6-32.2 on average for the season.
Brondello Bringing It to Key
Storm shooting guard Brondello has played just three games at KeyArena, but already it seems to be an excellent home for her. Brondello struggled a bit with her shot on the Storm’s season-opening road trip, making seven of 24 attempts (29.2%). Wearing white instead of green, Brondello has lit it up, making 16 of 31 shots (51.6%) and averaging 12.3 points per game. The added production has been particularly important to the Storm because of Bird’s injury. Brondello has been able to pick up much of the offensive slack with Bird held to single-digit scoring the last two games.
The Week Ahead
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