A Historic Night at KeyArena

Kevin Pelton, StormBasketball.com | Sept. 12, 2011

Sunday's regular-season finale for the Seattle Storm turned out to be a historic night at KeyArena, as a player and a coach each reached notable marks.

Storm guard Katie Smith came into the game two points shy of 6,000 in her WNBA career, and it didn't take long for Smith to surpass the mark after she checked in off the bench. Smith made her first shot of the night, a three-pointer with 2:44 left in the first quarter. Storm fans responded with raucous applause, then delivered a standing ovation during the quarter break.

It wasn't until the final buzzer sounded that Storm Head Coach Brian Agler could celebrate his milestone. With the Storm's 81-70 victory over the Chicago Sky, Agler reached 211 win in his professional coaching career, which includes both the WNBA and the ABL. Agler matched former Houston Comets coach Van Chancellor for the most wins in professional basketball history.

"The nice thing about this is that every single one of those wins, someone in that locker was a part of with Katie being here," Agler said after the game.

Indeed, the two milestones have shared roots from the time Agler and Smith have spent together, first with the ABL's Columbus Quest and later with the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. Just as Agler now shares the title of winningest coach in women's pro basketball history, Smith already reigns as the all-time leading scorer in women's pro basketball when her ABL production is considered.

Counting strictly her 13-year WNBA career, Smith is the third player to reach 6,000 career points. Lisa Leslie was the first, topping 6,000 late in 2009, her final season. Tina Thompson joined her in June 2010.

It looked as if Smith might have to wait to 2012 to join the 6,000-point club. She entered the season's final weekend 28 points away and had not scored double-figures since mid-August. But a more aggressive approach helped Smith put together her two highest-scoring outings all season. She nearly made up the entire distance to 6,000 with 26 points during Friday's win over the Phoenix Mercury, then blew by it with 17 points against the Sky.

Smith was thrilled to reach the milestone at home in KeyArena.

"This crowd and the Seattle fans love women's basketball - not only the players here but they follow everyone," she said. "It's an honor to do it in front of them because they we really appreciate what we do and how hard we work. It means a lot. It means that you've been here a long time and been able to play at a high level."

Agler echoed Smith's words in describing his own career mark, which he credited to the players he's had the opportunity to coach over the last 15 years.

"You win with players and people," said Agler. "You have to have great players and great people, and we've got both. That's the only reason things like this happen - other than it means I've been around a long time."

As Agler reflected back upon his professional coaching career, he was struck by the importance of opportunity along the way. After a career spent entirely in the NCAA ranks, he got a chance to move to the professional game in his native Ohio with the Quest. When his time in Minnesota concluded, that could have been the end of Agler's career as a head coach, but by staying in the WNBA as an assistant, he was able to earn another chance.

"After I got let go there, there were several people who kept me in the league as an assistant," he said. "Seth Sulka in Phoenix and Dan Hughes in San Antonio kept me involved. Then things played out and Karen (Bryant) gave me another opportunity. Without those individuals, I wouldn't be able to be here talking about this."

Since Bryant hired Agler as the Storm's head coach and director of player personnel in January 2008, he has made the most of his second chance as a WNBA head coach. While Agler is quick to credit his players, he assembled most of the roster that surrounds anchors Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson. Besides them, Ashley Robinson and Tanisha Wright - then reserves - are the lone holdovers from the team Agler inherited.

"When I first got this opportunity," explained Agler, "I thought, 'Sue and Lauren could be the best at their position in the world. What kind of people - people too, not just players - are going to be a good match with those guys?' Obviously they're both quality people, so you need quality people around them. But they also are finesse players, so you need to put toughness and physical play and tenacity and people who can do the dirty work around them. That's what we have."

The ultimate tribute to the group Agler has put together might not be last year's record-setting run to the WNBA championship, but instead the consistency the Storm has established under Agler. The Storm has won at least 20 games in all four seasons he's coached, joining the Los Angeles Sparks from 1999-2004 as the only teams in league history to win 20-plus games at least four years in a row. Over that span, the Storm has won 91 games, 10 more than anyone else in the league. (Indiana is next at 81.)

"It's been a challenge at times this year with the travel and the injuries and the inconsistency of our play, but you can weather that storm when you have good people," Agler said. "You can work through it and talk and figure it out and keep working hard."