Oakwood Live From Press Row - Storm vs. San Antonio
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Oakwood Live From Press Row Archive
Feel-Good Win
Final: Storm 92, San Antonio 70
Just a phenomenal victory here for the Storm, who badly needed a game like this with the starters sitting on the bench and cheering for their teammates at the end of the game. For the second time this season and the sixth in franchise history, the Storm reached the 90-point mark. All 10 Storm players who saw action scored a basket, and four were in double-figures. That's fine balance. Now, it's a glass half full, glass half empty scenario: The Storm can't enjoy this win for long, but maybe this momentum will carry over as the Storm travels to Los Angeles tomorrow evening.
The Smiles are Returning to Their Faces
Second Half: Storm 81, San Antonio 61
Other than last Saturday, for the WNBA All-Star Game, there hasn't been a lot of smiling for the Storm lately. That's changed recently, with Lauren Jackson flashing her Cheshire cat grin first when switched out onto PeeWee Johnson defensively and then after burying a 3-pointer to push the Storm's lead to 20 points, 81-61. The Storm looks to have this one in the bag and has gained a lot of confidence. So many things to mention, but Sue Bird was great in the second half, Jackson has been dominant (24 points), the bench has been outstanding and the Storm is making 3s again. Their nine thus far are two better than their season high. That's been a problem ever since the opener against L.A.
Congrats Vodo
Second Half: Storm 69, San Antonio 57
Storm rookie Natalia Vodopyanova coolly hits both free throws with 8:19 left in the game for her first WNBA points. Vodo has replaced Alicia Thompson in the rotation tonight.
Is This It?
Second Half: Storm 64, San Antonio 55
We're looking hard for this every time the Storm puts a few good plays together, but might this be the run the Storm needs to get going again? I like the effort and the results. On a key possession, the Storm got three offensive rebounds before Sue Bird nailed a 3-pointer. Sue has another 3 and a jumper since the last timeout, while LJ has a jumper as the Storm is on a 12-4 run to push the lead to nine points. Can the Storm finish it?
Playing Big
Second Half: Storm 54, San Antonio 51
Every time I watch San Antonio's Katie Feenstra, I come away more impressed. There's a question of whether she's traveled on a couple of her step-through moves, but she does a great job of establishing position in the low post and gets terrific high-percentage looks every time she shoots the basketball. Temeka Johnson will in all likelihood win Rookie of the Year, Tan White is going to be phenomenal and Janel McCarville should eventually get into a WNBA rhythm, but I think Feenstra might just be the best player from this draft class (note that doesn't include Storm rookie Suzy Batkovic) when it's all said and done. Margo Dydek has been awesome in Connecticut, but Feenstra's much younger, so that looks like the proverbial trade that helps both teams.
Fits and Starts
Second Half: Storm 50, San Antonio 47
The Storm getting some brief spurts, some great plays, but still can't pull away from the Silver Stars. A Lauren Jackson three-point play and an LJ 3 have given the Storm those lifts, but San Antonio is shooting a sizzling 5-for-8 (62.5%) from the field since halftime. The Storm has to get out on a little bit of a run, and that starts with getting stops.
Halftime Stats
Halftime: Storm 42, San Antonio 37
As usual, we like to take a look at the per-possession stats at halftime to give a feel for how this game is really going. Seattle's offense is very efficient, scoring 120 points per 100 possessions, right there with their best performances of the season. However, their defense has been pretty weak at 102.8 points allowed per 100 possessions. San Antonio is shooting an even 50% from the field, has obviously gotten to the free-throw line and the Storm has forced only six turnovers.
Foul Mood
Halftime: Storm 42, San Antonio 37
At the 6:26 mark of the first half, when Dan Hughes called the last mandatory timeout of the half, the Storm had only five fouls and San Antonio four free throws. The remainder of the half, the Storm had six fouls and the Silver Stars got to the line 10 times. Only San Antonio's ability to hit from the charity stripe (they went 6-for-10 on those shots) and the Storm's offense kept the damage from being worse. The Storm still leads by five at the half, but that's a somewhat disappointing result given Marie Ferdinand sat down the last five minutes with three fouls. If the Storm is focused, this game is very much there for the taking.
Wish Granted
First Half: Storm 36, San Antonio 27
Anne Donovan talked yesterday about how Tully Bevilaqua's departure had kept her from being able to play Sue Bird off the ball as much this season as last year. Well, she's gotten a nice run from Francesca Zara tonight. Zara and Bird have played together for about three minutes now and while Fran has not gotten in the scorebook, she's played some heady ball thus far. Well, as I type that, she buries a long two. Don't let me sell you short, Zara.
Look Out!
First Half: Storm 30, San Antonio 24
Marie Ferdinand airmails a pass in our direction courtside. Frankly, looking down to write something is not the best way to prepare for a pass, but David Locke would have saved me had the ball not hit off the scorer's table. In more important news, Marie Ferdinand is powering the Silver Stars offense with 10 points, while the Storm is shooting 52.4% from the field. The Storm can have a lot of success right now running pick and roll because the Silver Stars are switching everything.
JB!
First Half: Storm 26, San Antonio 20
Janell Burse checks out of the game at about the midway point of the first half, and she's already had a very strong half with 10 points and three rebounds, hitting five of her seven shots. Burse has slumped a little bit and she seemed to have been scouted out by the Mystics, who flopped when Burse drove her shoulder to turn to the middle for a shot. Tonight, she's going straight up and working it. That's a big reason the Storm is leading right now.
Storm Mentality
First Half: Storm 14, San Antonio 12
A lot of discussion the last couple of days about what the Storm mindset is after losing six of seven games recently. Anne Donovan's position is clear: The Storm can't be thinking about those games, or having 16 games left this season, or their home games remaining in July. They should only be thinking about tonight's game - in fact, only the first half. Worry about the second half at halftime. We'll see what that means on the court tonight. So far, the performance of Janell Burse (six points) and Betty Lennox (five) is very encouraging, as those two have been struggling.
Things to Watch
First Half: Storm 6, San Antonio 6
It's a tie game here, but that doesn't mean we haven't had a lot of interesting things happening already. Some things were watching on the KJR broadcast include the Silver Stars dribble penetration (can you stop it? Former Sonics assistant Dean Demopoulos says no, and David Locke and I agree. Elise Woodward points out you don't have to stop it, just make it difficult. Marie Ferdinand got to the basket early for a layup, but later Betty Lennox forced her into a turnover. And the Storm needs more turnovers - Seattle is forcing very few, and that's really a problem defensively.
Kids Day Recap
Pregame
While the result on the floor might not have been what we all were hoping for, Wednesday's Kids Day was a lot of fun. Storm.wnba.com has a look back at all the pomp and circumstance with a photo gallery of kids events before the game.
Signing On
Pregame
No better place to be on a Friday night in the Emerald City than KeyArena, where your Seattle Storm will take on the San Antonio Silver Stars looking to avenge an 81-69 loss in San Antonio on June 30. The Silver Stars have been playing well since inserting veteran Dalma Ivanyi into the lineup to give them a three-guard attack. However, the Storm has had a lot of success against San Antonio here at KeyArena. Can they continue the trend tonight? Stay tuned to find out.
