Oakwood Live From Press Row - Storm vs. Detroit
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Oakwood Live From Press Row Archive
Storm Wins!
Halftime: Storm 74, Detroit 71
Hearts in throats at KeyArena as the Storm switches a Deanna Nolan-Ruth Riley pick-and-roll, leaving Lauren Jackson on Nolan. Nolan got a great look at the go-ahead 3-pointer, but it fell off and Betty Lennox pulled it in and was fouled. After one Lennox free throw, Nolan's desperation three at the buzzer was wide left, allowing the Storm to pull out the 74-71 victory. This wasn't pretty at all times, but the Storm was able to battle it out with a team as physical as any in the WNBA for its fourth straight victory, tying a season high.
B-Money is Money
Halftime: Storm 73, Detroit 71
Betty Lennox nails a jumper off the inbounds, and the Storm leads it by two with 18.1 seconds left. You've got to assume the Shock is looking at Deanna Nolan. Izzy Castro Marques replaces Natalia Vodopyanova for defensive purposes.
One Play
Halftime: Storm 71, Detroit 71
Natalia Vodopyanova can't connect on the drive, but then makes a bad foul on Ruth Riley. Riley splits two free throws to tie the game with 35 seconds left. Suzy Batkovic airballs a jumper from the top of the key, but Cheryl Ford can't corral it, giving the ball back to the Storm with 20.1 seconds left in the game and 12 on the shot clock.
It Comes Down to This
Halftime: Storm 71, Detroit 70
After three Storm free throws, the Shock gets two free throws from Deanna Nolan and then a jumper from Nolan (very nearly a 3 that would have tied the game) to pull within one with 54.3 seconds left. The Storm has nothing but free throws since the 5:22 mark, but needs to get a score here.
Free-Throw Contest
Halftime: Storm 68, Detroit 66
With both teams in the bonus and an extremely physical game that has seen 48 combined fouls thus far, you might see the final two minutes of this game be a free-throw contest. That's great news for the Storm, the league's second-best free-throw shooting team at 80.9%. Detroit is the WNBA's worst team at the charity stripe and one of the worst of all time, shooting 66.1%.
Storm Spurt
Halftime: Storm 66, Detroit 63
After a Kara Braxton layup put Detroit up two, the Storm has gone on a little 5-0 run. Natalia Vodopyanova started it by getting to the free-throw line, followed by a Lauren Jackson leak out for two free throws and another fast break that Izzy Castro Marques finished with a banker off of an LJ feed. That draws a Bill Laimbeer timeout with 5:14 left. This should be a great finish.
Vodo-mentum
Halftime: Storm 61, Detroit 61
Natalia Vodopyanova checked in with the Storm trailing 54-51 and instantly sparked a 10-4 run for Seattle. Detroit has since pulled back to tie, but give a lot of credit to the Russian member of the G4 Summit (as David Locke has nicknamed the Storm's foreign-heavy rookie group. Vodopyanova has four pints, a rebound, an assist and a steal in nine minutes of action and the Storm is +13 with her in the game. She's brining a lot of energy to the court right now.
Momentum Layup
Halftime: Detroit 54, Storm 51
The Storm went nearly six minutes without a field goal before Betty Lennox just drove to the basket and split two defenders for an uncontested layup. It's just one score, but it had the feel of something that could get the Storm going. Bill Laimbeer appears to feel the same way, as he took timeout after the shot with his team leading by three. It's Lennox's second field goal of the day in seven attempts, and the Storm would love to see her get going.
Still Lacking Energy
Halftime: Detroit 52, Storm 49
The Storm still a little flat to start the second half. Detroit is getting a lot of energy from Sheila Lambert to start the second half - Lambert has two points and two assists by the first timeout. Cheryl Ford now has a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Four fouls for Janell Burse, who has been replaced by Suzy Batkovic. The Storm could use a big effort from Batkovic, who's slumped a bit of late.
Halftime Stats
Halftime: Storm 44, Detroit 44
I busted out the calculator while watching local female heroes be honored on Girl Power Day at KeyArena. Both the Storm and Shock scored 112.8 points per 100 possessions in the first half, which is hot offense. But what might be more interesting is that the teams are on pace for 78 possessions in this game, which is fast even for the WNBA's two fastest-paced teams.
Interesting note: The Storm returned from the locker room at halftime very late.
All Square
Halftime: Storm 44, Detroit 44
Both teams with 44 points on the scoreboard as we head to halftime, but very different feelings n the two locker rooms, methinks. Detroit finished the first half on a 30-15 run to briefly take the lead and eventually pull even. The Shock made 12 of its last 14 field-goal attempts and committed only one turnover after the 8:46 timeout. Deanna Nolan (14 points on 6-for-10 shooting) and Chandi Jones (10 points on 4-for-5 shooting) scored the points, but a lot of credit has to go to the Shock's ball movement: Detroit had 14 assists on 17 field goals in the first half. The Shock also outrebounded the Storm 20-11, with Cheryl Ford grabbing nine rebounds all by her lonesome. Swin Cash had four assists but made several really great passes. On the Storm side, it's the LJ-Sue show. Jackson had 16 points before picking up a rather questionable third foul just before the half, while Bird hit two jumpers late to get to 10 points and four assists in the first half.
Detroit Storms Back
First Half: Storm 29, Detroit 24
Just as we were starting to think about the Storm opening up an impressive lead, Detroit has responded with a 10-0 run over the last two minutes to cut the deficit to just five points. The Storm's energy - and that of the KeyArena crowd - seems to have hit a little bit of a lull. On the other side, Detroit is getting a lift from Swin Cash, who has assisted on two of the last three Shock baskets. Cash has only two points, but she's played pretty well.
Storm Defense
First Half: Storm 24, Detroit 12
Great defense here by the Storm, which is holding Detroit to 27.8% shooting and has forced seven turnovers thus far. You've got to give a lot of credit to rookie Natalia Vodopyanova, who has turned up the energy defensively and forced a number of deflections and some sloppy Shock ballhandling. But the whole Storm team is getting it done.
Bob Weiss, after joining us on the air, gets a standing ovation when he's introduced to the KeyArena crowd during the timeout.
Looking Like Champs
First Half: Storm 20, Detroit 10
Another great run for your Storm. Back-to-back 3s by Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson have the Storm doubling up the Shock, 20-10, with 11:37 left in the first half and force Bill Laimbeer to take a timeout. The Storm has gotten three "and-ones" in this half (one free throw wiped out by a lane violation) and Jackson has eight points thus far as a very nice KeyArena crowd is rocking.
Watching Injuries
First Half: Storm 4, Detroit 2
A couple of injuries we're watching right now. On the Storm side, that's Lauren Jackson, who sprained her right ankle Tuesday against New York but is playing anyway. LJ is moving well. Anne Donovan said her main concern was LJ's perimeter shooting, and she missed her first 3-pointer, but she did seem to have good arc on the shot. On Detroit's side, it's Swin Cash, coming back from surgery on her left ACL. Cash is wearing only a sleeve on the knee, as opposed to the full brace we saw Adia Barnes wear last season when she came back from an ACL tear. Cash is moving well, but she might have been the best athlete in the league last year when she was healthy, and she's not at that point yet.
Busy Pregame
Pregame
Lots going on this very early afternoon at KeyArena. An event on the KeyArena floor before the game featured not only Storm COO Karen Bryant but also former Storm guard Jamie Redd. There was some talk about Sonics free agent with Sonics and Storm Chairman Howard Schultz, who's in the house with new Coach Bob Weiss and free-agent guard Juan Dixon, formerly of the Washington Wizards. And we're also scoreboard-watching live with Houston and L.A. on NBA TV as the Comets continue struggling to adjust to the return to the lineup of All-WNBA forward Tina Thompson. (And, just recently, an altercation between Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes - wow!)
Signing On
Pregame
An early 1:00 start today to accommodate a national ABC broadcast as we match up the last two WNBA Champions at KeyArena. Both teams are near .500, with the Shock coming in at 8-10 and the Storm 11-10. But Seattle comes in having won three games in a row, while Detroit is looking to build that same momentum after beating the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday to snap a three-game losing streak.
