Live From Press Row - Storm vs. Houston
Simone's Night is Not the Storm's Night
Final: Houston 84, Storm 59
It is not too often that you are going to see a team with two of the WNBA's finest offensive talents in Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson shoot just 32.4% from the field. That's what happened tonight as the Storm was held to 59 points in the worst loss by the team since July 2004 against Houston. There's something about this Comets team that seems to produce long nights for the Storm. (Actually, I suspect that "something" is named Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson). Also key tonight was Dominique Canty, who tied Thompson for game-high honors in scoring with 19 points and shot 7-for-9 from the field. She was a real key. Rookie Barbara Turner was a bright spot for the Storm, scoring a career-high 11 points and showing the confidence and ability she showcased during training camp. The Storm is at Phoenix on Thursday and then has Memorial Day weekend off. We'll see you back here on June 2 against Phoenix
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Donovan Concedes
Fourth Quarter: Houston 77, Storm 53
Anne Donovan essentially closes the book on this game with 4:33 left when she pulls Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson from the game. It's not happening tonight. The unfortunate part is that we can't truly enjoy a night celebrating Simone Edwards the way we had hoped to because of the outcome of the game.
Simone is tossing out T-shirts to the crowd during this timeout, along with Doppler and former Storm and UW guard Jamie Redd, who was introduced at center court before the start of tonight's game.
LJ Off Tonight
Fourth Quarter: Houston 67, Storm 47
Really a tough night for Lauren Jackson, who has been outplayed by Tina Thompson. Jackson has just nine points on 4-for-13 shooting, though she does have six rebounds and a couple of blocks and steals. This is not a typical performance for Lauren Jackson.
Now here's something I'm willing to bet Simone Edwards has always wanted to do but has been unable to before tonight - participate in The Train during a timeout with Doppler. Edwards was the conspicuously tall person third in line. Afterwards, Doppler roughs up Michael Ferguson from Game Ops, drawing a big laugh from me if no one else.
Storm Needs a Run
End Third Quarter: Houston 61, Storm 44
Brutal play from a momentum standpoint a moment ago. After a turnover, Lauren Jackson is on a runout but contested from behind. Her layup rolls off, Tanisha Wright rebounds and her layup is off and Houston rebounds. Ouch. This just doesn't seem like the Storm's night - Seattle is shooting but 33.3% from the field, 2-for-13 from 3-point range. There's still time, but the Storm has to start its run right now.
Great reminder from StormVision that voting for the WNBA's All-Decade Team is ongoing. Click here to vote for Storm stars Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson and all the greats of WNBA history.
Building Momentum?
Third Quarter: Houston 55, Storm 38
It's modest, but two straight buckets by the Storm have the momentum shifting a little bit. The KeyArena crowd is dying for something to get excited about and erupted on Shaun Gortman's layup in transition.
Earlier today, I was here as USA Basketball held a press conference to announce the first eight members of the 2006 World Championship team, including Sue Bird, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. The serious part? Bird was honored to be chosen.
"You look at the core players and it's a group that just to be in that group is an honor in itself," Bird said.
But while a serious feature is forthcoming, right now I'd rather talk about the fun part of the press conference. A highlight was when a local beat writer - name withheld - called in as part of the teleconference portion of the event. "Where are you at, dude?" asked Bird.
I also happened to be seated next to Houston Coach Van Chancellor during the press conference, and I got a kick out of him scratching out a play on Anne Donovan's bio in the USA Basketball packet. Chancellor, of course, coached the U.S. Olympic Team to gold in Athens (as well as a gold in the 2002 World Championship). You're a coach 24/7, right?
Stunned
Third Quarter: Houston 50, Storm 34
Obviously, the magnitude of this game is nothing alike, but the feeling for me right now is fairly similar: Simply stunned by what's happening. The Storm looked so good on Sunday and had a terrific practice yesterday, scoring virtually at will at times against their mostly-male practice squad as they worked on half-court offense. Today, nothing is coming easy, and Betty Lennox is providing most of the fire right now. Sheryl Swoopes with four points early in this period as the Comets have extended their run to 19-5.
Lawson-Wade's Role
Halftime: Houston 40, Storm 29
A little more on the newest member of the Storm, guard Edwige Lawson-Wade. There's been some question about whether she will immediately slot in as the Storm's backup point guard. Storm Coach Anne Donovan doesn't expect that.
"I'm not looking to get one more perimeter player in the lineup right now, so she's a security blanket," Donovan said before the game. For now, Shaunzinski Gortman and Tanisha Wright will continue to share backup point duties.
Houston also added a player today, re-signing forward Kayte Christensen, whom they waived at the end of training camp. The Comets had to get an injury exception from the league to re-sign Christensen because of the salary cap. Van Chancellor has wasted no time in making use of her - Christensen played the final 12:02 of the half in place of starting center Michelle Snow and while Christensen did not score and had but one rebound, the Comets were +15 with Christensen on the court.
Houston Races to the Half
Halftime: Houston 40, Storm 29
Great catch by KJR's statistician Scott Ellsworth. He noted that the Comets finished the half on a 9-0 run - all nine points after a strange sequence where Lauren Jackson's basket was corrected from a 3 to a two-pointer. Anne Donovan tried to call timeout, but could not because it was not an actual stoppage of play. However, ESPN had already gone to break, forcing us to have a pseudo-timeout. So it's the Comets by 11 right now, but there is a reason to feel good if you're a Storm fan.
One of my core beliefs is that when two teams of roughly equal ability shoot very different percentages, they will eventually equal out. That's the case in this game - the Comets shot 56.7% from the field, the Storm 32.4%. Now sometimes that doesn't work out, but you're not going to see the Storm held down like that very often. The bad news is that Tina Thompson is serious tonight. She has 15 points thus far on 5-for-7 shooting, including 11 in the second quarter alone. Sheryl Swoopes has been in more of a set-up role, handing out five assists while scoring six points. The Storm has only four assists as a team on 11 made baskets. That's a sign the ball movement needs to improve in the second half.
Look Out
Second Quarter: Houston 34, Storm 29
This reminder brought to you by Tina Thompson: There's more than one All-Decade Team lock on the Comets. While much attention has been focused on Sheryl Swoopes, somewhat inevitably after her performance against the Storm last season, Thompson has owned the first half. Thompson has a game-high 11 points, canning a trio of 3-pointers. Thompson is always one of the league's best, most versatile power forwards, but I've never seen her shoot this confidently.
A very competitive game of Musical Chairs led by Doppler during the timeout. Fortunately, Doppler is a fair and equitable judge ... right? The prizes for the winner Audrey had a 10th Anniversary theme, including the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, the Pearl Jam CD "10" size 10 shoes and a makeshift Pepsi 10-pack.
Working Out the Nerves
Second Quarter: Houston 25, Storm 23
So impressive during training camp, Storm rookie Barbara Turner struggled a bit in the opener and early tonight. She got her first WNBA basket at the 6:57 mark of this second quarter on a layup in transition, and it really seems to have helped her. Turner made an aggressive move to the basket to get to the free-throw line and will be shooinig coming out of this timeout.
Great performance by the Storm Dance Troupe. The crowd just loves these kids. They performed wearing Sue Bird 10th Anniversary T-shirts, which were given to the first 3,000 fans in the door tonight. Also part of the 10th Anniversary celebration, we have the 10th Anniversary logo on the floor near my location on the Storm's side of the floor.
Bench Strength
End First Quarter: Houston 19, Storm 18
Anne Donovan has said during training camp that she believes this bench is the deepest one she's had in four seasons in Seattle. She's backing up that confidence with her rotations. Donovan had five reserves on the floor to end the first quarter. Right now, she's got four out there with Wendy Palmer, who might return to the bench as soon as Thursday if Janell Burse is able to return to the lineup in that game. The reserve unit hasn't yet gotten great offensive chemistry, and the Storm slowed down a little bit late in the period.
The Storm has a new reserve on the roster tonight, having signed guard Edwige Lawson-Wade as a free agent. Lawson-Wade spent most of last season with Houston before being traded to Charlotte over the off-season. The Sting cut her last Friday and the Storm moved quickly to pick her up. In a twist, Lawson-Wade actually gives Storm Coach Anne Donovan some credit for making the WNBA.
"Many years ago, it's funny, she asked me what she could do to get in the WNBA," Donovan said before the game. "Back then, she had one part of her game, which is she's extremely quick, can get to the rim really easily, but didn't have an outside shot. I said at the time in my direct way, 'If you don't get a 3-pointer, there's no way.' Lo and behold, she worked on her game."
"She told me I have to work on my outside shot, so since she told me that, I've worked a lot on my outside shot to try to get it better," said Lawson-Wade. "Last year I got to the league, and I think I owe her for that."
Lawson-Wade is not active tonight because she just arrived in town, but she will travel with the Storm to Phoenix for Thursday's game. Whether she will be active for that one will depend in part on whether Burse plays.
Great Start
First Quarter: Storm 15, Houston 11
I hope you didn't think that just because the Comets lost badly to San Antonio at home in their opener that they would struggle tonight. No, this looks so far like basically the Comets team we've come to know and love (when they're not playing against the Storm, that is). Great action on both ends of the floor for the national audience watching on ESPN2. So far, it's favored the Storm thanks to five early points from a - dare I say aggressive? - Sue Bird.
On StormVision during the timeout: Players sharing their thoughts with Simone (who is sitting courtside next to Karen Bryant) as well as their favorite memories. Here are a couple they've shared with the media:
Anne Donovan: "I think the number one for me will always be when we were in Minnesota. I called her off the bench to go into the game. She pulled off her shooting shirt and there was no jersey underneath. The look on her face was like, 'What do I do now?' Classic Simone."
Sue Bird: "In Connecticut, the morning of Game 1 of the Finals. We're doing film. Simi, I don't know what she's doing, but she's not being attention. Anne goes, 'Simi, are you ready?' Simi just looks up and says, 'I'm always ready, baby.' in the way that only Simi can. Lo and behold, we're playing like crap, and Simi gets put in and that's when we were making our comeback. She has like eight rebounds in eight minutes and six points. That's something I will take with me."
Celebrating Simone
Pregame
Tonight's pregame is all about Simone Edwards, who announced her retirement as the last original Storm player last Friday. It started at 6:00 with an event for season ticket-holders where Simone spoke, bringing the house to first laughter and then a few tears. Moments ago, Simone was celebrated on the court. After a video played on StormVision, Edwards and the team gathered at center court, where Storm Chief OOO Karen Bryant spoke eloquently about Edwards' impact on the Storm community.
Afterwards, Edwards was presented by the organization with several gifts. Coach Anne Donovan gave Edwards flowers, reciprocating for getting flowers from Edwards on the occasion of her 100th career win last August. Bryant presented a framed #4 jersey. The Sonics and Storm Foundation donated $6,000 to Edwards' foundation, Simone4Children. The entire team signed Edwards' player banner, with Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson presenting it to Edwards. Lastly, several of Edwards' young fans presented a scrapbook created by Storm fans and the organization.
Then it was Edwards' turn to take the mic. As always, she spoke from the heart.
"I just want to say thanks," she told the KeyArena crowd. "I had the happiest moment of my life here inning the championship and also the saddest here tonight having to leave you guys."
"I'll hold you in my heart," Simone concluded. "I hope you will hold me in yours."
You don't have to worry about that, Simone. For more celebration of Edwards' career, check out storm.wnba.com's Simone Edwards Scrapbook.
Signing On
Pregame
How many storylines are too many? We might find out tonight. Let's see if I can quickly break it down. Start with the fact that this a rematch of last year's playoff series between these two teams, which ended for the Storm with a disappointing Game 3 loss at KeyArena. Add in that we are celebrating the WNBA's 10th Anniversary with four of the seven players who have spent all 10 seasons in the league in the house (though Comets guard Tamecka Dixon will not play because of a pulled left hamstring) and now fewer than six All-Decade Team nominees. Then throw in that USA Basketball announced the first eight members of this summer's World Championship squad this afternoon at KeyArena, including three players in tonight's game - Sue Bird, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. Last but most certainly not least, we're celebrating Simone Edwards' retirement tonight. Much more on all of these topics later - if I can get it all in.
