Live From Press Row - Storm vs. San Antonio
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Big Win for the Storm
Final: Storm 87, San Antonio 57
In the moments following Wednesday's loss to the Phoenix Mercury, things were a little dark at KeyArena. I found a ray of hope - a similar loss last July to the Washington Mystics, like Wednesday's game at the start of a lengthy stretch of games mostly at home. The common denominator? In both cases, the Storm played the San Antonio Silver Stars two days later. In that game, I remember writing "the smiles are returning to their faces" during a 22-point victory that catalyzed a six-game winning streak. The same could be said tonight, of both the players and the fans.
There is a big difference, however. That San Antonio team won only seven games. This is a really good team that came into tonight at 6-5 this season. To do what the Storm did in the second half of this game was really very special. Who knows where things go from here, but this is a great sign for the Storm. Sunday will be a very difficult test, as the Storm travels to Houston to take on the Comets at 3 p.m. on KJR. Then, your Storm is back at KeyArena on Tuesday to take on Sacramento on the Night of Champions. Get your tickets now!
Only Drama ...
Fourth Quarter: Storm 83, San Antonio 51
With 3:41 left, this game is well in the books. Now, the last remaining question is whether Cisti Greenwalt can get there. Greenwalt is still looking for her first WNBA score, and I've got to imagine it would be especially sweet to get it with her college coach in attendance.
Storm Dominating
Fourth Quarter: Storm 83, San Antonio 49
Wow, what a second half for the Storm. With five and a half minutes left in this half, the Storm has already put 36 points on the board while holding San Antonio to 13. It's a 34-point lead for the Storm. Everything is going for the Storm right now. Amazingly, Seattle has yet to commit a foul during the second half.
That makes tonight's edition of The Train that much more fun. I get a kick out of the Sonics European scout, Lojze Milosavljevic, taking a video of the chaos from courtside with his digital camera.
It's Back, Baby!
End Third Quarter: Storm 67, San Antonio 45
To say that this third quarter was different for the Seattle Storm would be, ahem, something of an understatement. The Storm holds San Antonio scoreless for more than five minutes, goes on a 12-0 run and outscores San Antonio 20-9 in the period. That's awesome. Betty Lennox got it started, but everybody contributed. I'm going to particularly single out the effort of the bench. Shaunzinski Gortman's seven rebounds are already a career high, Tanisha Wright made two gorgeous highlight-reel plays and Barbara Turner also had a great second-effort play.
Betty's Energy
Third Quarter: Storm 55, San Antonio 40
Credit Betty Lennox for the Storm's 8-0 run. The third quarter has been an issue for the Storm this season and was where the June 4 game against San Antonio fell apart. The Silver Stars got the first pair of baskets of this quarter, one off of a turnover, and KeyArena got a little nervous. Betty would not let them stay that way. She scored three straight buckets, which was followed by an Izi Castro Marques transition layup to put the Storm up 15 and force Dan Hughes to take a timeout.
Double-Figures Lead For Storm
Halftime: Storm 47, San Antonio 36
Strong first half for the Storm, which takes an 11-point lead to the locker room. The Storm played clean basketball, committing but two turnovers in the half and shooting 51.5% from the field. Jackson was great, but Janell Burse and Sue Bird added eight points apiece for the Storm. On the other side, Shannon Johnson (eight) and Vickie Johnson (10) have combined for 18 points, but small forwards Kendra Wecker and Agnieszka Bibrzycka have combined to score just two points without a field goal.
David Locke makes a great point on the Storm broadcast: There's a lot of coaching talent in the house tonight. In addition to the obvious staffs on both sides, Stanford legend Tara VanDerveer - sister of Storm assistant Heidi - is here tonight and chatting with Sonics & Storm President & CEO Wally Walker as I type this. Doing color for San Antonio's broadcast is another legend, recently retired long-time Texas Tech Coach Marsha Sharp, who coached Storm center Cisti Greenwalt.
LJ on Fire
Second Quarter: Storm 41, San Antonio 32
All Lauren Jackson here during this second quarter. Jackson has 17 points tonight on 6-for-9 shooting. While Sophia Young has done some good things on offense and scored six points, she has been abused by Jackson at the other end of the court, picking up three fouls midway through this period. Jackson has been key to the Storm successfully countering San Antonio's 2-3 zone, getting the ball with great post position having sealed Young in the paint and got the ball on great entry passes from Janell Burse in the high post.
Breast Health Awareness Night
Second Quarter: Storm 34, San Antonio 26
Tonight, the Storm is celebrating Breast Health Awareness Night by going pink. This morning, I happened to run into Anne Donovan before shootaround, and she was a little concerned I had on no pink. That's not the case any more, as I've got on one of the brightest pink shirts you can find (though Anne, with her pink suit, has me beat). Even Doppler's got on a pink Breast Health Awareness shirt.
Breast cancer survivors got special pink-and-white basketballs from the Storm players as they were introduced before tonight's game, and one very special survivor - former Storm guard Edna Campbell - was singled out at a recent timeout.
Thanks to everyone who participated in last week's Puget Sound Race for the Cure at Qwest Field with Sue Bird as the honorary chair. The "Stormin' for the Cure" team did a great job of raising $8,000 for the Komen Foundation.
Storm Offense is On
End First Quarter: Storm 26, San Antonio 20
As he did the last time San Antonio was here, Dan Hughes praised the Storm's offense before the game.
"Seattle really tests us," said Hughes. "To me, Seattle's as good an offensive team as we've played from a standpoint of shooting percentage and ways they can score. We'll have to not only defend but score points to win, because even if we play good defense, they're going to score on us."
Well, that's definitely true in the first quarter. The Storm had 28 in the first in the last matchup and ran up 26 points this time around to lead by six. San Antonio briefly caused the Storm some trouble by going into a zone, but the Storm burst out with five points in the final minute of the first quarter.
Post Starts Strong
First Quarter: Storm 14, San Antonio 9
On Wednesday against Phoenix, Anne Donovan was disappointed that her team settled for jumpers instead of working the ball inside. She's got to like the early focus of the Storm. Janell Burse and Lauren Jackson got the looks on most of the Storm's early possessions and have combined for 11 points as Seattle has taken an early 14-9 lead. Alas, the Storm will go away from that now a little, as Burse has picked up two fouls and been replaced by Tiffani Johnson.
Storm Needs Sue to Step Up
Pregame
A source of much consternation recently for the Storm has been the scoring of All-Star point guard Sue Bird. Bird has scored no more than 12 points in any of her last five games and has shot 16-for-44 (36.4%) in that span.
"Sue's definitely a key," Anne Donovan said before the game. "We've got to get Sue rolling; no question about that. When she starts knocking things down, it will free up a lot of other things. Her staying confident, in the game mentally, keeping her composure really tuned in is the key, I think, for us to perform better. That's just one component, but that would help, because everybody follows her lead."
Tonight's matchup offers hope. Bird scored a season-high 18 points on June 4 when the Silver Stars last visited KeyArena. She has historically played very well against San Antonio point guard Shannon Johnson, her teammate on the U.S. squad in the 2004 Olympics.
"I think Sue's extra-focused," explained Donovan. "I think Shannon's somebody who's one of the best point guards in the league. You better be focused, because Shannon is so quick that if you really don't get down, she's getting to the rim."
Signing On
Pregame
It's the San Antonio Silver Stars at KeyArena tonight to take on the Storm in Breast Health Awareness Night. Having lost two of the last three at home, the Storm will look to re-establish the home-court advantage at KeyArena tonight. The Silver Stars delivered one of those losses by an 89-87 final in their last visit to KeyArena and are the WNBA's biggest surprise at 6-5. It should be a great battle tonight, so stay with us all night long for the latest.
