Postgame Notebook - Storm 82, Phoenix 72

Jackson

Player of the Game: Lauren Jackson, who looked like the MVP on this night.
Reserve of the Game: Janell Burse, who crammed eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks into 15 minutes of action.
Play of the Night (Official): During the first half, Sue Bird drove the lane, looked away Mercury defenders by glancing where she might pass and sailed untouched to the basket for a layup.
Play of the Night (Unofficial): Fouled during the first half while dribbling, Jackson threw up a wild shot hoping to draw a shooting foul. It went in, but referees waved it off.
Play of the Night (Crowd Reaction): After Jackson missed one of her 14 free-throw attempts, Kamila Vodichkova pulled down the rebound and dished to Michelle Greco, who was fouled in the act of shooting and made both free throws. The KeyArena faithful loved the effort.

Roster Shaping Up

Janell Burse drives the lane in her KeyArena debut. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

Prodded by the media before the game, Seattle Storm Coach Anne Donovan offered a candid look at where the Storm’s roster stands prior to Wednesday’s deadline for final rosters. She reiterated a desire to keep five posts, which would mean two more posts will likely be cut (as well as one guard), but gave no specifics. Donovan went into greater detail about her guard group.

“In the perimeter, Tully Bevilaqua, who we thought struggled against Phoenix, came back and played extremely well against Sacramento,” Donovan said. “Tully keeps plugging away and has proven that that spot is probably hers, which makes Greco pretty important in this mix as a natural two guard. She’s done good things, but she needs to get better. We’re going to give Shaq (Williams) an opportunity tonight to get on the floor and see what she can do, but it’s going to be tough, very obviously, to beat out Tully.”

Williams ended up playing only three minutes and did not score. Greco, meanwhile, played 16 minutes off the bench, scoring five points, and seemed to put herself clearly in the lead for the final guard spot.

After playing only four of her six post players during Friday’s 59-56 loss to the Sacramento Monarchs (and Andrea Gardner-Combs for just five minutes), Donovan wanted to give some of the players fighting for a roster spot longer looks this evening, while balancing that with her desire to get her regulars minutes and have the team play well.

“I’ve already talked to Janell Burse – (she’s) probably not going to play a ton of minutes because I still have got six post players and Alicia Thompson who can swing in there, and there’s just not enough minutes for everybody to get in,” Donovan explained. And the most important thing is getting chemistry, so Kamila, Lauren, with Sue, Betty (Lennox) and Sheri (Sam), that’s important.

“I’m still recognizing that I need to get some evaluation done. Simone (Edwards) hasn’t played a minute yet, she only has one practice under her belt. (Maren) Walseth didn’t get in at all at Sacramento, so there’s still some evaluation to be done and it is tricky, because we’re still trying to win our first game of the preseason.”

Edwards was easily the most impressive of the posts battling for a roster spot against the Monarchs, scoring nine points in 13 minutes and earning seven free-throw attempts.

Pleased With the Effort

Asked to look back on Friday's game, Donovan maintained that she was pleased with how her team played despite the final outcome, explaining the Sacramento run that erased a 12-point Storm lead as largely due to fatigue.

“We were really good defensively, except for a stretch midway through the second half, where I had not done a good job of substituting, so we were fatigued," said Donovan. "In that stretch, we missed easy shots, close to the basket, and gave up layups. And then when we weren’t giving up layups, we were giving up second shots."