I’m really sad about Ezi‘s new injury. I don’t know why she is so injury plagued of late. Bad luck? Needs better strength and conditioning coach? I don’t know. But my heart goes out to her.
Obviously, the facial fracture/broken nose has nothing to do with the other injuries. That is legitimately just bad luck. The torn ACL could be from a variety of factors. I believe medically, we know that torn ACL injuries are much more common in women than in men. If I am not mistaken, her foot injury was on her left foot, and the torn ACL is on the right leg. It is possible that overcompensation to the stronger leg (at the time right) ended up being a factor in the right ACL tearing. I know that I've had two right ankle surgeries and started to bear more weight on my left side subconsciously, and that created problems on my left foot that I never had before my traumatic injury. Or it could be because she's played basketball nearly year-round for several years, and that eventually catches up to the human body as it gets older. I am gutted for Ezi and wish her the best in her recovery.
I thought that Dom played really well especially in the Gold Medal game. She was about the only French player who did anything in the second half. The rest of their team kind of fell apart and went really cold from long distance. I'm sure that the FIBA experience will really help Dom and Awa's confidence when they return and they will both be able to start together for the last 4 games of the season. They'll have a great test going up against the Aces twice with or without A'ja Wilson who is arguably the best player in the WNBA and probably the world.
I enjoyed watching several of the FIBA games and I even thought France had a decent chance to upset us after what happened in Paris in 2024 at the Olympics. It was nice to see Sue cheering everyone on in the finale. Too bad that Jade got sick and Ezi tore her ACL - really too bad about Ezi. She seems so fragile now with all these injuries. Will she ever get back to her former productivity? Even if Ezi hadn't gotten injured I don't think that the Opals could have beaten Spain. They were a very strong team and Awa was a big part of that but their real key was their 20 yo PG Iyana Martin. She's quite phenomenal. Portland has her rights if she decides to come to the WNBA in 2027. After watching her I thought maybe the Storm should have drafted her at #3 instead of Awa Fam, even though I really like Awa, but we need a super PG to run this team and we just missed out on Olivia Miles so Martin is probably the next best young PG around. I wish we could trade for her.
(1) I’m relieved that Dom and Awa escaped Berlin sans injury.
(2) Do you see any parallels between the 2025 Chris Koclanes debacle in Dallas and Seattle 2026? I had no expectations that 2026 would be pretty, but I thought there’d be more overt signs of improvement in the second half. Dallas pulled the plug quickly and was attract what they needed in order to make significant improvement.
(3) Does Ezi’s unfortunate injury actually provide the Storm with greater offseason flexibility, re the draft?
The question about 2025 Chris Koclanes and Seattle in 2026 is interesting and fair. Maybe it's because I've spent time at the lower levels coaching, but I generally don't think it's fair to give a coach only one season to have success, especially in a scenario where a team lost a lot of offensive talent.
I generally only would suggest making a change at head coach if it's absolutely clear the head coach has lost the locker room, and the players completely tune them out. And/or the coach is clearly over their head and publicly admits to not having answers. The latter is one I've particularly paid attention to this season. I don't believe I can recall a time when Coach Raman has responded to questions and publicly said she doesn't know or doesn't have any answers. In past years, I've heard Coach Quinn say that. And more recently, I've seen Coach Lynne Roberts of the Sparks say that. That always concerns me because if they don't have answers for the media where they can still be very vague, etc., then what answers do they have for the players when those questions are being asked behind closed doors?
Regarding expectations this season. This one is a bit tricky. I've said previously, around the start of the season, that a best-case scenario for the Storm would be for them to lose a ton of games to get a top lottery pick, but be very competitive in those losses, losing games like 80-72, 88-83, etc. For the majority of this season, that's exactly what we saw. On top of that, Dominique Malonga developed into an All-Star. I would argue Flau'jae Johnson has been the second-most impressive rookie this season, only behind Olivia Miles, and at a minimum has developed into a legit starter in the WNBA (I still think All-Star potential is there). Awa Fam has also developed into a legit starter, and I think she might make the All-Rookie Team (I think Flau'jae is a lock, and Fam is probably 50/50). Outside of Natisha Hiedeman, those three have been the team's three best players all season, and that's great for the team's future since they are all so young (20, 20, 22). With that said, it is disappointing how they've started getting blown out more as the season was getting closer to the end. Generally, I would have expected the blowouts to happen early on and be more competitive. But they've also been so injured and losing Hiedeman for a handful of games, plus Ezi for most of the season, is maybe just too much to overcome right now.
To your last point about the draft, I'm not sure Ezi's injury will have a huge impact because they don't have their second-round pick. And I'm not sure there is going to be another post player that would be better than their options at guard or wing when they draft somewhere in the Top 5 (ideally). We have the full college season to watch, but as of right now, if they end up 4-6, I'm thinking they're likely to get Mikaylah Williams, MiLaysia Fulwiley, or S'mya Nichols just from where the consensus draft boards are at right now. Obviously, if they land 1 or 2, then it's probably JuJu, Booker, or Hidalgo. I also think either Booker or Hidalgo may still be there at 4 as well, because the draft can always be unpredictable.
If Ezi is out for all of next season or at least 1/2 the season, they probably turn to Free Agency for a backup post player.
I agree that changing coaches after one season is not at all ideal, and I’m not necessarily advocating for that here. It’s a delicate balance to strike between patience, and waiting too long and risking losing the room. I know I just don’t have a feel for whether Coach Raman is the long term answer. I don’t pin all of the problems on coaching; I have no idea what the players are coached to do and fail to execute. My biggest worry is about the losing continuing next year at a high rate, and then having a bunch of pissed off players, that are the young core, looking for escape routes. I’ve already seen signs of frustration that could become very concerning.
I hope the Storm have realized that Dom and Awa need a point guard who can get them the ball so they can shine in the paint. Those two are truly incredible, especially Dominique Malonga, who is virtually unstoppable. They might want to consider trading for Carla Leite, since the Portland Fire will now have Iyana Martín. Perhaps they’d be open to make a deal for Carla.
Yes! We need a point guard. We've just signed Jaylyn Sherrod to a hardship contract to make up for the loss of Ezi, but at 5'7" she's hardly a replacement for Ezi and, although she's a guard, not a well regarded pt. guard, to the best of my knowledge. What do we get w/ her?
Maybe Sherrod is here in the event Hiedeman is shut down for the year? For what it’s worth, she’s not much of shooter, but she is quicker than any guard who’s played here in a long time.
If she's not much of a shooter, she can't replace Heideman. Heideman is a shooter more than a pt. guard. Don't you think Jade is quick? kind of uncontrolled quick usually, but quick?
Jade is, to me, more frenetic than quick; I don’t expect them to do a lot with Sherrod. I’m guessing it’s mostly a depth move, more than anything. At least I hope so. Maybe an early audition for next year.
Watching this tournament has shown me how good Carla leite and iyana Martin are, and how much better they make dom and awa. With this, I wonder if the fire would accept a deal of hiedeman + 2028 first rounder for either Martin or leite. It may sound like a lot, but that means next year we would start martin/leite, flaujae, mikaylah williams/4th pick, awa, and dom. It would also decentivize tanking next year
I highly doubt they trade either player. From what I gather, their GM is extremely high on Iyana Martín, and that looks to be justified after her recent performance. Carla Leite seems like a budding star, and I look at her as the Portland Fire's franchise player. I don't know why they would trade her.
I do think there is a question of whether they can both play at the same time, or if one will be the starter and one will be the backup. Martín is so young that I think it's fine if she is a backup for at least 1-2 seasons. I never thought it was too realistic, but I think the only way it would have made sense would be a trade of Ezi to the Fire since they are lacking post players. But with Magbegor's ACL injury, any trades are off the table.
Portland could also take a post prospect with the 4th-6th pick in the draft.
I think a trade like that would make sense if there’s a lot of confidence in the HC… what if Seattle did that trade and had all this talent but still lost games?
With the new found interest in, and sudden honoring of, women’s sports (in some quarters), I wonder if there will be an official acknowledgment of what the USA Women accomplished in Berlin?
I’m really sad about Ezi‘s new injury. I don’t know why she is so injury plagued of late. Bad luck? Needs better strength and conditioning coach? I don’t know. But my heart goes out to her.
Obviously, the facial fracture/broken nose has nothing to do with the other injuries. That is legitimately just bad luck. The torn ACL could be from a variety of factors. I believe medically, we know that torn ACL injuries are much more common in women than in men. If I am not mistaken, her foot injury was on her left foot, and the torn ACL is on the right leg. It is possible that overcompensation to the stronger leg (at the time right) ended up being a factor in the right ACL tearing. I know that I've had two right ankle surgeries and started to bear more weight on my left side subconsciously, and that created problems on my left foot that I never had before my traumatic injury. Or it could be because she's played basketball nearly year-round for several years, and that eventually catches up to the human body as it gets older. I am gutted for Ezi and wish her the best in her recovery.
Yes, wishing her the best. She’s a longtime fan favorite. ❤️
I thought that Dom played really well especially in the Gold Medal game. She was about the only French player who did anything in the second half. The rest of their team kind of fell apart and went really cold from long distance. I'm sure that the FIBA experience will really help Dom and Awa's confidence when they return and they will both be able to start together for the last 4 games of the season. They'll have a great test going up against the Aces twice with or without A'ja Wilson who is arguably the best player in the WNBA and probably the world.
I enjoyed watching several of the FIBA games and I even thought France had a decent chance to upset us after what happened in Paris in 2024 at the Olympics. It was nice to see Sue cheering everyone on in the finale. Too bad that Jade got sick and Ezi tore her ACL - really too bad about Ezi. She seems so fragile now with all these injuries. Will she ever get back to her former productivity? Even if Ezi hadn't gotten injured I don't think that the Opals could have beaten Spain. They were a very strong team and Awa was a big part of that but their real key was their 20 yo PG Iyana Martin. She's quite phenomenal. Portland has her rights if she decides to come to the WNBA in 2027. After watching her I thought maybe the Storm should have drafted her at #3 instead of Awa Fam, even though I really like Awa, but we need a super PG to run this team and we just missed out on Olivia Miles so Martin is probably the next best young PG around. I wish we could trade for her.
Maybe Storm admin. can pull of a trade like they did for Flau jae?
You write that Stewie is arguably the best player in the world. Well, A'ja wasn't at the World Cup.
Well, he did write “arguably.” I’ll support you arguing, Pearl 🤣. Stewart played well and they don’t win without her today.
Yes, Stewie definitely came through.
Jeff:
(1) I’m relieved that Dom and Awa escaped Berlin sans injury.
(2) Do you see any parallels between the 2025 Chris Koclanes debacle in Dallas and Seattle 2026? I had no expectations that 2026 would be pretty, but I thought there’d be more overt signs of improvement in the second half. Dallas pulled the plug quickly and was attract what they needed in order to make significant improvement.
(3) Does Ezi’s unfortunate injury actually provide the Storm with greater offseason flexibility, re the draft?
The question about 2025 Chris Koclanes and Seattle in 2026 is interesting and fair. Maybe it's because I've spent time at the lower levels coaching, but I generally don't think it's fair to give a coach only one season to have success, especially in a scenario where a team lost a lot of offensive talent.
I generally only would suggest making a change at head coach if it's absolutely clear the head coach has lost the locker room, and the players completely tune them out. And/or the coach is clearly over their head and publicly admits to not having answers. The latter is one I've particularly paid attention to this season. I don't believe I can recall a time when Coach Raman has responded to questions and publicly said she doesn't know or doesn't have any answers. In past years, I've heard Coach Quinn say that. And more recently, I've seen Coach Lynne Roberts of the Sparks say that. That always concerns me because if they don't have answers for the media where they can still be very vague, etc., then what answers do they have for the players when those questions are being asked behind closed doors?
Regarding expectations this season. This one is a bit tricky. I've said previously, around the start of the season, that a best-case scenario for the Storm would be for them to lose a ton of games to get a top lottery pick, but be very competitive in those losses, losing games like 80-72, 88-83, etc. For the majority of this season, that's exactly what we saw. On top of that, Dominique Malonga developed into an All-Star. I would argue Flau'jae Johnson has been the second-most impressive rookie this season, only behind Olivia Miles, and at a minimum has developed into a legit starter in the WNBA (I still think All-Star potential is there). Awa Fam has also developed into a legit starter, and I think she might make the All-Rookie Team (I think Flau'jae is a lock, and Fam is probably 50/50). Outside of Natisha Hiedeman, those three have been the team's three best players all season, and that's great for the team's future since they are all so young (20, 20, 22). With that said, it is disappointing how they've started getting blown out more as the season was getting closer to the end. Generally, I would have expected the blowouts to happen early on and be more competitive. But they've also been so injured and losing Hiedeman for a handful of games, plus Ezi for most of the season, is maybe just too much to overcome right now.
To your last point about the draft, I'm not sure Ezi's injury will have a huge impact because they don't have their second-round pick. And I'm not sure there is going to be another post player that would be better than their options at guard or wing when they draft somewhere in the Top 5 (ideally). We have the full college season to watch, but as of right now, if they end up 4-6, I'm thinking they're likely to get Mikaylah Williams, MiLaysia Fulwiley, or S'mya Nichols just from where the consensus draft boards are at right now. Obviously, if they land 1 or 2, then it's probably JuJu, Booker, or Hidalgo. I also think either Booker or Hidalgo may still be there at 4 as well, because the draft can always be unpredictable.
If Ezi is out for all of next season or at least 1/2 the season, they probably turn to Free Agency for a backup post player.
I agree that changing coaches after one season is not at all ideal, and I’m not necessarily advocating for that here. It’s a delicate balance to strike between patience, and waiting too long and risking losing the room. I know I just don’t have a feel for whether Coach Raman is the long term answer. I don’t pin all of the problems on coaching; I have no idea what the players are coached to do and fail to execute. My biggest worry is about the losing continuing next year at a high rate, and then having a bunch of pissed off players, that are the young core, looking for escape routes. I’ve already seen signs of frustration that could become very concerning.
My concern as well vis-à-vis our young players.
I hope the Storm have realized that Dom and Awa need a point guard who can get them the ball so they can shine in the paint. Those two are truly incredible, especially Dominique Malonga, who is virtually unstoppable. They might want to consider trading for Carla Leite, since the Portland Fire will now have Iyana Martín. Perhaps they’d be open to make a deal for Carla.
Yes! We need a point guard. We've just signed Jaylyn Sherrod to a hardship contract to make up for the loss of Ezi, but at 5'7" she's hardly a replacement for Ezi and, although she's a guard, not a well regarded pt. guard, to the best of my knowledge. What do we get w/ her?
Maybe Sherrod is here in the event Hiedeman is shut down for the year? For what it’s worth, she’s not much of shooter, but she is quicker than any guard who’s played here in a long time.
If she's not much of a shooter, she can't replace Heideman. Heideman is a shooter more than a pt. guard. Don't you think Jade is quick? kind of uncontrolled quick usually, but quick?
Jade is, to me, more frenetic than quick; I don’t expect them to do a lot with Sherrod. I’m guessing it’s mostly a depth move, more than anything. At least I hope so. Maybe an early audition for next year.
Watching this tournament has shown me how good Carla leite and iyana Martin are, and how much better they make dom and awa. With this, I wonder if the fire would accept a deal of hiedeman + 2028 first rounder for either Martin or leite. It may sound like a lot, but that means next year we would start martin/leite, flaujae, mikaylah williams/4th pick, awa, and dom. It would also decentivize tanking next year
I highly doubt they trade either player. From what I gather, their GM is extremely high on Iyana Martín, and that looks to be justified after her recent performance. Carla Leite seems like a budding star, and I look at her as the Portland Fire's franchise player. I don't know why they would trade her.
I do think there is a question of whether they can both play at the same time, or if one will be the starter and one will be the backup. Martín is so young that I think it's fine if she is a backup for at least 1-2 seasons. I never thought it was too realistic, but I think the only way it would have made sense would be a trade of Ezi to the Fire since they are lacking post players. But with Magbegor's ACL injury, any trades are off the table.
Portland could also take a post prospect with the 4th-6th pick in the draft.
I think a trade like that would make sense if there’s a lot of confidence in the HC… what if Seattle did that trade and had all this talent but still lost games?
fire the coach!
I don’t see any signs that’s about to happen. Do you?
Losing the last 15(?) games!
With the new found interest in, and sudden honoring of, women’s sports (in some quarters), I wonder if there will be an official acknowledgment of what the USA Women accomplished in Berlin?
Do you mean on like ESPN or other larger media companies?
I was wondering more about a White House invitation 🤣
WNBA teams have been known to reject invitations to the WH during recent regimes.