Dream Defeat Storm 85-75 Part 2

Additional thoughts, discussion, and interviews from Seattle's loss to Atlanta.

The Seattle Storm (16-17) lost their sixth game in a row as they fell 85-75 to the Atlanta Dream (21-11). You can read the full game recap here.

Part 2 will be a short one. There is only so much I can write about the team losing game after game. I was also training someone as I look to expand Storm Chasers beyond a one-person army. In Part 2, I wrote about how impressive the Atlanta Dream are and compared offensive philosophies. I’ve included the post-game press conference video and audio files. Plus, the pregame coach’s interview.

Dream Team

The Atlanta Dream are legit. They can win the WNBA Championship this season. Especially if Napheesa Collier’s ankle injury is more severe than we are led to believe right now. Or if Collier isn’t as dominant as she was once she returns. They have pretty much everything a team needs. Atlanta has two dominant low-post players in Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones. And they have multiple talented guards and perimeter players, including All-Stars Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard. Almost every player on the court can knock down the three, and they rebound extremely well. They lead the league in rebounds at 36.4 RPG. They had 42 rebounds against Seattle.

At the beginning of the season, when they came to Seattle and beat the Storm, I wrote about why I thought so highly of Atlanta’s makeup this season. Now that we are nearing the final 10 games of the season, they’ve just further cemented my belief in them.

They have the second-best overall NET Rating (Offensive Rating minus Defensive Rating) of all 13 teams in the WNBA. They are a +7.6. Atlanta has the second-highest Offensive Rating (107.2) and the third-best Defensive Rating (99.6) in the WNBA. For what it’s worth, Seattle has the sixth-best NET Rating at +2.2.

The Dream have dealt with injuries to Jordin Canada and Rhyne Howard this season, but still have consistently had one of the league’s best records. After beating the Storm again, combined with the New York Liberty’s loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday, has moved Atlanta to the second seed in the standings.

I hope Jordin gets healthy because this Atlanta team is a lot of fun, and I think they’ll be able to make some noise in the postseason.

Offensive Philosophies

This game was a good example of Offensive Philosophies and how that can impact games in the WNBA. The Storm rely heavily on scoring inside the paint. They rely on pick-and-roll action. They rely on having their guards and wings use their athleticism (Gabby, Skylar, Sykes) to get to the rim. Seattle relies on feeding their 6’6” rookie Center, Dominique Malonga, down low for layups and high-percentage shots. Nneka Ogwumike is a master and pick-and-pop midrange shots, up-and-under layups, turnaround jumpers in the lane, etc.

Seattle outscored Atlanta 48-36 inside the paint. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because the Storm’s guards couldn’t hit a shot. And because the Dream are such a dangerous three-point shooting team.

When the Storm tried to keep the game competitive, the Dream would knock down a couple more three-pointers. It was 56-52 with just over one minute and thirty seconds left in the third period. Atlanta hit four three-pointers before the quarter had ended. In the blink of an eye, the Dream were up by 14 points as the buzzer sounded. Coach Quinn spoke in the post-game that it was like a stake to the heart.

As good as Seattle was throughout portions of this game by limiting their turnovers, scoring efficiently inside the paint, etc., none of that mattered because they couldn’t keep up with Atlanta’s long-distance shooting. It’s reminiscent of the old Bill Laimbeer Las Vegas Aces that relied heavily on two-pointers and getting to the free throw line. A big problem with that is that the Storm don’t get to the foul line. They are dead last at 15.6 FTA (Free Throw Attempts) per game. What’s unfortunate is that Brittney Sykes was a player who consistently got a whistle all season long, but as soon as she joined the Storm, she stopped getting calls.

During the 2018 and 2020 Championship seasons, the Storm were one of the most dominant three-point shooting teams, especially in 2018 when they led the league in both three-point field goal attempts and percentage. This season, the Storm are 9th in three-point attempts (22.0 per game) and 6th in three-point percentage (33.4%). By comparison, Atlanta is 2nd in attempts (28.0 per game) from beyond the arc and 4th in made field goal percentage (34.2%).

I don’t think there is much Seattle can do for the rest of this season because they simply don’t have the shooters to be chucking up 30 three-pointers a game. However, that is definitely something they’ll need to focus on when building the roster for 2026.

Below are a couple of articles on the Dream’s Karl Smesko and his coaching philosophy and style.

ESPN - How will Coach Smesko translate to the WNBA?

The Next - Karl Smesko - college basketball’s mad scientist

Post-Game Press Conference

If you prefer to listen to the audio version, they are below.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Pre-Game Interview:

Post-Game Interview:

Notes:
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Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources.
Photo Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography

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