Fever Destroy Storm 95-75 Part 2

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

The Seattle Storm (20-19) looked lifeless against the Fever (20-18) as Indiana led by over 30 points in the 4th quarter and finished ahead 95-75. Seattle had no answer for Aliyah Boston down low, and couldn’t stop Odyssey Sims or Kelsey Mitchell either. If you care to, you can read the full game recap at the link below.

In Part 2, I wrote about whether or not the Storm need an enforcer. I took a deeper dive into the race to the playoffs. And a further look into whether changes need to be made for 2026. Plus, I’ve included the post-game press conference video.

Do the Storm Need an Enforcer?

The Seattle Storm have been badly out-rebounded all season long. They rank dead-last at 31.1 rebounds per game. Indiana grabbed more than 40 rebounds in this game and doubled Seattle 42-21. It’s a minor miracle when Seattle isn’t out-rebounded in a game. But today’s game was more concerning because it wasn’t just that the Storm were out-rebounded. They were downright bullied.

Aliyah Boston welcomed the physicality, and she had her way with them. She was happy to bang down low. Throw some elbows, shoulders, and forearms into Seattle’s players. Basketball isn’t NFL football, but it’s still a very physical game. And the Storm were exposed in that regard.

Coach Quinn talked about Boston after the game.

“(Boston) is very physical. She imposes her will in the paint. She rebounds really well, and she just she's just a load down there because of her size, and you know where she catches the ball and try to do your work early on her, but she finds a way to get to her spots, and a lot of times it's really deep in the paint.” Quinn said.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to the Storm. Brionna Jones, Alyssa Thomas, and Jonquel Jones are all players who have used their muscles to push Seattle’s players around.

Ezi Magbegor has the height and, despite her quiet demeanor, can be a menace on the defensive end, but she’s so slight. Ezi is so thin for her size, and the heavier bigs can push her out of the way.

Nneka Ogwumike has always been undersized at 6’2” for a low-post player. She didn’t become one of the greatest players in WNBA history because she was a big brute. Ogwumike has done it by being one of the most skilled players in the league. Her fundamentals are exquisite. She has a soft touch around the rim and a beautiful jumper.

Right now, Seattle’s toughest player is a 5’9” point guard that weighs around 140lbs. Even if she wanted to take on the opposing bigs, there isn’t anything that she’s going to be able to do to stop them on a consistent basis.

Stewie needed Natasha Howard, and later on, she needed Jonquel Jones. Breanna Stewart is arguably the most talented basketball player in the world. But even she needed help in this regard.

Dominique Malonga could become that player later on. Malonga has dominated games with her size this season. If she hadn’t, we wouldn’t be seeing a 19-year-old put up multiple games of around 20 points and 10 rebounds. But she has also struggled at times against some of the biggest opponents like Aliyah Boston, Brionna Jones, and Brittney Griner.

Malonga has a lot more growing to do. She is still probably 5-7 years away from entering her prime. And she will put on more muscle mass as she gets older. She can become a physical force in the WNBA as the years go on.

What do you think? Does Seattle need to draft or sign a player who can be a physical enforcer? Or do you think Malonga will grow into that type of player in due time?

Who’s In and Who’s Out?

As the season winds down to the last handful of games, five teams are essentially locks to make the playoffs. The Minnesota Lynx (30-7) and Las Vegas Aces (25-14) have already clinched. The Atlanta Dream (24-13), Phoenix Mercury (23-14), and the New York Liberty (23-15) should clinch their spots within the next few games.

The Dallas Wings (9-29), Chicago Sky (9-28), and Connecticut Sun (9-28) have all officially been eliminated. The Washington Mystics (16-22) are on life support after losing four in a row. They’re 3.5 games behind Seattle and Golden State with six games to play.

In between the teams that have or will clinch a playoff spot soon and those that have been eliminated already, there is a group of four teams. With their win over Seattle, the Indiana Fever (20-18) are currently in 6th place, the Golden State Valkyries (19-18) are in 7th place, the Seattle Storm (20-19) are in 8th place, and the Los Angeles Sparks (17-19) are in 9th place.

Let’s look at all four teams’ remaining schedules.

Indiana Fever (Games remaining: 6)

at Los Angeles
at Golden State
at Phoenix
Host Chicago
at Washington
Host Minnesota

Golden State Valkyries (Games remaining: 7)

Host Washington
Host Indiana
Host New York
Host Dallas
Host Minnesota
at Seattle
at Minnesota

Seattle Storm (Games Remaining: 5)

at Minnesota
Host Chicago
Host Los Angeles
Host New York
Host Golden State

Los Angeles Sparks (Games Remaining: 8)

Host Indiana
Host Washington
at Seattle
at Atlanta
at Atlanta
Host Dallas
at Phoenix
Host Las Vegas

Per Tankathon’s Strength of Schedule, the Golden State Valkyries have the most difficult remaining schedule of the four teams in question. However, I believe that is skewed a bit because they have to play the Minnesota Lynx twice. What will be interesting is if the Lynx rest any of their starters to avoid risking injury in either Valkyries game, but especially the last game of the season.

Los Angeles is next, then Seattle, and lastly Indiana. But all three teams are lumped together back-to-back-to-back.

The Fever play both Los Angeles and Golden State this weekend, and those games are huge for all three teams and definitely worth keeping an eye on. Indiana could be close to locking up a playoff spot with wins against both teams, but they have struggled against both the Sparks and Valkyries this season.

Seattle is hosting the LA Sparks on Labor Day in a Must-Win for both teams. The Storm probably need to win at least two of their five games to clinch a playoff spot. I feel they will be in if they win three games or more.

This is definitely going to be an exciting finish to end the season. Once the playoffs begin, that’s when the real fun begins.

Changes Needed

I have a very hard time believing the Storm can run it back with everything the same in 2026. Do I think that if the team had a healthy Jordan Horston and Katie Lou Samuelson, they’d be a better team? Yes, I do. Would Jordan have helped with the team’s rebounding and hustle? Yes. Would Katie Lou help with some three-point shooting? Yes, I believe she would have. Do I think it would make them Championship contenders? No.

They’d probably be battling it out for the 5th to 7th seed instead of the 7th to 9th seed. I’d still have them below Minnesota, Atlanta, New York, Las Vegas, and probably Phoenix.

Between this season and last season, I think it’s fair to say it’s not working out. The Storm fell off in the 2nd half of the season and were swept in the first round of the playoffs 2-0 against the Las Vegas Aces in 2024. This year, they are battling for their playoff lives and might not even make the postseason. It’s been a downward trend, and it’s really unfortunate.

Outside of the team making the playoffs AND going on an unexpected run to the WNBA Finals, I think changes need to be made.

There are multiple paths forward. And it’ll be interesting to see what the owners decide.

The simplest change would be to change the coaching staff, but retain most of the current players. We see it all the time in sports. It’s a lot easier to change a coach than it is to completely rebuild a team. Las Vegas couldn’t quite get over the hump to win a WNBA Championship with Bill Laimbeer, so they brought in Becky Hammon. Hammon led the Aces to back-to-back Championships in 2022 and 2023.

If the team had another three-point shooter and another rebounder, plus a different coaching staff, could they win the WNBA Championship? I think it’s possible. But I still have some doubts. I don’t know if this team, led by Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike, would be able to take down the Minnesota Lynx, Las Vegas Aces, or a fully healthy New York Liberty in a five or seven-game playoff series.

I could be wrong, but I think there is a good chance that Diggins and Ogwumike play the rest of their career together. But will that be in Seattle? If it’s going to be in Seattle with the Storm, they are going to have to find a way to transition into more complementary pieces. If they’re struggling to lead the team to the playoffs now, I’m not confident that they will have more success as they turn 36, 37, 38, etc. Especially with the league likely expanding to 48-60 games soon.

2026 presents the Storm’s ownership group with a lot of different options. They can bring in a new coaching staff and try to add to this current group through Free Agency and the draft, and hope that it turns into something more than a fringe playoff team. But with the new CBA, the expansion teams, and the majority of the league being free agents, 2026 also offers the opportunity to wipe the slate clean.

Nneka and Skylar likely want to continue playing together, but if the Storm want to move on, could they work out a deal somehow? We don’t know what the official expansion rules will be for Toronto and Portland, as they may differ from the rules used for Golden State. I’ll need to do more research, but if it’s possible, maybe the Storm could leave Diggins unprotected in exchange for, say, the Portland Fire’s first-round pick. Maybe they have to give up their early second-round pick or the Aces’ late first-round pick, too, but it would be worth it if the team decided to usher in a new era.

We know Seattle could place the Core (franchise) tag on a player and then trade them. We’ve seen them do that with Natasha Howard in 2021. The Storm’s front office absolutely should look into this if they’re planning on doing a full or even partial rebuild.

A partial rebuild would be Seattle moving on from its oldest veterans (Diggins, Ogwumike, Wheeler), but trying to retain Gabby Williams, Ezi Magbegor, and possibly Brittney Sykes. Plus, Dominique Malonga, Jordan Horston, the future first-round picks, etc.

A complete rebuild would likely go with just a full youth movement of Dominique Malonga, Jordan Horston, Ezi Magbegor, and the 2026 first-round pick(s). This would ask Horston to step into a starting role. It would also require Magbegor to have a larger role on the offensive end. Similar to 2023, they would likely lose a lot of games. But ideally, LA misses the playoffs this year, and you combine a 2026 lottery pick with Dominique Malonga, plus maybe another lottery pick in 2027, and build around that core with Horston and Magbegor as well.

Is there a path that you prefer, Storm fans? Do you want them to stay the course and not make any major changes? Do you want them to run it back with these players, but with a new coaching staff? Or would you prefer a full or partial rebuild?

Post-Game Press Conference

*Note - due to the game being so early, I was still working my primary job and wasn’t able to do any post-game interviews.

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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