Fire Defeat the Storm 94-89 Part 2

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

The Seattle Storm lost their 9th game in a row after another competitive, heartbreaking loss. This time, it was to the Portland Fire, as the I-5 Rivalry was renewed after 23 long years. Despite incredible performances from Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam, the Storm fell 94-89. If you missed the full game recap, you can read it at the link below.

For Part 2, I talked about the WNBA’s announcement to expand the regular season to 50 games, discussed more about analytical basketball, and am thinking about how losing games is totally fine until it’s not. I’ve also included the pre-game and post-game interviews with Coach Sonia Raman, and post-game player interviews with Dominique Malonga and Natisha Hiedeman.

WNBA to Expand to 50 Games

The league made it official in a major announcement on Wednesday morning. The WNBA will be expanding its regular season to 50 games starting next season in 2027. Women’s basketball continues to grow. The increased exposure has led to higher ratings, more money for the players, and more ticket sales for the owners. There are several more TV networks involved in producing the WNBA now as well.

It wasn’t that long ago that the WNBA’s annual sports media rights were valued at around $12 million/year. The league recently signed an 11-year media rights deal worth well over $2 Billion or more than $200 million/year. It is not a surprise that those media companies are going to want more games to air on their networks and streaming services, where they can earn significantly more money in advertising dollars.

I saw this coming. In fact, back in 2022, I interviewed Breanna Stewart after she had re-signed in Seattle for one more season. Around that time, there was starting to be a lot of controversy around the prioritization rules and how that was going to impact players who were trying to earn a living by playing overseas. The writing was on the wall. The WNBA was looking to extend its regular season to keep athletes stateside. The league went from 34 games per season to 40 games in 2023. That number increased again in 2025 to 44 games/season as the league added its first expansion franchise since 2008, the Golden State Valkyries.

Going back to my article, I specifically asked Stewie if she could see the WNBA expanding to 50 games within 5-8 years from now (in 2022). And they will be expanding to 50 games exactly five years from when that interview took place. Gold Star for me.

Stewart responded by saying, “Yeah, I think the goal for the WNBA is that they want to make the season longer, but have the majority of the chunk of the season still in the summer. But it just gets really complicated with overseas and international events, things like that. Luckily, that’s not my job to figure out how to make it all work. I’m just going to be the one that shows up and plays.”

This news also isn’t surprising because of how many new expansion franchises the league is bringing into the fold in a relatively short order. It’s not quite the PWHL expanding by four teams in one season, but the WNBA will go from 12 teams in 2024 to 18 teams by 2030.

In 2028, the league will have 16 teams. If each team played all the other teams three times each, that is 45 games right there. By the time the WNBA expands to 18 teams, that number would increase to 51 games. I believe the latest CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) maxes out at a 50-game season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that number eventually grows to 55-70 games if the league expands to over 20 teams.

Ideally, I’d prefer they don’t increase much more than 50 with the next CBA. The NBA regular season is 82 games, but most believe it’s too long. It’s why several star players started just sitting out games due to “Load Management”. Professional athletes are so much bigger, faster, and more athletic these days that it’s a larger strain on their bodies compared to the 50’s-70’s. 50 games is already significantly more than 34 games, which was the league standard in the WNBA for nearly two decades (2003 to 2024 minus 2020 and 2021). We’ve seen too many injuries, especially ACL tears, in the WNBA, which will definitely be a concern as the league continues to increase the number of games each year.

I’ll be curious to see how the schedule looks once the other expansion teams are added. They might have to start doing what the NBA does, where the West teams only play the East teams two times each every year. And they play more games against teams within their own conference. We’ll also get to a point where there will likely be discussions on whether they should go back to an East/West playoff bracket like they used to before the league switched to the best eight teams overall. However, that’s a different topic for another day.

What do you all think about the increase to 50 games per season? Are you excited for even more WNBA action throughout the year? Are there any concerns? When the next CBA comes around several years down the road, do you envision they’ll increase the WNBA season to 60 or even 70 games?

Why Teams Shoot 3’s

I’ve already lamented my frustrations when basketball teams go heavy into analytics. None worse than the recent Golden State Valkyries game, where they made just 8-37 FG from beyond the arc. The 22% on their long-range shots, with several of them being nowhere close to the rim, is just bad basketball. It’s not fun, and it’s not very enjoyable to watch.

However, when a team does it right, it is often the difference maker between wins and losses. Wednesday night’s contest between Seattle and Portland is a perfect example of this. The Storm significantly outshot the Fire 48% (32-67 FG) to 39% (27-70 FG). And Seattle was very good from the 3-PT range as well at 38% (9-24 FG). But Portland was even better. Not only did they shoot a higher percentage (40%), but they took 18 more attempts and made eight more from deep. The Fire did analytical basketball right by shooting 40% on a high-volume of 3-PT shots. Shooting 40% from three is better than shooting 50% from inside the arc, and most teams can’t even do that. Seattle outshot Portland by nearly 10% points, but it didn’t matter because the Fire took and made more three-pointers.

The first-half numbers were even greater. Seattle outshot Portland 55% (18-33 FG) to 41% (13-32 FG), but the Fire took six more three-pointers and scored nine more points than Seattle from the three-point line. Those are pretty startling numbers. One team shot 55%, which is exceptional, and shot nearly 15% better than their opponent, and yet only led by one point at halftime. That’s why the NBA game has changed so much, and the midrange and low-post games have almost disappeared entirely. It’s just threes, layups, or dunks.

It’s why the Golden State Valkyries lead the WNBA in three-point field goal attempts (466) and three-point field goals made (172). They’re also second in the league in 3-PT FG % at 37%, only trailing the Minnesota Lynx, who shoots 39% from beyond the arc. And while I blasted the Valkyries for their ugly style of play against Seattle in their 76-72 victory on June 12th, I will give them their credit. They have great coaching, and their system clearly works. They became the first expansion franchise to make the playoffs in their first season and won 23 games to boot. This year, they are currently 5th in the WNBA standings with a 10-5 record.

I wasn’t able to watch their game since it took place at the same time as Seattle took on Portland, but the Valkyries had an impressive 91-80 win over the Dallas Wings. In that game, Golden State shot 12-25 FG (48%) from beyond the arc. When a team is making 12-25 FG like GSV or 17-42 FG like Portland, they’re going to win a lot of basketball games.

I should also note, it’s not like the Storm don’t do any of this. That’s far from the truth. Seattle ranks 4th in three-point field goal attempts (404) and 5th in makes (135). However, the team is 9th in 3-PT FG % at 33.4%. That’s where they still need to make improvements.

In some ways, Seattle was at the forefront of all of this. During their championship seasons in 2018 and 2020, they shot tons of three-pointers. In 2018, they led the WNBA in all three categories of 3-PT FGA (816), 3-PT FGM (307), and 3-PT FG% (38%). In 2020, Seattle was 7th in 3-PT FGA (470), but still ranked #2 in 3-PT FGM (185) and just decimal % points behind LA for 1st place in 3-PT FG% (39%).

The 2020 WNBA Finals specifically were an exercise in new-school basketball (analytics) versus old-school basketball. The Seattle Storm absolutely destroyed the Las Vegas Aces in a three-game sweep, culminating in a 92-59 victory. That year, the Aces shot a league-low 254 attempts from the 3-PT line and made just 93.

It was at that moment that Bill Laimbeer realized his style of basketball no longer fit the modern game. In turn, the Aces hired Becky Hammon, who completely changed the team’s approach and taught Jackie Young and A’ja Wilson how to make three-pointers. Ever since then, Las Vegas has won three out of the last four WNBA championships. So I guess, in an odd way, it’s the Storm’s fault for creating the monster that has been this Aces’ Dynasty. Thank you for that.

Losing is OK Until it’s Not

If you were paying attention, you knew this was likely to be a tough season in Seattle. A team doesn’t lose players like Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, and Gabby Williams and continue to compete at the same level that they were a year ago. Even more so when many of the responsibilities fall to two rookies (Awa Fam and Flau’jae Johnson) and a second-year player who is 20 years old (Dominique Malonga).

It is easy for me to sit here and say that the best thing for the franchise is for them to lose as many games as possible and get the highest draft pick possible for the 2027 WNBA Draft. The dream scenario is landing the #1 overall pick, likely to be JuJu Watkins, and adding her to a team that already includes promising young prospects in Malonga, Fam, and Johnson. But even just adding another Top 5 lottery talent could help lead the Storm to their 5th WNBA title.

While all of that is true, there comes a time when the losing can break players. Dominique Malonga looked dejected on the court in the final seconds after Seattle blew a five-point lead in the final two minutes of the game. Both her and Natisha Hiedeman looked visibly frustrated and disappointed during the post-game press conference.

Speaking on what went wrong, Dominique Malonga stated.

“It’s always the same. We need to rebound better. We need to be cleaner. Foul less and stay disciplined.”

The follow-up question asked if it was youthful mistakes and how they can improve closing out games.

“We just don’t want to do these mistakes anymore. Of course, we can work more in practice, but those are things like rebounding. Fouling is just staying disciplined. We can practice that 10 times, but if we don’t want to do it, then we won’t do it. It’s just efforts and whatever we want to leave on the court.” Malonga added.

Percy Allen asked Hiedeman how the locker room was after the game.

“The mood sucks right now. We just lost like five minutes ago, so yeah, it sucks. Like Dom said, it’s the same thing (problems). Rebounding, fouling too much. I think those things are controllable, so just lock in and hone in on them more. I think overall, we’ll be a better team, but right now, the games are just running together.” Hiedeman replied.

Seattle has now lost nine games in a row. They have four more games in June to pick up a win, otherwise they will go winless this month. They are now one loss away from tying the franchise record set in 2023. That season, they finished 11-29. I’m not sure Seattle gets to 10 wins this year.

While looking over the team’s schedule a week ago or so, I circled these three games. At home against Golden State, on the road against the Portland Fire, and on the road against the Phoenix Mercury. I felt like the Storm’s best chance to get another victory would occur during that three-game span. They lost to the Valkyries 76-72 and to the Fire 94-89. If they don’t pick up a win on Saturday against the Mercury, their next slate of games is against the Dallas Wings (9-6), the New York Liberty (11-4), and the Atlanta Dream (9-4). May was the easiest month on their schedule, and the team went 3-6. The team is currently at risk of going 0-11 in June.

The concern now is how losing impacts the players mentally. The goal is to build and develop, while avoiding creating a toxic, losing culture. They might reach a point where the players start bickering with one another, or the coach could lose the locker room. If the team loses too many games, the players could start tuning out the coach and what she’s trying to teach.

I believe Coach Raman was brought into a rebuild situation, knowing that this year was likely more about development than it was competing for a playoff spot. In no circumstance do I believe that the team should consider firing the coach after one bad season, especially after the team lost its top five scorers and rebuilt the roster around youth. Even if Seattle went winless the rest of the way and finished the year 3-41. I still don’t think it would be fair to replace the coach after just one season.

But right now the team is in a dangerous spot. The frustration is mounting. The negative thoughts are increasing. The doubts are creeping in. It is up to Coach Raman and her staff to keep the team afloat, mentally and competitively, if nothing else.

The Storm have a strong history of success. It is up to the coaches, the players, and those within the organization to make sure these low moments and down years don’t carry over from one season to the next. You don’t want the team to turn into the New York Jets or the Cleveland Browns. The Sacramento Kings in the NBA. Sadly, the Seattle Mariners were that team for 20 years. The Seattle Kraken might be headed down that path as well.

I look at this as a two-year rebuild. I predicted they would finish 13th, ahead of Connecticut and Portland. Right now, they’re 14th and only ahead of the 2-14 Connecticut Sun. With the growth they have had this year, the expectation is to be more competitive next season, where they probably still miss the playoffs, but they’re knocking on the door. And in 2028, Seattle should be a playoff team. They just have to get through this tough season right now.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Coach Raman Pregame:

Coach Raman Postgame:

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

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