Mystics Beat Storm 74-69 Part 2

Additional thoughts, interviews, and discussion from Seattle's loss to the Mystics

The Washington Mystics rallied from 10 points down in the 4th quarter to defeat the Seattle Storm 74-69. They limited Seattle to fewer than 20 points in three of the four periods, including just 10 points in the opening quarter. Their defense forced Seattle into 17 turnovers. If you missed it, you can read my full game recap here.

In Part 2, I wrote about the debate of choosing between Dominique Malonga and Kiki Iriafen in the draft, and how the Washington Mystics are building their team the right way. I discuss how, in a weird way, this loss benefits Seattle, and talk about the importance of trust. Plus, I’ve included the post-game press conference video and audio interviews.

Iriafen versus Malonga

Before the 2025 WNBA Draft, I wrote multiple articles about the Storm having the #2 overall draft pick and the directions they could go. This article (linked) is worth a re-read. But I’ll highlight some of the main points I discussed from that article.

On Dominique Malonga’s potential, but also concerns.

With her size, dribbling and shooting ability, and the way that she can move, Dominique Malonga has the potential to be a star player in the WNBA. I read somewhere that her ceiling could be Jonquel Jones. She seems to have the size, length, and skills to play similar to JJ, Breanna Stewart, or Ezi Magbegor. But she is still very raw and young. She will need time to develop. She is also very thin and will need to put on a lot of muscle to be able to battle down low against bigger players like Jonquel or A’ja Wilson. She gets knocked around a little too easily right now… Lastly, Dominique Malonga is only 19 years old and is still pretty raw with her skill set. Even if she joins the Storm in 2025, she may not be able to be a legitimate contributor for another 2-3 years. By then, players like Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith (if they are still with the team) could be on the verge of retirement.

On the risk/reward of selecting either player.

I consider Iriafen to be the more pro-ready prospect between her and Dominique Malonga. I also believe she likely has a higher floor, whereas Malonga has the higher ceiling. Malonga could potentially reach Jonquel or Stewie MVP levels, but she could also fizzle out and not be able to compete against the WNBA’s best. I feel Iriafen could be a strong role player/average starter, or she could become a WNBA All-Star, but may never be a dominant player that completely takes over a season.

Lastly, on why the Storm could choose Malonga or Iriafen.

If they select Dominique Malonga, it’s because they believe she has the highest ceiling of any player available to them, and they aren’t concerned about the risks involved with taking an International player. And if they end up taking Kiki Iriafen, it’s because they believe she has just as much potential as Malonga without the extra risks involved.

Looking back at that, I almost want to pat myself on the back. Pretty much everything I wrote back in late March holds true today. Kiki Iriafen is the better player right now. Iriafen earned a starting role with the Washington Mystics. And was surprisingly named to the All-Star team already in her rookie season.

I will say Iriafen has played above my expectations this season, in that I didn’t expect her to be an All-Star in her first year. And she’s probably looked better in her first year in the WNBA than she did while playing at USC. With that said, everything I wrote about Dom has also been true.

Malonga has not been as good as Iriafen this season. Dominique is playing fewer minutes than Kiki. At 19 years old, she is still making mistakes, whether it’s traveling, three seconds in the key, or something else. Halfway through her rookie season, Malonga likely won’t be named to the All-Rookie team (meaning she isn’t one of the five best rookies this season). She’s not having a consistent, legitimate impact for the Storm this year in 2025. And she might not until Nneka Ogwumike is off the team or retired.

And yet, Dominique Malonga has already taken over two games this season that led to Seattle Storm wins. Her first big moment was in Seattle’s 94-84 win as the first team to defeat the Minnesota Lynx this season. Malonga’s impact in the 3rd quarter of the game changed all the momentum. She scored eight points on 4-5 FG shooting and grabbed four rebounds in limited minutes. Dom also made things very difficult for Napheesa Collier, forcing the presumptive MVP into two badly missed shots.

The second game was more recently in one of Seattle’s best wins of the season, their 79-70 victory over the New York Liberty. In that game, Malonga scored 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds in 10 minutes of action, all in the second half. The Storm were leading by four points, and within around five minutes of Malonga entering the game, the Storm led by 17 points. She scored 11 of those points and forced both Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu into badly missed shots. She was the difference maker at 19 years old.

If you’re ever frustrated after watching the Storm lose games to the Valkyries, the Sun, or the Mystics. Do yourself a favor and go back and watch on WNBA League Pass that five-minute span of the New York Liberty game from the 3:00 minute mark of the third period to around the 8:00 mark of the 4th quarter.

That’s what we’re talking about when we say Dominique Malonga can be a legitimate game-changer. But if you were hoping it was going to happen all the time this season, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

I’m not certain if Kiki Iriafen has completely taken over any game this season. Maybe her 17 points and 14 rebounds performance against the Connecticut Sun, or her 17 points and 13 rebounds against the Las Vegas Aces. But I would have to go back and watch the game film to see. She’s obviously had several good games already. Iriafen scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games to begin her WNBA career, and has reached double-digit scoring in 16 of her 21 games this season. She’s also already had seven double-doubles this season. There is no doubt that she is a very talented player.

Entering this game, Kiki Iriafen was averaging 12.2 PPG on 46% FG shooting, 8.4 RPG, and 1.4 APG. She plays 28 MPG. If we extend her numbers to a full 40 MPG, she would average 18.1 PPG, 12.5 RPG, and 2.1 APG.

Meanwhile, Malonga was averaging 4.5 PPG on 51% FG shooting, 2.8 RPG, and 0.7 APG in 9.1 MPG. Her per 40 MPG increase her numbers to 20.1 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 3.2 APG. So while Iriafen is clearly a much more productive player this year, a fair amount of that is the fact that she’s already a starter, averaging nearly 30 minutes per game, while Malonga is lucky if she gets 10 minutes per game.

The two players are in completely different situations. Kiki is playing for a team that is trying to rebuild with youth. She is on a team where two of their starters are rookies. Meanwhile, Dominique Malonga is playing behind 10-time All-Star and former MVP Nneka Ogwumike and former All-Star Ezi Magbegor. If Seattle had drafted Iriafen instead of Malonga back in April, I guarantee you she wouldn’t be putting up her same numbers if she were playing for the Storm. She might be trusted by Quinn to play a larger role, but nowhere near the 28 MPG she’s getting with the Mystics.

I still believe the Storm made the right choice in drafting Malonga despite Iriafen’s impressive start to her WNBA career. Realistically, we probably won’t be able to judge too much until Malonga is in her 3rd season, when she is the same age as Kiki Iriafen is now. However, Kiki is proving that she is worthy of a lottery selection and would have still been a great pick had the Storm selected her #2 overall.

Mystics Youth Movement

The Washington Mystics appear to be a team building the right way through the draft. They knew they weren’t going to be a Championship contender after losing many players of their 2019 Championship core, including Emma Meesseman, Elena Delle Donne, and Natasha Cloud. They decided to trade one of their remaining star players, Ariel Atkins, for a lottery draft pick (#3 overall) in this past WNBA Draft. That gave them two lottery picks. They also had the 6th overall pick, which they acquired from Dallas via Atlanta as part of the Stephanie Soares trade.

With their two lottery selections, they drafted Sonia Citron (3rd overall) and Kiki Iriafen (4th overall). Then they took Georgia Amoore 6th overall. We’ll have to wait at least one more year before we know how Amoore will do in the WNBA, as she sadly tore her ACL in training camp. However, we already know that the Mystics have hit with their two lottery picks. Both were named to the WNBA All-Star team.

The interesting thing for the Mystics is that they traded away Ariel Atkins for the lottery pick. They also traded away Karlie Samuelson, who had a very solid season for them in 2024, for the Minnesota Lynx’s first-round pick in 2026. Even if that ends up being the last pick of the first round, that’s still great value for Samuelson. By trading away two quality players, including their remaining star, Washington wasn’t looking to compete for the title this season. They were building for the future.

And yet, when you draft well. Your rebuild can be very quick. Most WNBA media, including me, did not expect the Washington Mystics to be a playoff team this year. As we approach the midway point, D.C. is currently the 7th seed and would make the playoffs if the season ended today.

While the team is led by Brittney Sykes, all of their other top players are rookies or younger players, including Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Shakira Austin, Aaliyah Edwards, and Jade Melbourne.

If you’re a Mystics fan, you have to be thrilled with what the team is doing this season and how their youngest players are producing. It also should be encouraging because there is the potential to get even better as the season goes on, and over the next couple of years.

The Storm Lost. It’s OK … Sorta

Look, it’s never a great thing for the Storm to lose basketball games. But there are certain teams in the league where it can be beneficial. The Washington Mystics and Golden State Valkyries are two of those teams.

It has everything to do with Seattle’s future draft picks. Before this season tipped off, neither the Washington Mystics nor the Golden State Valkyries were expected to be competing for playoff spots. However, both teams have been playing above expectations. We are only halfway through the season, but both teams are currently positioned to be in the playoffs or at least compete for playoff spots.

That’s important for the Storm because they own both the Los Angeles’ and Las Vegas’ first-round picks next season. If both of those teams miss the playoffs, the Storm would be guaranteed two Top 5 draft picks. And while it’s very improbable, it’s not impossible that Seattle could end up with the #1 and #2 overall picks if both the Aces and Sparks were to miss the playoffs. Honestly, even if they end up with #3 and #5, they would be in a great position for the future.

If either the Mystics or the Valkyries make the playoffs, I just can’t see the Los Angeles Sparks making the playoffs. If the Storm can’t win the championship this season, and as the losses mount up, that appears to be less and less likely, the next best thing that can happen for the franchise is that the Los Angeles Sparks miss the playoffs. If that happens, that’ll guarantee the Storm a Top 4 pick, but they will likely have the best or second-best odds to land the #1 overall pick.

Trust

Just a couple of games ago, I wrote about the “Bench Concerns”. Go back and read that if you missed it.

I said, “Is Seattle’s bench not playing enough, and that’s why they aren’t producing? Or are they not producing enough, and therefore, they aren’t getting more playing time? Are the bench problems and lack of production a talent and roster issue? Or is it a Coaching issue?”

The Storm’s bench wasn’t very good last season. Their best player was Jordan Horston. They didn’t get much production from older veterans Sami Whitcomb, Mercedes Russell, Victoria Vivians, or Joyner Holmes. This season, the bench looked to be improved, but obviously got weaker once Erica Wheeler moved into the starting lineup and Li Yueru was traded away.

In that previous article, I wrote about whether Seattle’s bench issues were a roster issue or a coaching issue. Well, if we look at last year’s group, the answer would be … both.

Victoria Vivians didn’t make a WNBA roster this season. Joyner Holmes was cut in training camp by the Dallas Wings, joined the Las Vegas Aces for a few games, and then was cut by the Aces. Mercedes Russell signed with the LA Sparks, had the least productive season of her career, and was just cut by the Sparks this week. But then you have Sami Whitcomb.

Whitcomb shot a career-low 29% from three-point range last season and tied for a career-low 34% shooting overall. Her minutes were reduced from around 25 MPG as a part-time starter in Seattle in 2023 to around 15 MPG in 2024. Sami joined the Phoenix Mercury and, due to some of their injuries, has been a starter for most of the season. She’s back up to 26 MPG and averaging 11.1 PPG (her 2nd highest of her career) and shooting 37% from long distance.

This leads me to believe a couple of things. Obviously, any player’s production is going to go up when they get more minutes. It’s not just about the production, but also about the type of rhythm and comfort level players get into with those extended minutes. Was Whitcomb’s shooting percentage so poor in 2024 because she was too old and “washed”? Or was it because she didn’t have a consistent role, didn’t get into a rhythm with consistent minutes?

Fast forward to 2025, and the Storm’s bench now has more youth on it. Malonga is the big one at 19 years old, but Mackenzie Holmes is also a rookie, and Zia Cooke is just in her third season in the WNBA.

Youth is great. It can be really great when young, talented players hit like we’ve seen with the Washington Mystics this season. The problem is, I don’t think Coach Quinn trusts her younger players. Looking at the box score of this particular game. Three minutes for Dominique Malonga. Two minutes for Zia Cooke. No minutes for Mackenzie Holmes.

Seattle’s oldest veterans, Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins, are playing heavy minutes game in and game out. After 20+ games of that, we’re seeing slow starts and bad fourth quarters happen more frequently. Ogwumike, one of the most efficient players in the history of the league, shot 5-15 FG. Diggins made 4-14 FG.

The Storm’s youngest players aren’t able to produce consistently because they aren’t given consistent roles. They aren’t given consistent minutes. This is happening because there is not enough trust in them to not make mistakes.

I am not trying to compare my experience as a youth and AAU basketball coach to be anywhere near the equivalent of coaching professionally in the WNBA. But I can speak on this. There is a lot of pressure when coaching at any level. And to reduce the heat or pressure, it is easy to rely on the best players to win you games. Even if it means not giving certain players very many minutes, if any at all. I think Quinn might be playing her starters too much as a crutch.

Unfortunately, this results in the worst of both worlds; the reserves aren’t able to develop, build chemistry, or be as productive as they potentially could be. And the starters are overworked and ultimately run out of steam as the season progresses. Until there is more trust in using the bench, we will continue to see these types of games play out with the Storm.

Post-Game Press Conference

If you prefer the audio versions, I’ve posted them below.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Notes:
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Photo Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography

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