(Seattle, WA) - Another poor start by the Seattle Storm (8-32) cost them again. This time in a Sunday matinee matchup against the LA Sparks (15-25). Los Angeles jumped out to an 18-2 lead and never looked back. Seattle only rarely cut the deficit to single digits, and the Sparks led by as many as 26 points in the 2nd half. The road team eventually cruised to a 90-74 victory over the Storm.
Coach Raman talked about her team’s poor start.
“Credit to LA, you know, defensively. I thought they came out with just a lot of pressure, physicality, but I still thought we generated enough good shots, didn’t fall. I think that we know we can’t let our offense dictate our defense. So I think that we started to let up, give up some transition buckets. Their shots were just too easy in that 1st quarter while we were struggling. So being able to find ways to continue to impact the game when shots aren’t falling is really important.” Raman stated.
Rookie Flau’jae Johnson led the team with 19 points on 7-18 FG shooting. She was one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise lackluster effort by Seattle. Dominique Malonga finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and two blocked shots. Zia Cooke was the only other Storm player to score in double figures in this game. She added 14 points, but was inefficient with her shot, making just 6-17 FG.
Johnson also talked to the media in the post-game about the team’s rough start.
“That’s inexcusable. But they shot lights out. Nneka came back and was like, ‘This is my court’, you know what I’m saying? Barely missed. But no, I think it’s just really on us. We gotta be accountable. We’re never gonna win games when we start like that. It’s not gonna happen because we gotta dig to get back up when we shouldn’t be that down, so it was terrible. I don’t think we was all ready, like all here to play today.” She said.
Flau’jae went on to say, “We got to look in the mirror and go on this break and be like, what are we gonna do for the rest of the season? Because that’s where my mind is at. What are we gonna do? How are we gonna end this? You know what I’m saying, going into next year? Because that’s what I’m focusing on, like, getting better to go back into next year.”
Natisha Hiedeman missed her fourth consecutive game as she remains out with a left shoulder injury. Seattle’s offense has really struggled in her absence, especially to start games where they have fallen behind by double-digits in three of their last four games in the first period. The Storm have lost all three of those games.
I asked Coach Raman about the team’s struggles with offensive execution.