First, I’d like to say kudos to LA for bringing back Trammell as a special assistant coach. (Second note, whoever put Rickea on Sky as well was genius). I think Dallas pulled the trigger too fast on her (and Vickie Johnson before her). To those who have nothing good to say about Noey, I say we could be Dallas fans. Nobody can say the Storm haven’t given Noey a chance. I wish she’d said what she said about the refs sooner because I do feel like the squeaky wheel gets the oil.. We need to be in the ref’s ear and I don’t see that as often as I see opposing coaches do it.
So two things can be true. The refs are inconsistent and our defense fell apart.
I can’t find the stat break down per half, but I know they had 9FT to our 2…and I also know that Ezi was playing the 4th quarter and those 2 OTs with 5 fouls, and EW with 4fouls in OT getting her fifth on a ticky tacky foul that sent Plum to the line…
When your two best +\- are sitting with foul trouble (Ezi being our top defender), how do you defend? EW wasn’t doing anything that Plum was not doing to her. It’s hard for our best defenders to defend in foul trouble….and none of their (LAS) starters were in foul trouble until late into second OT…so they could keep playing aggressively.
Cameron Brink got into foul trouble in 12 minutes of gametime but she was also -12…It’s not like Hamby or Plum were playing any cleaner than Ezi or EW.
I don’t think we lost strictly because of the refs. Our bench is getting better, but lack of depth is definitely going to hurt us against deep teams…the thing is, LAS’ bench resembles ours. Cam Brink is a lot like Dom since she’s coming back from an injury she’s not quite herself yet…Burrell & VanLoo were not better than Mitchell or Brown this game…I just hope this lit a flame and wasn’t a soul crusher.
Oh, but the refs had nothing to do with us leaving Azure WIDE OPEN ( RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME btw) for not one but three corner 3s. So yeah, that’s 💯 defensive breakdown, but I do think the inconsistent calls in the paint hurt our paint D.
I agree completely and I'm sick about this loss that shouldn't have been. They should have played Dom more with Nneka and Ezi to stop all the layups and other points in the paint.
The refs did cost us this game, but our defense was really porous in this game. We let LA waltz to the rim for layups numerous times. IMO if Coach would have put Dominique in the game late along with Nneka and Ezi we could have stopped a lot of those killer layups and secured more rebounds, but Quinn has never used our 3 Bigs together for some reason and she lacks confidence in Dom in critical times, which is hard to justify. She needs to have more faith in Dom and I think she would have been rewarded if she did. Also, I don't know why AC wasn't playing at all. She could have played Skylar (or Erica) along with Gabby (or AC) plus our 3 bigs and I think we wouldn't be mourning a critical loss today. We fell from 3rd place to 6th place due to Noelle Quinn's mistakes IMO. That's not to say that LA is not a very talented team. They are stacked and getting much better. It was up to us to keep them from making the playoffs and we failed and we'll probably pay big time for that mistake.
After Hamby and Jackson repeatedly scored at the rim, I also questioned why the Storm didn't run with Malonga, Magbegor, and Ogwumike all in the lineup. They could still have Skylar and Gabby in the game. Wheeler has been good this season, but when the Sparks are scoring 60 points inside the paint and repeatedly doing in late in the 2nd half and in OT, why not throw an adjustment in there to see if Malonga alongside Ezi can prevent that from happening?
The call to give LA the ball after it clearly went off Plums hip cost the game. If Seattke got the ball up by 5 it would've been over. Refs had bets going on.
It was a great night to sit in a sports bar and watch a double overtime thriller on one tv and JP walk it off on another! The Local 907 in Renton thanks the Storm and Mariners for keeping me around to spend more money!
Also, as a Husky I have a hardtime rooting against Kelsey Plum. Was really hoping she would've came to Seattle.
Other than that out of bounds challenge, it's hard for me to be too mad about this one. LA's got a squad. I pity the team that gets them in the first round of the playoffs. And they will be in the playoffs.
I agree they are looking good, and although this game didn’t reflect it, I would say their bench is in better shape than ours. As I wrote earlier, I think hiring Trammell was brilliant.
Where *I* see ref inconsistency…is the lack of and 1s we get. I feel like we “got to the line” *almost* as much due to getting into bonus in the second half. I would be really curious to see what our percentage of +1s. I know they miss fouls that we do too, but Dom got mauled on her (I believe) second to last score and the refs must have swallowed their whistle….and the late whistles these last couple of seasons on missed shots are groan worthy—-if it’s a foul, call it IMO.
If it's the play I'm thinking of, I saw Dom get hit in the hand around 3 times before she finished her layup. I was shocked that it wasn't whistled a foul because it could have been called on a couple of Sparks players.
First, I’d like to say kudos to LA for bringing back Trammell as a special assistant coach. (Second note, whoever put Rickea on Sky as well was genius). I think Dallas pulled the trigger too fast on her (and Vickie Johnson before her). To those who have nothing good to say about Noey, I say we could be Dallas fans. Nobody can say the Storm haven’t given Noey a chance. I wish she’d said what she said about the refs sooner because I do feel like the squeaky wheel gets the oil.. We need to be in the ref’s ear and I don’t see that as often as I see opposing coaches do it.
So two things can be true. The refs are inconsistent and our defense fell apart.
I can’t find the stat break down per half, but I know they had 9FT to our 2…and I also know that Ezi was playing the 4th quarter and those 2 OTs with 5 fouls, and EW with 4fouls in OT getting her fifth on a ticky tacky foul that sent Plum to the line…
When your two best +\- are sitting with foul trouble (Ezi being our top defender), how do you defend? EW wasn’t doing anything that Plum was not doing to her. It’s hard for our best defenders to defend in foul trouble….and none of their (LAS) starters were in foul trouble until late into second OT…so they could keep playing aggressively.
Cameron Brink got into foul trouble in 12 minutes of gametime but she was also -12…It’s not like Hamby or Plum were playing any cleaner than Ezi or EW.
I don’t think we lost strictly because of the refs. Our bench is getting better, but lack of depth is definitely going to hurt us against deep teams…the thing is, LAS’ bench resembles ours. Cam Brink is a lot like Dom since she’s coming back from an injury she’s not quite herself yet…Burrell & VanLoo were not better than Mitchell or Brown this game…I just hope this lit a flame and wasn’t a soul crusher.
Oh, but the refs had nothing to do with us leaving Azure WIDE OPEN ( RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME btw) for not one but three corner 3s. So yeah, that’s 💯 defensive breakdown, but I do think the inconsistent calls in the paint hurt our paint D.
That's pick your poison though. If you don't help off Stevens, they cut to the basket for an open layup.
This is why LA is so dangerous now. The frontcourt of Jackson, Hamby, and Stevens is sick.
In one possession LA had like 3 offensive rebounds.
Ezi left her wide open multiple times.
I agree completely and I'm sick about this loss that shouldn't have been. They should have played Dom more with Nneka and Ezi to stop all the layups and other points in the paint.
The refs did cost us this game, but our defense was really porous in this game. We let LA waltz to the rim for layups numerous times. IMO if Coach would have put Dominique in the game late along with Nneka and Ezi we could have stopped a lot of those killer layups and secured more rebounds, but Quinn has never used our 3 Bigs together for some reason and she lacks confidence in Dom in critical times, which is hard to justify. She needs to have more faith in Dom and I think she would have been rewarded if she did. Also, I don't know why AC wasn't playing at all. She could have played Skylar (or Erica) along with Gabby (or AC) plus our 3 bigs and I think we wouldn't be mourning a critical loss today. We fell from 3rd place to 6th place due to Noelle Quinn's mistakes IMO. That's not to say that LA is not a very talented team. They are stacked and getting much better. It was up to us to keep them from making the playoffs and we failed and we'll probably pay big time for that mistake.
After Hamby and Jackson repeatedly scored at the rim, I also questioned why the Storm didn't run with Malonga, Magbegor, and Ogwumike all in the lineup. They could still have Skylar and Gabby in the game. Wheeler has been good this season, but when the Sparks are scoring 60 points inside the paint and repeatedly doing in late in the 2nd half and in OT, why not throw an adjustment in there to see if Malonga alongside Ezi can prevent that from happening?
The call to give LA the ball after it clearly went off Plums hip cost the game. If Seattke got the ball up by 5 it would've been over. Refs had bets going on.
IMO that was THE most egregious bad call and it makes me sick to think that was about gambling.
That was clearly the wrong call that cost the Storm the game. Could that get reviewed by the league even though it won't change the outcome?
It was a great night to sit in a sports bar and watch a double overtime thriller on one tv and JP walk it off on another! The Local 907 in Renton thanks the Storm and Mariners for keeping me around to spend more money!
Also, as a Husky I have a hardtime rooting against Kelsey Plum. Was really hoping she would've came to Seattle.
I must be the only Husky who doesn’t care for her 😂
Other than that out of bounds challenge, it's hard for me to be too mad about this one. LA's got a squad. I pity the team that gets them in the first round of the playoffs. And they will be in the playoffs.
I agree they are looking good, and although this game didn’t reflect it, I would say their bench is in better shape than ours. As I wrote earlier, I think hiring Trammell was brilliant.
Where *I* see ref inconsistency…is the lack of and 1s we get. I feel like we “got to the line” *almost* as much due to getting into bonus in the second half. I would be really curious to see what our percentage of +1s. I know they miss fouls that we do too, but Dom got mauled on her (I believe) second to last score and the refs must have swallowed their whistle….and the late whistles these last couple of seasons on missed shots are groan worthy—-if it’s a foul, call it IMO.
If it's the play I'm thinking of, I saw Dom get hit in the hand around 3 times before she finished her layup. I was shocked that it wasn't whistled a foul because it could have been called on a couple of Sparks players.