Storm Drub Sky 95-57 Part 2

Additional thoughts, interviews, and discussion from Seattle's win over the Sky.

The Seattle Storm got back on the right track after their poor performance against the Dallas Wings on Tuesday. On Thursday, they took their frustrations out on an undermanned Chicago Sky team. Seattle led wire-to-wire and controlled the game dominantly, ultimately securing a 95-57 win over the Chicago Sky. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap here.

In Part 2, I reflected on my recent take and took a look at some frustrating moves made by the Chicago Sky’s front office. I wrote about the importance of Lexie Brown and spoke with Dominique Malonga about the bench’s strong game. Plus, I’ve included some of the best post-game interview quotes and the post-game press conference in video and audio forms.

Chicago’s Bad Decisions

After Tuesday’s horrendous loss against the Dallas Wings, I questioned some of the Storm’s roster decisions after watching Haley Jones play an excellent game against Seattle. She put up 10 points, six rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and two steals. It was her second strong performance in a row and third time over the past five games where she’s made a legitimate positive impact off the bench for the Wings. The former 2021 NCAA Most Outstanding Player and 6th overall draft pick seemed like a player Seattle could have really used on their bench, especially with Jordan Horston being lost for the season. She has also been made available multiple times this year, where the Storm had the opportunity to pick her up (yes, they would have been forced to cut someone else).

I don’t know if Haley Jones will ever be a primary starter in this league. She’ll probably never be an All-Star. But I’m quite confident that she can be a solid contributor off the bench. And I do think she could have helped Seattle this season had they picked her up.

While I am critical of not acquiring Jones when they had the chance, I have also praised Seattle’s front office, General Manager Talisa Rhea, Assistant GM Pokey Chatman, and anyone else involved in the trades and decisions.

I thought a best-case scenario for Jewell Loyd would be getting the Sky’s #3 overall draft pick. Instead, they got the Sparks’ #2 overall pick, the Aces’ 2026 first-round pick, and Li Yueru. And while Yueru didn’t work out in Seattle due to the logjam, they were then able to trade her for future second-round and third-round picks. Meanwhile, Loyd is having arguably the worst season of her career in Las Vegas.

I also believe Jordan Horston is the second-best player in the 2023 WNBA Draft if the league were to re-draft those players today, and Seattle’s FO took her 9th overall.

Rhea and Chatman also probably don’t get enough credit for landing both Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike in Free Agency in 2024. Yes, it cost them their 2024 Lottery selection (4th overall), which probably would have been Rickea Jackson by Quinn’s own admission, but it also could have been Aaliyah Edwards or Angel Reese, and all three of them would have been great additions to Seattle’s young nucleus. And while the LA Sparks are starting to get hot, as I predicted they would, there is still probably a better than 50/50 chance that the Sparks will miss the playoffs, and if they do, Seattle gets their lottery pick back in 2026.

I reiterate all of these moves because I think it’s easy to get frustrated when moves that seem very smart and logical aren’t made. We have to appreciate the ones that were made that worked out well for the Storm.

And as I thought about all of this, I thought about how irate I would be if I were a fan of the Chicago Sky, or if I were covering the Chicago Sky, and general interest in the team directly affected my income.

Unless you’re the New York Liberty, you generally can’t cheat the team-building process. The Storm’s rebuild from 2014 through 2020 is about as perfect as it gets. Seattle was awful for two seasons, landed #1 overall picks Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart in back-to-back years. Reached the playoffs, but lost in the first round two years in a row because they were still young and inexperienced, and they didn’t have quite enough help yet. Then they put it all together in 2018 to win the WNBA Championship. If it weren’t for Stewie’s Achilles, they probably would have won the 2019 Championship, too. And then they did win the 2020 title once Stewie and Sue Bird were healthy again.

Las Vegas (and San Antonio) were similar in that they had two rough seasons that resulted in them landing Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson. As great as Wilson was, they still missed the playoffs and lucked into their third #1 overall pick in a row to acquire Jackie Young. But even after nailing all three picks, they still had to go through trials and tribulations. In 2019, they lost in the semifinals to the eventual champions, the Washington Mystics. In 2020, they made the WNBA Finals but were overmatched by the Storm. In 2021, they were upset in the semifinals by Skylar Diggins, Brittney Griner, and Diana Taurasi. Finally, in 2022, they were able to overcome the Storm, something they couldn’t do in 2020. They beat Connecticut for their first title and won their second championship a year later against the New York Liberty. But they paid their dues.

It feels like the Chicago Sky tried to skip some steps in the process. Instead of being patient and continuing to build through the draft like they should have, General Manager Jeff Pagliocca tried to rush the process. He traded away the team’s third overall pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft to the Washington Mystics to acquire Ariel Atkins. Atkins is a fine player, but she’s not a superstar. She’s made two All-Star selections, but has never made All-WNBA First or Second team in her career. Plus, she’s an Unrestricted Free Agent after this year. I just don’t see how that was going to be better than having the third-best player in the draft on a rookie-scale contract to pair with two other young players in Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.

If you’re heading into the draft, you know Paige Bueckers is going number one overall. You’re probably not 100% certain who Seattle is going to select second, but you have an idea. It’s either going to be Dominique Malonga, Kiki Iriafen, or Sonia Citron. Maybe Pagliocca feared Seattle would take Citron since she was a position of need, and he was set at Power Forward (Reese) and Center (Cardoso) already. But even still, do you think the Washington Mystics are upset they drafted Iriafen just because they had Aaliyah Edwards? Plus, if he didn’t think Citron was going to be there, but really wanted a guard or wing, he could have drafted Saniya Rivers. And while third overall might have been a little high for Rivers, I wouldn’t be shocked if she has a similar career or success that Jordan Horston has had in Seattle. Rivers is a very active two-way player, and if she’s able to improve her shooting, she likely will be a Top 5 player from the 2025 draft.

It’s also possible that the Sky’s General Manager was not very high on Sonia Citron. But boy, does that sure look like a mistake now after she was named an All-Star in her first season. Citron is putting up better numbers than Atkins. It’s not significantly better, but they are better overall. Plus, she’ll be under contract for at least another 3-4 years on a lower end rookie scale, meaning the team could have been a lot more aggressive in Free Agency building around Reese, Cardoso, and Citron because all three of them would be on their rookie deals.

To make matters worse, the Chicago Sky are floundering this season. The Washington Mystics, who went into a full rebuild, have a better record this year and a better outlook on their future.

Unfortunately for Chicago, they can’t get excited about unintentionally tanking this season because Pagliocca traded away their first-round pick to the Minnesota Lynx. Now, as bad as that seems, and it’s not great, that’s really part of a lot more convoluted moves. The Sky had already given up swap rights for their 2026 first-round pick as part of their 2024 Draft Day trade, where Chicago and Minnesota swapped spots from 7th to 8th. To Pagliocca’s credit, he got the better end of that part of the deal, as it allowed him to move ahead of Minnesota to draft Angel Reese. And Cheryl Reeve opted to draft Alissa Pili instead. The Lynx have since waived Pili, and Reese might be the second-best player in the draft behind Caitlin Clark.

Sadly for Sky fans, it means they’re going to give up a lottery selection to the Lynx for next year’s draft. Minnesota will likely use that pick to take someone like Azzi Fudd or Olivia Miles.

There is also a fair debate to be had on how damning giving up the swap rights part of the deal and just giving Minnesota their Lottery selection outright. For that deal, he got Minnesota’s 11th overall pick for the 2025 draft and selected Hailey Van Lith. Is it better to have Van Lith or what looks like it’ll be the 15th overall pick in 2026? The jury is still out until we see what Van Lith can do and whether or not there are still talented players on the draft board at 15 next year.

Not all is lost for Sky fans. Due to the Marina Mabrey trade, it does appear that the Sky will still get a lottery pick in 2026 after all. I just hope they hang onto it and don’t give up their 2027 first-round pick anytime soon.

Lexie Brown

This is why the Lexie Brown trade was not a mistake. She hasn’t done much for the Storm this season. This was only her second good game of the year, but more notable was that it was also her second good game in the last three contests. If Brown can heat up and start knocking some shots down, it’s going to do a lot for the Storm and their second unit. It’ll open up more space for Dom Malonga down low.

It’s more than that, though. If Brown can provide some more consistent scoring off the bench, that’s going to reduce the pressure on Skylar, Nneka, and Gabby to be flawless. Similar to when Erica Wheeler has had big games this season, Wheeler has done a great job of having several of those. That’s helped reduce the workload and demand from Seattle’s top stars.

If Lexie is hitting shots, it’s important for the Storm because right now, Alysha Clark hasn’t been. This is also why it was smart by the Front Office to triple down on shooters this offseason. They added Alysha Clark, Lexie Brown, and Katie Lou Samuelson. Sadly, Samuelson was lost for the season due to her ACL injury in training camp. Brown has been in and out of the lineup, dealing with her own health issues. Clark has struggled from the field, especially from deep, over the past handful of games.

But there have been games where AC has hit some big threes. And in Seattle’s last two victories, Brown has now been the one to knock down her shots. There is no doubt in my mind that for the Storm to find playoff success, they’re going to need some unsung heroes from time to time. They are going to need their bench players to step up.

I spoke with Coach Quinn after the game about what she’s seeing out of Lexie lately and how beneficial it is for the bench unit to build the chemistry and find this success.

Quinn told me, “Yeah, it starts with our starters having the correct mindset and the focus that it takes to get us to where we need to get to, especially, a game like today. And then obviously the bench coming in and sustaining that, that's our growth, and when we're able to find extended minutes for our reserves, then Nneka gets a breather, Gabby gets a breather, and they're able to stay sharp and ready for that, the latter part of the game. And I thought there's great contribution from everyone. I think Lexie is finding some rhythm. I think it's important for her to see a couple go through and talk about what I need to see from her on the defensive end. But today she even initiated a lot of offense and was able to play some point. We've been getting reps with her at the point in practice. So, you know, you have to honor her three-point shooting. No matter where she is on the floor, she's a threat there. I mean, that's going to be important moving forward as we find some variety to our offense. We had the points in the paint today, but to shoot 45% from three, I think the efficiency there helps, especially having a shooter like Lexie. The trust of our bench, the trust that I'm going to continue to have in our bench, is going to be there. We have to be productive in those minutes as well, though. I thought that was a very that our group was productive then, and we were able to sustain the lead.”

Dominique Malonga

Dom Malonga made history as the youngest player to record a double-double (14 points and 10 rebounds) in WNBA history. She also became the youngest player to score 100 points in the league. I feel there has been some chatter online lately that the Storm made the wrong selection by taking Malonga over the All-Stars Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron. I’ve heard that the Malonga selection doesn’t fit the Storm’s current timeline because her potential might not be realized for another 3-5 years.

I need people to realize that the Malonga selection not only fits the current timeline, but that she creates a second one, so now they have two timelines. There is the current Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike era. And there will be the next era of Storm basketball that includes Malonga, Jordan Horston, Ezi Magbegor, and likely a player or two from the 2026 WNBA Draft (ideally a lottery pick).

We saw Dominique rebound from her 0-6 FG performance against Dallas by having the best game of her young WNBA career. She scored against 6’7” Kamilla Cardoso. She scored against Elizabeth Williams, one of the better defensive Centers in the league. She even knocked down a three-pointer!

Malonga continues to be highly impactful in limited minutes when she is on. At 19, she isn’t always able to do this. But as she continues to grow and develop, she will be able to do it more frequently. The signs and potential are already there. She is going to be such a problem for the league when she is 22-24 and then even more once she’s in her prime around 25-28.

It was good that she was able to play more than 15 minutes in this game. And I spoke with her about having those live game reps and building chemistry with players like Lexie Brown and others on the second unit.

Malonga responded, “I mean, it's just the fact that we can be part of it, also part of the party. The starting five doing a great job starting the game and putting pressure on them right away, that gives us a chance to step up on the court and also bring our energy, bring what we can bring. I mean when we're on the bench we're just always ready whether it's one minute or ten minutes we're just gonna give one hundred percent of what we have and when we have games like this when we have the chance to just show up and be there for the team also and bring, bring our sauce it's just good for us so I'm happy when you have game like this. We also have Zia, which is also ready every time to step on the court. And we stick together and we're always ready. We always talk to each other to be ready to cheer for each other in the bench. And we're always ready to step in.”

Malonga was later asked about her overall thoughts on the first half of her rookie season and how she’s dealt with the ups and downs that she has experienced.

“For me, this season is a process. When I came here, it was all about the process. I knew that I wouldn't come here and have everything right now. It's a process. I'm learning. I'm new to America. It's a new country. Everything is so new to me. So I don't put pressure on myself when I step on the court and say I need to have 10 or whatever. It's just my first focus and only focus is to build the energy every time. And like the energy that's on the court I need to bring the same or more that's what I'm focusing on whether it's by scoring or defending or whatever and that's really what I focus on, and every day I go to work, I practice, I have my PT work and that's what is that about the process how I grew around them around my team and in this team in this organization because the goal is to stay here and to grow up here. So yeah, I just feel great for this first half of the season. I think it went well. I think I grew up for sure. And I keep going. I will keep working and show up for my team every time they need me.” Malonga added.

Coach Noelle Quinn also spoke about Malonga’s performance.

“They're kind of sample sizes of Dom in her minutes and really exploding with, whether it's rebounding or her finishes around the rim, Dom has worked extremely hard up to this point. And we see it every day. It's just we want that to show on the court. The matchup was conducive to her being able to show what she's been really, really working hard on. It's kind of not a surprise anymore. The thing that is the reality of it is she's 19 and we have to deal with the ups and downs of her on this journey being a pro but we're coaching her through staying ready we're coaching her through having a routine and I thought today she was sharp in a lot of areas that maybe she hadn't been sharpened in her previous game and you know Dom is like our little like grasshopper, I don't even like, baby giraffe, yeah, like a baby giraffe, we call it a lot of names, but like she's such a, has a great spirit, she's so positive, and she has a maturity about her, she wants to be great in this league, and she understands the process of that, but we have the correct people around her to kind of nurture that, and it's good to see her play this well in these amount of minutes.” Quinn stated.

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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