Storm Fall 78-76 Part 2

Additional thoughts, discussion, and interviews from the Storm's loss to GSV.

The Seattle Storm dropped their first game of the preseason by a final score of 78-76 against the Golden State Valkyries. The team showed some promise and got out to a hot start. They led by 11 points in the first half before the Valkyries hit them with a barrage of three-pointers in the second half. Ultimately, Seattle didn’t get the win, but this season is about growth and development, and they gained experience.

If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below.

In Part 2, I wrote about the Storm’s point guard options. I talked about realistic expectations for Dominique Malonga this season. I shared more thoughts on the team’s first starting lineup of the season and talked about which players helped themselves. I’ve also included the post-game press conference interviews.

Who’s Playing Point?

Natisha Hiedeman's foot injury has me concerned. I haven’t seen any official announcement that she will be out for an extended period of time. All I know is that she was scrimmaging on Sunday, but by Thursday, she was in sweats and not the normal uniform. Hiedeman was listed as OUT with a left foot injury ahead of Saturday’s game. I’ll be curious if she plays on Wednesday during the preseason home opener. If she doesn’t, hopefully the Storm will give us more info on her expected return date. Hiedeman was signed to a two-year deal with the expectation that she would be competing for, and likely would be, the starting point guard position.

With the Ezi Magbegor injury, the Awa Fam selection fits a greater need than previously expected. However, on draft night, I thought Olivia Miles would have been the best selection had she been available. Even after signing Hiedeman before the draft, I still felt the Storm needed more point guard depth. Seattle took Taina Mair (point guard out of Duke) 14th overall in the draft. I feel Mair has struggled somewhat with her rookie transition into the league during the first couple of practices. I thought she played fine on Saturday night. She finished with just 2 points on 1-4 FG, but she did have a game-high four assists. Interestingly enough, she was a game-best +15 in plus/minus. That stat isn’t necessarily the best read on overall impact on the game, but there is no denying that the team played well while she was on the court.

Jade Melbourne stepped into the starting point guard role with Hiedeman out injured, as I expected. She showed some positives, especially early on, scoring seven of her nine points in the first period. She is going to need to be much smarter with her defense and fouling if she ends up having to take over some extended point guard duties, if Hiedeman’s injury keeps her out of regular-season games. Melbourne flashed some of the things we’ve seen before, including a fast acceleration to the rim. She also had a beautiful steal in the backcourt for an immediate layup.

I believe we saw Lexie Brown bring the ball up in transition a couple of times, but then we also saw some turnovers. She wasn’t crisp with where she wanted to go with the ball, and it cost Seattle some possessions. To Brown’s credit, she did knock down some shots, including 2-3 FG from beyond the arc.

Zia Cooke also got some exposure in the point guard role. Something that I was curious about. She did a little bit of that in college at South Carolina, but played almost entirely the two (shooting guard) with the Storm last season. Cooke had a good game overall. She wasn’t the most efficient as she made 3-9 FG, but she got to the foul line more than anyone else and tied with Flau’jae Johnson for the team lead in points (12 total). She had three assists but also three turnovers. Similar to Lexie, there were moments where she was indecisive, and it led to turnovers for Seattle.

I spoke with Zia after the game about playing both on-ball (as the point guard) and off the ball during this game, and getting to experience both.

She replied, “I’m extremely blessed to be able to have a coach that believes in me to play the one and the two. It kind of threw me off because I’ve been playing the two in practice, but I keep saying this because it’s like essential. The fact that I have that to go back and work on, making sure I can handle ball pressure, and knowing that she believes in me to be at the one when needed. So I’m just excited for what the season holds, and I’m super happy that Coach is believing in me the way that she is.”

I still believe that the Storm will only be able to roster two of these three players on the main roster: Zia Cooke, Lexie Brown, and Taina Mair. Brown has a guaranteed contract, but the team technically has enough salary cap space to release her and sign someone else as the 12th player on the roster. All three players are former first-round picks. Both Cooke and Mair would qualify to be placed on the development squad if they weren’t picked up by another team during the waiver period. If it were just about the two players who are the best today, then I feel it would be Cooke and Brown to make the final roster. But the Storm could still envision Mair as the future starting point guard, and I think it’s far too early to give up on her. The team also isn’t in win-now mode, so they don’t necessarily need to take the two best players currently.

Wednesday’s game should give us more information.

Dom’s Expectations

I think it’s important to remember that Dominique Malonga is only 20 years old. Malonga has the talent to be league MVP one day, but that day is not today. With no Ezi Magbegor (injured) or Nneka Ogwumike (Sparks), the focus on the frontcourt falls on Malonga. Dom averaged 7.7 PPG last season, and I suspect she will increase that by a decent amount this year, but that doesn’t mean Malonga will average 20/10.

I know I have written before that Malonga is probably five years away from entering her prime. That is the reality Storm fans should prepare for. She is going to have plenty of games like the one she had on Saturday night. She’ll show flashes of brilliance, but there will be turnovers or easy shots that are inexplicably missed. This will be a year of growth for her, and with that, it won’t always be pretty. The fact that Ezi is likely to miss 1/4 to 1/2 of the season will make this season more difficult on Malonga.

The addition of Awa Fam to the lineup will be interesting. Fam (19) is even younger than Dom. She has even less experience playing against WNBA competition than Malonga does. However, it’ll be interesting to see if her size and skills can draw defensive attention away from Malonga. I suspect they will bring Awa along fairly slowly. But the team also probably doesn’t have a whole lot to lose. Once the coaching staff feels comfortable that she knows the plays and the systems, they should let both Fam and Malonga get as much experience and exposure as possible.

Dom played 21 minutes in Saturday’s game. I expect that she will get even more playing time once the regular season begins. I don’t think they need Malonga playing 36 minutes a night, but she should average around 30 minutes/game.

Starting Lineup

With so many injuries, I was curious to see what the Storm’s starting lineup would be. If everyone were healthy, my starting lineup prediction would be Natisha Hiedeman, Flau’jae Johnson, Jordan Horston, Ezi Magbegor, and Dominique Malonga. However, 3/5ths of those players are currently injured, so on Saturday, Coach Sonia Raman went with a different lineup. She started Jade Melbourne, Lexie Brown, Flau’jae Johnson, Stefanie Dolson, and Dominique Malonga.

I thought they might move Flau’jae to the three (small forward) because both Jordan Horston and Katie Lou Samuelson are currently injured and recovering from their torn ACLs that they both suffered in 2025. Horston’s injury took place a couple of months before Samuelson’s, so she is expected to return to the court sooner. She has stated that she hopes to be ready for the first game of the regular season on May 8th. I’m guessing Jordan won’t play in Wednesday’s preseason finale. Hopefully, she is ready on the 8th or shortly thereafter.

I figured they would start Zia Cooke or Lexie Brown as the other guard next to Melbourne. They opted to go with Brown. I wonder if that means they have her above Zia on the depth chart, or if they needed Cooke to come off the bench to back up Melbourne at the point guard position. If I recall correctly, Cooke got the first look off the bench. Throughout the game, Jade, Zia, and Taina shared the point guard duties. They all played roughly 20 minutes in the game.

10 players played in the first half. The starting five (listed above), plus Cooke, Mackenzie Holmes, Grace VanSlooten, Taina Mair, and Jaelyn Brown. Rennia Davis and Elle Ladine both checked in during the 4th quarter with around 5-6 minutes remaining in the game. Davis made an impressive impact, scoring seven points and collecting four rebounds in limited action.

Two players didn’t see the court on Saturday night: center Beatrice Mompremier and rookie guard Jalyn Brown.

I previously wrote that I could see one of Jaelyn Brown, Jalyn Brown, or Rennia Davis make the developmental squad. With the team’s lack of wing players, that would make sense to me. I thought both Jaelyn Brown and Davis helped their case on Saturday night.

Another player who likely helped their case was Grace VanSlooten. I was surprised that she actually played a fair amount more than Mackenzie Holmes in the game (22 minutes to 13 for Holmes). If Taina Mair makes the 12-player roster, then I think that gives Grace VanSlooten a strong chance to make the development squad. Holmes would also be eligible for the dev-squad if she didn’t make the main roster. I’ve been under the impression she will, but it was a little eye-opening that she played less than VanSlooten on Saturday. Of course, players who are already more secure with their spots are often going to play less when the team wants to evaluate other players who are on the bubble. I will be curious to see who the minutes go to on Wednesday night against Portland.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Notes:
Normally, Part 2 is only sent to paid subscribers, but since it’s the preseason, I am sending it out to everyone. I also want to send the reminder that monthly and annual subscription prices are going up on May 1st. If you’re already a paid subscriber or join now, you will stay at your current rate even after the first. I really appreciate those who support me.

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

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