It’s unfortunate that today wasn’t the end of the long road trip. They didn’t - and haven’t - quit today, but they look drained and dejected. Friday in Naptown has all makings of a potential world-class ass-whuppin.’ Continuing to lose with turnovers and coverage breakdowns doesn’t help matters.
Only saw the first 3 Q and planned to watch the fourth when I got home today. Doh! Seattle could have won this game too. Starting to wonder if they are tanking.
I think there is this misconception of what tanking actually is. Tanking would be if the Storm had the lead or were within one score and then sat Dom, Flau'jae, Awa, and Natisha on the bench for the game's final 3-5 minutes (for no logical reason). A young team that misses shots or turns the ball over versus a more experienced veteran team is not tanking. It's literally just young players trying to execute without experience.
The Storm actually did tank in the final game of 2015, when a loss meant they would have the best odds to draft Breanna Stewart. In that game, Sue Bird did not play, and I believe Jewell Loyd only played the 1st half of the game and then didn't play the 2nd half for no reasonable reason outside of the team wanted to lose. That is an example of tanking, and I don't blame them because it landed them Breanna Stewart, which then resulted in two additional WNBA Championships.
If we get to a point in the final game or two of the regular season, and they don't play Dom or Flau'jae despite them being healthy, then we can talk about tanking at that point. But when the team decided to move on from the veteran core of Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, and Gabby Williams, that was a decision to enter into a rebuild and start over, building around their younger players. That is not the same as tanking.
Thank you for sharing that, Jeff. I’m pretty aware of what tanking is and is not. I’m not saying this is as obvious as what you described or as deliberate. Just kind of curious about all these recent games that we easily could’ve won if a few things had been different. For example, Coach Raman rarely uses her challenges. I think some calls could be reversed if she would do that. I would love to see her assert herself more. It’s more than one thing obviously but we should have about 5 more in the W column by now.
Seattle is not tanking. They’re just not very consistent (massive understatement!) with the exception of those God-awful turnovers. On that score, they’ve been consistent all year long. I’ll give props to Katie Lou Samuelson for playing with effort all game long. Jordan Horston looks increasingly ineffectual out there. And what’s the deal with Magbegor? Did she suffer a broken nose the other night? I guess we’ll soon find out if she’s gained any increased toughness if she shows up to play through it while wearing a protective mask.
Ezi suffered a “facial injury,” to be evaluated “in a few weeks.” The team doesn’t seem to believe in giving out much info. She was not with the team today. Presumably sent back to Seattle. Her lost season continues.
To her credit, KLS even displayed some glimpses of athleticism.
When they showed her on TV after the play her nose had a pretty obvious crookedness to it that I had never noticed before. It really looked broken to me. Reminded me of Aussie soccer player Alannah Kennedy seeing her broken nose on the Jumbotron in real time.
Per USAToday:
On Sunday, Magebegor was listed as "out, facial injury" ahead of a matchup with the Washington Mystics. Storm head coach Sonia Raman later confirmed the injury, revealing Magbegor had a broken a bone in her face. Raman says the Seattle forward will be "reevaluated in the next couple of weeks."
Their passing needs to improve! Poor passing results in too many turnovers. We can't win that way.
It’s unfortunate that today wasn’t the end of the long road trip. They didn’t - and haven’t - quit today, but they look drained and dejected. Friday in Naptown has all makings of a potential world-class ass-whuppin.’ Continuing to lose with turnovers and coverage breakdowns doesn’t help matters.
Only saw the first 3 Q and planned to watch the fourth when I got home today. Doh! Seattle could have won this game too. Starting to wonder if they are tanking.
I think there is this misconception of what tanking actually is. Tanking would be if the Storm had the lead or were within one score and then sat Dom, Flau'jae, Awa, and Natisha on the bench for the game's final 3-5 minutes (for no logical reason). A young team that misses shots or turns the ball over versus a more experienced veteran team is not tanking. It's literally just young players trying to execute without experience.
The Storm actually did tank in the final game of 2015, when a loss meant they would have the best odds to draft Breanna Stewart. In that game, Sue Bird did not play, and I believe Jewell Loyd only played the 1st half of the game and then didn't play the 2nd half for no reasonable reason outside of the team wanted to lose. That is an example of tanking, and I don't blame them because it landed them Breanna Stewart, which then resulted in two additional WNBA Championships.
If we get to a point in the final game or two of the regular season, and they don't play Dom or Flau'jae despite them being healthy, then we can talk about tanking at that point. But when the team decided to move on from the veteran core of Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, and Gabby Williams, that was a decision to enter into a rebuild and start over, building around their younger players. That is not the same as tanking.
Thank you for sharing that, Jeff. I’m pretty aware of what tanking is and is not. I’m not saying this is as obvious as what you described or as deliberate. Just kind of curious about all these recent games that we easily could’ve won if a few things had been different. For example, Coach Raman rarely uses her challenges. I think some calls could be reversed if she would do that. I would love to see her assert herself more. It’s more than one thing obviously but we should have about 5 more in the W column by now.
And yes, this is a young group!
Certainly gets the conspiracy theories going when the end of games continue to look like this.
They’re not entertaining to watch. There’s no there, there. The to-be superstar youngsters are…meh. Is it 2027 yet?
Seattle is not tanking. They’re just not very consistent (massive understatement!) with the exception of those God-awful turnovers. On that score, they’ve been consistent all year long. I’ll give props to Katie Lou Samuelson for playing with effort all game long. Jordan Horston looks increasingly ineffectual out there. And what’s the deal with Magbegor? Did she suffer a broken nose the other night? I guess we’ll soon find out if she’s gained any increased toughness if she shows up to play through it while wearing a protective mask.
Ezi suffered a “facial injury,” to be evaluated “in a few weeks.” The team doesn’t seem to believe in giving out much info. She was not with the team today. Presumably sent back to Seattle. Her lost season continues.
To her credit, KLS even displayed some glimpses of athleticism.
When they showed her on TV after the play her nose had a pretty obvious crookedness to it that I had never noticed before. It really looked broken to me. Reminded me of Aussie soccer player Alannah Kennedy seeing her broken nose on the Jumbotron in real time.
Per USAToday:
On Sunday, Magebegor was listed as "out, facial injury" ahead of a matchup with the Washington Mystics. Storm head coach Sonia Raman later confirmed the injury, revealing Magbegor had a broken a bone in her face. Raman says the Seattle forward will be "reevaluated in the next couple of weeks."