I really liked the way Flau'jae used Dom Malonga's gravity to attack the paint. It really reminded me of what the Spurs guards do with Wemby — especially Harper and Castle. Flau'jae's aggressiveness is incredible. And for me, Dom is reaching another level in her game. Physically, she’s now able to post up Jonquel... wow! And what impresses me most about Dom right now is her driving to the basket. She’s becoming a cheat code.
We finally put together 2 great games in a row which both should have been wins except for Supergirl Paige Bueckers. We're showing great promise for our future!
“The Liberty scored 23 bench points to the Storm’s seven.”
While I was pleased overall with the game play, tho this point here was glaring for me during the game. Thankfully, our offense these last two games has been noticeably better. Was I wrong or did I see Flau hit a LEFT HAND lay up?? (Since you mentioned that stat in an earlier game’s article, I’ve been 👀 a bit). I was also pleased to see us out-rebound the Libs, and those 13 O boards sure felt good to watch!!
After the painful game in Phoenix Sabreena Merchant @ the Athletic wrote this: “Thus far, Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam haven’t complemented each other, posting a minus-15.6 net rating as a duo. They seem to want to occupy the same areas on the court, and navigating actions together has appeared clunky. “
It sure didn’t feel like that these last two games.
Let’s hope the growth we’ve seen in the last two games offensively continues.
ATL will be tough. Their Gs athleticism, familiarity and ability to spread the floor is going to be a challenge, along with Akot’s recent bump in offensive contribution and Reese’s rebounding. Hopefully our bench will show up tomorrow.
Once I saw how good Awa was as an outside shooter, I wasn't concerned about her fit alongside Dom. When Merchant wrote that, I don't even think the duo had played 5 games together; any judgment at that point was certainly premature.
I am curious as to how Seattle will fit Dom, Awa, and Ezi together. It is possible that they just never see the floor together, similar to how we never saw Nneka, Ezi, and Dom. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they did something like start all 3, have them play 3-5 minutes together to open games, and play them 3-5 minutes to close games, but otherwise just have two on the court together and rest the 3rd player throughout those other 30 minutes. That's probably what I'd do.
Hopefully, they can make it work because Dom and Awa have already proven they can be starters in this league. And Ezi is a former All-Star who just signed a 3-year deal. I still believe selecting Olivia Miles would have been the best outcome for Seattle, but ending up with Awa and combining her with Dom might just lead the Storm to their next championship.
I think the rest of this season will give us a better idea of what the team is lacking. If the last two games were any indication, it might just be experience because I am already seeing improvement in how they're closing games or answering runs compared to just two or three weeks ago.
I think the most common sentiment is that they need a true point guard. But I think the rest of this season will be a good opportunity for both Hiedeman and Melbourne to show that maybe that isn't the case. If Jade can ever develop a consistent three-point shot, she still could be the team's long-term point guard. She's 23, just one year older than Flau'jae, and her 18-point and 7 assist performance was an example of her potential. Hiedeman certainly proved that she's a scorer, but it was her 11 assists against Dallas that were even more impressive.
I feel I'm getting ahead of myself since this is an article topic I want to cover.
I really liked the way Flau'jae used Dom Malonga's gravity to attack the paint. It really reminded me of what the Spurs guards do with Wemby — especially Harper and Castle. Flau'jae's aggressiveness is incredible. And for me, Dom is reaching another level in her game. Physically, she’s now able to post up Jonquel... wow! And what impresses me most about Dom right now is her driving to the basket. She’s becoming a cheat code.
We finally put together 2 great games in a row which both should have been wins except for Supergirl Paige Bueckers. We're showing great promise for our future!
“The Liberty scored 23 bench points to the Storm’s seven.”
While I was pleased overall with the game play, tho this point here was glaring for me during the game. Thankfully, our offense these last two games has been noticeably better. Was I wrong or did I see Flau hit a LEFT HAND lay up?? (Since you mentioned that stat in an earlier game’s article, I’ve been 👀 a bit). I was also pleased to see us out-rebound the Libs, and those 13 O boards sure felt good to watch!!
After the painful game in Phoenix Sabreena Merchant @ the Athletic wrote this: “Thus far, Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam haven’t complemented each other, posting a minus-15.6 net rating as a duo. They seem to want to occupy the same areas on the court, and navigating actions together has appeared clunky. “
It sure didn’t feel like that these last two games.
Let’s hope the growth we’ve seen in the last two games offensively continues.
ATL will be tough. Their Gs athleticism, familiarity and ability to spread the floor is going to be a challenge, along with Akot’s recent bump in offensive contribution and Reese’s rebounding. Hopefully our bench will show up tomorrow.
Once I saw how good Awa was as an outside shooter, I wasn't concerned about her fit alongside Dom. When Merchant wrote that, I don't even think the duo had played 5 games together; any judgment at that point was certainly premature.
I am curious as to how Seattle will fit Dom, Awa, and Ezi together. It is possible that they just never see the floor together, similar to how we never saw Nneka, Ezi, and Dom. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they did something like start all 3, have them play 3-5 minutes together to open games, and play them 3-5 minutes to close games, but otherwise just have two on the court together and rest the 3rd player throughout those other 30 minutes. That's probably what I'd do.
Hopefully, they can make it work because Dom and Awa have already proven they can be starters in this league. And Ezi is a former All-Star who just signed a 3-year deal. I still believe selecting Olivia Miles would have been the best outcome for Seattle, but ending up with Awa and combining her with Dom might just lead the Storm to their next championship.
I think the rest of this season will give us a better idea of what the team is lacking. If the last two games were any indication, it might just be experience because I am already seeing improvement in how they're closing games or answering runs compared to just two or three weeks ago.
I think the most common sentiment is that they need a true point guard. But I think the rest of this season will be a good opportunity for both Hiedeman and Melbourne to show that maybe that isn't the case. If Jade can ever develop a consistent three-point shot, she still could be the team's long-term point guard. She's 23, just one year older than Flau'jae, and her 18-point and 7 assist performance was an example of her potential. Hiedeman certainly proved that she's a scorer, but it was her 11 assists against Dallas that were even more impressive.
I feel I'm getting ahead of myself since this is an article topic I want to cover.