Storm Topple Sparks 82-64 Part 2

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

It may not have been their most impressive game of the season, but the Seattle Storm (6-17) dominated the LA Sparks (8-11) from bell to bell. The trio of Flau’jae Johnson, Natisha Hiedeman, and Jade Melbourne led the way in this game, combining for 49 of the Storm’s 82 points. On a night when Dominique Malonga shot 1-10 FG and scored just two points, they needed it. But it was the team’s defense that made sure the Sparks didn’t have any shot in this game.

The Storm picked up their first win against a Western Conference opponent this season. They kicked off this current five-game road trip by a final score of 82-64. If you missed it, you can read Molly’s game recap at the link below.

For Part 2, I wanted to write about Seattle’s defensive waves that they can throw at teams, Skylar’s problems in Chicago, LA’s draft decisions, and the old versus the new. Plus, I’ve included the audio interviews of the post-game press conferences for both the Storm and Sparks.

Defensive Waves

Dating back to training camp, one of the biggest things that stood out to me was the size and length of the Seattle Storm’s roster. Obviously, the three-headed monster of Dominique Malonga, Ezi Magbegor, and Awa Fam makes all the headlines, but there is really a lot more to it than that. Jordan Horston at 6’2” is a player who is often considerably taller and longer than other guards in the league, who generally range between 5’8” and 6’0”. But even Seattle’s sub-6’ players have unusually long arms. Jade Melbourne is around 5’10” - 5’11” tall, but her wingspan is listed at 6’3”. Natisha Hiedeman might only be 5’8”, but her wingspan is closer to 5’11”.

It took half the season, but the Storm’s roster is finally healthy. And we’re just starting to get glimpses of potential lineups and rotations. What stood out to me about this game against the LA Sparks was that their defensive pressure was unrelenting. A lot of that had to do with the fact that Coach Raman can consistently rotate length into the lineup as soon as another player goes to the bench. Teams have to deal with Dom and Awa starting the game. And when one of them is subbed out, they are replaced by All-Defensive Team member Ezi Magbegor. Arguably the WNBA’s best defensive post player not named A’ja Wilson. We saw another emphatic block in this game by Ezi. A welcome sight to behold.

Dominique Malonga had a defensive play where she was able to stay in front of Nneka, and Ogwumike was unable to shoot over her. I’m not sure if the ball got tipped or if Malonga’s outstretched arms just made the shot impossible from that angle. Either way, Nneka’s shot fell well short of its mark.

Jordan Horston rejected and ripped a ball right out of Dearica Hamby’s hands in this game. She had two other steals that stopped LA from scoring in transition. Awa Fam was credited with a team-high four steals, and it looked like she got several deflections throughout the game. Per Jade and Flau’jae during the post-game presser, they were giddy talking about their defense and talked about how the team has a leaderboard for most deflections, and they’re all trying to get on the board, hoping their name will be at the top of the list.

I spoke with Melbourne about that and how their length can cause problems for opposing teams.