I went back and watched all of the aces shot attempts and our defense was pretty terrible. Our ball screen defense was very poor and our rotations seemed slow. I think Sykes had a bit of an offensive adjustment from being on the ball so much at Washington, but her second half was much better. Dom was great on offense but on defense you can tell that she is still a rookie. Bad fouls and that last play where she didn't get a hand up on j-yo was a heartbreaker. We gotta get skylar to have a good game soon. Would you be for starting Brittney and Dom over Erica and ezi? And lastly what should some targets for the storm be in that 8-10 range in the draft next year? Thank you!
A couple of Dom's fouls I felt were pretty questionable, and I didn't love the refs blowing the whistle on her multiple times in a row as soon as Seattle had all the momentum. Playing post is always a physical battle, but the refs decided at that point that every little touch and contact was now a foul. I didn't love that. Especially, with how much gambling is in pro sports these days, and the WNBA being a hot product.
I'll be curious to see if Sykes does enter the starting lineup after she's had more experience, practices, and time with the team. I don't think we'll see Dom replace Ezi in the lineup, but I will say this. If they continue to lose games, they probably will need to shake something up. If Skylar is playing hurt or just completely exhausted from Unrivaled and playing such high minutes this season, maybe they bring Skylar off the bench.
Regarding the draft picks, here is Tankathon's current Big Board for WNBA prospects.
For me, Kiki Rice would be up there as the Storm need a PG of the future, and Olivia Miles is almost certainly going to be a Top 5 Lottery pick. I'm high on Cotie McMahon ever since I watched her play in Seattle during the NCAA March Madness tournament as a Freshman. Gianna Kneepkens, Yarden Garzon, and Serah Williams are all players I plan to scout and watch more of this upcoming season. Awa Fam will probably be a lottery selection, but if teams are hesitant because she's foreign, then I'd seriously consider her even though they already have Ezi and Dom.
Sports Gambling is at an all-time high now. Due to the WNBA's increased popularity, there is also A LOT more gambling done on the WNBA this season. Now I hope these refs are on the up and up, but I didn't love seeing Dominique Malonga get whistled for 3 fouls on a single possession and a 4th foul maybe one minute later, all in the 4th quarter. And they conveniently decided to start calling any tiny touch foul only once the Storm tied the game? I'm not trying to be a crazy conspiracy guy. But I just didn't like the optics of that. Post players like Dom and A'ja are going to battle and have physical contact, and a lot of it is never called. But once the Storm tied the game, that's when the refs decided to start blowing the whistle on every little touch. It didn't sit right with me. I feel it had an impact on the game. I don't think it specifically cost the Storm the game, but it definitely stopped all their good momentum.
I also meant to say that this was a pretty good debut game for Brittney Sykes in a Storm uniform - certainly not a great game for her but I can see how she is really going to help us make the push to finish in the Top 4 and secure home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. She will be especially valuable since Sky is not her usual self right now.
Another very disappointing loss for the Storm that easily could have been a W. We blew a golden opportunity to push Vegas down and help ourselves in next year's Draft. The next game on Sunday is probably even more critical against LA and they're red hot. I'm really worried about Skylar and I hope that she can come back to her true form really soon. Dominique was very impressive on offense and defense except for a couple defensive lapses but she did alter several shots and caused even A'ja Wilson to miss at least once. Thanks for the 2026 WNBA Mock Draft by Tankathon. That was very interesting even though our chance to secure a top 3-5pick is slipping away.
I went back and watched all of the aces shot attempts and our defense was pretty terrible. Our ball screen defense was very poor and our rotations seemed slow. I think Sykes had a bit of an offensive adjustment from being on the ball so much at Washington, but her second half was much better. Dom was great on offense but on defense you can tell that she is still a rookie. Bad fouls and that last play where she didn't get a hand up on j-yo was a heartbreaker. We gotta get skylar to have a good game soon. Would you be for starting Brittney and Dom over Erica and ezi? And lastly what should some targets for the storm be in that 8-10 range in the draft next year? Thank you!
A couple of Dom's fouls I felt were pretty questionable, and I didn't love the refs blowing the whistle on her multiple times in a row as soon as Seattle had all the momentum. Playing post is always a physical battle, but the refs decided at that point that every little touch and contact was now a foul. I didn't love that. Especially, with how much gambling is in pro sports these days, and the WNBA being a hot product.
I'll be curious to see if Sykes does enter the starting lineup after she's had more experience, practices, and time with the team. I don't think we'll see Dom replace Ezi in the lineup, but I will say this. If they continue to lose games, they probably will need to shake something up. If Skylar is playing hurt or just completely exhausted from Unrivaled and playing such high minutes this season, maybe they bring Skylar off the bench.
Regarding the draft picks, here is Tankathon's current Big Board for WNBA prospects.
https://www.tankathon.com/wnba/big_board
For me, Kiki Rice would be up there as the Storm need a PG of the future, and Olivia Miles is almost certainly going to be a Top 5 Lottery pick. I'm high on Cotie McMahon ever since I watched her play in Seattle during the NCAA March Madness tournament as a Freshman. Gianna Kneepkens, Yarden Garzon, and Serah Williams are all players I plan to scout and watch more of this upcoming season. Awa Fam will probably be a lottery selection, but if teams are hesitant because she's foreign, then I'd seriously consider her even though they already have Ezi and Dom.
@jeff can you please elaborate on your point about gambling?
Are you familiar with the Tim Donaghy NBA scandal? https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25980368/how-former-ref-tim-donaghy-conspired-fix-nba-games
Sports Gambling is at an all-time high now. Due to the WNBA's increased popularity, there is also A LOT more gambling done on the WNBA this season. Now I hope these refs are on the up and up, but I didn't love seeing Dominique Malonga get whistled for 3 fouls on a single possession and a 4th foul maybe one minute later, all in the 4th quarter. And they conveniently decided to start calling any tiny touch foul only once the Storm tied the game? I'm not trying to be a crazy conspiracy guy. But I just didn't like the optics of that. Post players like Dom and A'ja are going to battle and have physical contact, and a lot of it is never called. But once the Storm tied the game, that's when the refs decided to start blowing the whistle on every little touch. It didn't sit right with me. I feel it had an impact on the game. I don't think it specifically cost the Storm the game, but it definitely stopped all their good momentum.
I agree Jeff. I feel like it’s been getting increasingly worse.
I hear you! Sounds like the W needs to do an investigation into the possibility of referees betting on games — any chance of this happening?
I also meant to say that this was a pretty good debut game for Brittney Sykes in a Storm uniform - certainly not a great game for her but I can see how she is really going to help us make the push to finish in the Top 4 and secure home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. She will be especially valuable since Sky is not her usual self right now.
That girl Dom is a problem.
Dom is looking better and better all the time. When she gets really fierce the rest of the W better watch out. She has so much raw talent!
Another very disappointing loss for the Storm that easily could have been a W. We blew a golden opportunity to push Vegas down and help ourselves in next year's Draft. The next game on Sunday is probably even more critical against LA and they're red hot. I'm really worried about Skylar and I hope that she can come back to her true form really soon. Dominique was very impressive on offense and defense except for a couple defensive lapses but she did alter several shots and caused even A'ja Wilson to miss at least once. Thanks for the 2026 WNBA Mock Draft by Tankathon. That was very interesting even though our chance to secure a top 3-5pick is slipping away.
Bench Ezi and Skylar. At this point, why not??
I'd give it a few more games. But if the losing streak goes to 7 games or more. Then I think you're right.