Storm's Big 77-59 Win Part 2

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

The Seattle Storm (2-4) picked up their first home win of the season as they took down the Connecticut Sun (1-6) by a final score of 77-59. Zia Cooke and Flau’jae Johnson had career performances to lead Seattle to the win. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap below.

In Part 2, I’ve included the entire introductory press conference for Awa Fam. I discussed Joyner Holmes playing on short notice, but not Fam. I had some thoughts on Charlisse Leger-Walker, whom Seattle could have drafted. And wrote about how Friday night’s performance was just the beginning for this young Storm team.

Awa Fam Press Conference

Joyner In But Not Awa

One thing I was really curious about was whether they would play Joyner Holmes during this game. They did. She played 15 minutes off the bench. I thought Holmes gave Seattle solid minutes. She finished with two points, five rebounds, and three blocks.

On the one hand, I was a little surprised she played as much as she did (or even at all) since they only announced that they had signed her to a Hardship contract earlier in the day. But because she was signing a hardship contract, I understood why they needed to play her. I figured they were playing her because Awa wasn’t ready yet. And because Dom Malonga is still out with her concussion.

I think the fact that they needed to sign Joyner Holmes does not bode well for the imminent return of Malonga to the court. Not terribly surprising, but this likely also means Ezi Magbegor is still multiple weeks away from a return. The same can be said about Katie Lou Samuelson.

What I do find interesting is that Joyner just joined, but played right away. Awa arrived on Thursday, but still needs rest. Obviously, she’s flying over from Spain; she was just playing in the Spanish league playoffs a few days ago. That makes sense. But if you watched Fam’s press conference above, you saw her talk about how she’s ready to play and that she’s not tired. When asked about it, she said.

“I feel good, you know, for me. It’s okay, I’m 19 years old, so I’m ready to play with the International team, I’m ready to play with Valencia. I’m going to play right now in the W. I don’t feel tired. It’s like more excited, and this is what I love. I love basketball. I love to keep it moving. I love to practice, to know more about this league and about this sport. So it’s more, okay, I know this mostly. I know it’s a lot of games. I know it’s a lot of practice. I need to rest. I know those things, but it’s more like I’m ready, and it’s like new challenges that I really want.”

From what Fam is saying, it sounds like if it were up to her, she would have played on Friday, or at least by Sunday. And that it’s more the coach’s or team’s decision to keep her out for a little while longer. From my perspective, I can make the argument for both sides.

On the one hand, as Awa said, she’s 19. She’s ready to play. She has the energy. The Storm also desperately need big bodies; otherwise, they wouldn’t have signed Joyner Holmes to a Hardship contract. They’re really going to need more post players when the team faces the Washington Mystics, who feature 6’5” Shakira Austin, 6’3” Kiki Iriafen, and 6’7” Lauren Betts.

I also look at it from the perspective of, what do the Storm have to lose? Seattle is in a rebuilding year. There isn’t any internal or external pressure to be a playoff team this season. The most important thing the team can do this year is to develop its younger players. To develop Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, Flau’jae Johnson, Jade Melbourne, Zia Cooke, Jordan Horston, etc. Throw Fam into the deep end of the pool and see if she can swim.

If they’re going to throw Joyner out there the same day she signs with the Storm, why not let Awa get out there and get some experience? I suppose if I’m making the argument for Coach Raman or the decision makers, it would be that Joyner Holmes is a six-year veteran of the WNBA. And it’s easier for her to transition to the new team without going through practices because of her previous experience. And I would agree with that. But I’m not sure how much her previous Storm experience helps her since that was with a completely different coaching staff (Coach Quinn), and most of her teammates are brand new as well. Holmes would have played with Jordan Horston, Jade Melbourne, and Ezi Magbegor, but I believe that’s it.

I think the other argument would be that the expectations are so much higher for Fam that the team wants to put her in the best position to succeed. With respect to J. Holmes, if she went out there and stunk up the joint, no one is going to be too upset about it. But if Awa goes out there without being prepared and struggles, she’s going to take a lot more heat and online backlash. The critics on social media will say this is why she wasn’t drafted #1 overall. That she was never as good as some people made her out to be. If she were to struggle, that could damage her confidence and harm her development.

The hope is that Awa can be a franchise player for the Storm. They should put her in the best position to succeed. That means they make sure she’s rested and adjusted from any jet lag coming from Spain. It means that she understands the team’s offensive and defensive schemes. And that they prepare her as best as possible to make a positive impact right out of the gate.

Charlisse Leger-Walker

I wanted to wait until Connecticut played Seattle again to really get a better look at Charlisse Leger-Walker. After she burned the Storm for 16 points on Wednesday night, I thought about the fact that Seattle could have drafted Leger-Walker with their 14th overall pick.

When I wrote my big draft primer for the Storm, I said this about Leger-Walker.

“If the Storm don’t draft Olivia Miles or Kiki Rice, I could certainly see them considering Charisse Leger-Walker with either the 14th or 16th overall picks. Leger-Walker could come in and compete for a backup point guard position.

It may depend on how they view her compared to the other prospects around the 14-16 range. Do they think she is athletic enough to play at the WNBA level? Do they like her more than potential other point guards they could take around that portion of the draft?”

As it turns out, Seattle’s front office liked Taina Mair more than Charlisse Leger-Walker since they could have selected CLW with the 14th overall pick, but they opted for Mair instead.

I think the team still has high hopes for Mair, even though she was the only first-round pick to be cut coming out of training camp. The only other first-round pick that isn’t currently playing for her team is Iyana Martín Carrión. She was a draft and stash player for the Portland Fire. The other 13 first-round picks are all currently on the main roster for their respective teams.

I thought it was risky for Seattle to waive Mair and re-sign her back to a development contract, but so far, that has worked out. I think ideally, if they can even develop Mair into a solid backup point guard, she will be worthy of the late first-round selection. Especially with the fact that Seattle may end up with two stars earlier in the first round with Awa Fam and Flau’jae Johnson.

For Leger-Walker, she had that extremely impressive performance of 16 points on Wednesday, but a much more modest game on Friday night. She had five points, five assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Overall, she’s had a good start to her WNBA career. She’s averaging 7.6 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 1.9 RPG. Charlisse quickly impressed Coach Rachid Meziane, as he has inserted her into the starting lineup for the past two games.

I think there were legit concerns on whether or not CLW was athletic enough to have success at the WNBA level, but so far, she’s proving that isn’t a major issue. It’ll be interesting to see how her career plays out compared to Taina Mair, not just this season, but over the next couple of seasons. Only then will we know if the Storm made the right or wrong choice.

Just Getting Started

While the opponent was the 1-6 Connecticut Sun, this game showed some strong potential for this young Seattle Storm group. As written about already, Flau’jae Johnson and Zia Cooke had career nights. Cooke has been a great offensive spark off the bench and should continue to get opportunities throughout this season to really carve out an important role. Not everyone has to be the top-named star of the team, but that doesn’t lessen their overall value. With the Storm’s most recent championship teams, Sami Whitcomb was always that scrappy fireplug off the bench who could light it up or play pesky defense. Cooke could end up finding herself in a similar role.

Jordan Horston started showing signs of what we know she is capable of. Moving without the basketball and cutting to the rim for scores. Plus, remaining an elite defender and strong rebounder. Flau’jae had three blocks on Friday and became the fastest guard in WNBA history to record 10 blocks (in just six games). The two of them create havoc on the defensive end for their opponents, and they were a big reason why Seattle held Connecticut to under 60 points in this game.

Seattle has the chance to be extremely good defensively with the size and length they have on their roster. And right now, they don’t even have their premier shot blocker, Ezi Magbegor. When they add Magbegor and Malonga back into the fold, their interior defense should improve significantly.

This team has a lot of potential if all the younger players continue to grow, develop, and improve as the season goes on. And while I still believe it’s in the best interest of the franchise if that growth comes with more losses than wins. They are better off if they miss the playoffs and add another lottery selection to this young core. But don’t tell these players that.

After the game, Zia reflected on the team’s impressive near-20-point victory despite missing Ezi, Dom, Awa, and Katie Lou.

“We’re so deep. Yeah. Man, like I said, we don’t want to make no excuses because you know, we got to come out every night and do what we got to do, but when they get back, it’s going to be a whole nother story. So we just got to keep it going, keep the bus rolling, but when they get back, like I said, it’s going to be scary.”

They have a right to be that confident after Friday night’s performance.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Pre-Game:

Post-Game:

Notes:
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Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
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