I missed the game so maybe the free throw disparity was warranted but 33-4 with 42 seconds to go seems insane. Becky Harmon went crazy two days ago when it was 22-12 against the Wings. Were the Storm that pathetic or was the officiating a bit off?
I think there are a few factors in play. I thought the Toronto Tempo still led the WNBA in Free Throw attempts per game, but according to the WNBA's stat page, they rank 3rd at 25.6 FTA/game. The Storm rank 5th at 23.0 FTA/game. I don't think there is any way you can justify having 33 free throws for one team and four for the other with 45 seconds left in the game. If I were the Storm, I would definitely submit tape to the league if they felt it was lopsided.
I can't say with certainty that there were a ton of egregious missed calls, but a couple of them come to mind. One saw Jordan Horston cutting to the rim, two Tempo players basically sandwiched her, and she lost the ball, and they certainly could have called a foul there. Probably the worst one was when Nyara Sabally essentially fell on top of Mackenzie Holmes, and they didn't bother to call anything as the ball went out of bounds. They did reward the Storm the ball there, but I was shocked that wasn't a defensive foul on Sabally.
When the first half ended and the Storm had only 1 free throw attempt compared to Toronto's 11, I jokingly tweeted, "Where is Becky Hammon when you need her?" Becky probably would have lost her mind in the post-game press conference if her team was outshot 33 to 8 at the foul line. Becky, having won 3 of the last 4 WNBA Championships, obviously has the cache to call the referees out and isn't afraid to speak out like that. I'm sure Coach Raman is a bit more reserved than doing that. It can also look like sour grapes or poor sport for your team losing.
I did see Sonia complaining/talking to the refs at one point when they called the foul on Seattle, but didn't call one on Toronto on a similar play right before that. Coach Raman definitely made comments about it after the game. I don't know if she'll be fined, probably not.
I’ve never seen a team put on a more pathetic display from inside the paint than the Seattle Storm today. It was embarrassing how many lay-ins and put-back shots were missed. I’ve seen better shooting at high school games. Given the theoretical strength of this team is (or will be…) their inside game, maybe the Storm needs to take a page from Kelsey Plum’s “Constraints-Led Approach” to training/practice. It’s all about learning how to play and shoot under duress and using atypical platforms if necessary. I’m not upset that the Storm lost. I’m upset that they looked incompetent.
I missed seeing this game because for some reason I thought it was an afternoon game at 3:00 or 4:00 PM not at 10:00 AM in the morning. I never even looked for it until a little before 3:00 PM and found out that it was long over and we did not have a good result. It sounds like Jordan had her first really good game and "T" continued her stellar play but few others stepped up to meet the challenge and Dom is still out on the concussion protocol, unfortunately. She's been out for so long that it makes me wonder if she really did or does have symptoms like headaches.
This is why I always write down the time of the games in my UP NEXT sections of my articles, so people know when to tune into the game at the appropriate time.
I would agree that if she is traveling with the team, that is a more positive sign because if she couldn't travel at all, it would mean the symptoms are even worse. Because the team has been playing every other day or every three days and flying to new locations, they have barely practiced in the past two weeks because of all the travel and games.
We can only hope Dom's health is getting better and that we get to see her play and have fun again soon.
I missed the game so maybe the free throw disparity was warranted but 33-4 with 42 seconds to go seems insane. Becky Harmon went crazy two days ago when it was 22-12 against the Wings. Were the Storm that pathetic or was the officiating a bit off?
I think there are a few factors in play. I thought the Toronto Tempo still led the WNBA in Free Throw attempts per game, but according to the WNBA's stat page, they rank 3rd at 25.6 FTA/game. The Storm rank 5th at 23.0 FTA/game. I don't think there is any way you can justify having 33 free throws for one team and four for the other with 45 seconds left in the game. If I were the Storm, I would definitely submit tape to the league if they felt it was lopsided.
I can't say with certainty that there were a ton of egregious missed calls, but a couple of them come to mind. One saw Jordan Horston cutting to the rim, two Tempo players basically sandwiched her, and she lost the ball, and they certainly could have called a foul there. Probably the worst one was when Nyara Sabally essentially fell on top of Mackenzie Holmes, and they didn't bother to call anything as the ball went out of bounds. They did reward the Storm the ball there, but I was shocked that wasn't a defensive foul on Sabally.
When the first half ended and the Storm had only 1 free throw attempt compared to Toronto's 11, I jokingly tweeted, "Where is Becky Hammon when you need her?" Becky probably would have lost her mind in the post-game press conference if her team was outshot 33 to 8 at the foul line. Becky, having won 3 of the last 4 WNBA Championships, obviously has the cache to call the referees out and isn't afraid to speak out like that. I'm sure Coach Raman is a bit more reserved than doing that. It can also look like sour grapes or poor sport for your team losing.
I did see Sonia complaining/talking to the refs at one point when they called the foul on Seattle, but didn't call one on Toronto on a similar play right before that. Coach Raman definitely made comments about it after the game. I don't know if she'll be fined, probably not.
I don’t think this team will win 10 games. That’s alright though. They’ll have a good shot at Madison Booker.
She is tuff
I’ve never seen a team put on a more pathetic display from inside the paint than the Seattle Storm today. It was embarrassing how many lay-ins and put-back shots were missed. I’ve seen better shooting at high school games. Given the theoretical strength of this team is (or will be…) their inside game, maybe the Storm needs to take a page from Kelsey Plum’s “Constraints-Led Approach” to training/practice. It’s all about learning how to play and shoot under duress and using atypical platforms if necessary. I’m not upset that the Storm lost. I’m upset that they looked incompetent.
that, and bad passing/turnovers
Exactly. Several million dollars worth of salary can’t get the the ball in the hoop. And the lackadaisical passing drives me nuts too.
I missed seeing this game because for some reason I thought it was an afternoon game at 3:00 or 4:00 PM not at 10:00 AM in the morning. I never even looked for it until a little before 3:00 PM and found out that it was long over and we did not have a good result. It sounds like Jordan had her first really good game and "T" continued her stellar play but few others stepped up to meet the challenge and Dom is still out on the concussion protocol, unfortunately. She's been out for so long that it makes me wonder if she really did or does have symptoms like headaches.
This is why I always write down the time of the games in my UP NEXT sections of my articles, so people know when to tune into the game at the appropriate time.
She must be on her way to recovery from the concussions, otherwise I don’t think they would be putting her on airplanes. Would they?
I don't know the answer to that. Maybe Jeff does.
I would agree that if she is traveling with the team, that is a more positive sign because if she couldn't travel at all, it would mean the symptoms are even worse. Because the team has been playing every other day or every three days and flying to new locations, they have barely practiced in the past two weeks because of all the travel and games.
We can only hope Dom's health is getting better and that we get to see her play and have fun again soon.
Oops my bad, I saw MD after your name 😜