What a tragedy it will be if they will have given up the highest of the three first round picks they owned to Washington!!
I am not surprised, but I am disappointed, to see the team led by a pair of 35 year olds fade again down the stretch. Ready for the Skyler and Nneka Storm experiment to end and a rebuild to begin.
After the lack of effort from Ezi to boxout on that freethrow she should be sent to the bench and Dom put in the starting lineup.
Also,, one thing Dom (and others on this team) need to learn defensively is how to take away an offensive players dominant hand and either force them to pass or drive to their weak side. Dom kept getting beat by Hamby going to her right. And whoever guards Plum kept letting her go left.
Great point. I would have liked to see Sykes guard plum the whole game. She did a great job when she was on her, ( I don't think plum made a field goal on her), but when her and wheeler shared the court Sykes was on allemand. I think that's on quinn.
Dom is not at Ezi's level of defence, she makes mistake in about every PnR drop and gives up easy baskets. That will take a lot of time to learn. I don't think sending Ezi to the bench and play Ezi less is the best idea. We won't score enough with our messy offence to cover the losses on defence.
“But instead, the team didn’t execute down the stretch, and two of Seattle’s best defenders sat on the bench as the LA Sparks outscored the Storm 14-4 to defeat Seattle and win the game 94-91.” —-this felt criminal.
Rotations and time management have always been something that stood out to me and this game it was like a sore thumb.
Sorry Jeff, this'll be long but I wanna hear your opinion on a lot of things:
-Slim had a great game but we didn't get the win. Out of her, Ariel atkins, and marina mabrey who do you think would have benefited the storm the most?
-What has been some of the biggest factors in our losing streak?
-Assuming that the sparks make the playoffs and we either don't or get swept in the first round, what are your ideal and realistic predictions for our draft, free agency, coach, and roster makeup?
Not Jeff, but I think Sykes is he answer because she’s got built in chemistry with Nneka and somewhat EW. Those things are key in a midseason acquisition…Look at Dijonai in MINN…her history with the StudBudz is paying dividends for the Lynx.
Atkins and Mabrey would have been playing catch up. I think the Sykes acquisition was too late IMO…
I would have taken Sykes over Atkins for sure. I've never been that high on AA. Marina Mabrey would have provided more spacing and outside shooting that the Storm need. But she's actually shooting below 30% from three this season. And Slim is a much better defender. So of those 3, I would have been good with Sykes or Mabrey, but would choose Sykes if I had to.
Regarding the losing streak, I think a lot of things are in play. But #1 is probably the fact that they haven't been good defensively. They've given up 90 points or more in 4 out of the 5 losses. For a team that "hangs their hat on defense" and has struggled this year at times to score, they can't give up 90 points or more and expect to win. And they haven't. I think there have been some coaching mistakes along the way. I think Gabby and Skylar haven't played as well recently. But it's the defense.
Regarding your last question about a number of topics. Honestly, a lot of those questions will be full fledged articles when the time is right.
Even though things are starting to look a little bleak, I don't think we should give up on this team yet. We have to see how Sky and Sykes and Gabby and EW and Nneka and Dom and Ezi are going to mesh over the next few games and if they're going to be able to stop the bleeding or not.
It’s time to admit Quinn is NOT up to the task of motivating and coaching this set of players. When you lose this many games by so few points, I believe it points to the person calling the shots.
I thought sure that we had this game in the bag when we were up by 16 early in the game and then again when we were up by 7 with under 3 minutes to go. I was certain that we were getting the W. And then we fell apart. Sykes played great - better than I expected, but Gabby didn't play so well. Is Gabby not going to be her usual disruptive ball-hawking self playing alongside Brittney Sykes? I hope that's not the case. Dom certainly had another great game but she didn't force other players away from their strong hand as someone astutely pointed out. That could have saved the game for us.
Again Q struggles with player rotation. After 1st qtr, very little plan, starters sit for too long, & choke with who was in & who wasn't on last LA possession. Has not learned or gotten help for 4 years.
I like Skylar and Nneka but it's time for them to move on. Time to move on from this coaching staff and GM. Time to build around Gabby, Jordan and Dom. Those are your next big three. If we bring in a coach to develop Ezi all the better. This team is lacking in respected leadership on the court to bring them together. This organization should be embarrassed.
I wonder what's your thought on letting a new player in her 2nd game walk in and dictate the offense?
Sykes took 21 shots today, for a player that you need to integrate into whatever supposed to be your offensive plan, it doesn't sound right. It looks to me that we move from stagnant offense to just throw the balls to her and let her drive or iso now.
I agree the reason Gabby had so few shots is Sykes taking all of them. It worked out today that she got hot in the 4Q, but in her career she is known as an inefficient scorer. Even Nneka had 4 shots the whole 2H
What a tragedy it will be if they will have given up the highest of the three first round picks they owned to Washington!!
I am not surprised, but I am disappointed, to see the team led by a pair of 35 year olds fade again down the stretch. Ready for the Skyler and Nneka Storm experiment to end and a rebuild to begin.
After the lack of effort from Ezi to boxout on that freethrow she should be sent to the bench and Dom put in the starting lineup.
Also,, one thing Dom (and others on this team) need to learn defensively is how to take away an offensive players dominant hand and either force them to pass or drive to their weak side. Dom kept getting beat by Hamby going to her right. And whoever guards Plum kept letting her go left.
Great point. I would have liked to see Sykes guard plum the whole game. She did a great job when she was on her, ( I don't think plum made a field goal on her), but when her and wheeler shared the court Sykes was on allemand. I think that's on quinn.
Dom is not at Ezi's level of defence, she makes mistake in about every PnR drop and gives up easy baskets. That will take a lot of time to learn. I don't think sending Ezi to the bench and play Ezi less is the best idea. We won't score enough with our messy offence to cover the losses on defence.
“But instead, the team didn’t execute down the stretch, and two of Seattle’s best defenders sat on the bench as the LA Sparks outscored the Storm 14-4 to defeat Seattle and win the game 94-91.” —-this felt criminal.
Rotations and time management have always been something that stood out to me and this game it was like a sore thumb.
Sorry Jeff, this'll be long but I wanna hear your opinion on a lot of things:
-Slim had a great game but we didn't get the win. Out of her, Ariel atkins, and marina mabrey who do you think would have benefited the storm the most?
-What has been some of the biggest factors in our losing streak?
-Assuming that the sparks make the playoffs and we either don't or get swept in the first round, what are your ideal and realistic predictions for our draft, free agency, coach, and roster makeup?
As always great reporting! Thanks!
Not Jeff, but I think Sykes is he answer because she’s got built in chemistry with Nneka and somewhat EW. Those things are key in a midseason acquisition…Look at Dijonai in MINN…her history with the StudBudz is paying dividends for the Lynx.
Atkins and Mabrey would have been playing catch up. I think the Sykes acquisition was too late IMO…
I would have taken Sykes over Atkins for sure. I've never been that high on AA. Marina Mabrey would have provided more spacing and outside shooting that the Storm need. But she's actually shooting below 30% from three this season. And Slim is a much better defender. So of those 3, I would have been good with Sykes or Mabrey, but would choose Sykes if I had to.
Regarding the losing streak, I think a lot of things are in play. But #1 is probably the fact that they haven't been good defensively. They've given up 90 points or more in 4 out of the 5 losses. For a team that "hangs their hat on defense" and has struggled this year at times to score, they can't give up 90 points or more and expect to win. And they haven't. I think there have been some coaching mistakes along the way. I think Gabby and Skylar haven't played as well recently. But it's the defense.
Regarding your last question about a number of topics. Honestly, a lot of those questions will be full fledged articles when the time is right.
Even though things are starting to look a little bleak, I don't think we should give up on this team yet. We have to see how Sky and Sykes and Gabby and EW and Nneka and Dom and Ezi are going to mesh over the next few games and if they're going to be able to stop the bleeding or not.
It’s time to admit Quinn is NOT up to the task of motivating and coaching this set of players. When you lose this many games by so few points, I believe it points to the person calling the shots.
I thought sure that we had this game in the bag when we were up by 16 early in the game and then again when we were up by 7 with under 3 minutes to go. I was certain that we were getting the W. And then we fell apart. Sykes played great - better than I expected, but Gabby didn't play so well. Is Gabby not going to be her usual disruptive ball-hawking self playing alongside Brittney Sykes? I hope that's not the case. Dom certainly had another great game but she didn't force other players away from their strong hand as someone astutely pointed out. That could have saved the game for us.
Again Q struggles with player rotation. After 1st qtr, very little plan, starters sit for too long, & choke with who was in & who wasn't on last LA possession. Has not learned or gotten help for 4 years.
Agreed!!!!
Lloyd disappeared last year. Ezi has disappeared in 2025. There needs to be a coaching shakeup.
I like Skylar and Nneka but it's time for them to move on. Time to move on from this coaching staff and GM. Time to build around Gabby, Jordan and Dom. Those are your next big three. If we bring in a coach to develop Ezi all the better. This team is lacking in respected leadership on the court to bring them together. This organization should be embarrassed.
I wonder what's your thought on letting a new player in her 2nd game walk in and dictate the offense?
Sykes took 21 shots today, for a player that you need to integrate into whatever supposed to be your offensive plan, it doesn't sound right. It looks to me that we move from stagnant offense to just throw the balls to her and let her drive or iso now.
And Gabby plays 10 minutes LESS than Sykes?!?! WTF Is THAT?!?!
Sykes had an efficient 27 and played great defense. Gabby was 2 of 5.
She’s a ball hog and the Storm is going to implode. I’m putting a fork in them for 2025. Sykes was a desperate move to avoid canning Quinn.
I agree the reason Gabby had so few shots is Sykes taking all of them. It worked out today that she got hot in the 4Q, but in her career she is known as an inefficient scorer. Even Nneka had 4 shots the whole 2H