I know that I am late...I have three games I still need to post...
I ran some numbers for the 1st half of the season and thought I should share them...
Over the first 17 games of the season the Storm are only averaging 75.46 possessions per game which is only 3 more possessions per game than they had in 2005. It is also one possession less than the league average. The rest of the league has passed Seattle in terms of speed. Fortunately Seattle is still doing well as far as points per possession. Some interesting data from the Minnesota Lynx (I know their numbers vary from mine...we use slightly different formulas and I don't think they are counting free throws by the same rules that I do for plus/minus.) shows Seattle is leading the league in defending against the break. Seattle only allows 6.7 fast break points per game, while the league averages 8.6. Seattle is also tied with Connecticut for second in the league in Defensive Rebounding %. This is pretty darn important, since when teams do get their offensive rebound they are scoring. The Storm allow 11.1 second chance points per game while the league averages 11.9. Detroit on the other hand is #1 in DR% and #1 in second chance points allowed, giving up only 9 per game.
Wendy Palmer has the best Per40 Roland Rating on the team. She is +18 per 40 minutes. Lauren Jackson is next at +12. Sue is +8, Betty +5, JB and Shaun are +4, and BT is +1. Izi is -1 followed by Tanisha with -4. Lawson is at -34 . We can't be hard on them, though, since all three of those negative RR players have positive on-court numbers. The team is just REALLY good without them in the lineup.
There is a fun video at ESPN.com which accompanies a great article that shares a little of what it is like to be a practice player for the Storm.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
6/23 Storm vs. Silver Stars Part II
Possessions: 69.91
Off Rtg: 124.17
Off Reb %: 21%
Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Jackson-Johnson: +8
Wright-Gortman-Turner-Jackson-Burse: +7
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Jackson-Burse: +5
Bird-Wright-Gortman-Johnson-Burse: +5
Bird-Gortman-Turner-Jackson-Burse: +5
Least Effective Lineups
Bird-Wright-Turner-Jackson-Johnson: -2
Lawson-Lennox-Turner-Greenwalt-Burse: -2
Lawson-Gortman-Turner-Greenwalt-Burse: -2
Off Rtg: 124.17
Off Reb %: 21%
| Floor % | Eff FG% | Ast Ratio | Tov Ratio | Stop% | Off Rtg | Net Points | Pts Prod | Pelton IR | +/- | |
| Bird | 0.42 | 0.67 | 33.33 | 16.67 | 0.33 | 105.21 | -0.77 | 7.87 | 104.85 | +25 |
| Lennox | 0.42 | 0.45 | 6.93 | 13.85 | 0.41 | 86.18 | -2.74 | 9.83 | 74.61 | +12 |
| Jackson | 0.79 | 0.85 | 11.34 | 0 | 0.48 | 172.39 | 10.29 | 19.81 | 171.93 | +22 |
| Castro | 0.33 | 0.63 | 14.53 | 14.53 | 0.40 | 81.14 | -1.31 | 4.06 | 80.14 | +14 |
| Burse | 0.72 | 0.75 | 21.13 | 7.04 | 0.58 | 148.29 | 5.63 | 14.13 | 141.53 | +24 |
| Johnson | 0.54 | 0.43 | 30 | 0 | 0.45 | 109.62 | 0.18 | 7.28 | 89.32 | +16 |
| Gortman | 0.52 | 0.40 | 28.57 | 0 | 0.59 | 106.70 | -0.50 | 5.15 | 82.16 | +21 |
| Turner | 0.85 | 0.75 | 45.05 | 0 | 0.30 | 180.75 | 3.79 | 9.17 | 173.42 | +10 |
| Wright | 0.56 | 0.50 | 57.14 | 14.29 | 0.43 | 116.88 | 0.54 | 4.71 | 99.78 | +14 |
| Lawson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.96 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
| Greenwalt | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.85 | 0.86 | 0 | -4 |
Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Jackson-Johnson: +8
Wright-Gortman-Turner-Jackson-Burse: +7
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Jackson-Burse: +5
Bird-Wright-Gortman-Johnson-Burse: +5
Bird-Gortman-Turner-Jackson-Burse: +5
Least Effective Lineups
Bird-Wright-Turner-Jackson-Johnson: -2
Lawson-Lennox-Turner-Greenwalt-Burse: -2
Lawson-Gortman-Turner-Greenwalt-Burse: -2
Saturday, June 24, 2006
6/23 Storm vs. Silver Stars
Ok...my littlest guy made it to the game last night. Early in the game Lauren got fouled and hit her shot...she stepped away from the altercation facing us as the rest of the players moved to position for her to shoot the free throw. Suddenly I hear...
"That's LJ. LJ shoots the ball." from my two year old.
This is the first time he actually recognized a player. I was bouncing off the ceiling the rest of the game.
I am becoming more and more impressed by Shaun's defense. At times her positioning and reach are just stunning. She is EXCELLENT at denying a player the ball. She did it to Taurasi on Wed and did it to VJ on Fri.
For those who think Bird is a poor defender. Give it up. The woman plays excellent defense. She has broken up at least three 2 or 3 on 1 breaks with her fast break D this year alone. She showed her defensive intelligence continues to improve. She has the ability, but has, at times, made the wrong choice on defense. In the past that happened more often than not. She is slowly sliding the pendulum the other way. She still makes mistakes, and they are glaring when she make them, but it is because she commits to what she thinks the other player is doing. As she becomes better at reading her assignment she will continue to play better.
Izi started to remember what it is like to play at home.
Tanisha finally had some brilliant plays, both scoring and passing that may bring her confidence back and get her out of her funk.
Sheri was a seasoned vet. She knew when she got beat or embarassed on one play or one game, she was too good to let that mean anything. Our young players haven't figured that out yet. Games like this will help them realize it.
I love Barb Turner. I can't explain it yet. I just love her.
Betty got really ticked early. She wasn't getting calls on her end that the refs were giving at the other. At one point in the first half, she walked toward the Storm basket after getting called for a foul after a series of no calls on her play and she was ready to blow. I yelled out, "Don't worry Betty, you've got her!" I am not saying she heard me. But she must have realized the same thing. She calmed down and just showed VJ up. This was after the technical. And it was vintage Betty. Get her fired up and she turns it into a focused attack on your team. I am seeing the Betty I fell in love with in 2004. I still love her, always have, but last night I started to remember WHY I love her. It was like one of those moments when nothing special is happening and you catch your partner out of the corner or your eye and you are like..."Whoa! Who is that? Wait a minute, I know her." Then all the reasons you bonded in the first place flood into your mind. When we are mad we see all the bad stuff lined up with all the good stuff edited out. Happens every time. The times when that happens for the good stuff, with all the bad stuff edited out...that doesn't happen quite as often. For me it happened with Betty last night. I remembered her fire, her passion, the spark that made the championship possible. Last night I saw that hint again and I remembered.
JB continues to impress.
LJ. Sigh. Why aren't there more LJ's in the world?
TJ stepped up last night, but to be honest...I still miss Wendy. Can somebody find some magic juju that will instantly heal her achilles? Please?
I promise to post the numbers, but it will be tomorrow. I have limited time today, and while they have been run...the html to publish them in a tabular form is lame. Takes way too much time.
Summary
Bird, Jackson, Burse and Gortman were AWESOME.
Lennox, Castro, TJ and Wright were GREAT.
Cisti and Lawson, well ladies, I like the potential, but you got nothing but garbage time to show it to us.
"That's LJ. LJ shoots the ball." from my two year old.
This is the first time he actually recognized a player. I was bouncing off the ceiling the rest of the game.
I am becoming more and more impressed by Shaun's defense. At times her positioning and reach are just stunning. She is EXCELLENT at denying a player the ball. She did it to Taurasi on Wed and did it to VJ on Fri.
For those who think Bird is a poor defender. Give it up. The woman plays excellent defense. She has broken up at least three 2 or 3 on 1 breaks with her fast break D this year alone. She showed her defensive intelligence continues to improve. She has the ability, but has, at times, made the wrong choice on defense. In the past that happened more often than not. She is slowly sliding the pendulum the other way. She still makes mistakes, and they are glaring when she make them, but it is because she commits to what she thinks the other player is doing. As she becomes better at reading her assignment she will continue to play better.
Izi started to remember what it is like to play at home.
Tanisha finally had some brilliant plays, both scoring and passing that may bring her confidence back and get her out of her funk.
Sheri was a seasoned vet. She knew when she got beat or embarassed on one play or one game, she was too good to let that mean anything. Our young players haven't figured that out yet. Games like this will help them realize it.
I love Barb Turner. I can't explain it yet. I just love her.
Betty got really ticked early. She wasn't getting calls on her end that the refs were giving at the other. At one point in the first half, she walked toward the Storm basket after getting called for a foul after a series of no calls on her play and she was ready to blow. I yelled out, "Don't worry Betty, you've got her!" I am not saying she heard me. But she must have realized the same thing. She calmed down and just showed VJ up. This was after the technical. And it was vintage Betty. Get her fired up and she turns it into a focused attack on your team. I am seeing the Betty I fell in love with in 2004. I still love her, always have, but last night I started to remember WHY I love her. It was like one of those moments when nothing special is happening and you catch your partner out of the corner or your eye and you are like..."Whoa! Who is that? Wait a minute, I know her." Then all the reasons you bonded in the first place flood into your mind. When we are mad we see all the bad stuff lined up with all the good stuff edited out. Happens every time. The times when that happens for the good stuff, with all the bad stuff edited out...that doesn't happen quite as often. For me it happened with Betty last night. I remembered her fire, her passion, the spark that made the championship possible. Last night I saw that hint again and I remembered.
JB continues to impress.
LJ. Sigh. Why aren't there more LJ's in the world?
TJ stepped up last night, but to be honest...I still miss Wendy. Can somebody find some magic juju that will instantly heal her achilles? Please?
I promise to post the numbers, but it will be tomorrow. I have limited time today, and while they have been run...the html to publish them in a tabular form is lame. Takes way too much time.
Summary
Bird, Jackson, Burse and Gortman were AWESOME.
Lennox, Castro, TJ and Wright were GREAT.
Cisti and Lawson, well ladies, I like the potential, but you got nothing but garbage time to show it to us.
Friday, June 23, 2006
6/21 Storm vs. Mercury
I arrived at this game right at tip off. I was solo since my youngest child skipped his nap and decided to fall asleep for the night at 5:30 PM. My oldest son, predictably, when asked if he wanted to join me replied, "No way, Dad." The anthem was ... unusual. Sue and LJ were recognized before the game for their selections to the WNBA 10th Anniversary All-Decade Team. The curse of the pre-game celebration continues. Kamila got a rousing greeting from the crowd, which continued the trend of low mid-week attendance.
The Storm started off well. However, by the end of the first quarter they had given up the game. The Phoenix team that has been beating the best teams in the league in Phoenix showed up in Seattle and earned their first road win of the season. There really isn't much to this team other than Diana and Cappie, but it didn't seem to matter. Betty again started off strong and faded by the end of the game. LJ seemed to struggle at first and the guards seemed reluctant to go to the post despite the success LJ and JB were having when they DID get the ball. By the second half LJ was simply demanding the ball. It was frustrating watching her fight tooth and nail for position, earn it and then watch the ball swing to the other side of the floor. Wendy Palmer was dominant against the Mercury in the previous two outings, but no one stepped into her void. Barbara Turner might have done so, however she had to fill in for Izi who seemed to think she was still on the road. Defensively Izi and Shaun did quite well, but BT was the only person off the bench to contribute ANY offense. Sue played some of her best defense of the year, but here shot was not falling. Phoenix played zone and Seattle wouldn't take the shot. If the player with the ball was open, they would not take a shot and instead waited for the defense to rotate, then tried and failed to penetrate. When Sue was off the floor very little happened offensively. Their defense was adequate, but Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter muscled their way to 20+ points apiece as they do every night.
Someone really needs to remind Pondexter that she IS a rookie, please...
Possessions: 79.23
Off Rtg: 101.64
Off Reb %: 31%
Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Jackson-Burse: +8
Bird-Wright-Turner-Jackson-Burse: +3
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Johnson-Burse: +3
Lawson-Lennox-Gortman-Jackson-Burse: +3
Least Effective Lineups
Wright-Lennox-Turner-Jackson-Burse: -5
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Jackson-Johnson: -4
Bird-Castro-Turner-Johnson-Burse: -4
The Storm started off well. However, by the end of the first quarter they had given up the game. The Phoenix team that has been beating the best teams in the league in Phoenix showed up in Seattle and earned their first road win of the season. There really isn't much to this team other than Diana and Cappie, but it didn't seem to matter. Betty again started off strong and faded by the end of the game. LJ seemed to struggle at first and the guards seemed reluctant to go to the post despite the success LJ and JB were having when they DID get the ball. By the second half LJ was simply demanding the ball. It was frustrating watching her fight tooth and nail for position, earn it and then watch the ball swing to the other side of the floor. Wendy Palmer was dominant against the Mercury in the previous two outings, but no one stepped into her void. Barbara Turner might have done so, however she had to fill in for Izi who seemed to think she was still on the road. Defensively Izi and Shaun did quite well, but BT was the only person off the bench to contribute ANY offense. Sue played some of her best defense of the year, but here shot was not falling. Phoenix played zone and Seattle wouldn't take the shot. If the player with the ball was open, they would not take a shot and instead waited for the defense to rotate, then tried and failed to penetrate. When Sue was off the floor very little happened offensively. Their defense was adequate, but Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter muscled their way to 20+ points apiece as they do every night.
Someone really needs to remind Pondexter that she IS a rookie, please...
Possessions: 79.23
Off Rtg: 101.64
Off Reb %: 31%
| Floor % | Eff FG% | Ast Ratio | Tov Ratio | Stop% | Off Rtg | Net Points | Pts Prod | Pelton IR | +/- | |
| Bird | 0.52 | 0.50 | 20.12 | 15.09 | 0.34 | 102.53 | 0.36 | 14.06 | 93.98 | +3 |
| Lennox | 0.44 | 0.22 | 42.64 | 0 | 0.34 | 113.22 | -4.11 | 11.01 | 93.51 | +3 |
| Jackson | 0.61 | 0.48 | 13.4 | 3.35 | 0.41 | 128.45 | 4.61 | 27.92 | 113.23 | 0 |
| Castro | 0.06 | 0 | 20 | 20 | 0.35 | 12.61 | -6.24 | 0.40 | 11.76 | -3 |
| Burse | 0.61 | 0.62 | 0 | 6.35 | 0.35 | 121.44 | -1.63 | 13.73 | 107.03 | 0 |
| Johnson | 0.36 | 0.50 | 0 | 40.98 | 0.42 | 80.15 | -3.81 | 3.33 | 74.20 | -14 |
| Gortman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0.37 | 0 | -6.67 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Turner | 0.47 | 0.33 | 22.52 | 0 | 0.33 | 91.4 | -4.94 | 4.97 | 73.62 | -14 |
| Wright | 0.22 | 0.25 | 0 | 20 | 0.36 | 43.23 | -4.85 | 1.66 | 30.99 | -7 |
| Lawson | 0.22 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 0.29 | 45.85 | -1.90 | 0.39 | 40 | 0 |
| Greenwalt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Jackson-Burse: +8
Bird-Wright-Turner-Jackson-Burse: +3
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Johnson-Burse: +3
Lawson-Lennox-Gortman-Jackson-Burse: +3
Least Effective Lineups
Wright-Lennox-Turner-Jackson-Burse: -5
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Jackson-Johnson: -4
Bird-Castro-Turner-Johnson-Burse: -4
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