6-7 Storm vs. Monarchs

No LJ and another loss. I didn't realize this one was televised until I saw the thread on Rebkell, but I managed to record both it and the NBA Finals game 1. I don't know which was more disappointing. For the NBA it appears that many people in the nation fell as I do and aren't really interested in watching Spurs basketball. I admire the team and the organization, but they are simply boring to watch 75% of the time. Occasionally Parker or Ginobli will do something exciting, but I just don't get into watching their games. I was planning to avoid the finals all together this year if it was to be another Spurs/Pistons matchup. Been there, slept through that once already. I am interested to see the Cavs play, but outside of Lebron James, they aren't much more exciting. We'll see how game 2 looks on tape tonight.

As for the Storm, I could tell early on it was going to be a loss. The team looks confused on the court and they are making strange mistakes at both ends of the floor. They were ignoring mismatches on offense, and allowing back door cuts on defense. They were just a beat slow on most plays. It was nice to see Sue play like she used to. She was shooting and penetrating, I hope she can keep it up. Katie Gearlds is starting to shake off the rust and may be adjusting to the bench role, but I won't hold my breath just yet. Tanisha Wright stepped in at the shooting guard alongside of Bird and had her best game of the season.

Best Shooters

Player	Floor %	eFG%
Katie Gearlds	55%	83%
Ashley Robinson	53%	100%
Sue Bird	53%	79%
Janell Burse	53%	56%
Tanisha Wright	48%	100%

Best Individual Rating

Player	IR
Sue Bird	138.68
Katie Gearlds	127.08
Tanisha Wright	107.04

Best Plus/Minus

Player	+/-
Ashley Robinson	+5
Tanisha Wright	+4
Iziane Castro Marques	+2

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Gearlds-Castro-Palmer-Robinson: +6
Bird-Wright-Castro-Robinson-Burse: +4
Bird-Wright-Castro-Palmer-Burse: +3

The Storm came close a number of times, but just could not get over the hump. The good news is that with them playing like this and LJ back, they are a much stronger team. The question is whether they can carry it through.

For tonight's game we are at risk again on the perimeter.

Lyndsey Harding: 5'8"
Seimone Augustus: 6'0"
Svetlana Abrosimova: 6'2"

Izi will have to guard the Lynx's best perimeter player, Augustus, which will leave Bird to cover Abrosimova and Betty to pick up Harding. This caused problems against San Antonio, so seeing more of Wright at the two and of course Gearlds will help protect the perimeter. It will end up being up to Anne to keep them in the game unless LJ is able to dominate. Hayden and Ohlde both have played well against the Storm in the past though, so I expect the game to be decided on the perimeter tonight.