PRESEASON: Storm vs. Fever 10 May, 2008

Wow. I forgot how good it could feel to watch a win in Key Arena with great fans, and a team that you KNOW is here to stay. It was like this HUGE weight was lifted from the fans and they were partying like we did in the years before the championship. Welcome back Storm fans, welcome home.

MOST EFFECTIVE SHOOTERS

Player	Floor %	Eff FG %
Cash	70%	71%
Robinson	61%	60%
Wright	60%	44%
Griffith	61%	38%

BEST RATINGS

Player	Offensive Rating	Indiv Rating
Gearlds	185.17	140.88
Cash	134.87	120.58
Wright	124.07	98.87
Robinson	122.71	97.19

BEST NET PLUS/MINUS
Beck: +19 (+15 on floor)
Robinson: +11 (+11 on floor)
Wright: +7 (+9 on floor)
Ely: +7 (+9 on floor)

MOST EFFECTIVE LINEUPS
Beck-Wright-O'Neil-Ely-Santos: +5
Beck-Wright-Cash-Ely-Griffith: +4

It was still a rough preseason game against a team without any of its best players. But, who cares...it was a win, it was fun...and the crowd loved it. It was great to see the veterans on the bench cheering the rookies during the runs at the end of the game. In fact, the team did not take off until Cash, Swoopes and Griffith were all resting. The youngsters made sure that Coach Agler never needed to bring them back in. Next Saturday will be an amazing night for fans.

I wore my "Keep the Storm in Seattle" shirt last night as I did many games last season. Before the game, though I used a red sharpie to cross out the word "Keep" and write in "Force 10 Kept" in its place. I got a number of comments and many more smiles from it. One photographer even snapped a photo.

I can't even describe the feeling. I am ridiculously emotional about the whole thing. I thought I was going to burst out in tears when Karen Bryant introduced Anne Levinson at the open practice. I don't know any of these four women personally, but I have this huge urge to just give them giant hugs if we ever meet. Don't worry...I can restrain myself, but I am simply not a skilled enough wordsmith to express what I feel about what they have done in keeping the Storm here for us.

Agler played Beck heavily. She delivered with the best impact on the team's plus minus. She does not have her own offense, but she handles the ball well, makes excellent decisions and plays good defense. She had 5 assists and one turnover in 23 minutes of play. When she played with Wright or Lewis she was always the point guard. There is nothing flashy about her game...she just makes things work. She may be almost EXACTLY what we have been looking for in a backup for Bird. If she develops a three point shot she will be perfect.

IMHO Agler is going to keep her. She is playing like a veteran but is just a rookie. That leaves one roster spot available. I think that the coach is leaning towards keeping the combo guard, Lewis but Kristin O'Neil made things very interesting last night.

Kennedy and Hodges played well at times, and I REALLY like Daphanie's game, but I don't think they are what the coach needs right now. Lewis gives him some security if Beck struggles in the season as a rookie. O'Neil was just so perfect as a member of the team, though, it is tough. Kristin (I did not follow her career at UW) was just in the right place on every play and hustled for every loose ball. She offers more offense than Lewis and has had a better impact on team performance recently. Lewis was better at the start of preseason, but not here at the end. I expect him to ride out the week with those two and see who meshes better with Sue and LJ.