Saturday, June 21, 2008

Game Fourteen: Storm vs. Fever 20 June, 2008

First of all, Storm website, you stole my poll. :)-

Secondly, that was quite a game. Both my kids stayed awake for the first time this season, since Connor fell asleep on the bus on the way to the game. When we got home he said, "I'm happy, do you know why? We went to the basketball game and the Storm won." I know how you feel kid.

I really like the Storm dance troupe this season, they are doing a nice job. It is fun, entertaining and doesn't have all the excessive age-inappropriate choreography it once had. The choreography is far superior this season (I like it better than the Sonics choreography in terms of how it fits the overall evening) and the kids are really sold from end to end. I still see a couple of glances to see where they are supposed to be in routines, but they are never far off and the kids have their game faces on through the whole thing.

The Storm are lucky that Tamika Catchings is currently limited to one half of basketball. I hope that Tan White is OK. I really like her game. I like our team this year, but boy do I miss Tully.

One more reason to love Lauren Jackson from Jayda Evans:

UPDATE: Jackson said all she said was the bull fecal matter comment, "One of my lighter moments. That's Australian for I love you. I'm putting it down as he is sensitive," she said.


How about Sue Bird's defense? Welcome back Tenacious Tanisha.


Storm
Most Effective Shooters


Player

True Shooting Percentage

Effective FG%

Floor Percentage

Points

Sheryl Swoopes

60%

55%

57%

13

Tanisha Wright

59%

50%

54%

12

Lauren Jackson

56%

42%

44%

18

Sue Bird

52%

50%

52%

17

Swin Cash

47%

36%

49%

12



Ok, it is hard to lose games when Sue, Swin and Sheryl are all on with their shooting and scoring. Tanisha Wright is leading the team this season with a 57% true shooting percentage, trailed by Lauren Jackson with 56%. She is also leading effective field goal percentage and is second in floor percentage. Go T. Can we say SHOOTING GUARD?


Top Ratings

PlayerOffensive RatingIndividual Rating
Sheryl Swoopes128.21112.45
Lauren Jackson125.23104.77
Tanisha Wright118.5797.65
Sue Bird117.28101.02
Swin Cash106.9086.03

Did I mention how well Tanisha Wright is playing? She has the fourth best offensive rating and third best individual rating on the team this season. Brian Agler is right, she is playing like a starter.


Raw Plus/Minus

Sue Bird: +12
Swin Cash: +12
Sheryl Swoopes: +8
Tanisha Wright: +7
Lauren Jackson: +7
Yolanda Griffith: +6
Katie Gearlds: 0
Ashley Robinson:-1
Kimberly Beck: -3
Shyra Ely: -8

Swin comes back in this category.

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson: +11
Bird-Wright-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: +5

That +11 lineup was our closers last night.


Fever
Most Effective Shooters

Player

True Shooting Percentage

Effective FG%

Floor Percentage

Points

Tully Bevilaqua

113%

113%

51%

9

Tammy Sutton-Brown

89%

86%

54%

14

Allison Feaster

75%

75%

57%

3

LaToya Bond

75%

75%

53%

9

Ebony Hoffman

58%

50%

64%

8




The Storm defense shut Katie Douglas down.



Top Ratings

PlayerOffensive RatingIndividual Rating
Allison Feaster162.08155.97
LaToya Bond153.77149.64
Tully Bevilaqua147.82171.12
Ebony Hoffman139.97109.95
Tammy Sutton-Brown113.80113.46

Tully rocked, two consecutive games where former Storm players just pounded our team. Should we stop cheering for them at introductions? Fever had some effective offensive players, but they just didn't play them.


Raw Plus/Minus

Sherill Baker: +9
Allison Feaster: +3
Tamika Catchings: +3
LaToya Bond: +2
Bernadette Ngoyisa: -4
Tammy Sutton-Brown: -5
Tan White: -11
Katie Douglas: -11
Ebony Hoffman: -13
Tully Bevilaqua: -13

Most Effective Lineups


Bond-Baker-Douglas-Catchings-Sutton^Brown: +6
Bond-Baker-Feaster-Hoffman-Sutton^Brown: +3
White-Baker-Feaster-Hoffman-Ngoyisa: +3

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hope Little's improved 3 pt shooting is real and not a random rise. I assume she will compete with or bump Geralds? She is a much better rebounder, somewhat important for a SF.