Game Twenty-Six: Storm vs. Monarchs 27 July, 2008

The Storm end their pre-Olympic schedule on a strong note with a win over the rising Monarchs. The loss of Brunson in the second half was too much for the Monarchs to overcome. They took too large a beating in the fourth quarter, and despite a furious comeback, the Storm were able to clamp down defensively in the final moments and hit their free throws.

The Storm went 3-2 in the five games they were without their star player, Lauren Jackson, which is unheard of. If memory serves me they have only one two previous games total since LJ was drafted where she was unavailable. The success was largely due to the excellent play of Camille Little. She was able to be effective enough at both ends of the floor starting in place of Lauren to allow the rest of the players to have to step up their games only a small amount rather than completely replacing her scoring, rebounding and defense.

Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Sue Bird	68%	60%	59%	24
Camille Little	60%	60%	62%	6
Yolanda Griffith	58%	50%	40%	9
Katie Gearlds	56%	56%	36%	9
Tanisha Wright	55%	50%	45%	12
Shyra Ely	50%	50%	64%	2

Swin Cash was darn close to making this list with a 49% true shooting percentage.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Sue Bird	135.26	127.21
Shyra Ely	131.90	115.62
Camille Little	125.47	105.16
Katie Gearlds	107.53	104.10
Tanisha Wright	94.60	89.17

Swin was not all that efficient, but she put up 13 points which was needed with Camille Little only able to put up 6 that night.

Raw Plus Minus

Katie Gearlds: +17
Tanisha Wright: +10
Swin Cash: +6
Sue Bird: +3
Shyra Ely: +1
Yolanda Griffith: 0
Sheryl Swoopes: 0
Camille Little: 0
Kelly Santos: 0
Ashley Robinson: -7

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Wright-Gearlds-Cash-Little: +8
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Gearlds-Cash: +5
Bird-Wright-Gearlds-Cash-Robinson: +4

Monarchs
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Scholanda Robinson	73%	75%	49%	13
Crystal Kelly	64%	50%	46%	10
Nicole Powell	51%	40%	38%	12
Laura Harper	49%	100%	46%	4
Adrian Williams-Strong	43%	43%	45%	6

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Rebecca Brunson	117.24	79.87
Crystal Kelly	100.02	89.13
Scholanda Robinson	97.01	95.28
Nicole Powell	96.97	84.02
Aquonesia Franklin	96.11	74.66
Adrian Williams-Strong	90.40	69.79

Raw Plus Minus
Laura Harper: +11
Aquonesia Franklin: +7
Kim Smith: -3
Scholanda Robinson: -3
Ticha Penicheiro: -4
Rebecca Brunson: -5
Nicole Powell: -6
Kara Lawson: -6
Crystal Kelly: -8
Adrian Williams-Strong: -13

Most Effective Lineups
Penicheiro-Lawson-Smith-Powell-Harper: +8
Franklin-Robinson-Powell-Kelly-Williams: +5

Olympic Break

I am taking a bit of a break as well. With the Storm out of town, and my house under construction, I am on the east coast. I will be a bit behind getting the last game and the season to date numbers run and up, but I will get to them as soon as I can.

Game Twenty-Five: 25 July, 2008

The Suspensions

Before I get into last night's game I want to talk about the suspensions. They were all on the lighter than expected side given the much more significant suspensions issued in the past for less egregious actions. The league said that they wanted to look at the incident independantly, but they have effectively lowered the bar for future discipliary actions. I agree, that given her history, Plennett Pierson deserved the largest penalty. I think Mahorn, who was in the wrong, was nonetheless made an example of rather than punished accordingly. I believe that Parker could have been more strongly sanctioned and that Deanna Nola should have received at least some penalty. Viewed independantly the punishments mostly make sense and are not worthy of all the hullaballoo being made over them. Outside of Pierson's actions, none of the actions of those involved were truly malicious. I remember the fight between Latasha Byears and Michelle Marciniak, that was pure, unnecessary aggression by both sides. I saw the NBA "Malice in the Palace" brawl and all of its over the top aggression. In this instance, to be truthful, most actions were unfortunate reactions resulting from poor choices.

The only thing that really ticks me off and hurts my respect for the league is the clear favoritism shown by allowing Parker to serve her suspension in the Houston game when the league's own rules indicate that Page should have served that suspension with Parker serving hers in last night's Liberty game. The league says the suspensions are served alphabetically, and in my alphabet PAG comes before PAR. The decision reeks of the attempt to make sure that the league's most marketable player was able to play the game held in Madison Square garden, basketball's biggest stage. In cases of discipline the business should not come before fairness.

The Game

Let's move on to more important items. I did not think the Storm had enough firepower to survive this game, but gutsy play from Griffith, Ely and Wright made a game of it in the third quarter. In the end the lack of production from Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Katie Gearlds neutralized those valiant performances. Tanisha scored and played fantastic defense on Cappie Pondexter. She really deserves serious consideration for both Most Improved Player and Sixth Woman of the Year.

"She can't do that for a long time," Gaines said. "She's a great player, but she's old. You've got to be realistic. In her younger days she would probably be a beast."

I am envisioning Yo's boxscore if we face his team in the postseason, that is, if they can actually MAKE the playoffs.

Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Kelly Santos	69%	50%	79%	4
Tanisha Wright	60%	44%	63%	14
Yolanda Griffith	52%	50%	61%	17
Camille Little	47%	50%	46%	13
Shyra Ely	46%	39%	46%	10

I don't think Coach Agler is using Kelly Santos effectively. She could have played a lot more minutes in this game and I believe that it would have helped the offense.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Kelly Santos	172.38	160.17
Tanisha Wright	136.70	112.48
Yolanda Griffith	116.70	101.42
Swin Cash	102.71	73.60
Shyra Ely	102.26	79.33

I know that she made the list, but the team needs more from Swin Cash with LJ out.

Raw Plus Minus

Kelly Santos: +6
Ashley Robinson: +1
Camille Little: -6
Tanisha Wright: -6
Swin Cash: -7
Yolanda Griffith: -12
Sue Bird: -14
Shyra Ely: -15
Katie Gearlds: -17

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Wright-Cash-Little-Griffith: +7
Wright-Gearlds-Ely-Santos-Robinson: +4
Bird-Cash-Ely-Little-Santos: +4
Wright-Gearlds-Cash-Ely-Little: +3

Mercury
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
LaToya Pringle	74%	40%	73%	14
Kelly Miller	71%	71%	56%	10
Diana Taurasi	71%	62%	60%	31
LeCoe Willingham	70%	71%	67%	11
Tangela Smith	50%	50%	42%	7

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
LaToya Pringle	170.85	146.97
Diana Taurasi	139.53	129.04
LeCoe Willingham	136.05	123.03
Kelly Miller	135.63	130.89
Kelly Mazzante	104.92	82.33
Yuko Oga	104.65	78.00

Raw Plus Minus
Diana Taurasi: +14
LeCoe Willingham: +13
Kelly Mazzante: +12
LaToya Pringle: +10
Yuko Oga: +10
Tangela Smith: +7
Kelly Miller: +5
Cappie Pondexter: +4
Brooke Smith: 0
Barbara Farris: -2
Allie Quigley: -3

Most Effective Lineups
Miller-Pondexter-Taurasi-Willingham-TSmith: +5
Oga-Mazzante-Taurasi-Farris-Pringle: +4
Oga-Pondexter-Mazzante-Willingham-TSmith: +4
Miller-Mazzante-Taurasi-Willingham-TSmith: +3
Miller-Mazzante-Taurasi-Pringle-TSmith: +3

Game Twenty-Four: 22 July, 2008

The Brawl

It is hard to write about the WNBA today and not mention the brawl in Detroit last night. I don't want to take away from the great game the Storm played by spending too much time on the mess the Sparks and the Shock made of their game in The Palace, however, I do have two things to say.

1) What should have been a small incident that would have been quickly forgotten (understandable but not excusable) turned into a much bigger event when a coach crossed the line by interacting and making physical contact with a player from the opposing team. Rick Mahorn needed to focus on his own players and allow the Sparks coaching staff to focus on their players. He should not have engaged with Lisa Leslie at all. No matter what he thought he was doing, he was in the wrong.

2) Every person involved in the scuffle needs to take full responsibility for their own actions. There should be no excuses made or discussion of any other person involved in their statements. They should simply say that they were wrong, that they made a bad choice at the time and that they will abide by the consequences as determined by the league. They should apologize for making a poor choice and move on.

Back to the Good Stuff

I was really worried about this game, and my concern only grew when I learned that Yo was going to sit this one out. Minnesota has a nice rotation in the Post with Anosike, Hayden, Ohlde and Houston. That is balanced by their offensive minded backcourt of Augustus, Wiggins, DeForge and Harding. I was not sure that the Storm could hold Augustus in check, but in the end they were lucky and their decent defense on Seimone was helped by an off shooting day for the star.

Boy, what a pickup Camille Little has been. I guess that is somewhat of an understatement. I suppose Meadors must have owed Agler a little something for him leaving Lennox unprotected in the expansion draft. Her performance has me feeling very good about the post season.

Agler should start getting applause in Key Arena for the roster he has put together and the way he has coached the team this season. The crowd has seemed to be in somewhat of a "wait & see" mode with him this season, but I think he has proved himself. The team is on pace to have their best record in franchise history despite losing Lauren Jackson for five games. They are tied with San Antonio (Agler's former team) for the best record in the league. The games after the break are very favorable to the Storm, with the games against Connecticut and Los Angeles being the only games remaining on the schedule against top rated teams. Houston and Sacramento are the only other teams with at least a .500 record that they have to face. They have two games against Atlanta, Minnesota at Key Arena, and Chicago. I tip my hat to the man, that is, I would if I had a hat.

Next up is Phoenix. I would love for the Storm to prove me wrong on this one, but I don't think this is a good matchup for Seattle without LJ. If Yo and Swoopes are also questionable, it will mean even more trouble. Defense will be critical against a scoring machine like the Mercury, and their offense needs to be effective as well. I expect Little to perform well, but the Storm will need strong performances from Bird, Cash, Gearlds and Wright as well to stay in the game.

Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Tanisha Wright	75%	75%	57%	12
Camille Little	67%	65%	65%	17
Sue Bird	64%	57%	44%	17
Swin Cash	55%	42%	44%	6
Shyra Ely	50%	50%	46%	6

It was nice to see Shyra get a chance to play and deliver. Camille Little is continuing her best LJ impersonation in the box score.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Camille Little	134.77	119.21
Tanisha Wright	115.68	113.61
Sue Bird	105.93	101.14
Swin Cash	92.01	82.61
Shyra Ely	91.68	76.45

Raw Plus Minus

Katie Gearlds: +7
Sheryl Swoopes: +7
Tanisha Wright: +2
Shyra Ely: +2
Camille Little: +1
Swin Cash: 0
Sue Bird: 0
Kelly Santos: 0
Ashley Robinson: -4

Katie Gearlds went 0-4 but the team performed very well when she was on the floor.

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Gearlds-Cash-Ely-Little: +3
Bird-Wright-Cash-Ely-Little: +3
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Gearlds-Santos: +3

Lynx
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Nikki Anosike	67%	60%	64%	9
Lindsey Harding	51%	40%	37%	6
Charde Houston	50%	50%	47%	16
Nicole Ohlde	50%	50%	48%	6
Anna DeForge	50%	50%	50%	6
Noelle Quinn	50%	50%	31%	2

Wiggins had a 52% floor percentage but her 27% eFG% kept her off this list.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Anna DeForge	133.03	114.35
Nikki Anosike	128.49	116.08
Candice Wiggins	111.35	91.25
Nicole Ohlde	97.88	83.66
Charde Houston	94.63	79.04

Raw Plus Minus
Candice Wiggins: +4
Nicole Ohlde: +3
Vanessa Hayden: +3
Charde Houston: +3
Lindsay Harding: +2
Seimone Augustus: +1
Nikki Anosike: -5
Noelle Quinn: -6
Anna DeForge: -10
Kristen Rasmussen: -10

Most Effective Lineups
Harding-Wiggins-Augustus-Houston-Hayden: +10
Wiggins-DeForge-Augustus-Ohlde-Anosike: +2

Game Twenty-Three: Storm @ Mystics 20 July, 2008

Unfortunately my prediction came through again. That was pretty ugly. It was a combination of simply fantastic, gutsy, emotional play by Washington with lackluster, lazy play by Seattle. The Mystics did an about face on their offensive and defensive styles leading to aggressive defense and fast break, up tempo offense. The Storm was unprepared and unable to adjust.

Minnesota is next up, a team who just finished a road trip where they lost to last place Houston and beat first place San Antonio. They have no consistency in their win loss pattern from which to judge how they will play. They have lost at home to Atlanta, Chicago and Sacramento but beat Detroit and San Antonio. The only useful trend that I could find was that they generally lose to strong defensive teams if Augustus can be held below 15. The only time that was not true was opening night when rookie Charde Houston's 21 points made Augustus' mere 14 a non-issue. My suggestion is to refocus on defense and smother Seimone.


Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Sheryl Swoopes	100%	100%	31%	2
Sue Bird	65%	69%	41%	11
Katie Gearlds	65%	65%	33%	13
Yolanda Griffith	63%	67%	76%	6
Camille Little	51%	44%	45%	10

Sheryl Swoopes barely played and it looks like Yo didn't touch the ball near enough, likely due to a failure to box out. Gearlds and Bird were shooting well, and hopefully Katie can carry that hot streak to the next game.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Yolanda Griffith	142.82	125.20
Camille Little	93.85	79.12
Kelly Santos	91.99	75.24
Sue Bird	89.13	88.91
Katie Gearlds	86.76	84.81

Raw Plus Minus

Swin Cash: -5
Yolanda Griffith: -6
Kristin O'Neil: -7
Sheryl Swoopes: -13
Camille Little: -13
Kelly Santos: -14
Sue Bird: -16
Katie Gearlds: -16
Shyra Ely: -21
Tanisha Wright: -27

Tanisha Wright has really struggled in the last two games.

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Little-Griffith: +2
Wright-Gearlds-Cash-Little-Santos: +1

Mystics
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Nikki Blue	150%	150%	53%	9
Laurie Koehn	100%	100%	34%	6
Crystal Smith	92%	88%	67%	9
Bernice Mosby	80%	80%	64%	8
Taj McWilliams-Franklin	73%	73%	54%	22
Monique Currie	69%	50%	62%	12
Coco Miller	61%	63%	31%	6
Nakia Sanford	59%	60%	57%	8

The only players who shot under 50% were Alana Beard and Crystal Langhorne. Everyone got in on the party.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Nikki Blue	158.51	214.96
Crystal Smith	158.36	155.19
Monique Currie	140.26	122.98
Bernice Mosby	131.80	126.79
Taj McWilliams-Franklin	118.94	118.32
Nakia Sanford	111.39	101.85
Laurie Koehn	102.95	192.58

Nikki Blue, Crystal Smith and Nakia Sanford didn't appear to agree with former Coach Tree Rollins' assessment:

"You've got to have a good point [guard] and a good center and you build around those two positions, and right now the Washington Mystics just don't have that going for them," Rollins said. "Other teams took advantage of that."

Raw Plus Minus
Crystal Langhorne: +32
Monique Currie: +22
Crystal Smith: +21
Bernice Mosby: +21
Alana Beard: +18
Coco Miller: +17
Nikki Blue: +5
Taj McWilliams-Franklin: +7
Laurie Koehn: +5
Nakia Sanford: +4
Kendra Wecker: +1

Most Effective Lineups
Smith-Beard-Koehn-Mosby-Langhorne: +6
Blue-Miller-Currie-Mosby-Langhorne: +6
Smith-Miller-Currie-Mosby-Langhorne: +5
Blue-Beard-Wecker-McWilliams^Franklin-Mosby:+5

Game Twenty-Two: Storm @ Fever 18 July, 2008

One down, four to go. Unfortunately, I believe that the next game just got considerably more difficult.

Detroit simply embarrassed the Mystics last night in a 99-62 blowout which was the straw that fired Coach Tree Rollins. Teams tend to play with extra heart after a blowout loss like that, and they also seem to get a boost from a coaching change. Former Storm assistant Jessie Kenlaw takes the helm in DC for the time being. The team will need to come in focused tomorrow.

The Fever game did not move like I expected, but in the end was what I predicted. It was a defensive slug-out and the team with the most offense won. Pilight is feeling that Tully is a big part of the Fever's problem, so we will see how they do in her four game absence. Bond played well last night.


Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Kelly Santos	102%	100%	43%	6
Camille Little	64%	69%	43%	13
Katie Gearlds	64%	50%	52%	5
Sheryl Swoopes	52%	41%	55%	15
Yolanda Griffith	46%	33%	62%	8

Normally a true shooting percentage below 50% doesn't make this list, but the solid 62% Floor percentage shows how important Yo was beyond her rebounding last night. Kelly Santos continues to have an impact whenever she plays.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Shyra Ely	219.05	200.00
Katie Gearlds	142.67	123.86
Yolanda Griffith	122.06	89.81
Sheryl Swoopes	118.58	103.36
Kelly Santos	98.46	142.83

Raw Plus Minus

Swin Cash: +14
Sue Bird: +8
Yolanda Griffith: +6
Kelly Santos: +6
Sheryl Swoopes: +6
Katie Gearlds: +4
Ashley Robinson: +3
Camille Little: +1
Kristin O'Neil: 0
Shyra Ely: -2
Tanisha Wright: -16

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Swoopes-Gearlds-Cash-Griffith: +6
Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Robinson-Griffith: +5
Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Little-Griffith: +5

Fever
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
LaToya Bond	58%	58%	55%	7
Tammy Sutton-Brown	52%	44%	45%	12
Tully Bevilaqua	51%	50%	51%	6

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Kristen Mann	218.18	200.00
LaToya Bond	127.06	127.54
Tully Bevilaqua	116.15	112.99

Raw Plus Minus
Kristen Mann: +7
Khadijah Whittington: +4
LaToya Bond: -1
Tan White: -1
Bernadette Ngoyisa: -1
Allison Feaster: -2
Tully Bevilaqua: -5
Ebony Hoffman: -6
Tammy Sutton-Brown: -10
Katie Douglas: -15


Most Effective Lineups
Bond-White-Mann-Whittington-Hoffman: +6
Bond-White-Feaster-Whittington-Hoffman:+5

Favorable Schedule

The Storm have had a really favorable schedule this season. I realize that by the Hollinger Ratings petrel has been compiling this season, the Storm have the best "Strength of Schedule" rating in the WNBA at this point in the season, but I am not talking about WHO they play.

Like many WNBA teams, the Storm were missing their two star players, Bird and Jackson, for most of training camp. The Storm, however, got a six day break after starting 4 and 1 for the season. They were able to use that break to work Jackson and Bird into the new defensive and offensive schemes developed by incoming Coach Brian Agler. They went 4-2 out of that mini-camp before struggling on the road and suffering their only home loss of the season to date. That run was capped by a Candace Parker dunk to end a 14 point punishment in Staples Center. That loss was followed by another five day break where Coach Agler conducted another mini-camp to focus on locking the defense in and tuning up the offense. This also appeared to allow struggling shooters Sue Bird and Katie Gearlds to break out of their long slumps. The Storm have gone 6-0 over that span.

Finally, Lauren Jackson has left the team to prepare for the Beijing Olympics and attempt to help wrest Australia's first gold medal out of the hands of the favorite USA team and the Becky Hammon led Russians. The last five games before the league wide Olympic break will require the team to play without their star player. Fortunately, the Storm have a six day break before they play that first game on the road without LJ. This gives Coach Agler the chance to work his new rotation and change the team's offensive focus. It also prevents the first teams (Indiana and Washington) from scouting the offense. If the trend holds, the Storm could go 4-1 for a third time after their mini camp. All five games are "winnable." They have already beat each of those five teams in Key Arena, and Sacramento was beat in Arco Arena.

Indiana is struggling to hold on to fourth place in the east, despite the return from injury of star Tamika Catchings. According to Kevin Pelton, the Fever have the second worst offensive rating in the league. Seattle has the second best defensive rating in the league behind Indiana, but boasts the 6th best offensive rating. Indiana has been scoring around 92 points per 100 possessions and Seattle limits opponents to 93 points per 100 possessions. It is likely that Seattle will hold a struggling offensive team well below its season average. Seattle has locked down offensive teams like Phoenix, Minnesota, and New York. No team at home or on the road has scored more than 78 points against the Storm since that first mini camp in May which was focused on defense. Their defense forces tough shots (39% opponent FG%) and they are rebounding really well defensively (70% of available defensive rebounds) leading to limited second chance opportunities. While Indiana has played well against offensive teams, they have lost every game against the leagues best defenses. They are not strong enough offensively to score enough points against a solid defense.

Washington sports the league's worst offensive rating and is only sixth in defense, leading to a similar situation as faced in Indiana, but with the balance leaning even more in the Storm's favor. They have struggled against the best offensive and defensive teams though they have wins against both LA and Indiana, so they have overcome their offensive woes in specific games. It appears it was likely their defense that made the wins possible in those cases.

Minnesota started the season off strong and has a potent offensive attack, sitting at second in the league behind Phoenix, but their defense is below average. They are a bit of an enigma, with wins over the best offensive and defensive teams in the league mixed with losses against those same teams. Fortunately their home court has not been favorable as of late, they are 4-5 at home since June 1st.

Phoenix has not played well against the Storm this year. They have the league's most potent offense coupled with the league's worst defense. This has led to an 0-4 record against the leagues most balanced teams, Seattle and Detroit. I am sure that they want revenge on the Storm, however, particularly Diana Taurasi. She is a fierce competitor and her buddies Sue, Swin and Lauren beat her twice this season. The first game in Phoenix was 87-83, and this time the Storm have to play without LJ. I expect Cappie and Dee to sniff the blood in the water and start a feeding frenzy of scoring. The Storm's defense will need to be focused, since it is not likely Phoenix will try to stop their offense.

Finally, Sacramento has struggled against the Storm this season and boasts the only other road win on the Storm's schedule so far this season. The Storm won both games by double digits. Sacramento once boasted the best defense in the WNBA, but they are the third worst behind only Phoenix and Atlanta. Unfortunately for them, they have the fifth worst offense in the league meaning they have not much hope of overcoming their poor defense. The poor defensive rating for the Monarchs makes me laugh about Lisa Leslie's comment on how the Storm defense wasn't near as high pressure as the Monarchs. Funny....the Monarch may pressure the guards and the posts, but they aren't stopping anyone from scoring...except apparently Los Angeles.

Game Twenty-One: Storm vs. Sparks 12 July, 2008

How well have the Storm been playing over this stretch?

There are only three current players on the roster with a negative Raw Plus/Minus for the season at this point, Robinson, O'Neil and Santos. They have three starters, Bird, Jackson and Griffith as well as one bench player, Little, with double digit Roland Ratings. A second bench player, Gearlds, is flirting with double digits.

They have two players with greater than 50% and nine players with >40% floor percentages. They have five players with better than 50% true shooting percentages. They have five players with offensive ratings greater than 100 points per 100 possessions.

The crowd was a true lower bowl sellout and the upper bowl sections that were open were filled to the brim. My neighbors bought five tickets on Thursday and ended up being in the last row of the upper bowl.

We had a new announcer and he had some struggles. We will give him a little more time. I don't know if Pittman negotiated out of his contract or if it was a single game replacement.

The Storm dance team seems a little thin, perhaps they have a number of kids on vacation.


Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Sheryl Swoopes	56%	56%	61%	10
Yolanda Griffith	50%	50%	50%	6
Katie Gearlds	50%	50%	57%	2
Sue Bird	47%	47%	46%	18
Lauren Jackson	45%	35%	44%	14

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Yolanda Griffith	119.62	95.23
Sheryl Swoopes	118.47	103.53
Katie Gearlds	113.81	89.42
Sue Bird	102.83	86.51
Lauren Jackson	96.42	75.38

Raw Plus/Minus
Tanisha Wright: +18
Yolanda Griffith: +17
Sue Bird: +16
Lauren Jackson: +14
Swin Cash: +11
Sheryl Swoopes: +10
Katie Gearlds: +5
Ashley Robinson: +3
Kelly Santos: 0
Shyra Ely: 0
Kristin O'Neil: 0
Camille Little: -4

Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Wright-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: +10
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Cash-Griffith: +6
Bird-Swoopes-Gearlds-Jackson-Griffith: +4

Sparks
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Christi Thomas	100%	100%	100%	2
Kiesha Brown	100%	100%	46%	2
Delisha Milton-Jones	59%	56%	45%	11
Rafaella Masciadri	52%	50%	59%	3
Candace Parker	43%	43%	37%	14

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Christi Thomas	200.00	185.81
Rafaella Masciadri	109.95	96.20
Delisha Milton-Jones	97.33	93.92
Kiesha Brown	91.83	89.52

The Storm's defense was remarkably stifling.

Raw Plus/Minus
Marie Ferdinand-Harris: -1
Amber Jacobs: -5
Rafaella Masciadri: -7
Shannon Bobbitt: -8
Christi Thomas: -9
Delisha Milton-Jones: -11
Kiesha Brown: -11
Sidney Spencer: -12
Lisa Leslie: -13
Candace Parker: -13

Most Effective Lineups
Bobbitt-Ferdinand^Harris-Parker-Milton^Jones-Leslie: +3
Jacobs-Ferdinand^Harris-Spencer-Parker-Leslie: +2

Game Twenty: Storm vs. Mercury 11 July, 2008

Ah...as Sue Bird put it in her interview for King 5, "The Noon Game." The kids filled the arena and required a section in the upper bowl to be opened. It was Doppler's birthday so there were more fuzzy creatures than usual running around. The train was pure insanity with the huge number of first timers on the floor having no idea what they were supposed to be doing. Lauren Jackson and Diana Taurasi were filling up the court with profanity, elbows and in Dee's case, spit. Nothing like a mid-day game of basketball with the Phoenix Mercury.

My eldest son decided to attend with his day camp rather than his family, so we were split up. My youngest son has Key Arena narcolepsy or something. He has been falling asleep by the second quarter of night games, but smack dab in the middle of the day he was sound asleep before halftime. My wife (making a rare appearance at a game now that her show has opened at the Intiman and she has her days free) says she believes it might be the lighting in the arena. I have no idea, but it is nuts.

I took the time to make a sign for Doppler's birthday with some cool photos of Doppler including one of him doing the shimmy with Simone (boy do I miss her). On the back, I wrote the note I have been wanting to write all season.

"Force 10 are my heroes! The perfect 10 for the perfect Storm!"

Owner Lisa Brummel (who I met briefly before the Liberty game) saw my sign, grabbed fellow owner Ginny Gilder and ran across the court, vaulted the court side barrier behind the visitor's basket (she still has a little athlete in her!) and came up to shake hands and thank my family for coming. They told us they saw our sign and couldn't pass up the chance to tell us that families like ours are part of what makes it all worthwhile for them.

The more I get to know about these women the more I am amazed and appreciative. They not only love this game, but they have an understanding of the connection between the team and the fans and, unlike their NBA counterparts (on their way to Oklahoma City) they respect and appreciate their fans. Their level of commitment and enthusiasm is phenomenal. We in Seattle are just so lucky to have them as part of our community. It is truly special what we have here, and I am enjoying the whole experience of Storm basketball even more with Force 10 Hoops as a part of it. It is more than just keeping the team here, it is how perfect a match this ownership is with this team in this city.

The Sparks owners are also local women fans and they are showing their support of Force 10 and their team by organizing a "Party Plane" trip for thirty of their fans from LA to Seattle for this Saturday's game. While we love to "hate" the Sparks, these two ownership groups have much in common and are setting the example for how the WNBA can be run in the future as independant business entities. They have thriving franchises with exciting stars and solid role players. They are building strong, enthusiastic fan bases and reaching out to new fans in their markets.


Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Katie Gearlds	100%	100%	72%	6
Tanisha Wright	69%	69%	68%	11
Yolanda Griffith	64%	50%	67%	10
Swin Cash	52%	40%	63%	14
Lauren Jackson	51%	34%	47%	25
Camille Little	50%	50%	29%	4

Really nice balance between the starters and the bench. Both Swoopes and Bird were over 40% true shooting percentages as well.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Katie Gearlds	207.66	196.97
Tanisha Wright	150.08	128.44
Yolanda Griffith	148.72	120.23
Swin Cash	129.77	105.26
Sue Bird	112.07	83.89

The bench continues its strong play. Lauren Jackson also rated over 100 points per 100 possessions.

Raw Plus/Minus
Sue Bird: +16
Lauren Jackson: +14
Yolanda Griffith: +10
Katie Gearlds: +8
Swin Cash: +7
Sheryl Swoopes: +5
Camille Little: +4
Tanisha Wright: +1
Kristin O'Neil: -3
Shyra Ely: -4

Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Swoopes-Gearlds-Cash-Jackson: +6
Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: +3
Bird-Wright-Gearlds-Jackson-Griffith: +3
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Little-Jackson: +3
Wright-Swoopes-Gearlds-Cash-Griffith: +3

There was nice balance with the lineups...no particularly dominant looks.

Mercury
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Yuko Oga	114%	0%	100%	2
Le'Coe Willingham	86%	93%	68%	15
Barbara Farris	68%	75%	69%	6
Kelly Miller	67%	67%	50%	12
LeToya Pringle	54%	0%	55%	5

You know Phoenix is in trouble when you don't see Pondexter or Taurasi on this list, though they both just barely missed it.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Yuko Oga	250.00	227.27
Le'Coe Willingham	141.64	140.28
Barbara Farris	138.79	121.26
LeToya Pringle	117.73	93.38
Diana Taurasi	104.66	85.34
Kelly Miller	100.46	91.70

Le'Coe Willingham was singularly impressive.

Raw Plus/Minus
Allie Quigley: +4
Le'Coe Willingham: +3
Kelly Miller: -1
Yuko Oga: -1
LeToya Pringle: -2
Diana Taurasi: -5
Jennifer Derevjanik: -5
Tangela Smith: -7
Kelly Mazzante: -8
Barbara Farris: -16
Cappie Pondexter: -17

Most Effective Lineups
Miller-Pondexter-Taurasi-Willingham-Pringle: +6
Oga-Quigley-Mazzante-Willinghame-Pringle: +4
Miller-Mazzante-Taurasi-Farris-Pringle: +3

Game Nineteen: Storm @ Monarchs 9 July, 2008

I was trying to help the neighborhood kids raise the basketball hoop in front of our house at the start of the game. I left the room with the radio while Sacramenton had started the game with their usual pesky defense thinking it was going to be a long game. Just a couple of minutes later I returned to hear Dick Fain saying that the Storm were leading 12-6 and the Monarchs were taking a timeout. After that the Storm never looked back.

It was really nice to sit back and enjoy a solid road win, we don't get many chances to do that with the Storm. The telling stat for me at halftime was that the Monarchs did not have a single offensive rebound. This is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league in any give year and they were simply shut out on the boards.


Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Camille Little	93%	92%	62%	12
Sue Bird	73%	73%	53%	16
Katie Gearlds	70%	70%	64%	7
Swin Cash	69%	71%	41%	14
Tanisha Wright	58%	56%	50%	10
Lauren Jackson	57%	57%	50%	17

These numbers look like a home game.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Katie Gearlds	147.30	136.97
Camille Little	139.48	144.09
Sue Bird	132.20	134.80
Lauren Jackson	111.59	104.31
Tanisha Wright	106.54	95.12

The bench is really looking good the past few games.

Raw Plus/Minus
Sue Bird: +20
Yolanda Griffith: +16
Lauren Jackson: +15
Swin Cash: +15
Tanisha Wright: +10
Camille Little: +4
Katie Gearlds: +1
Shyra Ely: -2
Kristin O'Neil: -2

Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Wright-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: +14
Bird-Gearlds-Cash-Little-Jackson: +4

Coach Agler used eleven new lineups in the game last night.

Monarchs
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Crystal Kelly	79%	80%	80%	12
Scholanda Robinson	63%	50%	40%	6
Kim Smith	53%	0%	50%	2

Tough night for the Monarchs.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Crystal Kelly	156.18	146.43
Kim Smith	123.94	106.38
Chelsea Newton	98.90	86.15
Nicole Powell	94.32	86.10
Scholanda Robinson	93.12	89.80

Not much offense to go around.

Raw Plus/Minus
Aquonesia Franklin: +10
Scholanda Robinson: +8
Chelsea Newton: +7
Crystal Kelly: +5
Laura Harper: 0
Kim Smith: -3
Rebecca Brunson: -11
Kara Lawson: -13
Nicole Powell: -18
Kristen Rasmussen: -21
Adrian Williams-Strong: -25
Ticha Penicheiro: -32

Most Effective Lineups
Franklin-Newton-Robinson-Kelly-Harper: +6
Lawson-Robinson-Powell-Brunson-Harper: +3
Franklin-Lawson-Robinson-Powell-Brunson: +3

Coach Boucek used 27 different lineups. Only the starters were used more than once as a unit...to start both halves.

Swing Player Lineups

I have had a lot of questions lately about my positional analysis for the midseason report. I think it best to try and clarify my approach.

In order to do this with 100% accuracy, I would need to chart every play in every game to understand which player was playing which position on the court offensively. Additionally, I would need some inside information from the coaching staff as to how they use positions in their offense.

This is not something have either the time or the access to achieve.

Lacking that capability, I use a rule of thumb established by the leading basketball plus/minus analysts out there today. Roland Beech of http://www.82games.com/ and his team have been doing advanced plus/minus analysis and other statistical work for a number of years on the NBA. They use a rule of thumb which lists a roster in the order of which they would play positions from point guard to center. For the Storm this season I have been using the following order...

Beck-Bird-O'Neil-Wright-Gearlds-Swoopes-Cash-Ely-Little-Jackson-Pascalau-Santos-Robinson-Griffith

Beck almost exclusively played point and Griffith almost exclusively plays center.

That is how my positional numbers appear...I designate a position for a player based on where they are likely playing consdering who else is in the lineup.

This is an approach with inherent faults, particularly when we talk about swing players who play multiple positions. This weakness is even further by a coach like Coach Agler whose offense if full of swing players who actually change traditional positional roles from play to play. For example, the only difference in a Paul Westhead SG/SF was which side of the court they ran on the break. I don't know how Coach Agler determines his positions, since I haven't taken the time to watch taped games. I have too much fun with live basketball to analyze what is happening. It might be fun for me to sit next to a game statitician some time to see how they accomplish it. I have charted many taped games in the past. I did some work for 82games.com where I was counting dribbles, charting shots, charting defense, crediting potential assists and the like, but it was always from tape. I actually love doing this and if I had access to enough game tape I would probably come up with a lot more interesting data.

Back to the topic, however, it was pointed out to me that my order is not quite aligned with the probable thinking of Coach Agler. Apparently, at the very least, he would swap Swoopes and Gearlds so that the order looks more like the following...

Beck-Bird-O'Neil-Wright-Swoopes-Gearlds-Cash-Ely-Little-Jackson-Pascalau-Santos-Robinson-Griffith

That effects a number of lineups but significantly changes the positional values for Swoopes and Gearlds because of the strength of this particular pairing. With this different approach the numbers make a reasonable swing...

Swoopes as SG: +3
Swoopes as SF: +43
Gearlds as SG: +23
Gearlds as SF: +18

It still shows Swoopes is playing better at her natural position, but makes Katie's numbers more balanced.

In order to keep my analysis aligned with the coach's philosophy, I have modified my lineups and my order to report the remainder of the season with the new order.

My other question at this point is how O'Neil will be used. So far she has been used mostly at the point, so that is why I have her before Wright in the order. If she stays with the team and plays more shooting guard I may be forced to make an adjustment.

Game Eighteen: Storm vs. Lynx 5 July, 2008

A good, old fashioned Storm blowout in Key Arena. What a nice feeling that can give. Mayor Greg Nickels took a risk by backing up his rhetoric on helping the Storm do well by actually attending the game, of course the local basketball fans were still bleeding from their raw wounds and gave him some of the biggest boos of the game.

Candice Wiggins was truly shocked by the love she got from the crowd during introductions. I think Seattle fans are just so overjoyed to have our WNBA team and are appreciating the fact that we get to watch these women play live in our city, that we are simply giddy. I have noticed a lot more cheering for opposing teams during intros this season. The loss of the Sonics just made us realize how close we came to losing the chance to have the WNBA here that we are more appreciative of what we have now.

Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Kelly Santos	90%	100%	68%	6
Tanisha Wright	80%	83%	60%	11
Lauren Jackson	74%	73%	57%	12
Katie Gearlds	72%	73%	52%	17
Camille Little	61%	50%	70%	6

Sue, Swin and Sheryl all had true shooting percentages over 50% as well. Sheryl had a solid 70% floor percentage. The only Storm players who did not shoot well were Shyra (she was 0-3), Yolanda and Kristin (neither took a single shot.) When every player taking shots except one shoots better than 50% overall, losing is not really likely. Katie has had two games in a row making the top 5 with a TS% better than 50%.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Camille Little	152.56	129.62
Kelly Santos	135.22	136.58
Katie Gearlds	129.07	129.27
Lauren Jackson	123.49	127.81
Swin Cash	123.43	100.03

Wright, Bird, and Swoopes also had offensive ratings greater than 100. Little is bullying Ely right out of the rotation.

Raw Plus/Minus
Sheryl Swoopes: +25
Katie Gearlds: +24
Lauren Jackson: +23
Sue Bird: +21
Tanisha Wright: +14
Swin Cash: +11
Camille Little: +4
Shyra Ely: +4
Yolanda Griffith: 0
Kelly Santos: 0
Kristin O'Neil: -1

Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Gearlds-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson: +10
Bird-Wright-Gearlds-Swoopes-Jackson: +7
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Jackson-Griffith: +5

There were five +2 lineups:
Bird-Wright-Gearlds-Cash-Jackson
Wright-Gearlds-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Little-Jackson
Bird-Gearlds-Cash-Ely-Little
Wright-Gearlds-Cash-Ely-Little

Lynx
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Noelle Quinn	90%	83%	51%	7
Kristen Rasmussen	83%	83%	42%	5
Seimone Augustus	67%	65%	64%	14
Candice Wiggins	63%	50%	55%	14
Nikki Anosike	68%	57%	77%	15

LaToya Thomas and Nicole Ohlde also had TS%'s greater than 50%. Nikki Anosike was tremendous...she is really blossoming as a pro, freed to show her game was better than what Tennessee needed from her.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Nikki Anosike	155.53	133.00
Seimone Augustus	140.22	124.18
Noelle Quinn	123.68	125.57
Candice Wiggins	115.53	101.85
Kristen Rasmussen	104.71	111.03

Nicole Ohlde also had a 100.75 offensive rating. With six player performing well you would think the game would have been closer. The Storm had more possessions, but their defensive rebounding was amazing making it hard for the Lynx to score off misses.

Raw Plus/Minus
Vanessa Hayden: -1
Anna DeForge: -4
Nikki Anosike: -6
LaToya Thomas: -8
Charde Houston: -11
Noelle Quinn: -12
Lindsey Harding: -13
Nicole Ohlde: -14
Candice Wiggins: -18
Kristen Rasmussen: -18
Seimone Augustus: -20

Is having Harding back hurting the Lynx?

Most Effective Lineups
Quinn-Wiggins-Augustus-Ohlde-Anosike: +6
Harding-Wiggins-Houston-Thomas-Hayden: +1

MidSeason Numbers

I know that the Storm have now played 18 games, but the numbers below are only from the first 17 games. I haven't entered the Lynx game into my data set yet in order to make sure that I get the midseason numbers compiled first. I fixed an error that had Camille Little get a little boost in plus/minus from LJ's numbers.

Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Kimberly Beck	58.14%	50.00%	35.72%	8
Lauren Jackson	56.03%	48.45%	50.70%	335
Kelly Santos	50.76%	42.86%	48.72%	8
Sue Bird	50.38%	45.90%	45.67%	216
Tanisha Wright	50.06%	45.11%	44.19%	104

If I rejected the minimal minutes of Beck and Santos, the Swoopes and Cash would make the list with percentages in the high 40's.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Lauren Jackson	112.73	96.51
Sheryl Swoopes	105.52	89.14
Kelly Santos	103.42	81.63
Sue Bird	100.64	90.74
Swin Cash	96.74	79.03

Beck, Ely and Wright also have offensive ratings over 90.

Plus/Minus

Player	On	Off	Net	Net/40
Sue Bird	+63	-44	+107	+4.24
Lauren Jackson	+59	-40	+99	+4.10
Yolanda Griffith	+54	-35	+89	+6.75
Camille Little	+7	+8	+46	-1
Swin Cash	+22	-3	+25	+2.64
Sheryl Swoopes	+21	-2	+23	+1.77
Katie Gearlds	+21	-2	+23	+5.53
Florina Pascalau	-3	+22	-25	-13.33
Kristin O'Neil	-3	+16	-19	-40.00
Kelly Santos	-11	+30	-41	-20.95
Kimberly Beck	-14	+33	-47	-10.37
Shyra Ely	-14	+33	-47	-2.22
Tanisha Wright	-25	+44	-69	-3.21
Ashley Robinson	-55	+74	-129	-15.94

The starters have been great and the bench has been rather poor...no big surprise there, but Little has had a big impact early from a +/- perspective, and Gearlds has a strong showing as well despite her horrid shooting tear of late.

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: +21
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson: +10
Bird-Gearlds-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson: +7
Bird-Gearlds-Swoopes-Jackson-Griffith: +7
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Jackson-Griffith: +6
Bird-Wright-Gearlds-Swoopes-Jackson: +6
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Jackson-Robinson: +5
Beck-Gearlds-Ely-Santos-Robinson: +5
Wright-Gearlds-Swoopes-Jackson-Griffith: +5
Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Ely-Robinson: +5

Least Effective Lineups

Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Ely-Jackson: -15
Wright-Gearlds-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson: -8
Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson-Robinson: -8
Wright-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: -6
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Ely-Robinson: -5
Bird-Wright-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: -5

Top Player Pairs

Bird-Jackson: +73
Jackson-Griffith: +70
Bird-Griffith: +63
Bird-Swoopes: +54
Bird-Cash: +50
Cash-Jackson: +46
Swoopes-Griffith: +41
Cash-Griffith: +35
Bird-Gearlds: +34
Swoopes-Jackson: +34
Gearlds-Jackson: +32
Gearlds-Cash: +31
Gearlds-Griffith: +27
Swoopes-Cash: +27
Bird-Wright: +24

Most Effective Swing Player Positions

Bird: Point Guard +63
Jackson: Power Forward: +37
Cash: Power Forward +35
Swoopes: Small Forward +32
Jackson: Center: +22
Gearlds: Shooting Guard +21
Ely: Small Forward +7
Cash: Shooting Guard +6
Wright: Shooting Guard +6
Gearlds: Small Forward +3


Least Effective Swing Player Positions

Ely: Power Forward -33
Wright: Point Guard -30
Cash: Small Forward -19
Swoopes: Shooting Guard -11

Outside of the starting lineup, it looks like Swoopes and Cash should shift up to SF and PF respectively. This should happen whenever a starter subs out. I actually like bringing either Wright or Gearlds into the two guard and sitting Yo down.

Game Seventeen: Storm vs. Liberty 3 July, 2008

It started out as a tough day for basketball in Seattle. The front page of the Seattle Times was almost all Sonics farewell articles. Sports radio was non-stop eulogies for the lost NBA team.

My first perk up of the day was when I picked up my oldest from his day camp at the neighborhood community center. The day camp is run by the city and they have a list of key activities for each week of camp. I was looking over the list and saw that next week was Storm week. Thursday is camp day at the Key and the city has bought tickets for the kids enrolled in the day camps. That, right off the bat, made me feel like the city has mad a first step towards backing up Mayor Nickels comment that he was dedicated to making sure that the Storm do well in Key Arena.

I was still a little testy, and my kids were a bit out of control, so I ended up a half hour late to the arena while I dealt with disciplinary (time out in your room until you are ready to treat everyone with more respect, young man!) measures at home. I get to my parking garage only to find that the pay meter is broken. I decide to pay the extra dollar to park at the arena parking garage (which turns out to be the best idea I had later on that evening.) As we are walking past the east box office a familiar woman walking by smiles and says "Nice shirt!" with regards to the Perfect Storm promotion shirt I have on. I stop and ask, "Are you one of the owners?" She smiles and replies, "Yes, I'm Lisa."

I walk over to shake her had and say with, likely more emotion than I intended, "Thank you so much!" I want to say more, but I realize that I will probably start balling. I introduce her to Eamon (who rolls his eyes and pretends to be asleep) and Connor (who is running around in circles) and tell them that this is one of women who saved us from going through what the Sonics are right now. Of course, I am so emotional, that I can't remember the name of the Sonics. I am in too much denial.

Finally, though, there was the game. Someone remembered that LJ is dominant on the block and decided to get her the ball there early and often. It was a vintage Storm night with LJ dominating down low, Bird penetrating and hitting pull up jumpers from the free throw line or busting through for a layup. I even saw a few pick and pops and pick and rolls thrown in there. As one fan's "GO DEATH!" sign reminded us, the NBA may be dead in Seattle, but Basketball is alive and kicking.


It makes me want to do the happy dance...




Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Ashley Robinson	100%	100%	100%	2
Sue Bird	80%	77%	72%	23
Lauren Jackson	70%	65%	63%	33
Sheryl Swoopes	57%	57%	64%	9
Katie Gearlds	50%	50%	38%	3

Poor Ashley. It took an injury to get her to the top of this list. It is nice to see Katie back on the shooters list. Sue Bird with a 72% floor percentage is just fantastic given how many possesions she has per game.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Ashley Robinson	202.18	202.29
Sue Bird	149.36	145.02
Lauren Jackson	137.17	122.97
Sheryl Swoopes	127.22	114.61
Katie Gearlds	113.78	92.52

Offensively the bench did not contribute much tonight, but their defense was adequate.

Raw Plus/Minus

Sheryl Swoopes: +18
Lauren Jackson: +18
Sue Bird: +16
Swin Cash: +10
Yolanda Griffith: +7
Ashley Robinson: +7
Tanisha Wright: 0
Katie Gearlds: -1
Camille Little: -3
Shyra Ely: -4
Kristin O'Neil: -3

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: +9
Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Ely-Robinson: +5
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Jackson-Robinson: +5
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Jackson-Griffith: +4

Liberty
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Lisa Willis	75%	75%	27%	6
Erlana Larkins	68%	60%	58%	8
Shameka Christon	63%	62%	50%	19
Katherine Kraayeveld	56%	56%	39%	11
Essence Carson	54%	50%	47%	16

The Liberty look really good this year. I really like the additions of Larkins and Carson. When they have their whole roster, they look darn good. Moore and Mitchel make a great tandem at the point, and they have depth at every position. They don't have a superstar yet, though McCarville and Christon are close to become stars.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Erlana Larkins	124.99	110.73
Shameka Christon	121.27	112.80
Leilani Mitchell	113.45	85.71
Essence Carson	97.78	84.86
Katherine Kraayeveld	92.15	81.76

Mitchell didn't score a point, but she racked up 6 assists in 14 minutes earning her a solid offensive rating. She was finding open shooters.

Raw Plus/Minus

Leilani Mitchell: +11
Lisa Willis: +7
Erlana Larkins: +7
Ashley Battle: +3
Erin Thorn: +3
Janel McCarville: -9
Katherine Kraayeveld: -10
Tiffany Jackson: -14
Essence Carson: -17
Shameka Christon: -22
Loree Moore: -24

Most Effective Lineups

Mitchell-Carson-Christon-Kraayeveld-McCarville: +5
Mitchell-Willis-Battle-Larkins-Jackson: +4
Mitchell-Thorn-Willis-Kraayeveld-Larkins: +3

My question to Coach Coyle is...why didn't Mitchell play more?

One more reason to thank Force 10 Hoops

The Seattle Sonics are no more as they pack their bags and hit the road for Oklahoma City today.

Listening in disgust the all the rhetoric from city officials yesterday made me realize just how close we came to losing the Storm.

I told ESPN.com last season that I wanted both teams, but if I could only keep one team it would have to be the Storm. In the end, I got my second choice, but only because of the passion, and the dedication of those four amazing women from Force 10 Hoops.

I just want to take a moment to thank them one more time.

The Storm take on the Liberty tonight at 7PM PDT. Come out and support the ONLY professional basketball in Seattle. Here is a look at some highlights from the Liberty's visit to Key Arena last year. Izi, Betty and JB in the mix.

O'Neil Signed

Husky fans rejoice. Kristin O'Neil was signed to a seven day contract by the Storm today.

Lauren's ad is done, and it is my favorite to date.



I am waiting on an expected signing today. Unless there is a spectacular shooter out there, I expect either Lewis or O'Neil to get a shot.