Preseason Numbers Review

Most Effective Offense
Floor %
Lauren Jackson: 58%
Lindsay Taylor: 57%
Wendy Palmer: 51%
Offensive Rating
Barbara Turner: 122.65
Lauren Jackson: 121.54
Sue Bird: 119.86
Lindsay Taylor: 112.63
Wendy Palmer: 101.24
Points Produced per Game
Betty Lennox: 10.17
Sue Bird: 10.12
Wendy Palmer: 9.95
Lauren Jackson: 9.82
Janell Burse: 7.56

There should be no surprise that Lauren and Sue show up in most of these categories, the offense revolves around these two players. The exciting thing for me is how well newcomer Wendy-Palmer is rising to the top, it will be key for the Storm to have offense power of the bench if they are to win more than the 20 games they have won in each of the past two seasons. It is sad that Taylor is suffering from injury at the moment and her chances of making the roster are thinning, she has shown some promise in the last game and half she played for the Storm.

Most Effective Defense
Stop %
Janell Burse: 54%
Wendy Palmer: 52%
Shaunzinski Gortman: 48%
Lauren Jackson: 47%

No surpise again that the dominant front line of Janell Burse and Lauren Jackson leads here. Palmer shows value at the other end of the floor and may make her the single most important free agent acquisition the Storm has ever made. It is also nice to see a perimeter player here, we haven't had that since Tully left for the Fever. Hopefully she will get better at running the offense as the season moves forward.

Plus/Minus Performance
Individual
Janell Burse: +26
Sue Bird: +20
Tanisha Wright: +18
Iziane Castro Marques: +16
Simone Edwards: +11
Betty Lennox: +8
Lauren Jackson: +8
Lindsay Taylor: +1
Wendy Palmer: 0
Barbara Turner: -3
Shaunzinski Gortman: -4
Tiffani Johnson: -8
Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Lennox-Wright-Jackson-Burse: +16
Bird-Lennox-Wright-Palmer-Burse: +7
Bird-Wright-Gortman-Palmer-Edwards: +6
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Palmer-Edwards: +4
Gortman-Castro-Turner-Edwards-Taylor: +4
Gortman-Lennox-Turner-Jackson-Edwards: +4
Wright-Castro-Turner-Palmer-Taylor: +4
Least Effective Lineups
Bird-Lennox-Turner-Jackson-Palmer: -6
Wright-Castro-Turner-Edwards-Taylor: -5
Bird-Lennox-Castro-Jackson-Palmer: -5
Bird-Lennox-Gortman-Palmer-Burse: -4
Gortman-Lennox-Wright-Johnson-Taylor: -4

Is there any question remaining as to how important JB is to this team? She played and started all 34 games last season. The Storm need her healthy. I think Simone Edwards should be a lock at the backup post position. The Storm don't have time for three players to be learning the system and helping the team to win. There is a reason why the team performs so much better when she is in the lineup.