I stumbled into this game after flying for 14 hours. I had given away my tickets and then forgotten, so I showed up with my Lynx tickets and ended up buying an extra pair of tickets for the game.
The annoying "Get Struck!" mantra appears to have finally died giving way to the more palatable "Seeing is Believing!" campaign. I really did not like the Get Struck, message, it just didn't click for me.
The Storm looked really good and really bad out there for stretches. LJ was amazing and determined, but it didn't make a difference. JB keeps missing chippies at the basket. What is up with that? Nobody was shooting well on the Storm, and the Silver Stars perimeter players ate us alive.
First Quarter
The Storm were leading until LJ picked up a second foul and sat at the 4:52 mark in the first. San Antonio immediately went on a run in a -4 period for the Storm. LJ checked back in at the 2:25 mark with Gearlds also replacing Lennox, but it wasn't enough and they went another -2.
Second Quarter
The Storm started off strong with the starters and Gearlds going +7 in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second quarter. Bird left at the 6:09 mark and it was all downhill from that point. The Storm went -5 without Bird as the offense sputtered in the hands of Tanisha Wright. Bird came back but LJ sat and that was not any better as they finished the quarter with another -4 run.
Third Quarter
The Storm came out stagnant from the half with the starters going -4 in the first 5 minutes of the second half. The rest of the quarter was a wash as the two teams traded runs.
Fourth Quarter
Here the Storm just rolled over and died. They allowed former Lady Vol Shanna Crossley (aka Shanna Zolman) abuse them with three point shooting while they failed to accomplish anything of their own. The Storm lost every moment of this quarter until it was over and the benches played out a +9 final 1:23 interval.
Best Shooters
Wendy Palmer- Floor%: 65%, eFG%: 67%
Katie Gearlds- Floor%: 57%, eFG%: 50%
Lauren Jackson- Floor%: 55%, eFG%: 50%
Best IR
Shyra Ely: 227.27
Katie Gearlds: 116.35
Wendy Palmer: 108.71
Best Plus/Minus
Katie Gearlds: +6
Tanisha Wright: +4
Ty'esha Fluker: +3
Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Gearlds-Castro-Jackson-Burse: +7
Wright-Gearlds-Castro-Jackson-Palmer: +5
Wright-Gearlds-Ely-Palmer-Fluker: +4
Random Thoughts
The Storm need to solve two key problems if they really want to contend in the west and compete for a title this season.
1) They need a backup point guard that can run the offense with confidence and play lock down defense.
2) They need to shore up their perimeter defense. They were destroyed by opposing jumpshots both from midrange and long range. The posts weren't even scoring down low, it was all from the field and Becky Hammon got into the lane repeatedly for uncontested layups. I think giving A-Rob more minutes in the post could help with help side blocks when someone gets in the lane. She plays quite well with Lauren, though not so well with JB or Wendy, while Wendy plays well with both JB and LJ.
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