Final score: Storm 75 – Shock 67 (W) (6-3)

Submitted by Norwester

I always look at teams who start out the season strong with a little bit of doubt, as far as their staying power. It seems like early wins are earned mostly on the strength of basketball instinct, versus precision teamwork. As teams begin the gel, usually we see these records even out. But I'm not worried about the Storm thus far, mostly because despite having and showing the ability to win, we've still obviously not played a "perfect" game. And we're showing continual signs of improvement. I have high hopes for this team if we're ever able to put it all together on a consistent basis, and if we keep showing the ability to improve in this manner.

Meanwhile, revenge is sweet. In a flip of last Wednesday, the Shock were on the 2nd night of a back-to-back, on the Storm home court. The extra days of practice and rest really showed for the Storm, as is typical, particularly when Brian has a couple days to adjust to the other team. That's something I'm enjoying this year: trusting that our coach will tweak our team in such as way that we'll match up better the next time we meet our opponents, which is especially gratifying if we lost the last meeting.

Frustratingly, this game, we were out-rebounded. But our defense was so good, that we were still able to limit those 2nd chance points by and large. The times when we had miscues on defensive rotations were few. Swin was a beast on the perimeter. Lauren was a force inside; she really seems to have picked up a missed step in the last couple of games. Sue has really picked up her defensive game this year. And Sheryl seems to be getting more into playing form with each game played. Sadly, Yo is a giant foul magnet at this point. It's something to adjust to.

I think we had something like 20 assists on 28 field goals. If our motion offense is clicking, then we should always see such a high ratio. I loved our ball movement. This is the kind of offense a point guard like Sue Bird was made to run, and as painful as it is to watch when it is not working, when we see it start to smooth out into a rhythm you can just feel great possibilities for this team. Additional note: Sue and Tweety started the game tied for assists, and with this game Sue pulled into the lead.

PRE-GAME/SHOOT-AROUND
Besides the yummy (and greasy) pesto-cheese flatbread at the Queen Anne Pizza Kitchen (just to the left of the West doors) they have corn dogs and sweet potato fries as well.

Detroit decided to start the "wrong" way. It's nice to have another televised game that we ended up winning. Some people around the arena were displaced for the placement of lights and cameras. The usual things were flashing through up on the Arena Vision. It was a good year for Carter Subaru to sponsor the "3s for Trees" because we're one of the worst teams in the League from beyond the arc, so far. It was great to watch highlights of the Houston win, not so much that there were that many highlights, but they showed the LJ-to-Sue-full-court lay-up that Sue made with 6 seconds left to put us up by 1 from a couple of different angles. That's something you can watch all day.

Beck's eye looked all right (reported to have a painful virus), but what can you tell from the stands? Flo appears to have a really soft touch from the outside. I'm interested to see what we can do with her in a game. None of our owners appeared to be wearing any blue, though Adia Barnes was...I figure she always has to wear the opposing team's colors after how we dismantled San Antonio when she dressed in silver and black.

I cringed when I saw that Roy "Hit Sue in the Broken Nose" Gulbeyan (#42) was one of the refs. Who knew he'd be one of the saner ones? Marat (#12) and Eric (#55) both had big problems calling possessions the wrong way, and calling "fouls" when out of position. I guess it was pretty typical, when you come right down to it.

The anthem performed by Brian Watson was pretty straightforward, though I thought I heard "nor" the land of the free. Could have just been me, though.

Cheryl Ford was a game time decision, but she started. Sheri Sam got plenty of cheers upon introduction, Katie Smith got a decent reception, Ford and Nolan got some, and Laimbeer got a surprisingly stong boo. He seems to eat it up. Oh, and to answer the question brought on by my alarm last game when Doppler nearly mowed down several Dance Troupe members with his scooter pre-game , generally the dancers run out after him. A much better idea, from a safety perspective.

1ST QUARTER
Detroit got a lot of second chances early, but our defense was robust and we finally got the ball down to LJ in the corner for a long 2 to start the game. Slow start? No, enter Sheryl Swoopes for a 3, a steal, and a length-of-the-court lay-in and suddenly we were up by a handful. The refs were calling it tightly early, and got their 1st boos early by picking on Yo. It would not be the last time. She and Ford got called on a double foul like a minute later when they both crashed to the floor hard as Swin made a basket. Neither one of them was backing down. Meanwhile, our D looked good, but partly they were just missing, and I was frustrated by how many offensive rebounds they were getting.

Anyway, Detroit went on a mini-run towards the mid/end of the quarter, fueled by Storm turnovers (many in the form of offensive fouls...I don't know what game #55 was watching), and started at the free throw line. Sigh. Pierson was also super dramatic as she hit a Tanisha Wright screen and went down, writhing around on the floor. Ashley has to learn to hold her position with her body, not her arms, instead of letting them push her around down there. I think she'll get called less if that was the case. LJ was looking really good: blocking the ball, scoring from the inside and outside and hitting Yo for a sweet bucket as Yo ran the lane.
1Q: 19-13

2ND QUARTER
Sheri Sam got an unseemly amount of cheers when she checked in...come on, people, once the game starts she's the enemy. She hit some shots and such. Laimbeer didn't leave her in for long, which may have been a mistake because in my memory she usually torches Seattle when she plays us these days, but I guess I can't fault him for bringing Katie Smith back in. With just over 5 minutes to go Sue came up lame on defense and we all freaked out (including Coach, I think, since he made her call a time out right after that). "Is it the knee?!" She kind of walked it off, though, and brought the ball down the floor. Cramp? Tweaked ankle? Bumped knee? I don't know. Happily not an issue, though. Coach asked if she was all right, and she responded that she was fine.

We showed some really good offensive flow for much of this game. We moved without the ball; we passed around crisply. We seemed much more focused for much of the time, and cut down on the lazy turnovers we've been seeing lately. But there were times we faltered, like with about 3 minutes to go. Shyra often seemed lost, and Sue was having to do a lot of audible coaching on plays. My jury is still out on Shyra: often she'll bust out a brilliant offensive move, but just as often she loses focus and causes a turnover. We'll see.

Apart from LJ's quick hands provoking Braxton to hip check her out of bounds, and Sue getting plowed into by Katie Smith in the corner (I bet when Katie hits into you, you feel it ) there isn't much to say about how we ended the half. I loved the in-bounds play where Sue took it out, then waited...waited while players flashed by, then popped it in to LJ right at the 3-point arc. The shot was just in and out, but I liked the play. Happily we were comfortably ahead again after 2! Could we be making this a habit? Some poor offensive possessions to close out, but some good defense, and even some defensive rebounds. Oh, and Detroit totally had Swin's little spin move in the paint figured out. It's surely tough playing your former team. HT: 40-28, Storm

Detroit shot very poorly in the 1st half (I feel their pain), but out-rebounded us handily. We had 10 assists on 14 field goals. LJ came out of the locker room at around the 5 minute mark, followed by Beck, but then no one else came out for what seemed like a while. It reminded me of the time LJ came out and no one else did, to the point where she went and sat on the bench and waited.

3RD QUARTER
Sue was fouled on an opening drive, but the refs had us take it out at the side line. Pretty early for the 1st boos of the quarter, but well-deserved. LJ hit a 3 to sit us down. LJ got a crap call from Marat (behind the play) as she played solid straight-up defense. He turned around to signal the scorer's table, and she was right up behind him when he turned back around. It's got to take you aback slightly to have 6'5" of annoyed LJ right in your face. Uh, hello. The crowd got into it with plenty of boos, of course, and LJ left it at a few words and gave him the ball.

Sadly, not the last of the boos, particularly when Yo was racking them up so quickly. The crowd was really waiting for anything positive to happen to go off on, and an LJ&1 attempt seemed made to order getting everyone on their feet...Detroit timeout. So where does all that evergy go? A Katie Gearld's PSA about wearing a life vest came on, and that's where we focused it: she got a lot of attention, prompting her to stand and wave to the crowd.

The thing about this game was that even when we were up by double-digits, it never felt comfortable. One of my favorite plays of the quarter came when Swoopes lost the ball on a drive, and Yo dove to the floor under the basket after the ball and quickly called a timeout before she could get tied up. That's veteran savvy for you. This followed up a great defensive stand where Braxton was caught at the top of the key with no where to pass the ball, forcing her to finally take an awkward-looking shot. Good D, Storm!

We ended the quarter with a couple turnovers and unproductive offensive possession that had me antsy, and allowed Detroit to get right back into it. What's the cure for that? A Swoopes 3-pointer! That got the restless crowd happy; Sheryl really seems to be improving with each game and it's nice to see. 3Q: 57-47, Storm

4TH QUARTER
Half the crowd got to their feet as we opened the fourth, and it was loud. Of course half sat down at the shot clock violation; as good as Sheryl can look, hesitating at her shot is not going to get it done for this team. Then Yo picked up her 5th. Really? The cure for that is a Yolanda Griffith &1 play, putting us back up 13. LJ checked out briefly to big cheers from the bench corner. Katie Smith hit a 3, Coach got LJ up, but then sat her back down. Braxton &1? Get in there, LJ.

With 4 minutes to go LJ's bell really got run as she grabbed a defensive rebound. She was shaking her head and touching her ear on that one, and Sue kept impatiently gesturing for her to get down on offense. Such a harsh task-master. Detroit started to make their last push of the game, and I think got within 8, and we kept really running time off the clock, but then not getting anything for it so there was a lot of back and forth. Could we hold them off? Detroit is dangerous (and has really had our number the last couple of seasons). The cure for that was a Sue 3, followed by Swoopes drawing a charge that got the fans to their feet, followed by a Swoopes 3 from downtown to put us up for good by 12 with under 2 minutes to go. That was the back-breaker.

Of course game-in-hand doesn't mean give the refs a break. They messed up a possession call. Then Sue played some excellent defense on Katie Smith, and ended up getting called for a crap foul on it. The boos reverberated, and an angry Sue ran all the time down then jacked up her own shot. Yo came out to applause, and we ended the game with a whimper of a turnover. Oh well.

I was happy to see our starters do so well, but I'm a touch worried about our lack of bench production. There are some really deep teams out there. Sue was the player of the game, and credited their team defense with the win. When told she'd overtaken Nolan for assists-lead she seemed happiest, clasping her hands and raising them to us for a cheer as she left the court.

Run-off:

I was doing some Father's Day shopping in the team shop before the game, and asked if we would be getting any more sizes in, or if what we saw if what we were getting. The woman at the counter said she was sure we'd be getting more merchandise in, but the man who was back working on jerseys said no, they were not. I have not substantiated this with a second source, but if true I'd suggest if you've had your eye on something to get while the getting's good.

Katie Gearlds had several PSAs throughout the game, one for wearing a helmet when you ride your bike (she was decked out in a shiny red one), one for wearing a PFD when on or around the water (she was modeling a bright yellow and red one), and one for setting your water heater to 120°F (or low) to save energy and prevent scalding. After the final one she was getting a lot of attention from fans and teammates and stood up to wave to us all.

Has LJ been wearing black and white shoes all season? I just noticed it this game, but someone I asked said that she noticed them the first game.

Just when I got the previous song they play upon emerging from the locker room for shoot-around, they change it up on me. I think this one was that Madonna/Justin Timberlake one: "4 Minutes to Save the World" but honestly, people, I'm terrible at this. Can anyone confirm or deny?

Has there been a Storm player with #26 before Flo?

Jr. Captains were Kalie and Mesan, and met Sue, LJ and Cheryl Ford at mid-court. High 5 Club: Leann and Linda.

Seat upgrade: Carol vs. Chris. Carol won the coin flip and elected to answer the trivia question which was which team was not an expansion team in 2000 (Storm, Fever, Shock). She correctly answered (C) Shock, though for myself I was surprised at the overall ignorance of the crowd on this point. So Carol won the upgrade, but she took the mic and said she was giving the tickets to Chris, who was bringing her daughter to her first Storm game. Awww. The crowd loved it and applauded.

Between the 1st and 2nd quarters as part of the "Be Fit" night two teams of kids ran a relay of 3 kids switching off for 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups and a ladder race. The green team won. A little girl named Sierra was going to town on the sit-ups.

Governor Gregoire was introduced, to a pretty big cheer, and also State Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst (both stood and waved to the crowd)

Half time was to recognize and celebrate the top walkers/teams/sponsors of the March of Dimes march. KB opened it up with a video message up on the AV, her tiny daughter in arms, talking about the wonderful support and service Swedish and the NICU Family Support Program gave her and her family when her daughter was born prematurely.

Between the 3rd and 4th quarters we got a skills relay that involved wheel-barrowing your partner to half-court, then switching and coming back, then a dribble-the-cones, pass into the net, lay-up drill. It ended up being a tie because the staffers didn't get the lay-up ball to the green team at our end forever. He just kept standing there looking at them inquiringly, like what now?

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