Connecticut, Bonner too much in the 4th quarter as the Sun beat the Storm 82-71
Connecticut, Bonner too much in the 4th quarter as the Sun beat the Storm 82-71
Connecticut hands Seattle their first loss on this road trip.
(Uncasville, Connecticut) - Seattle was able to compete with Connecticut for portions of the game but ultimately didn’t have enough firepower to beat the Sun. The Storm lost the game 82-71.
Connecticut used a 26-13 fourth quarter to win the game. DeWanna Bonner scored 15 of those points and really took over the game late. This was eerily similar to Seattle’s earlier loss to the Sun 93-86 two weeks ago. In that game, the Storm were outscored 32-19 in the last period.
“Tough one on the road. Connecticut’s a really good team. For the most part, we fought. They are a well-oiled machine. They pound it in the paint. 56 points in the paint is tough to overcome. I’m proud of the effort but we just have to finish up the road trip strong.” Coach Noelle Quinn said in her opening statement after the game.
Breanna Stewart led the team with 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Stewie scored 14 of those points in the third quarter which helped the Storm outscore the Sun 26-14.
After announcing her retirement on Thursday, Bird came out on fire scoring 11 of her 14 points in the first half. I spoke with Bird during the post-game press conference and asked if she planned to come out with an aggressive mindset.
“It was just how the game played out. The last time we played them they went under pick and rolls, so I did have a little bit of a different mentality because of that; Understanding that if they’re going to do that then I need to make them pay. But if you look at the shots, one of them was just the ball moved and I was open. The other, I was coming off a pick and roll that they went under.” Bird replied.
Bird also talked about the support given to her in Connecticut from their home crowd.
“Of course, it means a lot! Especially, being in Connecticut. It was kind of funny to walk out there and see so much green and yellow in the stands. There were a bunch of people courtside. Two guys had … Ummm… (laughs) had my Sports Illustrated picture on a t-shirt so that was hilarious. I think part of announcing you’re going to retire is that does give people a chance for people to say ‘hi’, get an autograph, wear your jersey, rep you one last time, put a picture of you in a bikini on a t-shirt. I’m just going to try to have fun with it and enjoy it as much as I can.” Bird said.
Ezi Magbegor added 12 points on 5-8 FG shooting. Jewell Loyd was held scoreless in the first half and had just eight points total in this game, well below her 18 PPG average.
I talked to Coach Quinn about Connecticut’s defensive game plan against Loyd and why it was so effective.
“It’s the same thing they’ve done every time we match up with them. They trap her. A couple of times she got open because they stopped trapping in the 2nd half. We’ve game-planned for it. We’ve schemed for it. Trying to keep her more in motion and out of ball screens to keep her away from traps. They did an excellent job in the first half. Even though she wasn’t scoring I thought she was locked in, in other ways. But they just bring a lot of bodies to her.” Quinn answered.
Connecticut had the edge in almost every single statistical category in this game with the exception of three-point shooting. Seattle’s deep ball was one of the only reasons this game wasn’t more of a blowout. The Storm connected on 50% (11-22 FG) from beyond the arc.
The Connecticut Sun
If you were to bet on the games, you’d probably predict that Brionna Jones was going to dominate down low in this game. Especially, knowing that Mercedes Russell had been ruled out for the game. And that’s exactly what happened. Only Ezi gave her a little bit of resistance and even that wasn’t much. Bri Jones had her way in the paint scoring 19 points off the bench on 8-9 FG shooting. She is simply too big and too strong for Breanna Stewart to guard her. Every time Stewie tried, she just muscled right past her for several layups.
In a lot of ways, Brionna Jones's performance reminded me of watching Shaquille O’Neal back in his prime. Other team’s centers simply weren’t big enough or strong enough to keep him out of the paint and he could just score at will. That’s exactly what Jones did in this game.
Jonquel Jones had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Helping the Sun have a 40-26 rebounding advantage in this game.
Alyssa Thomas nearly had a double-double with 10 points and eight assists. It’s really interesting and unique that they’re having AT play some point guard or point forward for the team with starting PG Jasmine Thomas out injured.
Lastly, Seattle had done a great job of keeping DeWanna Bonner in check for most of this game limiting her to just five points through the first three quarters. But then she exploded for 15 points in the 4th period which helped turn the tide in Connecticut’s favor.
The Sun had a major advantage in the paint outscoring the Storm 56-28. Their bench also outscored Seattle’s reserves 25-14. Connecticut also held a minimal edge in assists, steals, blocks, and fast break points.
“What makes (their big lineup) difficult is that you have four people above six feet (tall). Just trying to match up with them offensively and defensively, where it’s a lineup that makes sense for us as well. Obviously, Connecticut is a team that really does well when they get in the paint. When they are big like that, it’s hard to stop.” Stewie told the media.
Game Breakdown
Jonquel Jones tipped the ball straight to a streaking Alyssa Thomas who easily scored the uncontested layup. Jonquel then hit a fancy step back. Connecticut scored the first four points of the game. But from there the Storm went on an 11-0 run as Sue Bird hit back-to-back threes, Stewie also hit a triple, and Gabby had a nice layup.
Of course, Connecticut is way too good to not make a run as they would outscore Seattle 7-2 in less than a two-minute span. Natisha Hiedeman buried a three to cap it off. Both teams exchanged multiple baskets. Connecticut eventually tied the game at 19-19 and took the lead on a Brionna Jones jumper. The Sun would finish the quarter leading 23-21.
Alyssa Thomas, Jonquel Jones, and Dijonai Carrington all converted easy layups in the paint. Dewanna Bonner then hit a jumper to extend the Sun’s lead to eight at 31-23. Sue Bird finally ended the run with another three to cut the deficit back down to five.
The Storm made a nice 9-3 run to cut Connecticut’s lead down to just two at 34-32. Ezi made back-to-back layups, then Bird got a steal and a fast break layup. It did not last.
Seattle simply had no answer for Brionna Jones. Who muscled her way down low time and time again. Breanna Stewart’s frame is too thin to guard Bri Jones effectively. And Ezi needed to do her best to stay out of foul trouble. Without Mercedes Russell, this was a consistent problem.
Connecticut used an 8-0 run to finish the half leading by ten points at 42-32. Brionna Jones had 12 points to lead all scorers at the midway point. Jonquel Jones added 10 more. Sue Bird led the Storm with 11 points and Ezi added eight more. But Stewie was limited to just five points in the first half and Jewell Loyd didn’t score at all!
The Storm erased the ten-point deficit within the first four minutes of the third period. Bird and Loyd hit two triples in a row. Stewart scored seven points with a layup, a pair of free throws, and a three-pointer to put Seattle up one.
Thomas and Jonquel Jones scored for Connecticut but then back-to-back threes by Stewie and Briann January put the Storm back up three at 54-51. Seattle turned a 10-point halftime deficit into a two-point lead at the end of the third period as the Storm led 58-56.
Sadly, the fourth quarter was all Connecticut as they dominated Seattle just as they did in their previous matchup. The Sun outscored the Storm 26-13. DeWanna Bonner had more points than Seattle by herself.
I spoke with Stewie after the game about the positives they took from that third quarter rally and then what didn’t work at the end of the game.
“The positives are that we just continued to fight. We knew we had a big hole to climb out of at the half. I don’t think any of us were concerned or shook by it. But in the 4th quarter, we struggled. In order to steal a game on the road, you have to play better in all quarters.” Stewart told me.
Eight straight points by DeWanna Bonner put Connecticut back up by five at 68-63 with seven minutes left in the game. The Sun would never relinquish the lead again at this point.
JJ hit a big three to put them back up six points at 71-65. Jewell responded with a three of her own to cut into Connecticut’s lead. But then Bonner continued to score with an AND1 layup and another layup. This would trigger an 11-0 run by the Sun over the next three minutes putting the game out of reach.
Coach Quinn called a timeout at the end of the game with the contest already decided to set up one last play. They found Stephanie Talbot on the right wing who drilled the three-pointer. Hopefully, that’ll give her some more confidence moving forward because Seattle needs Talbot to score more for the team off the bench.
With that, the game ended with Connecticut winning the game 82-71.
Additional Analysis
Connecticut is a Championship Caliber Team
Heading into this season the Connecticut Sun were the title favorites. They finished the 2021 season with the best record in the WNBA (26-6). They entered the season finally healthy. They’ve lived up to the billing so far starting the season 12-4. They’re also one of just two teams to beat the Las Vegas Aces this year.
The Sun have the best Offensive Rating in the WNBA (108.7) and they have the 5th best Defensive Rating (96.9). Overall, their Net Rating is 2nd best in the league just behind the Aces at 11.8.
I asked Coach Quinn what championship characteristics she sees in this Connecticut team.
“I think they have a good mix of an inside/outside game. They’re efficient from three, except they don’t take a ton. They have the ability to pound you on the inside. They have the ability to defend at a high level because they have athleticism at every spot. Every position creates a mismatch that is difficult to handle. At the end of the day, they’ve been together for quite some time even though Courtney spent a year away. They’re in a system that hasn’t changed much and there’s a lot of familiarity between the five to six that play the majority of their minutes.” Coach Quinn told me.
… The Storm Are Not
Maybe I’ll be proven wrong later this year. But right now I don’t see the Storm as a Championship caliber team. Sometimes you can watch a team and get that feeling that it’s their year. In 2020, going into the Bubble season and knowing which teams were having players opt out, it felt like the Storm SHOULD win the championship, and thankfully they did. In 2013-2014, the Seahawks were really impressive and it felt they should be the ones to win the Super Bowl and they did. But other times, it doesn’t work out as you’d expect.
The 1993-94 Seattle SuperSonics sadly made history to become the first number one overall seed to lose to an 8th seed (Denver Nuggets) in the first round of the playoffs. That year they had the best record in the NBA and had a serious chance to win the NBA title with Michael Jordan temporarily retired. But it didn’t work out that way.
In 2001, the Seattle Mariners tied for the most wins in MLB history winning 116 games in the regular season. Unfortunately, they didn’t win the World Series losing in the ALCS to the New York Yankees.
Last year in the WNBA, both the Connecticut Sun and Las Vegas Aces looked like they were destined to reach the WNBA Finals with one of them winning their first WNBA Championship. But then both teams were upset in the semifinals! So you just never know.
Through 15 games, the Storm are nearly halfway through the 2022 season. I feel that’s enough games to gauge how talented the team really is. They’re currently three games above .500 but have also had several wins where they barely squeaked out the victory. Seattle is also 1-3 in games against the WNBA’s Top 3 seeds and 0-3 against Las Vegas and Connecticut.
It is really difficult for me to watch these teams and feel confident that Seattle could beat either the Sun or Aces in a three-game or five-game series. Seattle’s offense is weaker than expected this season. Outside of the first handful of games, the bench hasn’t played well.
Seattle is 9th in points per game averaging 78.3 PPG. They are 10th (3rd worst) in field goal percentage at 41.8%. They are dead last in the league in free throw attempts per game at 14.1. The Storm are consistently out-rebounded by the opposing team; they average 31.9 RPG which ranks 10th overall.
What has kept the Storm competitive is their defense which ranks third in the WNBA with a Defensive Rating of 96.3. Their Offensive Rating of 97.8 is just the 8th best in the league. Seattle’s Net Rating is 1.5 which is 5th best in the WNBA. The team’s record is currently the 4th seed but just a hair better than the Washington Mystics who have the 4th best Net Rating.
Las Vegas (12.2) and Connecticut (11.8) have the top-two Net Rating.
While it’s not 100% foolproof, all four years the Storm won the championship (2004, 2010, 2018, and 2020) Seattle led the league in Net Rating.
The eye test tells me it’s not the Storm’s year. And with Sue Bird and Briann January both retiring at the end of this season; not to mention Breanna Stewart’s pending free agency, it can’t be overstated how important this next offseason will be for the franchise.
Missing Mercedes
There’s no doubt the Storm would be much closer to a title contender with a healthy Mercedes Russell. Sadly, she hasn’t been healthy this season. On Thursday, the Storm provided the most information to date on what she’s been dealing with.
Russell returned to Seattle during their five-game road trip. It was announced she’ll be out for at least another couple of weeks. Cedes has played in just five of the team’s first 15 games. Per the given timeline above, she’s likely to miss at least the next three games.
Russell’s absence was clearly felt in the game against Connecticut. Not only was Seattle out-rebounded 40-26. Brionna Jones had her way against Seattle's defenders.
Jersey Count
While on the road in Connecticut the Storm wore their green and white “Heroine” jerseys. Normally, that jersey has been good luck for the team this year as they entered with a 5-1 record. But it wasn’t enough to overcome the talented Connecticut team. After losing this game the Storm fall to 5-2 with the “Heroine” uniforms and down to 9-6 overall. Seattle remains the 4th seed in the league standings behind Las Vegas (12-2), Connecticut (12-4), and Chicago (10-4). And just barely ahead of the Washington Mystics (10-7) who they face next Thursday!
Records per jersey type this season:
Rebel: 3-1
Explorer: 1-3
Heroine: 5-2
Overall Record: 9-6
Up Next
One last road game on this five-game road trip before the Storm return home to Seattle. Their last road game will be in New York with an early start at 9:00 AM on Sunday. The Liberty have been playing much better lately and will be a good challenge.
Notes:
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Photo Credits to Neil Enns/Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography Team
It’s such a shame to waste Sue’s last year and potentially Stewie’s last year. It seems to me, the team, aside from the big three, is poorly constructed. Not enough size and/or athleticism to compete with the top teams. And, Ezi seems to be under used offensively. Could they run more plays for her? With the terrible bench offense and Gabby’s weak offense, do we need more from Ezi? What do you see as the main problems this year in terms of a new GM and the roster and a new coach? Would love to get your take on that. Seattle was outsized and out coached by Connecticut. I agree with you that they are not championship material this year.
Thank you so much for taking the time to send such a thorough and thoughtful response. It helped me a lot to understand the roster construction both pros and cons. I am very grateful for you coverage of the Storm. Thank you!!