Loyd's superhero effort not enough as Storm fall 92-85 against the Sparks

Jewell Loyd scores a season-high 37 points but Seattle still searches for the team's first win.

(Los Angeles, California) - Jewell Loyd is playing the best basketball of her career. She leads the WNBA in scoring now averaging 28.75 PPG after scoring a season-high 37 points in a Herculean effort on Saturday night. Herculean? Athena? One of the Greek gods.

Loyd is playing at an MVP-type level. Especially, on Saturday where she not only scored a game-high 37 points while shooting 50% overall (13-26 FG) and 67% (8-12) from three-point range. She also had a team-high six assists and pulled down six rebounds to boot. Despite what may have been the best game of her 9-year WNBA career - the one thing still missing is a mark in the win column.

“I was just getting to my spots. It sounds that simple but I guess when you prepare the way I’ve been preparing you just feel comfortable in those situations to take those shots. When you see a couple go in, you just keep shooting. I got into a rhythm. I missed a lot of easy ones. I missed two free throws. It’s unacceptable…” Loyd said.

When asked if she could appreciate that type of performance despite the loss.

“You try to find small victories throughout the game regardless if you lose. In general, we did a lot of good things. I think it would have been cooler if I had 50 and we had won. But that wasn’t the case. It doesn’t really mean much in the regular season.” Jewell added.

Her coach praised her after the game.

“Incredible! And efficient! I think that’s the biggest thing, having 13 makes in 26 shot attempts. Being efficient from the three. What I really liked was that she had six assists as well. She’s finding where she can be successful. She’s going to get trapped, she’ll see some hard hedges. She’s going to continue to make the right reads and when she’s able to make big shots like that. It helps us to stay in games.” Coach Noelle Quinn replied.

After the Minnesota Lynx upset the Washington Mystics by a final score of 80-78 earlier in the night. The Storm are now the only WNBA team this season not to have secured a victory. To be fair to Seattle, it took Minnesota seven games before they earned their first win. After Saturday, the Storm fall to 0-4 on the season. And the good thing is the team has been competitive in every game except for their first. A blowout loss to the defending champions.

Basketball is ultimately a team game. And even when Loyd is playing like a superhero, she is still only one player. The league is filled with way too much talent where just one player isn’t going to be able to lead teams to victory on most nights.

Ezi Magbegor has been the team’s second-best player this season and was just one rebound short of her third consecutive double-double. She finished the game with 14 points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots. Including one that was borderline disrespectful!

Unfortunately, Seattle was simply dominated inside the paint and low post areas. The Ogwumike sisters, especially Nneka, were a major problem for Seattle’s frontcourt as I’ll discuss in the section below.

When trying to parse the positives. Seattle did have their best shooting night of the season. They finished the game shooting 46% (30-65 FG) and an impressive 52% (13-25) from beyond the three-point line. They also outscored Los Angeles 22-8 in fast break points. Defensively, they could have been better but surprisingly they did out-rebound Los Angeles 37-34 and had a 9-1 edge in blocked shots. Magbegor led the way (3) and Jordan Horston had two more including a great one against Dearica Hamby as seen from the link below.

https://twitter.com/seattlestorm/status/1665183233456369664?s=20

The Los Angeles Sparks

Nneka Ogwumike played her best game of the season putting up MVP-type numbers herself leading the Sparks with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists. Despite Magbegor being one of the best post defenders in the WNBA, Seattle had no answers for her. Ogwumike got Magbegor into foul trouble throughout the game and finished a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line. That was just one shy of Seattle as a team who finished 12-16 from the charity stripe.

Nneka wasn’t alone. She had plenty of help from the rest of LA’s starters and it’s a big reason why the Sparks walked away with the victory. Four of their five starters scored in double figures. Chiney Ogwumike did plenty of damage in the low post as well. Scoring 15 points on 7-11 FG shooting. Layshia Clarendon added 16 points, six assists, and three steals. Coming off of a career game against Phoenix, Lexie Brown finished with 14 points on 40% (4/10 FG) shooting from long range.

Jordin Canada was the only starter not to reach double-digit scoring. And while she had a poor shooting night (1-6 FG). She still finished the game with nine points, a game-high seven assists, and a game-high four steals. Canada finished with more steals than Seattle did as a team (3).

While the Sparks weren’t quite as efficient with their shooting as Seattle but they were still solid. They finished 46% (31-68 FG) and 37% (9-17) from beyond the arc. More importantly, they dominated at the foul line connecting on 23-27 FG (+11 over Seattle) and they crushed the Storm inside the paint, outscoring Seattle 44-20.

Game Breakdown

Nneka Ogwumike made a beautiful pass to a cutting Layshia Clarendon for the game’s first points. Yvonne Turner responded for Seattle by knocking down a corner three. Nneka scored for LA and then Mercedes Russell hit back-to-back jumpers to give Seattle the early three-point lead.

Midway through the first, Seattle led 10-8. Jordin Canada made a nifty play where she got caught in mid-air but found Nneka Ogwumike who converted the easy layup.

Jordan Horston checked in and quickly scored when she was able to sneak into the paint for an easy layup off an offensive rebound. A couple of plays later, Horston made an impact on the defensive end staying straight up and rejecting a Dearica Hamby shot in the paint. Horston recovered the ball and took it coast-to-coast for the layup over the Los Angeles defender. A great sign for the rookie and hopefully something we’ll see more of in the future.

At the end of the first period, the teams were tied at 16-16.

To begin the second quarter, Karlie Samuelson found herself open and nailed the three-pointer to put LA up three. Jewell Loyd was able to respond after having the ball deflected and connected on a triple of her own to tie the game.

Both teams played very evenly throughout the next several minutes. Jade Melbourne made a couple of nice assists finding Ezi Magbegor.

Jordin Canada was able to knock down a three-ball but Ezi was able to respond on the other end for Seattle with her first three of the season.

The teams were once again tied at the end of the first half with a score of 39-39. At the break, Loyd led all scorers with 13 points. Magbegor had nine points and six rebounds through two quarters. Nneka Ogwumike led the Sparks with 10 points and, her sister, Chiney contributed with six points.

Los Angeles dominated inside the paint outscoring the Storm 26-8 through the first two quarters. However, Seattle outpaced the Sparks 8-2 in fast break points. Seattle shot the ball well in the first half connecting on 50% (14-28 FG) including 50% (5-10) from beyond the three-point arc. The Sparks got several more shots up but weren’t as efficient hitting on just 17-40 FG (43%). LA has been a very good defensive team this season and forced the Storm into 10 turnovers in the first half while only giving up four of their own.

Jordin Canada found Lexie Brown open for another three-ball to put LA back up three to begin the third period. Layshia Clarendon was able to get a transition bucket after another Seattle turnover. Magbegor was able to connect on her second three-pointer on Seattle’s next possession.

Loyd was finding her passing touch. She found Mercedes for an easy basket after being triple-teamed. She later found Kia Nurse sprinting ahead of the defense for another transition basket. Loyd had four assists in the third period as she worked to get her teammates involved.

Nneka continued to dominate scoring eleven points in the third period. Loyd did her best to match scoring eight points during that quarter.

When Nneka wasn’t doing the damage herself she’d find her open teammates. This time, another three-ball by Brown.

The Sparks went on an 8-0 run late in the third quarter to give themselves their largest lead of the game at 63-57. Jade Melbourne was able to stop the bleeding by driving to the rim and drawing a foul where she sank both free throws.

Kaila Charles gave the team some nice minutes with some hustle plays.

LA continued to push their lead. Lexie Brown’s fourth three-pointer of the game put the Sparks up by 11 points at 73-62. From the end of the third into the fourth period, the Sparks went on a 17-4 run that really gave them control of the game. I spoke with Ezi Magbegor after that game about what happened during those minutes.

“That’s been the case over the last few games. We just have to learn how to stop teams’ runs and capitalize on our offensive plays and execute. Execution is big for us. We pride ourselves on defense. We have to take good shots and make good shots and stop these runs.” Magbegor told me.

Seattle continued to battle. Loyd knocked down her own triple and then Ezi was able to rebound and take the ball coast-to-coast for two more. That cut the deficit down to four at 72-68.

The Ogwumike sisters continued to give Seattle problems. Chiney was able to score down low on a mismatch against Sami Whitcomb. Then Nneka was able to get two more free throws. Chiney scored again inside the paint.

“They’re great players. Defensively, I obviously didn’t do a great job in limiting their points in the paint. They are tough to play against but I need to be better. Luckily, we play them again on Tuesday. Back to the drawing board and we have to be better going forward.” Magbegor stated after the game.

I asked Coach Quinn the same thing.

“They’re tough! They’re All-Stars. A (former) MVP. Champion. They’re a load. They can hit you in a lot of ways. Whether it’s the points or the offensive rebounding. Defensively, being there on the catch they were disruptive early on. That’s how Ezi had a lot of those turnovers. They’re very talented. I can go on and on about them…” Quinn answered.

Jewell did everything she could to help the Storm win this game scoring 16 of her 37 points in the final 10 minutes. Loyd buried a three and then found Jade open for another three-pointer to cut the Sparks’ lead down to four at 86-82 with under a minute to play.

Los Angeles was able to sink several free throws in the final minute and they were able to hang onto a 92-85 victory.

Additional Analysis

Jade Melbourne Will Start Soon

After watching the past two games I feel confident in writing this. I believe Jade Melbourne will be starting sooner than later this season. I don’t expect it to happen this week necessarily. But the team will play ten games in the month of June. I’d be a little surprised if we don’t see her start before the first of July.

Melbourne had her best game (so far) against New York on Tuesday. In 15 minutes, she scored four points and had three assists. Modest numbers of course. But you could see a lot of positives beyond the box score.

On Saturday night, she was even better. Jade became the first Storm rookie to score in double figures this season as she finished the game with 10 points on 3-5 FG shooting. She collected five rebounds which was 4th best on the team. Melbourne had two assists but it felt like more as she was able to set up Magbegor on a nice play that ended with Ezi taking a trip to the foul line.

Jade made a beautiful floater in the paint earlier and knocked down a crucial three-pointer late in the game that gave the Storm a fleeting glimpse of hope in the final minutes of the contest. The youngest player in the WNBA is already making impact plays just four games into her career.

I spoke with both Jewell Loyd and Coach Noelle Quinn about what they’ve seen from Melbourne so far.

“She might be young but she’s been a pro for a few years. She understands how to be professional and learns very quickly. She competes. She’s not scared of anyone when she plays like that. It’s a testament to who she is and her character.” Loyd answered.

“She’s smart on the floor. She plays with pace. She understands what we want to do on the offensive end. She’s capable of creating for herself and for others. We’re still working with her defensively on her physicality and her coverages. Just being sharp in that area. But (I’ve seen) some really good things with her moving the ball, being poised, taking the challenge.” Coach Quinn added.

Yes, there are areas to improve. Yes, there is so much to learn. But honestly, that’s what this season is going to be about. Melbourne played 21 minutes on Saturday after playing 15 minutes on Tuesday against New York. While not getting the start, she played more minutes at the point guard spot on Saturday night than starting point guard Yvonne Turner (15 minutes of action). I truly believe it is only a matter of time before we see Melbourne start and I am excited to see that.

Rookie Report

The topic above covered a good portion of the rookie action from Saturday’s game, but there are a few more things to discuss.

Jordan Horston played just nine minutes against LA on Saturday and during her limited run, she looked really good. She finished the game with four points, two rebounds, and two blocked shots. In the first quarter, she was making plays on both ends of the court.

With that in mind, it was very unusual to see Horston sit the entire second half. When looking at the rookies, Jordan has received the most playing time by a good margin. She’s the only rookie of the four to play in all four games. Heading into Saturday’s game, she had been averaging 18 minutes a game off the bench. Often being one of the first substitutions for the Storm.

I thought maybe she was under the weather or suffered an injury that I didn’t catch on the TV copy. As media, we asked Coach Noelle Quinn about that and she was short in her response but stated Jordan was healthy.

“Everything is OK…”

When pressed further.

“She’s healthy.”

As a youth basketball coach myself, I do completely understand that sometimes the regular rotations and substitutions in games don’t always play out the same with each and every game. And from my own experience, I know I’ve had games where I look back and realize I didn’t give a specific player more playing time that I meant to. Sometimes, the games just play out that way.

We know there will be growing pains. And sometimes the rookies aren’t going to play as much as we would like because while the team is building for the future. They are also trying to win games here and now. There are obviously reasons why many veterans get the playing time that they do.

Regarding, the other two rookies. Ivana Dojkic sat for the second game in a row. In the first two games, Dojkic may have been the most impressive rookie but she hasn’t seen the court since the Dallas game. It does appear that Jade Melbourne has moved ahead of her on the depth chart. And with Yvonne Turner still starting as the team’s first point guard in games and veteran Sami Whitcomb getting some run at the one during the 2nd half; there simply hasn’t been a spot of Dojkic during these very close games.

I honestly was a little surprised Dojkic made the final roster. I admittedly, didn’t know much about her coming from Europe. However, I just wasn’t certain the team would keep three point guards on the roster. Especially, when players like Loyd, Whitcomb, or even Kia Nurse can fill that role occasionally as needed.

Lastly, Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu did not see game action for the third straight game. Right now she appears to be the 12th player in the rotation and has only played during the Storm’s blowout loss to Las Vegas in the 2nd half of that game with the Aces up 30-40 points. I think that’s just the way it’s going to be right now. If you’ve been a Storm fan for a while you’ll recall Mercedes Russell really didn’t get on the court at all her rookie season back in 2018. But would end up playing a much larger role with the team the following season in 2019.

Playing Time

Regarding playing time, rotations, and substitutions - I was able to interview Coach Quinn prior to Saturday’s tip-off against the Sparks and I spoke with her about that. Normally, established teams have a very specific rotation they play with each and every game. Most teams stick to an eight or nine-player rotation that often gets even shorter come playoff time. But because this season there are so many fresh faces and young players in Seattle, I asked Noelle if she is less concerned about a set rotation when the focus might be more on development this season. I thought she had a good answer to that question.

“Yes, you’re absolutely right. It’s a combination of both of those things. I would love to have a set rotation in Game 4. But it’s a fluid situation for us. If we have an opportunity to utilize this time this season in these games to grow players and not just for future purposes but for the right now. I think it’s important for them to see the fruits of their labor that happens in games. The work they’re putting in practice. Understanding of our system. Our team is new in a lot of areas. Not just rookies, but players coming into a new situation. I will say it’s going to be fluid until we find some rhythm and find the players that have the chemistry that are connected and we find some success in that way.” Coach Quinn told me.

Post Help?

Seattle was outscored 44-20 inside the paint on Saturday. Every single game I watch it feels like the team is struggling with the opposing team’s post players. A’ja Wilson and Candace Parker. Natasha Howard and Satou Sabally. Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Stefanie Dolson. Most recently, Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike.

Obviously, when you lose a player as talented as Breanna Stewart. Areas of the game become a lot more challenging.

Seattle currently only uses two post players in their regular rotation (Russell and Magbegor) and I truly question how long they can go throughout the season with just those two.

I fully understand that it’s not easy to make a roster change. Especially, when the 12 players on this team currently have been training, learning the offensive and defensive schemes, and practicing multiple times a week with one another since the start of training camp. But I do wonder if a change is inevitable at some point.

6’5” Charli Collier, the former 2021 #1 overall pick, was cut by the Dallas Wings right before the start of this season. To my knowledge, she is still available on the open market. 6’4” Lauren Cox, the 3rd overall pick from the 2020 draft, was recently released by the Connecticut Sun. If her medicals check out, that would be another option.

Of course, the Storm had Theresa Plaisance (6’5”) and Jasmine Walker (6’3”) in camp already. They were two of the team’s final cuts before the season began. They could both be options if Seattle wanted to add someone who at least has some experience and understanding of this year’s schemes and player personnel.

Lastly, there is one more option I can think of. Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu (6’4”) is the only other post player currently on the team. I’m not expecting her to play over Mercedes or Ezi. But if either of those players needs to rest or gets into foul trouble. I don’t think it’d hurt to give Dulcy some minutes and see what she can do. She looked really good in the preseason game against the Phoenix Mercury.

If Seattle continues to get dominated down low, it’s certainly worth a shot.

Up Next

The Storm return home to face the Los Angeles Sparks (3-2) again on Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena.

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