The Losses Pile Up as the Sky Take Down the Storm 90-75

Kahleah Copper and Marina Mabrey combined for 51 points to lead Chicago over Seattle.

(Seattle, WA) - The Storm have hit a new low. Saturday’s defeat to the Chicago Sky was their 9th loss in a row. Chicago ended their four-game losing streak with a 90-75 victory over Seattle. It ended their streak but extended Seattle’s to a new franchise-high losing streak. Or would it be considered a franchise low? Either way, the team is in trouble and things might get worse before they get better.

When asked if the losing streak is affecting the team, Coach Quinn was quick to respond.

“Yes! It’s weighing on me. So I know it’s weighing on them. We have taken away the mindset of ‘We have to get this win!’ That’s not our day-to-day goal. That’s not our tangible goal. Our tangible goal is are we getting better each and every day? Are we sticking to what’s given us success? Statistically, are we rebounding? Are we taking care of the ball? Based on those, that’s going to indicate whether we’re moving in the right direction or not. Yes, losing weighs heavily on everyone at some point.” Quinn said during the post-game press conference.

What was most concerning about this particular defeat was the team’s effort right out of the gate. No, it’s not a surprise that the team struggled in the first quarter. That’s been their MO all season. But the lack of hustle and want-to in the opening minutes was disheartening to watch. Chicago had seven offensive rebounds and nine total just two minutes into the game.

The Storm were out-rebounded 32-10 at halftime and 44-20 by the game’s final buzzer. Chicago played with a lot more hustle and heart. They simply wanted it more.

“They had more offensive rebounds than we had total rebounds (early on) and that affected the game from the jump… A lot of times, rebounding isn’t a skill set. It is a desire to box out and literally pursue basketballs. I felt that our mindset around that wasn’t sharp. It wasn’t only one of us, it was all of us. I think the desire and the heart that it takes to go finish plays, the desire was not strong today. Hence the early timeout to address it. There really wasn’t a change after that. Again, with a team like ours, these little details matter. We’re not going to win games if we’re not going to be playing at a high level every single night. We can’t just give a ‘C’ effort, it has to be an ‘A’ effort and our rebounding was not that.” Coach Quinn spoke on the impact of the team’s poor rebounding effort.

Ezi Magbegor led the team in scoring with 14 points but was limited to just three rebounds. And that was one shy of the team-high of four (Loyd, Holmes). For the second consecutive game, Jewell was held to just 12 points as teams continue to throw double-teams at her on nearly every possession. Loyd finished the game making just 2-11 FG. It was the first game all season where she didn’t make at least one three-pointer.

The lone bright spot for the Storm was the play of the reserves. Seattle’s bench outscored Chicago’s 41-22. Rookie Jordan Horston continues to show promise. She scored 12 points off the bench and had three steals. But like Magbegor, she also struggled with rebounding collecting only one in the game; well below her usual total.

Horston talked to me about her improved offense recently.

“The game, I’m just letting it come to me. I’m not forcing anything. I’m being intentional on the things I’m working on outside of it. When I get into the game, those are the same shots that I’m taking. Just being able to lock in and knock down the shots that I’m taking every day.” Jordan stated.

Sami Whitcomb was another bright spot off the bench scoring 11 points and being one of the only players to truly show hustle. Whitcomb continues to look like Seattle’s best off-season move from Free Agency. She did have a team-high five turnovers but a lot of that was just trying to make something happen with the team trailing by a significant amount.

Chicago Sky

Three Chicago Sky players were the driving force for their victory. All-Star Kahleah Copper led the team with 29 points. She was also a perfect 11-11 from the Free Throw line.

“She’s a great player. She got to her spots. I feel like we gave up some uncontested threes to her. She’s a great player and we just need to do a better job defensively.” Magbegor said of Copper’s performance.

Leading up to this game, Marina Mabrey was going through a major shooting slump. Over the past three games, she had made just 5-30 FG. Against the Storm, she made 50% of her shots (8-16 FG) including four three-pointers. Mabrey finished the game with 22 points, a team-high six assists, and five rebounds.

Lastly, Alanna Smith was dominant on the glass pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds. She also added nine points, four steals, and three blocked shots. Smith is having the best season of her WNBA career by far. She is averaging 9.6 PPG and 7.0 RPG while starting in 19 games. Prior to this year, she had only started one game through her first four seasons.

I spoke with Ezi about her Australian Opal teammates’ resurgence this year and if she was happy to see it.

“For sure! I was in the same draft class as ‘Lanna. I know the first three years of her WNBA career weren’t the easiest. She was obviously off (most) of last season. I think it’s great that she found a good fit in Chicago. She had a great off-season in Poland. It’s showing in her game. I’m very happy for her. That she’s kinda found her home, for lack of a better word, in Chicago. I know it’s been a tough journey for her so she deserves it.” Magbegor answered.

Overall, the Sky dominated the glass (44-20) and nearly had more offensive rebounds (18) than the Storm had total rebounds. No surprise, they held a 12-2 advantage in second-chance points.

Game Breakdown

Marina Mabrey was able to score on Jewell Loyd in the low post on the game’s first possession. Over the next two minutes, Chicago would put up 10 total shots and collect seven offensive rebounds. They missed eight of their first ten shots but with every miss, they would grab another rebound. A couple of these were likely bad bounces but a big part was Seattle’s players weren’t boxing out. Coach Quinn was extremely displeased and immediately called a timeout.

Out of the time, the Storm had a 24-second shot-clock violation. Kahleah Copper hit a triple to put Chicago up 7-2 early. Ezi Magbegor then made a nice drive past Elizabeth Williams. Alanna Smith then scored four straight points on a nice up and under and a pair of free throws. Jade Melbourne checked in and immediately hit a beautiful floater in the paint. Courtney Williams and Elizabeth Williams scored back-to-back baskets. Then Kia Nurse was called for a Flagrant-1 foul on Kahleah Copper. Copper made all three Free Throws to put Chicago up 18-6.

Mercedes Russell made a huge rejection and Jordan Horston tried to save it from going out of bounds. Instead, it wound up in the hands of Copper who laid the ball in. Coach Quinn put her hands over her head in frustration. On the next possession, Horston was called for a traveling violation. She flung the ball against the backboard and was whistled for the Technical Foul. The first of her WNBA career. She was then yanked back to the bench and only played five minutes total in the first half.

The Sky led 24-10 with about a minute left in the first period. Mercedes Russell and Joyner Holmes converted two layups to finish the quarter. Seattle’s first-period woes continued as Chicago led 24-14.

Marina Mabrey started the second quarter by scoring on a deep two and then getting an easy layup in transition. The latter doubled Seattle’s score as Chicago went up 28-14.

Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had some clear struggles. She blew a couple of contested layups and picked up her third foul. Her confidence looked shaky as she missed all five of her field goal attempts in the game. She ended up playing less than 10 minutes as other players like Mercedes Russell and Jordan Horston were contributing more to the team in this game.

Marina Mabrey hit a three-pointer to put Chicago up 15 at 35-20. Chicago continued to pour it on. Seattle played a lot of bad basketball as the Sky would go on a 14-6 run. Mabrey tacked on another three-pointer for good measure.

The best sequence for Seattle took place at the end of the first half. Sami Whitcomb ended the second period by scoring six points in five seconds. She hit a three-ball, stole the ball, and hit another one. Seattle finally had a bit of life.

https://twitter.com/seattlestorm/status/1682933538331697152?s=20

At the midway point, the Storm trailed 49-32. Chicago shot 44% (17-39 FG) and held Seattle to 38% (13-34 FG). Jewell Loyd was limited to just four points on 0-5 FG shooting. The Sky took 17 free throw attempts compared to Seattle’s four. And no stat stood out more than the 32-10 rebounding advantage for Chicago.

Rookie Jordan Horston came off the bench early in the 3rd quarter and immediately made a huge impact. Horston hit a jumper, got a steal, hit a pair of free throws, grabbed another steal, and made an assist in under two minutes of action. Seattle cut the 23-point deficit down to 11, forcing Chicago into a timeout.

The Sky responded well pushing their lead back up to 19 points. Marina Mabrey got to the foul line for a pair and then knocked down a three-ball. Afterward, she flashed the 3-symbol in Jewell Loyd’s face. She would later pick up a Technica Foul from the bench.

Mercedes Russell had a nice AND1 layup. Whitcomb checked back in and gave the Storm another boost by knocking down a triple. Seattle did a good job of making a late push.

At the end of the third, Chicago maintained their double-digit lead up 65-54. The Sky scored the first six points of the fourth quarter and begin the period on an 11-4 run. Copper did most of the damage. Kah scored eight of her 29 points in the final frame.

The two teams played relatively even through the next few minutes. Magbegor and Gabby Williams each got layups for Seattle while Robyn Parks hit a three-ball and got a layup in the quarter. Dana Evans made a pair of free throws and Mabrey hit another three-pointer.

Jordan Horston made several nice plays in the fourth quarter scoring seven of her 12 points in the final period. Horston made three of her four field goals in the fourth. None prettier than the one below.

In the end, Seattle wasn’t able to make enough stops late in the game. The Sky outscored the Storm 25-21 over the final 10 minutes to comfortably win the game by 15 points at 90-75.

Additional Analysis

Off-Season Impact on Full Display

Ever since the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was implemented in 2020, player movement around the league has been much more frequent. Chelsea Gray and Candace Parker leaving the Los Angeles Sparks and heading to the Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky were two of the biggest impact moves in 2021.

No franchises were affected more this past WNBA off-season than the Seattle Storm and the Chicago Sky. The Storm lost their captain, the WNBA’s All-Time Assists leader in Sue Bird. The Chicago Sky lost their captain, arguably the current best point guard in the league, and a player that has led the WNBA in Assists over several seasons in Courtney Vandersloot.

Seattle also lost a dynamic two-way forward that can score inside and out to the three-point range. A former WNBA MVP and two-time Finals MVP, Breanna Stewart. The Chicago Sky lost a dynamic two-way forward that can do it all; score, pass, rebound, defend. A former two-time WNBA MVP and one-time Finals MVP, Candace Parker.

Parker and Stewart might be on a collision course in the WNBA Finals with their new teams if the playoffs don’t have any upsets.

Meanwhile, Seattle and Chicago have struggled this season. The Sky are the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference. They’ve lost six out of their last 10 games. Their head coach left the team in the middle of the season. And they’re currently fighting to stay in the 8th and final playoff spot.

The Storm have fared even worse. Seattle owns the worst record in the league at 4-18. Unlike the Sky who added established veterans in Marina Mabrey, Courtney Williams, and Elizabeth Williams; the Storm put more of their faith in developing rookies and other younger players.

Overall, we are seeing a lot more player movement during the WNBA off-season. That is probably a good thing for the league as it gives fans and media alike more talking points. It’s good for the players as they are no longer forced to play in one city for the majority of their careers if there is a better option out there.

But it can definitely hurt a lot too. Especially, for the teams that end up on the wrong end of those big acquisitions.

Adjusting to a Coaching Change

Chicago Head Coach and General Manager James Wade shocked the WNBA world on July 1st when it was announced that he was leaving the team effective immediately to take an Assistant Coaching job with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. Wade led the Chicago Sky to the franchise’s only WNBA Championship in 2021 and won Coach of the Year in 2019. The team reached the playoffs every year he was in charge of the team (2019 through 2022).

It likely came as a shock to not just fans but players within the organization. I thought it would be a good idea to speak with Coach Noelle Quinn about how that can affect players and a team because she’s been in that situation as a player and later as a coach who had to step up and take over this team in 2021 once Coach Dan Hughes stepped down.

“The challenges as a player when it happened, you have to show up the same. There isn’t much difference in the situation the system doesn’t really change. But the voice changes. You, your effort, your professionalism, and the work every day does not change. The challenges to adjust to a different voice and new leadership. As an individual and as a pro, your approach remains the same. Maybe the challenge at that moment, we needed to make the playoffs, so there is a little more pressure. We buckled down and found a way to do that.” Coach Quinn told me.

“As a coach, the challenge of taking over in a specific moment is going from one seat to the next. You’re not focused on one thing. I was focused solely on the offense (as an Assistant) in my role. As a head coach, you have to focus on a lot of things. You rely on your assistants to help in those moments. The amount of preparation is different. What you do during the game is different. Your mental approach is a little different because your role is different. That’s part of the job. I obviously continue to grow and here I am.” Noelle continued.

Mix and Match

One last thing I wanted to talk about. I have to wonder how much all the mixing and matching is impacting the players. Only four players from the 2022 Storm roster remain with the team this season; before Gabby Williams returned, there were only three players.

The team has four rookies on the roster which is a rarity. Three out of the four rookies have started multiple games. All four rookies have missed some games this season, with three of them missing action as DNP - Coach’s Decision.

Rookie Ivana Dojkić has earned the most starts of the rookie class starting in 15 games this season. She was red-hot during the first several games scoring in double figures in almost every game. However, since the month of July, she has struggled mightily. She has not scored in double figures since she put up 14 points against the Minnesota Lynx on June 27th, nearly a full month ago.

Rookie Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu barely played through the first (roughly) 15 games of the season. Then she started getting more minutes and started the past five games. Through those first three games, she looked incredible scoring in double-figures in all three of those games and pulling down 10+ rebounds in the first two. Over these past two games, Mendjiadeu hasn’t played well. She’s been held scoreless in 25 minutes of action and collected just five rebounds total. Will the real Dulcy Fankam please stand up?

Seattle also brought in other younger players like Arella Guirantes and Kaila Charles. Neither of which lasted to the midway point on the roster.

After Charles was waived, they brought in Joyner Holmes. Holmes has had some fantastic games off the bench. Then she really struggled when she was inserted into the starting lineup against the opposing team’s best players. And then she’s had other games where she didn’t get off the bench at all.

Mercedes Russell’s experience has been similar to what we’ve seen with Joyner. She’s started. She’s had games where she didn’t play at all. Others, where she’s solidly productive off the bench, and other times where she gives them little to nothing.

Kia Nurse, another new addition to the team this season, has started the majority of games this year. She’s been very streaky as a scorer but for a good portion of the first half of the year, she was the team’s third-best scoring option behind Loyd and Magbegor. Nurse has struggled more as of late. She hasn’t scored in double figures since July 6th against Connecticut. And she hasn’t even been close. The four points Saturday night against Chicago were the most since that game against the Sun.

Her role has decreased more of late as well. Her fellow UConn teammate, Gabby Williams has taken over her role in the starting lineup over the past two games. Kia has also seen her minutes decrease by a significant amount as Williams ramps up. It isn’t necessarily the wrong move to me. But it does lead to the point I’m trying to make.

I can’t imagine all this in-and-out, mix and match, starting and not starting, playing lots of minutes, not playing at all, etc. is easy on the players. I feel it’s really tough to develop chemistry and improve when so many things are constantly changing from game to game.

And I get it. It is imperative that this season, the team, the coaches, and the front office staff learn what they do have and what they don’t have currently with this roster. I wrote more about the importance of doing thorough evaluations on all 12 players in my last article.

But I do believe the inconsistency with the lineups and rotations is leading to some of the team’s problems, lack of execution, and struggles this season.

I spoke with Coach Quinn about that but didn’t necessarily agree.

“At the end of the day, if someone on the court isn’t giving what I want as a coach. What we want as a staff. We have the ability to find someone who will do that. I’ve said it from the beginning, we’re going to continue to find players or a rotation that can do exactly what we’re asking. I don’t know if there is going to be a set rotation because of that. With Gabby back, it’s tough. I want to get her comfortable. But also we’ve talked about growing our young point guards.” Coach Quinn responded.

“Whether it’s hurting them…? I’m not sure it’s hurting them. If you know consistently that there is going to be an opportunity to play then as a pro just be ready to play. We are not in a situation right now where we can have a set rotation honestly because there are a lot of things we do well sometimes and then we don’t. I think we have players who can come in and give (better) effort in some places when people aren’t. That’s why I’m going to continue to try every one.” She added.

I’m interested to see if the players share that viewpoint.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (4-18) head out on a three-game road trip to finish the month of July. Their next game is this Tuesday, July 25th at 4:00 PM PDT against the New York Liberty (15-5). It’ll be their last time facing Breanna Stewart and the Liberty this year. New York has won all three of the previous meetings this season.

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