Preseason: Storm fall to the Mercury 77-71

All eyes towards the future.

(Seattle, WA) - The Storm’s first preseason game gave us a glimpse of what this WNBA season is likely to be for Seattle. The home team looked great in the first half leading by as many as 17 points. However, a late run before halftime and a dominant third period helped Phoenix steal the victory, 77-71.

There were some bright spots in the losing effort. Mostly, from rookie Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu and Ezi Magbegor. Mendjiadeu finished the game for Seattle with 10 points (4-5 FG) and nine rebounds. Magbegor finished with eight points (4-5 FG) and four rebounds.

“I thought there was a lot of good effort. Obviously, with the pieces in the game and being in training camp mode, we are evaluating a lot. Especially the effort from Dulcy, getting us extra possessions. Jade (Melbourne) getting thrown in there. It was a two-possession game late. I saw some really good things. If we hit our free throws (15-25), then the game is a little bit different. All in all, I thought it was a good effort. It was really fun to be back at Climate Pledge and have our young players play really good down the stretch.” Coach Quinn said in her opening statement.

Seattle finished the game shooting just 36% (25-69 FG) and 24% (6-25 FG) from three-point. After connecting on their first three triples of the game they finished the rest of the game making just 3-22 FG from beyond the arc.

The Phoenix Mercury were led by Sug Sutton who finished with a game-high 11 points. Diana Taurasi scored 10 points but only played in the first half. Brittney Griner did not play in this game. Rookie Kadi Sissoko had some nice moments in the game and finished with seven points, six rebounds, and four assists. From the Mercury’s side, she stood out the most to me.

The road team finished shooting more efficiently than Seattle. They finished the game at 44% (28-63 FG), 32% (7-22 FG) from three, and 77% (14-18 FT) from the free throw line. With most of the Mercury’s starters not playing in the 2nd half, their bench scored 55 points to help lead the comeback victory.

Game Breakdown

Jewell Loyd buried a three-pointer to get the game’s scoring underway. Sophie Cunningham badly missed one on the other end. Seattle followed that up with two more three-pointers from Yvonne Turner and Kia Nurse to quickly take a 9-0 lead. They would go up 11-0 after Nurse knocked down the game’s first free throws. Diana Taurasi finally got the Mercury on the board with a triple of her own.

Phoenix turned it over to Ezi Magbegor who raced down the court for the easy layup forcing Mercury Coach Vanessa Nygaard to call the game’s first timeout with the Storm leading by ten early. The Mercury would rally outscoring Seattle 13-5 (1st quarter ended 20-18 after Seattle led 15-5).

Kadi Sissoko for Phoenix looked good in the late minutes of the first quarter finishing with a basket and getting to the foul line.

The Storm opened the second period on a 16-4 run through the first four minutes. Jordan Horston got some nice looks making two of her first three shots and getting to the foul line. Jasmine Walker scored six points in the blink of an eye as she knocked down back-to-back triples. Kaila Charles was also able to get to the foul line a couple of times. This helped put Seattle up 36-22.

Michaela Oneywere was able to get an easy layup on a fastbreak. Diana Taurasi made a beautiful curling bullet pass to Briana Turner for the easy layup to cut the lead back down to ten. Phoenix finished the 2nd quarter on an 11-2 run. The run helped cut Seattle’s double-digit lead to within reason as the Storm led 43-36 at the midway point.

Seattle led by 17 points in the 2nd quarter before Phoenix went on their run. Both teams shot around 40% in the first half. Seattle shot 43% (15-35 FG) and Phoenix shot 40% (14-35 FG).

Through the first five minutes of the third quarter, the Mercury continued to outpace the Storm with a 12-6 run cutting Seattle’s lead to one at 49-48. The home team continued to struggle with their offense as the Mercury pulled ahead a couple of plays later. Phoenix continued to push their lead outscoring Seattle 24-12 throughout the entire quarter and finished with a 60-55 lead.

I asked Jordan Horston what went wrong in the third period.

“We didn’t get stops. That affected our offense. We were fouling and sending them to the line. We weren’t matching up in transition. But those things are correctable and we’ll go back to the film and correct them.” Jordan said.

Throughout most of the fourth period, the Mercury maintained their lead between four and eight points. Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had one standout low-post move to score that I really liked. With 1:23 left in the game, the Storm had cut the lead to one possession at 72-69. Unfortunately, Sam Thomas buried a three with under a minute to play that put the dagger in the Storm’s comeback attempt. Liz Dixon knocked down two free throws to make the final score 77-71 and a Phoenix victory.

Additional Analysis

Patience Will Be Required

Storm fans will have to be patient with the team this season. There are some young, exciting players on the roster with potential. But it’s definitely possible Seattle is really going to struggle this season. I don’t expect Seattle to make the playoffs this year. With the fact that eight out of twelve teams reach the playoffs, it’s certainly possible a scrappy Storm team could make it but I wouldn’t bet the house on it.

It is more important for this team to develop their younger players. This year will be an opportunity for players to grow their games. Can Jade Melbourne develop into a solid point guard? Can Jordan Horston develop into a starter later in the season? Will Ezi Magbegor be able to put forth an All-Star season? Will Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu have a much larger impact on the team than originally expected?

Without knowing what the future holds for Jewell Loyd within the Storm organization (she’s a free agent in 2024), this season should really be about finding out which young pieces the team can build around for the next era of Storm basketball.

That will likely take time. It’s going to require going through a lot of growing pains. As Jordan said, find the mistakes and correct them. There will likely be a lot of mistakes this season and plenty of losses. But there is also a lot of opportunity and that should be fun to watch.

Need More from Kia and Sami

It was an ugly performance from both Kia Nurse and Sami Whitcomb. Both veterans struggled with their shooting. Nurse finished the game 1-8 FG including 1-4 FG from the three-point line totaling five points.

Whitcomb also really struggled early on. Her shot looked off; missing four of her fives shots and going 0-3 from beyond the arc.

Without Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird, the team needs multiple players to step up and score. Two of those options should be Kia and Sami. But they finished this game 2-13 FG from the floor.

Hopefully, they can brush off the rust and be ready to go when the season starts later this month.

When asked by the Seattle media how important it is for the Storm to have another strong scorer when Jewell isn’t in the game, Coach Quinn had this to say.

“It’s very important. That’s what we’re searching to see who that person can be. But also just understanding that if we don’t have that one person it’s very imperative that A) Our Defense is locked in so that we can create some easier offense on the other end and play with pace. Not have to set up a lot of plays. But also (B) I think that we have some capable three-point shooters so that means Vonnie (Yvonne Turner) or our guards getting downhill in the paint and finding our shooters to knock them down. There are a variety of ways we can score, we have to work together to create our own shots.” Quinn stated.

Thoughts on Final Roster Projections

Looking over the Seattle Storm roster we know they have five guaranteed contracts. Those belong to Jewell Loyd, Sami Whitcomb, Kia Nurse, Ezi Magbegor, and Mercedes Russell. Those five are locked in.

The next group that I feel confident will make the final roster includes veterans Yvonne Turner and Theresa Plaisance. Turner got the start in the first preseason game at the Point Guard spot and that matches what I’ve seen in practice. While Plaisance didn’t have a great game going 0-3 FG from the floor and finished with zero points, zero rebounds, and two personal fouls. She is still a veteran with good size, can rebound, and can space the floor with her shooting.

The next two I feel very confident in making the team are rookies Jordan Horston and Jade Melbourne. That gets us to nine players on the roster. From everything I’ve heard, the franchise has high hopes for Melbourne and she played a team-high 20 minutes in the game. Melbourne played point guard throughout the game and looked pretty solid overall for being just 20 years old. She finished the game with six points, four rebounds, and three assists.

Horston played 12 minutes and finished the game with five points, three rebounds, and two assists. A solid performance for the team’s 2023 first-round pick. It wasn’t spectacular but there was enough there to be confident she will continue to grow into her role.

Jordan spoke with the media about her impressions after her first game in the WNBA.

“Just getting my nerves out. Just go out there and play basketball. I saw Diana Taurasi and I was trying my hardest not to ask her for a picture. It’s crazy to see these players I watched growing up and now I’m able to play against them. I’m just grateful for the opportunity and I want to show everybody who I am.” Horston stated.

That means there are likely three roster spots open for the remaining six players. That list includes Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, Jasmine Walker, Kaila Charles, Arella Guirantes, Madi Williams, and Jade Loville.

If there was any question on whether Dulcy should make the team, I think she answered that in this preseason game. Fankam Mendjiadeu was Seattle’s best rookie and arguably the team’s best player overall. She finished with a near-double-double of 10 points and nine rebounds in 13 minutes of action.

What also really impressed me about her game was that she didn’t get into foul trouble at all. She was not sloppy on defense and only committed one foul. She has good size, strength, with a very athletic frame. She battled down low to fight for rebounds and had one really nice low-post spin move to score one of her baskets.

“That’s what she averaged in college right? A double-double! She’s playing exactly how we want her to play. Her effort, extra possessions, especially on the offensive boards. Defensively, she was very active, getting deflections. High hedging on the screens, returning back, walling up, and a couple of possessions defending without fouling. Dulcy is really smart as well. Her offense at South Florida mimics some pro-like offenses as well so she’s picking up our concepts really quickly and playing within herself. At the end of the day, with her energy and effort that never fades for her. It showed today. It was good to see her very active, especially on the boards.” Quinn told me.

“Dulcy is a dog man! She’s so physical and so strong. If you look at her legs, they are like steel. It’s crazy. She balled out. But she’s been doing that this whole training camp. I’m proud of you! (to Dulcy) - But this is only the beginning she’s going to keep getting better and better” Horston said when I asked her about her teammate beside her.

I asked Dulcy after the game what her mentality was heading into this first pro game.

“I was nervous at the beginning. First game, first home game. But after the tip-off, it was game mode. As rookies, we just have to learn from other people. It was great to see where we are compared to other people.” Mendjiadeu replied.

Seattle’s other two rookies, Madi Williams and Jade Loville didn’t play at all in the first half but did see action in the second half. Williams finished with two points, two rebounds, two blocks, and two fouls in 11 minutes. Loville finished with four points, one rebound, and a steal in seven minutes. I think these two likely have an uphill battle to make the final roster.

Assuming the team doesn’t add another player that was recently cut by another WNBA franchise, I think the final two spots will likely go to either Jasmine Walker, Kaila Charles, or Arella Guirantes.

Charles had some nice drives to the basket to draw fouls. She needs to make more of her free throws connecting on just 50% (3-6 FT) but her ability to get to the rim and draw contact was a positive in this game.

Walker had a brief spurt where she knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in the span of about 15-30 seconds to score her six points for the game. Despite her size at 6’3” she wasn’t very active on the glass picking up just one rebound in her 12 minutes. But the outside shooting is a plus.

Guirantes struggled a little with her shot going 1-5 FG but was able to get some nice looks. She did have a five-second out-of-bounds turnover which wasn’t great. She finished with three points and two assists in 11 minutes of action.

After the game, I asked Coach Quinn what the team is looking for in their evaluations of a player when trying to finalize the roster. Obviously, it’s a lot more than just scoring some points or which player missed the most shots.

“The players that mesh well together. That’s one. Picking up our concepts, especially on the defensive end. Being able to defend your man and understand how we defend as a team. Offensively, make sure you’re moving the ball. Honestly, in these situations, it’s different in practice but to see how it translates to the game is important as well. As you can see, we were throwing together different lineups to see who can play with who. Keeping our starters within a framework where I didn’t want to overtax them with minutes. But seeing what the players can do when our starters are not on the floor. Not just evaluating numbers but execution out of a timeout or do they know what to do and other little details that matter when making a roster.” Quinn answered.

Up Next

The Storm will have a preseason game in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 14th. However, it is actually just a closed scrimmage. No fans in LA will be able to attend and I’m not even certain if they’ll have a box score.

Seattle’s regular season begins on May 20th at 12:00 PM against the defending champions - the Las Vegas Aces.