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Excellent analysis here.

This is the best played game the Storm have played since the Olympic break. The team’s energy for whatever reason to me has been lethargic with a few players being aggressive and everyone else looking like they had lead feet—watching and turning when a shot goes up or getting rushed by a more hungry team for second chances. Last night, they battled and played not only like a team, but like a team that wants to win. Cedes has had some solid minutes post Olympics—in particular vs TC in that second ATL game and clearly last night. I’ve always thought she plays best against the big physical players like McCowen/BG/LA Nneka, hell, I remember her giving Aja fits in ‘22. She can be a bit of a liability against the run and guns like Indiana, but thankfully that’s what depth is for.

I know the last article you mentioned Jordy getting more minutes, but this game was the first game post Olympics where she looked and played like pre-Olympics Jordy. Her defense has been sluggish, her rebounding- inconsistent. She was getting severely out hustled. She played decently in the win vs Mystics, but IMO other than that game and last night-she has looked off. I believe vs NYL she was -22 and the loss vs WAS was -17, and to me in a lot of these games she looked checked out.

I hope last night was an indication of what we will see for the remainder of the season. Good team ball (those couple of Jordy to Jewell were 🧑‍🍳 💋) 29 FGs on 21 Assists, physical defense, and solid rotations.

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Thanks! I did see Jordan's mom mentioned on Twitter that Jordan had tweaked her back at some point recently and that likely attributed to some moments where she struggled. I also think it can be difficult and Coach Quinn talked about to insert Gabby into the team and into the lineup. It's more challenging to be productive if you go from starter's minutes to only around 10 MPG.

Hopefully, as a team, this woke something up with them. From a talent on the roster perspective, Seattle has enough to win a Championship. Especially, if they could improve their three-point shooting by 5% points (not for the entire season but just moving forward). If they all hustle, defend, and rebound, they can be very competitive in the playoffs. I think they match up well against Connecticut overall. And I'd be very curious to see how they do against Minnesota now versus the very beginning of the season.

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We've been seeing the very same things, Cija, especially with Jordan. After the initial onslaught, I thought last night was perhaps the best the Storm has played all year. Just surviving the opening salvo was the biggest key last night.

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