Storm Embarrassed by Mercury, Lose 81-59
Well, that wasn't how the season opener was supposed to go...
High expectations led to disappointing results in the Seattle Storm’s season opener. The Phoenix Mercury got up early and never let up as they led wire-to-wire. Phoenix got ahead 5-0 early, led by eight points after the first quarter, by 11 at the midway point, and by as many as 27 points in the 4th quarter. The Storm looked disjointed and couldn’t find any offensive rhythm. And they couldn’t stop Satou Sabally or Alyssa Thomas on the other end of the court. It ultimately led to an 81-59 loss.
Skylar Diggins finished with a team-high 21 points on 7-14 FG shooting, but even she admitted after the game that they didn’t do enough to get her teammates involved. Nneka Ogwumike was the only other Storm player to score in double-figures, but was limited due to early foul trouble in the first half. Ogwumike finished with 12 points on 5-10 FG and pulled down seven rebounds.
I spoke to Nneka after the game about how the early foul trouble can negatively impact the game.
“I think we all saw. It's officiating. It's obvious. Takes me out of flow. Takes my team out of flow. I need to be more disciplined. It's something that I remember from last year when we were playing against Minnie (Lynx), the same thing happened. And it's not something that can happen if we want to be able to build that foundation I was talking about,” Ogwumike stated.
The Storm’s other three starters, Gabby Williams, Alysha Clark, and Ezi Magbegor, combined for six points total and shot 2-19 FG for the game. Coach Quinn specifically stated that she needed to get more from Gabby and Ezi.
In totality, the Storm shot 33% (21-63 FG) and 18% (3-17 FG) from beyond the arc. By comparison, the Phoenix Mercury made 52% (30-58 FG) and 33% (8-24 FG) on their three-point attempts. The Storm were also out-rebounded 38-29 in the game.
Phoenix Mercury
Despite not having All-Star guard Kahleah Copper, who will miss 4-6 weeks with a knee injury and surgery, the Mercury shined in their home opener. Satou Sabally may have played one of the best games of her career as she scored a game-high 27 points on 9-17 FG. She was unguardable and the Storm had no answers. Alyssa Thomas, the Mercury’s other big addition this off-season, came through with 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals.
Kathryn Westbeld, the older sister of Maddy Westbeld, hit some big threes early and finished with nine points and five rebounds. Former Storm sharp-shooter, Sami Whitcomb, hit a pair of triples and finished with six points. Alexa (Lexie) Held added 11 points off the bench.
Game Breakdown
Alyssa Thomas spun through multiple defenders and finished at the rim for the game’s first score. Seattle then turned it over, and Kathryn Westbeld knocked down an open three-pointer as the Mercury quickly went up 5-0. Nneka Ogwumike hit a corner jumper to get the Storm on the board. Westbeld was fouled and split a pair of free throws, and then Satou Sabally scored down low as the Mercury led 8-2 early.
The Storm were ice cold to begin the game. Ezi Magbegor missed a layup, was fouled, and then missed both free throws. Skylar Diggins and Gabby Williams both badly missed their three-point shot attempts. The Storm started 1-7 FG in the first quarter. Alyssa Thomas powered her way to the rim again to put the Mercury up eight points.
Gabby Williams created offense for the Storm with her defense as she got back-to-back steals that led to open layups for Skylar Diggins. The Mercury went on a 10-0 run that was capped off with back-to-back three-pointers by Westbeld and Sabally to take a 20-6 lead with just a couple of minutes left in the first period.
The Storm would battle back, going on their own 9-0 run. Dominique Malonga scored the first basket of her career on an assist from Skylar. Erica Wheeler scored in transition at the rim, and then Diggins drilled a three-pointer. Sabally would counter with her own triple.
The Mercury led 23-15 at the end of the first period.
The Storm continued to struggle as the teams entered the second quarter. The Mercury extended their lead back up to 14 (33-19) after Satou Sabally hit another three-ball and Alexa Held was able to with a drive to the rim.
Skylar willed the Storm back into the game, scoring six straight with a couple of smooth jumpers and another where she was fouled. That cut the deficit down to six at 33-27.
Li Yueru gave the Storm good minutes off the bench. She was able to score or get fouled off a couple of pick and rolls and also hit a nice turnaround jumper in the paint that cut the Storm’s deficit down to six points at 36-30.
Alyssa Thomas made back-to-back baskets, with the second being an open drive to the rim off a bad pass from Skylar. Satou Sabally split a pair of free throws to end the first half as the Phoenix Mercury led 41-30. The Storm shot just 35% (12-34 FG), including just 10% (1-10 FG) from beyond the three-point arc. By contrast, the Mercury made 48% (15-31 FG) of their shots and 31% (5-16 FG).
Nneka Ogwumike was plagued by foul trouble in the first half and played just nine minutes through the first two quarters. Ezi Magbegor went 0-4 FG in the first 20 minutes. Seattle’s starting post players combined for just four points. Meanwhile, Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas combined for 30 points, with Sabally leading all scorers with 17 points in the first half.
Skylar picked up where she left off by scoring an AND1 to begin the third period. Unfortunately for the Storm, so did Satou Sabally. Satou hit a jumper and then made four consecutive free throws.
A three-ball by Sami Whitcomb and then a layup by Alyssa Thomas gave the Mercury their largest lead of the game, up 54-36. After a timeout, Nneka Ogwumike was able to score back-to-back-to-back baskets to cut the 18-point deficit down to 12. The Mercury quickly went on a 6-0 run to go back up by 18.
Erica Wheeler did a good job of finding Ezi down low as Magbegor scored her first basket of the game late in the third period. Wheeler was then fouled a couple of possessions later and made both free throws.
The Storm trailed 60-46 at the end of the third period.
Sabally and Thomas each scored again quickly to begin the 4th quarter. Zia Cooke knocked down a three-pointer, just the Storm’s second made three-ball in 14 attempts. Whitcomb countered with her own triple. Skylar was fouled on a drive and made both free throws. She then scored on a runner in the lane. The Storm’s defense could not get any stops on the other end. They gave up multiple layups to Kalani Brown, Alexa Held, and Monique Akoa Makani. Seattle was outscored in every quarter, and the Mercury edged them 21-13 over the final 10 minutes.
Seattle trailed by 27 points late in the final period. Zia Cooke hit another three, and Erica Wheeler made one last jumper, but the game was a foregone conclusion well before that. At the final buzzer, the Phoenix Mercury had won 81-59.
Final Box Score
Up Next
The Seattle Storm (0-1) will look to pick up their first win against the Dallas Wings (0-1) on Monday, May 19th at 5:00 PM. It’ll be the first time the Storm face this year’s #1 overall pick, Paige Bueckers. The Wings lost their first game to the Minnesota Lynx by a final score of 99-84.
Part 2
Part 2 with additional thoughts, quotes, and discussion will be sent out to paid subscribers tomorrow early morning.
Notes:
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The starting lineup needs to change. Start Zia or Lexi and bench Clark. Clark and Gabby are essentially the same sf type of player. They couldn't buy a bucket if the hoop was the size of the Puget Sound.
Also, if Quinn doesn't play Malonga more minutes Quinn shouldn't be the coach by the end of the season. Her bench rotations and substitutions are suspect. And do the Storm have any other offensive play than a high pick n roll? Constantly bringing your bigs away from the basket out to the top of the key seems like unimaginative coaching.
Wow! That was a rude wake-up call. I was certain that the Storm were going to win this game before it started. How can Ezi be held scoreless for most of the game and only have 2 points total? And Gabby, too, was a big disappointment. And AC wasn't involved in the offense at all. Li did pretty well but should have played in the low post not the high post to try to stop Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas from killing us inside. And she needed help inside from Ezi and Dominique Malonga. Coach Quinn should have had a better game plan. Dominique needs to get at least 20 minutes per game, not 9 mins, but she did just get here a week ago. Our shooting was disastrous and our rebounding was almost as bad. Who will step up for us? Skylar did her best to keep us in it but she couldn't do it all by herself. If they don't turn things around against Dallas, this could be a very long season. We need a lot more from Gabby and Nneka can't be hampered by fouls. And please let Malonga play. I think we all want to see more of her and from her. Things need to start clicking!