Storm Fall to Aces 75-70 Part 2

Additional thoughts and interview quotes from Seattle's loss to Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Aces got one back against Seattle as they defeated the Seattle Storm 75-70 on Sunday, June 1st. You can read the full game recap here at the link if you missed it earlier. The game started off as the complete opposite of the game these two teams played against one another one week ago. This time, it was the Aces that got out to a double-digit lead early and never gave it up.

The main difference was in that previous game. The Aces got down by nearly 30 points and waved the white flag with all the starters outside of Loyd, resting the entire 4th quarter. To the Storm’s credit, they fought to the very end and had a chance to tie the game in the final 10 seconds after trailing by 17 points in the 4th quarter.

In Part 2, I wrote about how the Aces have too much firepower, the Storm’s slide down the standings, Dominique Malonga’s development, an update on the LA Sparks, and I’ve included the best interview quotes from Gabby Williams, Dom Malonga, and Coach Noelle Quinn.

The Aces Had Too Much Firepower

The Las Vegas Aces, like the Minnesota Lynx, are far too talented to get down by 15+ points and expect to be able to rally for the win. The WNBA as a league in its entirety is extremely competitive. But if the Storm want to be one of the best teams this season, they can’t fall behind like this. Even as Seattle made big runs in the third and fourth quarters, it never really felt like they were going to be able to win the game.

The Storm used an 8-0 run to begin the third period to cut a 12-point deficit down to just four with six minutes remaining in the quarter. They looked like they had all the momentum, but the Aces have too much talent on their roster to be flustered for too long. By the end of the quarter, not only was Seattle unable to tie the game or take the lead, but they actually got outscored in the quarter (17-15). They trailed by 14 points as the Aces finished the third on a 17-7 run over the final five minutes.

Seattle then trailed by 17 points in the 4th quarter before rallying to cut the Aces’ lead down to three. Chelsea Gray hit a huge corner three and another deep two late in the game that prevented the Storm from making the comeback.

They just don’t have the three-point shooting to come from these large 15+ point deficits. Seattle does have the defense to get back into games, and that allowed them to rally after being down big against both the Minnesota Lynx and Las Vegas Aces in these recent losses. But that’s asking too much of your defense to keep star players like A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Jewell Loyd, Chelsea Gray, Napheesa Collier, Courtney Williams, Kayla McBride, etc., completely shut down in these game-deciding moments.

Seattle’s Slide

After winning three games in a row, capped off by their impressive 102-82 win over the Las Vegas Aces, the Storm have faltered, dropping three consecutive games, including two of those games at home in front of the Storm Crazies.

Those three losses come against the 2nd (Lynx 7-0), 3rd (Dream 5-2), and 5th (Aces 4-2) best teams in the WNBA. They were probably expected to lose two out of the three. And they obviously should have won the Atlanta game if it weren’t for their 2nd half collapse. But through seven games, the Seattle Storm have a losing record, and I’m not sure I would have expected that.

With that said, I wrote earlier about the Storm having a difficult early schedule. That looks even more true after the Phoenix Mercury have jumped out to their hot start at 5-2. Seattle has played six out of their first seven games against the Top 5 teams in the WNBA. They’ve only played one game against a team that doesn’t look to be a playoff contender, a road game against Dallas. A game in which they led by double-digits and won fairly easily.

It’ll be interesting to see where the National media ranks the Storm next. After their first game, The Athletic ranked them as the 10th best (or 4th worst) team in the WNBA. After their impressive win over the Las Vegas Aces one week ago, some people were saying they looked like the third-best team in the league.

Over this week with their three consecutive losses, the Storm have dropped from 3rd place in the standings down to 6th place. I picked Seattle to finish 5th again this year because I felt they were going to be better than a lot of teams, but maybe not as good as the other top contenders. Right now, they are a little worse than that, but they will start playing easier teams eventually when they get to match up against Connecticut, Dallas, Golden State, Los Angeles, etc.

Not a lot has changed to start this season that leads me to think any differently than I did to begin this season. They’ve won three in a row. They’ve lost three in a row. Maybe that’s just the type of team they are going to be this year.

Dom Shines Bright

Dominique Malonga played a critical role in Seattle’s comeback. She played the entire 4th quarter and scored eight points on 4-7 FG shooting. Dom had a couple of assists. And she played strong defense against some of the Aces’ top stars.

As you’ll read in the quotes below from the post-game interviews, the team is very pleased with the spark Malonga is providing off the bench and the growth they are seeing. In this game in particular, she was the catalyst to Seattle’s comeback. And they had her going up against some of the league’s very best. Malonga more than held her own. Even when Gray and A’ja Wilson scored against her, she played incredible defense.

She was also much more defensively sound in this game. In her first few games, Malonga got caught leaving her feet, falling for shot fakes, or just not being disciplined enough on defense. When you’re 6’6” with a seven-foot wingspan, it’s going to be a rare occasion where she will need to jump and leave her feet on defense. Against Las Vegas on Sunday, I don’t think I saw her gamble recklessly at all. She was not only solid, she was impressive.

The Storm’s coaches are going to continue to develop her and work to help her improve her game. She is just 19 years old, but she has already shown flashes of what made her such a tantalizing prospect in the WNBA Draft. The hope is that Malonga’s minutes continue to go up as the season progresses. She has now played double-digit minutes in three out of the last four games. And that 4th game, she played nine minutes. Prior to that, she played five minutes and just one minute.

I have no problem with the Storm’s current development plan for Malonga. Especially because they are giving her opportunities to go up against greats like A’ja Wilson. But I will say this. If the Storm were in a full rebuild and Malonga wasn’t playing behind two former All-Stars in Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor, then I believe Malonga would be right there with Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, and Paige Bueckers as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate.

If you look at Malonga’s PER 36 stats, she’s averaging 16.9 PPG on 54% field goal shooting, 6.6 RPG, and 3.0 APG. She just isn’t getting the playing time compared to those other rookies. Even still, the future is very bright for Dom.

Sparks’ Pick Watch

Speaking of the future. The Seattle Storm’s gamble to trade away the 4th overall pick in 2024 for the LA Sparks’ future 2026 first-round pick appears to be a gamble that might pay off. Los Angeles went 8-32 last season, the worst record in the WNBA. But that really only comes into play if they miss the playoffs again this year.

They pulled off the big trade for Kelsey Plum, fired Curt Miller before that, and looked to be a more competitive team this season. But I had my doubts they’d make the playoffs, especially now with five teams missing the playoffs instead of just four.

The Sparks lost a home game to a Phoenix Mercury team that was without both Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas in a game where LA led by 18 points. That’s a horrible loss for the Sparks. If they can’t beat an injury-riddled Mercury team at home when they’re leading by 20 points, how many games are they going to win?

The news potentially gets even worse. Cameron Brink is still out injured, recovering from her torn ACL. Rae Burrell suffered a knee injury in the first game of the season and is expected to miss more time. Rickea Jackson suffered a concussion and is now reportedly taking a leave of absence from the team.

Los Angeles currently has the third-worst record in the league at 2-6. They’ve also played a relatively easy schedule as they’ve played two games against the expansion Golden State Valkyries and one against the Chicago Sky.

I’ll probably post these updates after each month of the season.

It’s still way too early, but if the season ended today, the Storm would have the #1 odds to win the WNBA Draft Lottery via LA’s pick.

Player Interviews

On the differences between these two games against Las Vegas.

Gabby Williams explained, “I think our activity on defense is what got us going in that first game. We had however many deflections. We were getting stops one after the other, and that was feeding into our offense, and that was allowing us to move the ball easily because they weren't able to set their defense up. Today, us not being able to get stops allowed them to set their defense, allowed them to take us out of our offensive end. We weren't moving the ball as well. So that would probably be the main difference between this game in the last one. It's just activity on defense.”

Asking Dominique Malonga about her experience going up against A’ja Wilson and adjusting to how the league calls fouls.

Malonga replied, “As you said, I still need to adjust, but I'm on an amazing team. People are here helping me to get used to how far I grow. I got a lot of screening, so I need to improve on that. Here, when I step on the court, it's just about being efficient for the team, both on the floor, defensively first. And either it's A’ja or any post player in this team, I need to be good in defense. And that's what I locked in when I went on the court. And I just think it's the best practice to guard that kind of player. She's an amazing player that hits amazing shots. And so I just love to have minutes like this and keep going through that.”

Asking Malonga if her final shot was a play design for her and her reaction to getting her number called in that important moment.

Malonga told me, “No, not at all. It was not the play, but I mean, it was the opportunity. I just flashed and I had the ball. That's a shot that I’m used to making, that fadeaway. That's what I know. So I just shot it, and yeah, I had the opportunity. I take it. They didn't fall in. Shame, but yeah.”

Gabby Williams on her improved three-point shooting and shot attempts this season.

Gabby said, “Everyone knew that we needed to get more threes up this year and to get a better percentage. We saw that that was like our Achilles’ heel last year. So I think it is intentional, trying to look for those threes. But I think also the way I'm getting them this year, I'm getting them in better spacing. I'm getting them in better movement. I'm getting them when I have time to get my feet set, when the defense is rotating, and I think that's helping my percentage. So it's more so just how we're moving the ball that's allowing me to get these shots.”

Malonga on getting those critical moments of defending Chelsea Gray late in a tight game.

Dominique answered, “As I said before, it's about being efficient, and I really enjoy being able to defend against that kind of player. Of course, when she hit the shot, she made it into that. But I am confident about my defense, how I can defend, how I can defend at the perimeter, and inside. So that's a tough matchup for sure. And I want to win the matchups. But as I said, it's better offense against good defense. But I'm happy about the minute that I played today because I felt like I really helped the team.”

On the slow starts against Minnesota and again against Las Vegas on Sunday and the keys to getting off to better starts.

Williams replied, “It's just like on defense. I think we have a team that has no excuse to be this poor defensively in the first half. I think in the first quarter they had scored 27, I think, in the first quarter. We don't have an excuse with this kind of roster. So I think that showing how we start on defense, because that is supposed to be our strength, and that's supposed to be the thing that we can rely on, even if shots aren't falling, we should be able to rely on our defense. So if our defense is lacking, it's going to be really, really hard to win the game.”

The mood in the locker room after three straight losses.

GW, “Time to beat Dallas. I just learned that we were (win) three and then (lose) three. I don't think we're paying attention to that. It's a long season. It's the best league in the world. We saw what we did to Phoenix. We lost by 20 and came back. I don't think we expected Vegas to come out here and just let us win by 20 again. So we're just going to have to go into the next game with the same kind of mentality. Everyone can hoop in this league. Everyone can win. So we're just focused on Dallas now.”

On the team’s 19 turnovers and being out of sync offensively.

Gabby told me, “I think we were... overthinking a bit. I think we weren't getting into the right spots when we were trying to run our offense. And like I said before, a lot of our offense feeds off of our defense. So when we allowed them to get them set, they're a team that we've already… we just saw them a week ago. So they've obviously scouted us pretty recently. I think if we would have gotten more stops today, that would have allowed our offense to flow a bit better. And I don't think we punished them enough. I think we kind of, when they hit us, we took a step back instead of being more aggressive towards them. So that's just something to take into the next game. It's just sometimes we've got to break a play to make a play. And I think we all understood that very clearly by the end of the game.”

Coach’s Quotes

On whether Coach Quinn wanted them to go for a three, down three late, or just get the best shot available.

Quinn answered, “Yeah, best available. I have to look at the film. I feel like Dom got hit on that. But definitely look to getting, obviously, we're down three. Three was a look. I feel like also Erica got fouled. But again, I have to take a look at it. But that most/best available, knowing that Vegas didn't have a timeout left, and we still had a reset left list.”

On the team’s 19 turnovers, being out of sync, and the unforced errors.

Coach told me, “Yeah, I think. You know, we would get a steal, turn it back over, live ball turnovers, a couple of offensive fouls, I think, our screening. But one late to Dom, trying to get Dom to the rim. But we've been, the last few games, we have to, we've been kind of careless with the basketball. We have to shore that up a little bit.”

On what Dom Malonga brought to the team in the 4th quarter, and the energy she brought off the bench.

“Yeah, Dom grew up today in a lot of ways. I thought, you know, excellent, excellent defense on Gray and A’ja. They're stars starring. They make really, really tough shots over her length. But, you know, there were no blow-bys. She stayed in place. She was physical. You know, we're working with Dom to get her hands up. And I thought that she was more mindful of that, especially in those coverages. With a lot of good energy, Dom's going to rim run. And obviously, when she's around the paint, the referees need to adjust to looking up a little bit more because she is getting hit a little bit, but I thought she played in excellent minutes and provided some great energy off the bench.”

On Quinn’s decision to keep Dominique in during critical 4th quarter minutes.

“These games are going to be important building blocks for now and for the future. And I think as long as Dom is able to impact us on the defensive end and bring some energy on the offensive end. She had a really good post feed to Nneka. She's very sharp when she's comfortable. So having minutes that late in the game is building blocks and depositing things for what we'll need from her down the stretch.” Quinn said.

On needing to be better defensively early in games.

“I mean, it's about… teams are going small early. And also, there's the zone kind of gets us off kilter a little bit. It was, you know, a testament to what we've been doing in our man stuff. But defensively, it's just, you know, a focus and a mindset. And just understanding when they do go small, how our coverage changes and shifts. And then when we go small, what that means is that we were better rebounding at least. But, yeah, a team like the Aces, you can't give them a 27-point quarter. But in the second half, no moral victories. But in the second half, I thought our defense kept us in the game, and only allowing a 17-point quarter and a 14-point quarter is a very good building block, something that we can continue to build on.”

On the team losing 3 in a row after winning 3 in a row.

“How many games are left? (37) So I think these games are going to give us the reps and experience that we need for the middle to the end of the season. Again, no moral victories, but there are things that we're doing pretty well. We obviously have to score the basketball, but for Vegas to only have 75 points, that's doable for us and for us to be in a one-possession game and have an opportunity again being down 17 and clawing back, I think it's to me it's not a panic but it's definitely showing where we have to stay consistent. Our starts, we have to address that, but also the lulls in between, and then we've got to just find ways to score the basketball. The teams are going to go zone on us and just be effective. Nneka's not going to have a 4-13 FG game often. And, you know, Sky's not going to have a 5-15 FG game often. And E (Wheeler) and Sky aren't going to turn the ball over at a high clip like that often. So we just got to stay positive, control our controllables, continue to get better every single day, and that's where we start with 37 (games) left.” Quinn answered.

On Gabby Williams’ performance in this game and her improved three-point shooting this season.

Coach Quinn told me, “Yeah, I think it's again a testament to her hard work. She's playing at a high level, and it's stemming from the Olympics and what she did there, and the confidence, and it's having her in training camp really mattered for us, and having her in day one. You know game one mattered for us, and she's doing a lot of really good things on the basketball court, but Gabby flourishes with confidence and rhythm, and that's why I'm going to continue to provide that. Defensively, she's on tough assignments and is able to thrive on that end of the floor as well. But this is what Gabby has, this is what I've envisioned for her to just completely be herself, play free, be a playmaker, get to the rim. And the three-point adding, that is just like how you get better in this league. You have to come back with something different every year, more consistent every year. And the three have been that for her. So people are guarding her differently. Now things are going to open up on the floor differently. But I'm super happy with her progress. And it's just really keeping us in the game.”

Notes:
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