Storm Lose to Mercury 81-59, Part 2

More of my thoughts and more quotes from Seattle's loss to Phoenix.

The Seattle Storm lost their season opener 81-59 to the Phoenix Mercury. You can read my full game recap here. In Part 2, I’m going to talk more about Dominique Malonga, the Storm’s three-point shooting, Coach Quinn’s post-game comments, and the impact of superstars.

Dominique’s Debut

If we were expecting Dominique Malonga to dunk all over the competition, then reality smacked us right in the face pretty quickly. Malonga looked every bit the 19-year-old playing in the world’s most elite basketball league for the very first time. Malonga’s stat line says she finished with two points, making one of two shots in 10 minutes of action.

Malonga has a lot to learn, and hopefully, she will get more than 10 minutes per game to go through those learning experiences this season. It should be noted that Malonga arrived late to training camp because she was still playing overseas. She did not play in the Storm’s official preseason game. And so she has had limited reps of live WNBA action up to this point. She is still going to have to learn more about the Storm’s offensive and defensive systems.

In due time, she will get more comfortable, and the production should come. Malonga will continue to grow into her body, and she will need to develop more muscle as she grows older. She’ll have to learn better positioning to prevent smaller players from pushing her around or out of her spots on the court. That happened too often in this game.

Like all rookies, there will be a lot of growing pains. At one point, Malonga was caught with the ball late in the shot clock and unaware that she needed to make a play or get a shot up. It resulted in a shot-clock violation for the Storm. Her teammates need to do a better job of helping her out there, but as she gains more experience, those are moments she’ll need to recognize as well.

On the bright side of things, there was a defensive moment where she stood very tall and long and caused the Mercury player to miss their outside jumper. Malonga’s length impacted that play in a positive manner for Seattle’s defense.

She also runs the floor well. And she got open down low for the first points in her WNBA career.

As I wrote above, ideally in due time, Dominique Malonga will get more playing time and have a larger impact. But for now, I think it’s smart to limit expectations and to just enjoy watching her grow and develop her game throughout the entire 44-game season. This was game one after all.

Coach’s Corner

“I thought Zia had some good minutes. I thought Sky was pretty aggressive and efficient. And there were some really good moments of defensive intensity that kind of helped build some of our easier baskets.” Coach Noelle Quinn said in her opening statement.

When asked what she took from this game, Coach Quinn replied.

“Yeah, we have to take a look at it on film and really be better. I need more from Gabby and Ezi. And as a unit, the last few weeks, our principles, systems that we've been pretty locked into, I thought we were very undisciplined in that. But we have a mature group, and we have a connected group. And so we will look at it and get better from it.”

Coach was asked if she was surprised at the team’s struggles to defend Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas.

“Well, I think it kind of flipped, you know, in the game. I think what we're doing offensively kind of dictated our defensive approach, or lack thereof, of activity. We're usually, you know, deflecting balls and way more disciplined. And I thought that wasn't how we played today, but also we're missing layups. So you say shooting, it's the shots that we're getting right at the rim. We have to be efficient, more efficient in the paint,” Quinn explained.

Coach was asked if the rotations would change after this game.

“Yes, game by game. We know having Brown in there, we like to match up with Li. Dallas presents a different matchup, and this is early on in the season, and we've got to find something that feels good for us, but I'm gonna take it game by game.”

Quinn was asked about the production off the bench from Li Yueru and Zia Cooke.

“Yeah, I think they've done a good job in camp. Li has a really good connection with Erica. So those minutes, I think we can get some good production once we're settled in and focused and, again, disciplined in that area. But Li provides a lot of physicality that we need, and she can space the floor, and she has a really good knack for the game with her passing. And then Zia, you know, I talk about what she can do defensively. Ironically, she's hit the threes today. But starting with the physicality that she can provide, and athletically, what she can do, getting down for a lot. I think that showed today and again was just a burst of energy that we needed in that moment, and I thought she played some good minutes,” Quinn added.

She was also asked about Alysha Clark’s limited offense and only taking one shot in the game.

“Yeah, I think that was kind of indicative of the game. We didn't have much flow to our offense. Where AC excels is her cuts and her ability to find mismatches with smaller guards. And just offensively, we weren't, we weren't on point today. But, yeah, AC, she does a really great job on defense, and her communication is key. She's talking in the huddle, and she has an intangible leadership that we need. So, of course, I would love for her to take more shots, but our offense has to be better. We have to create more shots and just find ways to score a little bit easier, and I think she'll help us in there,” Coach said.

Threes A Problem

The Seattle Storm were dead last in the WNBA in three-point shooting last season, connecting on 28.8% of their three-point attempts. Two of their primary three-point shooters on that team, Jewell Loyd and Sami Whitcomb, have both moved on to newer teams. And yet, there was some optimism to begin this season because the Storm made some moves in the off-season to address their biggest weakness from one year ago. They brought back Alysha Clark, who is a 38% career shooter from beyond the arc. Seattle also added Lexie Brown (36% from 3-PT) and Katie Lou Samuelson (34%). For reference, the Minnesota Lynx led the WNBA last season shooting 38% from three. If you can make 35-40% of your three-pointers, you’re a good to great shooter.

Unfortunately, the Storm lost Samuelson to a season-ending ACL injury before the season even got underway.

In the team’s first game, Alysha Clark went 0-1 FG from three; her only shot attempt of the game. Lexie Brown missed both of her three-point shot attempts as well. As a team, the Storm shot an abysmal 3-17 FG from long distance (under 18%). Meanwhile, the Mercury made 8-24 FG (33%) from 3-PT range. While the 15-point difference in made three-pointers wouldn’t have changed the outcome of this game, it’s still not a good sign for the Storm if they hope to be one of the league’s top teams this season.

The other issue with Seattle’s inability to knock down the three-ball is that they aren’t going to be able to space the floor enough if this continues. Their frontcourt rotation should be the team’s best unit, but opposing defenses will clog the paint if Seattle can’t punish them for cheating off of the Storm’s shooters. Furthermore, Malonga and Magbegor are both very light and will not be able to score as easily if Seattle’s opponents send multiple defenders against them.

Superstars Matter

A lot of this game came down to the fact that the Mercury’s superstar players outplayed Seattle’s. Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas combined for 47 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists. Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike combined for 33 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists.

“First of all, credit the Phoenix Mercury. I thought they did everything better on paper than we did tonight. Let's just be honest about that. We got out-rebounded. We didn't make our free throws. We missed shots that are uncharacteristic for us. From start to finish, to start the game. So, yeah, I think it's two-fold. I think we did get a lot of the shots, some shots that we wanted to get, and maybe they didn't fall for us. And I think they took us out of some of our stuff, too. I don't think I did a good job getting us organized like I wanted to either. So I take the responsibility on that, just making sure that we start the game more organized and with more intention. But credit the Phoenix Mercury. They play good defense. They took us out of some of our stuff,” Diggins said after the game.

Nneka also talked about the Mercury’s star duo.

“They have a point forward in AT, so that puts our defense in a different position. And having someone like Satou who can also play in the backcourt and in the frontcourt. I think it puts a lot of pressure on the different matchups and how they're able to create, and also scoring is something that both are very, very capable of, even without an offense. But the way that they're able to organize the offense as two forwards it's a challenge. And that's not something that I felt we responded well to,” Ogwumike added.

It also didn’t help that Seattle’s other All-Star, Ezi Magbegor, had an uncharacteristically poor game. She wasn’t assertive at all, and for whatever reason, she couldn’t buy a basket to save her life. Magbegor scored just two points on 1-9 FG shooting in 22 minutes. She missed all three of her three-point attempts and both of her free throw attempts to boot.

Skylar was blunt about the performance but didn’t want to dwell on it too much.

“It's the first game. It’s the first game. We're not going to be married to this game like it's the first game they got to jump on us from the beginning. They kicked our ass. It's embarrassing, you know? We didn't score 60 points. That's not the identity that we've been for the last month and a half, but we are still coming into our own, coming into ourselves. And it's the first game, so honestly, there is nowhere but up from here. Not to be pissy, it's just I'm irritated with myself. I didn't have this organized on offense today. So that part was on me. But I'm not going to… We have a locker room full of veterans. We've been in this game a long time. We're not going to be married to this first game. And the thing about this league is that you have to be ready to respond quickly because the games are going to come. So luckily, we have 48 hours to get back on the court and go for a different outcome.” Diggins lamented.

I figured the Storm trading away Jewell Loyd could hurt their offense. There are moments in games where you need superstars to make plays. And whether she was the most efficient at it or not, Jewell Loyd could absolutely make some plays for her team.

I am not naive enough to think that one player, whether that is Alysha Clark, Gabby Williams, Erica Wheeler, or Zia Cooke, was going to replicate the offensive skill that Jewell Loyd possesses. But I hoped that it would lead to more offensive shot opportunities for more efficient players like Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor. And the thought was that others could step up. If Gabby could give them 12 points, AC give them 8 points, Wheeler give them 6 points (which she did), that it could lead to a more well-rounded Storm team.

The Storm scored under 60 points in this game. That didn’t happen once last season. It’s just one game, but this game showed that Superstar Players matter more than stronger depth pieces.

Notes:
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Photo Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography

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