Storm Surge Past Aces 90-83 Part 2

Additional thoughts and interviews from Seattle's win over Las Vegas.

The Seattle Storm picked up an impressive road win as they rallied down double-digits in the 2nd half to defeat the Las Vegas Aces 90-83. It was Seattle’s second victory over Las Vegas this season. Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams were excellent with massive double-doubles, combining for 43 points and 24 rebounds. This was a game between two teams headed in opposite directions. The Storm have won five out of their last six games, and the Aces have lost five out of their last six. You can read the full game recap here.

In Part 2, I wrote about the end of the Aces’ Dynasty, Alysha Clark’s leadership, and included the best quotes and audio from the Storm’s post-game press conference with Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, and Coach Noelle Quinn.

The End of a Dynasty

There were some cracks in the armor in 2024. There might be sizable chunks now. The Las Vegas Aces team that reached the WNBA Finals three times in four years between 2020-2023 is no more. The Las Vegas Aces are struggling this season. They’re clinging on to the final playoff spot, and are now multiple games below a .500 record. They haven’t struggled like this since before the pandemic.

I’ve honestly been surprised by their struggles this season. I thought they might be better than they were last season because Chelsea Gray was fully healthy this year. Despite her efficiency issues, Jewell Loyd is still one of the more talented isolation shooting guards in the league. I think in her prime, she’s a better player than Kelsey Plum. She’s been a stronger defender and rebounder compared to Plum throughout her career. I didn’t feel they would be taking a massive step back by swapping the two former first-overall picks.

Those who have been following the team even closer may have seen this coming. As is always the case, elite championship teams tend to lose some of their players in Free Agency after a team wins it all. It is very rare for them to keep it all together. We saw it with Seattle. Even though the Storm were able to keep the core trio of Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, and Breanna Stewart together for two more seasons after they won the franchise’s 4th WNBA Championship, they started losing pieces that made the 2020 team so special. Natasha Howard, Alysha Clark, and Sami Whitcomb all moved on. While those three may not get as much credit as Bird, Loyd, and Stewart for Seattle’s two most recent championships. They don’t win those titles without those players.

After the Aces’ first Championship win in 2022, Las Vegas traded away Dearica Hamby in what would become a more complicated issue between Hamby and the team. Despite losing Hamby, they were able to recruit some solid veterans in Alysha Clark, Candace Parker, and Cayla George. Las Vegas went on to win the Championship again in 2023. After the 2023 season, they lost Parker to retirement and veteran Riquna Williams. They were still good enough to reach the semi-finals but were eliminated by the eventual champions, the New York Liberty. This time, the Liberty had the more talented team with lots of depth.

After another season, the Aces lost even more. All-Star and fan-favorite guard Kelsey Plum requested a trade out of Las Vegas. They lost Alysha Clark, Sydney Colson, Tiffany Hayes, and rookie Kate Martin. They also lost two major pieces of Becky Hammon’s Coaching staff in Assistant Coaches Natalie Nakase and Tyler Marsh.

When you look at it in totality, the Aces have lost a ton of personnel over the past couple of years. And those people were pivotal to their Championship success. Similar to Seattle, even when you keep the top players around, it’s not enough to succeed if your team doesn’t have the supporting cast.

On paper, Las Vegas should still be a good team. Any team that has A’ja Wilson should be an instant contender. Are they too complacent now? Jewell Loyd hasn’t fit in as well as they had hoped (although she’s trending up in recent games). Chelsea Gray’s assist numbers are way down as well, averaging just 3.6 APG this season. She averaged 6.1 and 7.3 APG in the Aces’ two Championship years.

It’s still very early in the WNBA season. The Aces have 32 games remaining on their schedule. They can still turn their season around. They can and probably will still make the playoffs. And I wouldn’t be shocked if they found a way to advance to the semi-finals again. But they aren’t beating New York this year. They aren’t beating Minnesota. If they fall short again, does Las Vegas make a major overhaul to their roster for 2026?

The great Aces’ dynasty is dead.

AC’s Leadership

During one of the timeouts, I saw Alysha Clark demonstratively pulling the team together and talking with them a bunch. I believe it was after Seattle had missed some defensive assignments, and with the Aces leading in the game. I had the chance to talk to Skylar after the game about the veteran leadership that Clark brings to the Storm.

Diggins told me, “Yeah, you know, Nneka had a lot of great comments about AC, and I mean, you even see how she's welcome back here earlier today. Everybody loves AC. And a comment that Nneka made that is so true is that every team that she comes to gets better. And we talk about those intangibles that she brings. She's a three-time champion. She's played every position in this league, from coming off the bench to being a starter. And she's taken a role for us. And her leadership has been essential to our growth, our development, her communication, just the way that she communicates to us. When she's talking, you shut up and you listen to her, because she's been through it, she sees it, and she knows what she's talking about, but she cares about this team. She cares about and invests consciously in all her teammates. She pours into all of us, you know, at different points in time, you'll see her hanging with everybody. And so she really invests into our team and she understands how important it is for us to be together. So we listen to her, her experience. Like I said, we hold space for all of us to have those moments. If you have something to say, we respect each other enough to hear each other out and try to bring those diversity opinions to find the best solution for our team.”

This is an example of players bringing a lot of value that you don’t see in a box score. If you only check the box score, you might question why they paid so much for Clark. But it’s so many of these intangibles. It’s not just the obvious three-point shooting that helps the team. It’s the fact that she can defend guards and posts. How defensively sound she is. How intelligent she is. And as a veteran who has won three WNBA Championships, she knows what she’s talking about, and she knows what it takes to win.

Player Interviews

On the Storm, having a killer instinct to finish games.

Nneka Ogwumike replied, “I'd have to say, and I'm grateful that you say that we have it. I think that that's something that we have been managing to find consistently. Yeah. That's kind of been our MO as a team. We know we have it, but keeping it consistent is what's important for us. And whether it's consistent day by day, whether it's consistent half by half, quarter by quarter, possession by possession, that is actually what we're trying to manage. We all have independent confidence, and we all have trust amongst each other, just understanding how to manage the energy of the game while maintaining that killer instinct, and I think we did a better job of that tonight.”

On how the team has gone from the worst three-point shooting team to the best.

Skylar Diggins answered, “I think it starts with the quality of shots that we're generating, sharing the basketball, next to action, being efficient, moving the ball. But I think it starts with the quality of threes that we're getting. They're great shots. They're great looks most of the time. And so it's no surprise that, you know, we're shooting with confidence. We work on them. We believe that they're going in. And so. I think it's great to hear that. We still be like, dang, I should have had that one, too. But it's the quality of threes that we're generating for each other, for sure. That leads to our efficiency that you see there.”

On how the team rallied down double digits to win the game.

Nneka replied, “I think that us taking care of the ball is something that we talked about before the game. It's something that we knew was going to be a point of emphasis with this team. If you mess up, it's a score on the other end. So we had a few moments. You know, we didn't have a lot of turnovers, but they were timely and circumstantial. And so us maintaining composure and taking care of the ball, getting good shots is what allowed us to be able to get back and get set. As you saw this game, I mean, they were... they were kicking it up quick. So we wanted to be able to choke that by taking good shots and taking care of the ball to avoid easy buckets for them in transition. I think we did a good job of adjusting to that.”

On Erica Wheeler’s strong performance.

Skylar said, “You know, E's been amazing. This is who, you know, E's been in this league. She's been in this league a long time, and she's been in command of teams, of her own teams. You know, she's taking a role for our team and, you know, she does whatever is necessary. She can bring the ball up for us. She can guard. She can make plays. She could play in the pick-and-roll. She can play in transition. So, you know, she's been amazing for us on both sides of the floor and really just. trying to pour into both of her and Gabby and encourage them to be exactly who they are for us and to hold space for them to be aggressive, putting them in space, trying to give them opportunities.”

Coach’s Quotes

Thoughts on the team’s three-game road trip and how they stay prepared for several different scenarios.

Coach Quinn stated, “Yeah, I think it's great reps, you know, for this team. And staying ready is what the group is. You know, they're professionals, they're vets. They understand moments. We're growing with every game, and we're learning with every game. And I think, you know, the preparation is not only like the rest, recovery, and whatever you have to do to prepare for the game, but it, it becomes mental when you have, a player like AC on your roster who, she goes so in depth with her scout process and prep. She's like able to coach in those moments and hold our players accountable in those moments, and the respect that she's garnered, garners because of her success in this league is just contagious. She's a pro's pro. And then you have the consummate pros, and Gabby, Nnek, Sky, and everyone just kind of falls in line. So honestly, it's their will, their chemistry, their collective mindsets and hearts to really want to focus in and really give their all on every single game.”

On the team’s improved three-point shooting.

Quinn answered, “Yeah, honestly, I talked about this when I was asked a few weeks ago. It's about being efficient, and the ones that we think, because we have a lot of paint points and a lot of paint penetration, we're getting a lot of sprays and wide open looks. And so it's about a confident player in this league is a deadly player. A lot of the, a lot of the, those shots are just reps and confidence and knowing where each other are going to be at, moving the ball, and having some continuity within our offense. You got Gabby shooting it confidently, we're super efficient in the ones that we take. And I just think that we're taking really good shots. But then we also have a good balance of inside and out. And so teams can't; they have to defend multiple things now. They can't take away, you know, one thing. So we just have a group that's, they're sharp in their preparation and their PD work, and they're shooting. I mean, then they're confident in one another, and they're taking the shots confidently.”

On the differences of how each half ended with big rallies from each team.

Quinn told me, “Yeah, Vegas is not a team that turns you over. And so our turnovers are a little bit loud. I can't remember how many we had at half. It wasn't a lot, but they got like some loud threes off of that, loud possessions off of that. And so, it was about making sure we were sharp in our execution and coverages and not giving them, you know, more opportunities. And in the second half, they went small ball really early, and we found some advantages with their switching. But I thought that we also played in transition a little bit more to attack some of their coverages early. Didn't see a lot of zone, but I thought, when they showed it, we didn't, we handled that pretty decently. And then just the efficiency in our offense, I feel like, was way better. Had a little bit more pop to our cuts, our screening, our reads. And, you know, getting to the free throw line, I think we're kind of getting better. We're going to get there. But I just feel like we were capitalizing way more from our defense in the second half.”

On the team leading the WNBA in field goal and three-point field goal shooting percentage.

“And again, for the people in the back… It just takes time. I know we've, it feels like this group has had some time together, but in reality, it's the beginning of the season. So, you add an E, you add an AC, kind of figuring out rotations, and we have new faces on our roster. And so, you know, there's some grace in finding our rhythm and our flow. And I think where we're at now, however many games in, it's now we're kind of like folk, not shortening our playbook, but just knowing what plays that we want to run for certain people. finding their sweet spots and then just playing with each other and finding rhythm there. So I can't point to anything but time, having some practice time to kind of iron out the wrinkles, to continue to watch film and clean up some things there, and to have direct translation on the court. It's just a work in progress. And I think the pocket that we're in is… The efficiency of our offense is just coming from our transition points, playing out of our defense, and again, just playing confidently and with one another.”

On Coach Quinn being only the 2nd black woman head coach to be in the Top 20 in WNBA wins as a coach and what it means to her.

“Yeah, it means the world to me, honestly, to be leading this organization and doing it for this organization. Because the opportunities are few and far between, the retention isn't always there. And sometimes you don't get an opportunity to coach as long as I have, even though it's been a relatively short career thus far. It's an honor to be in the names of whoever those 20 coaches are. I value this league so much. I grew up watching it. And I just want to honor it in any way that I can. I have a lot of pride for the city, a lot of pride for this organization, and I love my team. And so I just want to represent in the right way. Continue to, I talked about this the first time, when I actually took over. It's my impact. I know wins and losses matter. Wins and losses, the wins keep your job. But at the end of the day, I want to make sure that I'm being a light to others, that I'm being a great example for others. And that's what I strive to be every single day. So I'm super appreciative of it. I never take a day for granted. And thank you for recognizing that. And cheers to some more,” Quinn said.

Notes:
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