Author: Joseph Zucker

These are the Four Most Important Days of the Storm’s 2017 Season

Joseph ZuckerLeave a comment
Screen Shot 2017-05-30 at 11.01.00 AM
When you’re trying to make sense of the Storm’s last few days.

The Seattle Storm’s hopes of turning things around in the second half of the season may rest largely on the decision-making of Alisha Valavanis.

The 2017 season hasn’t gone according to plan at all for Seattle. The Storm are ninth in the WNBA with a 9-12 record, and many of the team’s biggest problems from last year have carried over to this season.

Still, few expected Thursday’s bombshell from The Summitt’s Howard Megdal that cast serious doubt on Jenny Boucek’s future with the team.

A vote of confidence from ownership and the front office is often an empty gesture that is eventually undercut by the team’s actions at a later point. With that said, Valavanis didn’t even bother to offer the bare minimum regarding whether management was behind Boucek.

“I would say that I am working closely with our head coach on how we can recalibrate, how we can do everything possible to make a playoff run,” she said to Megdal. “That’s how I feel, and that’s where we’re at. I’m actively working with Jenny to see if we can make any adjustments to calibrate this for a playoff run, which has been set as a very clear goal.”

Short of having security physically carry Boucek out of the office, it’s hard to imagine a more damning response from Valavanis. Continue reading →

Should Jenny Boucek Be on the Hot Seat?

Joseph Zucker1 Comment

Screen Shot 2017-07-25 at 12.08.08 PMJenny Boucek isn’t running for elected office, but Seattle Storm fans may need to start asking the question, are the Storm better off than they were four years ago?

When Boucek replaced Brian Agler in January 2015, the Storm were in need of a rebuild. They finished the 2014 season with a 12-22 record and had been trending downward since winning a title in 2010.

With two of the top three picks in the 2015 draft, Seattle selected Jewell Loyd and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis to serve as cornerstones for the rebuilding effort. The Storm proceeded to finish with the second-worst record in the league that season (10-24). The draft was again a source of hope for Seattle since it meant having the opportunity to bring Breanna Stewart aboard. Continue reading →

What’s Wrong with the Seattle Storm?

Joseph ZuckerLeave a comment

What in the world happened to the Seattle Storm team that started the year 4-1?

Seattle was riding high entering its June 3 game against the Minnesota Lynx and sat third in WNBA’s Week 3 power rankings. Then the Storm got outclassed by the Lynx and everything snowballed. Now Seattle is 6-7 overall and eighth in the WNBA standings.

It’s still too early to begin panicking about the Storm’s playoff chances, which isn’t to stay the team’s poor play should be dismissed offhand. In some cases, aspects of the Storm’s 2-6 run speak to what were genuine concerns coming into the year.

In no particular order, here are some of the factors that explain the Storm’s slide. Continue reading →

Do the Storm have Buyer’s Remorse with Carolyn Swords?

Joseph ZuckerLeave a comment

Why did the Seattle Storm trade for Carolyn Swords again?

We’re not entering proof-of-life territory with the veteran center yet, but it has undoubtedly been surprising how little she has factored into the Storm’s 5-2 start considering she was the team’s biggest offseason acquisition.

In theory, she was supposed to give the Storm the rim protector they lacked last year. Seattle was ninth last year in opponent points per possession in post-ups, per Synergy, and eighth in opponent field-goal percentage in the post. With Swords on the roster, Breanna Stewart wouldn’t have to play inside so frequently, thus freeing her up to operate as more of a point forward while simultaneously sparing her some of the physicality she encounters closer to the basket. Continue reading →

Seattle Storm Weekend Review: Found Money

Joseph ZuckerLeave a comment

Screen Shot 2017-05-30 at 11.01.00 AM

A big question around the Seattle Storm this season was whether they could succeed when any combination of Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart have an off night.

Last Friday against the New York Liberty, the trio combined to shoot 10-of-33 from the field, and 18 of their 45 collective points came from the charity stripe. Two days later against the Indiana Fever, they were more efficient (12-of-26) but scored 31 points.

Both of those games ended in victory for Seattle, in large part because of contributions they received from unlikely sources.

Sami Whitcomb came off the bench to drop 22 points on the Liberty, while Alysha Clark made her first nine field goals—a team record—en route to a 22-point day against the Fever. Continue reading →

Stop What You’re Doing and Watch Jewell Loyd Work

Joseph ZuckerLeave a comment

At the risk of sounding too much like a paid employee of the WNBA, buy League Pass right now and catch up on what Jewell Loyd has done this season.

The numbers alone are impressive. Through three games, Loyd is averaging 26.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists, and she’s shooting 61.5 percent from three-point range. In terms of advanced metrics, she boasts a 68.0 percent effective field-goal rate and a 70.5 percent true shooting rate.

Her scoring is bound to cool off eventually. No player in league history has eclipsed 26 points a game or shot 60-plus percent from beyond the arc. Diana Taurasi has the single-season scoring record (25.3 PPG) from 2006, while Temeka Johnson was the most accurate three-point shooter (53.1 percent) over a full season in 2012. Continue reading →

Seattle Storm Weekend Forecast: Mystics Present Early Test for Storm

Joseph ZuckerLeave a comment

After opening the 2017 season with a back-to-back, the Seattle Storm have a much-deserved break before they return to the court Sunday against the Washington Mystics.

The new-look Mystics cruised in their season-opener, beating the San Antonio Stars 89-74. Their defensive deficiencies, however, were on show Friday night as they fell 99-89 to the Los Angeles Sparks. Los Angeles shot 54.8 percent from the field and made 10 of its 21 attempts from beyond the arc.

With the exception of Sue Bird’s injury, which will likely keep her out for the third game in a row, the Storm couldn’t have asked for a much better time to welcome in the Mystics. Continue reading →

Seattle Storm Weekend Review: Sue Bird Can’t Come Back Soon Enough

Joseph ZuckerLeave a comment

The Seattle Storm wrapped up their first weekend of the 2017 WNBA season, splitting their two games. They lost 78-68 to the Los Angeles Sparks Saturday and rebounded with an 87-82 victory over the Indiana Fever Sunday.

Going 1-1 wasn’t a bad outcome for Seattle since the Storm were without Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart against the Sparks and Bird didn’t play against the Fever. Granted, Los Angeles didn’t have the services of Candace Parker, Jantel Lavender or Essence Carson, so the Sparks weren’t exactly at full strength, either.

If anything, the opening weekend offered a strong argument as to why Bird may be the team’s most valuable player. In her absence, the Storm turned the ball over 23 times against Los Angeles and 20 times against the Fever. Seattle averaged the third-most turnovers (14.4 per game) in the league last year, so it wasn’t a surprise Bird’s injury coincided with a spike in that category. Continue reading →

Seattle Storm Weekend Preview—at Sparks (May 13); vs. Fever (May 14)

Joseph ZuckerLeave a comment

After splitting their preseason series with the Phoenix Mercury, the Seattle Storm officially tip off what is a highly anticipated 2017 campaign against the defending WNBA champion Los Angeles Sparks Saturday. Then it’ll be a quick turnaround as they travel back home for a Sunday matinee with the Indiana Fever.

While it’s not a title-or-bust kind of year for Seattle, expectations are high for a team that posted the seventh-best record (16-18) in the league a season ago. WNBA.com’s Brian Martin ranked the Storm fifth in his opening-week power rankings—an assessment shared by the 16 members on the panel for the Associated Press’ preseason poll.

Let’s take a look at some broad storylines to follow over Seattle’s first two games and a few keys for the Storm to get the year off to a strong start. Continue reading →

Seattle Storm Preview Series: Will the Bench Be Any Better in 2017?

Joseph ZuckerLeave a comment

In Ocean’s Eleven, Matt Damon’s character struggles to find an apt metaphor to describe another character’s legal history. Ultimately, he settles with, “Well, it’s long.”

After attempting to devise numerous ways to describe how the Seattle Storm’s bench performed in 2016, the only thing I could come up with was, “Well, it was bad.”

According to WNBA.com, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was the only bench regular to have a positive net rating. In particular, the offense became a black hole when Jenny Boucek brought on her second unit.

StartersBench

The Storm’s playoff loss to the Atlanta Dream encapsulated the problem. Continue reading →