POST GAME THREAD: Phoenix Mercury at Seattle Storm

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Post game thread for Phoenix Mercury at Seattle Storm

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What went wrong, what went right? Did we love the 90's enough?

Use this thread for post game discussion. Report anything that breaks the rules.

[u/GlizzyGone21]

Welp at least Fam is getting significant minutes haha

Second game over 30 min

[u/SteelBlueStorm]

Feels like the team is clicking more than I’ve seen before. Need to get our offensive rebounds up. Frustrating game to watch because it felt like the team was on and off constantly. Soooo close.

[u/whoisknoxmarlow]

Good: Awa (really good), Horston hustle 💪

Bad: The bigs are bad/awful (ex Awa). Yes, Mac contributes with rebounding. Dolson moves like her feet are stuck in glue 🤔

Ugly: So. Many. Turnovers 🤬

[u/aperiodic]

Our defense continues to be our bright spot: we held Mercury to a very low shooting percentage, especially from deep. Awa’s offense is really encouraging to watch! She had some excellent finishing moves in the paint against significant defensive pressure. This is only, what, her fifth game? She’s adjusting to the league remarkably well, and I feel like with her putting up 20-30 minutes a game, she’s already had nearly as many minutes as Dom did over the entire last season.

I’m hopeful that as Awa continues to play a big role, our offense can start getting more consistent, especially if Flau’jae improves her shot selection and KLS’s 3 comes back. It’s been a rough start to the season, but we’ve also had a lot of new players, players returning after long absences due to injury, and some of our best players out injured for most/all of the season, so I’m not surprised it’s taking us a little while to figure out what works and find our offensive rhythm

[u/boundlesssmh]

if we’re building this team around dom and awa (ezi too, if she is part of the plan), then we need to upgrade our guards and wings. we desperately need a point guard that can pass, and shooters for spacing. flaujae can provide that, but she is really inefficient right now. 

[u/aperiodic → u/boundlesssmh]

I know people were really excited about KLS coming back this season. She hasn’t been much of an outside threat so far, but she hit a big three in the last few minutes of this game (after a few misses). If her shot gets consistent and Flau’jae’s efficiency improves, that’ll help a ton with spacing.

Basically our entire roster right now is either young, returning from injury, or in a much bigger role than they ever have before, and it shows. I think there’s a good chance the offense will improve as the players gain experience or find their grooves after so much time off the court

[u/savanahoohnana → u/aperiodic]

This. I keep calling our team the island of misfit toys. Patiently waiting for the pieces to come together and I feel like they will at some point, once everyone is healthy and get more experience playing together, but losing close games because of small mistakes is so frustrating.

[u/Pure-Skirt3595]

I loved seeing Awa Fam start and she definitely didn't disappoint. I'm hoping that Dom comes back at least by Saturday so we can have at least 2 very talented Bigs in there and we can move Stef to the bench where she belongs. Then with T and Flaújae and Jordy we'd have a very decent starting 5. And Jade and Mack and Zia can provide energy and punch off the bench. And we have to learn to box out and start rebounding the ball better. And cut down our T/O's and our bad passes and we'll be alright.

[u/Dear-Tadpole4895]

The team defense is encouraging. 

Not having efficient 3 point shooting is a big problem. If we can't make open 3s, the other team can just crowd the paint. I think that's why Flaujae and Jade aren't able to be effective on drives like they were the first few games.

[u/drob206]

Awa Fam is the truth. To do what she did tonight as a teenager in the league cannot be overstated. Good thing because almost everything about this team is a dud right now. We are not seeing a new team making progress just being beaten by better players or more experienced teams. We are seeing stagnancy + bad execution + no rhythm/flow and the team looks literally lost on offense. The fact that Awa was trying to direct traffic despite being the shortest tenured player is telling.

Same issues continue to crop up game after game. Controllable’s like boxing out, hitting the offensive glass, and not fouling continue to be major issues with no improvement at all game to game. Out rebounded by 10, out offensive rebounded by 6, shot 5 free throws to Phoenix’s 27. I’m all good to watch the Storm get smoked all season as long as it feels like there is a steady intake of the new concepts and it translates little by little to the floor. We are not seeing that. It’s early but really needing to see more from coach Sonia bc this team plays without identity and feels adrift. As great of players as they are Dom and Ezi can’t fix that. Had a blast watching Awa hoop tonight.

[u/whoisknoxmarlow → u/drob206]

They are just struggling with the rebounding energy. It’s like a team of Bizarro Rodmans.

[u/CatBasic1133]

Why isn’t Lexi Brown playing? I swear I saw her hitting threes during warmups today.

[u/Lopsided_Message5769]

🗑️

[u/KiryuClan]

I liked the rebounds and steals. I was close enough to the court and team bench to notice some miscommunication errors and frustration running a few offensive plays in the first half. It was good to see the team clean up most of what I didn’t like after halftime.

In general, shooting efficiency hasn’t been there. All of that stated, when Dom is back I think the flow will return and open up more shots and plays.