Fouls and Fashion at the Key
Posted Aug. 29 at 8:11 am by Mike Seely
Last night's Storm game was weird. For starters, injured Houston Comet swingwoman Latasha Byears was rocking a huge "B" medalliion and...a really loud pair of Coogi jeans. Did anyone else not realize that Coogi had diversified into realms other than its signature Cosby sweater? Anyway, back to the weirdness: last night's game was the Storm's first after a month-long break for the Olympics. Do you know any other sport that would take a month off to let the cream of its crop take a Chinese holiday? Speaking of that Chinese holiday, Swin Cash was held out of the starting lineup for missing that month's worth of practice in order to moonlight as an Olympic television correspondent. Lastly, Sue Bird had but one assist and zero rebounds (she averages about six and three). For this, there's a very good explanation.
With Lauren Jackson out for the season (although buzz is she's going to try and come back before the playoffs, which is far more optimistic than the original prognosis) and Sheryl Swoopes and Yolanda Griffith really showing their mileage, the Storm have but two reliable offensive options: Bird and Cash. With Cash not in the starting lineup — and, frankly, pretty rusty when she was on the floor — the Storm's offense was all about Bird. To make this adjustment, Tanisha Wright essentially handled point guard duties, while Bird ran off screens trying to get opened. The ploy worked: Bird had 22 points, the only Storm starter to reach double figures in a 66-49 win over the 14-13 Comets, running Seattle's record to 14-1 at the Key (18-9 overall).
But the real highlight last night was the Storm defense. That 49-point total isn't a typo; Houston shot 28% from the field for the game, and all-star forward Tina Thompson was held to single digit scoring. This came in spite of some awful officiating that saw all of the Storm's bigs — Griffith, Ashley Robinson, and Camille Little — plagued by serious foul trouble throughout the game (Little ended up fouling out). The refs whistled twice as many fouls on Seattle as they did on Houston — sort of the Bizarro version of home-cookin'. And yet, the Storm still won handily, thanks in no small part to power forward Shyra Ely's steely third quarter D.
Ultimately, there might be a silver lining to Jackson's absence. If the Storm can play .500 ball between now and season's end without her (they're 4-2 without her as is), they're going to make the playoffs, and they may even secure home court advantage for at least one round. And obviously, with the Storm, home court advantage means a lot. So does Jackson. If she can make it back on time for the playoffs, she'll rejoin a team whose reserves have been baptized by fire in her absence, and will doubtless come out better for it. Don't call it the imperfect Storm yet, folks — it's all about the ice on Lo-Jack's ankle at this point.
Topics: Storm
