Hot Taurasi-led Mercury ready for Storm rematch – Jayda Evans, Seattle Times

When recalling Taurasi’s quote, the Storm’s Swin Cash’s head swiveled like a hawk looking for prey as she scanned teammates after practice at KeyArena.

“Who’s believing what (she’s) saying?’ ” Cash asked rhetorically of her former college teammate at Connecticut. “She’s the master of blowing smoke. She’s so crazy.

Storm aim to keep historical season going – Christopher Wells, seattlepi.com

So far in the season series, Seattle has been perfect with three straight wins over Phoenix, including a historic three overtime victory on July 14.

Lauren Jackson has powered the Storm with an average of 24 points over the course of the three wins. She also has averaged 10.7 rebounds.

Storm vs. Phoenix Preview: Can the Mercury Mount a Challenge Against the Storm? – Q McCall, SwishAppeal.com

As a basketball fan, I confess to being unreasonably excited about tonight’s Phoenix Mercury – Seattle Storm game.

In fact — albeit easily pleased by basketball — I haven’t been quite as excited about a Storm game since the then-6-0 Atlanta Dream came to town.

Is This Year’s Storm the Best Team Ever? – Petrel, SwishAppeal.com

That’s some pretty impressive company.  So where would the 2010 Seattle Storm be if the season ended today?  They’d be at 2.050 standard deviations above .500, putting them as the 4th greatest WNBA team of all time.  And the season has 12 games to go in Seattle!  If Seattle sweeps the table, this will undoubtedly nudge the Storm even further up the ladder.  The Storm aren’t the greatest team of all time – now – but have a shot at it if they keep the engine finely tuned throught the season.

High-scoring Mercury back on track – Mechelle Voepel, ESPN.com

Ha! Two hundred and fifty points? For two games? How could even my math be that bad? I guess I need a calculator just to add two lousy numbers.

(Pause.)

OK, you might not believe this, but … the calculator says the Mercury really did score 250 points in their past two games. And 753 in their last seven. That’s right, the average Mercury point total in July, 107.6, tops even Phoenix’s average daily high temperature for this month, which historically has been about 105.

5 Things I Think I Know – Ben York, SlamOnline.com

I think I know who will be in the Western Conference Finals, but I’m still unsure about the East.

Clearly, the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury have proven to be the best teams in the West; and unless something drastic changes I feel confident that’s how it will be as the season winds down. If Phoenix locks itself in the 2 or 3 seed, I just don’t see a scenario where they won’t be in the Western Conference Finals. Similarly, Seattle is playing too good to be knocked out in the first round.

Storm Can Top Sonics for Best Pro Hoops Start Tonight – Seth Kolloen, TheSunbreak.com

Your local hoops team is off to a 20-2 start and play tonight against Phoenix at Seattle Center. It could be today, or it could be December 23, 1993. Then, the team was the Sonics, the opponent was the Phoenix Suns. Tonight it’s the Storm facing the Phoenix Mercury.

The Sonics lost game #23 (Thunder Dan Majerle went off for seven threes). So with a win against Phoenix tonight, the Storm can claim the best start in Seattle pro hoops history.

OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE RATINGS

Team           ORtg     Team           DRtg
-------------------     -------------------
Phoenix       111.2     Indiana        92.6
Seattle       110.7     Washington     96.7
Connecticut   103.1     Seattle        97.4
Chicago       102.4     Chicago        99.4
Indiana       102.1     Atlanta        99.5
LEAGUE        101.9     New York      101.0
Atlanta       101.4     Connecticut   101.7
New York      101.3     LEAGUE        101.9
Washington    100.1     Minnesota     103.7
San Antonio    99.4     Los Angeles   105.3
Los Angeles    99.3     San Antonio   106.4
Minnesota      97.3     Tulsa         108.3
Tulsa          94.5     Phoenix       109.1

For the first time all year, the Mercury leads the WNBA in Offensive Rating, having exploded for 250 points in the last two games. Two overtimes in Minnesota, a fast pace and playing the Shock’s defense all were factors for Phoenix, but there’s no denying the Mercury offense is locked in right now.

The team that was struggling before Tuesday’s easy win in Tulsa was the Dream, which has slipped to fifth in the league in Defensive Rating and out of the top five in Offensive Rating. More on that in a second.

One last note: the league-wide Offensive Rating continues to reach new heights. We’re nearly averaging 102 points per 100 possessions.

EXPECTED WINS STANDINGS

Team        Exp. W%     Team        Exp. W%
-------------------     -------------------
Seattle        .823     Indiana        .717
Phoenix        .579     Washington     .619
Minnesota      .345     Chicago        .556
Los Angeles    .329     Connecticut    .549
San Antonio    .319     Atlanta        .543
Tulsa          .141     New York       .493

In the standings, the East is still wide-open – the Dream moved within a half-game of the Fever with today’s win (which is not reflected in these stats), though Atlanta is two back in the loss column. Point differential tells a very different story, with Indiana easily ahead of the rest of the conference. Given that the Fever has beaten both Atlanta and Washington (on the road) during a current four-game winning streak, it’s getting harder to argue with that conclusion.

Right now, Chicago is the WNBA’s hard-luck team. The Sky has a better point differential than the Sun, and was ahead of the Dream, yet still is on the outside of the playoffs looking in. If Chicago could only be a bit more consistent, we might see the Sky make its first-ever playoff appearance.

After Seattle and Phoenix, the West is still up for grabs, and statistically the Sparks have been as good as either of the two primary contenders for the last two playoff spots.

WARP LEADERS

Player               Tm   Win%   WARP
-------------------------------------
Sylvia Fowles       CHI   .774    6.9
Tamika Catchings    IND   .831    6.9
Lauren Jackson      SEA   .812    6.8
Cappie Pondexter    NYL   .675    4.9
Penny Taylor        PHO   .667    4.3
Diana Taurasi       PHO   .667    4.3
Katie Douglas       IND   .673    4.3
Tina Charles        CON   .669    4.2
Crystal Langhorne   WAS   .640    4.1
Sue Bird            SEA   .638    3.6

Same order for our top three but even less separation this week. The next three are all members of the 2009 Mercury. Cappie Pondexter is having a sensational season, even if having her carry such a heavy offensive load hasn’t been a great success for the Liberty (seventh in the league in Offensive Rating). Meanwhile, her old Phoenix teammates are able to share the load with each other and Candice Dupree (just outside the top 10).

Tina Charles has trailed off a little bit lately and is no longer near the MVP discussion, but she’s still easily tops among rookies in WARP. Epiphanny Prince (2.2) is the only other rookie over 1 WARP. The Storm’s Jana Veselá (0.7) is third.

Storm equals WNBA record for best start – Jayda Evans, Seattle Times

No one was serving up borscht or fine vodka, but KeyArena was like home to Storm guard Svetlana Abrosimova on Sunday.

She strutted off the bench after not having played there since July 6 and started popping three-pointers in a 75-59 win against Tulsa as the Storm (20-2) equaled the WNBA record for the best start after 22 games.

Abrosimova nailed four consecutive three-pointers to turn a two-point deficit into a 30-26 lead with 5:18 remaining in the second quarter. The Storm opened the third quarter on a 14-0 run, burying the Shock before a sellout crowd of 9,686 that was giddy to celebrate the return of Seattle’s only winning professional sports team.

Storm blasts Tulsa, stays in pursuit of history – Todd Dybas, seattlepi.com

Most of the Storm is keeping the history books closed at this point. Coach Brian Agler said it’s easy to push aside the approaching marks because the team doesn’t talk about it.

Sue Bird? Same thing. Non-issue.

Statistical Summary of the Storm’s Milestone Victory – Q McCall, SwishAppeal.com

Storm key player: Le’coe Willingham

The Shock were simply overwhelmed inside and during that stretch of time when Abrosimova was hot, Willingham was helping her do some damage — she controlled the defensive glass with 3 defensive rebounds during 4 second quarter minutes, had a block, and a put back off an offensive rebound. When you talk about balance for the Storm this year, the bench contributions of both Abrosimova and Willingham (and increasingly Jana Vesela) are a large part of that equation.

Balance Should Define the Storm’s Success Moreso Than Records – Nate Parham, SB Nation Seattle

While the majority of national media attention on the Storm gets directed primarily at their trio of All-Stars — Sue Bird, Swin Cash, and of course Lauren Jackson — what we can learn about the Storm from last night’s big win is that beyond any records they’re breaking the key to their success is that once opponents commit to taking one thing away, they’ll find another way to hurt them.

“I don’t think they really were concentrating on me as being the only one shooter on this team,” said Abrosimova. “It’s hard to play against us. Everyone can hit threes. Lauren hit some, Swin and Tanisha (Wright). That’s why it’s not easy. You have to guard everybody and you have to sometimes sacrifice certain players.”

Storm trying to match Comets’ record – Jayda Evans, Seattle Times

“(Coach) Van Chancellor did a good job of putting them in good positions to play to their strengths,” said Storm assistant coach Nancy Darsch, whose New York team lost to Houston for the 1997 title. “Nobody knew who Janeth (Arcain) was and here she comes off the bench. And they were stacked when they got Tina (Thompson) as the No. 1 pick. They really were a strong team and very competitive defensively.”

Sound familiar?

2010 Storm vs. 1998 Houston Comets – Bill Reader, Seattle Times

A victory Sunday against Tulsa would make the Storm 20-2, tying the 1998 Houston Comets for the best record in the WNBA after 22 games. The Comets finished that season 27-3, the best regular-season record in WNBA history, then won the league title, their second of four straight.

Queens of the court – Dave Boling, The News Tribune

Coach Brian Agler had given his Seattle Storm team a little break after a lengthy road swing, so when the players reconvened for practice Friday, he worked them hard.

After all, he had seen a number of areas that needed correction and improvement on that trip. Such as?

“Offense and defense,” he said.

Apparently, warm-up drills had been satisfactory.

On Thursday, Lauren Jackson held the second of three One-Day Basketball Camps, this one focused on post moves.

Storm players (including Abby Bishop, below) and CEO Karen Bryant were in South Park on Friday for the unveiling of new courts at the South Park Community Center, which the Storm helped build.

Saturday was the Storm’s annual Season Ticket Holder party, held at the Woodland Park Zoo.

Little does a lot for the Storm – Mechelle Voepel, ESPN.com

Little now plays an essential role for the running-away-with-the-West Storm. But it’s certainly not as an “enforcer,” the one who needs to remind everyone else to be serious. She doesn’t think in those terms on a team that has players who’ve won NCAA, WNBA and Olympic titles.

“At this level, there are more people like that,” Little said regarding her taskmaster personality. “But at the same time, in my fourth year [in the WNBA], I’m not considered a veteran. I would say that it helps to have people who believe the same things you do as strongly as you do. I’m the same person I was in college, and I still push my teammates. But I set examples more with how I play than anything I say.”

Storm clinch a playoff berth: Who would they want as a first round opponent – Q McCall, SwishAppeal.com

Next up: the Western Conference regular season title with four more wins.

So moving to the next matter of uncertainty: who would the Storm want as a first round matchup? Or does it even matter?

Brian Agler was on KJR 950 AM last night with host Brian Abker. Download the interview here or click here to stream it.

Up next for the Storm is securing the No. 1 overall seed in the Western Conference. The magic number to do so is four three after Minnesota’s loss tonight.

To get your single-game playoff tickets before they go on sale to the general public, sign up for StormWatch. StormWatch subscribers will be part of an exclusive presale. Stay tuned for more ticket information for the 2010 Playoffs.

Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times makes the argument in his column that casual Seattle fans need to start paying attention to what the Storm is doing this season.

By any measure, they’re an elite team. They win by the most points (9.47 point differential) and outrebound opponents by the widest margin. They have the No. 2 field-goal percentage defense. They have the game’s best player, Lauren Jackson. They have the best point guard, Sue Bird. They have another relentless perennial All-Star, Swin Cash. They probably have the best starting five, and with the additions of Svetlana Abrosimova, Jana Vesela and Le’Coe Willingham, their bench has been among the most effective.

The team is eminently likable, on and off the court. And with the Mariners and Sounders FC bumbling, the Storm is your best hope — your only hope — for pro sports excellence this season.

At Fanhouse.com, WNBA correspondent Michelle Smith checks in on Abrosimova’s happy return to the WNBA with the Storm.

“I only have so many years left in my career. I had unfinished business,” Abrosimova said. “I want to win a championship. I want to be part of something special. All the years I played in the league, I hadn’t done that. I never won a title or a conference title. That was the No. 1 reason I wanted to come back.”

Abrosimova, who turned 30 earlier this month, is playing a key role for the surging Storm this season. She is coming off the bench to provide a spark on both ends of the floor. She’s also adding a dose of experience, one of the factors that is putting Seattle at the top of the league by a wide margin.

Q McCall is all about Vesela. First, at SB Nation Seattle, he writes about her quiet emergence as a capable role player for the Storm.

Since having a week-long break before the Storm’s 83-72 road win over the Tulsa Shock on June 27, Vesela’s minutes have increased to the 13 minutes per game, up from 7.6 minutes prior to that point. During that time, perhaps her shooting percentages over the last five games best illustrate her increased comfort: she has quietly shot 12-of-14 from the field in her increased minutes, suggesting that we haven’t seen the best of her yet.

“When you play more and more it’s like you can do more and more,” said Vesela after that Phoenix game back in June, perhaps forecasting her own trajectory in matter-of-fact terms.

And then on SwishAppeal.com Q ranks Vesela among the league’s best rookies.

3. Jana Vesela: I imagine this comes as a bit of a surprise to some with Vesela not getting many minutes on the Storm. But I would also recommend considering the numbers. Vesela is a very, very efficient reserve. A large part of that value added rating is her 21.6% assist rate, which is well above average for a player at her position. The one glaring flaw in her performance thus far is her 24.17% turnover percentage, which will probably have to change in order for her to earn more minutes. While value added does account for defense moreso than other numbers, Vesela’s versatility on both ends of the floor is noteworthy and part of what makes vaulting her to #3 more reasonable that it might first seem. Regardless, her numbers suggest that she is a player that would be making a lot more noise with more minutes on another team.

Staying busy, Q also checks in on the MVP race with some heresy:

2. Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm

And hopefully it’s obvious why Jackson isn’t number one – she has the considerable advantage of playing next to point guard Sue Bird as well as forwards Swin Cash and Camille Little, both of whom have had outstanding seasons. So those MVP and PVC numbers are just going to be lower for Jackson than they are the other candidates.

At WNBA.com, Frank Della Femina reassures us that Jackson is the leader in the MVP clubhouse:

If you witnessed Jackson’s clutch free-throws against the Mercury Wednesday afternoon or her big three-point shot Saturday against the Lynx, it’s hard to put her anywhere but No. 1. Plus, you have to factor in her recent Player of the Week honor. Last time Jackson was named Player of the Week five times in a season was 2007. The end result? MVP.

Storm wins; 19-2 start second-best in WNBA history – Terrence Thomas, special to the Seattle Times

The Storm made six consecutive three-pointers during a game-changing run overlapping the third and fourth quarters, rallying past San Antonio 80-74 Tuesday before 12,414 fans at the AT&T Center.

“I think these kinds of games test your character,” said Storm guard Tanisha Wright, who had eight points and seven assists. “It shows what you have inside of you — whether or not you’re going to fold or rise to the occasion.”

Seattle fights back late to beat San Antonio – Christopher Wells, seattlepi.com

Leading the way for the Storm was the consistent Lauren Jackson. After a slow start, she rebounded to score 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the floor. She also had seven boards and a steal.

Sue Bird also had a solid game with 20 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the field, four assists and two steals.

Storm’s surge too much for Silver Stars – Terrence Thomas, San Antonio Express-News

The Silver Stars fumbled away a 10-point lead late in the third quarter and lost to Seattle 80-74 before 12,414 fans at the AT&T Center.

“They know we had an opportunity to win this game, so they’ll be hurting,” Silver Stars coach Sandy Brondello said. “We’re getting to where we need to be to beat the best teams in the league.”

Statistical Summary: Storm 80, Silver Stars 74 – Q McCall, SwishAppeal.com

Even in a seemingly monotonous stretch march to the playoffs, what makes the Storm remain exciting is that they seem to embody what it means for resilient individuals to come together as a resilient unit to respond to novel challenges. If you appreciate the dynamics of team play in a fluid sport like basketball, the fact that this team will find ways to win when the chips are down is impressive. Especially when it’s not just Lauren Jackson doing it alone.

Because the Sparks would have to beat many other Western Conference teams to reach 19 wins, it is difficult to find a scenario where the Storm could possibly miss the playoffs at this point. But the number of scenarios remaining is so immense that it’s impossible to definitively prove none exists. As a result, at this point the official position is that the Storm’s magic number remains one – either a Storm win or an L.A. loss will formally clinch a playoff berth.

Three new things I’ve launched this week:

1. Walking log – my goal is to walk at least 20 minutes per day (I even brought some tennis shoes to work)
2. Joined Denali Fitness (a big thanks to Dave Croom and his colleagues at Denali for supporting my mission) – I want to complement my walking with some strength training and stretching
3. Menu planning – we are going to sit down over the weekend and plan and shop for our meals for the week to help with healthy choices and variety; this will be especially helpful when it comes to my eating habits throughout the work day; my goals during the work day:
   - a. Eat breakfast – hard-boiled egg, oatmeal, fruit or yogurt
   - b. Sensible lunch
   - c. Afternoon snack – protein bar, fruit or nuts (this curbs my temptation to raid the cupboards before dinner)

I’ll report back next week to let you know how I did!

KB