Two types of coverage today – recaps of last night’s win over Tulsa focusing on the historical significance as the Storm has now tied the best 22-game start in WBNA history as well as feature-type stories from the weekend.
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.
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