Seattle Storm @ Phoenix Mercury - 9/02/18

[Undercovervol]

The pressure is on Seattle now. They’ve blown every fourth quarter of this series, and now Bird will have to play hurt.
Mercury keying in on Stewart changed the game. She will have to find a way to keep scoring in game five...it doesn’t help her that Bird was out.

 

[Undercovervol]

Jewell and Jordin each had 4 TOs. As they were losing momentum and the lead, some of their offensive possessions were inexplicably bad.

Too much dribbling by both guards.

 

[j66kicker]

Jewell and Jordin each had 4 TOs. As they were losing momentum and the lead, some of their offensive possessions were inexplicably bad.

At the end it felt like between the loud Mercury crowd and DT exuding her, “We got this” vibe, the Seattle young’ns got a little flustered and out of control. I was glad to see the Mercury win, but it was clear the Storm really missed Sue’s calming leadership on the floor. She’ll be back, and that will be a factor on Tuesday.

Griner had a great game defensively when it counted today. Today she actually used both hands to grab rebounds instead of tipping them with one hand - usually to the other team (C’MON - you’re head and shoulders taller than everyone else!). If she comes to play Tuesday Phoenix could seriously pull it off. It’s gonna be a fun game!

 

[UConnCat]

The pressure is on Seattle now. They’ve blown every fourth quarter of this series, and now Bird will have to play hurt.
Mercury keying in on Stewart changed the game. She will have to find a way to keep scoring in game five...it doesn’t help her that Bird was out.

The pressure is the same for both teams. It's game 5. Phoenix's comeback from 0-2 means nothing if they don't win Tuesday night. The team that wins will be the one that best handles the pressure. Phoenix has momentum and more experience. Seattle's leader and its only player with extensive playoff experience will be playing with a broken nose and a mask on her face. Seattle will have a noisy home crowd. For all that went wrong for Seattle today they still only lost by 2 points.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

The pressure is the same for both teams. It's game 5. Phoenix's comeback from 0-2 means nothing if they don't win Tuesday night. The team that wins will be the one that best handles the pressure. Phoenix has momentum and more experience. Seattle's leader and its only player with extensive playoff experience will be playing with a broken nose and a mask on her face. Seattle will have a noisy home crowd. For all that went wrong for Seattle today they still only lost by 2 points.

UConnCat- - -Great post! I agree 100%! Sue is the only Storm player with serious playoffs experience and the floor general for the team! You can't put that type of pressure on Canada, a rookie! If the Storm had Sue they would have won! They lost by 2 points and the young pups were lost but still kept it close where Sue Bird would have made a major difference! The only good thing for the 5th game for Seattle is Sue has played with the plexiglass face-guard 4 other times and even though it's uncomfortable she's been there before! If Sue has NO concussion symptoms just the broken nose Seattle wins 5th game at home! Sue's got too big a heart to let it slip away!

 

[Golden Husky]

Dee is the best.

Probably shouldn't use the words "picky" and "nose" in the same sentence.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Probably shouldn't use the words "picky" and "nose" in the same sentence.

I think Dee did that intentionally.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Given that Seattle had the best regular-season record, they may feel more confident. Or they may feel more pressure. The Storm have the home court advantage, but Phoenix will not go quietly into the night. It should be an exciting game.

 

[bballnut90]

Wow...this series has been just incredible. Bonner and Griner really carries Phoenix today. This was the most aggressive I’ve seen Griner play all year, aggressively going for rebounds, fighting through double teams, not shying away from contact....she’s unstoppable with this intensity every night. Her defense was much better today and especially on that last play.

Bonner just worked her butt off all night and was insanely aggressive going to the bucket. Resulted in her getting calls and finally finding a rhythm. Needs to bring that same mentality to game 5.

DT played very well in a more subdued role, she didn’t force much and let Bonner and Griner take over. Game 5 I expect she’ll take on a more prominent role.

Little was stellar once again defensively, so was January.

For Seattle they obviously missed Bird big time, I don’t expect the mask to bother her in game 5. The team just crumbled in the 2nd half. None of Stewart, Loyd or Canada made good decisions and their youth showed tonight.

Other tidbits...anyone notice the back and forth between Griner and Loyd? There were involved in a few fouls back and forth and I saw a few chippy plays out there. One play Griner stopped on her way back down the court so that Loyd would run into her and get tripped. I don’t love that, but it was the first time I’ve seen Griner exert some ‘tude so i thought it was a good sign for her.

I do hate all of the whining to the refs about every call...but it seems to work. Bonner started getting calls in her favor, DT did too after. Stewart got the short end of a couple of calls and I appreciated that she jogged back down the court rather than stopped to complain, but I did not think she got nearly as many calls to go her way as the game went on. Ultimately though, Phoenix was the far more aggressive team and that’s why they got the calls and why they won the game.

Looking at game 5, this one is a true toss up for me...you have Seattle who has been the best team all year and appears to be better with Sue in the lineup, but Phoenix has found ways to stay in these games and DT doesn’t lose winner take all games. I do think this is going to be DT’s toughest winner take all game yet though. Can’t wait for Tuesday.

 

[shizam]

Wow...this series has been just incredible. Bonner and Griner really carries Phoenix today. This was the most aggressive I’ve seen Griner play all year, aggressively going for rebounds, fighting through double teams, not shying away from contact....she’s unstoppable with this intensity every night. Her defense was much better today and especially on that last play.

Bonner just worked her butt off all night and was insanely aggressive going to the bucket. Resulted in her getting calls and finally finding a rhythm. Needs to bring that same mentality to game 5.

DT played very well in a more subdued role, she didn’t force much and let Bonner and Griner take over. Game 5 I expect she’ll take on a more prominent role.

Little was stellar once again defensively, so was January.

For Seattle they obviously missed Bird big time, I don’t expect the mask to bother her in game 5. The team just crumbled in the 2nd half. None of Stewart, Loyd or Canada made good decisions and their youth showed tonight.

Other tidbits...anyone notice the back and forth between Griner and Loyd? There were involved in a few fouls back and forth and I saw a few chippy plays out there. One play Griner stopped on her way back down the court so that Loyd would run into her and get tripped. I don’t love that, but it was the first time I’ve seen Griner exert some ‘tude so i thought it was a good sign for her.

I do hate all of the whining to the refs about every call...but it seems to work. Bonner started getting calls in her favor, DT did too after. Stewart got the short end of a couple of calls and I appreciated that she jogged back down the court rather than stopped to complain, but I did not think she got nearly as many calls to go her way as the game went on. Ultimately though, Phoenix was the far more aggressive team and that’s why they got the calls and why they won the game.

Looking at game 5, this one is a true toss up for me...you have Seattle who has been the best team all year and appears to be better with Sue in the lineup, but Phoenix has found ways to stay in these games and DT doesn’t lose winner take all games. I do think this is going to be DT’s toughest winner take all game yet though. Can’t wait for Tuesday.

Good for Griner. A makeup for blowing game two by fouling out with a stupid lazy incredulously dumb move at that point in the game. Sometimes you wonder if Griner gets any coaching or if Kim at Baylor knows how to coach. Kim's team and center Brown got eaten alive and eliminated by Or State's Gulich in Sweet 16.

 

[Reypl21]

Good for Griner. A makeup for blowing game two by fouling out with a stupid lazy incredulously dumb move at that point in the game. Sometimes you wonder if Griner gets any coaching or if Kim at Baylor knows how to coach. Kim's team and center Brown got eaten alive and eliminated by Or State's Gulich in Sweet 16.

I think it speaks more to Rueck's coaching ability. Gulich wasn't nearly as highly as regarded as Brown. While, i think Brown will have the more successful pro career. She has thw tools you cant teach, while Gulich has tools you can.

I am also a believer that Griner is very underdeveloped because of her tenure at Baylor. Mulkey only taught he to score right under the basket. She has an array of unstoppable moves now, but in College she was one-dimesnional. Basically unstoppable, but one-dimesnional nonetheless. Mulkey is a great recruiter, but an average coach. (Way better than HW though.) I will never understand scheduling cupcakes every damn year. Getting upset in the S16 happens cuz you played cupcakes

 

[baggerbob]

Jewell and Jordin each had 4 TOs. As they were losing momentum and the lead, some of their offensive possessions were inexplicably bad.

Jewell has been terrible for the last 3 games, and the turnovers, were one of the big stats in the game, Phoenix had 9 steals, and Seattle only 3.

 

[bballnut90]

Good for Griner. A makeup for blowing game two by fouling out with a stupid lazy incredulously dumb move at that point in the game. Sometimes you wonder if Griner gets any coaching or if Kim at Baylor knows how to coach. Kim's team and center Brown got eaten alive and eliminated by Or State's Gulich in Sweet 16.

Griner did make huge strides at Baylor...she was a much better player offensively as a senior than she was as a freshman. I thought she has had stagnant stretches in the pros but at Baylor was always improving.

 

[Golden Husky]

I think Dee did that intentionally.

Yeah, you're probably right.

 

[baggerbob]

Wow...this series has been just incredible. Bonner and Griner really carries Phoenix today. This was the most aggressive I’ve seen Griner play all year, aggressively going for rebounds, fighting through double teams, not shying away from contact....she’s unstoppable with this intensity every night. Her defense was much better today and especially on that last play.

Bonner just worked her butt off all night and was insanely aggressive going to the bucket. Resulted in her getting calls and finally finding a rhythm. Needs to bring that same mentality to game 5.

DT played very well in a more subdued role, she didn’t force much and let Bonner and Griner take over. Game 5 I expect she’ll take on a more prominent role.

Little was stellar once again defensively, so was January.

For Seattle they obviously missed Bird big time, I don’t expect the mask to bother her in game 5. The team just crumbled in the 2nd half. None of Stewart, Loyd or Canada made good decisions and their youth showed tonight.

Other tidbits...anyone notice the back and forth between Griner and Loyd? There were involved in a few fouls back and forth and I saw a few chippy plays out there. One play Griner stopped on her way back down the court so that Loyd would run into her and get tripped. I don’t love that, but it was the first time I’ve seen Griner exert some ‘tude so i thought it was a good sign for her.

I do hate all of the whining to the refs about every call...but it seems to work. Bonner started getting calls in her favor, DT did too after. Stewart got the short end of a couple of calls and I appreciated that she jogged back down the court rather than stopped to complain, but I did not think she got nearly as many calls to go her way as the game went on. Ultimately though, Phoenix was the far more aggressive team and that’s why they got the calls and why they won the game.

Looking at game 5, this one is a true toss up for me...you have Seattle who has been the best team all year and appears to be better with Sue in the lineup, but Phoenix has found ways to stay in these games and DT doesn’t lose winner take all games. I do think this is going to be DT’s toughest winner take all game yet though. Can’t wait for Tuesday.

Seattle better find a way to win a championship this year with Sue, because when she's gone they will never win one with Canada, and Loyd as the backcourt.

 

[bballnut90]

Seattle better find a way to win a championship this year with Sue, because when she's gone they will never win one with Canada, and Loyd as the backcourt.

They’ll likely be even better next year assuming Sue comes back. Canada has potential but I’ve never been very impressed with her decision making skills....I think she can man the point in future years but still has a long way to go.