What the Seattle Storm need to execute better to win Game 2

In the first game, the Storm were prepared and knew what they needed to do. However, they did not execute from tipoff and by the time halftime came around they were too deep in a hole.

“I felt like they were more ready than we were when we started the game,” Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike said postgame. “It felt like we had an idea of what we wanted to do, but they did what they wanted to do to start the game off. We were a bit more reactive, not proactive. And even in moments when we had to kind of make decisions, at least in the beginning, we weren’t responsive…. You can’t do that against a team like this.”

Seattle were outscored 22-12 in the first quarter and 13-23 in the second quarter. The Storm had five turnovers in the first quarter alone while only getting scoring out of two of their starters the entire first half, Ogwumike and Gabby Williams.

“You can’t score 12 and 13 points in the first half on the road against a team who is red hot,” head coach Noelle Quinn said. “We turned the ball over to start the game. That kind of set the tone for what we did offensively — not a lot of pace, not a lot of intentionality with attacking their switches. Can’t win a game like that.” 

Though Seattle’s winning record at home isn’t as good as their record on the road, they can’t imagine not getting a boost from playing at home and taking advantage of that.

“You’re at home, you’re sleeping in your bed, you have the fans there, there’s more of a familiarity with your routine,” Ogwumike said of the benefits of being at home. “But at the end of the day the game is going to get played, and there’s teams that are looking to advance. As much energy and as much as our fans deserve for us to play well and win in front of them, we have to figure out how to do it no matter what, and that’s going to be the test on Tuesday.”

Executing to their strengths

The first half presented the most problems for Seattle but they also struggled to play their game throughout all four quarters.

“I think [head coach Noelle Quinn] was heavy on our turnovers, that’s not us,” Williams said of Quinn’s postgame message to the team. “A lot of what happened tonight was — they obviously played great, they’ve been playing great for the last however many games — but a lot of tonight was things that we can control, our turnovers, especially.”

The Storm committed 13 turnovers throughout the game which resulted in 21 points for Vegas. Las Vegas had 10 turnovers that the Storm scored just 12 points off of.

Seattle is a team that wants to play with pace, get easy buckets in transition — it was an area that players and coach identified as key to success before the series began — but they only scored 14 fast break points.

Another strength of their game that Seattle knew would be key was their defense. Perhaps obvious from the 102 points that Vegas put on the board, the defense just did not show up. Vegas also had 21 free throws attempts to Seattle’s 11.

“Defensively we were just late on everything,” Williams said. “We just weren’t ready. I don’t think they did anything offensively different. Obviously, when you look at the free throws they were getting, the foul count, a lot of it was just because we were out of position, because we were reacting late to something. So we just have to be ready, on our toes. We have the scout, we have everything that we need to we just have to be ready.”

Offensively, Seattle was forced to play their halfcourt game while the home team executed a lot of defensive switches. The Storm were not surprised by the volume of switching and had wanted to take advantage of it, but didn’t.

“I was thinking that they were going to be a little bit more aggressive on the Skylar [Diggins] – Nneka coverage. They ended up switching that we just weren’t patient in finding Nneka in the paint in order to execute on the switches,” Quinn said. “They were coming big. They were trapping, showing bodies a little bit even on her post touches. But we have to execute the switches way better than we did. Just have to have way more poise and not give them the ball.”

“I think that’s going to be something that we look a lot at on video, understanding how they’re loaded up on defense, and perhaps figuring out what we can do with the mismatches,” Ogwumike said. “Also understanding that there will be a lot of switching, which I think at times disrupted us tonight, so we’ll be able to look back at that and figure out what we can do.”

Needing more offense from Sykes and Malonga

Seattle will need increased scoring across the board if they want to beat an Aces team that put up 102 points on Sunday and is on a win streak that’s extended to 17 games.

“We’re going to continue to need everybody,” Quinn said. “It has to be a team effort.”

Two players will be particularly key. First, guard Brittney Sykes, who was acquired after the All-Star break to help with the playoff push. Sykes ended up playing just 16 minutes, converting none of her three shots, taking no free throws, committing five turnovers and recording just one assist and two rebounds as she was held scoreless. 

“Yeah we need Slim. A; to get to the free throw line for us, that’s one thing that she does at a high level,” Quinn said referring to Sykes by her nickname. “She’s capable of getting downhill. On the other side of the floor, just continue to need her presence on their athletic guards.”

Another player who struggled on Sunday is rookie Dominique Malonga who has typically provided a massive scoring punch off the bench for Seattle throughout the season. Though she ended the game with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds she was unable to help Seattle through their first half woes. The French 19-year-old was unusually inefficient as she shot 1-for-8 from the floor in the first half, registering just two points.

Malonga played 15 minutes in the second half during which she looked a little more comfortable finally seeing some shots go down. She ended the game 4-for-11.

“It was important to have her find some rhythm. We’re gonna need Dom’s point,” Quinn said. “It is a physical  game, and we have to kind of push through some physicality. She usually gets to the free throw line, didn’t get there as much. But it was good to see her settle into the game the second half because we’re going to need that effort on Tuesday.”

Balancing patience and urgency

This Storm team is plenty experienced and knows the mindset it will take to find success. 

“It’s kind of a tale of who we are as we’ve evolved through the season,” Ogwumike said. “It’s not going to come down to one or two plays. It’s going to come down to us collectively and how we’ve been navigating ourselves since after All-Star and being in tighter games and being able to turn that around, being in games where we have to start better, figuring out how we can put four quarters together. I think that in combination with playoff experience at different levels, individually and also our collective goal is what’s going to help us be in a better position on Tuesday.”

Quinn emphasized that her team needs to stay the course throughout the entire game and not get too high or too low. When things aren’t working she said she tries to simplify the game, focus on possession by possession, and chip away at the deficit.

“We got it down to five and then all of a sudden, again, weren’t disciplined defensively and offensively,” Quinn said. “So it’s doable, but we just have to stay way sharper than we were.”

That needed discipline will require a balance of patience and urgency.

“The patience is sort of like the be quick but don’t hurry. The patience is understanding playoff basketball. That it becomes possession by possession, and understanding the execution and how we can do that. It is taking a beat and looking, surveying the floor,” Quinn said. “The urgency is more of an energy thing. It is more of a mindset thing. I don’t think that our pace was where we needed to be. … Defensive activity was limp, it was not indicative of who we really are. And then our fast break points, getting generating turnovers to easy baskets wasn’t up to par. And so that aspect of it, [that needs] urgency. But then when we get in these specific possessions, we have to take our time and read the game. …

“It’s about energy, effort and focus. It is between our ears and understanding that it’s going to take more than just the energy. Is going to take execution. It’s going to take all the other intangibles in order to get this thing back to Vegas.”