Storm burnt away by Sun in 20 point loss to begin big July road trip
By Bella Munson
Montville, CT - The first quarter, and some of the second, are really all that matter in how this game became the Storm’s fourth loss in a row, but how they improved in the second half and continue to learn from that first half is most important moving forward.
First quarter disaster
There is no nice way to put it for Storm fans, Seattle’s first-quarter defense was, as head coach Noelle Quinn put it, “atrocious.” The visitors simply could not overcome that disastrous first quarter where the Connecticut Sun outscored them 29-6. Outscored by 23 points in just the first quarter. The second quarter went only slightly better with Seattle only putting up 18 points to Connecticut’s 28.
Credit however must be given to the Sun who played outstanding basketball. Without Brionna Jones for the rest of the season due to an achilles injury and missing key spark off the bench Dijonai Carrington due to non-covid illness, they could’ve struggled. Instead, they looked like a team that had gotten the chance to rest and finetune their already talented offense in full practices.
Half-court execution, full-court execution, transition defense, transition offense, playing through physicality, attacking the paint, pinpoint passes, sharing the ball, finding teammates, moving the defense… it was all executed flawlessly by the Sun during the first half. And a special shout out to Tiffany Hayes’ defense on Jewell Loyd as she did a fantastic job keeping her to just 9 first half points, Loyd is just so good she still scored 22 points, what else is new.
At halftime, the score was 57-24 and Connecticut were shooting a fantastic 66.7% from the floor. They also tied a franchise record for most assists in both a quarter (11 in the first quarter) and a half (19 in the first half). Four of five Sun starters scored double digits in the first half alone. A brilliant performance from the Sun but it was also made easier by Seattle’s poor performance and speaking after the loss Storm head coach Quinn did not mince words.
Quinn described her team’s defense in that first quarter as “atrocious, non-existent, no resistance, felt like it was just open gym out there, no discipline, a lot of bad things.” Ezi Magbegor and Jewell Loyd echoed that sentiment themselves with Loyd saying “they made shots and we turned the ball over and missed shots” while Magbegor pointed specifically to the lack of transition defense.
Some second half positives
Quinn said the halftime adjustment made was turnovers. The first half featured 15 Storm turnovers, live ball turnovers, that the Sun almost always scored on. Both Loyd and Quinn acknowledged that part of the issue leading to the turnovers and poor defense was a lack of effort. “Our sense of urgency, our pride, our heart, all of those things have to come into play, particularly when we’re playing a tough team like this” Quinn told media.
The third and fourth quarters were much closer, Seattle even managed to have the upper hand 28-13 in the fourth, but at that point in the match Connecticut had led by as many as 37 and it became time for reserves on both sides to get minutes.
While Loyd and Magbegor barely played in the fourth quarter they credited their teammates for how well they played, calling out their ball movement and ability to make shots.
Quinn acknowledged Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu and Jade Melbourne for their fourth-quarter play in particular. “I thought that second half was better. Some good things from Dulcy, just playing hard, getting extra possessions. Jade came in there and was able to use her pace and create, get downhill. So for our young players, it was good to have them get some reps.”
Moving forward
So where do the Storm go from here? The second game on their road trip is coming up quickly as they will face the Liberty on Saturday, so while they need to learn from their mistakes, they need to get ready for the next. It’s a game you want to forget but you can’t entirely otherwise you won’t improve.
How does a team improve something intangible like heart? For Seattle’s head coach, it feels somewhat out of her hands. “Individually, it's just a mindset, at the end of the day we’re pros, we get paid to play basketball, this is our job, we have to show up, and however as individuals that happens, it needs to happen. And I will continue to search and see what we have to do from a lineup standpoint, from a matchup standpoint, but at the end of the day this is our livelihood, we don’t have a choice but to show up and play hard, that’s a non-negotiable.”
Defensively, and in terms of effort, the return of Gabby Williams should immediately contribute to improving those areas, but one player can’t create motivation and energy for all others. Maybe her energy and work ethic will rub off on her teammates, but it is something that must come from each individual player on their own.
Each player will have to find that for themselves but for now, Noelle Quinn said it is “moving forward, we can’t get this game back or the way in which we played it back but we can learn from it grow, and make a change on Saturday.”
The leader of this team was once again on the same page as Loyd said “basketball is a very simple game. People make it complicated. So for us it’s getting back to the basics and fundamentals. We have a long road trip so we need to make the most of it and improve every single day.”