Sun @ Storm preview: Is Seattle a title contender?

Seattle is a sneaky under the radar pick to win the WNBA title, but the question is how sneaky. The advanced metrics show them right in the mix after New York and Minnesota with teams Atlanta, Phoenix, and (yes) Indiana. 

Storm rookie Dominique Malonga (courtesy ESPN)
But the Storm are slightly different than the rest because they lack a true star, in fact, the one star they had - Jewell Loyd - they traded under not so great circumstances that involved allegations of harassment that carried into this season when Loyd played against Seattle for the first time, kind of a sad ending for someone who won two titles there and was a six-time All-Star.


Seattle went out and drafted Dominique Malonga with the pick they got from trading Loyd, then grabbed Erica Wheeler and Alysha Clark and have regrouped accordingly.


Interestingly, it hasn’t been on the defensive end, which is significantly weaker than 2024 so far. Seattle is third in the WNBA in shooting (effective FG%), and is just behind the aforementioned Liberty and Lynx and lead the league in three-point shooting (37.0%) with almost everyone, save Malonga and Ezi Magbegor, being a threat from outside.


What can the Sun do against a very consistent squad? It’s going to be tall order on both ends, but we shall see:


SUN @ SEATTLE STORM


Time: Friday, 10 p.m. EDT


Place: Climate Pledge Arena; Seattle, Wash.


Records: Connecticut 2-13; Seattle 9-6


TV: ION, WNBA League Pass


Line: Seattle -18.5


Absences: Connecticut - Marina Mabrey (out, knee); Leila Lacan (out, still in Europe).

Seattle - Lexie Brown (out, illness).


History between them: Seattle routed Connecticut in a preseason game on the west coast, but that was long ago. The home team won all three matchups last season, but the Sun had won 6 straight in the series before that.


What to look for: The Storm is coming off a tough home loss to Caitlin Clark and Indiana, in which they gave up 94 points and a ridiculous 51.7% offensive rebounding rate. Although they shoot the ball well, the Storm are a bad rebounding team (dead last in offensive rebounding, too) and don’t go to the line much, so if Connecticut can get them on a cold night, maybe they have a chance? Maybe?


Of course, they still have to score at the other end and it would be nice to score in the first eight minutes. The Sun really should have closer than 11 at halftime against Las Vegas and got it to four before everything went sideways in a hurry. And that’s a big danger for a fragile team on the road, once Seattle goes on a run, how will the Sun respond without Mabrey?





Key players:  Connecticut: Aneesah Morrow - With the Storm not very good on the glass, might this be a game where Morrow can break out? She has to get some minutes first, obviously, we’ll see if that happens.


Seattle: Alysha Clark - It’s been up and down for Clark since coming over from Las Vegas, but she’s certainly a great shooter and she’ll get some looks, but had only two points in the loss to the Fever.


Advanced stat:  0.926 - Points per possession for Connecticut this season. For reference, there is only one other team below 1, Chicago at 0.992 ppp.


Tactical spotlight: The Sun are going to have to get the ball inside early and often, but Seattle is well aware of that. Olivia Nelson-Ododa was much more aggressive offensively against Las Vegas, and I’d really love to see her and Morrow get some minutes together, but I’m not coaching the team. Also, Jacy Sheldon has to shoot the ball, hopefully someone on the coaching staff has pointed that out to her in the last few days.


On the other end, what makes the Storm so tough is the diversity of weapons they have. Skylar Diggins leads them at 18.7 points per game, but Nneka Ogwumike is right behind (16.7), and Gabby Williams is at 14.0. Four players (led by Malonga) are over 20% for usage rate, so who is going to step up is difficult to predict, especially for the defense.


Inside the numbers: 12- Number of minutes Aneesah Morrow played against Las Vegas on Wednesday, we’ll see if she gets a few more Friday.


Prediction: 90-80 Seattle


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