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Twelve video games into the 2024 WNBA season, the Seattle Storm are making progress at 8-4 and are presently seeded at No. 4 within the league standings—proper round the place Swish Attraction workers predicted they’d be within the website’s preseason power rankings.
One has to marvel what the Storm can be trying like in the event that they didn’t have the Minnesota Lynx on their schedule—Seattle dropped yet one more recreation to Minnesota final weekend, falling to 0-3 in opposition to the Lynx on the season—however they’ve been in any other case stable since a sluggish begin. Seattle is 4-1 in its last five games and is outscoring its opponents by 11.2 factors per 100 possessions throughout that span.
Whereas a few of the WNBA’s different high groups have needed to overcome harm points early within the season, for Seattle, it’s been extra about establishing chemistry between its star gamers. Although the Storm signed guard Skylar Diggins-Smith and ahead Nneka Ogwumike, two of the most-decorated gamers in league historical past at their respective positions, for 2024, there’s nonetheless been a little bit of an acclimation interval because the franchise shifts gears from long-term participant growth and rebuilding (11-29 report in 2023) again right into a win-now mentality.
“Because it pertains to an identification, we’ve talked about being aggressive and we’ve talked about being disciplined,” Storm head coach Noelle Quinn mentioned of her group previous to its current win over Los Angeles. “I believe that we’re doing that at a excessive stage.”
In that respect, Ogwumike’s fingerprints are all around the Storm’s ascent. She’s been recognized all through her storied profession for each her management and extremely environment friendly scoring, and although she’s nearing her thirty fourth birthday, Ogwumike is displaying no indicators of slowing down, averaging 18.2 factors and seven.7 rebounds per recreation whereas rating No. 5 within the WNBA in true capturing proportion (64.7 p.c; Basketball Reference). Her steadiness has been an anchor for the Storm as Diggins-Smith adjusts to taking part in alongside fellow star guard Jewell Loyd, and as a veteran chief, her tutelage of heart Ezi Magbegor (13.2 factors, 9.4 rebounds and three blocks per recreation) is difficult to overstate.
“She seems to be nice in inexperienced,” Quinn mentioned of Ogwumike, and Storm followers absolutely agree.
Can the Storm beat the Lynx when it issues most?
Not counting their video games in opposition to Minnesota, the Storm are 8-1.
Sadly, all regular-season video games depend, and the Lynx have unquestionably had the Storm’s quantity so far in 2024. After a pair of shut losses to Minnesota to open the season, Seattle dropped yet one more recreation to the Lynx final weekend, popping out flat within the second half and in the end losing by 19 points. Quinn was fast to determine poor offense because the wrongdoer, asserting, “We are able to’t rating 11 and 12 factors within the second half and win video games … [We need to] develop from that and be higher in our system because it pertains to offense.”
Simply as of their first two conferences, the duo of Diggins-Smith and Loyd struggled in opposition to the Lynx, combining to shoot 12-for-39 (30.8 p.c) from the sphere. In three games against Minnesota, that quantity is simply 27.2 p.c.
That clearly isn’t a recipe for achievement, and the Storm may have only one extra shot on the Lynx through the common season. It should wait till July 12, and whereas Seattle has already misplaced its season sequence to Minnesota, that recreation should be massive for playoff seeding. The Lynx (9-3) are one recreation forward of the Storm within the WNBA standings, and it wouldn’t be a shock if the 2 groups stay inside shouting distance of each other because the postseason rolls round. Hopefully for Quinn and her workers, that will likely be sufficient time for Seattle’s chemistry to be absolutely established.
