Storm Defeat Sparks 76-75: "I never been defeated and I won't stop now"

Prior to the game I had a chance to speak with Tina Thompson and DeLisha Milton-Jones about how the Storm stack up against some of the great teams they played for in the past.

To paraphrase for now, Thompson said greatness is based on getting championships, emphasis on the “s” — those Comets teams of the late 1990’s didn’t feel “great” until they won three titles, not just two in a row. As such, there is no comparison between the Storm and those great Comets teams until they get to that point.

Milton-Jones felt similarly adding that one title is nice, but until you get more than one — or two in a row — you can’t be considered great. That said, she things the Storm exude that same type of determination as the Sparks teams at the turn of the millennium — confidence and strong leadership from their stars with everyone else supporting them. The way to stop them: take away what they want to do and take them out of their rhythm. Of course given their composure, that’s difficult to do.

Agler expects everybody on the team to get minutes tonight, but they do want to go into the playoffs sharp.

Unsurprisingly, the records are not something they discuss much but Agler gave an analogy: if someone said they’d give me $500 to name the Storm’s starters, would you do it? Yes. So similarly, if these records are sitting in front of them, the Storm will take them. It’s something that the team would remember for the rest of their lives so it’s a goal you want to attain.

Founder Trish Millines-Dziko — a former Microsoft employee — accepted the honor.

Check ’em out: http://techaccess.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn_95hdy6Nw

Fun? Or overkill?

Crowd is into it with their green shirts on…

Before the game, Tina Thompson said regarding the Storm’s chance of setting a few records tonight: “I mean, if they do it, I mean, congratulations to them, but we’re definitely not going to make it easy.”

So far, that’s what’s happening. The Sparks are not a particularly strong defensive team, but have forced 3 turnovers in the first five minutes and are rotating quite well. The Storm are not playing poorly, but the Sparks are definitely better than the last time we saw them here.

This Sparks team looks much better than the one we saw before and even better than I’ve normally seen on TV.

The biggest difference is their movement on offense. They had a tendency to be really stagnant before, especially with Parker in the lineup, and now they are coming around off ball screens, cutting to the basket, getting shooters open for good looks. It’s a perfect kind of offense for a player like Penicheiro who just knows how to make things happen when there are multiple things going on at once.

This is not to say that Parker is the problem, but Parker’s absence forced the Sparks to change and they’ve changed for the better.

And let out a yell.

She was laughing after the play as LJ came over to celebrate with her…

Cold blooded.

Still an even game with defensive intensity on both ends, but the Sparks are just blowing a few layups that really are easy to convert.

The question is whether the Sparks stick with what’s working or lose their composure.

The inaugural Brian Agler stanky leg fan dance just occurred…

I’m in tears… that is hilarious…

Exciting end to the 2nd quarter with Svetlana Abrosimova hitting a three to end the half.

Overall, there is excellent defensive intensity on both ends of the floor, the difference is that the Sparks are starting to over commit in places and giving the Storm a few more favorable shots.

The Storm haven’t quite hit their flow just yet.

A side note, looking ahead to the college season – Joan Bonvicini (Seattle U coach) and Tia Jackson (Washington coach) are on opposite sides of the arena. I want a shooting contest.

The Storm got on a roll with Camille Little hitting a bunch of consecutive baskets (I count 4?) and then Tanisha Wright hitting a three to cap it off.

The Sparks — and particularly Milton-Jones — are not exactly going away, but right now we’re seeing a repeat of the 2nd half intensity in the last game against the Lynx: Little just looks tired of being pushed around inside and is going to work on the Sparks.

She’s getting mauled down there

How come I didn’t know this? EGAD! Oh well, at least I got to see “Cool Hand Luke” again.

The Storm’s defense has once again ratcheted up a notch in the second half…and I think the crowd is fond of ARob’s blocks. She’s looking as comfortable as I’ve ever seen her out there going hard for rebounds and aggressively looking to block shots.

This game is going to be decided defensively, which must be an adjustment for the Storm after playing the Mercury last night….not to mention the Sparks who played the Lynx…

Miss Camille Little at all?

Career-high 22 points…

She jumped up and threw a punch at the air while sitting at the scorer’s table..

…and it’s a game again!

The refs made a terrible call on Wright… and then changed it to a 3 pt attempt… I hope they get an escort out of KeyArena because the fans were NOT happy..

Anyway, whatever that was about… the Sparks are playing hard and have gotten back to moving the ball… which is setting them up for more open shots. I’m not sure why they stopped moving without the ball last quarter, but the Storm got a few slow rotations there in the last minute or two which got them burned…

It might be time for more ARob to swat some of these shots…

…as they’d say at Philips Arena.

…holding his thumb up saying “MMM MM! MMM MM!!”

(Well, it sounds like that on tV.)

LA finally throws more than a pebble.

Wooooo!

…I think I jinxed ya, Q.

Andrea Riley is on the floor in front of us on media row and when Thompson shot the three she was on her back sliding across the baseline and then let out a “WOOOOOOOOOO!” with the fist pump when Thompson hit it.

Think she’s excitable?

Crowd revved up for (another) tense finish… perfect for fan appreciation night: give em heart attacks.

…tweaked something in her leg. Grimacing on sidelines.

SEA 76 LAS 75. 6.1 seconds to go. Sparks ball.

Could you have written a better ending?

PA: “Once again, we did it: 17-0!”

SEA
PHO

and then SAS and LA, in some undetermined order, depending on tomorrow’s game.

I expect Seattle to sweep either of those teams out in the first round.