The Chicago Sky defeated the Seattle Storm on Friday, 94-84 behind 21 points and 8 assists from Courtney Vandersloot. Elena Delle Donne returned to score 21 points, including 11-for-11 from the free-throw line.
The Storm gave the Sky trouble in the first half although failed to sustain the run. Still, there are positive takeaways from this loss.
Sue Bird, Jenna O'Hea, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Ramu Tokashiki, and Crystal Langhorne formed the five on the floor for the Storm during that stretch, and it was effective mainly due to the space it created to spread the Sky defense and open the floodgates.
The Storm relies on a bunch of pick and roll plays from top of the key and a lot of pin down screens or side pick and rolls for penetration.
Bird assisted two jumpers in that stretch, including an O'Hea triple after the defense collapsed. Tokashiki has a reliable mid-range game; the defense respected that and when there was a hard close out, she drove to the basket and finished strong.
Langhorne also has a penchant for diving to the paint after a high ball screen. She is an excellent roll option. She earned free throws in this stretch.
The Sky's big lead disappeared after all of that. The offense made the opponents work by moving the ball well, attacking and kicking the ball back out. That five on the floor outscored the Sky, 16-5.
Bird finished with 9 points and 8 assists. O'Hea was a plus-10 despite scoring only 5 points. Mosqueda-Lewis had 5 points in 11 minutes and was a plus-2.
Mosqueda-Lewis has been impressive in his last three outings for the Storm, averaging 11.3 points on 51 percent shooting in 15 minutes.
Prior to that three-game stretch, the rookie was averaging less than 9 minutes per match and was only putting up a mere 4 points a game.
Another positive aspect was Markiesha Gatling, who scored a career-high 16 points on 5-for-8 field goal shooting and 6-for-6 from the line.
She was excellent in diving to the basket and she uses her size pretty well to get an entry pass off a good seal.
The Storm lost but for Jenny Boucek, she should be thrilled as we are seeing tools to boost that offense. She just needs to find good combinations on the floor and the Storm shall even be a better team moving forward.
The Storm gave the Sky trouble in the first half although failed to sustain the run. Still, there are positive takeaways from this loss.
FINAL | Four in double figures, led by @keishagatling with 16 but the Storm fall 94-84. Back at it Sunday. pic.twitter.com/rH6ddDRxtu
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) August 15, 2015
Chicago was still in good control early in the second quarter, 30-20 before Seattle rallied to take a 36-35 lead, behind a unit on the floor that gave the former some fits.Sue Bird, Jenna O'Hea, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Ramu Tokashiki, and Crystal Langhorne formed the five on the floor for the Storm during that stretch, and it was effective mainly due to the space it created to spread the Sky defense and open the floodgates.
The Storm relies on a bunch of pick and roll plays from top of the key and a lot of pin down screens or side pick and rolls for penetration.
Bird assisted two jumpers in that stretch, including an O'Hea triple after the defense collapsed. Tokashiki has a reliable mid-range game; the defense respected that and when there was a hard close out, she drove to the basket and finished strong.
Langhorne also has a penchant for diving to the paint after a high ball screen. She is an excellent roll option. She earned free throws in this stretch.
The Sky's big lead disappeared after all of that. The offense made the opponents work by moving the ball well, attacking and kicking the ball back out. That five on the floor outscored the Sky, 16-5.
Bird finished with 9 points and 8 assists. O'Hea was a plus-10 despite scoring only 5 points. Mosqueda-Lewis had 5 points in 11 minutes and was a plus-2.
Mosqueda-Lewis has been impressive in his last three outings for the Storm, averaging 11.3 points on 51 percent shooting in 15 minutes.
Prior to that three-game stretch, the rookie was averaging less than 9 minutes per match and was only putting up a mere 4 points a game.
Another positive aspect was Markiesha Gatling, who scored a career-high 16 points on 5-for-8 field goal shooting and 6-for-6 from the line.
She was excellent in diving to the basket and she uses her size pretty well to get an entry pass off a good seal.
The Storm lost but for Jenny Boucek, she should be thrilled as we are seeing tools to boost that offense. She just needs to find good combinations on the floor and the Storm shall even be a better team moving forward.
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