Basketball is all about talent. The better teams usually have the best talents or loaded/stacked rosters. This is why teams like the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty are on top of their respective conferences.
For other squads, it's about being well-constructed in order to be competitive even if they lack an amount of talent or if they have players who can only do so much with their respective skill sets.
Jenna O'Hea and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis are shooters. They shoot. It's what they do. So for the Storm to succeed, it's about feeding them or creating scoring opportunities for them. That's their role.
Good thing, Jenny Boucek has Sue Bird, one of the best playmakers the game has ever seen.
The Storm rallied from 16 points down to stun the Sparks on Tuesday night, 85-77.
The Sparks did not have Alana Beard and Erin Phillips for the match, and it their absence was felt towards the end when the Storm decided to flock the paint and shut down passing lanes as they knew it was only Candace Parker (12 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists) who would create/read for the Sparks.
It was impressive how Nneka Ogwumike and Jantel Lavender have adjusted since Parker's return to complement her game. With Parker as the playmaker in a face-up position, all the other bigs have to do is to move well with out the leather.
Ogwumike and Lavender did that, sometimes diving to the basket or flashing in the weakside; they also get a good seal underneath when there are mismatches to get baskets in the interior.
Lavender had 22 points while Ogwumike added 16 points.
But in the end, the Storm clamped down inside, and did not let the Sparks beat them from the inside. With such tenacity on defense, the Storm made it difficult for the Sparks to create.
Instead, they were forced to beat the Storm from the outside but they did not have enough firepower to do so, as the Storm were also quick to recover around the perimeter.
Parker was forced to take outside shots; Ana Dabovic and Kristi Toliver were well-covered. The Sparks backcourt (Dabovic, Toliver, Temeka Johnson, Fahriya Abdi) were only 7-for-21 overall.
The Storm played the percentages. The Sparks were only 10th in the league in three-point shooting, and they finished with a 26-percent clip compared to the Storm's 41 percent.
Bird scored 15 points and dished out 5 assists; her quickness drew the attention of the Sparks defense, and Los Angeles did not have enough quickness to recover defensively after Bird's penetrations.
Her pick and roll plays with Crystal Langhorne (18 points, 6 rebounds) also disrupted the defensive rotations, and generated offense for the Storm.
And with shooters on the floor for Seattle, the defense opened up. Even if they were not attempting too much, their mere presence demands attention/respect for their reputation as shooters.
Jewell Loyd finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, playing one of her better games in the season and providing the Storm with an extra playmaker.
O'Hea was plus-12, while Abby Bishop was plus-10 as the two were also part of the fourth quarter surge where the Storm stole momentum and the game.
Boucek found a way to counter Los Angeles' size by making use of her team's strengths and utilizing them collectively for the win.
Often regarded as someone still adjusting to the WNBA game, Mosqueda-Lewis played her finest performance yet, notching a career-high 15 points in only 12 minutes of play, shooting 6-for-11 from the field.
This is where she can be an effective system player; he does not demand the ball too much but can make impact on the floor for short stretches. All you have to do is give her the space to hoist the three.
She isn't one of the best three-point shooters during her college days for nothing, and in an era where the long bomb is now more of a necessity and not just a novelty, Mosqueda-Lewis can make a mark.
For other squads, it's about being well-constructed in order to be competitive even if they lack an amount of talent or if they have players who can only do so much with their respective skill sets.
FINAL | STORM WINS!!!!
4 Storm players score in double-figures as Seattle sweeps the season series with LA! pic.twitter.com/MfALjVpRqL
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) August 12, 2015
Jenna O'Hea and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis are shooters. They shoot. It's what they do. So for the Storm to succeed, it's about feeding them or creating scoring opportunities for them. That's their role.
Good thing, Jenny Boucek has Sue Bird, one of the best playmakers the game has ever seen.
The Storm rallied from 16 points down to stun the Sparks on Tuesday night, 85-77.
The Sparks did not have Alana Beard and Erin Phillips for the match, and it their absence was felt towards the end when the Storm decided to flock the paint and shut down passing lanes as they knew it was only Candace Parker (12 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists) who would create/read for the Sparks.
It was impressive how Nneka Ogwumike and Jantel Lavender have adjusted since Parker's return to complement her game. With Parker as the playmaker in a face-up position, all the other bigs have to do is to move well with out the leather.
Ogwumike and Lavender did that, sometimes diving to the basket or flashing in the weakside; they also get a good seal underneath when there are mismatches to get baskets in the interior.
Lavender had 22 points while Ogwumike added 16 points.
But in the end, the Storm clamped down inside, and did not let the Sparks beat them from the inside. With such tenacity on defense, the Storm made it difficult for the Sparks to create.
Instead, they were forced to beat the Storm from the outside but they did not have enough firepower to do so, as the Storm were also quick to recover around the perimeter.
Parker was forced to take outside shots; Ana Dabovic and Kristi Toliver were well-covered. The Sparks backcourt (Dabovic, Toliver, Temeka Johnson, Fahriya Abdi) were only 7-for-21 overall.
The Storm played the percentages. The Sparks were only 10th in the league in three-point shooting, and they finished with a 26-percent clip compared to the Storm's 41 percent.
Bird scored 15 points and dished out 5 assists; her quickness drew the attention of the Sparks defense, and Los Angeles did not have enough quickness to recover defensively after Bird's penetrations.
Her pick and roll plays with Crystal Langhorne (18 points, 6 rebounds) also disrupted the defensive rotations, and generated offense for the Storm.
And with shooters on the floor for Seattle, the defense opened up. Even if they were not attempting too much, their mere presence demands attention/respect for their reputation as shooters.
Jewell Loyd finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, playing one of her better games in the season and providing the Storm with an extra playmaker.
O'Hea was plus-12, while Abby Bishop was plus-10 as the two were also part of the fourth quarter surge where the Storm stole momentum and the game.
Boucek found a way to counter Los Angeles' size by making use of her team's strengths and utilizing them collectively for the win.
Often regarded as someone still adjusting to the WNBA game, Mosqueda-Lewis played her finest performance yet, notching a career-high 15 points in only 12 minutes of play, shooting 6-for-11 from the field.
This is where she can be an effective system player; he does not demand the ball too much but can make impact on the floor for short stretches. All you have to do is give her the space to hoist the three.
She isn't one of the best three-point shooters during her college days for nothing, and in an era where the long bomb is now more of a necessity and not just a novelty, Mosqueda-Lewis can make a mark.
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