Defining what the Seattle Storm need to go right in 2018, through their own words.
The 2018 WNBA season is upon us, and every team faces some key questions that will define its season. We spoke to key stakeholders in Seattle, where the Storm are looking to make a massive leap forward from last season’s 15-19 mark, thanks to the addition of new head coach Dan Hughes, frontcourt acquisitions Courtney Paris and Natasha Howard, and top draft pick Jordin Canada.
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Here are three quotes that summarize best what the Storm need to make that leap forward into the WNBA elite.
“There will be times we’re not gonna be real big but boy, we’re gonna be pretty quick if you put Jordin Canada and Jewel Loyd on the floor at the same time.” – Dan Hughes
This is a nod to something that should be glorious in execution: a three-guard set with Canada playing the point, Sue Bird off the ball, and Jewell Loyd out on the wing. Imagine, for a moment, the defensive choices involved here. Let’s say it’s Breanna Stewart at the four in this scenario, and either Natasha Howard or Courtney Paris at the five for rim protection and rebounding. Are you not doubling Stewart? Good luck with that. Double her off Paris or Howard, and there are unlimited second shot opportunities, while Loyd, Canada and Bird are all working one-on-one. Double Stewart with any of their defenders, and you’re giving a pair of deadeye shooters in Loyd and Bird open looks, Canada a free path to the basket.
“She’s appearing to be a little bit stronger. I think when you first come into this league, it’s a very physical league and it’s very easy to get knocked off your spot, or it’s easy to have position but just kind of get pushed out of the way, that kind of stuff. So I just think what you’re seeing with Stewie is the combination of maybe some outer strength. I know she’s been really focused on working on her body and getting all that right in the last couple of months.
“So it’s the combination of that but also experience. You know as you enter your third year, your fourth year, you really start to have an understanding of who you are as a basketball player and who you are in the grander scheme of the game which is the WNBA.” – Sue Bird
Look, the skill set Breanna Stewart brings to the game of basketball makes it really difficult to project her ceiling. But if Sue Bird thinks there’s more growth in her game, and the changing personnel around Stewart seems to open things up for her in some new ways, it is worth considering what that will mean for the Storm.
In her rookie year, by win shares, Stewart ranked fourth in the league. In year two, she finished ninth. So she’s been a top ten player already. But for instance, she shot 33.8 percent from three as a rookie, 37.1 percent in 2017. Can she consistently top 40 percent from deep? At the three, will she rack up steals by jumping into passing lanes the way she did at Connecticut? Will her fourth quarter production improve without needing to bang for rebounds so much against the league’s fours and fives? She sees the floor like a point guard, and Hughes wants her to bring the ball up at times: will her assist percentage jump? The glorious thing about Stewart is, all this and more is on the table.
“I think that’s just a mindset that we all have within the Storm franchise, and in hiring Dan. He’s been a successful coach, and he knows how to win, and we want that winning culture back with the Storm. The past few years haven’t been great, and we don’t wanna wait any longer to start winning, and to start turning things around.” – Breanna Stewart
That’s the biggest takeaway from all they’ve done here. There was a school of thought for Seattle to bring in a young coach, look to build a roster for the future, around Stewart/Loyd and whoever they drafted, without much focus on 2018. That would have wasted Bird’s endless prime, however, and the Storm managed to strike a balance here. There’s a future if you look at the roster, but there’s absolutely a pathway to 2018 WNBA supremacy, too. Hard to see any team that had a better offseason than the Seattle Storm, and we’re about to watch what it all means.