Seattle Storm: Takeaways from Tuesday’s Defeat to the Lynx

The Seattle Storm fell to 10-5 on the season following a 91-79 defeat on the road to the Minnesota Lynx.

The final score doesn’t tell the full story, as the Lynx were in control from start to finish. Minnesota led by as many as 21 points and dominated in almost every facet.

Maya Moore had a game-high 32 points, while Sylvia Fowles was unstoppable inside (28 points, 17 rebounds).

Breanna Stewart led the Storm with 27 points, but she was Seattle’s lone bright spot.

Storm fans will want to soon forget this game, but here are some of the biggest takeaways from the result.

More from Seattle Storm

• Sue Bird says goodbye as Las Vegas Aces advance to WNBA Finals
• 3 Must-watch matchups in Storm, Aces WNBA Playoffs series
• Seattle Comes Back Late, Beats Washington In Game One
• What’s happening with Tina Charles?
• Your Day in Women’s Basketball, October 8: The Storm are WNBA champions. What’s next?

Loyd is Regressing

It’s one of those things you didn’t want to say out loud for fear of it being true, but Jewell Loyd is in a funk. She had five points Tuesday night, shooting 2-of-11 from the field and 1-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Since Loyd’s streak of five straight 20-point games ended in May, she has a .379 field-goal percentage and a .260 three-point percentage.

On the whole, Loyd is a more complete player than she ever was in her first three seasons in the WNBA. With that said, she’s a scorer first and foremost, and the Storm are going to be in trouble if her efficiency doesn’t improve.

Seattle is 5-4 since Loyd’s offense went cold, which isn’t a coincidence. Looking at the bigger picture, the Storm’s ceiling as a team is lower if Loyd doesn’t turn things around.

The Storm Still Have No Answer for Syl

Did contemplating Loyd’s disappointing month provide a sufficient level of panic? How about this: The Storm still can’t defend Fowles. Her 28 points came on 11-of-15 shooting.

In the second half of the team’s 97-76 win over the Dallas Wings, Seattle succeeded in pushing Liz Cambage away from the basket and double-teaming her when she got the ball inside.

The Storm were able to do neither against Fowles. She feasted on single coverage, and quite often she’d receive the ball just outside the restricted area. When you’re letting Fowles get the ball that deep into the paint, you’ve already lost.

Although the Storm had a productive offseason, they didn’t fully address one of their biggest issues from last year. Courtney Paris is a historically great rebounder, but she’s not an elite rim protector. And for all of her impressive blocks, Stewart generally hasn’t played well the league’s best offensive centers.

Last year, the Storm were sixth in defensive PPP on post-ups (0.947), according to Synergy Sports. This year, Seattle has slipped to ninth (0.992).

Natasha Howard is averaging a career-high 1.8 blocks per game, but ball denial is one of her biggest strengths when it comes to defending the paint. She can use her long reach to disrupt her opponent and cut off passing lanes.

Howard can’t really do that against Fowles, who has four inches on her and is too skilled to get pushed around.

For head coach Dan Hughes and his staff, it’s back to the drawing board on how to limit Fowles’ impact.

MVBre

The one overarching positive from Tuesday’s game is it helped bolster Stewart’s MVP candidacy.

Take away Stewart’s offense and Seattle scored 55 points on 35.7 percent shooting. That’s not going to get it done against the reigning WNBA champions.

Calling the Storm a one-woman team would be unfair, because a team doesn’t have the best net rating in the WNBA (8.1) without a great collective effort.

That said, Stewart’s numbers of late speak for themselves. In Seattle’s last six games, she’s averaging 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.5 blocks. Stewart has been so good her flirting with a double-double and dropping 20 points is becoming rote.

MVP voters could potentially dock Stewart for her defense, which still leaves something to be desired for a player with her immense talent. Her contributions on offense far outweigh her defensive weaknesses, though.

Stewart was No. 2 in the most recent WNBA MVP ladder, and that might have to change when the next rankings are unveiled.

A Fully Functional Alysha Clark Could Have Helped

Alysha Clark returned to the lineup Tuesday night after missing the last three games with an ankle injury. Clark only played 12:28 while Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis started at the 3.

Hughes was right to limit Clark’s minutes. There’s no reason to push her too hard for a regular-season game in June, even if it is against the reigning champs.

But having Clark come off the bench left the Storm with no clear matchup for Moore. Howard was deputized to guard Moore for most of the first half, and it should come as little surprise a 6’2″ power forward struggled to keep pace with the 2014 WNBA MVP.

Assuming Clark is back to 100 percent, the Storm should be more competitive against the Lynx when the teams meet again Aug. 3 in Seattle.

Jordin Canada’s Career Night

Jordin Canada had a career-high 13 points, adding five rebounds and three assists to a solid all-around night from the rookie.

Personally, Canada should’ve gotten an extra three points for every foot beyond half court she was when she heaved this third-quarter buzzer-beater. The Storm are suddenly in business if that’s a nine-pointer.

That shot did somewhat obscure the fact Canada shot 1-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Canada wasn’t a deadly sharpshooter in college but hit 38.5 percent of her three-point attempts as a senior at UCLA. Her three-point percentage improved over each season with the Bruins.

Through 14 games in her first year in the WNBA, Canada is a .182 three-point shooter.

Among players who have logged at least 400 possessions, Canada is 11th from the bottom in effective field-goal percentage (.375), according to WNBA.com. More worryingly, she’s in the seventh percentile in offensive PPP in half-court sets (0.522), per Synergy.

Canada’s speed makes her a terror in transition. She has been far less effective when the game slows down.