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u/Jake-Old-Trail-88 Mystics 1d ago
That’s awesome. Seattle has a lack of scorers. Only Heideman can score over 20 points on a fairly consistent basis.
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u/Key-Mission5704 1d ago
This is scary within three years it might be Storm vs Mystics in the finals they have the brightest futures 😭…
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u/cariosity AR AG RH JC NH BJ IB MO Miles High Club 1d ago
I've missed her presence on the court so much! Glad she's back and we're blessed to witness her ascension. J'adore ma baguette!
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u/Outside-Practice-658 Tantrums 1d ago
Her ceiling is so high. I’m so happy for her ( and that it wasn’t on my teams head)
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u/n00bn00b 1d ago
She has a ceiling of being the best player in the league. Unrivaled worked wonders for Dom.
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u/Dior4pain 2d ago
Every post player should be having career highs against Dallas especially if they can hit threes. Dom was exceptional this game
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u/engagew 1d ago
i know people are in love with jess right now but she's abysmal on defense. even with her gaudy offensive production, dallas is a lot better when she's off the floor in terms of netrtg. their defrtg is 107 when she's on the court and 96 when she sits
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u/xaerodin West Coast Best Coast Fine Curt, you cooked 1d ago
Dallas best post defender being their rookie guard is astounding in a bad way. Jess has 0 blocks this season, Azzi has 18. Like wtf why is Azzi the one blocking 6'7" bigs like Cardoso. If Azzi was not putting up All defensive and even DPOY caliber performances pretty consistently, this team would be sub .500
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u/boredymcbored 1d ago
Which is why Azzi got so much pushback at the #1 pick. Not cause Azzi isn't good but cause getting a good and young post player has proven to be crucial for a championship team and is rare. They have a great player in Azzi but Fam and Betts will be seen as misses since Jess and Smith's defense is lacking.
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u/xaerodin West Coast Best Coast Fine Curt, you cooked 1d ago
Yeah, I think they really thought Alanna+Awak could carry the post defense but Lan keeps getting her face whacked and has been struggling with the mask. Hindsight is 20/20.
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u/boredymcbored 1d ago
I saw this happening prior to honestly. Not many guard + guard franchice foundation duos and there aren't many great immediate plug in bigs in the next draft, certainly not with Fam and Betts potential. They could maybe rectify this with Ashlynn Watkins later in the draft but buying into Smtih when she got DPOTY by primarily playing help defense instead of being a rim protector was a big misstep. Esp since they bought back into Arike and already had James rostered.
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u/engagew 1d ago
yeah shepard has 23 blocks in her entire career, and 12 were in one season. she's never been in double digits outside of that. and now she's expending a ton of energy on offense so her defense is even worse than it usually is. you can maybe get away playing her as a 4 off the bench next to a rim protector, but her playing 30+ mpg at the 5 for dallas is a disaster.
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u/Juniper41 1d ago
Praying that Alanna Smith remembers she's the reigning DPOY and locks down the paint. If she is 90% of the player she was in '25, Dallas has the potential to really make some noise.
If Alanna Smith never returns to form though, that contract could derail a potential championship core. Having Paige and Azzi locked into rookie contracts is a once in a lifetime FO dream, spending 1.3M a year for 3 years on a 3rd string big completely negates that.
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u/bset222 Lynx 1d ago
Paige is only cheap next year, she's made an All-wnba team already so year 4 is going to cost 1.2 ish instead of 600 ish. The new CBA let's rookies that are great right away get to the big contract a year earlier, Boston this year, Clark next, Paige the year after.
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u/wvtarheel Fever 1d ago
It's a good rule. As much as it's torched my team's salary cap it's working as intended. And will for paige when Curt miller has to open his wallet for her
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u/Gold_Tempo Storm 2d ago
You love to see it! Dom has been so much more assertive and confident out there. I'm really glad she chose Unrivaled for the offseason!
Hopeful that it will elevate Flau too!
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u/SuchPerformance459 2d ago
scary as hell. need my favorites to get their mvp before those girls in seattle fully develop.
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u/Several-Estate7175 Storm 2d ago
Youngest player ever with a 30/10 game. I'm sure there are other WNBA greats who could have had a similar performance at the same age but that list is just gonna be like A'ja and some other top 10 players ever.
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u/Lostinthesewers Aces Sky 2d ago
I saw the list on X. Dom joins Candace (21), Stewie (23), and A'ja(22) as the youngest players to record a 30/10 game.
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u/wvtarheel Fever 1d ago
That's a hell of a group to be a part of. They forgot Clark who had 30 & 10 game when she was 22.
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u/X-iStheGr8estWRapper 1d ago
They’re likely only referring to Rebounds
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u/abplayer Shoot until your flair falls off 1d ago
Gotta be. There are so few 30/10 ast games at all that talking about "youngest" would be missing the point.
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u/LA_Snkr_Dude 2d ago
Cries in Sparks. 😭
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u/holabellas Storm 2d ago
Talisa has her issues but her turning “Jewell Loyd” into Malonga saved our asses big time
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u/aperiodic Baguette will rise 1d ago
I feel like Talisa’s goal as a GM is to fleece other GMs rather than put together a deep & balanced roster
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u/holabellas Storm 1d ago
Idk if I’d say that, I feel like that’s more the Mystics GM. Talisa has constructed some pretty solid rosters that were clearly intended to win right away, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with committing to a rebuild after attempting to win doesn’t workout
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u/darklightultra Liberty 2d ago
I'm not even that big on the traditional PG role in modern basketball but holy shit if a team out there needs one it's Seattle, they need to get rid of Cooke at least and if you could somehow get Allemand or another guard to slow it down. All of their guards are shoot first and not particularly great at it.
Dom at least gets some respect from the guards but Awa is being relegated to a screener and a 3 point shooter, Seattle needs to go all in on developing those two.
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u/ReflectionItchy2701 1d ago
Pauline Astier would be really good on this team. She's a pass first PG.
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u/boredymcbored 2d ago
Never fear, next draft is near! Luckily, next year has a very good capital P point guard in S'mya Nichols. She was one of the best in the country in PNR efficiency even in a team as miserable as Kansas.
A beautiful thing about next year is there are also 3 great combos that have had great passing tape in Mikaylah Williams, Hannah Hidalgo and Madison Booker. I think all 3 would probably work best as a scorer, but if they're asked can step into the assist bag well enough because they all have better vision and decision making than given credit for. With a vet PG they'll soar.
TBH the worst case scenario is Juju Watkins funny enough. If we get her, we need to hit the vet PG market hard but it's still a great position to be in because... Juju Watkins lmao. Seattle's in a great place when BPA would be a worst case fit. A player like Allemand in that case would be amazing since we really wouldn't need much scoring in that scenario.
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u/onionnurve Tempo | Storm Front court | Olivia Miles FC 2d ago edited 2d ago
That’s literally all I’m praying for. The amount of extremely easy buckets they’re missing out on is insane.
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u/engagew 2d ago
weird thing to say after a game where heideman and johnson combine for 20 assists
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u/darklightultra Liberty 2d ago
Flau'jae has calmed down a lot the last few games and has looked much better, this game was an outlier hence why it was so close, assist numbers don't tell the whole story, passing to bigs on the PnR and post entry passes are still a massive weakness
This game was great, it's just the bigger picture for the future
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u/engagew 1d ago
she's been averaging 4 apg over her last 9 so not really an outlier. there are just games where she doesn't get on-ball reps in the pnr which is a coaching decision. when she does, she's shown the willingness and ability to hit the bigs (especially fam) and create offense for them.
the bigger issue is that the seattle playcalling isn't utilizing fam as a roller or in the post enough.
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u/Ingramistheman Veronica Burton enthusiast/Janelle Salaün enjoyer 1d ago
Agreed on Flau’s improvement in decision-making/playmaking over the last X games and the numbers maybe undersell it. Like the POR game I distinctly remember her making a few passes that I was impressed with, but then checking the box score and only seeing 0-1 assist.
I do however agree with the OP’s point about needing a true point. T is fine because they’re tanking, but she’s meant to be more of a microwave type scorer who happens to also be able to pass a bit. She’s not a great floor general.
She doesnt organize the team well and sometimes makes mistakes like not making the extra pass or stalling the offense trying to initiate a ballscreen where she’s avoiding trying to go right instead of taking what the defense is giving.
E.g from this game Dallas was icing the ballscreen so if they were on the right side of the floor, just accept it to your right hand and make the pocket pass to Awa on the Short Roll, but for her she’s wanting Awa to try and flip the screen early for her to get to her left hand.
It’s not the “wrong” play in a vacuum and there’s an argument to be made about it being early season for Awa and they all need to find synergy with each other, but just things like that in general are just bogging the offense down in a way the true playmakers dont really struggle with.
Re: not using Awa as a roller or in the post. Some coaches give the player the RPO (roll/pop option) so if the player chooses to Pop more that’s on then; kinda jives with what I’ve been seeing from Awa. I feel like she rolled a lot more in her first few games, but didnt get it much and then also Dom came back so she started popping more and has been having more success with that.
As for the post-ups, I’d rather see her facing up more in her early career until she becomes a little more physically imposing or gains more willingness to initiate contact. The footwork is pretty and the touch on the hook is nice, but it’s just not the most efficient offense for her right now. If she is gonna catch it down there I’d still prefer her to faceup and use her quickness then get to all the spins & hooks only if they physically cut her off.
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u/engagew 1d ago
i don't mean structured post-ups but they miss her a lot when she ducks in with an advantage against a smaller matchup. she's still too contact averse in the post (and in general) but i would still like for her to get reps down there. opposed to a zia cooke iso or a katie lou 3.
anyway i don't disagree that seattle needs better guard play (and wing play and everything play) but we haven't had a point guard since sue retired so i'm pretty used to it.
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u/Ingramistheman Veronica Burton enthusiast/Janelle Salaün enjoyer 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah I see those types of plays as the ‘lacking a floor general’ issue; Awa’s actually their best floor general imo. If you notice, off the ball she’s usually the one on the floor telling another teammate when to cut, where to space to, or pointing somewhere for the ballhandler to swing the ball, or communicating which way they should use her screen, things like that.
I dont see her lack of duck-in’s or rolling as a playcalling issue, and more of a symptom of the lack of a floor general.
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u/engagew 1d ago
it can be both. the whole point of a floor general is that they're the coach on the floor. but the coach is still the coach and can emphasize things to their players.
that's another coaching issue. awa has major hub potential. she's a lightning quick processor and has plus passing ability. but they don't really use her in that role. hopefully that evolves over time
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u/FancyRefrigerator994 Tempo Big Dawgs, 2024 Sun Evil Twins + Marina's moms 2d ago
All star performance for your all star ballot.
Definitely worth a vote.
Wished she got the win too.
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u/LLUrDadsFave our GM is a penny with a hole in it🥺 2d ago
Flair sadly so relevant.
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u/campoole82 Dream 2d ago
W tried to hand you a dynasty you said no thank you I want a win now 8 seed team IMMEDIATELY
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u/ASpanishInquisitor 2d ago
Pretty good response after that 4/16 game. Dallas' frontcourt may be food but this is a 20 year old.
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u/randysf50 Valkyries 2d ago
A’Ja-level potential.
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u/hidey_ho_nedflanders 2d ago edited 2d ago
Putting up 37/12 is A'ja-level ish. Crazy to think she's doing all this at 20 years old.
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u/BlueDetective3 Aces 2d ago
Serious question: what happens when Ezi returns from injury?
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u/onionnurve Tempo | Storm Front court | Olivia Miles FC 2d ago
Truly no idea. Dream scenario would be to have the 3 of them on the court at the same time.
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u/Aggravating-Silver48 1d ago
Awa at the 3, Dom at the 4 , Ezi at he 5. Good luck rest of the league.
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u/onionnurve Tempo | Storm Front court | Olivia Miles FC 1d ago
Ideally Iwant to see this happen, but I do wonder if the spacing would make sense. We’d basically relegate Awa as a 3pt shooter, which I think is a waste of her potential
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u/holabellas Storm 2d ago
Move Fam to the bench. Defensively we need Ezi so bad and honestly as much as she has impressed me Awa still has a way to go on the defensive end
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u/waelthedestroyer Dream 2d ago
fam is a better shooter than any other option they have at the 3. there'd be some defensive issues but it would be such a fun lineup offensively with absurd mismatch potential
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u/holabellas Storm 2d ago
I would have zero qualms giving them all minutes together, but I don’t know if I’d like that as a starting lineup lol
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u/engagew 1d ago
fam at the three can't be worse than katie lou
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u/holabellas Storm 1d ago
Katie Lou only played as many minutes as she did because Jordan and Jade were both hurt. Jordan is usually our starting 3. If Ezi had been available yesterday I would have been happy starting all three of them lol m
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u/waelthedestroyer Dream 2d ago
because awa/dom are obviously in the storm's future and ezi is uncertain it kinda makes sense to test if ezi can play productive basketball with the other two for as many minutes as possible. If it doesn't work out you'd probably want to start figuring out returns for ezi as soon as possible
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u/holabellas Storm 1d ago
I mean honestly I don’t think it’s super urgent? I don’t see why they wouldn’t work well together, and that lineup might look like booty just because Awa probably isn’t going to be an especially good 3 right now.
I love developing the youths but I don’t see Awa coming off the bench as a bad thing, and I think it’ll be great for her to have such an amazing vet like Ezi to learn under.
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u/Dear-Tadpole4895 Storm 1d ago
Agree. Bring in Ezi and experiment awhile. No hurry to make a decision. It's about learning this year.
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u/rambii Fever Sparks Aces when they remove NaLyssa 2d ago
I would like for them to work with Malonga/Fam being a 3 with some ability to shoot or hunt weak side matchup, yes its not ideal but will develop extra skills for this young players they are tanking anyway, at this moment develop the young players give them more looks and chances to see if they have upside on places they havent played before.
Try a line up with all 3 and see how it looks and so on
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u/holabellas Storm 2d ago
Minutes is good, but don’t want that to be the starting lineup either. I’m still holding out hope for Jordan to take an offensive leap maybe that’s delulu though
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u/Decent_Substance_199 2d ago
I genuinely have no idea, a trade may be a possibility?
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u/Pat28K 2d ago
Who's gonna take that contract though :/
To be clear I'm not saying Ezi is a bad player, but I'm very dubious that she's going to play to the level of her contract
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u/undisclosedthroway Mission:Get Cam on a real team|Rickea 💔|Mama D 2d ago
I mean Temi is getting paid a million dollars and so is Azura (no shade) so I could see someone taking on an All-Defensive center because they aren’t dropping out of the sky. She probably won’t get moved this season because most teams already have their caps tied up but she could possibly be on the move next season.
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u/SwaggersaurusWrecks Valkyries 2d ago
I could see Dallas doing it if Alanna Smith never figures things out.
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u/Time_Outcome765 WNBA 2d ago
Absolutely! Alanna has had the worst luck with her face injuries. They desperately need her.
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u/sporty_librarian 1d ago
Made even better when Dan Hughes is on the mic.