Game Eight: Storm @ Shock 4 June, 2008

The game went better than I predicted, with strong first and fourth quarters from the Storm, but they dug too big a hole for themselves in the third quarter, and after pulling within 3 points at the 2:10 mark of the fourth on a Jackson free throw they stopped playing defense and were too tired to score. They lose by 10. They allowed the Shock to out rebound them at the offensive end of the floor, giving up 13 rebounds for 34%. They only got 20% of their own offensive rebounds. They failed to control Nolan, and then let Katie Smith embarass them with 33 points and seven rebounds. LJ did a solid job inside and out, executing the game plan with seeming ease, but the perimeter players came up short. The perimeter players I called out in yesterday's preview (Cash, Swoopes, Bird, Wright and Gearlds) totaled 24 points while LJ had 27 on her own.


STORM
MOST EFFECTIVE SHOOTERS

Player	True Shooting %	Eff FG%	Floor %
Beck	150%	150%	0%
Griffith	102%	100%	77%
Ely	67%	67%	39%
Jackson	58%	55%	43%

Welcome back to the shooting list, Lauren. Again, where is Katie Gearlds? Ely is playing very well this year. She and Tanisha are forming a solid bench. Beck hit her only shot, but it was a nice one. When Santos returns, and if Katie can find her shot again, this team could be potent.

BEST RATINGS

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Griffith	163.64	157.65
Jackson	96.71	90.45
Wright	90.17	81.67
Cash	87.35	75.92

Tanisha continues to be solid offensively, but the Storm can't have Bird, Cash, Swoopes and Gearlds all having off days at the same time.

RAW PLUS/MINUS
Beck: -1
Robinson: -2
Swoopes: -3
Griffith: -3
Bird: -3
Ely: -3
Gearlds: -6
Jackson: -8
Wright: -8
Cash: -13

MOST EFFECTIVE LINEUPS

Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Robinson-Griffith: +5
Bird-Swoopes-Ely-Jackson-Griffith: +2
Bird-Swoopes-Ely-Jackson-Robinson: +2

Shock
MOST EFFECTIVE SHOOTERS

Player	True Shooting %	Eff FG%	Floor%
Smith	68%	58%%	59%
Hornbuckle	63%	63%	42%
Thomas	50%	50%	52%
Nolan	43%	36%	54%

Katie and Alexis were spot on shooting and Deanna and Katie got themselves to the line.

BEST RATINGS

Player	Offensive Rating	Indiv Rating
Smith	138.19	122.27
Nolan	110.33	93.26
Thomas	103.53	85.28
Hornbuckle	102.70	88.43

People always harped than Lambier didn't use his rookies in past seasons. Perhaps his previous rookies just weren't good enough. This year's draft has to be the most productive in league history.

RAW PLUS/MINUS
Thomas: +12
Smith: +10
Pierson: +8
Powell: +7
Sanni: +7
Hornbuckle: +2
Nolan: +2
Sam: +1
Ford: 0

Katie wanted to stay 33, she refused to score that last point on her 34th birthday.

MOST EFFECTIVE LINEUPS

Smith-Powell-Nolan-Ford-Sanni: +7
Smith-Powell-Nolan-Pierson-Braxton: +7
Smith-Hornbuckle-Nolan-Pierson-Thomas: +5
Smith-Hornbuckle-Pierson-Ford-Thomas:+4