Quinn: “The goal this year was to be where we are.”
By Christan Braswell, edited by Charles Hamaker
Las Vegas, NV - Team records don’t hold much weight at the end of the WNBA regular season. Once the playoffs begin, forty games are thrown out the window as an entirely new season is on the way. An even slate empowers every team with a fighting chance to capitalize on what got them here and achieve the ultimate feat — a WNBA championship.
For the Storm, the recipe is the same. A year removed from a 2023 campaign that saw the second-fewest wins since 2001 and the first since 2015 without a playoff appearance, being in the postseason isn’t taken lightly by head coach Noelle Quinn or her group.
“At the end of the day, the record is 0-0. The goal this year was to be where we are. To be able to be in postseason play and compete for a championship and with that comes great responsibility in our preparation. So, from a basketball X’s and O’s standpoint, it’s what we do in film, what we do on the court today. From a player’s standpoint, it’s how they prepare their bodies and minds to attack tomorrow.”
Despite being without center Ezi Magbegor and Jewell Loyd in the last four games of the regular season, the Storm’s reserves have shown up and shown out. In the win over the Phoenix Mercury, Seattle received season-high performances in the form of 14 points from Mercedes Russell and ten points and ten rebounds in 18 minutes from Joyner Holmes. Sami Whitcomb added 11 points and five assists with terrific defensive stands on the wing. Their offense was crucial, but the effort in the paint and playing to their scheme won the game, giving Seattle plenty of opportunities to attack a disheveled defense in transition.
After losing five of their last seven at one point during the second half of the season, Ogwumike told reporters that she believed that the separation in performance was due to a gap in experience of what a playoff run looks like and what level her teammates need to be at.
Since losing Loyd and Magbegor to injury, the team has rallied around one another in a way that has defined Seattle’s season. A feeling of family and togetherness while also understanding the roles at hand.
“I think it still stands. Having people with that type of playoff experience and being able to play at that level in the season is really important. We have champions on this team, we have Olympians on this team, we have people that have gone to the Finals. That type of experience is necessary to be able to be able to sustain longevity in the playoffs, and I’m very comfortable and confident about my teammates that have that experience and what it takes for us to be able to play well in the postseason.”
When Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike signed on with Seattle in the offseason, the ability to compete for a championship was the goal from day one. From an organization that valued them as players and people with a coaching staff with three Black women in Quinn and her assistants Pokey Chatman and Ebony Hoffman, the two All-Stars were given every tool needed to achieve their goal and they did just that.
Crafting a 25-15 regular season record built through a talented roster that complimented the stars carrying it, the Storm completed a turnaround in one offseason, which is rare in the WNBA. Organizations have reloaded through free agency, yet the moves never guaranteed championship contention in a league with a talent density unseen in professional sports.
Still, those free agents weren’t two future Hall of Famers like Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike.
“And at the end of the day, I feel like only us in this room and circle thinks we’re going to beat the Aces. And that’s enough for us to give enough whatever it is, pride, focus, effort, all those thing to go out and compete at a high level. No one thought that we would be here, and we are here. Now its about going out and putting that jersey on going out and doing what we do. So yeah, 16-16 we talked about that. It didn’t matter about the record at that point. It’s about the how. How we’re playing and I feel like we’re playing better than when we were at that point when we brought that up. Again, having an opportunity to be here at 0-0, let the chips fall as they may.”
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Check out our previous Seattle Storm articles here.
Check out our previous articles written by Christan Braswell here, and follow Christan on Twitter.
Cover photo by Nate Koppelman. Check out his portfolio by clicking here.
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