It’s easy to look at the Seattle Storm and pinpoint where their success comes from. Breanna Stewart has won more awards in the last year than some players will win in their career — and rightfully so.
The Storm’s leader in both points and rebounds per game, the impact Stewart has when she’s on the court is evident.
The six-foot-four forward, who has never averaged less than 18 points per game in her career – which was her rookie season average – plays a style where she can pretty much do it all. She’ll fight in the paint to get points with her physical play, can hit the mid-range jumper and isn’t afraid to shoot from beyond the three-point arc. She also possesses grit on the boards defensively that helps spark Seattle’s transition offence.
It’s easy to swoon over her play, and she rightfully deserves her flowers, but Stewart alone is far from the reason why the Storm have done as well as they have in recent years. The foundation for what looks like it could be a new dynasty relies on how the Storm constantly have 12 strong players who will all make waves when called upon.
“I look at our depth in a great way, obviously sometimes having a lot of depth some players don’t get a lot of that playing time, but if you look at a team like Vegas, they have (Dearica) Hamby who goes to the four and plays the three, looking at that guard match-up can bring different lineups for us,” said Storm head coach Noelle Quinn.
JEWELL FOR THREEEEE @jewellloyd x #TakeCover pic.twitter.com/ObUKNyfIDg
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) June 23, 2021
Take for example Jewell Loyd, who has been with the Storm her entire career and was one of the key guards for Seattle in the wubble, averaging 17.8 points per game in the 2020 playoffs. Her clutch fadeaway 3-point buzzer-beater against the Los Angeles Sparks last September is just a snippet of what her capabilities are, and it’s no shock she pulled another game-saving moment as she dropped 25 points and the OT game-winner against the Dallas Wings three weeks ago.
Even with Rookie of the Year, WNBA All-Star, WNBA champion and now USA Olympian all now on Loyd’s resume, she continually flies under the WNBA radar, but none of that phases the guard, especially not coming off a 23-point, nine assist performance in Seattle’s four-point loss to Washington.
“It’s never really been about me, it should never be about me, it’s just finding ways to help the team out as much as I can and do my job to my ability,” said Loyd.
Even in the off-season when the Storm lost one of the league’s best defensive players in Alysha Clark, and lost a three-point specialist in Sami Whitcomb, they managed to pick up one of the best young shooters in Katie Lou Samuelson and new addition Stephanie Talbot has brought out the best of the forward’s bench game as she is currently having a career year.
That’s the key to a lot of Seattle’s success: their depth. With bench players being able to contribute on both sides of the ball in their limited minutes, the Storm is able to give some of their starters adequate rest without feeling like there’s a chance the game could be thrown away with players like Talbot, Candice Dupree and Jordin Canada as one of the strongest secondaries in the league.
Half the squad is headed to Tokyo!
Congratulations to our SIX Olympians! #TakeCover x #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/7Jxo7NhMIX
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) June 24, 2021
Seattle has only lost three games this season to three teams that also have quite the collection of talent — Dallas, Las Vegas and Washington — and even in those losses, the Storm have never lost by more than four points.
The way that Seattle moves the ball and having players that are able to shoot from all areas of the floor combats any team’s plan to double-team a player like Stewart to try and shut her down. Even if a team can successfully do that, they would also have to shut down the Storm’s post and their hot three-point game as well.
“Everybody knows opportunities are going to come at different times, different chances obviously, I think honestly every single person on our bench is always ready for the moment, for the minute,” said Storm centre Mercedes Russell. “Obviously we encourage them to bring the energy and bring the effort, but I think one through 12 everyone knows what they need to bring.”
Even with another tough match against the Aces on the horizon — a deep team who is currently on a five-game win streak and has also only lost three games this season — the Storm are confident that they can regroup and show why their title defence is still very much a reality thanks to their well-rounded team.
“Being creative with what we have, understanding that our depth at some point is going to come into play with players who maybe haven’t been in the rotation or haven’t had a lot of minutes early on, but that preparation and mindset in practice is that we have all 12 available in order to scheme,” said Quinn.
