The Seattle Storm will finally get to face a team other than the Phoenix Mercury
on Friday night.
Seattle played both of its preseason games against Phoenix, then met the Mercury
in their first two games of the regular season.
The Storm (1-1) will get a chance to measure themselves against the Chicago Sky
(2-1) on Friday at KeyArena.
After losing their home opener, the Storm won 87-71 on Wednesday in Phoenix as
Jewell Loyd scored 29 points.
“It feels good to win. It energizes you,” said longtime Storm point guard Sue
Bird, who had 11 points and four assists. “We still have a lot of work to do.
It’s still early, we still have new players, and we still have a new team that
trying to get that chemistry going. But a win does give you a little bit more
confidence.”
Chicago (2-1) won its first two games of the season, against Indiana and New
York, before losing 81-63 on Wednesday at Atlanta.
Guard Allie Quigley, who averaged 20.5 points in the Sky’s first two games, was
held to 12 by the Dream. The Sky shot 36.8 percent from the field and just 3 of
14 from 3-point range.
“We were not able to execute some things offensively as well as we would’ve
liked,” Sky coach Amber Stocks said. “Some shots weren’t falling.”
The Sky missed the postseason for the first time since 2012 last year, in large
part because they lost 12 of their first 15 games. They have four rookies on
this year’s team, including the No. 2 pick in the 2017 draft, center Alaina
Coates, who missed all of last season with an injury.
“We have to use our experience from the last few seasons playing together and
our year with Amber to bring the newcomers up to speed as fast as possible,”
Quigley said. “We know this is a really short season so it’s all about doing
things as fast as possible and as productive as possible.”
The Sky also brought in seven-year veteran forward Alex Montgomery.
“We can’t get too low on a loss … ” Montgomery said after Wednesday’s game.
“The game is going to come quick. I know we hate to lose, but we’ve got to keep
pushing forward and prepare for the next game.
“Just continue to stay aggressive and keep pushing forward. We’ve got a lot of
things to work on. It is what it is. You win some and lose some, but hopefully
we’re going to win a lot more than we lose.”
As for adjusting to new teammates?
“The process from day one is chemistry, learning one another and everyone’s
ability, whether it’s defensive strengths or offensive strengths,” Montgomery
said. “It’s about just learning how to play each other. It’s the beginning of
the season; we’ll be alright.”
