The key to the Seattle Storm's matchup against the San Antonio Silver Stars tonight definitely begins with what they did so well against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday, albeit for a different reason: rebounding.
The Storm held the Mystics, the WNBA's best offensive rebounding team, to zero second chance points on Tuesday at KeyArena, by boxing out their post players and only giving up offensive rebounds to perimeter players. If the Storm can repeat that effort tonight against the Silver Stars, they could pick up a very important Western Conference road victory.
- Beating the Silver Stars on the offensive glass and getting second chance points: The Silver Stars have the lowest rebounding percentage in the league so the effort the Storm put out against the Mystics should be sufficient in containing them. However, the Storm also have an opportunity to get their own second chance points if they crash the offensive boards. Despite being an average defensive rebounding team, the Silver Stars allow the fourth least second change points in the league. If the Storm can win that rebounding battle and get high percentage shots inside, that will help a lot.
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Getting to the free throw line: Getting calls is always difficult on the road, but the Storm are a significantly better when they're going to the basket instead of settling for long jumpers. Unfortunately, they've had a tendency to do the latter this season and shoot themselves out of games.
- Cutting off guard penetration: The Silver Stars are a methodical team, but more importantly they're a very good ball handling team and don't turn the ball over much. More specifically, their guards like to penetrate and find open shooters after the defense collapses. If the Storm can find a way to stay in front of their guards - and not foul them on the way to the basket - they'll be able to stop a major part of the Silver Stars' offensive attack.