Seattle Storm Start Postseason on the Right Note

The Seattle Storm finished out the regular season with a record of 21-13, enough for a second place standing in the Western Conference. It's hard to complain about winning records, especially since a few of our local teams (ahem, Mariners and Seahawks, we're talking to you) can't seem to string together an over .500 season. But, the Storm are defending National Champs, they went 28-6 in 2010, and were undefeated at home. In light of those stats, it's easy to feel that the 2011 season wasn't up to the Storm's standards or our expectations.

However, with the WNBA postseason tipping off last night, those regular season stats are pretty meaningless now. Does the 2011 Storm have the ability to pull off what the 2010 squad could, namely, win the whole enchilada? Well, if they play like they did last night, they just might be able to find a way.

From the early moments of Thursday's Key Arena matchup--Game One of a best-of-three series against the Phoenix Mercury--Seattle found ways to score, and not just at the hands of traditional standouts like Lauren Jackson (13 points) and Sue Bird. Tanisha Wright was the hot-hand of the evening, contributing 21 points in her efforts. Camille Little also had a big game, with 17 points and 11 rebounds on the night. But it wasn't just an offensive showcase, the Storm displayed some strong--and obviously effective--defense in the 80-61 rout.

We will have to wait until tomorrow to find out if the Mercury has an answer to the Storm's attack when Game Two gets underway at 7pm in Phoenix. They have dropped 11 of 12 games to Seattle, including a sweep in last year's playoffs, let's hope that trend continues.