Five takeaways from Storm’s first half of season and what lies ahead

Sitting among the sellout crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Storm coach Noelle Quinn was overjoyed watching Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins and Gabby Williams represent Seattle in the WNBA All-Star Game.

“It’s a proud moment for me,” Quinn said. “I’m proud to just be a part of their journey and helping them continue to grow. Just sitting there in the stands as a fan, it’s a different feel to coaching them. My heart was super warm and filled because they are so deserving of that moment and each of them had impact on that game.”

It didn’t take long for the warm and fuzzy feelings to subside, and Quinn began contemplating how can she get Seattle’s stars to replicate their sensational performances on Saturday night in Indianapolis when they return home.

“Each of them had special moments,” she said, smiling. “But everybody kind of told on themselves, too.”

Diggins, who has tallied a high of six rebounds during her two-year Storm tenure, recorded the first triple-double (11 points, 11 rebounds and record-high 15 assists) in All-Star Game history.

Williams, a career 27.9% three-point shooter, drained four long-range shots behind the arc, including a pair of four-point bombs from 33 and 32 feet, respectively, en route to finishing with 16 points in her first All-Star appearance.

Meanwhile, Ogwumike was remarkably efficient as usual and converted 7 of 8 shots for 16 points to move into second place on the All-Star Game career scoring list.

“The biggest thing was they were relaxed,” Quinn said. “It was a pressure-free environment, and we can’t duplicate that in a game, but there’s something to say about what they showed within a game that mattered to them. … Just relaxing and letting the game come to them, and putting their impact on that because of where their mindset was.

“Part of that is having fun and enjoying it. … We don’t want to forget that part. Yeah, we want to win and have success, but at the end of the day, we have to play with some joy, and maybe we can get another triple-double.”

Before the Storm resume with Tuesday’s 7 p.m. matchup against the Dallas Wings at Climate Pledge Arena, here are five takeaways from the first half of the season and a look at what lies ahead.

Will the real Storm please stand up?

If the playoffs started today, the Storm (14-9) would be the No. 4 seed and host fifth-seed Atlanta Dream in a best-of-three series in the first round.

Historically speaking, that’s an enviable spot considering the higher seed has advanced to the second round every year since 2016.

However, the Storm have been difficult to decipher this year.

They’re 5-2 against the top three teams in the league — Minnesota, New York and Phoenix — but they’re 3-6 against teams ranked fifth through ninth (Atlanta, Indiana, Las Vegas, Washington and Golden State).

“We need to be more consistent,” Ogwumike said. “That’s just the name of the game. Be consistently who we know we can be.”

Will the three-point shooting slump last?

Through the first 19 games, the Storm were the best three-point shooting team in the WNBA while hitting 35.7% of their long-range shots.

That was a dramatic reversal from a team that shot a franchise-worst 28.8% in 2024.

However, since then Seattle has shot 27.2% (31 of 114) on three-pointers in the past five games and has dropped to fifth in the league while shooting 34% during the season.

Is Magbegor rebounding?

Her last game notwithstanding, sixth-year center Ezi Magbegor had been on a tear offensively following a slow start in which she averaged just 6.9 points on 47% shooting in the first 18 games.

During a recent four-game stretch, the 2023 WNBA All-Star averaged 15 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.8 blocks while shooting 59.5% from the field.

Still, it remains to be seen if the 6-foot-4 and 180-pound Magbegor can hold up in the post against bigger post players.

The Storm struggled to contain Fever center Aliyah Boston (career-high 31 points) and Sun center Tina Charles (29 points and 11 rebounds) in a pair of losses.

Seattle, which is tied for last in rebounding and 11th in opponents rebounding, needs more rebounds from Magbegor, who is averaging 6.4 boards — her lowest since 2022.

Can Quinn fix the bench?

Considering three of the WNBA’s oldest players (Ogwumike, 35; Diggins, 34; and Erica Wheeler, 34) are in the starting lineup, the Storm would be prudent to cut back on their minutes — if possible — during the longest season in league history.

Admittedly, the Storm were fatigued entering the All-Star break and keeping Ogwumike and Diggins fresh for the postseason is paramount following last year’s first-round exit — a 2-0 sweep versus Las Vegas — when they both averaged 14.5 points and shot below 33% from the field.

Adding backup guard Tiffany Mitchell should help and through three games, she’s given the bench a much-needed boost.

Still, the Storm will need 1-2 more reserves to provide something close to consistent contributions, particularly rookie center Dominique Malonga.

As the playoffs approach, it’ll be interesting to see how Quinn balances her development while fine-tuning a veteran-laden team with championship aspirations.

If not now, then when?

The Storm do not play a team that currently has a winning record in their next five outings — Dallas (6-17), Chicago (7-15), Washington (11-11), Connecticut (3-19) and Los Angeles (8-14).

Seattle can’t clinch a home court playoff berth during this stretch, but it could gain ground on New York (15-6) and Phoenix (15-7) who face each other Friday.

Ogwumike had fun on and off the court in Indianapolis, but to avoid rustiness she treated her four days at the All-Star Game like a business trip.

“Sky and I worked out [Friday], we went to shoot around [Saturday] and did all of our activation,” she said. “[Sunday] is an off day. We practice Monday, then we play Dallas on Tuesday. Yes, it’s All-Star, but we tried to never leave our routine.”

Williams added: “It’s going to be a really quick turnaround. We obviously need to focus on our recovery right now, especially the people here [at the All-Star Game]. I hope everybody who’s on break comes back with a new focus. … We haven’t peaked yet and we didn’t want to. I just hope that we stay on this trajectory of getting better.”