Storm Hits the Road
 Elena Baranova has helped key the Liberty's fast start. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty |
The competition, however, will be challenging. The Liberty is one of the season's biggest early surprises, putting together a six-game winning streak after losing their season opener. Things have gotten tougher lately, however, with the Liberty dropping consecutive games to Indiana and Washington to drop back to 6-3, percentage points worse than the Storm for the WNBA's best record.
Still, Donovan is impressed by the Liberty.
"New York has really turned things around this year," she said. "They've re-energized with new personnel and (Elena) Baranova fitting in there more after a year. Becky Hammon has adjusted well to playing the point. This is a team playing good basketball. And it's impressive - defensively and offensively, they've got things going. They've always been known as a very physical, defensive-minded team, but they've got offense to go with it this year."
In addition to the matchup on the court, the aura of New York and Madison Square Garden always makes a game with the Liberty an important one. That's especially true for Syosset, NY native Sue Bird and Donovan, who grew up in New Jersey watching the successful Knicks of the early 70s.
"To me, there's no better place to play. I love it," explained Donovan. "I thrive off that environment. It is, really, like a black-and-white movie. It's what this game is all about."
In Texas, the Storm will first confront a Houston team that has won three straight games since inserting Seattle native Sheila Lambert into the lineup at point guard. Tina Thompson continues to lead the WNBA in scoring at better than 20 points per game, but suffered a knee injury Saturday evening. Thompson is seeing doctors today, after which the severity of the injury should be more clear.
San Antonio, meanwhile, has dropped five straight games - the last three to New York and Houston - to slump to sixth place in the Western Conference after a promising 3-1 start. All-Star point guard Shannon Johnson, who played just 11 minutes against the Comets Saturday because of illness, has struggled in the early part of the season. Johnson leads the WNBA in turnovers per game and her scoring average (8.6) and shooting percentage (32.4%) would both be the lowest of her career.
Something else to watch on the road trip - after finally getting the first win in franchise history at Sacramento, the Storm has the chance to achieve that same feat against all three opponents. The Storm has lost both matchups at New York and at San Antonio (after the franchise moved from Utah), and its 0-7 mark at Houston all-time is now its worst on the road against any opponent.
Rotation Matters
There was speculation after Betty Lennox saw only limited action in the second half against Connecticut that she was still bothered by the groin injury that forced her to miss two days of practice last week, but Donovan explained that was not the case.
"Her energy wasn't there (Friday) night," said Donovan. "Adia (Barnes) did; defensively, Adia had a ton of energy (Friday). We felt like, as much as we were able to score, we weren't getting stops and couldn't pull away. We felt like we had to go with more defensive presence."
As well as Barnes played in that game, finishing with five points and three rebounds, Donovan still plans to use both Barnes and Alicia Thompson as backup wings seeing time behind Lennox and Sheri Sam.
"I'm still committed to giving Alicia Thompson some minutes and finding out what she's capable of doing," Donovan said. "She's a high-energy player that can rebound and do different things than Adia, more offensive-minded than Adia is, so I can't say anything is solidified.
"We're still trying to find an answer on our bench. Our bench is getting outplayed right now, and we have to figure it out."
