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Sparks turning tides in July

By
Eric Lambkins II
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Photo by Chanel Foster / fi360 News

LOS ANGELES– Los Angeles Sparks head coach Fred Williams said it; Lexie Brown said it; Nneka Ogwumike said it — the Sparks would look decisively different come July. So far, they’re right.


After starting the season with limited practice time and eight of their first ten games on the road, Los Angeles is taking advantage of their time at home.

Canada on the way to the basket. Photo by Chanel Foster / fi360 News


In their first game of a 7-game homestand, the Sparks opened July with back-to-back wins. After a win in Dallas against the Wings, Los Angeles beat the New York Liberty 65-57.


“We are starting to string things together,” Ogwumike said.

Ogwumike led the Sparks with 22 points — with five other players contributing double figures.


It took the seven-time All-Star one quarter to jump-start the Los Angeles Sparks. After only scoring six points in the first two quarters, Ogwumike scored 10 points in the third quarter, pushing Los Angeles to a 25-14 run.

Katie Lou sets up for a shot. Photo by Chanel Foster / fi360 News


Then when the Sparks needed a stop to seal the win, Ogwumike secured the loose ball to put the game away.
The difference in what has transformed Los Angeles’ fortunes — practice and playing at home.


“We are finding our chemistry, and we are at home,” Liz Cambage said. “We maybe spent, what, 20 days on the road in May. That was the wildest start I’ve ever had to a WNBA season.”


“I think the way we handled May; we just knew we got to stay together. We’ve got to find this chemistry.” “When I reflect on May and how far we have come, it might have been a short amount of time for y’all, but ooooh, it was a lifetime for us.”

Photo by Chanel Foster / fi360 News


Coach Williams’ belief in the team never wavered.

“I’ve been there before,” Williams said.
“I look back at my days with the Atlanta Dream team that went to the finals at 17-17 and no one thought we would get there. I just feel really comfortable with this team. I feel like family. I feel like ‘Uncle Fred,’ ‘Coach Fred,’ ‘Jed,’ or whoever you want to call it. But we have a great time together. This is a fun team to coach. I just feel very confident that they can get the job done. We still have work to do. A lot of work.”

Storm rumble to blowout win over Fever

By
Charles Hamaker
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Jewell Loyd is all smiles as the team huddles up after a timeout. (Neil Enns/Seattle Storm)

Seattle, WA – In their July 1st matchup against the Indiana Fever, the Seattle Storm romped to a blowout victory. The first quarter between the two teams were within single digits, but Seattle was able to pull away after the first 15 minutes.

The Storm built towards their full potential, as newly signed Tina Charles looked much better in her second game with Seattle. With the win, the Storm have now won eight of their last ten games.

Eight-time WNBA all-star Tina Charles is a huge addition to the Storm lineup, and will certainly be a critical player when the postseason comes around. Her first game with the Storm was not much to marvel at, but that much should be expected when a player that just recently signed plays their first minutes with a team.

WNBA

In her second game with the Storm, Charles made a noticeable impact. Charles led Seattle in rebounding, and was the team’s leading scorer off the bench. Teammate Gabby Williams discussed Charles’ play.

“She’s just being Tina. That’s all we need from her, really. She’s just being herself; I think that she is going to integrate really well. It is not easy to come in during the middle of the season and learn all of these offenses, all of our schemes, principles, everything. What is great about her is that she doesn’t need to know all of that. That says a whole lot about who she is,” Williams said.

While Breanna Stewart led Seattle in scoring, the Storm saw contributions up and down their roster. Seattle shot poorly from three, one of their staples offensively, so they used contributions from Ezi Magbegor, Gabby Williams, and Steph Talbot to push past a young

Indiana team. The Storm attacked the rim, getting to the charity stripe often and passing the ball around. Head coach Noelle Quinn discussed the team’s mindset of getting to the rim.

“It was one of our goals, we know that Indiana fouls the most in the league at the moment. We wanted to take more free throws than Indiana attempted. I thought that Stewie was very aggressive, honestly, she gets beat up a lot getting to her spots on the block. I thought she had great physicality and poise getting to the line,” Quinn remarked.

After a rough and tumble beginning to the season, it mostly seems like the Storm have found out how to win together. With that being said, Seattle is now trying to integrate Tina Charles into the roster, after going through the growing pains of not having enough practice with Gabby Williams and Briann January. There will be some potential frustrations in getting the chemistry just right, but it should be more positive rather than negative to add Charles to this lineup.

Seattle’s next contest comes on the road, this Sunday, July 3rd. Tipoff is at 12PM PST against the Atlanta Dream. The Storm and Dream face off in a rematch off their June 7th matchup in Seattle, when the Storm won by 12. The game takes place in Atlanta, as the Storm go on a three-game road trip.

Storm vanquish Aces in back-and-forth battle of top Western Conference teams

By
Charles Hamaker
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LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 27: Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10)

Seattle, WA – In a battle between the top two teams in the Western Conference, Seattle weathered Las Vegas offensive attack to win 88-78. A tough battle throughout, the Storm were able to get into winning time in the fourth quarter. Seattle outscored the Aces by eight points, and members of the big three were able to hit clutch shots to slam the door shut. With the win, Sue Bird became the winningest player in WNBA history, notching victory number 324.

Storm shooting guard Jewell Loyd seems to get better every game, and always shows out. The “Gold Mamba” made impacts on both ends of the court, leading the game in scoring with 24 points. On the defensive end, Loyd was tasked with guarding Las Vegas guards, including Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, and Loyd was able to earn 24 +/- rating on the game. Loyd also helped Seattle force 20 turnovers on the Aces, and she would discuss that postgame.

“We executed our game plan. Whether we were switching or trapping, we made sure that they did not know what we were going to do. Once they read things, we changed them on the fly. You have to be unpredictable at times. Throwing different looks at their guards helped a lot,” Loyd would say.

LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 27: Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10)

Decorated veteran Tina Charles made her Storm debut in this contest, after previously deciding to leave the Phoenix Mercury after it became clear to her that she could not win a title there. Charles headed to the Pacific Northwest, and brings spacing and rebounding to Seattle.

While Charles’ stats were limited in her first game (Four points, five rebounds, 1 assist in 16 minutes), her new team is obviously excited to have another player of her caliber around. Seattle coach Noelle Quinn discussed what she saw from Charles and what she expects from her.

“She is going to garner a lot of attention. Her understanding of the game is big. Adapting to the way we play, automatically, is good to see. We are gonna get her in spots to be successful, but to have a player of that caliber on the floor is going to help everybody else,” Quinn stated.

Photo by Aaron Nelson / fi360 News

The fourth quarter has been huge for Seattle in just about every single contest this season, ironically not the first contest between these two teams though. The first time the Storm and Aces met this season was a blow out by Las Vegas. Seattle made sure that there would be no repeat of that, and no late collapse as well. In the final seven minutes, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd combined for five critical jump shots to seal the win. This win not only means a lot because the Storm beat the current best team in the WNBA, but it was a Commissioner’s Cup game as well. Seattle is another step closer to defending their inaugural Commissioner’s Cup title from last season.

Seattle’s next matchup comes on Friday July 1st at Climate Pledge Arena against the Indiana Fever. Indiana has been struggling in recent years, and that continues when they travel to Seattle with their 5-16 record. Star guard Kelsey Mitchell will look to do all she can to keep the Fever in the game against an already loaded roster that now gets to work Tina Charles into their game plan. Tipoff is at 7PM PST.

Plum pushes Aces past Sparks

By
Eric Lambkins II
-

LOS ANGELES–Western Conference Player of the Week, Nneka Ogwumike, led the Los Angeles

Sparks with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Lexie Brown added 17 points on five-for-eight three-point shooting, Liz Cambage had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Brittney Sykes chimed in 10

Cambage attacking the rim. Photo by fi360 News

points, seven rebounds, and seven assists as the Sparks lost to the Las Vegas Aces 79-73. The loss drops Los Angeles to 7-11 on the year and into tenth place in the standings.


Unlike their previous meetings against the Aces, Los Angeles refused to have a slow start. As a result, the Sparks jumped to an early eight-point and placed the pressure on the league-leading Aces.


“The Aces have had, the last few games, very good first quarters against us. So, that was our main focus–coming out strong and sticking with them the whole game,” said Cambage.


As the game wore on, the tandem of MVP front-runner A’ja Wilson, and Kelsey Plum, proved too much for Los Angeles. Wilson, averaging 18.7 points and 9.9 rebounds on the year, had her usual stat line of 25 points and 11 rebounds against the Sparks. But it was Plum who put Los Angeles defenders in a blender throughout the night.


“I had to text someone the other day,” Cambage expressed through a smile, “that Bill Laimbeer turned Kelsey Plum into a monster keeping her on the bench like that.”

Plum had a game-high 29 points and 5 assists.

Los Angeles has gone 2-5 over June, yet the Sparks remain steadfast that their tides and fortunes are changing for the better.

This year, Las Vegas beat the Sparks by an average of 22.5 points. But with former Spark Chelsea Gray out, Los Angeles’s inability to generate offense squandered an opportunity to steal a game against the WNBA’s best in the game’s waning moments.


“I’m very pleased with how we collectively have come together as a unit,” head coach Fred Williams said. “Once it clicks in for you, it’s on all cylinders. Right now, we still have about two or three spark plugs to put in to make things happen on the floor for us; all the way around–on the offensive end and on the defensive end.”

Storm falter late, losing 85-77 to Sparks

By
Charles Hamaker
-
Photo by fi360 News

Seattle, WA – In a tough game, against a team they should beat, the Seattle Storm faltered late after a hot start. Seattle came out in the first quarter hitting threes, pushing the pace, and playing solid defense. Those three things were a staple of Storm basketball for a long time. Seattle would hit a snag, and never really regained their footing. Big second and fourth quarters, as well as a big advantage in rebounding, dug Seattle a deep hole that they never got out of.

As mentioned previously, the Storm came out firing in the first quarter. Two quick buckets from Ezi Magbegor on Liz Cambage started the game off. Breanna Stewart nailed several three pointers, and the Storm were pushing the pace. It seemed like Seattle was going to steam roll to a victory over a Los Angeles team that was all over the place, on the court and off of it. A big second quarter quickly turned things around for the Sparks, and all of the sudden Seattle was in a hole. Breanna Stewart would reflect on the game.

Photo by fi360 News

“I think the third was back and forth, going into the fourth they were able to execute off of our miscues… basically, they were scoring and we weren’t. I think that sometimes we got a couple open looks and we couldn’t knock it in. Scoring nine points in the fourth quarter is unacceptable,” Stewart said.

To begin the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 68 each. Seattle had clawed back and was playing a physical game against Los Angeles. The Storm had battled their way back into it, and with their veterans, it seemed like they could work their way back into it. Seattle has the veteran leadership to be able to close out games, but that characteristic clutch performance did not show in this game.

LAS VEGAS, NV -MAY 8: Breanna Stewart #30 of the Seattle Storm handles the ball during the game against the Las Vegas Aces on May 8, 2022 at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. 2022 NBAE (Photo by David Becker/NBAE via Getty Images)

While Breanna Stewart had a great performance throughout, her shots did not fall late. Jewell Loyd had a somewhat off game. Gabby Williams is still seeking consistent offensive footing. Storm head coach Noelle Quinn would reflect on the offensive decision making late.

“Shot selection was bad. I don’t wanna say that every shot was bad or contested, but I have a snapshot in my head of a lot of bad shots, out of rhythm shots, a lot of rushed shots,” Quinn remarked.

This is an ugly loss for Seattle. While the Sparks do have talent on their roster, they are a team in disarray. They don’t have things figured out, and are playing under an interim head coach. Seeing the shot selection by Seattle late, the complete shift in the way that the game was going, is disappointing. While Mercedes Russell is out, the Storm should have won this game. Rumors about Tina Charles signing with Seattle are nice, but there are issues that need to be resolved even after a potential addition. With two months to play in the regular season, there are some key weeks coming up for Seattle to figure things out.

The Storm’s next matchup comes Wednesday, June 29th against the Las Vegas Aces. A battle of the top two of teams in the Western Conference tips off at 7PM PST inside of Climate Pledge Arena. Seattle will need to turn things around quickly if they want to have any sort of chance against this high-flying Aces team.

Storm use late run to pull away in 83-71 victory over Mystics

By
Charles Hamaker
-
Photo by Aaron Nelson / fi360 News

Seattle, WA – In a battle between two talent laden rosters, the Seattle
Storm pulled away late against the Washington Mystics. The game
was close throughout, totaling seven lead changes, but a 14-2 by
Seattle wrapped it up.

Jewell Loyd led all scorers with 22 points, as four of the Storm’s five starters were in double digits. With the win, Seattle is now 5-1 in their last six games and sit firmly at second in the Western Conference.


Young Storm talented center Ezi Magbegor has been on a
tremendous rise this season, which has been a key to Seattle’s
success. Magbegor, with Mercedes Russell out due to injury, has
taken advantage of increased minutes. Ezi showed that in this game
as well, pouring in 20 points (tied for second most in the game) while
adding five rebounds and two blocks. The Australian center also leads
the entire WNBA in blocks per game, averaging 2.7 rejections a game.
Having Magbegor growth will certainly be a welcome addition to a
Storm team looking for a third option. Teammate Breanna Stewart
discussed Magbegor growth postgame.

Washington Mystic passes before going out of bounds. Photo by fi360 News


“I think that Ezi is really continuing to develop in this league.
Especially with us in year three, coming in and taking a much bigger
role with Mercedes being in an out of our lineup. She’s making the
right reads, understanding what teams are doing defensively…. she’s
finishing strong, well through contact,” Stewart stated.

The Storm bench has been a wildcard this season. There are
stretches of games where the bench sees a great contribution, with
veterans like Jantel Lavender and Briann January adding an edge.
This game saw a very low input from the second unit, as the bench
only added nine points. A key piece to a championship team, let alone
a good playoff team, is a productive bench. The Storm cannot afford
to rely on its big three all the time, especially considering that Gabby
Williams is looking to find consistent offense.

Head coach Noelle Quinn discussed her bench postgame.


“Yeah, I’d like some more from them, but today, there was a lot of
good carry over. With the movement that they showed offensively.
Defensively, they were on a string. I want to trust them and keep them
in, I see the growth in it. It’s small steps, but it is good steps in the
right direction. There were good things that unit did today,” Quinn
would reflect.


This Storm team shows flashes of its potential in different ways each
night. Whether it be the growth of Magbegor, Gabby Williams having a
breakout game in New York, the bench on fire, etc. They seem to be
mostly finding their stride heading into the All-Star break, but it will be
key that once they find it, they keep it going. Around this same time
last season, the Storm were rolling. Breanna Stewart looked like a
lock for the MVP award, and Seattle had won the Commissioners cup.
Keeping that momentum is key, as you want to be the team that finds
their stride heading into the playoffs.


The Storm have a relatively quick turnaround for their next game, as
they battle the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday, June 25th at Climate
Pledge Arena. Tipoff is at 6PM PST, as the struggling Sparks come to
town looking to rebound.

Defense dooms Sparks as Sky breeze to 82-59 win

By
Eric Lambkins II
-
Photo by fi360 News

LOS ANGELES–Nneka Ogwumike led the Los Angeles Sparks with 15 points and four rebounds, and Brittney Sykes added 13 points and five rebounds as the Sparks lost to the Chicago Sky 82-59.

The Sparks fall out of the final playoff position with the loss as they reach the season’s midpoint.

Los Angeles’s rebounding woes and defensive lapses continued against the Sky. Former Sparks and current Sky, Candace Parker led the rebounding charge for the Sky with 14 en-route to setting a WNBA record for her third triple-double. Parker’s second triple-double of the season moves her past Sheryl Swoopes, Courtney Vandersloot, and Sabrina Ionescu, whom all have two.


Defensively, Los Angeles was out of sorts — frequently failing to rotate and giving Chicago easy open looks at the rim.


“I thought the rotation was okay at points,” said Sparks head coach Fred Williams. “It’s hard to rotate when you’re in transition, and that’s all about the will and getting back and stopping the basketball and not giving players and teams layups.”


If the Sparks are to turn things around, they are running out of games to do so.

Aces trump Sparks in a blowout

By
Eric Lambkins II
-
Photo by Chanel Foster / fi360 News

LOS ANGELES– Nneka Ogwumike scored 16 points as the Los Angeles Sparks lost to the Las Vegas Aces 89-72 and fell in a two-way tie with the New York Liberty for 8th place.

Photo by Chanel Foster / fi360 News


The Sparks played noticeably different after they parted ways with former General Manager and Head Coach Derek Fisher. Interim head coach Frank Williams vowed to distribute minutes equally amongst the roster; however, no one that Los Angeles threw at Aja Wilson could stop her.


The Las Vegas center was in MVP form, scoring 22 of her season-high 35 points in the first half.


However, at times Wilson left Liz Cambage visibly frustrated.


Williams stated, “Guarding Aja Wilson is a tough task because she knows how to get down and fadeaway and get her shot up.”

Photo by Chanel Foster / fi360 News


Moving forward, Williams plans on altering defensive schematics in hopes that it can protect Cambage.


“With a new way that we are trying to be aggressive on defense, it’s going to help Liz a little bit more to keep her inside the paint instead of coming out on the shooter.”


Despite the drubbing, Williams and the Sparks remain optimistic. Williams wants the Sparks to shoot 75-80 shots a game. Los Angeles shot 36.6% from the field on 26-of-71 attempts. The length of Las Vegas crowded the paint and forced the Sparks to settle for long jumpers.


Los Angeles battled and stayed engaged despite the insurmountable deficit.

“I still had their eyes in the huddle,” Williams stated.

Photo by Chanel Foster / fi360 News


The Sparks, having twice faced the Aces with minimal practice time, have been dealt bad hands.


Los Angeles has had little time to sure up defensive schemes and philosophies. In addition, Los Angeles’ restrictions and a coaching change have not been easy on the talent-rich team.

Nonetheless, Williams stated, “By the time we play next time here at home, you will see a big-time result here with this team.”

Sparks fans look forward to the changes that lie ahead.

Storm avoid nightmare end to homestand with 72-60 win over Atlanta Dream

By
Charles Hamaker
-
Photo by Aaron Nelson / fi360 News

Seattle, WA – The Seattle Storm ended their historic eight game homestand with a satisfying victory against the Atlanta Dream. There were shades of Seattle’s past two games, losses that came due to an inability to finish. That wouldn’t be the case, and one instance in particular was a perfect example of it. In the fourth quarter, the Dream went on a 13-point run to bring them within striking distance. Instead of failing to respond, Breanna Stewart hit a three pointer and the Storm were able to pull away.

Seattle’s point guard Jewell Loyd continues her hot form from a breakout 2021 campaign. Loyd, nicknamed the Gold Mamba, again led the team in scoring with 26 points. Loyd sparked the offense, including a 13-point first quarter. The Gold Mamba also was one of only two players to get to the free throw line, going a perfect six for six. Loyd’s offensive fire is a primary factor in Seattle’s ability to contend, and she discussed her night postgame.

Photo by Aaron Nelson / fi360 News

“I don’t think the basket felt any bigger, I was getting some good rhythm shots from my teammates getting me open, taking what the defense gave me. I was just trying to make the game as simple as possible. Night by night, we don’t know what defenses will do, but knowing that regardless of that I can pass it to these guys (referring to Stewart and Magbegor), we’re in good hands,” Loyd remarked.

For momentums sake, Seattle needed to bounce back from their last two losses. Having leads, failing to hit shots, and just looking like a shell of who they are made some worried about the Storm. It is early, and the Storm are growing, and some of that growth showed in this win. Seattle closed out this game with timely buckets and stiff defense, holding young stars Rhyne Howard and Aari McDonald to 18 points collectively.

An eight game homestand is tied for the longest in WNBA history, and it is a big opportunity for the team in question to build chemistry. Over the course of those eight games, Seattle finishes the set with a 5-3 record. The Storm will now prepare for a five-game road trip, featuring rematches the last two teams they lost to in Dallas and Connecticut. With limited practice reps, Seattle will have to build chemistry and work towards contending in-game. Head coach Noelle Quinn would discuss how the team will do that postgame

Photo by Aaron Nelson / fi360 News

“We don’t have practice time. We will have to find ways to get better in game, watching film in those sessions. Feeling the rhythm, feeling the cadence, feeling the chemistry with each other, it has to happen fast and immediately. In games like this, we show the team that we can be when we have our film sessions,” Quinn stated.

Seattle’s next matchup comes on Friday, June 10th against the Dallas Wings. The Storm will start their road trip in Dallas, with a 5PM PST tip off. Seattle will look to contain the back court of Arike Ogunbowale, Allisha Gray, and Marina Mabrey better than the first time that the two teams matched up. Those three together accounted for more than half of the Wings points.

Photo by Aaron Nelson / fi360 News

LA Sparks Part Ways with General Manager/Head Coach Derek Fisher

By
Press Release
-

LOS ANGELES (June 7, 2022) – The Los Angeles Sparks announced today that the organization has parted ways with General Manager/Head Coach Derek Fisher, effective immediately. Assistant Coach Fred Williams will serve as Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the 2022 season. The Sparks will now begin a search for the next general manager.

“After a thorough evaluation of the state of our team, the Sparks and GM/Head Coach Derek Fisher have agreed to part ways,” Managing Partner Eric Holoman said. “On behalf of our ownership group, I want to thank Derek for his efforts and contributions to the Sparks franchise. We wish him the best moving forward. I have full confidence in Fred Williams to step into the role of interim head coach, bringing a wealth of experience leading WNBA teams.”

Fred Williams

Fisher was hired as head coach on Dec. 5, 2018, and named general manager on Dec. 22, 2020. In three plus seasons, Fisher had a regular season record of 54-46. The team qualified for the postseason twice in his tenure, with a 1-4 playoff record. The Sparks are currently 5-7 and sit in 8th place in the WNBA standings.

“I want to thank the LA Sparks organization, ownership, staff, players, and fans for the opportunity they have afforded me over the last four years as a part of this historic franchise,” Fisher said. “Their support has allowed me to grow as both a coach and front office executive and I am proud of what we have accomplished.”

“The Sparks and I have mutually agreed to part ways as I shift my focus back to pursuing other opportunities and private endeavors,” Fisher added. “It has been an amazing ride and I wish the entire LA sparks organization great success moving forward.”

Interim Head Coach Fred Williams takes over with 30 years of experience in women’s basketball. He most recently served as head coach of the Tulsa Shock/Dallas Wings from 2014-2018, where he coached Sparks center Liz Cambage. Williams has also been the head coach of the Atlanta Dream (2012-2013), the Utah Starzz (1999-2001), and the University of Southern California (1995-1997). In 2013, he led the Dream to the WNBA Finals.

“I appreciate the opportunity to steer the team under these circumstances, alongside assistant coaches Latricia Trammell and Seimone Augustus,” Williams said. “We have a talented group of players focused on making a run to the WNBA playoffs and we will collectively embrace this challenge.”

WNBA

The Sparks next game is Saturday, June 11 against the Las Vegas Aces at 6 p.m. PT at Crypto.com Arena.

ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES SPARKS

Founded in 1996, the Los Angeles Sparks are one of three original franchises in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Sparks have won three WNBA Championships (2001, 2002, 2016), have qualified for the playoffs in 20 of their 25 seasons and remain the only active team in the league to win back-to-back titles. The Los Angeles Sparks are dedicated to ensuring each home game at Crypto.com Arena has a championship level entertainment experience while showcasing the best female athletes from around the world on the court. LA Sparks 2022 season tickets are available for purchase.

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