Seattle Storm’s quest to build championship chemistry is on a time crunch

There’s nothing the Seattle Storm can do to satisfy coach Noelle Quinn.

But she’s hoping they can get close, and soon.

“I’m a coach. I’m greedy,” she said. “I’m not going to be satisfied. I think we have a lot to work on.”

The Storm are fifth in the WNBA standings with a 20-14 record. They’ve clinched a spot in the playoffs, but it’s been an uphill battle for Seattle, after not qualifying for the 2023 postseason and adding two new pieces in free agency during the offseason.

Of Seattle’s “Big Three,” only Jewell Loyd was on the roster in 2023. Signing Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike in the offseason immediately made the Storm look like a contender on paper, but building chemistry has taken time.

Now, the Storm are having to do it again, and this time with just two weeks left in the regular season.

Gabby Williams signed with the Storm for the rest of the season, after an electric performance playing for France in the Olympics. She’s no stranger to Seattle, after spending the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the team, but Williams is a stranger to playing with Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike.

“They’ve never played together before,” Quinn said. “They have no reps together. So as good as they are individually, it’s about trying to find chemistry and comfort and all of those things. And that doesn’t come overnight. That doesn’t even come with practice, it comes with time.”

Time is not something the Storm have. The playoffs begin on September 22, so they are trying to expedite the process.

“We added Gabby with 12 games left in the season, so it’s not going to happen right away, but it is happening right now,” Quinn said. “Our rhythm is good. We are seeing some confidence, some chemistry.”

The Storm had the chance to assess their growing chemistry on Thursday, against the No. 1 team in the league. The test ended in a 77-70 loss to the Liberty, a team Seattle hasn’t been able to best this season.

If they play again, it will be in the postseason.

Seattle has faced New York three times, and despite the trio of losses, Quinn has seen clear improvements in each game, most notably, on the defensive end.

Defense is a focus for the Storm. They reached a peak on Tuesday in a 71-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun, in which they held their opponent to 41.4% shooting and forced 15 turnovers.

“We found some really good things against Connecticut,” Quinn said. “I just want to continue to build on that. It’s not often in this league that you are scoring [71 points] and getting a win, but it is a testament what we can do on the defensive end.”

Quinn was pleased with her team’s defensive effort against New York on Thursday as well, but she and her players are waiting for the Storm to put everything together. Their ultimate goal is a WNBA championship, but to do that, Seattle will need consistency on both ends of the floor.

The Storm held the Liberty to 38% shooting, but their own offense was lacking. Diggins-Smith pointed out her team’s six free-throw attempts and a 19-2 advantage for New York in transition points as two major issues in the loss.

Diggins-Smith sees the progress her team is making, and understands that it’s a major feat to hold New York to 77 points — the Liberty average 85.6 per game — but there are also no moral victories for the 34-year-old guard.

Especially since she knows what the Storm are capable of.

“I’ve been on teams that are out of the playoffs now, I’ve been on teams that are fighting for position, I’ve been on teams that have nothing to play for, but want to mess up somebody else’s season,” she said. “I’ve been on every type of team, but I have not been on a team with this much talent. So I want to maximize that this year.”

Seattle’s window of opportunity is closing. The Storm have six games left to fight for seeding and iron out any remaining issues before the postseason starts.

But despite the time crunch, and the frustration of losing to the Liberty once again, Seattle is keeping a positive outlook.

“I know what is in that locker room,” Diggins-Smith said. “I know what we work on, and I see it in spurts, and I just want to see us put it together on both sides for 40 minutes. That’s why I’m optimistic, is because we have not painted that masterpiece yet. The time is now to do it.”