WATCH: Coaches’ Corner with Mike Thibault | Hill, Hartley, Dolson on West Coast Trip 

 

Good Time for a Trip

The Mystics notched their first victory of the season on Saturday night in Connecticut and now make their first West Coast voyage of the season as they prepare to take on the Seattle Storm on Thursday night (10pm) and then the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday evening.

After dropping their first three at home to open the season, head coach Mike Thibault felt that this was a perfect time for a road trip, where the team could bond, both on and off the court.

“I actually think our team has looked forward to a road trip, I didn’t like having three straight to open at home. I think you can bond a little bit better as a road team, I think it’s kind of you against the world in some respect, there’s sometimes distractions at home, so I think they are kind of looking forward to it and obviously we had  a good start in Connecticut,” said Thibault.

And he wasn’t alone.  Many of the players felt that this was a good time to get away, be with one another and just focus on basketball.

“We’re excited, going out there and we get to spend a lot more time together.  I think the main thing with this team is gaining chemistry and getting us all used to being together, since we had people come late to training camp and people with injuries, it will be good for us as a team,” said guard Bria Hartley.

“It will be fun, we always love road trips, they are long and tough, but we get to have some bonding time, we get to hang out with each other, go to dinner etc…,” said center Stefanie Dolson.

“I like playing on the road because it’s only us against everybody else. It’s us against their fans, we’re not here in our own comfortable area where we can go off and do our own thing, so I actually like playing on the road because it’s just us 12 women and our coaches and that’s it.,” echoed guard Tayler Hill.

Hill has emerged as the team’s leading scorer in 2016, scoring at least 20 points in three of her four games and went for a career-high 24 in the overtime win on Saturday.  Hartley added 16 points in 39 minutes and played a critical role in helping the Mystics stage the late come from behind victory.

 

First Look at Stewie

After winning the coveted 2016 draft lottery, the Storm made Breanna Stewart the first overall selection in this year’s draft.  Stewart entered the WNBA as one of the most accomplished collegiate athletes of all time, winning four national championships at UCONN, while being named Most Outstanding Player in all four tournaments.

Through three games in the WNBA, she’s already averaging 17.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game and despite being a rookie is probably the Storm’s most dangerous all-around player.   She’ll play down low alongside former Mystic Crystal Langhorne,  who was traded from Washington to Seattle for Hartley on draft night in 2014.   There should be some great post matchups in this one as Emma Meesseman and Stefanie Dolson will have to match the athletic bigs for the Storm.

While Stewart will require plenty of attention, Thibault doesn’t want to enter the game solely focused on the prized rookie.

“She’s been really good for them, but there’s a lot of other good players on their team, their backcourt of Jewell Loyd and Sue Bird has been sensational to start the season, so we can’t focus just on Breanna Stewart.”

Last year’s number one overall pick, Jewell Loyd, leads the Storm in scoring at 21.3 points per game and Sue Bird, now in her 14th season in the league, continues to be one of the game’s premiere point guards.

The Storm may be 1-2 but they opened the season playing three of the toughest teams in the league (Minnesota, Phoenix, Los Angeles) and can be a really dangerous side playing at home.  The Mystics haven’t won in Seattle since 2005 and they’ll need to play one of their better games to get a win on Thursday.

Ivory Back? 

The good news for the Mystics was that Ivory Latta accompanied the team on their long flight to the Pacific Northwest and there’s hope now that she’ll be ready to go on Thursday night.  Latta had surgery on her knee in April and has missed the team’s first four games of the season.  If she can play, she may have to start on a minutes limit, but her presence and leadership will certainly make an impact, even in a limited role.  Thibault could choose to use her as a starter or as a reserve.

Natasha Cloud, who has missed the previous two games, will not be with the team on this trip as she deals with an illness.  The team announced on Tuesday that they signed guard Jamie Weisner, who will help with depth in the backcourt while Cloud recovers.  Weisner hails from Eastern Washington and played her college ball at Oregon State, so there will probably be a good amount of fans in the Seattle crowd cheering for their local favorite.

The action tips at 10pm ET on Thursday night (WNBA League Pass)

Projected Lineups 

Mystics: G – Hartley, G – Hill, G – Copper, F – Meesseman, C – Dolson

Storm: G – Bird, G – Loyd, F – Clark, F – Stewart, C – Langhorne