Storm Players Busy All Over the Globe

Apologies in advance for the bad pun, but this weekend is the calm before the Storm, so to speak. Training camp officially begins tomorrow, but that traditionally means a team meeting/dinner before Monday's media day and first practice, which is not open to the media. (Traditionally, the weekend before training camp does not include hail, but I guess all the better for the Storm.)

Still, plenty of Storm players are making news overseas. Let's start in Israel, where Tanisha Wright and Raanana Hertzliya completed a comeback from down 2-0 in their series with Maccabi Ramat Hen to win 3-2 and advance to the Israeli Finals. Wright played passer in Game 5, handing out 12 assists to go with 11 points and five steals in a 98-84 win. Wright's passing was contagious; Raanana had 29 assists on 35 baskets as a team.

In the Finals, Raanana will face Elizur Ramla. Game 1 is Monday. The series could end as soon as April 28 with a sweep. I believe the longest it could go would be the Monday after that, May 5. From the Storm's perspective, let's root for a Raanana sweep.

In Russia, Spartak has opened the Superleague Playoffs, defeating overmatched Kursk Dynamo 96-57 in Game 1 of their best-of-three series. With the outcome in no doubt, Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson played just seven minutes apiece. Jackson had eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in her brief run, while Bird handed out two assists.

Moving east to China, the U.S. Senior Women's National Team dropped its opener in the Good Luck Beijing Tournament, falling 74-60 to Australia. The U.S. led to the final quarter but was outscored 26-10 in the period. Swin Cash had seven points and four rebounds as a starter for the USA, which struggled to find a rhythm from downtown, shooting 2-of-19 on threes. Vets Lisa Leslie (17) and Katie Smith (14) were the only U.S. players to score double-figures. A couple of former Storm players, Tully Bevilaqua and Suzy Batkovic, started for the Opals.