After largest defeat in franchise history, Storm looking to put the pieces together on offense

Lose by one point or lose by 41, it’s still a loss, right?

Technically? Yes.

But early lopsided losses are more complicated when you’re a young Storm team seeking proof and affirmation that an assortment of offseason personnel changes are eventually going to lead to wins.

And epic faceplants such as last Saturday’s 105-64 beatdown against defending WNBA champion Las Vegas — the largest margin of defeat in franchise history — is the type of embarrassing performance that could sow doubt in the minds of players, coaches, front office staff and Storm fans that the team is in the embryonic stage of a long rebuilding process featuring nine newcomers and four rookies.

“Not all losses are the same,” coach Noelle Quinn said when asked about the 41-point defeat in the league opener. “It’s different because this group is different. Our competition was a team that’s been together for a long time and they were the defending champs. And to be fair to us, we’re new in a lot of areas.

“We played a rookie (Jordan Horston) a lot of minutes. We have people coming back from an injury or other teams. So, we’re new in a lot of areas. It’s different because of who we are. We don’t have — at least not yet, anyway — that experience of winning together. … And until we get that, it’s a little bit of an unknown and wondering how is this going to work? That’s just human nature.”

As a point guard who spent 12 years in the WNBA with five teams, Quinn preferred to immediately play another game after a blowout loss.

However, the third-year Storm coach relished the past five days, which included four practices before Friday’s 7 p.m. matchup with Dallas (1-0) at Climate Pledge Arena.

“For this team, I liked the long layoff because we need the practice,” Quinn said. “We need more reps and chemistry building on the court. We’ve got to get better. We were very poor in a lot of areas. With grace, we know they are the defending champs and a well-oiled machine. But to have time to lock in on the film and correct our mistakes is important for this group.”

So many things went wrong for the Storm (0-1) in the opener, but at the forefront of their problems is an offense that failed to launch.

Granted it’s just one game, but Seattle ranks last in the 12-team league in points per game (64.0), assists per game (12.0), field-goal percentage (32.1) and free-throw percentage (60.0).

Jewell Loyd is seventh in the WNBA in scoring while averaging 22.0 points, but the Storm will likely spend the next four months trying to find other players to offensively support the four-time league All-Star.

“I have to play Kia (Nurse) more,” Quinn said, noting Nurse was scoreless in just 10½ minutes in the opener. “I think Kia will help. Sami (Whitcomb) knocking down some threes is going to help and Ezi (Magbegor) has to be way more active. I want her to rim run. I want her to get offensive rebounds.”

Aside from Loyd, the Storm starters combined to produce just 17 points, including five in the second half and two in the fourth quarter.

“Offensively, I’m looking to be more aggressive,” said Magbegor, who had seven points, five rebounds and four steals in the opener. “Our team needs me to be a two-way player. One person can’t win a game. We’re learning how to play with each other so more people can score in multiple actions.

“Obviously, Jewell is a great offensive player and getting her shots is important. But I need to be more aggressive and more of a threat on offense.”

The same goes for Nurse, the only Storm player with the exception of Loyd that has a double-digit career scoring average (10.9 points per game).

“I’m just now starting to figure out where those threes are going to come from because that’s going to be a big piece of my job here,” said Nurse, who sat out last year due to a knee injury and shot 35.3% behind the arc in 2021 with the Phoenix Mercury. “A lot of our offense will come from our transition game. If we can play with pace and we can be in shape to run up and down, then it forces the other team to have to keep up with us.”

Nurse advised the Storm’s four rookies to not be dismayed by the team’s lopsided loss in the opener. The fifth-year veteran remembers being a rookie on a New York Liberty team that went 7-27 in 2018 after she compiled an incredible 150-3 record during a four-year stint with the Connecticut Huskies.

“Win or lose, moving on to the next game is a valuable lesson in this league, especially after the kind of game we had,” Nurse said. “When you don’t have the ability to release whatever you’re feeling and let it go, then it’s going to fester into the next couple of games. I don’t know when I learned this, but every game is its own situation.

“It’s important that you’re not looking ahead, you’re not looking behind, but you’re looking at what’s right in front of you. That’s a big piece to this league because there’s so many moving pieces and it comes at you fast once it starts to get rolling. Just focus on what’s in front of you.”