In appreciation of Alysha Clark
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Seattle Storm picked up right where they left off, cruising to a 102–91 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night. The win pushed the Storm’s league-best record to 20–7, and moved them 3.5 games clear of the second-place Atlanta Dream.
It’s been a remarkable campaign for the club in their first season under new head coach Dan Hughes. As they move ever closer to securing a top-two seed, and thus a bye to the semi-finals, they’ve already clinched their first over .500 season since 2011, and are well on the way to setting the second-best regular season record in franchise history.
Everyone knows the key players. Aside from Hughes coming in and resetting the culture, there’s Breanna Stewart putting together an MVP-type performance in just her third season. There’s Jewell Loyd, who was once again an All-Star, and veteran point guard Sue Bird leading the way as always. Plus, Natasha Howard is having a breakout campaign, and looks like one of the favorites to take home the Most Improved Player Award.
Not much ink has been spilled, however, about the yet unnamed starter, the one who helps hold everything together, but rarely gets credit. The veteran forward who has spent her entire career in Seattle, has played in all but 18 games in six-plus seasons and does all the little things that championship teams need someone to do.
Alysha Clark finished with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, five rebounds, three assists and a steal in 27 minutes in the Storm’s road win over the Mercury. It was a summarily solid performance from Clark, who isn’t going to put up big numbers — her career high is just 23 points — but rarely has nights where you forget she’s on the floor.
Need someone to spot-up around the perimeter and knock down open 3s after Stewart and Bird draw the defense’s attention? No problem, Clark is shooting 41.5 percent from deep this season. Have a mismatch and need someone to exploit it? Sure thing, Clark can head down to the post, where she puts up a league-best 1.2 points per possession, per Synergy. How about on the defensive end? Are you in need of a player who can effectively stick with anyone from opposing point guards to power forwards? Look no further.
From someone who originally played basketball in high school just to stay in shape between volleyball and track, Clark has now grown into one of the most indispensable parts of championship contender. She might not always get the credit she deserves, but make no mistake. If the Storm go on a deep playoff run this season, or possibly even take home their first title since 2010, Alysha Clark will have had plenty to do with it.
