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Barry Svrluga
A sports columnist with experience in rhythm writing on baseball, golf, NFL, college basketball and college football
It's unfortunate that it ended here, in a traffic jam after rush hours in Fairfax County, and so on, it ended Wednesday night, before Washington really discovers a pace in the finals of the WNBA . But in what has been a historic opportunity for women's basketball in these regions – a celebration for a franchise that, in the not-too-distant past, was pretty awful – the result could easily be distilled: the best team with the best players has won, and the season is over now.
No shame on that. Not at all. Consider where this season started for the Washington Mystics, with coach Mike Thibault putting a pre-season prognosis on the board in front of the players. Seventh or eighth in the league, he said. An afterthought, do not play for a championship.
"Our team took a look at it," said Thibault, "and said," Hell, no. "
No, the Mystics have not been able to play the most important home-based game in franchise history in their downtown digs, because the Capital One Arena is under renovation or in their new home on the Anacostia river. No, the Mystics could not extend the series with the Seattle Storm, as Washington's Elena Delle Donne could not make up for her own Olympic teammate, Seattle's brilliant Breanna Stewart, and the Storm's unending line of fire.
[Washington Mystics swept up by the Storm in first trip to WNBA Finals]
And so, this George Mason EagleBank Arena party was a unique affair. The storm has had its three-game sweep, 98-82, and the Storm has its third WNBA championship. The Mystics, with a core that is now tested, are left to try for their first summer next.
Mystics fans cheer for the third game at EagleBank Arena. The team will have a new home next season in southeastern Washington. (John McDonnell / The Washington Post)
Listen to them. It is no longer a hope. It's a wait.
"We do not feel like we've peaked, that's all," said Delle Donne.
Even though the finals were eliminated from the DMV as quickly as they moved, pause to think about what it meant – and if it could happen again. For this sport in this city, Wednesday's third game was the biggest match played by a local team since the University of Maryland won the national title a dozen years ago. In the history of the WNBA, 13 franchises had reached this stage before this year. Washington has never been one of them. For a team that, just seven years ago, reached 11-57 over a period of two seasons, it's not nothing.
"It was a nudge," said Thibault, who took over immediately after these difficult times and saw the transformation. . . well, everything.
And he sort of did it. Delle Donne came to Chicago prior to 2017 and leader Kristi Toliver – a 2006 Maryland team hero – signed here as a free agent. They became the team's identity, although it took time to identify them.
"We always learn from each other," said Toliver.
"I did not even know his favorite beer," said Delle Donne, with Toliver at his side. "Now I can go to the bar and find everything she needs."
"I'm going to need a lot tonight," Toliver said.
"I got it, Panda," replied Delle Donne, invoking the nickname Toliver.
So there is a core here, a core that knows each other's families and what their answers might be in an airport game of "I prefer you. . . Wednesday night, it was mostly an eruption. But clearly, these players and this team were worth watching. More importantly, they will worth watching.
"The window for us is open now," said Thibault. ". . . This is the goal of our team now. They know what it is.
The same goes for the DMV – not just the women's basketball community. John Wall came out and sat on the baseline. Bradley Beal, the sorcerer's teammate, was sitting in another corner of the field. Derrius Guice, the wounded Redskins who run backwards, also appeared (we added that we were doing very well on our surgically repaired knee). It was an event, and when the traffic stopped and the crowd of 9,164 people found themselves in the crowd, that also seemed to be the case.
The problem in this development that night: Stewart and the Storm would not allow a return Friday night.
Seattle came here with the benefit of two home wins, one an eruption and the other a burner. Stewart scored 47 points in both wins. And she was the best player on the court Wednesday – 30 points and eight rebounds, burying four of her three-three points, a few when it seemed the Mystics could return.
Oh, wait. Stewart may not have been the best player. Maybe it was his teammate, center Natasha Howard, who had 29 points and 14 rebounds.
"You feel very blessed," said storm coach Dan Hughes.
Hughes is blessed in the present because Stewart played with leader Sue Bird – who continues at 37 – and Alysha Clark and Jewell Loyd and the rest of the time long enough for that cohesion, chemistry. This is the model sought by mystics.
The new facility in the southeast will help, and perhaps it will help create a fan base that can grow. Delle Donne's first matches at Capital One Arena? It was cruel.
"I will not lie," she said. "It was a little quiet when we went out for our first game."
The new place will be smaller, stronger, better. And it will be at home, which counts too.
But it's next year. Wednesday night around 2018, about the extension of the finals. The storm led by 17 to half, conducted everywhere, played tirelessly. But with just under seven minutes, the Washington reserve Tierra Ruffin-Pratt buried a three-pointers to reduce the deficit to five.
Was it possible?
The storm responded – and decisively. It was not At the end, Washington's LaToya Sanders was on the bench, her ankle wrapped, crutches at her side, the victim of a plunge for a softball. Delle Donne showed herself on the bench for the last time to a standing ovation but sat silently, looking down. Having a year in advance is not glorious when someone is taking the trophy you want.
When the siren sounded and Storm's players started to jump, Toliver got up from the bench and Delle Donne sat next to her. They slapped hands quickly, a recognition of what they helped accomplish. They have a future together and it could be fun.
Wednesday night, in the suburbs of Washington, we did not know how they wanted to play or what they wanted to feel. But maybe in a year or three, they'll come back more as a starting point than the end of the 2018 season.
For more information by Barry Svrluga, visit washingtonpost.com/svrluga.
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