In-arena host Shellie Hart interviews Chambers during a timeout with some assistance from Doppler.Aaron Last/Storm Photos

Alex Chambers has turned his summer vacation into a celebration of the WNBA. As part of his “13 Teams, 1 Journey” trip, Chambers is crisscrossing the country to watch a game in all 13 WNBA arenas. Stop number six brought him to Seattle and KeyArena for last night’s game against the Sacramento Monarchs. Chambers had a chance to interview Storm guard Sue Bird before the game and forward Lauren Jackson afterward. During the game, he was introduced and interviewed on StormVision at a timeout.

Before the game, StormTracker sat down with Chambers to chat about his journey so far.

How did this whole idea come about?
I’ve got friends who live in cities where there are WNBA teams, and I thought it would be kind of cool to go on a road trip and see games on other courts. It just kind of snowballed into this idea that I could visit every team. My thing is I’m a planning junkie – I love to plan big, intricate things. Following through with them is another story. It really gave me motivation to do this for a lot of months beforehand to do this. Then I got the idea of dedicating it to my friend Cyndee, who lost her battle to breast cancer last April. Every little bit it became a little more meaningful to me.

I’m really a big supporter of women’s basketball and the WNBA. If I can be a positive reflection of the league and show a couple of people that this is worth it, that the game more than entertaining and inspiring, great. Now that I’m in Seattle, you’ve got amazing players – Bird and LJ, of course. Swin Cash, who has just been a monster the last couple of games, especially in points. You’ve got some other good players – Pee Wee’s a veteran player, nice to see her. I’ve been fortunate to catch some really good games.

Did you anticipate this level of interest and publicity?
No, I did not. I was going to go to the games, I was going to blog and have a good time, meet some fans. That’s what I was planning of doing. A lot of people ask me questions like, ‘Do you work for the WNBA?’ I’m like, ‘No.’ ‘Are you making money off this trip?’ ‘No.’ I just started posting on Facebook and then the WNBA found me and said, ‘How can we help get the word out about your trip?’ They’ve given me media credentials and helped me talk to players. Getting to stand in the locker room and talk to Sue Bird for three minutes … I’m glad I’m getting it on video because then I can look back to see how amazing an experience it was. As a fan, to get to do that is a dream come true. I get a little short of breath every time LJ walks by.

What has been the highlight of the trip?
Just talking to the players – getting to interview Candace Parker and Katie Smith, Kara Lawson, talking to some of the best of the best in this league and just getting to talk to them on such a personal level. The highlight has been for me talking to these players and having them be so easy to talk to. Candace Parker – literally the superstar of the Los Angeles Sparks and, some would say, the WNBA – was the easiest person to talk to. Just so chill and relaxed and I wasn’t nervous at all – as nervous as I thought I’d be.

A couple of interesting experiences. The PR person for L.A. introduced me to the whole team by having me come into the locker room postgame before any media. I’m standing in front of Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, DeLisha Milton-Jones … she turns to the entire team and says, ‘Hey, this is Alex. Alex, why don’t you tell them what you’re doing?’ My jaw was on the floor. Again, Candace Parker – I was trying to talk about what I was doing and Candace Parker is looking at me and she’s nodding, saying, ‘Oh yeah, that’s really cool,’ giving me some visual feedback. I don’t know that if she saw that I was kind of stumbling or was nervous – and I was really nervous. Sue Bird, sitting down with her, she was all smiles and nice to talk to, so approachable. It’s been great.

As a Mercury fan, is it tough to root for other Western Conference teams?
I have one policy: I root for the home team as long as my team wasn’t here. So the other night I was cheering on the Monarchs and they played really well. It was tough when I went to L.A. As you know, L.A. is a great team. You have legends like Lisa Lesie and Tina Thompson, new talent with Candace Parker, DeLisha Milton-Jones, gold medalists. You’ve got history there on that team. But my girls were there, and I’ve got to support my home team. I think other teams understand. These girls play against each other here and with each other in the offseason in Europe and Russia. I have learned a few things. When you walk into the L.A. Sparks’ locker room postgame, you don’t talk about your own team. If the mood is kind of somber postgame, I ask them about things that are not basketball-related. I usually do that. When I was talking to Sue Bird, I was asking her not basketball-related questions. I think it’s important to learn as I go. The first time at Detroit was kind of awkward. Atlanta was even a little more awkward because ESPN was there, it was a bit busy. San Antonio I got in my rhythm, then L.A. and Sacramento and now I’m here. It’s been good.

To follow Alex’s trip – and read about his experience in Seattle when he gets a chance – check out the 13 Teams, 1 Journey blog. Also follow Alex at @13teams1journey on Twitter.

Bird's distinctive shoes. Aaron Last/Storm Photos

The statement was impossible to miss. During last night’s Storm win over Sacramento, Sue Bird donned bright yellow versions of her usual Nike Zoom Soldier III shoes to show her support for LIVESTRONG and research to fight cancer.

Bird is part of the new “It’s About You” campaign timed with Lance Armstrong competing in the Tour de France. Its theme? “Lance is just one person. He can’t fight the global cancer epidemic alone. How will you help?”

“These were specially made by Nike for Lance Amstrong,” Bird explained of her unmistakable shoes after the game. “He’s trying to win his millionth Tour de France in a row. It’s in support of that as well as Nike’s efforts to back his foundation and all the cancer stuff that they do.

“Also, a friend of mine, Michelle French – she’s local here, played soccer – this past year was diagnosed and then beat it. It’s something I support, something that’s close to me. Today being a nationally-televised game was the best time to do it.”

Check out Bird’s video for the “It’s About You” campaign, in which she discusses the importance of commitment to cancer research, at the LIVESTRONG site. Also, Jayda Evans of the Seattle Times had a more extended conversation with Bird about what cancer research means to her, especially in the wake of French (a graduate of Burien’s Kennedy High School who played for the U.S. Women’s Soccer team in the 2000 Olympics) battling cancer.

Walker - Aaron Last/Storm Photos

“We’ve been back and forth on this,” said Head Coach Brian Agler after the team’s practice on Wednesday. “Initially we thought it was a fracture of a bone in her big toe. Now we think it might go back to a soft tissue type of fracture, which I just learned about 15 minutes ago, which might mean that she might not be out as long. We’re still trying to figure out what it is. Whatever it is, we hope it’s for the shortest time.”

Under the current diagnosis, Walker’s recovery period will depend on how her foot reacts to rest. In that sense, an injury to the sesamoid – because it is embedded within the flexor tendon that controls the big toe – is akin to a sprained ligament or strained tendon.

“It could be 10 days; it could be three weeks,” explained Walker. “It has to heal on its own; you have to stay off of it, ice, elevation. You kind of have to treat it like a sprain, I guess. Whenever I can put weight on it, I’ll get new shoes, orthotics, and then I can test it out again.”

Walker injured her toe during a recent practice.

“I knew something was wrong with the way I was hurting instantly when I did it,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh yeah, something’s not right.’ We were doing a defensive drill and I stepped funny. My foot started to hurt and it hurt all day next day. It’s all doctors after that.”

While Walker has not been a part of the Storm’s rotation recently, having to stay off the court will keep her from getting valuable experience in practice. Reps during practice have been allowing Walker to make the transition from power forward to small forward, where she has been playing exclusively the last couple of weeks.

Being injured is, “Very frustrating,” Walker said. “I had a couple of good weeks in practice the last couple of weeks, I was doing a lot better and learning a lot of things, and then you’ve got to take a step back. I’ve just got to keep my conditioning up as best I can, keep lifting, eat right and then get back out there and try again.”

“Obviously it’s not going to help her any,” said Agler, “but I think getting her healthy is the most important thing, so we’ll just focus on that.”

Before being injured, Walker did get a chance to see her first game action at small forward during the regular season. She played the entire fourth quarter of the Storm’s loss on June 28 in Los Angeles at the position, learning on the job.

“It gets you a little more acclimated playing the three,” said Walker. “I haven’t had a chance to be out on the floor for extended minutes playing the three. It was fun. It was new; it was uneasy at times, but I got used to it. After a couple of minutes, I was like, ‘Alright, I can do this.’”

• The Storm practiced Wednesday at KeyArena. The Storm Youth Basketball Camp is taking place this week at The Furtado Center.
• Storm forward Swin Cash will be featured tonight on King 5’s weekly Storm segment. Check out her interview with Lisa Gangel at 6:30 and 11:00 p.m. as well as 10:00 p.m. on KONG 6/16.

Add in a win over the Storm early in the week and the Mercury now stands alone atop the Western Conference, a position confirmed by Phoenix’s point differential. Let’s take a look at the advanced stats for the Mercury and the rest of the league.

Team           ORtg     Team           DRtg
-------------------     -------------------
Phoenix       108.9     Indiana        89.8
Minnesota     104.8     Connecticut    93.3
Seattle       103.3     New York       94.6
Chicago        99.8     Washington     96.9
AVERAGE        99.1     Los Angeles    98.1
Indiana        98.8     San Antonio    98.1
Atlanta        98.2     Atlanta        99.1
Washington     97.2     AVERAGE        99.1
Connecticut    97.1     Seattle        99.4
Sacramento     96.3     Detroit       100.3
San Antonio    96.0     Minnesota     101.2
Los Angeles    94.8     Sacramento    102.4
Detroit        94.3     Phoenix       105.8
New York       93.3     Chicago       105.9

The Mercury remains in a familiar position atop the league in Offensive Rating, and no one else is close. In fact, in terms of pure points per 100 possessions, this year’s Mercury ranks behind only the 2000 Houston Comets (110.2 Offensive Rating) in the history of the WNBA. Even relative to league average, this has been the best offense of the Phoenix up-tempo era thanks to contributions from Temeka Johnson and DeWanna Bonner and Cappie Pondexter’s improved playmaking. You might be surprised to learn that the previous leader of that group was Paul Westhead’s first Mercury team, the 2006 squad that failed to make the playoffs, not the championship squad. Thus the importance of defense, and there the Mercury is closer to last year and 2006 than 2007. However, the offense might be good enough to carry Phoenix this year.

Balance remains hard to come by in the league. The only team in the top 10 in both offense and defense is the Indiana Fever, winners of eight straight. We also see teams flip-flopped from last year, with Connecticut and New York both winning with defense and the Storm reliant on its offense. While the schedule is a factor – six of the team’s 10 games have come against other top-five offenses – the Storm’s defense has to be something of a concern right now.

Team         Exp. W     Team         Exp. W
-------------------     -------------------
Phoenix        20.2     Indiana        22.4
Seattle        19.6     Connecticut    21.4
Minnesota      19.5     Washington     17.6
Los Angeles    15.6     New York       17.4
San Antonio    15.3     Atlanta        15.5
Sacramento     10.8     Detroit        12.5
                        Connecticut    10.8

Last week, the Fever was still well behind the leaders in expected wins based on point differential, but with the other top teams faltering, Indiana is now the league’s best team by this measure. The interesting note is how different things look with the inclusion of strength of schedule, per Petrel’s version of the WNBA Hollinger Power Rankings. There, the Storm shoots to the top, with Connecticut in second and Phoenix – which has feasted on a home-heavy schedule – all the way down in sixth. We’ll see how things even up as the Storm plays a long homestand and the Mercury gets more road games.

Player               Tm   Win%   WARP
-------------------------------------
Diana Taurasi       PHO   .759    3.2
Lauren Jackson      SEA   .808    3.2
Nicky Anosike       MIN   .783    3.0
Tamika Catchings    IND   .768    2.9
Sancho Lyttle       ATL   .734    2.4
Cappie Pondexter    PHO   .653    2.4
Jia Perkins         CHI   .716    2.4
Shameka Christon    NYL   .735    2.0
Charde Houston      MIN   .675    1.7
Alana Beard         WAS   .641    1.7

On the strength of the Mercury’s 12 games to the Storm’s 10, Diana Taurasi has a narrow advantage over Lauren Jackson as the league’s most valuable player by WARP. (Incidentally, did anyone else catch Taurasi being called a former MVP during the broadcast? A little premature on that one.)

This week’s big mover is the Liberty’s Shameka Christon, who had 25 points on 6-0f-8 shooting (plus 11-of-11 from the free-throw line) in a win over Detroit. Never a favorite of the advanced stats. Christon is shooting an even 50 percent both from the field and downtown. While the latter seems more fluky, Christon actually shot better on threes than twos a year ago. It will be interesting to see if she can sustain that efficiency. Christon has also gotten shockingly more sure-handed, halving her turnover rate from 12.1 percent of her possessions a year ago to 6.1 percent this year, second in the league to L.A.’s Kristi Harrower amongst regulars.

If you want to ensure that Bird and Jackson will be starting for the West, something Jackson has done the last three All-Star Games and Bird has done for every All-Star game since entering the WNBA, remember you can vote online daily through Tuesday.

Amongst the other Storm nominees, Swin Cash is fourth amongst forwards, just behind Bonner, and is still in the running for a starting spot. Janell Burse ranks fifth at center, while guard Tanisha Wright is 13th.

The question is … is tonight another one?  There are two sides of the argument.  The optimist would say that LA.’.s pounding of the Storm will not be repeated tonight because Seattle is far too good a team to lay an egg two games in a row.  LJ had only nine points and is liable to bust out for 30 after that performance.  The pessimist would say that Phoenix is angry about losing to Seattle ten days ago. Couple that with their embarrassing 29-point loss to Minnesota last game and the Mercury will be looking to take their frustrations out on Seattle tonight.  Diana Taurasi also was held under 10 points on 2-of-15 from the field and she is ALSO liable to hit for 30 tonight.

So am I an optimist or a pessimist?  I’m going to try to be a realist.  Seattle is a better team than Phoenix in my opinion, and it all comes down to how much fire Seattle has and how well they control the tempo of the game.  If the Storm comes out with its normal fire and plays a half-court execution game, they win a game in the 80s.  If Seattle doesn’t have the usual juice and lets Phoenix control the tempo, the Mercury will score 90-plus. When that happens, Phoenix is 5-0 and will likely go to 6-0.

Should be a great game!  Tip at 7:00 p.m. on 1150-AM KKNW.  Talk to you then!

We start, as always, with per-possession Offensive and Defensive Ratings.

Team           ORtg     Team           DRtg
-------------------     -------------------
Phoenix       106.9     Connecticut    91.2
Minnesota     106.0     Indiana        91.6
Seattle       103.3     Los Angeles    95.1
Chicago       100.2     New York       95.8
Indiana       100.0     San Antonio    96.7
Atlanta        99.8     Seattle        96.9
Connecticut    99.0     Washington     97.3
AVERAGE        99.0     Detroit        98.5
Washington     98.3     AVERAGE        99.0
Sacramento     96.2     Atlanta       100.5
Detroit        93.5     Minnesota     102.4
Los Angeles    93.3     Sacramento    104.3
New York       92.1     Chicago       105.1
San Antonio    90.8     Phoenix       106.1

The weekend’s surprise was the Minnesota Lynx regrouping from a blowout loss of their own at KeyArena to defeat the Phoenix Mercury at home by 29 points. Clearly, home-court matters in this league. Minnesota also beat New York to improve to 6-3 even with Seimone Augustus on the sidelines. The Lynx still has plenty of talent (as we’ll see below), and if they play decently on defense there’s no reason to believe this couldn’t be a playoff team in the Western Conference.

The Storm’s home-and-home series with the Sparks saw the teams move in opposite directions in the Offensive and Defensive Rating categories. Los Angeles now looks like an elite defensive team, while the Storm slipped back toward the pack on offense. But note that the Sparks still did not score the ball especially well. The Storm ranking sixth in Defensive Rating looks bad, but the team has still been well above average at the defensive end of the floor.

Team         Exp. W     Team         Exp. W
-------------------     -------------------
Seattle        21.4     Connecticut    24.4
Minnesota      20.1     Indiana        21.2
Phoenix        17.8     Washington     18.6
Los Angeles    17.6     Atlanta        15.4
San Antonio    12.7     New York       15.2
Sacramento      8.7     Detroit        14.3
                        Chicago        12.5

What we see in the Expected Wins standings based on point differential is that there is a lot of parity in the league right now. Only Connecticut on the positive side and Sacramento on the negative one are significantly different from average right now. So far, the Eastern Conference has been the stronger of the two conferences, with two of the league’s three best teams and far more depth with seven teams as opposed to the West’s six.

Player               Tm   Win%   WARP
-------------------------------------
Lauren Jackson      SEA   .834    3.1
Diana Taurasi       PHO   .740    2.5
Tamika Catchings    IND   .750    2.3
Nicky Anosike       MIN   .757    2.2
Jia Perkins         CHI   .718    1.9
Sancho Lyttle       ATL   .742    1.8
Alana Beard         WAS   .717    1.7
Cappie Pondexter    PHO   .616    1.7
Seimone Augustus    MIN   .756    1.5
Charde Houston      MIN   .706    1.5

Lauren Jackson is putting some distance between herself and the rest of the league as its most valuable player in terms of Wins Above Replacement Player. This week’s big leap was taken by Tamika Catchings, who had 37 points, 22 rebounds and nine steals in two games as the Fever extended its winning streak to six straight and moved atop the league at 6-2. Indiana’s point differential so far hasn’t been as dominant as its record, but the Fever is still playing very strong basketball and – as usual – Catchings is the biggest reason why.

Even a week and a half after her injury, Augustus remains in the league’s top 10 in WARP thanks to her strong start. More noteworthy if two of her teammates alongside here. The elite talent is still there in Minnesota.

As we head into the last few days of voting for the Storm All-Decade Team, which concludes on Friday, I wanted to share some more All-Decade Teams chosen by those who have covered the team most closely over the last 10 years. You’ve seen my squad as well as that of Seattle Times reporter Jayda Evans, and today the Storm’s two play-by-play broadcasters pick theirs.

Current play-by-play broadcaster Dick Fain chose Adia Barnes, Tully Bevilaqua, Sue Bird, Janell Burse, Swin Cash, Simone Edwards, Lauren Jackson, Betty Lennox, Kamila Vodichkova and Tanisha Wright (pictured above). See original Voice of the Storm David Locke’s picks and his explanations below.

Wow, what a way to become nostalgic. I could easily do the team I miss the most, but I would have too many players. The task of choosing the Storm All-Decade Team is tough on many levels.

How do you differentiate a great player from a great member of the community or from someone who represented the Storm and what the Storm meant to us?  Some players left us with moments that will forever be etched into our memories (Michelle Marcinak going after Latasha Byears or Stacey Lovelace coming out of nowhere to help us get our first win). Others were inspirational for their off-the-court thoughts and conversations (like Wendy Palmer and Simone Edwards). And who can forget the starting lineup in our opening season that would probably have worked better as the board of directors for a Fortune 500 company?

Enough of the stalling. Here is my version of the Seattle Storm All-Decade Team.

Adia Barnes – We need someone to not only play but to broadcast the game as well.

Tully Bevilaqua – We loved her when she was in Seattle and only when she left did we really realize how much we loved her.

Sue Bird – Some decisions are easy. This was as easy as it was for as it for Lin Dunn to choose Sue first in the 2002 Draft. Can I tell you how much I miss seeing Sue both on and off the floor? My best memory of Sue on the floor is the confidence and pizzazz she played with against the Portland Fire to lead us to our first playoff birth. That is not to be outdone by the great game-winner against Washington and Chamique Holdsclaw. Off the court, Sue and I got placed next to each other on a flight back from Houston (long) and had a wonderful conversation about what she wanted to achieve, how she viewed the game, etc.

Please make sure you enjoy watching Sue. I miss it every day.

Janell Burse – That sweet voice and that subtly vicious game.

Simone Edwards – It is not a Storm team without Simmy.

Lauren Jackson – Watching the greatest female player every night was an honor. No more needs to be said. For those who have ever interacted with her, she reaches into your heart and stays with you. She is a lovely mate.

Betty Lennox – We don’t have a banner hanging from the KeyArena rafters without the performance Betty had during the Finals.

Michelle Marciniak – The fight is enough but the spinning, game-winning layup against Orlando adds to it.

Kamila Vodichkova – In my opinion, the greatest moment in Storm basketball history is the night that Kamila came on the floor for the first time since her injury and the crowd rose to give her a standing ovation and tears ran down her cheeks. Kamila had been so worried the fans would feel that she let them down. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Tanisha Wright – Every night the Storm play I check the box score and could not be more proud of Tanisha. I thought on more than one occasion she would be the one who got the short stick and got cut . Instead, she become a bona fide player in the W. Never doubt a fighter.

- David Locke

No Storm player scored in double figures as LJ and Camille led the way with 9 points.  Seattle was outscored 40-22 in the paint and 36-10 off turnovers.

Let’s just put this one in a trunk somewhere, burn it and look forward to Wednesday.  Tip is at 7:00 from Phoenix where the Mercury will be looking for a little revenge.  Talk to you then.