Jordan Horston’s Breakout is Right on Schedule
Growth isn’t linear. We know this to be true in all walks of life. Yet, when a rookie doesn’t dominate their sport right away, the same thought isn’t applied.
For every Aliyah Boston who dominates out of the gate, there’s a Maddy Siegrist who has a fine rookie year but takes a step forward in Year 2.
We are seeing that this year with the rookie crop, too, as Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are setting records, while Aaliyah Edwards is now showing out in a major way for the Mystics and Jacy Sheldon is starting to find her game with more consistent minutes in Dallas.
Despite the solid rookie season and looking like she would be in line to be a starter for Seattle entering her second year after starting the final 12 games for the Storm in 2023, we’re now seeing Jordan Horston take the second-year leap at the midway point of the 2024 season.
But it’s what the people closest to her expected.
“I’m not surprised. This is what I envision for her in this league, and she’s on track to be a dominant player in this league,” Jewell Loyd said during her postgame press conference on Monday, July 1.
That’s the same Loyd that Horston grew up watching. So yeah, that hit differently.
“Hearing Jewell say that, it was special. We joke around a lot but she wants the best for me like a big sister. She took me under her wing Day 1 and texted me saying “I got you,’” Horston said via a call after practice on July 3. “She hasn’t let me down at all. When I need a safe person, she’s my safe person. Her saying that and me just knowing that watching her growing up, it makes me happy. It’s crazy that my childhood idol is saying this stuff about me.”
And the track that Loyd sees Horston going on is exactly the path that Horston is on, as she’s been a catalyst for the Storm’s 4-0 record since entering the starting lineup.
For reference
When the Storm play Jordan, Nneka, and Ezi simultaneously versus when another player is on the wing
A pretty significant difference
Storm finding their groove with that starting lineup pic.twitter.com/FsROlCt5qQ
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) July 2, 2024
“It’s all about maximizing the minutes. I always said that I’m grateful for the opportunity to make a roster and being grateful for the minutes that I have,” Horston said. “I’m going to give it my all because you never know when it’s your last game. I have the approach to go in, make a play, make something happen, and maximize your minutes.”
There are many facets of her game to examine. Let’s start first on the offensive side.
As a shooter, Horston is still working on developing a deep game. She’s shooting 11.1 percent from midrange and 23.2 percent from three-point range – the latter ranking in the 14th percentile in the league.
The effect that’s having against Seattle defensively is that teams are sagging off of her to focus on Skylar Diggins-Smith, Jewell Loyd, Nneka Ogwumike, and Ezi Magbegor. Instead of settling for the jumper, Horston is, instead, always moving, looking to improve her positioning before taking the shot.
While I was getting this article together, the great Nekias Duncan put together a fantastic thread on Twitter about Horston’s second-year leap. Great minds, and all of that. So let’s look at some of the ways she is getting comfortable finding her shot.
Nearly 60% on 2s tell some of the story, but her comfort inside the arc has been a joy to watch.
Willing cutter & screener. Attacks gaps quickly. A demon (complimentary) in transition/early O. Can be a play starter, extender, OR finisher within SEA's offense.
(2/x) pic.twitter.com/8SJGbYwzDp
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) June 28, 2024
Where Horston is excelling is getting into the paint and into that 10-foot range. Horston is finding a lot more success close to the rim than she was last year.
Range
Restricted Area
Paint (non-restricted)
0-5 feet
5-10 feet
2023 FG%
48.8%
35.5%
46.8%
32.8%
2023 Percentile
11th
45th
15th
32nd
2024 FG%
70%
48%
69.4%
45.7%
2024 Percentile
80th
86th
90th
84th
Via Her Hoops Stats
“With me, I can shoot the jumper all day,” Horston confidently said. “But I know I have the advantage and I can get by someone because my first step is quick and I can get by defenders. If I can get to the paint, I can score or I can dish it. If I shoot it, I shoot it but I feel like I’m settling.”
And that’s the bag that Horston has as a scorer, but what stands out more than that is the steps she’s taken as a facilitator.
As a starter, she is averaging 3.5 assists per game (up from 1.3 off the bench) with a 16.9 assist rate as a starter, and while her turnover numbers are still high (13.3 TO ratio – No. 60 among starters), they are actually down from when she was playing fewer minutes off the bench.
And the assists come in a number of ways.
There’s those with flair.
Chemistry for the @seattlestorm is
Jordan Horston and Ezi Magbegor engage in some fun back-and-forth action for the bucket
Wings-Storm on League Pass pic.twitter.com/0QQ9SXFA0u
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 30, 2024
Those with the perfect touch.
JORDAN HORSTON WHAT A PASS pic.twitter.com/yqsOmRnupS
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) May 23, 2024
And those with the perfect amount of oomph on them.
Jordan Horston with the pretty no-look pass for a Nneka Ogwumike bucket!
The 2nd half is underway in Seattle on @PrimeVideo. pic.twitter.com/Vuhb3oTpC8
— Sports on Prime (@SportsonPrime) June 28, 2024
“I don’t know if you know this, but I was a point guard growing up. I didn’t grow until I got to high school when I grew 6 inches,” Horston said. “My AAU coach said that ‘point guards aren’t made, they are born.’ That’s my kind of basketball. Everybody eats, and that’s always been in my bag.”
Let’s switch over to the defensive end, shall we?
Horston is a gambler. No, not in that way, but in the way that she will close open lanes for the opposing offense and gamble that she can disrupt the play and create a turnover.
There’s a reason that she averages 1.7 steals per game this season – tied for the sixth-most in the league.
And, as Duncan astutely points out, she’s drawn some top-tier assignments this season – especially since being inserted into the starting lineup.
Defensively, she's been tasked w a little bit of everyone.
Just in this stretch, she's spent time on Jackie Young, Kahleah Copper & Diana Taurasi, Arike, Caitlin Clark, & Kayla McBride.
Different types of players, different sizes, different play types to defend.
(4/x) pic.twitter.com/pB5Lk3mWd1
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) June 28, 2024
In the clip above, Horston is drawing the assignment of defending Jackie Young, Kahleah Copper, Diana Taurasi, Arike Ogunbowale, Caitlin Clark, and Kayle McBride.
It’s a part of her game she takes particular pride in.
“Even when I’m ‘beat,’ I’m not really beat. I have so much length that people don’t realize that if I go for a steal and I miss, I can recover,” Horston explained. “I’ve always wanted the best player. I welcome the challenge. That’s how I am.”
Duncan also points out that she can be overeager defensively, which is fair. She ranks No. 57 out of 63 qualified players in defensive rating.
But it’s part of the process and part of that non-linear growth we discussed. And when you see plays like this.
That's how you use your length to jump the passing lane
Jordan Horston with the steal and score in transition
WNBA League Pass pic.twitter.com/WNq0xQLKSC
— WNBA (@WNBA) May 26, 2024
And this.
Jordan Horston's leaping ability is special pic.twitter.com/XoHOri7kRR
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) May 23, 2024
You can’t help but get excited for her defensive potential.
‘I Love This Game of Basketball’
Coming out of college, New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu said that if she was having an off-night shooting, she would make sure to crash the boards for every rebound or set up her teammates with her passing. She wanted to do a little bit of everything to make it impossible to take her off of the court, even if she was struggling in one area.
That’s kind of what Horston has been bringing to Seattle since it moved her into the starting lineup.
The scoring. The passing. The rebounding. The defending. The slashing. The cutting. The screening. The transition offense.
Everything she can to stay on the court.
“Sabrina (Ionescu) said it perfectly. There are so many ways you can impact a game,” Horston. “You don’t have to be the best scorer or rebounder. There are so many things you can do that can impact the game, and you have to play the whole game to find ways to impact it as much as possible.”
The third aspect of the game is harder to measure. It’s not about the offense of the defense, but the overall growth of Jordan, the person and the athlete.
“I love this game of basketball, man,” Horston told me. “It’s literally my peace, and I feel like a kid when I’m playing.”
This offseason, Horston said that she stayed in Seattle to work on her game, where her coaches and teammates would watch her workouts and progression as she entered Year 2.
“I’m more confident this year. In Year 1, it was like a culture shock. I was excited to be there, and I was trying to be a sponge and pick people’s brains,” Horston said. “This year, now I know how to hold my own in this league and that I can contribute. My confidence and knowing that I belong and that I can hold my own and be a superstar in this league. That’s what skyrocketed for me.”
And it helps that this offseason, Seattle reloaded its roster with veterans to speed up any potential rebuild that was being teased, as Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith signed as free agents, joining other vets Loyd, Mercedes Russell, and Sami Whitcomb in Seattle.
There are only two players – Horston and rookie Nika Mühl – on the Seattle roster with less than four years of experience. Having those veteran voices in the locker room has helped Horston – especially when it comes to Ogwumike.
“I’ve been taking it all in. One thing about me is that I love learning new ways to get better. Nneka (Ogwumike) came here – she’s my accountability partner,” Horston said. “My teammates are the best people in this world. I couldn’t ask for better vets. I can talk to them about anything.
“Nneka helped me set up … stuff they don’t teach you in this league. Having her in my corner and pulling for me and motivating me is amazing. I’m so happy the cards played this way. I said they are stuck with me for life. You came into my life, and you are never leaving. I love them, for real.”
‘Everybody Can Get Busy’
After the Storm win against the Wings, in which all five members of the Seattle starting lineup scored in double-digits, including Horston’s first double-double of 2024, she said on the floor during her postgame interview that “everybody can get busy,” as in everyone can eat.
Everyone can get theirs.
Everyone can play a role.
For Horston, whether that role has been off the bench or as a facilitator or as a stopper, she’s played the role to the best of her abilities, as she’s showing the type of second-year leap that everyone envisioned.
But no one envisioned it more than her.
“Oh yeah. For sure. I always knew that I’m going to be a superstar,” she said. “I’m going to be in the WNBA. I’m going to be an All-Star. I’m going to be an Olympian. I never had a backup plan. I thank God that he’s laying the cards out.”
And what else does Horston envision for the future?
“Mark my words – you’re going to see a tip-dunk in a game,” Horston said, with a laugh, telling me to remember the date she said it for when it happens.
We’ll note it. July 3. Because if the second-year leap is any indication of what’s to come for Horston, you’d be foolish to doubt her.
Stats as of Thursday, July 4 via WNBA.com unless otherwise noted.
The post Jordan Horston’s Breakout is Right on Schedule appeared first on Winsidr.
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