It must be hard for Jayda not to use the same lede over and over: last night the Storm started slow, fell behind badly during the second quarter, then roared back after halftime for a convincing win.

That was the story last weekend, and on Tuesday night, and again last night in the Valley of the Sun, where the defending champions blew a 21-point lead. The Merc are now 0-3.

"We ran out of juice," said coach Gaines of his Mercury. "They're not in shape to do what we do, which is run."

The speedy Merc style fits badly both with the short training camp at the start of the summer, and with Phoenix's lack of a bench: when the starters get tired, there's really no plan B.

Merc fans remember that story from 2006; is the wrong year repeating itself for their team?