Three Questions Before the Portland Fire Preseason Opener
In this piece, we address three questions the expansion franchise faces ahead of their first ever game Wednesday night.
At seven o’clock tomorrow night, the WNBA expansion Portland Fire will play their first ever preseason game.
Before Alex Sarama’s squad battles their geographic rivals in Seattle, here are three questions I have about the state of the franchise.
Who will/won’t play on Wednesday night?
While this is an extremely young roster with a hunger for live game reps, some of Portland’s players might not be ready for playing time. Projected starting point guard Carla Leite just arrived a week ago. The same can be said for free agent signing Kamiah Smalls. Both players finished grueling campaigns in Europe, and now are set to begin another long grind in the W. While Alex Sarama and his staff surely want to see both players in action, a night’s rest makes sense.
Other late arrivals included rookie second-rounder Frieda Bühner, plus expansion draft picks Bridget Carleton & Chloe Bibby, and free-agent signing Teja Oblak.
Injuries are another complicating factor. Earlier today, the Fire announced that Oblak would not play tomorrow. She is joined on the team’s injury list by veteran guard Sug Sutton and three point sniper Karlie Samuelson. Minus those three names - and potentially more - Portland could be forced into playing a skeleton crew tomorrow night.
How will Alex Sarama’s system look?
Every day, without fail, press conferences & media scrums have peppered players and coaches alike with questions about Alex Sarama’s Constraints-Led Approach.
Portland’s first year WNBA head coach likes to talk about basketball in big picture philosophical concepts - and those conversations are deservedly compelling - but on Wednesday night his system will be tested in the simplest way possible: in a real, live basketball game on the court. After one training camp practice last week, projected starting forward Emily Engstler shared that Sarama installed only one set that day. Have the Fire learned enough? Will they be fully prepared to face WNBA competition on Wednesday night?
What is this roster capable of?
Last week, I had the privilege of speaking with Portland-area writer Phuoc Nguyen, who covers the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) for the Associated Press. Phuoc has covered the Portland Thorns for years, and he brought me on to his Rose City Breakdown podcast to discuss the Portland Fire.
My assessment was blunt. In the expansion draft, Toronto and Portland applied two very different strategies: the Tempo picked more proven, experienced players who could win now, while the Fire coveted raw talents who flashed long-term potential. In free agency, the Fire sat back while other teams pushed their chips all-in. Then on draft night, Portland left familiar college stars on the board, in favor of lesser-known international prospects. This roster is likely a year or two away from competing, and we’ll catch our first glimpse of exactly just how far away they are tomorrow night.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sportswriter and broadcaster with a passion for women’s sports. Outside of work, he cherishes quality time with his birth family, his chosen family, and one very pesky house panther.
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