There are a lot of ways to describe All-Star break—restful, relaxed, jovial. None of those words apply to the Lynx’s upcoming stretch of games. Everybody was friends over the weekend, but now it’s back to the competition.
Minnesota’s All-Stars had the day off Monday, but the rest of the team was in the building for practice. On Tuesday, the whole team was on site for what would probably be Minnesota’s last practice at home for a while.
The Lynx have nine games remaining in their regular season. They play in L.A. this Thursday, in Seattle on Friday, at home against Atlanta on Sunday, in Chicago on next Tuesday and in Vegas next Thursday. Things don’t get any easier after that—Minnesota finishes out the season with Seattle and Chicago at home, away versus Connecticut and against D.C at home.
It was a long season up until the break, but the energy from All-Star weekend has carried over and the team is confident and ready to get back on the court (not to mention they’re riding a three-game streak).
“It was a long wait until the All-Star break, to have so many games, but now it feels like you’re really and truly on the other side of that hill,” said Reeve. “Everybody’s going to hang on every game, every move in the standings, and we’re not going to. We’re going to build our case over nine games.”
The Lynx could care less about the narrative surrounding their team, and they aren’t going to get caught up in talk about how hard their next few games are going to be. They don’t see the next three games against the Sparks, Storm and Dream as the hurdle; the challenge is focusing on the rest of the season as a whole and also keying in on whoever the next opponent is.
In a year of extraordinary parity in the league, every moment counts. Reeve is walking a delicate tightrope—the team wants to be in the best possible position heading into the playoffs, and that doesn’t just mean earning the highest seed.
“I can’t have a case where I lose Seimone because she gets joint effusion because we’re trying to win hard games,” said Reeve, by way of example. “That’s great, you win a couple games, but now she’s out for a week or two. You just can’t do that.”
This has been the story of the season, but so close to the playoffs, the margin for error shrinks. While earlier this year Reeve decided that priority No. 1 had to be winning games and started playing her veterans more as a result, with the postseason on the horizon, she’s likely to be more careful with players like Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson.
What does that mean in a game situation? It means everyone else around the Lynx’s veterans has to step up.
“We’re going to need all hands on deck,” said Reeve. “When your number’s called, you got to be ready. Could be two minutes, but you got to be ready because it can help the bigger picture. I think we’re going to be pretty excited to tackle these games.”
Everyone has a role to play, even the Lynx players that have seen their minutes dip lately. Reeve’s tightened rotation will probably open up in the next few games giving more bench players a chance to prove they deserve a place in the rotation come playoff time.
Danielle Robinson has played very well lately, and her contributions will continue to be critical. She’s shooting the three-ball for the first time in her career and her mechanics look good—let’s hope that continues.
Cecilia Zandalasini needs to remember that she’s out there to shoot and let the ball fly. Same goes for Tanisha Wright, who has a solid jumper but sometimes looks to facilitate instead of taking the open shot when it falls to her.
Erlana Larkins hasn’t played with the team for long but seems to be at her most effective as a screener and defender that can give Rebekkah Brunson a chance to catch her breath. Temi Fagbenle needs to keep things simple, trust her fundamentals and let the game come to her instead of trying to force things.
Alexis Jones and Endy Miyems’s roles are dependent on their ability to execute a very simple task—they need to hit shots. They’re both great shooters who stroke it in practice, but they haven’t seen those shots falling when it counts. Jones and Miyem’s seasons are great examples of players who do a lot of things right, but who need to execute on their most important skill to stay valuable.
The Lynx coaching staff has faith in all their players to step up when needed.
“Everybody counts, everybody matters, and everybody’s going to have to be ready when their number is called. That was just our thing, getting out there, knowing what plays we’re comfortable with, what we like to run, what we’re really efficient with, and just knowing that the coaching staff and our teammates believe in us and just be ready when our number is called,” said Robinson.
Their home game against Chicago is the only matchup the Lynx have remaining in the season against a team not in the playoff hunt. In other seasons, it might have been possible to chalk that up to a win, but this year, there have been no givens. Allie Quigley just set the league on fire at the All-Star game’s Three-Point Contest, she’s more than capable of shooting her team to victory.
“The parity in the league has been well-documented, and rightfully so, all the teams are deep with talent. Staying healthy, and your schedule are two things that are going to determine how teams come out of this as them move towards the postseason,” said Reeve.
The Lynx are 15-10, and while several of those losses are games that they wish they had back, the early season adversity they faced might end up paying dividends now, in the toughest part of the team’s schedule.
“We always talk about the difficult times being the times that define us. It’s no different this year,” said Reeve. “We draw on some of the shortcomings of the season, we’ve been there, we’ve felt it, you know what you got to do if it were to arise again, so I always thing that the difficult times prepare you for the times ahead.”
Maya Moore agreed.
“The way we’ve responded to the adversity more recently has helped us. I’m really proud of some of the things we’ve done, knowing that we can do it, and we know how it feels to do it,” she said. Just building those memories so that we can call on those memories when times get tough again.”
The tough times might be right around the corner, but the Lynx are confident in their abilities. The season may not have gone as planned, but as a result Minnesota has a lot of experience adjusting on the fly. It’s going to be a photo finish in the WNBA this year, but don’t be surprised if the Lynx have just the right combination of skill and experience to end up at the front of the pack.