Alexander Shun

Web Editor Associate | @alexpshun

The Minnesota Lynx are currently sitting atop the Western Conference holding the best record in the WNBA at 18-7.

It is good to be the Lynx.

Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve wants to make sure that such a talented roster of players is focused and set on a championship path this season.

After a disappointing loss on Sunday afternoon to the Washington Mystics, the Lynx will look to regroup and finish the last eight games of the season playing consistently, gaining chemistry and, if all goes according to plan, winning basketball games.

To do that, Minnesota will need to have everyone on the same page.

“That’s what we focused on today; having a sense of urgency,” said Lynx assistant coach Jim Petersen. “That’s one of the things, I think, when you have a core group that has been together for so long, and you introduce new people, sometimes you get people who just don’t understand how hard you have to play to win a championship. And that’s kind of where we’re at right now, just getting everybody on the same page; incorporating new people and plugging them into our system and getting them to play.”

Getting everyone together like that requires good leadership, and that starts with the captains.

Reeve called a meeting this morning with Lynx captains Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson to address just that; getting captains together and making sure they’re leading the best they can with the championship mentality necessary to win titles.

“We know it’s a process, but this is the time of year where we want to be able to build momentum going into the end of the regular season and that is going to start with captains,” said Moore, speaking about the importance of great leadership for the team.

The Lynx are a team that make no excuses for themselves, but one look at the starting lineups throughout the season thus far and one can’t help but be impressed with what Minnesota has accomplished given their consistent roster jumble.

Welcoming guard Anna Cruz after she missed the team’s first 10 games took some time. Integrating guard Renee Montgomery after trading for her before the All-Star break took some time. Integrating center Sylvia Fowles after trading for her immediately after the All-Star break took some time. Mix in injuries to guards Anna Cruz, Whalen and Augustus, and the starting lineup has been, at times, a craps shoot.

“We’ve had the injuries. With ‘Mone out for a month , that kind of got us a little bit discombobulated; bringing in Renee Montgomery, having Cruz come late, Sylvia Fowles being introduced,” said Petersen. “The guard-post dynamic in pick-and-roll game is so important; communication, being able to guard things a certain way with energy and effort consistently, possession by possession. It’s a hard thing to do and it’s one thing we’ve been great at. So it has been a process. Without a lot of practice time to do it that has been the struggle for us – to get on the same page quickly.”

Getting everybody healthy and on the same page would help a lot; especially early in games.

The Lynx lead the league in double-digit comebacks; a trend that both Petersen and Moore say has to stop.

“We don’t want to do that,” said Petersen. “We don’t want to lead the league in double-digit comebacks. We want to be able to build double-digit leads and sustain them – it’s what we’ve typically done – and it’s really testing our character and it has been a good thing in some ways.”

With almost all players finally healthy and accounted for, Minnesota can finally start building chemistry, gaining a rhythm together and gearing up for a run in the playoffs.

For Lynx players and coaches, their playoffs have already started.

“That has been our mindset since I’ve been here,” said Moore. “Establishing the sense of urgency and the importance of every game and every possession and it’s something that we know and we’re just going to try and continue to make that our mindset and we know that if we do that, we’ve had success with it in the past and we’re aiming for that again.”

The Lynx will be back in action tomorrow night when they take on the Washington Mystics at Target Center. The game will start at 7:00 P.M. CT.