The Lynx have 14 games remaining in their season and they are committed to making them count. Luckily, Minnesota has several days of practice before they play again on Saturday.

The first order of business? Clean up the offense. Though there have been some positive developments, the Lynx’s offensive rating is too low for head coach Cheryl Reeve’s liking. A lot of that has to do with shot selection and that was an area of focus today.

“We have to climb in the offensive rating if we want to have a chance at this, so that’s definitely been on our minds,” said Reeve. “There are certain shots we just don’t want people to take. That makes no sense. Hopefully they don’t take things personally, it’s just about the success of the team in the name of efficiency.”

That is a very good point from Reeve. Players need to avoid thinking about their stats or the shots they get and start thinking more holistically about the team. If a player can’t accept that a shot they are looking to take is a low-percentage one then that is a problem for the entire squad.

“If you can’t handle the difference between what’s a good shot for you and what’s not, you probably shouldn’t see the floor. It’s really easy, players that take things personally or think it’s about them probably aren’t going to do well anyway,” said Reeve. “You build that through relationships with players. You communicate about it. Why should you not take it, or let’s work on it if you want to take it.”

Another priority has been getting forward Damiris Dantas back on her feet and playing at a high level again. When she is on the floor it helps the Lynx a ton in a few areas—for one she is a good offensive rebounder and that is an area the Lynx have struggled in. She is also a big volume three-point shooter for Minnesota. To get the offensive rating where Reeve wants it the Lynx need to be taking threes.

The positive thing about all the issues the Lynx are working on fixing is that everything is correctible. There isn’t anything that is so broken it can’t be fixed and the team knows they are capable of playing at a very high level.

“I think that’s why it’s so frustrating for us, because we know how good we can be when we’re good,” said Napheesa Collier. “It’s just doing those things like limiting our turnovers and shot selection—definitely mental things which is good for us.”

Reeve agrees.

“Just knowing what you do well, that’s a very simple thing. It takes focus,” she said. “There are some players that are just learning. We’ve got a couple young ones that are just doing those things for the first time and as far as with this group, those are things we are spending time on.”

Over the course of the season the Lynx have transformed from one that everyone was sleeping on to one with a bit of a target on their back. That is a challenge in and of itself. Teams are showing up to play Minnesota and they are adjusting to the fact that they are going to get the best version of every team they play. Surprise is no longer on their side.

“I like pressure. I think pressure is good, it makes you perform,” said Collier. “So yeah, we’re going to have to show out for this last half of the season, but it’s going to make it really fun. We’re going to have to come out and play.”

Napheesa Collier’s All-Star Experience

Collier had a lot of fun at All-Star weekend. She said that just being around the brightest stars in the league was a valuable experience for her and one she will take a lot away from—even if other players weren’t necesarilly willing to share the tricks of the trade.

“We’re still in season so you don’t want to give away secrets, but everyone was super inviting and warm and it was really cool to be around so many great players,” she said.

Collier made the good point that as a rookie it is difficult to get to know all the other players in the league because she doesn’t have as much of a history with them. Now she has that history.

“Especially being a rookie, everyone else kind of knows each other from playing together for so long so it was cool to be in that kind of environment with them and get to know them a little better,” she said.

Injury Update

This is a big week for Seimone Augustus. The team is evaluating how her knee responds to a few consecutive days of increased activity. She isn’t a full go at practice, but things are slowly ramping up.

Dantas is playing without restrictions, but the Lynx are still a little thin at forward with Jessica Shepard and Karima Christmas-Kelly out for the season. With that in mind, Minnesota signed Jillian Alleyne to a seven-day contract. She will help provide depth and she knows the Lynx system well as she played with the team in training camp.