As the week progresses, so does the Lynx’s focus on refining their offense. Though the team worked on defense for stretches on Wednesday there was still a lot of talk about free-throws and floor spacing.

The Lynx are coming to grips with the fact that they are not getting the types of calls that they are used to in the paint. This year, refs around the league have been calling more calls on face-up plays and not prioritizing post players fighting for position. It is an adjustment.

“You can’t control that,” said Sylvia Fowles, “I think coach has been tweaking it a little bit this week throughout practice and making sure we’re being aggressive inside the paint and giving ourselves the chance to get those calls.”

The fact remains that when the Lynx get into the paint it helps. Even if they aren’t getting foul calls those are quality touches. So, Reeve, while hoping things come around at the line, is still focusing on making sure Minnesota continues to pound the ball inside.

“We want to be in a mindset of getting into the paint,” she said. “When you get into the paint good things happen to you. That’s why we try to defend the paint really hard. We just have to keep on the path that we’re on and hopefully we can get back to getting to the foul line and also getting more threes.”

In addition to getting the ball inside, the Lynx are focused on making sure Fowles has adequate spacing around her for her to have room to operate. Players who are moving are more likely to draw fouls and Fowles generally gets fouled by help defenders coming in to stop her rather than her primary defender pushing her around. Lexie Brown and Damiris Dantas are central to that mission. With Dantas returning to the lineup, things are looking good from a spacing perspective.

Brown is also certainly headed for more consistent minutes.

“There was a stretch there where her confidence was gone, and she wasn’t getting on the floor… she’s got to play more,” said Reeve of Brown. “We get more on video, she learns more defensively, we’ve got to have her out there regardless of where her confidence is because she has great gravity.”

Injury Update

Seimone Augustus went through about half of practice with the Lynx on Wednesday. Though it is unlikely she plays on Saturday against the Fever she is certainly close to a return. There is some discussion that needs to be had about what exactly her role will be when she comes back, and Reeve was hesitant to say what she envisioned. One thing that is certain is she will play limited minutes—fans shouldn’t expect Augustus to immediately jump back into a featured role.

In other injury news, Cecilia Zandalasini will not be rejoining the Lynx this season. Her ankle injury sustained overseas has not progressed quickly enough for it to make sense for her to take up a roster spot this season—the Lynx are banged up as it is and can’t take another injury risk. She will likely be back next season when she will have a full summer to make an impact with the team.

Quick Hits

• Napheesa Collier looked great in practice, especially in taking smaller defenders into the post. That will be an area of focus—the Lynx would certainly like to get her more touches.
• Jillian Alleyne played well today. Her understanding of the Lynx’s system comes in handy. She had nice chemistry with Temi Fagbenle which is a positive thing as if Alleyne sees the floor it will likely be alongside Fagbenle.