What are we to make of this little streak? I have my tickets and a small party scheduled for the Houston game, where we were planning to cheer the ladies on to mediocrity. (Got to create drama where you can find it) Is the patience that has been asked for by the team during the abysmal start finally starting to pay off? Are we seeing signs of a balanced, savvy squad, sharing the ball and not assuming SA is simply going to go off for 25-30 a night? Is Lindsey Harding maturing? Has Nicole Ohlde started bulking up? Are they playing better defense?
So many questions, so few answers.
I think it's safe to say that the Lynx are starting to play to their potential, which is a middle of the road team. The Sparks--even after a three game win streak--are not the same team without Lisa Leslie and/or Chamique Holdsclaw. Plus, they were on the second night of a back to back. We played them tough with Holdsclaw last week at their house; without Holdsclaw and energy, it should have been a home game win...and the Lynx came through with their second win in a row. However, I wouldn't bet the farm just yet that we're over the hump. You're not going to be an upper echelon team with players playing out of position--Kristen Mann at PF, for example. But Mann is a feisty lass, and proved it again last night.
The success of this team will be finding a consistent balance and developing trust within the core rotation. You can see it in the stats last night:22 assists vs. 11 for the Sparks. A number of players had good shooting nights last night, and to be fair, the Sparks defense wasn't great. But what I've seen over the last few games bodes well for the rest of the season. To compensate for this team's obvious weaknesses, playing as a unit, sharing the ball, and hitting shots when your star player decides to distribute the ball is paramount, because that's where the open looks and easy shots will be. Making the defense pay in overplaying the star is always a sweet and satisfying result of team play.
Augustus had five assists, second to Abrosimova's six. Harding had only three assists last night, but played under control, had no turnovers, and was 3 of 5 from the floor. A major key to this squad's continued development will be the emergence of another player OTHER than Harding or Ohlde. My choice would be Svet, but Kristen Mann's performance was, as mentioned, was excellent as well. Svet's all around game helps absorb some of the inconsistencies of the younger members of the team. She passes well, often rebounds better than Ohlde, and knows team defense.
After reading a few reactions to my comments about Harding's play in recent weeks, I am of two major opinions on the subject. First, when you have the number 1 selection overall, AND trade an accomplished front court player to obtain the pick, expectations are significantly for the individual. There's just no getting around that reality. Having said that, point guard is the most complicated position to play in hoops. On the men's side, Deron Williams (number 5 overall in the 2005 NBA draft) took his lumps for the Jazz in 05-06, and this year blossomed. But in a smart move, last off-season the Jazz added Derek Fisher to help stabilize that position. By contrast, what have our Lynx done? They gave the keys to Harding, threw her out in the middle of one of our many lakes, and essentially told her: see if you can swim to shore. Not only did they give up a front court player to get her, but they didn't acquire the equivalent of a Teresa Edwards (player, not coach) or allow Amber Jacobs any time to help stabilize the position.
Why?
The gamble must have been is that they felt Lindsey would have a short learning curve (being the number one, and coming from Duke), so the team wouldn't need a veteran to come in. A few games to get wet, and she'd be effortlessly butterflying her way to success, especially given the scoring dynamo next to her in Augustus. If this was indeed the case, I don't think it's panned out quite like what they thought. As a result, I think it's more than fair to criticize Harding when she plays poorly, but with the reality that the Lynx haven't exactly set her up for success. It may turn out well over a couple of seasons, but given this team is struggling in attendance every time a Minnesota alumni is NOT playing against them, and is only now starting to at least show a pulse, a short-term strategy not to kill the buzz would have been welcomed.
Being that their options are few, emphasizing a balanced approach is a sound strategy. Last night key stats--points in the paint, assists, and turnovers all went Minnesota's way. Overall rebounding went to the Sparks, but we led in defensive rebounding, which meant we were better --still not great--in limiting the Sparks to one shot. When you shoot as bad as the Sparks did last night, the potential for obtaining more offensive rebounds is greater. That the Sparks only led in this category by three means they gave up the ship early; by the second half, they were done.
The bottom line is that we are at least beginning to take advantage of favorable situations. What it doesn't mean is that we're truly on a roll...at least just yet. The Lynx are too young, too thin at key positions, and too inconsistent to make a run here. Just as the Chicago home and home series were early indicators of how awful the team was earlier, now we'll see if we can take success on the road against a decent San Antonio team, then back home against a Seattle team that cleaned our clocks last weekend. If they can win either of those two games, it might represent an actual growth spurt for this green squad. There's a lot of parity in the league right now, and at the end of next week a 4-10 or 5-9 record--considering their awful start--would be a major accomplishment for this group.
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14 comments:
Wow are you ever optimistic. Lynx have been playing great and yet hardly anything positive to say. Who says the success can't continue? I think despite whatever shortcomings you think they have confidence in themselves can do alot for a team.
I'm thinking you mean I'm pessimistic, which may be true, depending on how you look at it. What I'm saying is:
a) yes, they've regrouped a bit, but still have a long way to go, given the talent on the squad in key positions.
b) but, there's a lot of parity in the league, so if they can do well this week on the road against a decent team, and at a home against Seattle, one of the elite, then the season is not lost, especially if they can find another player or two to provide a balanced approach.
I think given everything, that's fair. They need to be more consistent, which for young teams is sometimes extremely difficult. I'm at wait-and-see.
I've been enjoying your analysis.
How much of Amber Jacobs (as point guard) did you watch in 2005 and '06? I'm guessing not much, or you wouldn't be suggesting that we give her some minutes so Harding can learn from her. Jacobs can shoot, and she's feisty, but she doesn't see the floor well enough to set up an offense, and she's not much on defense. Harding will learn faster if she gets more minutes in which to learn... which appears to be our strategy, for lack of a better one, this year.
Jesse and Steve -
I've watched Amber, and I would agree that she's been a disappointment ever since coming out of BC. But if you're not going to supply your rookie point guard with a veteran back up to help learn the ropes, what are the options? Amber certainly can run an offense for a few minutes, settle a team down, execute adjustments from the coach, while Zierden and/or Teresa Edwards work with Harding in-game.
As I've said, the ball movement has been better in the last few games, and the assists have been up. That started happening when primarily Svet was inserted into the starting line-up. If you can't use your veterans to help the young'uns develop, then you might as well cut them and find better role players.
To the other poster's comment about Nicole, well, I think I've bashed her enough. I'll just say that my point is she hasn't improved since her rookie year. She makes nice moves to the basket, but can't finish. When they drafted Hayden and Ohlde, they must have been thinking about some inside-outside tandem. Hayden never has been healthy or in shape enough to help this club, and Ohlde isn't strong enough to consistently play with her back to the basket. I think Nicole would be better used in the high post.
interesting
Yes. It will be interesting. :o
Here's hoping the Lynx run continues!
Not sure if your comment re Ohlde was to me but just to reply. Yes you've bashed her pretty good and I'd like to bring in a bit of balance.
I understand your point on lack of development and where she “should” play and all but it's as if you feel once drafted the post (ex. Ohlde/Hayden) were supposed to just get better all on their own. We both know there's more to playing in the post then having some nice foot work & being able to push people around.
Again my point is part of the coaches job is to develop young talent & SMS did a piss poor job of that all around. Players don't just get better by themselves.
The lack of attention given to the young post here has been glaring IMHO. Not ever playing with any veteran savvy post (Adrian Wms was not near savvy enough) or a Donavan, Lambier (sp), Mahorn type coach she’s behind the 8-ball when it comes to some of the post you've mentioned. Those types of influence matter & can make a difference. Your all up in arms about lack of a mentor for Harding & in 4 yrs Ohldes’ never had one.
Who knows if Hayden even comes around but with Ohlde I'd like to think that given some attention she could become more consistent. Not sure if there is anyone on this staff or behind the scenes putting in the time but with such an inexperienced group it would be worth this teams investment to put some focus into teaching them some of the art & finer points of paying in the post. Just another opinion.
Marie,
Thanks for using your name BTW, it helps me feel like I'm having a real conversation with folks.
One could say Nicole hasn't had any mentoring of late, but do we know that to actually be true? I don't know this for a fact, but most pro women play a winter season as well as summer WNBA ball. So, after four yrs of college, and pro exposure nearly year round for multiple seasons (if true), one would think if a player wanted to get better at some aspect of the game, they would have plenty of opportunity to do it. I don't think it merely falls on the Lynx to assist Nicole, but Nicole herself. She may be doing just that, but I would say things really haven't changed that much from when Janel torched her back in the NCAA tournament some years ago. She has value to the club, but not as their primary low post go to person. At least not on a championship contending squad. We're all just chatting about teams we enjoy anyway, so your opinion is more than welcome.
Been posting on your blog before but since you like names... ;)
Hypothetical question: What would you think of a Amber Jacobs / Mistie Williams straight up trade? I think some people have confirmed that Houston was looking to trade for AJ although apparently the deal fell through.
Or if this article ( http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/SPORTS07/706180343/1002/sports ) is true, what do you think is up? I don't think we need more guards. =/
What about a hypothetical Hayden for a 2008 first round draft pick from the Mystics trade?
Kage,
At this point, if you're not going to play AJ, might as not have her around and experiment with bigs, since we are undersized in the front court.
With Hayden, early on I loved watching her in the low post, but my gut feeling she's never going to dedicate herself enough to be a true contributor. I'm not sure you could get a #1 for her anymore, so if you could do it...get it done.
As for the Delaware article, it would depend on the trade linked to a signing such as that. We need size and a little experience; adding guards to this club seems so Wolves-like.
“”One could say Nicole hasn't had any mentoring of late, but do we know that to actually be true? I don't know this for a fact, but most pro women play a winter season …””
I know you’re not saying mentoring to you is equal to playing a lot.
Don’t be mistaken, I’m not at all saying the Lynx should be solely responsible for development of her game. Yes players who want to get better must work at it. You don’t get better by just playing. That only gets you so far.
There is a reason for coaches & teachers right ? They help you correct what your doing wrong, teach you what you don’t know and what you need to know to get a job done. You get feed back and assistance and yes, its then up to you to take those tools & work on what you’ve learned. If you don’t get that feedback or assistance your likely to muddle through.
About playing in the off-season, make no mistake a large part of playing overseas for these women is staying in shape & getting a paycheck. Practice is where you work on you skills. Many go overseas with things to work on cuz lord knows they don’t know what their foreign coaches are saying, lol. It’s the time to take with you the tools you’ve been taught. IF, you’ve been given some valuable tools beyond, “work on your jumper & we’ll see you at camp.”
Re the lack of mentoring & teaching (like what you’d like to have seen for Harding) during the SMS yrs, I feel confident of what I speak. She was more fundamental coming out of college then after 3 yrs under SMS. Clearly some teams coaches have spent more time then others working with the players to improve their games.
Not sure how long you’ve followed the league but in the early days of the W Lisa Leslie was soft in the eyes of many. She did not up her game by playing overseas. She spent her off-seasons not just playing pick up w/the men but worked w/Magic Johnson & Michael Cooper.
While LJ plays a lot but she’s credited Anne Donovan with teaching her technique & mental parts of the game. Burse too has spoken about what she’s gotten from A. D. Cheryl Ford has genes on her side. She went & spent some time working w/ Daddy on her game. Plus she has 2 coaches who work w/their post players on techniques & tricks of the trade. DeMya Walker has spoken about what she learned from the Sac coaches and all she’s learned from Yolanda Griffin. Rebekkah Brunson has spoken of how she values what she’s learned playing w/the both of them. I could go on.
Anyway this is the long way of saying, I don’t think she’s had such mentoring in the pros.
Sorry this is so long.
Marie,
At some juncture in a career, if the player wants to get better, I think the responsibility lies with the player. A major problem with Nicole all along is that she's simply not strong enough to finish deep in the paint. Early in the season, she seemed to acknowledge this in some articles I read, about the need for strength. But I've watched her since the NCAA's, and while you can tell she's strengthened some, so have other ladies. With all the contacts and networking available to players these days, you'd think a player could just call and get a personal trainer, mentor or coach to assist them. But I don't know that, so it's hard to speculate. All I can judge are the results so far.
It wasn't like she came into the WNBA from high school, she was a four year player. My point is that after three years as a pro, she's saddled with the same issues she was when she came into the league. In fact this year--considering she's low to mid 40's percent shooter career-wise, her shooting has gotten worse. This leads to the second point, for both her and Harding; I'm not sure it was wise for the Lynx to put them in such key positions this year. There's a great chance Harding will take her lumps and develop with time, but my thinking remains Nicole is who she is. That means not making her the focal point of low post activity, but rather pair her off with another low post player, put her on the high post, and use her height and quickness to her advantage.
You can see with a little better defense and balanced scoring--at least the last game--her shooting percentage was around 50 percent, I believe 5-10. A few less shots, much more effectiveness.
Some players aren't meant to shoulder that big of burden, and I think Nicole is one of those players.
""My point is that after three years as a pro, she's saddled with the same issues she was when she came into the league."" …
""That means not making her the focal point of low post activity, but rather pair her off with another low post player, put her on the high post, and use her height and quickness to her advantage.""
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PW I haven’t disagreeing with these points.
"""With all the contacts and networking available to players these days, you'd think a player could just call and get a personal trainer, mentor or coach to assist them. """
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I’d think so too but on the women’s side I don’t think it runs as deep as on the men’s side. Which is why I mention the connections people like Cheryl Ford had in her daddy & LLL being able to work w/former Lakers.
Network & connections here, haaaaa, this is the Timberwolves & Lynx we’re talking about. Neither network seems to extend very far. So yeah maybe the players should be reaching out to other connections away from the organization. Sad though.
In N.O.'s case she'd have been better off going back to her college coaches. Going overseas right after the season ends doesn't leave much time for such assistance. I’d like to think her offseason would be better spent working on conditioning, extending her range, technique work & maybe just fill-in overseas or play in a league that has a short winter season.
A few other points of interest here:
*The Lynx just this yr hired a strength & conditioning coach. Took 8 yrs. Go figure ?
*Sadly when some players have come in early the last few yrs the coach wasn't around to work them out & work on whatever the teams offensive/defensive schemes were going to be. (unlike some other teams coaches) Silly players they should have been smart enough to have hired some outside folks on their own to work them out.
Not saying the players shouldn’t be in charge of their careers but I guess I just hold more value then you, in the people/organization that a player is surrounded by. As you say she would be better being able to play w/a true low post. But, poor coaching & inability to bring in a veteran and/or quality post to play with her AND learn from, she has been forced to cover for the deficiencies of the team for much of her time here. The circumstance she’s in is not her fault.
Do you see the small point I'm trying to make ? Not asking anyone to agree, just understand.
You may very well be right & this is it for her. For me, I just happen to think more can be gotten out of her (before it’s too late) We’ll see.
She's got me in her corner. Despite at times getting pushed around & popped she always gets up & goes back at it. She has no choice. But you know, she’s never missed a gm. Started from day 1. When every other post this franchise has brought in has had injury issues, attitude issues, coaching issues, personal issues, she has NEVER missed a game since she came into the league. Her biggest flaw may be that she’s a good soldier and hasn’t been pushed to the edge yet. If she has one, lol.
Ok I’m done & will leave this alone, lol. It’s been real.
After the Seattle game the Lynx are off for week so you can dive into the Timberwolves drama full time.I’m sure you’ll have plenty to keep you busy on that side. You’ll be a busy guy. Enjoy !
I'm so happy, I can't stop grinning. The webcast was fantastic -- only one time when it froze up briefly during the game (against Seattle).
I can't wait for your analysis whenever it goes up -- the good, the bad, I love this team through it all. Did they meet your expectations? Also, next game against SASS: your thoughts on their chances and what do they need to do to win?
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