At the Half....

While we are all hopefully enjoying our all-too-brief summer up in the hinterland, the Lynx have a lot of work ahead of them. People are making a fairly huge noise about Harding being out for the rest of the year, but the reality is that this injury has more of an impact on her career than the Lynx's season. Harding was having an up and down season at best, a struggle most rookies have in the beginning. We'll send a few positive waves her way and hope for a complete recovery in time for next year.

In her stead, it looks like Noelle Quinn and Amber Jacobs at the point. Quinn had nine assists in the last game before the All-Star break; it will be interesting to see how her style develops in the Zierden system. Jacobs will fill in when necessary; if I were her, this would be my last season here. It's pretty clear the team has no interest in developing her any further. I thought actually Amber would do a little better in the pros; coming out of BC, she had a decent shot and seemed to have excellent leadership qualities. Just like the men's game however, it usually takes a while for people to learn to play point guard at the pro level. it will be interesting to see where she lands next year, and whether she's with the club or not.

On the-beating-a-dead-horse front, I wonder if the same can be said for Nicole Ohlde. It's apparent she's not the answer in the front court, however the club has few options at this time. Ironically, this is a time when the team needs her the most. She can rescue an truly abysmal season by showing up and having a strong second half. The move to pair her off with Stansbury and bring Mann off the bench is decent, it takes some of the rebounding, low post pressure off Nicole. She needs to face the basket a little more, and let the game come to her. With Harding gone, I would run a few more plays for her to see if she's up to the challenge.

It's going to be tough no doubt; some amount of free tickets are being offered by the club to help maintain some semblance of attendance, there's not much buzz about the team right now. With their major acquisition now on the shelf, and no one waiting in the wings, it's time to look inward and see how mentally tough this team is.