Bringing up the rear

If you're a manufacturer of ping-pong balls; I would consider the Twin Cities a prime choice for expansion. The demand in this area has gone dramatically up in the last week, with the KG trade and the ladies' performance. In the loss to Houston last night, we all but guaranteed the worst record in the league for the season. And, in a year where a 10-18 team still has a shot at the last playoff spot, we've eliminated ourselves from contention. As George Bush has said, that's hard work!

Hopefully, we won't be seeing a blueprint for the future on the Lynx side any time soon; that indeed would be the kiss of death. Their plan seems to be deceptively simple: Acquire league number one draft choices, and forget about the rest. Getting the first two hasn't done a thing to reverse our fortunes in the slightest, but maybe the third time will truly be the charm.

Not much has been said since it was reported early in the season that a Denver group was thinking of bringing the team to Colorado, but given the moves of this team, it still makes sense that something could happen. The Taylor organization certainly hasn't done anything to endear themselves to the Twin Cities basketball market, on either the men's or women's side. Without a substantial increase in wins, or recognizable player acquistions (Candice Parker, Whalen, McCarville), one would expect the same attendance for next year: between 2,000 to 6,000 fannies in the seats, with a couple of spikes given former Gopher appearances or cross-promotional efforts. That can't be good news for Mr. Taylor, affectionally known here as Clueless Glen. If they are to remain here, however, here are some suggestions:

1 - Bump Don Zierden to the front office, and establish Teresa Edwards as coach.

She's probably a little raw yet in terms of experience, but she understands the women's game, and as a former elite PG in the game, I think giving her the reins at this point would be perfect for a young team. Zierden has been a loyal employee for the Taylor organization; he has been consistently overmatched as a head coach, but he hasn't been given much to work with either, especially in the front court. Reward him with a spot where he truly belongs, either as an assistant for the men's team, or a front office exec. They seem to enjoy acquiring front office "talent" as much as putting qualified players on the court--what's one more for the country club?

2 - If the number one choice is NOT Candice Parker, deal the pick for some front court help.

Janel McCarville may still be available; she had a breakout season, but the Liberty also have had a tough year. What the Lynx have now will not do it for them. They have enough youth on their team. Vanessa Hayden will likely be coming back, but as I've said before, she's never been in good enough shape to consistently help the team. Which leads to:

3 - Dump Nicole Ohlde.

She seems like a very nice person, and so I won't be overly critical of her anymore, but enough is enough. She's not the answer, or even the question.

4 - Acquire a veteran point guard to back up Lindsey Harding.

It's clear they need to be able to run a half court offense if the transition game isn't happening for them. SA has to work way too hard for shots, and it shows in the fourth quarter. Even with her injury, Harding has to come a long way to demonstrate her ability to run a team.

5 - Hire a defensive minded assistant coach, either to replace Edwards, or Jenkins.

They really need help on the defensive end, even more than their offense, if that's possible.

6 - Get the pecking order straight.

It's pretty bad when early in the season all a team had to do was double-team SA, make her give up the ball, and watch the turnover happen. Ohlde failed miserably as a second option, Harding was inconsistent; only Svet showed up as a viable option this year. Part of a successful half-court offense is solidfying the options; if option number one is down, swing the ball side-to-side or inside- out, and run a play for option two or three. Or, have SA create, draw a crowd and have her distribute. As Trent Tucker used to say, "basketball is a very simple game". We need to know who those second or third options are, and we have not done much this year to develop them.

There you have it, for better or worse. Meanwhile, I'm searching through my portfolio, looking to buy stock in a ping-pong conglomerate...