It didn't take long but the Minnesota Lynx bandwagon might have left the building.
After the best start in franchise history, the Lynx (6-6) is now reeling coming into tonight's game against the New York Liberty.
The reason is simple: Minnesota's defense has been horrific, which is defying Head Coach Don Zierden's basic belief. "We're a roll-up-our-sleeves kind of club," he says.
However, his players in many areas aren't playing like this.
"We haven't been shooting the ball as well as we like," guard Anna DeForge points out. Defensive breakdowns have been too numerous, something that DeForge's coach totally agree.
Also, the Lynx's point guard play has been lacking: Noelle Quinn, particularly, has been up and down all season. She has to play better -- two assists and three turnovers in 19 minutes simply won't do.
But Minnesota also needs more from Lindsay Harding, who has struggled in the two games she has played in since returning from an injury.
"We definitely need our point guards to step up," Zierden notes.
Other than Candice Wiggins, who is getting to the line on a double-figure clip, the Lynx has struggled at the free throw line. "The past couple of games we haven't been hitting our free throws," says DeForge, who missed both her chances in Saturday's loss to Houston. Minnesota shot only 66 percent from the line in the seven-point defeat that put the team at .500 for the first time this season.
Finally, the whispers are starting to grow -- the Lynx's fast start was only a mirage.
"We can't listen to outside voices," concludes DeForge. "We have to stay focused on each other and this team, playing better every game and finding ways to win."
LYNX LINES --
Can we move on? -- Another one of those "We should have taken Janel McCarville" stories was written today. A summer intern penned the latest one for the Star Tribune, again revisiting history.
The Lynx passed over McCarville, the former Gopher, in the league's dispersal draft two years ago in favor of Tangela Smith.
I said it then, and I say it now -- Minnesota made the right call. McCarville, who I covered in college, had not lived up at the time to her 2005 top overall selection, and Smith was a better pro. Furthermore, if the Lynx had taken her, they would not have gotten Lindsay Harding from Phoenix, which they did by dealing Smith in a one-on-one deal.
All Tuesday's non-story only does is again stir up the locals, who steadfastly believe that if Minnesota had both McCarville, Lindsay Whalen or any other former Gopher they like, that the team would be better off, especially in drawing folks. If the team did have these two, you would only see a slight bump in attendance, nothing more.
Winning, not former college stars, bring people to the seats. Everyone around the country knows this, but sadly this knowledge eludes too many Minnesotans.
My final say on this -- I would not have given up two proven starters (at the time were Katie Smith and Tamika Williams) and two No. 1's for an unproven rookie in Whalen, nor was Charlotte was going to give up their top spot and the opportunity to select McCarville to Minnesota, who had nothing to offer in that regard.
Minnesota is the only place that is so provincial in its thinking that local athletes make the difference. If that was the case, why did Los Angeles chose Candice Parker out of Tennessee, rather than a California product.
It's sad that this summer intern couldn't found another subject to write on.
Welcome aboard -- Tuesday's game will be LaToya Thomas' first in a Lynx uniform. The former top draft choice -- Thomas was the first overall pick by Cleveland in 2003, was acquired Sunday from Detroit in exchange for guard Eshaya Murphy.
Hopefully, the trade will be a plus for both teams: Thomas wasn't playing much in Detroit, and the same for Murphy, who was often placed on the inactive list and only played in two games this season.
Minnesota becomes the first WNBA team with three No. 1 overall draft selections on one roster, as Thomas joins previous top picks Seimone Augustus and Harding.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
An unclassy way of firing a classy guy
It took years for Willie Randolph to finally get his first big league managerial job. However, after winning his last game as New York Mets skipper Monday night, Randolph was fired in the middle of the night.
Mets GM Omar Minaya must have read Kevin McHale's book on bad firings. The Minnesota Timberwolves vice-president, instead of getting his behind on a plane and flying out to do his hatchet job, called then coach Dwane Casey in his hotel room on the road and fired him long distance a couple of years ago.
I don't know which is worst -- both chicken-hearted ways to dismiss someone is a wash, any way you look at. Both men were classy in their jobs, and both Casey and Randolph were let go while their teams were away from home.
I don't know if Casey got a first class plane ticket back home, but I certainly hope Randolph did.
Either way, it's the last hired, first fired routine.
Although it was not entirely a total shock -- Randolph have been hanging on a single thread for about a month now. Still his firing, or the classless way the Mets handled it, sent shockwaves around the baseball world Tuesday.
"He is a very classy and good baseball man," says Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire after his team's 2-1 win over visiting Washington in interleague play.
"As far as his job, I thought it might have been a short leash on him,"Twins first-base coach Jerry White told me. His facial expression quickly told me that he was a bit disturbed with the news of Randolph's firing., especially on how it all went down. He felt the Mets management could've treated their now former manager a little better than that.
"There's an obligation there," adds White. "The season still is young and it looks like (New York) is giving up."
New York is a tough place, and you got to win or else, notes Twins DH Craig Monroe. "They put a lot of money into one team, and when you aren't getting it done, you got to find a scapegoat."
Exit Randolph, the 2008 baseball season's first scapegoat.
"Sometimes you can't control the things that goes on (but) you know that he cared every day at that ball park, trying to figure out what he could do to help that ball club," says Gardenhire of Randolph.
Will Randolph get another chance at managing?
"He should (get another job)," says White. "It is who is willing to give him another shot."
"He deserves another opportunity," concurs Gardenhire. "He is a very classy and good baseball man. He's very well respected among all the managers. "
But given reality, and the last hired, first fired set of rules that usually is unfairly applied to Blacks, the question isn't will he, but rather when will he get another shot?
"Don't put me on the spot because I can talk a lot of crap about that," says White, the Twins' only Black on its coaching staff.
Adds Monroe, one of only two Black players on the Twins' 2008 roster, "You don't want to get me talking about that." Instead, he went another route and offered this brief bit of common sense: "I think the players got to take some cupability (for Randolph's firing). They got to go out and win games. I don't think it's the manager's fault -- it's a collective group of the team you put together."
It's a shame Minaya didn't see this as well. Let's hope that when the day comes, Minaya won't get the ax as coldly as he swung it on Randolph.
Mets GM Omar Minaya must have read Kevin McHale's book on bad firings. The Minnesota Timberwolves vice-president, instead of getting his behind on a plane and flying out to do his hatchet job, called then coach Dwane Casey in his hotel room on the road and fired him long distance a couple of years ago.
I don't know which is worst -- both chicken-hearted ways to dismiss someone is a wash, any way you look at. Both men were classy in their jobs, and both Casey and Randolph were let go while their teams were away from home.
I don't know if Casey got a first class plane ticket back home, but I certainly hope Randolph did.
Either way, it's the last hired, first fired routine.
Although it was not entirely a total shock -- Randolph have been hanging on a single thread for about a month now. Still his firing, or the classless way the Mets handled it, sent shockwaves around the baseball world Tuesday.
"He is a very classy and good baseball man," says Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire after his team's 2-1 win over visiting Washington in interleague play.
"As far as his job, I thought it might have been a short leash on him,"Twins first-base coach Jerry White told me. His facial expression quickly told me that he was a bit disturbed with the news of Randolph's firing., especially on how it all went down. He felt the Mets management could've treated their now former manager a little better than that.
"There's an obligation there," adds White. "The season still is young and it looks like (New York) is giving up."
New York is a tough place, and you got to win or else, notes Twins DH Craig Monroe. "They put a lot of money into one team, and when you aren't getting it done, you got to find a scapegoat."
Exit Randolph, the 2008 baseball season's first scapegoat.
"Sometimes you can't control the things that goes on (but) you know that he cared every day at that ball park, trying to figure out what he could do to help that ball club," says Gardenhire of Randolph.
Will Randolph get another chance at managing?
"He should (get another job)," says White. "It is who is willing to give him another shot."
"He deserves another opportunity," concurs Gardenhire. "He is a very classy and good baseball man. He's very well respected among all the managers. "
But given reality, and the last hired, first fired set of rules that usually is unfairly applied to Blacks, the question isn't will he, but rather when will he get another shot?
"Don't put me on the spot because I can talk a lot of crap about that," says White, the Twins' only Black on its coaching staff.
Adds Monroe, one of only two Black players on the Twins' 2008 roster, "You don't want to get me talking about that." Instead, he went another route and offered this brief bit of common sense: "I think the players got to take some cupability (for Randolph's firing). They got to go out and win games. I don't think it's the manager's fault -- it's a collective group of the team you put together."
It's a shame Minaya didn't see this as well. Let's hope that when the day comes, Minaya won't get the ax as coldly as he swung it on Randolph.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Back to Earth
Sacramento came in Thursday night on a second half of a back-to-back and knocked off Minnesota 82-78, a score that isn't indicative of how the hosts played.
The Lynx bust out to a 13-3 lead at the start of the game, but by the end of one quarter, Sacramento had a one-point lead, and eventually stretched it to a 15-point halftime advantage.
"We dug ourselves in a hole," says center Vanessa Hayden-Johnson.
Minnesota came to within 69-68 with six and a half minutes left to play but never came any closer. Three straight possessions later and the Lynx couldn't capitalize, and the visitors never let them get any closer.
"We probably were getting rubbery legs by then," recalls Minnesota Coach Don Zierden, who added that he didn't want to use one of his few remaining timeouts at this point.
Anna DeForge was fouled, attempting a three-pointer with eight seconds left, with a last chance to pull Minnesota to within one. DeForge hit her first two free throws but missed the third, and Sacramento correled the rebound. Ticha Penicheiro got fouled and swished her final two attempts from the line -- she earlier went one of two, and iced the game.
Perhaps for the first time this season, especially in front of the home crowd, the Lynx's youthful and inexperience was clearly evident.
"Things were easy the first few minutes, then (Sacramento) turned up the defensive pressure and the physical game," Minnesota Coach Don Zierden pointed out afterwards. "They know that Minnesota is not supposed to be ahead of them in the standings."
In this season's first weeks, it looked like things were easy for Minnesota, winning their first three home games, and six of their first seven contests.
Now the Lynx (6-3) is back to Earth, losers of their last two games.
"People already are saying, 'Oh, see, told you --they are not that good (because) they lost two in a row," notes Hayden-Johnson afterwards.
Coach Z was asked during his post-game comments by one beat reporter has Minnesota reached hoops reality.
"With this young team, this is a work in progress," he notes. "Just because they came out and got a couple of wins early, and people got excited. As a coaching staff, we understand our weaknesses and what we need to work on."
"It's nothing to hang our heads about," adds forward Charde Houston. "We have to come out from the start of the game with a lot of energy, and be the more aggressive team from start to finish."
"Luckily we got a lot of young girls who are upset about (losing)," says Hayden-Johnson.
More importantly, the Lynx must realized that the 2008 season is after all, only nine games old, with 25 games and over two months remaining. At times like these, this is where locker room leadership is crucial. I don't think it's coming from the veterans such as DeForge and Kristen Rasmussen, who have a combined 14 years experience between them.
Maybe the players should listen to Hayden-Johnson, who after missing a season due to the birth of her first child, has been around since 2004.
"This is the WNBA, an up-and-down league and season," Hayden-Johnson reminds us.
"We played hard in the second half, and we played hard to start the game, but you got to play hard for 40 minutes," says Zierden. "You learn from this."
Improving shooting (the Lynx have shot 33 and 44 percent the last two games), and better ball protection (21 turnovers against Sacramento) also are must's as Minnesota takes to the road for their next two contests, at New York, whom have beaten Minnesota five straight times since 2005, and at Detroit.
"All three of our losses have come down to the last three minutes of the basketball game, and that's when you have to be at your best," explains Coach Z.
Simply put, it's the little things that must be improved, he says. "Making free throws, defensive assignments -- we would keep cutting the lead down, then we lose somebody for a layup. We have to tighten those things up."
Both games, as was Sacramento (5-4) on Thursday, are early challenges to this year's Lynx.
"We got to go out there and kick butt," concludes Hayden-Johnson.
LYNX BITS --
Candice Wiggins recorded her second DQ (fouled out) of the season Thursday. She leads the Lynx in this category. She finished with 17 points, and despite haven't started a game this season, the rookie guard is second on the team in scoring (16 points a game), and got to the free throw line over 10 times (9-for-11) for the third time this summer.
Nicky Anosike leads Minnesota in rebounds -- she pulled down 11 against the Monarchs, her second double-digit effort of the season.
The Lynx bust out to a 13-3 lead at the start of the game, but by the end of one quarter, Sacramento had a one-point lead, and eventually stretched it to a 15-point halftime advantage.
"We dug ourselves in a hole," says center Vanessa Hayden-Johnson.
Minnesota came to within 69-68 with six and a half minutes left to play but never came any closer. Three straight possessions later and the Lynx couldn't capitalize, and the visitors never let them get any closer.
"We probably were getting rubbery legs by then," recalls Minnesota Coach Don Zierden, who added that he didn't want to use one of his few remaining timeouts at this point.
Anna DeForge was fouled, attempting a three-pointer with eight seconds left, with a last chance to pull Minnesota to within one. DeForge hit her first two free throws but missed the third, and Sacramento correled the rebound. Ticha Penicheiro got fouled and swished her final two attempts from the line -- she earlier went one of two, and iced the game.
Perhaps for the first time this season, especially in front of the home crowd, the Lynx's youthful and inexperience was clearly evident.
"Things were easy the first few minutes, then (Sacramento) turned up the defensive pressure and the physical game," Minnesota Coach Don Zierden pointed out afterwards. "They know that Minnesota is not supposed to be ahead of them in the standings."
In this season's first weeks, it looked like things were easy for Minnesota, winning their first three home games, and six of their first seven contests.
Now the Lynx (6-3) is back to Earth, losers of their last two games.
"People already are saying, 'Oh, see, told you --they are not that good (because) they lost two in a row," notes Hayden-Johnson afterwards.
Coach Z was asked during his post-game comments by one beat reporter has Minnesota reached hoops reality.
"With this young team, this is a work in progress," he notes. "Just because they came out and got a couple of wins early, and people got excited. As a coaching staff, we understand our weaknesses and what we need to work on."
"It's nothing to hang our heads about," adds forward Charde Houston. "We have to come out from the start of the game with a lot of energy, and be the more aggressive team from start to finish."
"Luckily we got a lot of young girls who are upset about (losing)," says Hayden-Johnson.
More importantly, the Lynx must realized that the 2008 season is after all, only nine games old, with 25 games and over two months remaining. At times like these, this is where locker room leadership is crucial. I don't think it's coming from the veterans such as DeForge and Kristen Rasmussen, who have a combined 14 years experience between them.
Maybe the players should listen to Hayden-Johnson, who after missing a season due to the birth of her first child, has been around since 2004.
"This is the WNBA, an up-and-down league and season," Hayden-Johnson reminds us.
"We played hard in the second half, and we played hard to start the game, but you got to play hard for 40 minutes," says Zierden. "You learn from this."
Improving shooting (the Lynx have shot 33 and 44 percent the last two games), and better ball protection (21 turnovers against Sacramento) also are must's as Minnesota takes to the road for their next two contests, at New York, whom have beaten Minnesota five straight times since 2005, and at Detroit.
"All three of our losses have come down to the last three minutes of the basketball game, and that's when you have to be at your best," explains Coach Z.
Simply put, it's the little things that must be improved, he says. "Making free throws, defensive assignments -- we would keep cutting the lead down, then we lose somebody for a layup. We have to tighten those things up."
Both games, as was Sacramento (5-4) on Thursday, are early challenges to this year's Lynx.
"We got to go out there and kick butt," concludes Hayden-Johnson.
LYNX BITS --
Candice Wiggins recorded her second DQ (fouled out) of the season Thursday. She leads the Lynx in this category. She finished with 17 points, and despite haven't started a game this season, the rookie guard is second on the team in scoring (16 points a game), and got to the free throw line over 10 times (9-for-11) for the third time this summer.
Nicky Anosike leads Minnesota in rebounds -- she pulled down 11 against the Monarchs, her second double-digit effort of the season.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
That look
Besides bouncing back from a loss, a good telling sign of a good team is how they look after that loss.
"If you can see the looks on these ladies' faces when you came into the locker room after the game," notes Minnesota Lynx guard Navonda Moore, "you look in their eyes and see that (we) don't want that to happen again."
In years past, after a defeat, most of the women didn't have that look. Oh, they did not like losing, but they weren't that brokenhearted over it either.
Not anymore.
It was the look after again losing again to Connecticut Tuesday night, 75-66, at home, the Lynx's second loss of the season -- both defeats at the hands of the Sun.
This time, it was Connecticut's Barbara Turner, who scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half, who helped produce that look in the hosts' faces, as the veteran guard-forward helped her Sun outscore the hosts 47-29, and overcame a nine-point halftime deficit.
"Barbara Turner got hot for them," explained Lynx Coach Don Zierden afterwards. "She picked them up and carry them."
Minnesota's evening-long cold shooting (25-for-75, 33 percent), including a 28-percent second half performance, also greatly contributed to that look as well.
"We couldn't throw it in the ocean," says Zierden.
Tuesday's defeat overshadowed perhaps Moore's best performance of the year: 7 points, 4 rebounds and a blocked shot.
"She was aggressive and got to the free throw line (5-of-7), and did some nice things for us," notes her coach. "That was an encouraging sign for us."
However, afterwards Moore couldn't accept this reporter's praise for her on-court work.
"I'm not thinking about that now," she admits. "I wanted that 'W' really bad. We all wanted that 'W' so bad. I am just thinking about focusing on tomorrow, and focusing on Sacramento (Minnesota's next opponent)."
She had that look, which lend credence to what Zierden has been saying since last season -- a change of culture is being created in Lynxland.
"It's hurt to have a decent game," continues Moore, "and you still look at that 'L.' What good feeling you can have out of that?"
Instead, the Lynx players left with that empty feeling, coming up short in their first home loss of the 2008 season.
Instead, they are kicking themselves because they didn't bring their usual energy, especially in the deciding second half.
"We didn't match their intensity in the second half," admits Lynx forward Nicole Ohlde.
Says Moore, "We had some spurts where we had a lot of energy, then we had three to five minutes where we were searching for it. That's not the way that we are."
Despite going up against a veteran, seasoned Connecticut squad, Moore refuses to blame their hit-and-miss energy on being young.
"We are a lot of second-year players and rookies," says Moore, "but when it comes down to it, it is really just playing basketball. This is the game we have been doing all of our lives.
"Intensity is something you can't teach," she adds.
Afterwards, reporters asked Zierden can the Lynx bounce back from Tuesday's defeat to play Sacramento on Thursday.
"They did a nice job responding after the first Connecticut loss (June 6)," he pointed out. "Now we'll see how we will come out Thursday night."
Bouncing back is something Moore and her teammates don't want to do too much more this season.
"Seimone (Augustus) told us that she is getting tired of hearing "bounce back," discloses the second-year guard. "We don't want to keep bouncing back."
Instead, the Lynx players had no choice but to leave the arena, to go into that good, good night Tuesday:
With that look.
Lynx Bits - - -
Augustus's 10 assists Tuesday was both a career and season high: she also kept alive her current double-figure scoring streak alive, now at 66 games, when the third-year guard hit a 22-footer trey with 29 seconds left in the game, to give her 11 points for the game . . .
Nicky Anosike went 2-for-11 against the Sun, her worst shooting game in her young rookie career. She perhaps is dwelling too much on her misses, Zierden believes. "She gets down on herself and is harder on herself as anybody," he says. His advice: "If you focus on what's happened in the past, it will affect your next shot."
Anytime Connecticut comes to town, which is only once a season, it brings people who usually don't want to be seen at any women's hoops game: the Twin Cities' "Mount Rockhead" -- columnists Patrick Reusse (Star Tribune), Tom Powers and Charley Walters (both of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) made their usual annual appearance Tuesday. All of them made a beehive to the Sun's locker room afterwards to again fawn over former U-M player Lindsay Whalen.
This reporter usually avoids such nonsense -- I covered Whalen all four years in college, meanwhile the Rockheads didn't know she existed until her junior year when the Gophers began winning, and broke the bandwagon in covering her.
Former Lynx Tamika (Williams) Raymond did not score in her five minutes of action, going 0-for-2, with one rebound, in her first trip back to Minnesota after being traded to the Sun this spring for Kristen Rasmussen. "We appreciate what she gave us last year in leadership," says Coach Z of Raymond, Minnesota's 2002 first round draft pick. "We had to make the trade, and she was very gracious about it."
"They could've traded me off to boo-boo land, but they put me in a situation (in Connecticut)where I can be successful," Raymond told me prior to Tuesday's game. "I loved every moment at Minnesota. The fans were great and very loyal, and the (Lynx) franchise was loyal to me. I just think it was time for me to move on."
"If you can see the looks on these ladies' faces when you came into the locker room after the game," notes Minnesota Lynx guard Navonda Moore, "you look in their eyes and see that (we) don't want that to happen again."
In years past, after a defeat, most of the women didn't have that look. Oh, they did not like losing, but they weren't that brokenhearted over it either.
Not anymore.
It was the look after again losing again to Connecticut Tuesday night, 75-66, at home, the Lynx's second loss of the season -- both defeats at the hands of the Sun.
This time, it was Connecticut's Barbara Turner, who scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half, who helped produce that look in the hosts' faces, as the veteran guard-forward helped her Sun outscore the hosts 47-29, and overcame a nine-point halftime deficit.
"Barbara Turner got hot for them," explained Lynx Coach Don Zierden afterwards. "She picked them up and carry them."
Minnesota's evening-long cold shooting (25-for-75, 33 percent), including a 28-percent second half performance, also greatly contributed to that look as well.
"We couldn't throw it in the ocean," says Zierden.
Tuesday's defeat overshadowed perhaps Moore's best performance of the year: 7 points, 4 rebounds and a blocked shot.
"She was aggressive and got to the free throw line (5-of-7), and did some nice things for us," notes her coach. "That was an encouraging sign for us."
However, afterwards Moore couldn't accept this reporter's praise for her on-court work.
"I'm not thinking about that now," she admits. "I wanted that 'W' really bad. We all wanted that 'W' so bad. I am just thinking about focusing on tomorrow, and focusing on Sacramento (Minnesota's next opponent)."
She had that look, which lend credence to what Zierden has been saying since last season -- a change of culture is being created in Lynxland.
"It's hurt to have a decent game," continues Moore, "and you still look at that 'L.' What good feeling you can have out of that?"
Instead, the Lynx players left with that empty feeling, coming up short in their first home loss of the 2008 season.
Instead, they are kicking themselves because they didn't bring their usual energy, especially in the deciding second half.
"We didn't match their intensity in the second half," admits Lynx forward Nicole Ohlde.
Says Moore, "We had some spurts where we had a lot of energy, then we had three to five minutes where we were searching for it. That's not the way that we are."
Despite going up against a veteran, seasoned Connecticut squad, Moore refuses to blame their hit-and-miss energy on being young.
"We are a lot of second-year players and rookies," says Moore, "but when it comes down to it, it is really just playing basketball. This is the game we have been doing all of our lives.
"Intensity is something you can't teach," she adds.
Afterwards, reporters asked Zierden can the Lynx bounce back from Tuesday's defeat to play Sacramento on Thursday.
"They did a nice job responding after the first Connecticut loss (June 6)," he pointed out. "Now we'll see how we will come out Thursday night."
Bouncing back is something Moore and her teammates don't want to do too much more this season.
"Seimone (Augustus) told us that she is getting tired of hearing "bounce back," discloses the second-year guard. "We don't want to keep bouncing back."
Instead, the Lynx players had no choice but to leave the arena, to go into that good, good night Tuesday:
With that look.
Lynx Bits - - -
Augustus's 10 assists Tuesday was both a career and season high: she also kept alive her current double-figure scoring streak alive, now at 66 games, when the third-year guard hit a 22-footer trey with 29 seconds left in the game, to give her 11 points for the game . . .
Nicky Anosike went 2-for-11 against the Sun, her worst shooting game in her young rookie career. She perhaps is dwelling too much on her misses, Zierden believes. "She gets down on herself and is harder on herself as anybody," he says. His advice: "If you focus on what's happened in the past, it will affect your next shot."
Anytime Connecticut comes to town, which is only once a season, it brings people who usually don't want to be seen at any women's hoops game: the Twin Cities' "Mount Rockhead" -- columnists Patrick Reusse (Star Tribune), Tom Powers and Charley Walters (both of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) made their usual annual appearance Tuesday. All of them made a beehive to the Sun's locker room afterwards to again fawn over former U-M player Lindsay Whalen.
This reporter usually avoids such nonsense -- I covered Whalen all four years in college, meanwhile the Rockheads didn't know she existed until her junior year when the Gophers began winning, and broke the bandwagon in covering her.
Former Lynx Tamika (Williams) Raymond did not score in her five minutes of action, going 0-for-2, with one rebound, in her first trip back to Minnesota after being traded to the Sun this spring for Kristen Rasmussen. "We appreciate what she gave us last year in leadership," says Coach Z of Raymond, Minnesota's 2002 first round draft pick. "We had to make the trade, and she was very gracious about it."
"They could've traded me off to boo-boo land, but they put me in a situation (in Connecticut)where I can be successful," Raymond told me prior to Tuesday's game. "I loved every moment at Minnesota. The fans were great and very loyal, and the (Lynx) franchise was loyal to me. I just think it was time for me to move on."
No repeats here
Tuesday's nationally televised contest (ESPN2, 7:00 pm EDT) between the host Minnesota Lynx (6-1)and the visiting Connecticut Sun (7-1) is being billed locally as a clash between conference leaders -- the Sun is atop the East, and the surprising, youthful Lynx is in front in the West.
Also, the local papers as a rematch of the two teams that just played four days previously, a 78-77 Connecticut win.
However, for Minnesota Coach Don Zierden, he doesn't want to see a repeat of that last meeting.
It was the first time in this young season that Zierden was totally disappointed in his club's effort. "I thought they (the Sun) were quicker to the ball than we were," he recalls. "I thought we were slow in our (defensive) rotations. Offensively, I thought the stopped moving."
The Lynx finished with only 17 assists -- six from Seimone Augustus, who led her team with 22 points. "We can't have that with the makeup of our ball club," notes Zierden, who rather see his players get those set-up passes in the 20s.
Ashja Jones had a game-high 25 points for Connecticut, including the winning basket with 19 seconds left, which erased a five-point deficit in the last minute and a half.
Instead of seeing tonight's game as a clash of the so-called titans, "I'm worried about can we beat a team that beat us the other night, and beat us pretty handedly until we made a late run," says Coach Z.
No repeats here, thank you.
Lynx Bits --
Tuesday's night contest wraps up the season series between the two clubs: Connecticut holds a one-game edge (9-8) in the all-time series . . .
Minnesota leads the WNBA in shooting (46 percent), second in free throw attempts (around 25 a game) and third in free throw shooting (nearly 78 percent) . . .
The Lynx, however, is near the bottom in scoring defense (78.8 ppg, currently 12th in WNBA) -- last season, they were last in this category . . .
Also, the local papers as a rematch of the two teams that just played four days previously, a 78-77 Connecticut win.
However, for Minnesota Coach Don Zierden, he doesn't want to see a repeat of that last meeting.
It was the first time in this young season that Zierden was totally disappointed in his club's effort. "I thought they (the Sun) were quicker to the ball than we were," he recalls. "I thought we were slow in our (defensive) rotations. Offensively, I thought the stopped moving."
The Lynx finished with only 17 assists -- six from Seimone Augustus, who led her team with 22 points. "We can't have that with the makeup of our ball club," notes Zierden, who rather see his players get those set-up passes in the 20s.
Ashja Jones had a game-high 25 points for Connecticut, including the winning basket with 19 seconds left, which erased a five-point deficit in the last minute and a half.
Instead of seeing tonight's game as a clash of the so-called titans, "I'm worried about can we beat a team that beat us the other night, and beat us pretty handedly until we made a late run," says Coach Z.
No repeats here, thank you.
Lynx Bits --
Tuesday's night contest wraps up the season series between the two clubs: Connecticut holds a one-game edge (9-8) in the all-time series . . .
Minnesota leads the WNBA in shooting (46 percent), second in free throw attempts (around 25 a game) and third in free throw shooting (nearly 78 percent) . . .
The Lynx, however, is near the bottom in scoring defense (78.8 ppg, currently 12th in WNBA) -- last season, they were last in this category . . .
Monday, June 9, 2008
Coming of age moment
It was early Sunday evening in the fourth quarter -- "winning time," the pros call it, and the San Antonio Silver Stars had cut a deficit that reached as high as 13 points in the third quarter to just one on Becky Hammon's three-pointer.
But Minnesota, the WNBA's perennial youngest team, the 10th anniversity Lynx, immediately came back down and scored: rookie Charde Houston's driving lay-up from an Anna DeForge assist, to give her team a three-point cushion. Then Nicole Ohlde blocked a shot sparked a DeForge fast break layup from a feed by Seimone Augustus.
The home team now up by five points, and the visiting Silver Stars never got any closer.
That was a coming of age moment for Minnesota, who defeated San Antonio 90-78, to remain unbeaten at home this young season.
"Charles, you being an astute basketball guy -- you have been here through the process, when you got a lot of young players, there are two ways you could've done it," Lynx Head Coach Don Zierden disclosed afterwards. "You could've taken a time out and try to diagram a play, or you could've let them learn how to play basketball. I decided to let them learn how to play basketball."
Simply, this is called trust. This is called confidence. This is called a growing sign of maturity.
Minnesota is now 6-1. Each win brings about a little additional dose of confidence. Each time the players respond positively, as they did Sunday in that coming of age moment, returns the confidence and the trust the coach has in them.
"In previous years," explains Lynx center Vanessa Hayden-Johnson, a four-year veteran, "this team had lost and lost. Just like a fight, we get hit in the mouth and fall down. They (San Antonio) gave us their best shot, and we came back with it. I think now we have that."
"I think when we go through tough stretches," Coach Z continues, "sometimes the players need to figure it out. We have a bunch of young players, so now that is what we are going to do sometimes.
"We knew they (San Antonio) was in a zone, and we made the extra pass that time and got a layup, a good shot."
Minnesota's willingness to make those extra passes, to set up teammates for better shot opportunities, also is showing. The Lynx recorded 23 assists Sunday.
Unfortunately, stats aren't kept on 'extra passes' or 'passes that lead to passes that lead to assists.' "We need to get better, but we are making the extra pass," says Zierden. "You can hear the players on the bench, yelling it out. When one player finds success, it just breeds success on down the road. People want to make the extra pass."
Hayden-Johnson credits the youngsters for this. They arrived with the hungriness not seen in Lynxland for . . . frankly, I can't recall ever seeing it. They arrived not Mary Tyler Moore-type spunk, but with not-backing-down-from-anyone type spunk.
"We go at each other's throats at practice," she admits. "We are fighting. We are cussing each other out. But it is making us better."
That spunk carries over into games.
"Nicky Anosike, Charde (Houston) and the girls come in here so excited and they brought that," claims Hayden-Johnson. "That's addictive."
Zierden has been concerned about his team's play at late. They won a shootout last week at Atlanta, but struggled badly two days later at Connecticut, who handed the Lynx the only blemish on their season record.
"When you have such a young team," continues the coach, "you want to see where we are. I wanted to see how we would respond to a loss. When you have such a young team, you want to see where we are. I wanted to see how we would respond to a loss."
Coach Z liked what he saw. "I thought we came out and played hard. It was a good telling sign. Now we'll see what happens when we lose another game and come back and fight as hard as we did tonight."
A popular litmus test of a good team is how they bounced back from a crushing defeat. They did, but Coach Z won't take credit for this.
"It's about the players," he concludes. "It's always about the players."
FURTHERMORE --
Q-Tip: Second-year guard Noelle Quinn has been shooting 50 percent or better in her last four games, including a 4-for-6 performance, including hitting 3 of 4 three pointers Sunday. Quinn previously had gone 0-for4 from outside the arc. in her last five games. "Q was not playing as well as she thought she could in the first few games," says Zierden. "Instead of sulking about it, she got in the gym and worked extra hard. You see the dividends."
X-Files: A reporter Sunday asked Zierden about Charde Houston's X-factor role. "We have to have more than one X-factor for us to be successful," the coach quickly corrected the young man. "Charde has been great some games for us energy-wise. But Ras (forward Kristen Rasmussen) has stepped up some games. Vanessa had a great game against Phoenix (on May 31). There's a bunch of players who have been X-factors. You need that with a young ball club we have." Houston had 15 points (6-for-9 from the field) in 23 minutes in Sunday's win -- she's ranks 10th in the league in shooting (51 percent).
Still sitting: Shay Murphy spent her fifth game on the inactive list. She played a minute and a half against Atlanta June 3, misfiring on her only shot attempt but grabbed a rebound. It should be noted that the second-year player is not in any trouble -- she's using this time to improve her game under the coaches' tutelage.
Learning in progress: Top pick Candice Wiggins led Minnesota with 17 points. She only made two of eight shots from the field, but converted 13-of-14 from the line. "Candice is a very smart basketball player," notes her coach. "She's learning at this level that good teams like San Antonio will take away certain things. They were not going to let her shoot the three (Wiggins missed all four of her attempts). So she was able to turn the corner and get to the rim. She's learning how to play the game as the game is going on."
Proud parents: Charles and Alice Taylor came in from their home in Idaho to spend this week, visiting their daughter Angela Taylor, the Lynx business development vice-president. They watched and cheered their daughter's team to victory Sunday.
Congrats: Don and Anne Zierden celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversity Sunday.
But Minnesota, the WNBA's perennial youngest team, the 10th anniversity Lynx, immediately came back down and scored: rookie Charde Houston's driving lay-up from an Anna DeForge assist, to give her team a three-point cushion. Then Nicole Ohlde blocked a shot sparked a DeForge fast break layup from a feed by Seimone Augustus.
The home team now up by five points, and the visiting Silver Stars never got any closer.
That was a coming of age moment for Minnesota, who defeated San Antonio 90-78, to remain unbeaten at home this young season.
"Charles, you being an astute basketball guy -- you have been here through the process, when you got a lot of young players, there are two ways you could've done it," Lynx Head Coach Don Zierden disclosed afterwards. "You could've taken a time out and try to diagram a play, or you could've let them learn how to play basketball. I decided to let them learn how to play basketball."
Simply, this is called trust. This is called confidence. This is called a growing sign of maturity.
Minnesota is now 6-1. Each win brings about a little additional dose of confidence. Each time the players respond positively, as they did Sunday in that coming of age moment, returns the confidence and the trust the coach has in them.
"In previous years," explains Lynx center Vanessa Hayden-Johnson, a four-year veteran, "this team had lost and lost. Just like a fight, we get hit in the mouth and fall down. They (San Antonio) gave us their best shot, and we came back with it. I think now we have that."
"I think when we go through tough stretches," Coach Z continues, "sometimes the players need to figure it out. We have a bunch of young players, so now that is what we are going to do sometimes.
"We knew they (San Antonio) was in a zone, and we made the extra pass that time and got a layup, a good shot."
Minnesota's willingness to make those extra passes, to set up teammates for better shot opportunities, also is showing. The Lynx recorded 23 assists Sunday.
Unfortunately, stats aren't kept on 'extra passes' or 'passes that lead to passes that lead to assists.' "We need to get better, but we are making the extra pass," says Zierden. "You can hear the players on the bench, yelling it out. When one player finds success, it just breeds success on down the road. People want to make the extra pass."
Hayden-Johnson credits the youngsters for this. They arrived with the hungriness not seen in Lynxland for . . . frankly, I can't recall ever seeing it. They arrived not Mary Tyler Moore-type spunk, but with not-backing-down-from-anyone type spunk.
"We go at each other's throats at practice," she admits. "We are fighting. We are cussing each other out. But it is making us better."
That spunk carries over into games.
"Nicky Anosike, Charde (Houston) and the girls come in here so excited and they brought that," claims Hayden-Johnson. "That's addictive."
Zierden has been concerned about his team's play at late. They won a shootout last week at Atlanta, but struggled badly two days later at Connecticut, who handed the Lynx the only blemish on their season record.
"When you have such a young team," continues the coach, "you want to see where we are. I wanted to see how we would respond to a loss. When you have such a young team, you want to see where we are. I wanted to see how we would respond to a loss."
Coach Z liked what he saw. "I thought we came out and played hard. It was a good telling sign. Now we'll see what happens when we lose another game and come back and fight as hard as we did tonight."
A popular litmus test of a good team is how they bounced back from a crushing defeat. They did, but Coach Z won't take credit for this.
"It's about the players," he concludes. "It's always about the players."
FURTHERMORE --
Q-Tip: Second-year guard Noelle Quinn has been shooting 50 percent or better in her last four games, including a 4-for-6 performance, including hitting 3 of 4 three pointers Sunday. Quinn previously had gone 0-for4 from outside the arc. in her last five games. "Q was not playing as well as she thought she could in the first few games," says Zierden. "Instead of sulking about it, she got in the gym and worked extra hard. You see the dividends."
X-Files: A reporter Sunday asked Zierden about Charde Houston's X-factor role. "We have to have more than one X-factor for us to be successful," the coach quickly corrected the young man. "Charde has been great some games for us energy-wise. But Ras (forward Kristen Rasmussen) has stepped up some games. Vanessa had a great game against Phoenix (on May 31). There's a bunch of players who have been X-factors. You need that with a young ball club we have." Houston had 15 points (6-for-9 from the field) in 23 minutes in Sunday's win -- she's ranks 10th in the league in shooting (51 percent).
Still sitting: Shay Murphy spent her fifth game on the inactive list. She played a minute and a half against Atlanta June 3, misfiring on her only shot attempt but grabbed a rebound. It should be noted that the second-year player is not in any trouble -- she's using this time to improve her game under the coaches' tutelage.
Learning in progress: Top pick Candice Wiggins led Minnesota with 17 points. She only made two of eight shots from the field, but converted 13-of-14 from the line. "Candice is a very smart basketball player," notes her coach. "She's learning at this level that good teams like San Antonio will take away certain things. They were not going to let her shoot the three (Wiggins missed all four of her attempts). So she was able to turn the corner and get to the rim. She's learning how to play the game as the game is going on."
Proud parents: Charles and Alice Taylor came in from their home in Idaho to spend this week, visiting their daughter Angela Taylor, the Lynx business development vice-president. They watched and cheered their daughter's team to victory Sunday.
Congrats: Don and Anne Zierden celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversity Sunday.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Unfamiliar territory
Not in any time of its 10-year history the Minnesota Lynx have been in this position:
First place.
The team that finished tied last season with the league's worst record. The same team that only won a combined 20 games over the course of two summers, is the same team that is currently the WNBA's only unbeaten squad in less than a month of play.
"We are just here to win," says Lynx center Nicky Anosike.
One can excuse Anosike for her not dwelling on the past --- she wasn't around the last few years because she was winning consecutive championships at Tennessee.
The same for Candice Wiggins, who have spent the last four years compiling points on her way to becoming the Pac-10 and Stanford's all-time leading scorer. Ditto for Charde Houston, who spent her collegiate years at Connecticut.
Nonetheless, all three first-year players have played a huge role in the Lynx's early-season success: Anosike as a starter, and Wiggins and Houston providing strong bench support.
"It's fun to watch these players compete," Minnesota Coach Don Zierden marvels. "We knew (prior to drafting the three) that they were going to be high energy players. They have done everything we've asked of them, and exceeded expectations."
More importantly, Zierden is getting production from almost every Lynx player on this year's roster. "Every night a different player stepped up," he points out. "We are getting production from everybody in different ways."
Because of this, two-time All-Star Seimone Augustus' role has changed. She still is the team's marquee player, but she is no longer have to be its savior as well.
"I'm feeling great about the Lynx and what we are doing here," says Augustus. "I just hope that it continues throughout the season."
Zierden believes that it can: "Everybody has accepted their roles," he notes. "That's big right now."
And since the rookies have no knowledge of the past, they are putting it on.
"We know our roles," admits Anosike.
"I'm still learning," continues Wiggins, an early Rookie of the Year candidate, who has played some solid point guard since her arrival. The 5-11 rookie, who mostly played forward at Stanford, led all players with 12 assists in Minnesota's win over visiting Phoenix on the last day of May.
"I don't think people see me as a point guard," says Wiggins, "but I played a lot of point guard in college. I can do a lot better."
Houston, who was originally pegged as a defensive addition, has posted two double-double games thus far. "I have the ability to score," she remarked of her 18 point-13-rebound performance vs. Phoenix -- all in a reserve role.
While I am not calling for early downtown parade tickets, I do like Minnesota's start, and believe it eventually will lead the Lynx to its first playoff berth since 2004.
FURTHERMORE -- The U.S. Olympic women's basketball team is three-fourths set. Nine players, including Augustus and Phoenix's Cappie Pondexter, were selected May 31. The others include: Lisa Leslie, Katie Smith, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Thompson, Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker. The roster mixes internationally experienced youth and veteran leadership.
"I love the combination of players that we have," says U.S. Olympic head coach Anne Donovan. "We've really covered the gamut in terms of experience and we have a tremendous balance of perimeter and post play."
USA Basketball Vice-President Renee Brown, who also chaired the selection committee, adds, "We know it will not be an easy road to the gold medal in Beijing -- the rest of the world has gotten much better over the last four years. However, we feel that this group will continue to represent their country with pride and honor and compete at the highest level that is expected when representing USA Basketball."
For Augustus, Fowles, Parker and Pondexter, this will be their first Olympic Games.
"It is definitely one of my goals I had growing up (was) to be part of the Olympic team," admits Pondexter, who plays for Phoenix in the WNBA. "I'm excited and looking forward to it."
"I wanted to win a national championship in college, but I think the Olympics is (at) the top of the women's game," believes Augustus. "It is going to be a very competitive field, but hopefully we can pull out with the gold."
Three more players are expected to be added to the USA squad by July 1.
First place.
The team that finished tied last season with the league's worst record. The same team that only won a combined 20 games over the course of two summers, is the same team that is currently the WNBA's only unbeaten squad in less than a month of play.
"We are just here to win," says Lynx center Nicky Anosike.
One can excuse Anosike for her not dwelling on the past --- she wasn't around the last few years because she was winning consecutive championships at Tennessee.
The same for Candice Wiggins, who have spent the last four years compiling points on her way to becoming the Pac-10 and Stanford's all-time leading scorer. Ditto for Charde Houston, who spent her collegiate years at Connecticut.
Nonetheless, all three first-year players have played a huge role in the Lynx's early-season success: Anosike as a starter, and Wiggins and Houston providing strong bench support.
"It's fun to watch these players compete," Minnesota Coach Don Zierden marvels. "We knew (prior to drafting the three) that they were going to be high energy players. They have done everything we've asked of them, and exceeded expectations."
More importantly, Zierden is getting production from almost every Lynx player on this year's roster. "Every night a different player stepped up," he points out. "We are getting production from everybody in different ways."
Because of this, two-time All-Star Seimone Augustus' role has changed. She still is the team's marquee player, but she is no longer have to be its savior as well.
"I'm feeling great about the Lynx and what we are doing here," says Augustus. "I just hope that it continues throughout the season."
Zierden believes that it can: "Everybody has accepted their roles," he notes. "That's big right now."
And since the rookies have no knowledge of the past, they are putting it on.
"We know our roles," admits Anosike.
"I'm still learning," continues Wiggins, an early Rookie of the Year candidate, who has played some solid point guard since her arrival. The 5-11 rookie, who mostly played forward at Stanford, led all players with 12 assists in Minnesota's win over visiting Phoenix on the last day of May.
"I don't think people see me as a point guard," says Wiggins, "but I played a lot of point guard in college. I can do a lot better."
Houston, who was originally pegged as a defensive addition, has posted two double-double games thus far. "I have the ability to score," she remarked of her 18 point-13-rebound performance vs. Phoenix -- all in a reserve role.
While I am not calling for early downtown parade tickets, I do like Minnesota's start, and believe it eventually will lead the Lynx to its first playoff berth since 2004.
FURTHERMORE -- The U.S. Olympic women's basketball team is three-fourths set. Nine players, including Augustus and Phoenix's Cappie Pondexter, were selected May 31. The others include: Lisa Leslie, Katie Smith, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Thompson, Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker. The roster mixes internationally experienced youth and veteran leadership.
"I love the combination of players that we have," says U.S. Olympic head coach Anne Donovan. "We've really covered the gamut in terms of experience and we have a tremendous balance of perimeter and post play."
USA Basketball Vice-President Renee Brown, who also chaired the selection committee, adds, "We know it will not be an easy road to the gold medal in Beijing -- the rest of the world has gotten much better over the last four years. However, we feel that this group will continue to represent their country with pride and honor and compete at the highest level that is expected when representing USA Basketball."
For Augustus, Fowles, Parker and Pondexter, this will be their first Olympic Games.
"It is definitely one of my goals I had growing up (was) to be part of the Olympic team," admits Pondexter, who plays for Phoenix in the WNBA. "I'm excited and looking forward to it."
"I wanted to win a national championship in college, but I think the Olympics is (at) the top of the women's game," believes Augustus. "It is going to be a very competitive field, but hopefully we can pull out with the gold."
Three more players are expected to be added to the USA squad by July 1.
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