A Chat With Keisha Brown

Arriving at Lynx practice a few weeks back, I was immediately drawn to the new face in the crowd, which belonged to Keisha Brown. In her first practice with her new teammates, she was already running the offense like the veteran that she is. At 28 years of age, she is also the oldest member of the 2007 Minnesota Lynx. I believe this to be a great plus for this team, as her confidence and swagger is contagious.

After practice this week, I sat down with Brown to discuss camp and the upcoming season, which starts about an hour from now.



SL: How excited are you for the up-tempo style of play that Coach Zierden is implementing?

KB: Me, I’m excited because it’s very natural to me. Ever since I started playing basketball, it’s always been kind of run-n-gun, feed and go, so to have the opportunity to play in this system--and Coach Z thinks I can fit in this system--it’s definitely a plus. I can use my abilities and just be natural with it.

SL: What has been the hardest part of training camp for you?

KB: It’s not necessarily hard per se, just because I’ve been in the league so long and a lot of plays become repetitive with just one or two wrinkles, depending on the coaches. Maintaining consistency, if anything, is the most difficult thing because we’re going to have our highs and we’re going to have our lows, but the whole point is to just maintain consistency through it all.

SL: What are your thoughts on Coach Zierden so far?

KB: Well, I like him. When I talk to people, the first thing I say about him is that he’s a great teacher and that I’m learning. I’m a sponge right now. With me being 28 and having more experience on this team, I like the fact that I’m still learning, I’m still eager to learn and he’s ready to teach. In that perspective, we can help each other because he’s certainly helping me.

SL: After the release of Katryna Gaither, are you concerned at all about the lack of post players on this team?

KB: No, just because we have a coaching staff and that’s their concern. Our concern is to come out here and play with the cards that we have and we’ve got good people, who can get the job done. That’s not really the players’ focus. That’s for the coaches and the organization to deal with. We trust them that they are going to get the job done because it’s going to make all of us in the organization look good.

SL: Now, it is your turn to be a scout for me and tell me what you’ve seen out of the rookies since your arrived in Minnesota.

KB: Shay Murphy is a good shooter, an aggressive defender, has so much she can improve upon, but is like a sponge. She’s going to get better every minute, so I’m excited about that.

SL: Navonda Moore?

KB: She’s quick, pure baller and athletic. She can shoot, come off the dribble and is just explosive.

SL: Lindsey Harding?

KB: Ah, I don’t know about her. She’s got so much natural talent at the point and has such a good head on her. That definitely helps with a program like this because you’re going to get a different look. She is definitely going to be fun to watch for many years to come.

SL: Kathrin Ress?

KB: I like her. I like her a lot. She doesn’t mind banging, she doesn’t mind being down there in the block and a lot of foreign players, you know, they always like that outside jumper. Kat, when she wants to get in there, she wants to get in there and bang and, obviously, she’s going to do nothing but get better.

SL: Noelle Quinn?

KB: Good girl. She’s one of those people who can, literally, play one through four and that’s a bonus on any team when you can have a person that can do that and she’s only going to get better with time. She’s a great shooter, she’s got great handle, a great eye for the floor and is a great passer, so she’s one of those people who can be the core of a team.

SL: Now, with the season starting soon, what do you feel will be your specific role on this team?

KB: My specific role is to make sure we keep our heads on. Like I said, this season is so fast that when we finish, it’s going to be a blur. Through it all, you just want to make sure that we maintain some kind of consistency. We’re going to have peaks and valleys, we’re going to have winning streaks, we’re going to have losing streaks and the whole key is to not get too emotional about it. As far as on the court, just kind of being the head of the body, if you will. First of all, keeping my head cool and being focused under pressure and having my players feel that energy coming off of me, so they can be able to react and play with a certain calmness, but aggressiveness as well.

SL: This team won 10-games last season. The acquisitions in the off-season were the rookies and yourself. They are all talented rookies, but rookies nonetheless. With that in mind, what do you believe is a realistic expectation for this team this season?

KB: What is there? 34 games? I’d say 0.500. We’re going to get it done on defense and I think that we all realize that. This league has gotten to the point where no one player can guard another person one-on-one and we’ve got to get it done on defense. Obviously, that starts with Lindsey and I up top on the ball. We start it off on defense and we’re going to be ok.