Now, with the release of Katryna Gaither, Tamika Raymond is once again one of the elder statesmen on this Lynx team. What is disturbing about that is that she was only born in 1980, making her only 27 years old. Yet, Raymond continues to have the knowledge of a veteran with the same athletic ability she had coming into the league.
Last week, I sat down with Raymond after practice to discuss training camp and the upcoming season.
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SL: Can you speak on how excited you are for the up-tempo style of play Coach Zierden is implementing for this season?
TR: I’m really excited for the up-tempo style. I think it’s been missing since Theresa Edwards was our point guard and I think with the young players we have, along with the core of players who came back and the new coaching staff, that it’s really going to work out. They’re pushing us. The reason that I think it’s going to work is that they work on the small things, you know? They don’t forget the little stuff. That little stuff is important.
SL: What has been the hardest part of training camp?
TR: I think the hardest part of camp for me is keeping up with the young kids. I think that’s the first thing. The second thing is the different players. We have a totally different team from last year. We were a little bit slower and we ran less, but this year, it’s hard because everybody is an option. Ohlde, Seimone, Lindsey and we have other people who can create their own shots. If you’re open, every shot is a good shot for you as long as it’s in your range and everything. I love that part and it’s great for our team.
SL: What are your thoughts on Coach Zierden to this point?
TR: I just think the staff, from Roger Griffith on down, treat us like people. That’s the thing that I like about the assistant coaches right now is that they treat us like we’re important. Taking us out to Vegas was great, staying that extra day was great and, you know, we get treated like pros. It’s more of a give-and-take situation and it’s more like a family. That’s how I look at it. If he yells at me, it’s like my Dad yelling at me, getting on me about something. I know that at the end of the day, he wants me to get better. If he didn’t say anything to me, he wouldn’t be thinking about me and that goes for everybody. If he gets intense, it needs to get fixed, so that’s important. Z, T, CJ, Coach Ed, Chuck and Matt…these people that work behind the scenes, they don’t get paid much and they don’t have to be here. They’re here everyday and they love what we do and that’s family to me.
SL: Ok, now it’s your turn to be a scout for me. Tell me what you’ve seen out of the rookies this season.
TR: Well, since Shay’s in here, I’ll start with her. Shay’s got a nice three point shot and she can stroke it if she’s got those feet set. She can get in the lane and she likes to pull up. She likes to slash. She can do a little bit of everything, but she’s been out with that ankle so she’s trying to get that back.
SL: Lindsey Harding?
TR: With Lindsey, I call her a gnat. I feel like she’s the young Debbie Black. She’s everywhere defensively. Offensively, you don’t see a lot of girls who can play with the guys, who can get past them…I mean, she can get past them off her quickness. She’s got a nice pull up jumpshot, she gets us into the flow of the game, she can finish at the rim above everybody and she’s a leader.
SL: Noelle Quinn?
TR: She’s kind of got a smooth game. Very smooth. Very Magic Johnson-ish in her passes. As far as her handle and everything, it kind of comes out of nowhere. She’s got a nice three point shot, she can get to the rim, pull up and she’s kind of like Shay. She can do a little of everything, but she’s just kind of smoother at it.
SL: Kathrin Ress?
TR: That’s my buddy. My Italian buddy. We go to the Italian restaurant. She’s a great teammate, both on and off the court. The other thing about Kathrin is that she can stretch it out. She has a nice 15 foot, a nice three point shot and she’s probably our best combo move post. She can throw four, five, six, seven or eight moves at you in one possession. She definitely has a counter to everything the defense can throw at her.
SL: This team is coming off a 10-win season last year. The off-season acquisitions are the rookies. They are all talented rookies, but are rookies nonetheless. With that in mind, what is a realistic expectation for this season?
TR: I really don’t want to put an expectation on this team. This team, because of it’s youth, needs to experience pressure, needs to experience the coaches staying on us about the little things, needs experience working hard, pushing through being tired and experience listening. They don’t know that Sheryl Swoopes, when she goes right, she likes to go to the basket. When she goes left, she likes to pull up. They don’t know these players as well as some of the rest of us do and they’re going to be playing a lot more. They have to listen to what the coaches say and what the veterans say, so they don’t get embarrassed. They don’t have to learn the hard way because they have a little bit of a cushion to be successful. That’s the biggest thing for us is to just get better every day, to push each other every day, to get stronger and to really listen to the coaching staff. They learn because they listen.
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