Prior to last night’s game against the Connecticut Sun, I sat down one-on-one with both Coach Zierden and Seimone Augustus. After my last article entitled “Seimone Augustus Needs To Do More For The Lynx” caused nothing short of a stir, I decided that I should speak with Augustus herself--as well as her coach--regarding the topic.
First up is Coach Zierden, who is kind enough to grant me a few minutes of his time roughly an hour and a half before the game begins. As he sits in the coach’s room off of the Timberwolves locker room with his glasses on the end of his nose, he looks more like he is trying to learn the theory of relativity more then a coach preparing for a game.
SL: What is the biggest adjustment that you and the coaching staff have asked Seimone to make this season from last year?
DZ: The biggest thing, when we met with Seimone, was when I watched the films from last year, it was basically “get the ball to Seimone and everybody else get out of the way and let her get a shot.” I thought that put a lot of undue pressure on her or we did, as a staff. So, the first thing when I met with her in Russia was that we told her championship teams have four, five or six different weapons that you can go to. We wanted to, not so much cut down her shots, but make her shots more efficient. We wanted to get her better shots on the move where the defense couldn’t just lock in on her. She was great with it. She said “I would love to have some help.”
So far, despite the disappointment with our record, we now have three players in double-figures, as opposed to Seimone being the only one last year. And, she has been highly efficient. She’s shooting over 50% as a 2-guard, which is very, very good in our league. So, I think she’s done a nice job adapting to what we’ve asked her to do.
SL: In the game in Los Angeles, Seimone went 11 for 11 from the field for 28 points. She also had her season-high 4 assists in that game. So, it’s somewhat of a chicken or the egg situation, but did her teammates step up from the beginning, giving Seimone a reason to trust in them…or was Seimone’s passing in that game the reason that her teammates were able to step up and hit shots?
DZ: I know what you’re saying, Stephen. You know what I think it is? Lindsey (Harding) and Seimone will have more assists when players start to step up and hit open shots. It’s that simple. Right now, Seimone is shooting 50%. We have no one else--bigs included--that are close to 50%.
I’ll give you an example. In the Chicago game, we’re making a comeback and we’re riding Seimone pretty heavy. Now, they’re starting to double and triple-team her and in a timeout I say, “Seimone, trust your teammates.” She dishes to wide open people in the corners--for wide open three-point shots--and we missed three straight. There’s three assists right there, if people would knock down shots.
That’s kind of what we’re going through right now. We’re the worst field goal percentage team in the league. We’re missing shots. Lindsey being a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio right now, I think is fantastic considering that we’re shooting the ball 38%. Same thing with Seimone. That night when she had four assists, she probably could have had seven because we miss open shots.
Again, this is an evolving situation here. Last year it was “go and get out of the way and let Seimone go.” Now, when Seimone has it, it’s we’re moving, we’re cutting and now you’ve got the responsibility of when you get the ball and you have an open shot, you have to knock that shot down. That’s the evolution right now that we need to continue to get better at.
SL: A majority of the assists on this team should come from Lindsey Harding and Noelle Quinn, as they are the point guards. However, is there a difference between being the primary distributor versus choosing your spots to shoot and when to get your teammates involved?
DZ: I think so. I think when you’re a two-guard or a small forward, I don’t think it is necessarily your job to get other people going. That’s the point guard’s job. So, Lindsey and Q (Noelle Quinn), along with myself, have the responsibility of finding where we have a mismatch and then trying to exploit that. Then, trying to get other people going off of their strengths.
Seimone’s situation, again I feel very strongly about this, when people start to knock down open shots from her draw-and-kick, then her assists are going to go up. Right now, efficiency-wise, we certainly have nothing to complain about with her. In fact, we’re very, very pleased with her. I shouldn’t say ‘we have nothing to complain about.’ We are very pleased with her efficiency on the offensive end.
After my conversation with Coach Zierden, it is now time to face the music. At this point, I know that numerous people throughout the Lynx organization--including Coach Z--read my article on Seimone, yet I do not know if she herself read it…or was made aware of it by anyone.
After I was granted permission to enter the Lynx locker room and I swear I hear the funeral march playing. I see that the only two people in the room are Navonda Moore--who was to be inactive for the game--and Seimone, sitting quietly at her locker with her headphones. Augustus and I have a friendly relationship, so after I thank her for spending a few minutes with me, she proceeds to give me a hard time that I’m “bothering her right before game time.” My only response is to tell her that she’s going to make me cry…until she smacks me and let’s me know she’s just messing with me.
It is at this point that I ask Augustus if she had the opportunity to read the article in question or if she was made aware of it…and she does not know of it. After I fill her in on the basic idea of the article--as well as the response to it--she seems to be very curious as to what my questions may be for her.
SL: Obviously, this may be a strange question due to what you have already accomplished on a personal level in your career already, but what areas are you continuing to work on improving your game?
SA: Definitely working on my defense. That’s what I strive to get better at each and every game. One day, I want to be known for my defensive game as well as my offensive game. I’m also trying to get my teammates more involved. I know what I have to do to try and create for someone else as much as I can. Also, on the offensive end, I’m trying to extend my range and be more consistent with that.
SL: The past three games the assist numbers for the team have been high, as well as your personal assist numbers. Is that an indication that the team is beginning to trust in each other more and, more importantly, that you are trusting in your teammates more?
SA: I think the trust has always been there, but there’s just been a lot of missed shots, a lot of missed chippees here and there. I think that everybody is starting to find their niche, find their stroke and they’ve had some good shooting games. Ohlde has stepped up. Whenever we can get the ball where they are effective, it makes us a lot easier on me and it makes the stat sheet look a lot better in the assist column. Like I said, I think the trust has always been there, but you can always gain a little bit more trust when you know you have a teammate that’s going to knock it down when she’s open.
SL: What is the biggest adjustment that Coach Zierden and the coaching staff have asked you to make this season as compared to last year?
SA: Just being more of a leader. I know Coach T--I say Coach T, but Teresa Edwards--is consistently staying on me about practice. She doesn’t let me take practice lightly. She says ‘When you play in practice, it’s another game for you.’ It’s not a day off and it’s not a day to go through the motions. There is always a way to make yourself better and there’s always a way that I can help to make the younger players better. She tells me ‘If Navonda Moore or Shay Murphy are guarding you every day in practice, think how much better they can get by guarding you, one of the top players in this league.’ If it’s going to make the team better, I’ll do it.
SL: We’ve heard a lot this year about this being a young team and that there is a lot for you to learn. So, here we are at about the 1/3 mark of the season. At this point, what is the most important lesson you believe that this team has learned and what is the most important lesson that you have learned individually?
SA: Whew! That’s a tough one. Alright…the team. I think that we’ve learned that, even in tough times, we can stick together. I mean, if this were the situation last year, the team would probably be totally dismantled. Throughout a 1-9 start, we still have stayed together and we still have the confidence and faith that we can put some wins together and make a run towards the middle and the end of the season.
For me? What I’ve learned is that I have to be consistent. Not just on the court, but being consistent at being a leader. One day you can’t just come in here, say a few words and then the next day be quiet. You have to be consistent in what you do and what you say each and every day, especially when you have as young of a team that we have. You have to be that leader and you can’t take days off. Like last year, I would say a little something and there were some days, some games when I wouldn’t say anything at all and just kind of let it work itself out. With a team like this, there are no days off in your leadership role.
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Once the game begins--and, I won’t even mention anything about how hometown hero Lindsey Whalen was back in town--they Lynx are down 5-14 until Coach Zierden calls a timeout. At that point, the Lynx had shot 2 of 10 from the field compared to Connecticut’s 6 of 8, with all five of the Sun players on the board.
After struggling through a couple more minutes of rough play, Augustus begins to show that leadership that she had spoken of prior to the game. With Connecticut up 7-18, Coach Zierden subs Tiffany Stansbury into the game for Kristen Mann. Immediately, Augustus finds Stansbury with a beautiful pass, giving Stansbury a layup and Augustus an assist. On the defensive end, the Lynx hold their own leading to Augustus finding Shay Murphy for an another assist on the fast break. These two baskets bring the score to 11-18.
The two assists on consecutive possessions from Augustus lead to the crowd becoming reenergized and brings the Minnesota bench to their feet, where they will be for a majority of the remainder of the game. This also gave Minnesota the momentum going into the second quarter, which may have been the best quarter of the season.
In the second quarter alone, Connecticut’s shooting percentage went from 50% at the end of the first to 41.2% at halftime, making only 6 of 18 shots. The scoring total for the Sun was only 12 points in the quarter, as they also turned the ball over 6 times.
On the Lynx side, the shooting percentage went from a measly 25% in the first quarter to 38.5% at the half due to a 10 of 19 shooting second quarter. Minnesota’s 25 second quarter points were due to the newly-found ball movement, which led to 9 assists in the ten minute quarter.
From then on, it was a whole new ballgame. Now, certainly not all of the credit goes to Augustus, but it was the two assists at the end of the first quarter that were able to jumpstart this team on this night. The confidence that she was able to instill in her teammates, not allowing them to give up the fight, was a big reason towards the overall above-expected play out of the Lynx…eventually, leading to a victory over a championship-caliber team.
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