In my very first article for Downtown Journal in which I previewed this 2007 Minnesota Lynx season, I placed a great amount of pressure on Nicole Ohlde. In what may be a first, I quote myself…
“Therefore, the key to this season will fall squarely on the shoulders of Ohlde. With both the inexperience and lack of depth down low, Ohlde needs to step up her game and become a leader on the floor. The skills are there to be an All-Star in this league, but, for whatever reason, she has not shown that “killer instinct” to take over games in which she has a clear mismatch. For this team to be successful in 2007, Ohlde needs to become mean, something that is seemingly out of character for the bubbly 6’5” forward, but something needed nonetheless.”
(Full article here, for those who did not see it.)
Believing that tonight’s contest against the New York Liberty and their young post players would be an excellent opportunity to really key in on Ohlde, I was able to see both the good and the bad from her. In the first half, Ohlde led Minnesota with nine points and four rebounds. That would be the good. The bad? The final box score shows Ohlde finishing the game with eleven points and seven rebounds.
So, what happened in the second half?
To me, the answer is simple. In the first half, Ohlde was catching the ball on the move, allowing her to use her athletic mismatch against most post players. However, in the second half, when Ohlde was getting touches, she was back to the basket where her defender has a better chance at stopping her.
After New York defeated the Lynx, dropping their record to 0-6 on the season, I spoke with Nicole Ohlde on what I had witnessed…
SL: In the first half, you were getting the ball on the move more, rather then posting up. Was that by design or just how the game developed?
NO: I think it just kind of happened. We had a game plan coming in that we wanted to get their posts on the move and especially bring Jess out and stuff. We wanted to make her guard pick-and-rolls and everything like that. That’s just something that we decided to do at the beginning of the game and then other people got hot, so we went to other things. So, it’s just kind of how the game evolved.
SL: Does having Svetlana Abrosimova actually help you due to your familiarity with her?
NO: I don’t necessarily say just because of that. I’m getting more accustomed to everybody that’s playing. I’m getting used to the rookies, I’m getting used to Shay, Q and, you know, all those people playing. I don’t necessarily think that that has anything to do with it. Obviously, you love seeing Svet out there and getting more comfortable with everything because she missed three weeks of training camp. It’s just good seeing her get familiar with everything.
SL: How beat up are you right now?
NO: Not beat up enough to not want to go out there. My teammates are beat up too, so not enough. I want to go out there and just win for them.
SL: How much does this team miss Vanessa Hayden?
NO: You know, obviously, we don’t have a huge banger inside, but that’s something that we’re continuing to work on. All of us, as a post rotation, are trying to be successful, trying to work hard and trying to get better at things. Obviously, we miss V, but we understand that that is something that we just don’t have right now.
SL: What is the biggest lesson that you personally learned from this game and will be able to utilize going forward?
NO: Obviously, at the beginning of the game, I was aggressive. I came out aggressive. I was trying to attack. I think I can take that and continue to learn from everything that goes on in the game, whether it be from watching film or reflecting on what happened. I just have to learn from it now, learn from it tonight and learn from it tomorrow when looking back. I’ll just try to take things from it and the next time we play, hopefully change things up that weren’t so successful for me.
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With the next four games on the road, Minnesota is very seriously looking at dropping all the way to 0-10 to start the season. Although it may not be the only thing that the Lynx need to work on, if they are to have any success in 2007, Coach Zierden and his staff must continue to find ways to use Ohlde’s strengths…and not only for half the games.
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