It seems as if after a rough start to the season, Kristen Mann is beginning to find her place on this Lynx team. In Minnesota’s first win of the season in Phoenix, Mann was able to score 19 points, by far her most points this season. It is hard to not feel sorry for the tough position in which she has been placed, playing out of position and attempting to hold her own against bigger players. Yet, Mann now seems to be finding a way to contribute and take advantage of her quickness against those bigger players.
Tonight, in Los Angeles, Mann finished the game with 15 points. Hopefully, she can continue to be effective, as she makes this young team much more dangerous when she is a threat.
After a tight first quarter that ended with the Sparks up 20-18, the veteran team took off on the young Lynx. In the second quarter alone, Los Angeles outscored Minnesota 29-20 to lead by 11 at the half. Coming out of the half, Minnesota returned the favor to outscore Los Angeles 26-17 in the third. It could have been easy for the young guns to give up and say “Here we go again,” but they continued to fight and, in the end, made it a game.
Although the team’s record is certainly not where Seimone Augustus would want it to be at this point, it is becoming clear that she is beginning to trust her teammates. The amount of shots per game that Augustus is taking continues to go down at the same time that her assist totals are going up. This allows for Augustus to be a more efficient player, as shown tonight where she scored 28 points on only 12 shots, all while dishing out her season-high four assists.
This is certainly the Seimone Augustus needed for this team to have any success in the future, as I delve into with my Downtown Journal article that will be published on Monday, June 11. Now that the Lynx franchise has begun to find ways to make her teammates better, she has officially begun her path towards an eventual MVP award. That MVP award will certainly not come this year on a far below 0.500 team, but it will happen one day.
Rookie Lindsey Harding continues to grow with each and every game into the second-fiddle to Augustus. The backcourt is set for the next decade, so it is now time for the Lynx to address the post issue. Nicole Ohlde continues to do what she can, but she is not a player who can be the focal point of the post rotation. Ohlde--like Mann, to a certain degree--should be given quite a bit of credit for continuing to battle each and every night, even though she is not being used in a way that puts her in the best position to succeed.
The ball movement was much improved for the Lynx tonight. With an assist-to-turnover ratio of 22-9, gave themselves a great chance to win. Yet, in the end, the more-experienced Sparks team was able to make the big plays in the end to seal the victory.
Another loss in Los Angeles brings Minnesota’s record to 1-8 on the season, but, as Coach Zierden and his staff continue to preach, they do need to stay the course. Of course, that course would be for a high draft pick this year to grab up one of the franchise post players that will be available in the draft.
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