Lynx Beat Storm 82-77 Part 2

Additional thoughts and interview quotes from Seattle's loss.

The Seattle Storm were unable to carry the momentum from their homestand with them on the road in Minnesota. They were overwhelmed by the Lynx’s defense early on, and despite their rally, they fell 82-77. You can read the full game recap at this link.

In Part 2, I wrote about how I was wrong, the key to Minnesota’s success against Seattle, and included the best interview quotes from Gabby Williams, Ezi Magbegor, and Coach Noelle Quinn.

I Was Wrong

I was wrong. The Minnesota Lynx are THAT good. Heading into the season, I thought the Lynx might not be as good as they were last season. I wasn’t overly impressed with their off-season moves. I thought they lost a couple of solid players off their bench. They didn’t make any major splashy moves in the off-season (sorry Karlie).

I wrote previously, “The Lynx were incredible last season, and Napheesa Collier is an absolute superstar. Coach Cheryl Reeve is considered the best in the game. And the Lynx were a couple of plays away from upsetting the Liberty and winning their 5th WNBA Championship. But is it fair to say that I need to see this group do it again before I become a true believer?”

I wasn’t convinced the Lynx would be a Top 3 team this season. That’s not to say I thought they would be bad. Far from it. But when I saw that almost every national poll ranked the Lynx #2, I wasn’t as confident Minnesota would be. I didn’t think Courtney Williams, Alanna Smith, and Bridget Carleton would play as well as they did one year ago. And while that might be true for Carleton, Smith and Williams are playing even better than they did last season.

Obviously, it’s very early, but the Lynx look primed for another run at the championship. They are coached so well. They are excellent defensively. Minnesota has so many shooters who can space the floor. Napheesa Collier is the early favorite for WNBA MVP. And ultimately, basketball is a team game, and very few teams play together as well as the Minnesota Lynx.

Nneka is the Key

Speaking of good coaching, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a big part of the Minnesota Lynx’s game plan was to take Nneka Ogwumike out of the game. The defense seemed very intentional in packing the paint or the areas near Ogwumike. It reminded me a lot of Coach Bill Belichick, formerly of the New England Patriots. Coach Belichick was known as a defensive wizard who led the Patriots to six Super Bowl Championships. The reason he was known as such a good defensive coach is that he would find the thing opponents do best/what they have the most success with, and he would completely game plan to take that away. He would force the opposing teams to find other ways to beat his teams. And they rarely could.

Coach Cheryl Reeve’s defensive strategy against Seattle reminded me a lot of that because she made sure her team took Nneka out of the game as much as possible. Reeve knows Ogwumike better than most after facing her and the LA Sparks in the WNBA Finals in back-to-back seasons (2016 and 2017). Ogwumike finished with 11 points on less than 36% (5-14) field goal shooting. In Seattle’s previous two games, Nneka shot 67% and 73%, and those were both with 15 shot attempts per game. It wasn’t that all of a sudden, Ogwumike forgot how to shoot. The Lynx’s defense did everything in their power to make every single shot attempt a contested one, often with multiple bodies around defending with their hands up and in her face.

Outside of the Storm’s horrific start to the game, this was the key factor in why Minnesota won and Seattle lost. In fact, there seems to be a pattern developing. In Seattle’s three victories, Nneka Ogwumike has scored 23, 24, and 22 points in those contests. In the Storm’s two losses this season, Ogwumike has scored 11 points and 12 points.

The Storm will go as far as Nneka Ogwumike can take them. They need others to step up. In this game, Gabby Williams did. But they just didn’t get enough from anyone else to make up for Ogwumike’s struggles. Nneka has played like an MVP candidate in Seattle’s wins, but she will have to play even better against the league’s top contenders if they hope to win a WNBA Championship this season.

Player Interviews

On what happened during the poor start and how they were able to correct things.

Gabby said, “I think we were a bit stiff and a bit robotic. They're a great, well-coached team. They're all intelligent players, so... I think they were taking away some of our first options, and we didn't punish them. I think we allowed them to take us out of our offense. And then once we adjusted, we were able to come back into it once we just started to focus on ourselves.”

On the continuity that the team is building.

Ezi answered, “When we get down early, we have to find ways to get back into the game. And it's a four-quarter game, so we know it's not going to come in the first, second quarter, but just learning how to string together defensive possessions, getting stops in a row, getting offenses in a row, and just capitalizing on possessions was really important. And so if we can kind of compartmentalize that throughout the game, I think that helps us instead of just focusing on the end result.”

On the positive of holding Napheesa Collier to 16 points.

Ezi told me, “She was Nneka's matchup to start, and I think the last couple of games, especially, Nneka's done a great job defensively just with her matchup, and she continued that today, and so we know we have to help her out as well, and Phee is obviously a great player. She's going to get her shots. So, just knowing how to make those shots tough for her and just being able to sustain that throughout the whole game.”

On the bench giving them a boost.

Ezi said, “Our bench did a great job of just coming in and giving us a different look. And I think that's on the starters to just do a better job of starting the game. At the end (of the quarter), E (Erica Wheeler) came in and hit a big shot. Dom, Lex got good looks and just having that presence offensively and defensively with Li and Zia. So I think when we're able to utilize them, they work hard day in and day out at practice. And so they're prepared for these moments. So we just have to kind of carry that on with the energy that they bring throughout the game.”

On the lessons learned from this game.

Magbegor added, “I think getting a better start and just not having to dig ourselves out of games like that. But I think we also, like on the backside of that, can... stay encouraged and know that we can stay in games. We can string together defensive stops, great offensive possessions as well. And we said it in the locker room, it's not the end of the world. I think we can kind of go back to Seattle and build off of this game. But yeah, just lots to learn from.”

On the differences from this year’s start compared to last year’s start.

Gabby answered, “Maybe I'm not the one to speak on this because I didn't play as many games last season, but from the short sample size, small sample size, I feel that we find a way to stay together more in these tougher situations. I think we don't panic as much. We don't lose our focus or our tempers as much in these moments, it's just like ‘Okay, we're in the WNBA. It's the best players in the world. They're going to go on runs, that means we can too.’ And I think we're just attacking these moments with a lot more maturity and a better zen and calmness to us.”

Coach’s Quotes

On the lessons learned from this game.

Coach Noelle Quinn answered, “I thought we had great contributions from our bench. I thought that the fight back started with them just kind of chipping away possession by possession. We kept them off the free throw line. We out-rebounded them. There are things that we did do well in this game that we can definitely build upon, being on the road. Playing against a tough team like Minnesota, the margin of error is very slim. But the positives are to be able to show resiliency and possession by possession, tighten up our defense, get some stops, and get some early transition looks. We only had like one, I think, transition point in the first half. So we picked it up, and we can definitely build upon that.”

On the bench unit and matchups.

“I think the game lent to, there's a possession, an offensive possession that I felt like I could get Lexie in the game just to see if she can open the game up and hit a three. And then even with Dom and Li, those are more, you know— subs for our bigs who needed that rest. But then in the second half, just kind of needed some defensive execution and physicality. Ease in the rotation. So a lot of it was just kind of figuring out what the game needed as opposed to the matchups today. I know I've been talking to you guys a lot about the matchups, but I think today we just needed a little bit of infusion of some energy. And I thought that's what they provided.”

On the defensive job against Napheesa Collier.

“I liked our physicality. I liked that we were in plays. I think the biggest thing I talked about before the game was the free throws. They average, they're top in the league right now, averaging maybe 20 or 22 a game. And part of that is Napheesa's ability to get to the line and draw those fouls. So I thought we had foul discipline on her, and I thought we were in her space and played her tough. You know, it was their others who hit a lot of big shots. But I was really happy with Nneka's effort. That was her assignment. And then obviously the bigs that came in and defended her. Our rotations, our boxing out, I thought that we were really sharp with that coverage.”

On the differences from the start of this season compared to last season.

“I'm not sure. It's still early, but... I think just from the perspective of today, I think the defense of physicality has really improved from everyone, every position. So even those that hadn't played with us last year, even to this year, there's some physicality that she's really showing, and obviously adding AC as an excellent defender in this league. So I think defensively we're able to, we're still solid, we haven't been as disruptive as far as like trapping and all those things, but we've been pretty decent with staying into bodies and staying in plays and being better with rebounding. And then the other thing, like offensively, I would say we have to play with each other. We have to move the ball. Minnesota presents an issue with a heavy nail presence and really good on the basketball. So shifting them from side to side matters. And I think there's just a commitment to playing in that way.”

Notes:
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