Bad to see Minnesota link. This is a strange sentence to write because it may be the first time in more than a decade. It’s team no drama, so reliably good for so long they’ll become almost annoying. In the days following another Minnesota team’s disappointing post-season exit, a well-meaning Minnesota State sports gloom over “Don’t Forget Lynx!” Hold the pipe. Forget the link. Four matches in a season, without a win. They didn’t shoot well. They did not defend well. They won’t be disappointed with this – some recent signings look promising and some key players have yet to make their debut in the season – but dramatic improvements don’t seem to be in the cards.
A loyal Lynx will deal with sicko: Stupid blogger. Four games in a season is too early to claim this kind of sweeping. This sicko will tell me another time in subtle and slow-building fashion when a team started the season 0-4 but rallied to finish a respectable 22-10, good to be third in the league. In a thrilling release, they will let me know that this fake team is none other than last year’s Minnesota Links, who started the season badly and was able to turn their season around after signing an experienced point guard and bringing back players from overseas commitments. After a bright smile, sicko will return to their seats, unprepared for ownership to follow.
Because I’m going to counter Seiko with this: First, you’re a joker, you’re an absolute clown, four games a decent part of a 36-game season. Decent enough to claim, however, or at least to think. Using PowerPoint technology, my trusted assistant will drag the first paragraph of this blog for everyone to see, finally zooming in to the part where I said “dramatic improvement” doesn’t seem to be happening. ThatI would say, This is the difference between season and past. Last year when Lynx started 0-4, dramatic improvement Was In the card, superstar Nafisa Collier joined the team late due to her Euroleague obligation, and her return, as expected, encouraged the 0-4 Links. This time he is not walking through the door; Collier is pregnant and unlikely to play this year. It will begin to dawn on Siko that no one is coming to save the day. Point guard Moria Jefferson, a fluid and reliable shooter signed by Linux on Friday, looked like a valuable addition to Saturday’s close loss in Chicago. Veteran guard Kayla McBride will finally return to her team from abroad. But neither qualifies sufficiently as a collier-level upgrade. Lynx sicko, now sure of my accuracy, will just crush and die in shame.
So let’s go far beyond ourselves. In a sense, this could be a great year for Lynx to pack it up early. Call it the Seattle Storm Method: Amazing every year, except for one or two events, the franchise-changing talent is found at the top of the draft. Scary! To your chagrin, you have a Breanna Stuart! I can’t think of anything more than the Indiana Fever-Ish to put together the closest thing a college team has seen to the WNBA and losing the Aliah Boston Draft Lottery to the Minnesota Dam Lynx. (An amazing 2-3 in The Fever season, coming up against one of those wins Links.)
But you might also think of the 6-foot-6 factor that should get power through Lynx and get it out. Certainly Sylvia Fowles, retiring at the end of this season, deserves a chance to end her Hall of Fame career on more happy terms. He should be remembered for his enduring excellence, for how well he adapted to his sport by telling his centers to be faster and more versatile. So far this season, fouls have been stuck in the paint, surrounded by guards unable to get inside. It’s Basketball’s own tragedy, like owning a luxury car and losing a key. I don’t want him to be remembered that way.
In most cases, the team thought they were less likely to break up. But I like Links! I want them to be good. So before their game against the confusing Los Angeles Sparks tonight, I’m asking them to put it together.