September 19, 2023
Locked on Women’s Basketball: Minnesota Lynx are still alive in WNBA playoffs
By The Next
'It means everything ... to be able to have this moment'
As the WNBA playoffs continue, the latest episode of Locked on Women’s Basketball features host Howard Megdal and Minnesota Lynx beat reporter Terry Horstman. They discuss how the Lynx rebounded from a 30-point loss to the Connecticut Sun in Game 1 of the WNBA playoffs to win Game 2 on the road.
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Terry talks about how the Lynx have compensated for the absence of point guard Lindsay Allen, who hasn’t played since Aug. 10 due to a thumb injury:
“It kind of feels like it’s almost playmaking by committee when you don’t really have a point guard. With the absence of Lindsay Allen, the point guard duties have [fallen] primarily to Tiffany Mitchell and/or Rachel Banham, or I guess Dorka Juhasz. Dorka, if you’ve watched just the evolution of her game this year, she is a phenomenal passer. And that is a part of her game that I think already was pretty darn good when her [rookie] season started in May, and I think that’s it’s only elevated and we’ve sort of seen these six assist-plus games for her pop up in box scores. And just her court vision for a young post player is off the charts.”
Terry explains what it means to Lynx fans to overcome the Sun’s home court advantage in games 1 and 2 and get a Game 3 at home:
“I think it means everything. I don’t think that it was expected after the way last year went. And even in the previous couple years where they did qualify for postseason play … those were all draining seasons on the team and also on the fans. … So I think to see this sort of sustained success and to be able to have this moment, to have earned the right to make a 27-win team fly back to your house for a decisive Game 3, as deep into the first round of the playoffs that you can, it’s very significant.”
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Regardless of what happens tonight, this will not be an easy team or season to assess. The ups and downs, the inconsistencies, and where to go from here (and with whom) will and should be much discussed topics. As fans, all we see is what’s on the floor at any given time. We see strengths and weaknesses, possibilities and dead ends. We think we know but we don’t. Fans have neither the experience nor the expertise to make decisions, although the seats are filled with pundits, prognosticators, seers, wizards and oracles, ready to offer up an opinion. This doesn’t mean that coaches and GMs don’t do the same; they get paid for it. No one can foretell who will work and who won’t, and the occasional blind eye will keep a player for every reason except the obvious. Fans will scour the free agency listings, and wait in anticipation of who will be in the next draft class. We’ll make our rosters, look at possible invites to training camp, and wonder who will be the steal of the draft (Dorka Juhász). Until then, we have a game to watch, so everything else can go by the wayside – for the moment.