If you ask me, this is truly one of the best times of the year. Summer has given us great weather and left us wanting more as school starts. Football is back and with that, the eternal post-season hopes painted in purple. There’s (potentially) hockey and certainly the NBA right around the corner. We’ll hit the Wolves and a handful of the questions I’ve pulled from our GameON! TV tapings and e-mails from the best of fans soon! I first have to touch bases with the defending WNBA Champion Lynx. The title holders are back from the Olympic break and in tremendous form. Still best in the west at 18 wins and just 4 losses, there are some who think the first half explosion from the Lynx was just “smoke & mirrors." Not so. “We know what we have to do,” Taj McWilliams-Franklin told me at our recent GameON! TV taping. “Our sights are set on the bigger prize and that’s not just getting back to the playoffs. We achieved our goal last season and we CAN do it again.” Look up and down the roster and you see why the ladies are so confident heading into the season’s final few games then the playoffs. The obvious is that your top three players have returned to the team as Olympic Champions and Gold Medal winners. Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus (22 points to lead all scorers in the Lynx win at Seattle) & Minnesota’s own Lindsey Whalen are not only dominators on the court but the emotional pulse of the Lynx as they push into post-season play. They will throw this team on their shoulders to get it done. They don’t have to. Have plenty of support. But if needed, it will be done. The Lynx/Wolves media team has the numbers and I asked for a few statistics that support the Lynx strong play. Consider this:
- The Lynx are now outscoring their opponents by nearly 13 points a game and the Lynx have already clinched a playoff spot.
- About Maya Moore, she’s the WNBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week. Moore scored 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting (4-of-5 from beyond the arc) against Seattle. Add to that her eight rebounds, a season-high seven assists and in her last six games, Moore is now averaging just under 22 a night AND most importantly, shooting 55.3% from the floor.
- ”Mama” Taj told me, “Watch Seimone in the stretch. She’s playing at another level and really having fun. That is the key. When those two come together, very good things happen”. Sage words from the Lynx valuable center. According to numbers from the team, since returning from the Olympics, Augustus is shooting a remarkable 67% from the floor (including 9-of-17 at Seattle) and since the Olympic break, Augustus has hit 8-of-13 from three-point range.
- Glad to have Rebekkah Brunson back from her pre-break injured groin. Brunson knocked down 20 against the Storm and in her last 6-games, is averaging 10.3 points and 9.2 rebounds. It’s all about the season and Brunson is getting it done, shooting a career-best 52.0% from the field. Our guest on GameON! A few weeks ago, Brunson (love her in those thick Buddy Holly styled black glasses too) admitted to us that the Lynx should be favored heading into the playoffs. “We worked hard to win the title and we’re not ready to give it up,” Brunson told me.