New defeat for the Minnesota Lynx, beaten on its floor by the Connecticut Sun (89-84). It’s the sixth loss in as many games this season for the franchise, which is now only one setback from equaling the worst start in its history, which is seven consecutive losses (2007). Nevertheless, Napheesa Necklace had a great game with 30 points at 10/18 shooting, but it was not enough, especially because of the lack of defensive effort.
“We have to win home games. It’s not acceptable. It’s not okay to give layups because you don’t know what system they’re going to do. Our assistant coach, Katie, explained to them what the opposing system was going to be like at the end. And they still scored on a layup…” got annoyed Cheryl Reeveteam coach. “Our fans love us, they expect more from us. That’s what frustrates me.”.
Cheryl Reeve’s players were still tied with their opponents at half-time, but they cracked when they returned from the locker room, notably losing the 3rd quarter (22-12). They nevertheless fought, and managed to return to equality at the end of the 4th quarter. But, once again, Minnesota shot itself in the foot with missed free throws and crucial loss of balls in the “money time”.
“It’s a question of effort. We need to be more desperate defensively, we need to move more. We scored enough points today to win this basketball game, but it came down to defense and mistakes in the end.” missed Jessica Shepard.
At the end, the regrets are there, because it is a short defeat which is played on details. If the Lynx players have a sad record of 0 wins for 6 losses, four of these six losses have taken place by less than 10 points difference.
“We have to learn to win. We always find ourselves in those situations where we are close to victory. We could have a 4-2 record, easily.” reacted Napheesa Collier. “These games are slipping through our fingers, so we have to change our mindset as a team, otherwise we will continue to lose. It sucks to be 0-6. What is disappointing is that it is largely due to the lack of effort. It’s not like they get hard shots, they get hoops in the paint, layups.”.
Even if we expected a rebuilding season on the Minnesota side, this start to the 2023 fiscal year is very disappointing. And to make matters worse, Diamond Miller, second pick of the 2023 Draft, injured his right ankle in the previous game. She was seen with crutches and a protective boot…
