It was practice time with all of Minnesota’s players, including guard Kayla McBride and forward Napheesa Collier, who were missing from training camp earlier this spring as they completed their seasons overseas.
In a sense, a reporter suggested, this was like a mini second training camp.
Lynx coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve squashed that phrasing right then and there.
“If I say that to the players, I’ll have a mutiny so we can’t call it a training camp,” Reeve said. “We said this is like gold. So call it ‘Gold,’ and they’re a little excited about kinda seeking gold and hanging onto it.”
Gold, it is. And the Lynx needed to mine as much “gold” as possible after their 0-3 start to the season. Reeve said the Lynx “desperately” needed the past week. They were adapting on the fly after a rough training camp fueled by an incomplete roster and players who didn’t enter the season in optimal condition.
It’s odd to say so early in the season, but the week off couldn’t have come at a better time. Reeve noted that in a quality training camp, a team will experience consecutive days of gaining momentum. There is a solid buildup to the regular season. She has been around long enough to know how that feels and looks. And her team didn’t get that. The goal was to achieve something similar this past week.
“I’m really happy about it. Coaches find this time to be gold. I don’t know if the players agree. They can’t wait to play another game,” Reeve said. “We didn’t have a very productive training camp. We’ve had far more productivity in the last (few) days than we did at any point in training camp. So it’s necessary. And we’re pleased with it. We’re pleased with what we’re getting done, what we’re working on. I know the players don’t necessarily love it. Players liked the bubble, where you would play every other day and rarely got to practice. That was their preference. But, in order for us to improve as a team, in terms of what we outlined, what we want to get better at, I think we’re on track.”
Reeve thinks her team has made progress on the conditioning front, but even still, maintaining health was at the forefront of this week’s efforts. That became even more important after forward Aerial Powers went down with a left hamstring strain that will keep her out indefinitely.
The Lynx spent the week practicing for a couple days, then taking a day off. Rinse, repeat. But in those days of practice, Reeve and Co. pushed to get the best out of the players. Without practice players, any 5 on 5 activity Minnesota did involved no subs.
“Part of it is becoming mentally and physically tough,” Reeve said. “That will certainly create that, because I think we’ve lacked that. … That can’t be a separator.”
Quite frankly, Reeve said her team needed to experience “the grind” together. It takes a certain mentality to get back on track after a rough start. The Lynx hopes they have established that.
Guard Crystal Dangerfield said the team got “a lot” accomplished over the past week.
“I can’t even put it into words,” she said. “Our pace has really picked up. We’re really focused on what we want to do offensively so we don’t get stagnant late in close games. We’re given our personal assignments of what we need to focus on when we get onto the court, so it’s been helpful for everybody.”
Collier, who first practiced with the team Saturday, said she now feels integrated within the roster. That was another way in which the week was helpful. She feels a “great team chemistry” and said the Lynx had great practices, working through things the team struggled with to start the season.
“So I’m excited for us to play our game (Friday),” Collier said.
Everyone is. It’s time to see where the team is after a week of work. But don’t panic if the Lynx happen to fall on the road to the defending WNBA champions Friday, either.
“I don’t know that we should think that ‘OK, we spent a week together, that’s the silver bullet and poof, we’re going to win every game.’ It’s not that. It’s more getting more comfortable with what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, getting better at it. Those were the goals, and I think we did that,” Reeve said. “I think when you are, at this point, searching for a win in your first few games, I think maybe the only barometer is if you win the game, and that’s not how we’re approaching this.
“Certainly, (we) want to come here to Seattle and win the game, and I think if we can do some of the things that we’ve worked on, we’re going to put ourselves in a position to do that. But if we don’t win the game, it’s not like this was a lost week. This was something that was more about this week that was going to be really valuable for things going forward, well beyond the next game.”
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Lynx's week off came at just the right time. Now, let's see how they used it - Pine Journal
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