‘New’ Lynx Off and Running
June 2009
Following a significant roster shake-up from the 2008 season, the Minnesota Lynx of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) started the 2009 season in an impressive fashion with wins over Chicago, Indiana, and Los Angeles.
Gone from the team are former stalwarts Anna DeForge, Lindsey Harding, Vanessa Hayden-Johnson, Navonda Moore, Eshaya Murphy, Nichole Ohlde, Noelle Quinn, Kristen Rasmussen, and LaToya Thomas. In their place are Kelly Miller, LaToya Pringle, Quanitra Hollingsworth, Renee Montgomery, Rashanda McCants, and Christi Thomas.
DeForge likely would have returned had it not been for the cost-conscious WBNA edict that reduces team rosters from 13 to 11 players. The league, still reeling from the failure of the Houston Comets to return for the 2009 season, has even allowed teams to sell their jersey fronts to corporate entities. Hence, the Los Angeles Sparks have become the Farmers Insurance Company Sparks.
The Lynx announced that they reached a buyout agreement with DeForge, a seven-year WNBA veteran. The team also waived its third-round draft pick Emily Fox, formerly of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. The pair were the 12th and 13th members of the 2009 Lynx and, therefore had to be cast adrift.
DeForge, originally signed by Minnesota as a free agent on February 19 ,2008, played one season with the Lynx. The five-foot, 10-inch guard averaged 8.5 points in 34 games, all starts. Fox, on the other hand, experienced a disappointing senior season with the Gophers after showing such promise early on in her collegiate career at Minnesota.
Seimone Augustus, therefore becomes the only member of the Minnesota Lynx to have been with the team since 2007. Both of the No. 1 draft picks of that season, Harding and Quinn, were sent packing, each traded for draft picks. Harding averaged 6.4 points per game and had 76 assists in 24 games last year.
The biggest Lynx surprise came on the eve of the 2009 season (June 3) when head coach Don Zierden resigned to join the Washington Wizards of the NBA as one of Phil “Flip” Saunders’ assistant coaches. Lynx management wasted no time in naming assistant Jennifer Gillom as Zierden’s replacement. The team might have benefited from an “addition by subtraction” situation, as Zierden’s skills as a head coach were, at best, questionable. An excellent radio analyst of Gopher men’s games, Zierden lacked the tools necessary to lead the Lynx. Some people are born to carry clip boards and act as assistant coaches.
Sandwiched between home wins over Chicago and Los Angeles was a road trip to Indianapolis where the Lynx disposed of the Indiana Fever by the score of 96 to 74.
Against Chicago in the season opener at Target Center, the Lynx fell behind by 15-4 before recovering to take a 56-45 lead at halftime. Led by Augustus and Wiggins, Minnesota coasted from there for an impressive 102-85 win over the Sky. Augustus finished with 23 points, and Wiggins contributed 20 with five field goals and nine free throws. The home win over the Sparks wasn’t as easily earned. The Lynx benefited when the Sparks’ brilliant star Lisa Leslie, making her farewell tour throughout the league, fouled out in the third quarter. Augustus scored 30 points in Minnesota’s 87 to 76 win.
Attendance at both Target Center games was listed as being more than 7,000 spectators, although few there believed there were that many people inside the building for either contest. With the team’s record of three wins and no losses, Minnesota officials are hopeful that more fans will be enticed to see the Lynx at Target Center.
While the 3-0 record is impressive, we need to recall that the Lynx won their first five games under Zierden in 2008 before going 11-18 afterward and finishing, once again, out of the playoff picture.