Sky Falls in on Lynx
July 1, 2008

In a stunning reversal from early success, the Minnesota Lynx continued their slide toward the basement of the WNBA West by dropping a 73-71 contest to lowly Chicago at Target Center.

The Sky, who play home games on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), were awarded the second pick in the 2008 WNBA draft in recognition of the team’s poor performance in 2007. With that pick, Chicago selected All-American center Sylvia Fowles out of LSU. During her four years at LSU, Fowles led the Tigers to a 125-21 record that included four NCAA Final Four appearances. With the Sky, she is averaging eight rebounds and 11 points per game.

On June 3, in a game between the Sky and Los Angeles, Fowles blocked a Delisha Milton-Jones shot against the backboard and was called for a goal tending violation. What’s so special about that? That was the first goal tending call in the history of the WNBA.

Followers of the WNBA will agree that the Lynx are not strong in the middle and could use more help in rebounding and defending the paint. A dominating player such as Fowles would be expected to give Minnesota fits and perhaps be the key to the outcome of the game despite Chicago’s unimpressive won-loss record of 4-9. What is remarkable is that the Sky won the game and Fowles did not play. She is out with a knee injury.

Six-foot, three-inch Chastity Melvin was moved into the center spot and snared 11 rebounds as Chicago out-rebounded the Lynx by 37 to 32. Minnesota shot only 39 percent from the field, but the Sky was not that much better at 44 percent. Total team ineptitude on both sides dominated the game’s third quarter as the Lynx were able to manage only six points to the Sky’s 10 in what may go down as the worst quarter of basketball in WNBA history.

As for the rest of the game, Minnesota was outhustled and outplayed by the young ladies from Chicago. The Sky simply was given too many opportunities on offense. The game started with the Lynx appearing confused on both ends of the floor and Chicago taking a 24-16 lead with two minutes and eight seconds remaining. Minnesota’s offense was jump-started with an unlikely source, reserve Vanessa Hayden-Johnson, who scored eight points in the period. At 6-4 and 240 pounds, Hayden-Johnson was able to take advantage of the void in Chicago’s post created by the absence of Fowles.

The Lynx grabbed the lead in the second quarter, but Chicago did not fold. The Sky showed the ability to successfully run the weave, block out, and create give-and-go situations. Chicago proved to be the most disciplined team on the floor, despite frequent shooting lapses. Minnesota, on the other hand, relied on some sort of a playground version of basketball, frequently flinging up jump shots out of desperation.

The Lynx did manage a 46-43 lead at halftime, but that fell apart in the abominable third period. All game films of that quarter should be immediately burned.

In the fourth quarter, the game turned Chicago’s way when Sky guard Jia Perkins hit a three-pointer from the left wing in front of Minnesota’s bench with just over a minute remaining. Moments later, Chicago forward Candice Dupree connected on an off-balance driving finger roll layup with eight seconds left to put the Sky up for good.

Lynx All-Star guard Seimone Augustus, playing in her first game after sitting out Minnesota’s loss in San Antonio with a sprained big toe on her right foot, had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but Sky forward Brooke Wyckoff blocked the shot. Clearly, Augustus was not her old self against Chicago. She scored only 10 points and appeared tentative on the floor.

“Seimone gutted it out,” Lynx coach Don “Donnie Darko” Zierden after the game. “I give her credit for trying to play.” Zierden said he thought the sprained toe hurt “the lift of her shot.” Nevertheless, the coach called Augustus’ number when it came time to determine who took the last shot. “We wanted Seimone to get the ball.” An odd choice, since it was obvious that she wasn’t getting off the floor properly with her shot. A much better choice would have been Lynx rookie sensation Candice Wiggins, who led the team in scoring with 17 points, despite (once again) coming off the bench.

Zierden spends most of the game on his feet, and, at one point, against Chicago, nearly ran the entire length of the floor chasing his team. The amount of attention his team pays to his antics is questionable. Things become even more confused when assistant coach Jennifer Gillom also is on her feet shouting instructions. The two coaches often appear to be at cross purposes.

Zierden’s qualifications to coach at the WNBA level always have been suspect. He speaks of his team’s “offensive sets,” but the team either cannot or will not use them. His substitution patterns are mysterious to many. For example, after using Hayden-Johnson extensively in the first three quarters, she sat on the bench for the majority of the fourth. The team’s power forward, Nicole Ohlde, was used for only 12 ½ minutes and not at all in the fourth quarter despite facing a team weakened by the loss of its powerful center. Further, Lynx team members seem to go out of their way not to mention Zierden. They will, however, as Stephen Litel noted in the Minneapolis Downtown Journal, heap praises on assistants Gillom and Julie Plank. The pair is described as being “two wonderful coaches.” And, according to Charde Houston, “They are the best in the world.”

Zierden, in the meantime, has taken a team that started 5-0 and watched them go 3-8 since. At that rate of decline, 2008 could be another year when the Lynx fail to make the playoffs.

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