Minnesota Lynx 2021 Season Preview
Lynx make moves in free agency to bolster already strong team.
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2020 Season Recap
The Minnesota Lynx finished 14-8 in a shortened 2020 season in the Bradenton, Florida, IMG Academy bubble to finish in fourth place overall in the WNBA. They defeated the Phoenix Mercury in a single-game elimination round and then were swept in three games by a Seattle Storm team that went 6-0 in the playoffs and seemed to get stronger with each game, winning Game 3 of the WNBA Championship against the Las Vegas Aces by a whopping 33 points.
High Points
Crystal Dangerfield led the Lynx in points (16.2) and assists (3.6) per game and had the team’s highest free throw percentage (92.2%) on her way to winning 2020 WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Bridget Carleton improved in nearly every statistical category from the previous year split between the Connecticut Sun and the Lynx. She shot 57.1% from two and 45.7% from three.
Rachel Banham also greatly improved in several areas and led the team in 3-point shooting percentage (47.2% up from 30.6% in 2019 with the Connecticut Sun).
Both Banham and Carleton eclipsed Maya Moore’s 2013 45.3% Lynx second-best previous high three-point percentage. Lindsay Whalen holds the all-time team high of 50% in 2012.
The Lynx were third in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (38.5%, the highest team percentage since 2012 when the team shot 40.0%), first in offensive rebound rate (30.4%), and second in offensive rebounds per game (9.9).
Low Points
Due to a calf injury Sylvia Fowles only played seven games.
Projected starter Karima Christmas-Kelly only played two games due to a season-ending injury.
In contrast to their elite offensive rebounding, the team ranked 10th in both total and per game defensive rebounds.
2021 Season
Notable Subtractions:
Odyssey Sims traded by Lynx in February, now with the Atlanta Dream.
Lexie Brown released in April, now with the Chicago Sky
Notable Additions:
Free Agents Kayla McBride Las Vegas Aces, Aerial Powers Washington Mystics, Natalie Achonwa Indiana Fever
No. 9 Draft Pick: Rennia Davis Tennessee
Key players:
General Manager and Head Coach Cheryl Reeve said recently on her podcast, “When you have Sylvia Fowles on the team you are going to be a playoff team.” The Lynx need a healthy Fowles to achieve their championship aspirations and are planning on managing her time to have her healthy for the playoffs. The addition of Achonwa should help. Reeve also said Syl’s role last season on the bench was “to keep me calm. A role she should be excited to shed!”
Fowles has stated she is 98% healthy and worked hard in the offseason and even over-prepared to recover and be in basketball shape. Fowles is the league’s all-time leading rebounder, and having her on the court for the whole season is a huge plus.
Crystal Dangerfield:
Unlike last season, the bulk of the scoring will likely not be on Dangerfield. She will be asked to involve her teammates more which should increase her assists. Another area she is working on is her defensive game, including rebounding. These are challenges Dangerfield embraces, although she did say it would be tough to fight Sylvia Fowles for rebounds!
Collier followed up her 2019 Rookie of the Year campaign by increasing her points per game, field goal percentage, rebounds and blocks averages. She was truly a multi-weapon force on both the offensive and defensive end last season.
Dantas improved her scoring per game from 9.2 to 12.9 points from 2019 to 2020, and both her two- and three-point shooting percentages went up. Reeve said, “She is such a smart basketball player.”
Natalie Achonwa:
Reeve has had high praise for Achonwa, saying, “Natalie does a great job of communicating. She is in tune with what is happening and what should happen.” “. . . I know that Aerial (Powers) and (Kayla) McBride were really big signings, but we felt like the Natalie Achonwa signing was gonna actually loom really large for us this year, and it's probably going to turn out that way.”
Achonwa returned the high praise saying, “I have had a permanent smile on my face. I love the energy of this group, how much we compete.”
Achonwa played her college ball at Notre Dame with Kayla McBride and has been on the Canadian National women’s basketball team with Bridget Carleton since 2017.
Jessica Shepard:
Shepard is returning after recovering from an ACL injury in 2019 in the team’s sixth game and then opting out of the 2020 season. Reeve praised her passing abilities and the special skill of being a big that can pass and likened her passing skills to former Lynx great Janell McCarville. Reeve said, ‘Each day that she’s (Shepard) out there you feel happy for her and obviously happy for us. We just hope you can keep that path.”
High Expectations:
Each of the three free agents said they came to Minnesota because of the culture of accountability and winning. Per a story on the Lynx site by Cody Sharret, Reeve said, “That’s why they chose to come here: they saw a foundation has been laid and there’s an opportunity for our team to compete for a championship. They recognized it, and they all were super excited.”
Reeve said on her podcast, “We embrace high expectations, the culture of winning created by Seimone (Augustus), Lindsay (Whalen), Rebekkah (Brunson), Maya (Moore).” Nearly every player interviewed at some point said some version of, “I will do whatever the team needs me to do to win.” This indicates a team-first mentality that is crucial to a winning culture.
It seems so simple; Reeve said her blueprint is to “collect good players and put them in a position to be successful.” The added depth from the new players should be a key in consistently winning. In discussing how the team can gel with so many new faces, Reeve said she wants the players to quickly get to a point of not thinking and just playing.
Another key to the season is versatility. Collier switched between the three and four positions last year, Carleton is being asked to play the two after primarily being a three last season, and Banham is the likely backup to Crystal Dangerfield, moving her primarily from the two to the one.
Especially in the early going, overcoming adversity will likely be a challenge. On May 1, the Lynx announced that Rennia Davis was out indefinitely with a stress fracture in her left foot. Reeve told the media Davis first felt some pain in the SEC Tournament. After continuing to play in the NCAA Tournament and then taking a short break, it may have flared up after returning to full speed in practices.
Reeve had previously said Davis was a standout in the practices. The injury is unfortunate because one of her assets according to her Tennessee coaches was durability. Reeve said since the team was planning on carrying 11 players, it is now ten. If the roster were to be under ten, the team could add players via hardship pickups allowed by the league.
In addition to the injury to Davis, the Lynx are currently without the services of Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride for all of training camp and perhaps the first couple of games due to overseas commitments. Their teams are in playoffs that could last until mid-May, and then quarantine time would need to be added due to league COVID protocols. Aerial Powers just arrived this week from overseas.
The team has more than enough talent to win a lot of games. The speed at which players become comfortable and familiar with new teammates and roles will determine exactly how many. There is good leadership on the team with Reeve mentioning Fowles, Collier, Achonwa, Banham as leaders and stating teams require multiple leaders because it is too much for one person. Hopefully, the team can gel quickly once all the players are together.
After preseason games against the Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics, the Lynx open the season on Friday, May 14 at home against the Phoenix Mercury.
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