Lynx bow out in fitting fashion

Sun 90

Lynx 83

Well, they blew it. 

For the first time since 2010, since the year before the dynasty began, the Lynx missed the playoffs. And it's a fate they deserved.

After a disastrous 3-13 start they went 11-7 through last Wednesday's win at Phoenix, which put them into the 7th seed, with control of their playoff lives.

And what did they do? They were blown off the court by Seattle in the home finale, leaving them in need of a win today and a loss by either Phoenix or New York.

And with their season on the line, they spent most of the day today being easily handled by a Sun team that literally had nothing to play for.

Like so many games this season, the Lynx got down by double digits early (14 after a quarter) then spent basically the whole game down that much. Until late, I don't think it was closer than 8.

Same reasons as the others. You can't make runs to erase deficits when you constantly miss easy shots, turn the ball over, and play poor defense. The Sun were never challenged. Only backup PG Lindsay Allen, who hit some big threes, and Sylvia Fowles, who notched a double double in her final game, played well. Aerial Powers put up some points but also made some terrible plays. Nobody else showed.

The Sun were comfortably ahead in the 4th when their coach pulled the starters. Finally playing a bunch of backups the Lynx did make a run, but you knew if it got dicey those starters would return. The Lynx got as close as 4 points in the final minutes but the Sun starters re-established control to seal the win.

Cheryl Reeve even gave up by this point. With 45 seconds left and down 7 she didn't bother extending the game with fouls. Fowles got her ovation as she left the court, and the Lynx season was over.

To add insult to injury, Phoenix did lose their game, so the Lynx would have made the playoffs with a win of their own. 

But frankly this team didn't deserve it. They were fortunate that what ended as a 14-22 record even gave them a shot on the final day. 

This was a bad season. Fowles deserved better than what this franchise gave her this year. Sure, losing Napheesa Collier for almost the whole season made a big difference. I'm sure that an extra 32 games of Collier would have led to at least a few more wins.

But this team never really stopped doing the things that cost them games. They kept playing sloppy on both ends. They kept missing easy shots. They kept turning the ball over at sometimes absurd rates, as if the offense was designed TO turn the ball over. At a point this just becomes a coaching issue.

And I do think Reeve takes a majority of the blame for the failure of the season. She's got rings. We all know that. But it's also easy to look like a great coach when you have 4 or 5 HOFers on the court. Even without Collier this team had too good a collection of talent to look as bad as they did as often as they did.

And this whole double duty thing Reeve does as the GM has to end. It was maddening during that awful start to see the Lynx haplessly lose and have Reeve blame the players. YOU picked the players. This team was buried early as Reeve blew it on the Angel McCoughtery signing. She blew it on bringing back Layshia Clarendon, whose injury issues were apparently so bad she didn't play anywhere all year. She blew it on cutting 2020 ROY Crystal Dangerfield, who went on to be a major contributer for the playoff bound Liberty. She brought back Odyssey Sims, then cut her within days as she went on to help with today's Sun rout.

Reeve may have found decent players in Moriah Jefferson, Lindsay Allen and Nikolina Milic along the way, but the roster chaos did a lot more harm than good. Every team deals with a certain amount of in-season roster turnover, but Reeve seems to invite it. 

Yes there is a coincidental element to it, but the Lynx have only won 1 playoff game since Reeve was made the GM. It just isn't working. Collier fell in her lap. Can't really give her credit for drafting Dangerfield when she was.inexplicably cut less than 2 years later. McBride was a no brainer signing. 

There is a chance for a pretty quick turnaround next year, even with Fowles leaving. Collier will be here all season. They still have McBride, Shepard and Powers. They have a bunch of draft picks. But all the pressure is on Reeve to get this right, and if she doesn't it may be time.to move on no matter how many rings she has.