{"id":184399,"date":"2025-08-29T11:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T11:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/184399\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T11:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T11:09:10","slug":"sophie-cunningham-breaks-down-exactly-what-makes-a-winning-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/184399\/","title":{"rendered":"Sophie Cunningham breaks down exactly what makes a winning team"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the latest episode of her podcast “Show Me Something,” Sophie Cunningham<\/a> broke down pace, space, and versatility in the WNBA. She pointed out that the best teams in today\u2019s league share one trait: every player on the floor is a threat. Whether it\u2019s shooters, cutters, or players who can drive to the rim, the modern game demands five players who can score and handle the ball. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really the ball movement. When you have a motion offense that everyone can cut, everybody can pass, everyone can dribble and handle the ball like that is freaking hard to guard and Minnesota has that.\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n

From the paint to the perimeter<\/p>\n

The WNBA\u2019s shift mirrors changes in the NBA. Gone are the days when traditional post players anchored the offense. Now, bigs are expected to space the floor, shoot, and defend in transition. If they can\u2019t? They struggle to stay on the court.<\/p>\n

Cunningham drew a line from Stephen Curry\u2019s three-point revolution in the NBA to the way stars like Candace Parker changed the women\u2019s game. Parker, a 6\u20194 forward who could handle, shoot, and dominate inside, was an early prototype of the \u201cpoint forward\u201d now common across both leagues. \u201cShe was kind of the first,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cIf you put a little guard on her, she\u2019s gonna take you to the post.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Building the next generation<\/p>\n

Cunningham went even further, saying this evolution is now baked into how young players are developed early on. Regardless of size kids today are trained to dribble, pass, and shoot. Guard skills first, post moves second. \u201cI know my kids are going to be freaking guards,\u201d Cunningham joked. \u201cThey are going to learn how to be guards regardless of how big they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

This shift has raised the overall skill level of the WNBA and made offenses faster, more unpredictable, and harder to defend. As Cunningham put it, defenses can no longer sink into the paint. If they do, shooters are waiting on the perimeter. If they close out, cutters and drivers attack the gaps.<\/p>\n

Why Minnesota stands out<\/p>\n

Sophie praised Minnesota\u2019s roster for clearly embodying this model. Their motion offense and balance across positions make them especially tough to stop. The Lynx’s offensive efficiency is a testament to this approach. They lead the league in scoring, averaging 86.7 points per game, and boast the highest offensive rating at 112.6<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve<\/a> emphasizes simplicity in execution. She believes that if the team has to do hard things, they’re not playing well. The team operates as a well-oiled machine where each player understands their role and contributes to the team’s success. For Cunningham, that\u2019s the secret sauce. It\u2019s not just about having one star, it\u2019s about five threats on the floor, moving and sharing the ball. In today\u2019s WNBA, that\u2019s the recipe for championships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the latest episode of her podcast “Show Me Something,” Sophie Cunningham broke down pace, space, and versatility…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":184400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-184399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115111746984040965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}