MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 When Minnesota Lynx coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve and her staff looked at their roster in the offseason, they had the typical questions that linger after a season that ended within inches of a WNBA title.<\/p>\n
How much do we need to adjust? What else could push them over the hump? If they tinkered, would it be just to tinker? And is there value in that?<\/p>\n
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Amid all the dissection and reflection, Reeve kept coming back to one question: What was the common thread among the Lynx\u2019s best wins, performances and moments?<\/p>\n
The answer was clear: their team chemistry. Each of the biggest moments of the year, both from a team and individual perspective, found its roots in the chemistry developed by the players. And that required no tinkering.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of our superpower. The connection that they have. The belief that they have. Their love for each other is something that\u2019s so organic,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cThe core of our identity was our chemistry. \u2026 Is (that) repeatable? And we made the determination that it was. And it has been.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was an aspect of the Lynx that, coming into Tuesday night\u2019s Commissioner\u2019s Cup game \u2014 an intraseason WNBA tournament with a $500,000 pot for the winner \u2014 stood out most to Indiana coach Stephanie White. She complimented the Lynx for looking even more connected this season than last. She specifically highlighted how evident that is in Minnesota\u2019s offense, which leads the league by a significant margin in defensive rating and assist percentage.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe nuance of having each other\u2019s backs on the defensive end, of knowing where your teammate is going to be. \u2026 The connectivity they have on the offensive end of the floor, the way they move with and without the ball, the way the ball moves make it really tough to cover,\u201d White said. \u201cI often say that offense is like a dance, and they are flowing. They are making music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through most of this season, the Lynx\u2019s soundtrack has been something along the lines of the first notes of \u201cWe Are the Champions\u201d or the dual trumpet opening in the \u201cRocky\u201d theme song. They\u2019ve blasted the early indicators that set up this season as a redemption (or revenge) tour for a hungry and talented team of returners who have looked to be the cr\u00e8me of the crop in the WNBA.<\/p>\n
Collier has been every piece of the ego-less engine Minnesota needed her to be, and her teammates have followed her lead. While other teams in recent years stockpiled stars with closets full of All-Star appearances, All-WNBA awards and Olympic gold medals (hello, Liberty and Aces), the Lynx have tapped into a chemistry that can supersede even more-talented rosters.<\/p>\n
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Except when it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Like on Tuesday night. When the dance became dysfunctional and discordant, and the Lynx lost a game that seemed winnable, heck \u2014 especially with Caitlin Clark on the bench with an injury \u2014 dominatable.<\/p>\n
However, the Lynx, after establishing an early first-quarter lead, fell out of rhythm and got impatient offensively. Whether it was easy missed layups or some calls that they might\u2019ve disagreed with or the mounting sense that the game was getting away from them, they looked completely un-Lynx-like. There wasn\u2019t chemistry. And it looked like Minnesota needed far more than a small tweak to get back on track.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a tendency sometimes to get impatient,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cOur commitment to move into basketball and creating advantages \u2014 we had a hard time getting that done.\u201d<\/p>\n
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That impatience is antithetical to their chemistry. There\u2019s an ease with how Lynx players compete together, and how they flow through a game that shows they believe things will eventually start rolling and plays will stack on one another, that Minnesota will eventually \u2026 be Minnesota. But that just didn\u2019t happen against Indiana.<\/p>\n