Coming into the 2024 WNBA season, the Lynx had limited expectations. The general consensus would be that they would be anywhere from a low playoff seed to not even being in the playoffs.
Fast forward to the present, as the First Round of the WNBA Playoffs are underway, the second seed Lynx are arguably the title favorites.
How did we get here?
How the Minnesota Lynx proved the WNBA wrong
There are a couple of good reasons for starters why the Lynx are defying expectations, and will head into the postseason ready to shake things up even further:
Napheesa Collier is playing at an MVP level
Let’s start off here. A'ja Wilson rightfully won the MVP. However, the MVP case that Napheesa Collier made this season would be good enough in most WNBA seasons.
Collier has felt to be on the outside looking in at times. Last year’s MVP battle she found herself outside of the three-horse race. This year? She has leveled up her game nearly across the board. While still being a 20+ point scorer on any given night, she has positioned herself as the likely winner of Defensive Player of the Year, ranking third in the WNBA in steals and sixth in blocks. This anchors the Lynx defense that holds teams to 40.9% shooting, the lowest in the WNBA.
It feels at times that teams across the WNBA can struggle because they do not have their consistent foundation — their “when all else fails” option they can go to. Collier is arguably the best of that type of player in the WNBA. The Lynx have been able to develop an incredible system of team basketball on both sides but ultimately it comes down to what Collier gives them. And this year it is MVP caliber, it just happens to be in the same year as Wilson’s once-in-a-generation season.
Cheryl Reeve should be the WNBA Coach of the Year
At the helm of this Lynx team is one of the greatest coaches the women’s game has had roaming the sidelines: Cheryl Reeve. Four WNBA Championships, albeit with some incredibly stacked rosters, does not come without some incredible coaching going down. Since taking over as the head coach in 2010, Reeve has only had three losing seasons. That consistency is a testament to the standard that has been set.
But why should she be WNBA Coach of the Year? Reminder, this team was projected to be in the clear bottom half of the WNBA standings. Reeve has found a way to raise this roster’s floor in a fashion many did not think possible to that Minnesota standard.
Certainly there are good players outside of Collier on this roster, but there are several key players that had been cast aside a bit prior to calling Minnesota home.
Kayla McBride was a multiple-time WNBA All-Star with the Las Vegas Aces, yet found herself as the odd woman out as the guard talent began to stack up in Vegas. She is now having arguably the best season of her career and returned to the All-Star Game.
Courtney Williams is on her fourth team in four years but has managed to be one of the most consistent point guards in the entire WNBA.
Same scenario for Alanna Smith, and she has grown into an incredibly impactful forward. Add in the development of Bridget Carleton, who has a great case for Most Improved Player, and you have an incredibly well-rounded starting five.
This is the impact that Reeve has had this season. On paper, this team doesn’t jump out as a title contender. Then you watch them play. The way the ball swings on offense to a league leading 23 assists per game while shooting 38% from the 3pt line which also tops the league in the regular season. The crisp rotations on defense contributing to a lockdown team display. Those are what jump out as title-contending qualities, and Reeve is to thank for it.
Lynx heading into the WNBA Playoffs
After the Lynx won the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup, Reeve said “And, we don’t really care what you think except for right now…where we get to say to you, ‘You gotta talk about us’…We just beat a super team. Let’s talk about it.”
“Now you gotta talk about us”
— Sara Jane Gamelli (@SaraJGamelli) June 26, 2024
Cheryl Reeve has high praise for the Minnesota Lynx and called Collier the MV-PHEE
Q: @MAVoepel #wnba pic.twitter.com/jZJp1il9Qt
That certainly felt like the moment the Lynx arrived, and clearly they had heard the noise prior. This was in June, which could have absolutely led to a peaking-too-early moment, but that could not be less of the case.
After returning from the Olympic break, the Minnesota Lynx are 13-2, completing their run of beating all of the 11 other teams in the WNBA after a win against the Connecticut Sun. To Reeve’s point, we gotta talk about the Lynx.
The Lynx continue to win in multiple different ways and look to be playing their best basketball at the right time. Their hopeful run to the WNBA Championship got underway with a 102-95 victory over the seventh seed Phoenix Mercury, they'll look to wrap the series at home in Game Two tonight.
