The Minnesota Lynx took three of four against the Seattle Storm last season. Each team struggled, with Seattle tallying an 11-29 record. Minnesota didn’t fare much better, ending at 19-21 and sneaking into the playoffs. This year, both teams have retooled. Seattle has brought in Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike and drafted UConn graduate Nika Mühl. The Lynx secured Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams from Chicago in free agency, traded for Natisha Hiedeman from Connecticut, and drafted Utah standout Alissa Pili. Retooling or rebuilding, call it what you will, but these teams have made some significant changes to bolster their chances of getting to the playoffs.
Performance of both teams on opening day
With Minnesota taking the first game in Seattle, we saw a Minnesota team that had difficulties in the paint and a Seattle team that was stifled by Minnesota’s sharper defense. With all the new players, each team is in a chemistry-building period. Previous successes of an individual player really mean nothing except to show what someone did and not necessarily what they will do. That is at the mercy of time. But each team is capable of shoring up what needs to be done, and with the experience of these seasoned players, it shouldn’t take long.
Is there really such a thing as home court advantage? If it did exist, every team would be at .500. Obviously, that isn’t the case. Of course, the home crowd can serve to vocally spur on a team, but what happens on the court isn’t really a direct result of what happens in the seats.
But both of these teams are intelligently coached. That much is evident, and the tired cliché of “anyone can win on any given night” is true. The unknowns are the human factors, and no one can predict when or how they will strike. Aside from that, these two teams are hungry, hungry not only to win but to right their individual ships and bring them back to, or create a new path of excellence. We’ve seen Seattle at its best, likewise with Minnesota. But these are different teams and must carve out a new identity. I look forward to these journeys as a fan and as a student of the game.
Final thoughts on Lynx – Storm WNBA matchup
As I am no prognosticator, I will not make a prediction. However, I think we will see two highly motivated, aggressive, and determined teams, with Seattle looking for their first win and the Lynx seeking to build upon what was a very good start to the season.
‘And that, my friends, as they say, is that.’ – Martin Ruben.
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