The Minnesota Lynx punched their playoff ticket weeks ago, but head coach\/president Cheryl Reeve believes the upcoming WNBA season pause before postseason play offers something even more valuable: time.<\/p>\n
The WNBA is taking a 17-day break from Monday-September 16 to accommodate the FIBA Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup in Germany. Napheesa Collier is among Lynx players taking part. All-Stars Olivia Miles and Courtney Williams, along with veteran Kayla McBride, are not. In other words, it\u2019ll be an extended break for most of the team.<\/p>\n
After back-to-back practice days heading into Sunday\u2019s game at Atlanta, Reeve called the work \u201creally beneficial,\u201d saying the break from the regular game grind allowed coaches and players to focus on details that often get lost during a packed schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing little things well really matters,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cWe had a chance to drill down a little further on some things that we\u2019ve had time to do. Hopefully it builds confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
***Click the video box above to watch Cheryl Reeve\u2019s media session after practice on Friday***<\/p>\n
The timing is unique. Every playoff spot has already been claimed, leaving teams to jockey only for seeding when play resumes after the FIBA World Cup break. The Lynx are in position to be the No. 1 overall seed, able to secure with a win Sunday. <\/p>\n
Reeve acknowledged that\u2019s uncommon in a league where postseason races typically come down to the wire.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like it\u2019s been a while since this many games remained and all the playoff teams were already determined,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Still, Reeve isn\u2019t interested in debating whether the lengthy pause is good or bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a thing,\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cWhatever hand you\u2019re dealt, you do what the time allows you to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rest, reflection, and a little air in her bike tires<\/p>\n
For Reeve personally, the next few weeks won\u2019t be all basketball.<\/p>\n
She joked that one of her biggest priorities is putting air in the tires of her bicycle and finally finding time to ride.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, she\u2019ll be helping her son begin middle school, potentially making a trip to New Jersey to see her mother, who recently celebrated her 87th birthday, and perhaps even squeezing in a visit to the Minnesota State Fair.<\/p>\n
But basketball won\u2019t disappear entirely.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of planning goes into how you spend the days that you have,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cI call it lesson-planning. Where do we have to get better? How do we do it?\u201d<\/p>\n
The first week of the break, she said, will largely be devoted to giving players time with family and friends before shifting attention toward preparations for the final four regular-season games and the playoffs beyond.<\/p>\n
Injury watch: Courtney Williams<\/p>\n
Veteran guard Courtney Williams remains day-to-day after suffering a right foot injury last week in the win at Washington, though Reeve said Williams participated in portions of practice on Friday.<\/p>\n
With the extended break immediately following Sunday\u2019s game, the Lynx are taking a cautious approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to try to make sure that if she\u2019s on the court Sunday, it\u2019s the right thing,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cWe\u2019ll learn a little bit more tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reeve admitted there is logic in holding Williams out, given the recovery time available, but a final decision had not been made.<\/p>\n
Optimism around new ownership<\/p>\n
Finally, Reeve offered comments on the Stad family\u2019s move into majority ownership of the Timberwolves and Lynx. Marc and Elisa Stad were limited partners before agreeing to become the new majority owners last week.<\/p>\n
After speaking extensively with members of the ownership group, Reeve said her biggest takeaway is their enthusiasm and commitment to supporting both franchises.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe confidence and the resources and the way the teams are going to be supported, that was the biggest message,\u201d Reeve said.<\/p>\n
She added that the family\u2019s passion for the teams and willingness to be actively involved should be \u201ca real positive\u201d for both organizations as they move forward.<\/p>\n
For now, though, the focus remains on Sunday\u2019s game and using an unusual pause in the calendar to prepare for what the Lynx hope is a deep postseason run.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor Related Stories:\u00a0Cheryl Reeve<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Lynx<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Minnesota Lynx<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Minnesota Lynx punched their playoff ticket weeks ago, but head coach\/president Cheryl Reeve believes the upcoming WNBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[5949,28490,1077,99,434],"class_list":["post-829063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-cheryl-reeve","tag-lynx","tag-minnesota-lynx","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}