June 21, 2011 - 7:46am
Editor's Note: Last week, Full Court's Sharon Crowson took a look at how the Minnesota Lynx have turned bad fortune on the court (and in the training room) into good luck on the draft lottery board, putting together a young and talented roster that, at the very least, rivals any in the league. (See The "Lucky Lynx?" Part I.) Here, Full Court correspondent Bob Corwin examines how this talent-packed team is performing on the court in the early going.
In stock symbols, MMM stands for Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (today the 3M Company known for Scotch tape and many other products). In WNBA lingo, it may soon come to mean Minnesota's Maya Moore. If you talk to long starving Lynx fans, who have seen but two playoff appearances -- and just one post-season win -- in 12 years and six straight trips to the WNBA Draft lottery, there is a sense of hope this franchise has never known before.
When the Minnesota Lynx drew the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft -- guaranteeing them the rights to college superstar, three-time National Player of the Year Maya Moore -- everyone knew that this already talent-rich team would likely see an uptick in what has in recent years been a disappointing on-court performance. The questions remained: Just how much difference would this rookie make and how soon would the improvement take hold?
With six games under their belts since the season tipped off a little more than two weeks ago, the early returns are in, and the picture is a rosy one. The Lynx, who finished out of the money last season with a dismal 13-21 record, are currently riding high, standing alone (albeit by just half a game) at the top of the West; they own the best record in the league at 5-1.
There are plenty of reasons for this early success, but a lot of them have to do with the fact Moore appears to be living up to the hype and then some. After relatively lackluster performances in the Lynx' two preseason outings, in which Moore posted just four and nine points, respectively, the UConn product put scorched the Los Angeles Sparks for 21 points, to which she added four assists and four boards, in her official professional debut. has posted games of 21 and 16 points. The Lynx led that game by as many as 10 as late as the third quarter, until to succumb to a deluge of late-game L.A. three-balls that saw Minnesota's season opener end in 74-82 loss.
Moore is not accustomed to losing, and though she led all scorers, it was the bottom line, and not her individual stat line, that occupied her attention after the game. She expressed dissatisfaction with her performance and vowed to improve. And, indeed, the Lynx drew their revenge just two days later, when they treated their home crowd to an 86-69 beat-down of the Sparks, the team that knocked them out of playoff contention last year thanks to a tie-breaker. Moore finished that one with 16 points, right on the heels of the team's All-Star veteran Seimone Augustus (17). Beyond the box score, it was Moore's steal and feed to teammate Lindsay Whalen for a fast-break lay-up, followed by back-to-back triples of her own, that put the momentum back in the hands of the Lynx when Los Angeles threatened to erase what had once been a 12-point deficit.
The Lynx haven't lost one since, and Moore, who is averaging 13.8 points, five boards and three assists per game, has only once failed to finish in double digits. Local media outlets are now calling to attend practices, not just games.
