Swanny’s Stats

The official Minnesota Lynx Statistician Blog

The second item up for examination this week is transition defense, or preventing the opponent from scoring in fast-break situations. As shown below, the Lynx ranked last in the league in 2006 by surrendering over 10 points a night on the break:

Most Fast Break Points Allowed
WNBA Average: 8.1 per game
10.5 -- Minnesota
10.3 -- Charlotte
9.9 -- Chicago
9.2 -- San Antonio
8.6 -- Houston

The main culprit in Minnesota's case was steals. While they finished middle-of-the-pack in total turnovers (15.6 per game, 6th overall), the Lynx gave up more steals (308, or 9.1 per game) than any other team last summer. Dead-ball turnovers -- ball lost or passed out of bounds, traveling, offensive fouls, three-second calls, etc. -- while troublesome, at least permit a team to regroup defensively. But when nearly 60 percent of your miscues are of the live-ball variety, resulting in continuous play, it places too much strain on players to be well-coordinated while defending in the open court, where any miscommunication can result in an uncontested layup.

Minnesota took steps to address this shortcoming by picking up Lindsey Harding and Noelle Quinn on Draft Day, looking for better ballhandling along the perimeter and an upgrade in entering the ball to the post. (On the latter front, the Lynx will simultaneously need improvement from their inside players in becoming better targets for those entry passes.) Harding posted an assist/turnover ratio of 1.70-to-1 in her senior season and 1.96-to-1 over her career at Duke. Quinn, meanwhile, had a career ratio of 1.45-to-1 at UCLA, which is exceptional for a wing.

Wednesday's evening practice:
The Lynx and scout teams battled for five quarters, generally in running-time mode. Lindsey Harding and Noelle Quinn were excused after the fourth period in order to appear as guests on Mike Max's evening program on WCCO Radio. Seimone Augustus had one of her dominating moments in the third quarter, helping Minnesota pull ahead with nine points in a three-minute span. Zierden, struggling with laryngitis the past couple of evenings, put Augustus and Nicole Ohlde together with Harding, Quinn and Tamika Raymond for a good portion of the scrimmage.

Harding again sparkled, leading the team in assists, swiping a couple of steals and forcing two jump balls. Ohlde finished as Minnesota's leading scorer (14) and rebounder (six), and added two steals for good measure. Shona Thorburn knocked down back-to-back treys in the final period, while Eshaya Murphy put in another impressive effort, drawing a key charge, sinking the tie-breaking three-pointer with under a minute to play and then preserving the lead by coming up with a steal on the ensuing possession. Overall, Minnesota finished 8-for-13 (61.5%) from beyond the arc this evening. Plus/minus leaders were Kathrin Ress (+11), Megan Duffy (+7) and Brooke Smith (+7).