After a few weeks into the season, the Minnesota Lynx have already suffered a major loss, with an injury to their "all-everything" starting small forward, Seimone Augustus. During the 2nd quarter of what would become a 108-84 loss to the Phoenix Mercury, Augustus tore her ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.
With Augustus, the Lynx had been a formidable offensive force, however, without the WNBA's third-leading scorer, the road ahead may look to be rather bumpy. If Augustus' supporting cast is unable to overcome this early season obstacle, they may find themselves on the outside looking in, as they did during the 2008 playoffs.
Head Coach Jennifer Gillom had this to say about how her team would respond, "I think you're going to be surprised by some of the players that are going to step up and contribute to this team. The players coming off the bench: Roneeka Hodges and Rashanda McCants... who I think can step up and take this role."
Gillom makes a very valid point. Although the odds appear to be against the Lynx, realistically with the talent that General Manager Roger Griffith has surrounded Augustus with over the past two seasons, anything but an appearance in the 2009 playoffs will be considered a failure. Key acquisitions in the off-season include point guard Kelly Miller and Center Christi Thomas, both Thomas and Miller will bring veteran leadership to a very young Lynx team. Also, the growth of Candice Wiggins, Charde Houston, and Nicky Anosike, who were all rookies last season, will definitely give the Lynx enough firepower to outscore quite a few teams in the WNBA.
The Los Angeles Sparks have also suffered yet another causality to their extremely accomplished front line as Lisa Leslie went down with a right knee sprain. Leslie is listed as day-to-day but could be out of the Sparks lineup for as long as 6 weeks.
The Sparks, who have been short-handed since the start of the season with the absence of 2008 Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year, Candace Parker due to maternity leave, will be looking for Olympians Tina Thompson and Delisha Milton-Jones, along with all-star Betty Lennox to step up until Leslie and Parker return.
Unfortunately, the Sparks have been extremely inconsistent this season, winning big at home and self-imploding on the road. In part, team chemistry could be to blame as only five players have returned from last year's team, two of those being Parker and Leslie. Coach Michael Cooper could also be at fault, with the lack of equal distribution of minutes for a team that on paper, is the favorite to win the 2009 WNBA Championship. There are numerous other factors that can be contributed to the underachievement of the Sparks but whatever the reason, Los Angeles will need to rebound rather quickly in what is shaping out to be a tough playoff race in the Western Conference.
That's all for this installment folks! For all you Lynx and Sparks fans, keep your heads up, all the great champions of the past had to face some type of diversity. Until next time, enjoy your summer!
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