The Summitt Slack Summit: Breaking down the biggest news around the trade deadline and more

Howard: I wonder what we can take from both this and the loss to the Lynx, one there’s no shame in, and was competitive. Mike, you’ve seen plenty of teams come into Minnesota and lose, did Seattle look different to you than the others?

Mike Peden: No, but I am seeing a pattern where teams are OK if they can hang with Minnesota. However, the Lynx are in sync to the point where you wouldn’t have noticed Seimone Augustus was missing without a report from the team

Howard: Aw, I’d have missed her, Mike

Mike: But like most of the competition, Seattle has some good players, but no answer for Sylvia

Howard: Right now Sylvia Fowles has the third-best PER in the history of the league, and is just a stone’s throw from the two Lauren Jackson seasons above her. She’s doing it without the three. Just how much better is she at finishing this year? Is it noticeable to the naked eye? You’ve covered her since she arrived!

Mike: Much better. Her field goal percentage from 1-5 feet has improved every year since her arrival, and a lot of that has to do with getting Syl to play through adversity in the post. She’s flirting with the WNBA record for highest field goal percentage in a season, and her true shooting percentage is above 70. Neither of those things happened in 2012, when Syl put up similar numbers in scoring and rebounds

Double-teams don’t bother her anymore. Personally, there isn’t much left to say about this Lynx team that hasn’t already been analyzed. Only a major injury could derail the Lynx now, although you can’t count out ingenuity from opposing teams.

Howard: I totally agree, Mike. There are unknowns, though, in any season. Like Lindsay, for instance, tell us what you saw that was unexpected at Friday night’s Mystics game…