The Minnesota Lynx hit a rough patch at the worst possible time. They lost games to Golden State and Atlanta before the World Cup break, and then added another loss to New York when the season resumed. They also let the Connecticut Sun score 89 points, and Cheryl Reeve called the team’s defensive effort “unacceptable” after that game.
Reeve also shared in the postgame press conference that she met Olivia Miles’s family after the Sun game and that they asked her to be hard on the rookie phenom. Reeve is ready to do just that.
“The honeymoon is over, and we’ve got things to do,” Reeve said. “She’s been incredible for us, but it’s gonna get harder, and she’s gotta be able to quickly navigate things and make reads that make us a better team. She’s going to have to, you know, every possession on both sides of the ball…Everyone’s looking at you, and she’s got some really broad shoulders, wants it, can handle it, has the maturity to do it, handles ups and downs really, really well.”
This is the third year in a row that the Lynx are championship favorites, and it’s time for them to get over the hump. Expecting a rookie point guard to get them there isn’t fair, but after the season Miles put together, that’s where the expectations are. Everyone’s going to want to see if Miles can rise to the occasion in the playoffs.
The expectations for Miles’s first playoff appearance are sky-high
Landing with an established playoff team as a lottery pick is a very unusual WNBA rookie experience. Most top picks have to navigate going from a successful college program to a losing WNBA franchise. Miles had the privilege of experiencing and impacting winning right away alongside All-Stars and championship veterans.
But with that privilege comes a heavy burden. Miles has emerged as the Lynx’s MVP candidate when the team was supposed to take a step back after Napheesa Collier’s injury and several offseason departures. Now that she has been the best player on a top team for almost a full regular season, the expectation is that she will be great, no matter what.
There is no grace period for Miles to get used to the playoffs because an early exit would be a massive disappointment for the Lynx. In fact, anything short of winning a title could have serious repercussions for the team. If the Lynx win a championship, Collier will likely re-sign to see if they can repeat. If they fail to win it all for a third time, Collier might very well decide that it’s time to try her luck elsewhere. Ever since she signed a one-year contract instead of a long-term deal in the offseason, rumors have circulated that she might join Gabby Williams in Golden State.
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