After taking a couple days off, the Lynx got back to practice today. Much of the work was done in half-court sets, working on plays and on defenses. Coach Cheryl Reeve didn't do a lot of full-court running. The Lynx will do more of that on Wednesday before cutting back a little in Thursday's practice.
Perhaps the most interesting thing Reeve said to start a few days' worth of speculation about the upcoming Western Conference finals against Phoenix was how good a position she felt her team was in.
"It's a cohesive group," she said. "I think the chemistry has really grown. Having Rebekkah [Brunson] back and Seimone [Augustus] back in the fold for the last few games. You guys all worried about the way we finished the season. But we knew we were making some progress.''
The way they finished was losing three straight games before winning their final regular season game. And while the Lynx swept San Antonio in the first round, they had to survive a very poor first quarter in the second game to do it.
Still, Reeve feels good about this team. She reiterated her line from last week about nothing having yet been proven in the West, and how the Lynx goal of being the best in the conference was still there for the taking. "We know we have to go and take it," she said. "Nobody will give us anything.''
Here are some nuggets from today's practice:
--Rookie forward/center Damiris Dantas is back with the team after missing the San Antonio series while tending to a family matter in her native Brazil. Dantas returned to the Twin Cities Sunday. She stayed well after practice today to get in some extra work.
--Today Augustus said the Phoenix-Minnesota matchup was, in her opinion, the "biggest matchup since I've been in the league, that people have all been expecting.''
