Kenisha Bell becomes a Lynx !

[Shades]

Yeah, unfortunately, I think she fell victim to coach Reeve’s preference for experience over potential.

Seems to going against that usual preference with Collier and Shepard getting so many minutes,

Coates would be filling in at backup Center while Temi finishes up her overseas season; and Talbot plays the SG or SF positions. [Read as: Talbot shoots better than Bell right now, and Reeve prefers experienced players.]

You want to talk about potential? Coates was the #2 pick in 2017. She’s still young and they got her for only a third round pick. Potentially a good deal there. Definitely worth the very small gamble.

Plenty of tweets from disappointed Lynx fans that are upset on learning this. Some vowed not to renew their season tickets.

Empty threats by people who probably weren’t STH anyway. Is winning more important or being a homer?

Bell wouldn’t have gotten much playing time anyway. So maybe the bright side is that Kenisha can hone her skills in overseas play (and make more money doing so).

Just like Carlie!

then hope that some WNBA team will invite her to training camp next year.

You guys were saying this about Carlie, and just like her, not likely to happen. A new class of rookies comes in and teams move on. Now if she goes on to become the Euroleague MVP (which isn’t going to happen. I doubt she even gets signed by a Euroleague team), then maybe she’ll come back. Sorry for the realistic viewpoint.

I suspect that Coates and Talbot are bound to be just short-term Lynx - filling in for Temi and Cecilia until they finish their overseas season. Also note that this leaves the Lynx roster count way over the max 12. So several more cuts are to be expected.

Hard to say. The Lynx are actually running thin at the post right now. They only have Fowles, Dantas, Shepard, and Coates as true posts and Collier as a backup post off her primary position as SF. They usually like to run with 5 true posts if they have 12 players, so Coates could stick around if she looks good. Her performance and how she does in practice will matter.

I would rate Talbot better than Ting. She might even be better than Zandalisini. Talbot was an unexpected gift from PHX because they were experiencing roster crunch. They had three draft picks at #13 and above, and they didn’t want to give up any of them.

Reeve seems to love Zandalisini. But it wouldn’t be out if the question to see her get traded if she doesn’t want to sit out the entire season. Zandalasini is unsigned for this season, but the Lynx own her rights. If the Lynx are doing great without her, why would you try to add her to the team in July?

although Cheryl Reeve is a great coach, thus far (in my opinion) she merits only about a C- score on GMing.

That’s about right if you average the two seasons. She’s gets an F for last year. This year, I’d say she gets about an A-. So that shows a lot of improvement in my eyes, and I’m about the toughest critic.

At the time, signing Christmas was a great move with Maya sitting out. In hindsight, Reeve was a little too enthusiastic about a player who may never regain pre-injury form by giving her a three year guaranteed contract.

Stealing Dantas away from ATL without needing to give up anything in trade was a brilliant 5-star move. I can go into more detail if need be.

Even though this deal fell into her lap, getting Sims was the best signing of the year. There’s Augustus’ future (or now?) replacement out of the blue. I hope she keeps her level of play up. Talbot also fell into her lap. Great deal considering next year’s draft is looking a bit thin in the second and third rounds.

The draft went well. The only nitpicks were, even though I like Dillard, I was actually surprised that Reeve didn’t take the big defensive guard Kennedy Burke at #20 instead. If she had, the Lynx may have been experiencing a roster crunch of their own similar to PHX’s.

Reeve got Lexie Brown for the #18 pick. So far that’s looking like a good trade. The player the Sun drafted with the #18 pick got cut. So the Sun gave away Lexie Brown for nothing.

At #30, instead of gifting Whalen with an obligatory drafting of a Gopher like they often do, the Lynx should have chosen the 19 year old 6’5 Chinese center that got picked at #35. She’s not playing in the WNBA right away, but a team can hold her rights until she’s ready to play. She could be very worthy of a roster spot.

If Rebekkah Brunson decides (say, midway through the season) not to return to basketball, there is still some small probability that the Lynx might recall Kenisha at that point.

I’m not sure why you think there’s a small probability. Even with Brunson not on the team, Bell is not on the team. The probability gets even worse with time as F@gbenle and Zandalisini may be seeking spots.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

Excellent analysis, Shades - especially about the marked difference between last year’s GMing and this year’s mostly quality decisions. And when I say quality, I’m taking my bias in favor of Kenisha out of the equation since a GM must get the best talent for the team. My favoring of Bell is partly well-wishing to her, and partly selfish - since I really enjoy her style of play and wish I could continue to watch her play with a mere drive to Target Center. But GMs decide according to what they think is best for the team, not for a few fans.

> Seems to be going against that usual preference with Collier and Shepard getting so many minutes.

Yes, and I think that’s per two points. One, realizing that she’s remaking this team (and needing to do so via circumstances beyond her control), Reeve is all-in on the project and showing her adaptability to working with the new-found young talent that she has. Two, injury is forcing the issue, with Brunson out, Christmas-Kelly day-to-day, and Seimone day-to-day.

The article by Mike Cook, “Lynx rookies Napheesa Collier, Jessica Shepard spark season-opening win” https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tw...-jessica-shepard-spark-season-opening-win/amp talks about how well Reeve’s trust in her rookies worked out for her on that first game. Shepard became the 3rd WNBA player to nab at least 10 rebounds and 5 assists in her rookie debut (the others being Damiris Dantas and Candace Parker). Parker was also the only player to top Collier’s 27 debut points (with 34). The prior Lynx record was 21 (Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Charde Houston).

> You want to talk about potential? Coates was the #2 pick in 2017. ...

It was definitely a last minute gift to get Coates and Talbot (even though pulling the trigger on them was the action that slid Kenisha off the end of the roster). Similarly, Brown was a true gift from the Sun. [I think their letting her go was not so much a denial of Lexie’s potential, but more of a statement of confidence in Rachel Banham. Rach scored 7 points in 12 minutes in their opener.]

At the time that I stated that Coates and Talbot would be “filling in” I was not familiar with the two and didn’t realize their potential. Now I think it’s probably a real battle for who among the SFs and PFs and second-string Cs will stick around for the full season.

I suspect your thoughts about Zandalasini might be on target. She may be traded if there seems to be little value in playing her half a season. On the other hand, they took the trouble to put F@gbenle on temporary suspended status (plus she had a great Euro season) so she’s coming back, I suspect. That means that probably one (or more) of the current non-guards must be cut mid-season.

> I’m not sure why you think there’s a small probability (that Kenisha might be recalled if Brunson doesn’t return).

That was written before the surprise acquisition of Coates and Talbot. That’s what put her off the team regardless of Brunson. And it now seems that Brunson is not coming back this year, at least you can read that between the lines in the program notes of last Friday’s game. The earlier “small probability” was predicated on the chance that the roster slot being held for Brunson might be freed up, and they might spend that on a guard (since they had plenty of PFs and SFs on the roster, but only 4 guards, minus Bell anyway).

The current (probably even smaller) chance of Bell being recalled would only happen if ‘Mone’s knees continue to keep her sidelined excessively, such that they decided they needed 4+Mone guards instead of 3+Mone guards. Seimone might well retire after this year, but would no-doubt wait til end of season to announce, and collect the honors she deserves, like Whay did last year.

By the way, and take this with a large grain of salt since it’s just an unsubstantiated rumor heard on the street from another Lynx fan, but rumor is that Maya would come back next year for a single year.

 

[Shades]

Maya signed a two-year contract with the first year being suspended, so that’s probably where the “rumor” comes from. That doesn’t necessarily mean she won’t decide to retire. Reeve has overloaded on SF’s, so she seems concerned about it.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

The current (probably even smaller) chance of Bell being recalled would only happen if ‘Mone’s knees continue to keep her sidelined excessively, such that they decided they needed 4+Mone guards instead of 3+Mone guards.

To update those not following the Lynx, the event of "Mone’s knees continue to keep her sidelined excessively" has indeed happend. Semone Augustus had arthroscopic knee surgery and is out indefinitetly (although on the sideline encouraging and coaching her team-mates) The Lynx are now down to three healthy guards "indefinitely."

This doesn't necessarily imply that the Lynx will recall Kenisha Bell anytime soon to be the "fourth healthy guard." For one thing, Sheryl Reeve also has the possibility to trade one of her surplus forwards for an under-utilized guard on some other WNBA team. Actually, Reeve has the benefit of (in a sense) Kenisha being an off-roster standby-substitute guard in the sense that she knows that Bell would take the job in a heartbeat, and she knows Bell's capabilities both from training camp and from watching her play at the Barn on many occasions.

Thus far (through game 3 anyway) the Lynx have done quite well with only three guards, winning the first three games by virtue of their multiple new talents (including rookies) all playing well. That includes a record-breaking game one by Collier and Shepard; plus as far as the guards go, all of D-Rob and Odyssey Sims and Lexie Brown playing quite well. In fact, the guard point totals in the first three outings were 34, 34 and 26.

Tuesday's game in Seattle against a depleted Storm team missing two of its biggest stars, was a different story, however. The Lynx guards looked tired. And Seattle was shooting the lights out, hitting about 60% most of the game, and 54% from three. In the end, the three Lynx guards hit 24 points, which is not too bad, but Jordin Canada and Jewell Loyd combined for 36 points, with sub Whitcomb tossing in 10 more - for a combined Seattle guard outscoring of the Lynx to the tune of +22 points.

I only saw the second half streaming on YouTube, but the 3rd and 4th quarters were some of the stranges quarters i've ever seen in WNBA basketball. In particular, Sheryl Reeve used an ineresting guard strategy in the 3rd quarter (and it was very successful). With Howard (you remember our former Lynx center who Sheryl mistakenly traded to Seattle?) sitting with 4 fouls, Reeve played what was mostly a one-guard (and rarely two-guard) strategy. Everyone else on the floor was a center or forward. Napheesa Collier, the college PF nicely converted by Sheryl into a WNBA SF, was essentially playing the SG position, and many times dribbling the ball up-court. It worked very well (until it didn't) and the Lynx took their first lead at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Then with the clock winding down in the 3rd, one of the forwards (newly promoted to guard) made a bad decision and shot and missed from 6 feet behind the arc instead of running don the clock for the last shot. Loyd took it full court for the score putting the Lynx behind again. Then in the 4th quarter (after letting the Storm out-turnover them 20-10 through three quarters) the Lynx (and mostly the Lynx guards) committed about 5 turnovers down the stretch, letting Seattle lock up their win (by 7 points). At one point I think they turned it over three possessions in a row. Adding insult to injury, one of the guards missed an easy layup. The final insult was in the waning seconds, when one of the players she acquired at the last minute in training camp (one of the two that pushed Bell off the roster) threw up a brick that missed the hoop by about 8 feet.

I think the Lynx guards were tired. They needed some rest (which they got quite effectively in the 3rd quarter via Reeve's (and I have to say this) ingenious one-guard strategy (such a contrast to the Stollings 4-guard strategy and the Whalen 3-guard strategy!). But they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter - something that Gopher fans saw a few times last season. But although Bell was partly at fault in some of those 4th-quarter Gopher meltdowns, I would argue that, at the time, the cause was mostly because Bell felt that she had to put the team on her shoulders, and she tried to accomplish too much. But at Lynx training camp, Bell learned a new way of playing guard from Reeve - namely that you don't have to put the team on your shoulders, since you have pros all around you. Bell really did learn that.

And what was missing from the Lynx at the Tuesday game was, well alright I'll say it - one Kenisha Bell. Granted I'm biased in Kenisha's favor since I'm a Gopher fan. But I will make the bald-faced claim that Kenisha Bell could have won that game for the Lynx. Simply by providing 15-20 minutes of rest for the other 3 active guards. Not to mention the turnovers that would not have been committed. Not to mention the points Kenisha would have scored herself.

The immediate cause of that Lynx loss was prolific guard turnovers in the 4th quarters. The indirect cause was Reeve's GMing decision to hoard lots of forwards like she did last year (to no avail) instead of putting a 5th guard on the team (which might have been Bell). If the 3 healthy Lynx guards continue to get tired and then play badly, then there is a small chance (don't get excited, as it's only a very remote possibility at this point) that Reeve might recall Kenisha Bell and send one of her surplus forwards packing.

 

[bbwannabe]

I would love to see Kenisha Bell called back to the Lynx. DRob and her have some similarities in their mistakes.
We know Kenisha can get to the basket and draw fouls, and that was reported in training camp.

To update those not following the Lynx, the event of "Mone’s knees continue to keep her sidelined excessively" has indeed happend. Semone Augustus had arthroscopic knee surgery and is out indefinitetly (although on the sideline encouraging and coaching her team-mates) The Lynx are now down to three healthy guards "indefinitely."

This doesn't necessarily imply that the Lynx will recall Kenisha Bell anytime soon to be the "fourth healthy guard." For one thing, Sheryl Reeve also has the possibility to trade one of her surplus forwards for an under-utilized guard on some other WNBA team. Actually, Reeve has the benefit of (in a sense) Kenisha being an off-roster standby-substitute guard in the sense that she knows that Bell would take the job in a heartbeat, and she knows Bell's capabilities both from training camp and from watching her play at the Barn on many occasions.

Thus far (through game 3 anyway) the Lynx have done quite well with only three guards, winning the first three games by virtue of their multiple new talents (including rookies) all playing well. That includes a record-breaking game one by Collier and Shepard; plus as far as the guards go, all of D-Rob and Odyssey Sims and Lexie Brown playing quite well. In fact, the guard point totals in the first three outings were 34, 34 and 26.

Tuesday's game in Seattle against a depleted Storm team missing two of its biggest stars, was a different story, however. The Lynx guards looked tired. And Seattle was shooting the lights out, hitting about 60% most of the game, and 54% from three. In the end, the three Lynx guards hit 24 points, which is not too bad, but Jordin Canada and Jewell Loyd combined for 36 points, with sub Whitcomb tossing in 10 more - for a combined Seattle guard outscoring of the Lynx to the tune of +22 points.

I only saw the second half streaming on YouTube, but the 3rd and 4th quarters were some of the stranges quarters i've ever seen in WNBA basketball. In particular, Sheryl Reeve used an ineresting guard strategy in the 3rd quarter (and it was very successful). With Howard (you remember our former Lynx center who Sheryl mistakenly traded to Seattle?) sitting with 4 fouls, Reeve played what was mostly a one-guard (and rarely two-guard) strategy. Everyone else on the floor was a center or forward. Napheesa Collier, the college PF nicely converted by Sheryl into a WNBA SF, was essentially playing the SG position, and many times dribbling the ball up-court. It worked very well (until it didn't) and the Lynx took their first lead at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Then with the clock winding down in the 3rd, one of the forwards (newly promoted to guard) made a bad decision and shot and missed from 6 feet behind the arc instead of running don the clock for the last shot. Loyd took it full court for the score putting the Lynx behind again. Then in the 4th quarter (after letting the Storm out-turnover them 20-10 through three quarters) the Lynx (and mostly the Lynx guards) committed about 5 turnovers down the stretch, letting Seattle lock up their win (by 7 points). At one point I think they turned it over three possessions in a row. Adding insult to injury, one of the guards missed an easy layup. The final insult was in the waning seconds, when one of the players she acquired at the last minute in training camp (one of the two that pushed Bell off the roster) threw up a brick that missed the hoop by about 8 feet.

I think the Lynx guards were tired. They needed some rest (which they got quite effectively in the 3rd quarter via Reeve's (and I have to say this) ingenious one-guard strategy (such a contrast to the Stollings 4-guard strategy and the Whalen 3-guard strategy!). But they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter - something that Gopher fans saw a few times last season. But although Bell was partly at fault in some of those 4th-quarter Gopher meltdowns, I would argue that, at the time, the cause was mostly because Bell felt that she had to put the team on her shoulders, and she tried to accomplish too much. But at Lynx training camp, Bell learned a new way of playing guard from Reeve - namely that you don't have to put the team on your shoulders, since you have pros all around you. Bell really did learn that.

And what was missing from the Lynx at the Tuesday game was, well alright I'll say it - one Kenisha Bell. Granted I'm biased in Kenisha's favor since I'm a Gopher fan. But I will make the bald-faced claim that Kenisha Bell could have won that game for the Lynx. Simply by providing 15-20 minutes of rest for the other 3 active guards. Not to mention the turnovers that would not have been committed. Not to mention the points Kenisha would have scored herself.

The immediate cause of that Lynx loss was prolific guard turnovers in the 4th quarters. The indirect cause was Reeve's GMing decision to hoard lots of forwards like she did last year (to no avail) instead of putting a 5th guard on the team (which might have been Bell). If the 3 healthy Lynx guards continue to get tired and then play badly, then there is a small chance (don't get excited, as it's only a very remote possibility at this point) that Reeve might recall Kenisha Bell and send one of her surplus forwards packing.

 

[fanfromthevalley]

Caught a quick glimpse of Kenisha in the stands at the Lynx game against Phoenix last night.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

Caught a quick glimpse of Kenisha in the stands at the Lynx game against Phoenix last night.

Yeah she was at the Thur Mercury game. I recognized her as she crossed the street heading to Target, while I ate my pizza on the corner, so I acknowledged her with a “Hey K.B.” to which she responded “Hey, nice to see ya.” We never met before, but she maybe recognized me as a loyal Gopher fan.

She was smiling, and bought her own ticket. At the time I was thinkin, geez at least the Lynx should buy her a season ticket, lol.

During my halftime lap around the arena, she was holding court in the hallway with new-found young female fans, waiting their turn to get their pictures taken with the Gopher basketball star. I hung with the mob for a few secs during the photoshoot.

If I had gotten a chance to chat, I would have said “I wish you were down there on the court.”

I imagine she’s also here at Target Center this afternoon for Whay-fest. Which, by the whay had a great tribute video (which I’m guessing you might view later on the Lynx web site). Good to see Rebekkah Brunson on the floor too, as part of the Whay-fest.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.startribune.com/lynx-s-jessica-shepard-will-have-surgery-on-right-knee/511044731/

Jess Shepard out for season:

An MRI test confirmed Sunday that Lynx rookie Jessica Shepard tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee when she landed awkwardly ounder the Lynx basket late in Saturday’s loss to the Los Angeles Sparks at Target Center.

She will have surgery on the knee and will miss the rest of the season.

The injury occurred with 1:42 left in the game, after Shepard went up for a shot and was fouled by the Sparks’ Tierra Ruffin-Pratt. She fell to the floor in pain and had to be helped down the tunnel and out of the arena bowl.

The 6-3 Shepard was a second-round pick out of Notre Dame. A Fremont, Neb., native, she spent her first two college seasons at Nebraska before transferring to Notre Dame. It is her second such injury; Shepard tore the ACL in her left knee as a senior in high school but was able to come back and earn freshman of the year and all-Big Ten Conference honors the following fall.

 

[Shades]

They ran a piece on Whalen during halftime of today’s WNBA game on ABC. Games on ABC are pretty rare.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[tripledouble]

Great game for AZB. I recall that she had a game of 37 points and 27 boards against Iowa, I think, in her final season for the Gophers. I'll always wish that she had stayed one more year and teamed with Banham. That would have been close to the Whalen-McCarville tandem that got us to the Final Four.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

This is Lynx related but has to do with Money ‘Mone, and not related to Keke at all (except for the fact that she got a few weeks to play with and learn from the master on the Lynx).

But this is quite cool and no other good place to post it, so here it is ...

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_r...c369a196-9993-11e9-9e4f-eb17d25958bd.amp.html

Seimone Augustus is being inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday. She is preceded by Louisiana inductee Kim Mulkey.

Did you know that she dunked in a junior high game? She averaged 27.4 point per game as a high school freshman. One of these days, Whay will recruit the modern equivalent of her team-mate and good buddy Seimone, and with a solid supporting cast of characters, we’re Final Four bound.

 

[whalenfan]

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[CutDownTheNet]

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Also, there’s these articles from Pioneer Press https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tw...ophers-star-kenisha-bell-amid-injury-woes/amp

And Fox Sports https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...lynx-asia-taylor-kenisha-bell-070219?amp=true

And WCCO (noting Christmas-Kelly out for the year https://www.google.com/amp/s/minnes...lly-out-for-season-with-right-knee-injury/amp

Seimone‘ knees are healing but she’s probably not able to play much til late July.

Plus, Odyssey Sims (current leading Lynx scorer) will probably eventually get suspended for about 2 games for her DWI, so for those games the Lynx would be down to 2 guards, potentially, w/o Kenisha.

Glad she’s getting another chance to contribute. Too bad about the injury circumstances tho.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.startribune.com/ex-gophers-guard-kenisha-bell-back-with-lynx/512131662/

And from the Youngblood:

Bell, the former star at Bloomington Kennedy High School and the University of Minnesota, was taken in the third round of the draft, but waived by the Lynx before the regular season started. She has kept herself ready playing with a local pro-am team and working out with her former Gophers teammates.

Staying ready, Bell said, "Because you never know what can happen."

Because she spent training camp with the team, Bell is up to speed on the current playbook. She has followed the team closely and has spent time with current Lynx players Odyssey Sims and Lexie Brown.

"I've been in contact," she said.

When she was waived the Lynx told Bell to get some experience playing overseas and that she might find her way back to the team eventually. But injuries have accelerated that process.

"They told me to stay ready, and I think I've been doing that," she said.

 

[GringaGopher]

Nice to see her back with the Lynx. Hope she can contribute and make a strong impression. Also, hope the injury bug slows down for the Lynx.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

Excerpts and Bell quotes from Shootaround Report | Catching Up with Kenisha Bell and Asia Taylor https://lynx.wnba.com/news/shootaround-report-catching-up-with-kenisha-bell-and-asia-taylor

Bell has been playing with a Pro-Am team in the Twin Cities as well as on the University of Minnesota scout team ... [well, the latter is good to keep her sharp, and at the same time provides some known but tough competition for the Gophers in summer practice]

“You learn a lot about a team and what the coaching staff want,” said Bell. “You can bring that to the team when you come - you know what you have to focus on to practice outside of just the training camp and just the practices I’ve been involved in.”

In spite of a lite crowd at the Lynx-Atlanta game last night, and the fact that she only played a minute or two, Bell got warm applause from Lynx/Gopher fans when she checked in.

In last night’s game, Hopkins/Northwestern alum (and big sister of Amir) Nia Coffey also got some significant minutes of playing time, hitting a couple threes for an Atlanta team that had trouble generating offense.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

The fact that Kenisha Bell suited up and played 30 seconds for Sunday’s game against the Mercury is significant since (as it turns out) she will almost certainly receive a Lynx paycheck for the rest of the season.

That doesn’t imply that she’ll remain on the active roster tho. It’s complicated.

Let’s rewind to just before the Sunday game. An hour before the game it was exactly half-way through the season. And WNBA teams had til then to potentially cut a (non-guaranteed-contract) player but with the option to bring them back a week at a time on a one-week contract. I think they could do that up to 3 times - thus extending their indecision about a player (before they have to cut em loose and let other teams potentially bid on them).

Last week’s FanSided article “Who’s on the 7-Day chopping block as WNBA season midpoint approaches” https://www.google.com/amp/s/highpo...-block-as-wnba-season-midpoint-approaches/amp by Ben Rosof explains all this quite well.

He also iterates over all 12 WNBA teams and makes his guess as to which players might be at risk for having their non-guaranteed contracts terminated (but then possibly re-hired a week at a time for up to 3 weeks.

For the Lynx, he guessed wrong. He predicted that (recently re-signed) Kenisha Bell or Asia Taylor or both might be terminated (plus probably extended a week at a time) - with Taylor more likely to be retained. His argument was seemingly reasonable at the time, especially since as of that point Bell had only played one minute whereas Taylor had made a substantial contribution.

He was wrong. Neither Bell nor Taylor were cut or moved to 7-day contracts. They are now on a remainder-of-season contract (although, as I believe he notes, in principle any player can be cut at any time).

Instead, forward Shao Ting was cut to make room for the return of Temi https://lynx.wnba.com/news/lynx-activate-center-temi-***benle and center Alaina Coates was let go to make room for the eventual return of Cecilia Zandalasini http://m.startribune.com/lynx-waive-alaina-coates-bringing-back-cecilia-zandalasini/512709832 - [update: Coates was picked up by the Atlanta Dream, so good for her.]

It is suspected that Sheryl Reeve had a handshake agreement in place regarding Ting, since her next step of prepping with the Chinese National Team for the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, may have been planned all along. Zandalasini might not return for a couple weeks due to an injury, so Coates may be brought back on a weekly basis.

In any event, it’s good news for Kenisha Bell. Not only does she continue to get a paycheck, and continue to get experience practicing with the team, and continue to learn both from the Lynx coaches as well as the master, Seimone Augustus, but one of these days she might get some playing time.

Up to now, her stat sheet is pretty empty. Reeve has (thus far) been content to use Bell as her “guard insurance policy.” Not an unreasonable idea considering that D-Rob got injured last year, along with Reeve’s tendency to trust her veteran players (a concept that’s already gotten stretched this year with the “vets” now encompassing Steff Talbot and soph Lexie Brown and rooky Napheesa Collier).

But during warmups for today’s Storm game, Bell looked calm and confident and shooting well and ready to play when called upon.

The remaining dicey bit that impacts whether and how long Bell remains on the active roster is the injury roster exemption the league gave the Lynx for having four injured players simultaneously. That remains mysterious. I even checked the WNBA bargaining agreement and could find no enlightenment.

Could it be that when injured players start returning, the roster exemption gets revoked? Or maybe the exemption stays in place, but the Lynx just need to decide (and re-decide dynamically as time goes on) which subset of the current-active-players + injured players get activated, and when. For sake of argument (and just to keep our sanity), let’s just assume the latter, more liberal interpretation.

In that case, Kenisha might stay activated until ‘Mone recovers fully from her knee injury (and then gets activated). One conjecture might be that Seimone might be tired of the sore knees and thus announce her retirement, coming back in time to play a few regular-season games plus hopefully a lot of playoff games, and receive her accolades (like Whay did).

So how long Bell stays activated remains an open question. And given that most of the Lynx games are close lately, she might not get a whole lot of playing time. During Wednesday’s Storm game, with the Lynx down by 17 at end of 3rd quarter, one might have thought that the Lynx would throw in the towel, and that the tail end of the bench might get some action. But apparently, “throw in the towel” is not in the Lynx vocabulary. They made a miraculous 17-point recovery to tie the game. But as often happens, the exhausted Lynx then gave up the next series of points to lose the game.

 

[fanfromthevalley]

Dantas activated and will play on Sunday. Kenisha Bell was cut. Given the fact the the next hearing for Sims is in September, no need for an extra guard (baring any injuries).

Perhaps Bell gets picked up by someone else on one of those short term contracts? Don't know if any other WNBA teams are looking for guards at this time.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

Dantas activated and will play on Sunday. Kenisha Bell was cut. Given the fact the the next hearing for Sims is in September, no need for an extra guard (baring any injuries).

Perhaps Bell gets picked up by someone else on one of those short term contracts? Don't know if any other WNBA teams are looking for guards at this time.

Right, and the official Lynx statement appears to be at the @Lynx_PR tweet https://mobile.twitter.com/Lynx_PR/status/1152330760663252992 and press statement https://lynx.wnba.com/news/damiris-dantas-injury-update that notes “In a corresponding move, the Lynx have terminated the contract of Kenisha Bell.”

So much for WNBA rules and a paycheck for the remainder of the season. Presumably, unwritten rules re the obscure, undocumented Lynx roster medical waiver trump [no political statement intended] WNBA contract rules. Or what is more likely, knowing players get healthy eventually, the Bell and Asia Taylor contracts were written to be exempt from the WNBA second-half-of-season rule.

In any event, it was beneficial for Bell to be on the team, albeit briefly. And great to see her on the court too. She missed out on the team picture with Bill Russell tho.

Asia Taylor was still on the team in Las Vegas, probably to be replaced by Zandalasini when her high ankle sprain heals.

 

[Shades]

Zandalisini isn’t signed. Taylor is a replacement for Augustus.

 

[whalenfan]

Zandalisini isn’t signed. Taylor is a replacement for Augustus.

Zandalisini is in Minnesota, they just havent officially signed her because of her ankle injury most likely, shes been here for a week or so already.

 

[Shades]

Zandalisini is in Minnesota, they just havent officially signed her because of her ankle injury most likely, shes been here for a week or so already.

I’m not sure if you’re just making conversation or you’re misunderstanding my comment. Taylor was signed as an emergency injury replacement player. Zandalisini has nothing to do with when Taylor leaves the team, as cut thought.

In fact, Taylor was released today. So I suspect Augustus will play in the Lynx’s next game after the All Star break.

Zandalisini can sign whenever she’s ready. The Lynx already made room for her by cutting Coates.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

For reference, I'm writing this as of the afternoon just before the All-Star game, but also quoting some facts as they held true earlier in the last week or so.

I’m not sure if you’re just making conversation or you’re misunderstanding my comment. ...

No, I think whalenfan understands just fine, and is simply trying to clarify things a bit. It is a bit complicated, and perhaps some of our comments (especially mine) were too speculative at the time (but perhaps I like to guess and then see how close my guess came ;-)

... Asia Taylor was still on the team in Las Vegas, probably to be replaced by Zandalasini when her high ankle sprain heals.

That's an example - I wrote this without thinking it through completely. Or perhaps I thought it through but did not clarify my assumptions. That statement by me was tantamount to my guessing that Zandalasini would be healed and fit to play before Seimone would - but I neglected to mention that. Actually, the most probable situation at the time was more along the lines of that whoever of {Seimone Augustus, Cecilia Zandalasini} healed the fastest, she would come back first and Asia Taylor would at that point almost certainly be cut to make roster space.

Zandalisini is in Minnesota, they just haven't officially signed her because of her ankle injury most likely, shes been here for a week or so already.

That was a true statement as of the time it was posted.

... Taylor was signed as an emergency injury replacement player.

That was also true, but deserves clarification.

At the time that the WNBA granted the Lynx an emergency roster exemption due to excessive injuries (four total), the set of players {Kenisha Bell, Asia Taylor} were brought in via the roster exemption to cover for injured payers {Jessica Shepard, Karima Christmas-Kelly, Seimone Augustus, Damiris Dantas}. The first two are out for the season, so in terms of hurt players that might come back soon, you might as well look at this way: the set of players {Kenisha Bell, Asia Taylor} were brought in via the roster exemption to cover until the return of {Seimone Augustus, Damiris Dantas}. Meanwhile, earlier in the season, Zandalasini was rarely (if ever) mentioned in Lynx press, although Temi was mentioned on several occasions as being out until she returns from the EuroBasket. It was curious that Cecilia was not also mentioned in the same light. It was true, and remains true that Zandalasini hasn't been signed.

Then Dantas was cleared to play and was activated. At that point, one of {Kenisha Bell, Asia Taylor} had to go, and it was Keke that was cut (which made sense as the Lynx needed a forward more than a guard at that point, and Asia had been contributing productive minutes). So Bell was swapped out for Dantas as per ...

Right, and the official Lynx statement appears to be at the @Lynx_PR tweet https://mobile.twitter.com/Lynx_PR/status/1152330760663252992 and press statement https://lynx.wnba.com/news/damiris-dantas-injury-update that notes “In a corresponding move, the Lynx have terminated the contract of Kenisha Bell." ...

After activating Dantas, the roster exemption situation was reduced to: the remaining roster-exemption player Asia Taylor (of the original set of players {Kenisha Bell, Asia Taylor}) was brought in via the roster exemption to cover until the return of Seimone Augustus.

(Not sure if this is in chronological order, but) Alaina Coates was cut per https://lynx.wnba.com/news/lynx-waive-center-alaina-coates (and Coates was later picked up by Atlanta per https://www.thestate.com/sports/col...a/usc-womens-basketball/article232856197.html).
This was so that Temi could return to active status after EuroBasket was done. It is not true that ...

... The Lynx already made room for (Zandalisini) by cutting Coates.

The Lynx cutting of Coates made room for Temi to be activated. Leaving Zandalisini competing for some unknown position at that point.

So (right up until the recent cut of Asia Taylor that Shades pointed out), the situation was as follows: Asia Taylor was brought in via the roster exemption to cover until the return of Seimone Augustus.

Now when one of {Seimone Augustus, Cecilia Zandalisini} gets healthy (at least this is our best guess about the options available, since there is still no written info on exactly what the terms were/are for the injury roster exemption) Sheryl has to choose between:
(a) Bring back Seimone Augustus (presuming 'Mone gets healthy first) and cut the designated Asia Taylor who was the placeholder for her roster spot.
(b) Activate Zandalisini (presuming 'Ceci gets healthy first) and cut Asia Taylor, so that Ceci replaces Asia as the remaining designated roster-exemption player, and the situation becomes: Cecilia Zandalisini is now effectively the player that is (the most recent player to be) brought in via the roster exemption to cover until the return of Seimone Augustus.

I repeat that we know little of the terms of the roster exemption, but the above is a fairly good guess - namely that Sheryl can keep bringing in who she wants to serve as that last roster-exemption player - at least until 'Mone returns to active play. The interesting question is, what if 'Mone is certified to play, and does, but then is re-injured? Is the roster exemption kaput at that point?

In any event, Sheryl has some tough decisions to make, largely having to do with who gets healthy first - 'Mone or 'Ceci?

If the above a/b choice is valid, and 'Ceci is healthy before 'Mone is, then option (b) might be a good choice for the interim until 'Mone is for-sure healthy. Of course, 'Mone is signed and 'Ceci isn't at this point.

So fast-forward to the present. Shades notes that Asia was cut. That means for sure that one of {Semone Augustus, Cecilia Zandalisini} will play at the next game. At this point there is no evidence one way or another. But if I had to guess, I'd now (reverse my earlier guess and) say that it's more likely that Seimone will play.

But it's quite possible that there's a sense of the word in which Augustus and Zandalisini are competing for the same spot. 'Mone has the inside track since she's signed, obviously. But you can't have both of them at the same time, without cutting somebody else, and there's nobody else to cut - all the other players are needed.

Don't put it past Sheryl to continue to milk the roster exemption (via option b) and let Zandalisini play the Lynx into the playoffs, and then bring back Augustus to help the Lynx win the championship (or at least get a lot deeper than anyone expected for a rebuilding year). Who knows. I'm not going on record to make any prediction.

In any event, barring injury to the current trio of Lynx guards, it is very unlikely that Bell would be brought back. the Lynx are the only team in the WNBA playing a three-guard rotation for most of the season - but she seems to have gotten away with it (with only a Bell insurance policy for part of the season). I could speculate whether the Lynx could have won some of those close games that they lost with Bell on the bench, simply by giving Bell some minutes, but that's useless idle speculation for some other lazy day.

 

[Shades]

You seem to be forgetting the FACTS (no guessing) that you wrote in your post not that long ago on 7/18.

Instead, forward Shao Ting was cut to make room for the return of Temi https://lynx.wnba.com/news/lynx-acti...-temi-***benle and center Alaina Coates was let go to make room for the eventual return of Cecilia Zandalasini http://m.startribune.com/lynx-waive-...sini/512709832 - [update: Coates was picked up by the Atlanta Dream, so good for her.]

Why you seem to have forgotten that and started guessing at other scenarios, I have no idea.

The reason why Coates was cut before Zandalisini was ready to be signed was because there’s a mid-season deadline date where anybody who remains signed past that date is guaranteed their whole contract for the season. The Lynx couldn’t afford to pay Coates the rest of the season and also sign Zandalisini. They valued Zandalisini more so they cut Coates. Not sure that was the greatest move since ***benle hasn’t played up to speed.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

You seem to be forgetting the FACTS (no guessing) that you wrote in your post not that long ago on 7/18.



Why you seem to have forgotten that and started guessing at other scenarios, I have no idea.

The reason why Coates was cut before Zandalisini was ready to be signed was because there’s a mid-season deadline date where anybody who remains signed past that date is guaranteed their whole contract for the season. The Lynx couldn’t afford to pay Coates the rest of the season and also sign Zandalisini. They valued Zandalisini more so they cut Coates. Not sure that was the greatest move since ***benle hasn’t played up to speed.

Yer right - always helps to check the FACTS that were noted earlier.

Will be interesting to see if ‘Mone and ‘Ceci can add enough of a shooting boost for the Lynx to win the close ones that’ve been losing lately.

Temi does look a little off - surprising given how well she played in EuroBasket. Maybe evidence that WNBA is higher caliber competition than Euro, I suppose.

Interesting to see the WNBA All Stars play today with a 20 second shot clock. And Liz Cambage playing point guard.

 

[Shades]

I kinda like the idea of a 20-sec shot clock, but the All Star game is not a serious test for it. It’s not played like a real game unless and until the score is close at the end.