LOS ANGELES, CA – Although there were five lead changes in Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Sparks (12-17) and the Minnesota Lynx (12-19), the end of the game was predictable halfway threw the second quarter.
There are things that naysayers will say about the Sparks, some of which is simply not true.
You can’t say that there’s not a sense of urgency. You can’t say that the team as a whole doesn’t want to make a playoff run, and you can’t say that the team hasn’t done a pretty good job this far of fighting through some pretty big adversities.
However, you can say that their best efforts to overcome these obstacles might not be good enough.
In Sunday’s loss to the Lynx, Nneka Ogwumike posted a very quiet 23 points. Brittney Sykes, Katie Lou Samuelson, and Chennedy Carter were all in double digits, but the shooting percentage was scary to look at. The Sparks went 30/83 from the field and 6/25 from three-point range. Samuelson, the team’s best three-point shooter, went 4/14 from downtown.
Some pieces are clearly missing. The Sparks need a healthy point guard who is consistently on the floor putting players in the best position to score. They need a shooter who can create shots off the dribble, and there need to be better shooters all around.
To be fair, there’s no real consistency. We’ve seen so many different lineups and rotations that it’s probably not fair to even expect anyone to be able to truly level up and settle into their roles. Jordin Canada, Chennedy Carter, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa are still learning exactly what their roles are.
The Sparks are in a fight-or-flight situation. They either succumb to their adversities or Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve is correct, and all of these adversities could potentially galvanize the team.
At this point, that is highly unlikely. A playoff appearance would be just that, an appearance. No one can truly expect a team that has no real identity yet to make a deep run. However, the playoffs are vastly different than the regular season. So perhaps a first-round exit is exactly what is needed to rejuvenate this young and chaotic franchise.
With everything they’ve gone through, making it to the playoffs amidst all these trials and tribulations would be a win. One could argue that even being in contention to make it to the playoffs is a win. Playoff run or not, team president Vanessa Shay, Seimone Augustus, and the rest of the coaching staff have some big decisions to make this off-season that they should probably start planning for now.
The Sparks left Crypto.com Arena immediately following the 84-77 loss to the Lynx to take a redeye to New York. The team faces the New York Liberty (11-18) on August 2 at 4 PM PST.
