I should preface this by saying that instead of rejoicing the summer when there are only three teams in the WMNSS I have to follow, when it comes to International Breaks for MNUFC, such as this Week, there are only two teams I need to follow, and those screening Weeks are even better!
#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -2). We've got a lead change this Week! Still don't believe they will make the postseason (and they shouldn't), and being 3-7 still puts them in the lottery. But after starting 0-6, they have won three-of-four, and they won both their Games this screening Week, which also happens to be a sweep of a home-and-home with Los Angeles. Won at Target Center by five Sunday, then went out to The Crypt Friday and also won by five out there in a Game broadcast on ION (ion? Ion? I don't know how that name is supposed to be stylized).
Watching the tilt, which was at least a tight back-and-forth affair, the same weaknesses that have plagued this team in seasons past continue to so far this Year: Turnovers, bad-as-hell three-point Defense, and a tendency to rush into shots off an unearned sense of momentum (i.e. they jack up a three in transition off a Steal). Thank God for Napheesa Collier, who probably should be considered one of The Ten-Best Players In The WNBA; she helped sparked the Lynx to a 24-14 Third Quarter to turn a nine-Point Halftime deficit into a one-Point lead, and then helped cobble together enough Points (she played all but two Minutes) down the stretch to hold off a similarly-flawed Sparks club.
Like I said, I'm glad they're playing better, but I still don't want them making the postseason. Even with a rich draft coming up, I want them playing the lottery. They're in Las Vegas to play The Bastard Utah Starzz/San Antonio Silver Stars tonight/Sunday night, then go back out to L. A. to play the Sparks again (they play Los Angeles three times this season, and they're going to play those three contests in a span of nine Days. Really?). They then return home to play The Bastard Orlando Miracle.
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -1). Man, these Twins are living a charmed life. They had a 3-3 Week, missing out on a sweep in Toronto, taking both of the annual mid-week two-fer visit by The Bastard Seattle Pilots, then losing the first two Games of a four-Game series against Detroit, of all (bad) teams at Target Field before winning 2-0 yesterday/Saturday afternoon. And despite that mediocre Week, and despite Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa still not getting on track, and despite a Bullpen that continues to leak and wheeze its way through the back Innings of Games, and despite a Rotation that's starting to ache, they are still the only team in the American League Central with a non-losing record, and they still lead the Division by a not-narrow number of Games (as of press time it's 3 1/2 over Cleveland). What a country! (Is Yakov Smirnov still alive? Just looked at his Wiki: Not only is he still alive, not only is he still performing in his theater in Brandon, Miss. [and that he has a theater there blows my mind], but he got his Master's in psychology from Penn in 2006 and a Doctorate in psychology and global leadership from Pepperdine in 2019. That comedian is now a doctor?! What a country! And my Buddha, I have just fallen into a weird rabbit hole.)
One more vs. Detroit, then four at home versus Boston starting tomorrow/Monday night before returning the favor with the Tigers in Detroit for a trio beginning Friday.
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