Lynx Move On, France wins Eurobasket, Wolves Gathering

The Minnesota Lynx moved on to the Western Conference Finals by sweeping the Seattle Storm in two games. The second game, yesterday afternoon in Seattle was a pretty ugly 58-55 win, but they gutted it out and made some huge plays at the end, including a beautiful Seimone Augustus jumper to give the Lynx the lead for good in the final minute. She puts the ball in the basket.

The game was Tina Thompson's final appearance as a pro basketball player, as she has announced her retirement. 17 years.  4 titles, 9 all-star games, most points in WNBA history.  Yeah, that's a career.

Meanwhile, the Lynx await the winner of the Los Angeles Sparks vs. Phoenix Mercury series.  That one will be decided tonight in Los Angeles, and the Western FInals (also 2 out of 3) will begin on Thursday night at Target Center.

In Eurobasket, Spain rebounded from their semi-final loss to take the bronze medal against an over-matched Croatia team 92-66. Ricky Rubio did his thing, with 6 points (3 for 3 FGs), 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds.  Overall, he shot fairly well in the tournament. 46.6% on 2 point field goals.  He also went 4/9 from 3.

In the final, France was too good for Lithuania, and took home their first major international title with a 80-66 win. In a tournament in which Tony Parker dominated, the final featured a much more balanced attack with Nick Batum and Boris Diaw leading scorers.

With media day now merely a week away, players are rolling into town.  Here's some video from the Wolves site following a workout that included the rookies, Chase Budinger, and Dante Cunningham.  Ronny Turiaf is also here working out, and I think Kevin Love is back in town as well.

It's almost here. Just another week until training camp.  I can't wait.

Ray Charles was born on this date in 1930.  (died 2004). Go listen to some more Ray.

What else is going on?

This is an open thread.  I SAID OPEN!