The Lynx lost in Atlanta to the Dream to fall to 8-2 on the season. It was a disastrous first half for the Lynx, who trailed 50-33 at the break as they just couldn't get anything going. They were much better in the 2nd half, but their furious fourth quarter rally fell just short and they lost 85-82. The Lynx shot uncharacteristically poorly, making only 42% from the field and going 6-21 from three. The main culprit was Maya Moore, who had her worst outing of the season, scoring 10 points on 2-11 from the field.
The Dream also hurt them on the boards, collecting 14 offensive rebounds, as both Erika de Sousa and Sancho Lyttle recorded double-doubles, while the Dream made 9-15 three pointers.
Perhaps the first half was due to rust, as the Lynx hadn't played since last weekend, or perhaps they were distracted by their visit to the White House on Thursday.
The Lynx next host the 6-3 Phoenix Mercury on Sunday at noon. The game will be televised on ESPN2. The Mercury feature Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner, and are expected to be the Lynx's biggest competition in the Western Conference.
On Friday, the Wolves worked out several draft eligible players at Target Center:
Shabazz Napier, G, Connecticut
Tim Frazier, G, Penn State
Rion Brown, G. Miami
LaQuinton Ross, F, Ohio State
Ronald Roberts, F, St. Joseph's
Eric Moreland, F, Oregon State
Among this group, only Shabazz Napier is a potential first round pick, though extremely unlikely to be of interest to the Wolves at pick 13.
The Wolves are having another workout today, featuring a couple of more interesting players:
Kyle Anderson, G, UCLA
Justin Cobbs, G, California
Cory Jefferson, F, Baylor
Adreian Payne, F, Michigan State
Markel Starks, G, Georgetown
Jamil Wilson, F, Marquette
Canis Hoopus/vjl110 favorite Kyle Anderson will be in, along with Adreian Payne, the Michigan State power forward who has been mocked to the Wolves in a few different places. I was thinking while watching game four (and tweeted as such), that the way the Spurs play is exactly why Kyle Anderson is a good prospect. I have a hard time seeing the Wolves use the 13th pick on him, but it's nice they are bringing him in for a look anyway.
The World Cup got into full swing yesterday with three games:
Mexico 1-0 Cameroon
After two wrongly disallowed goals due to incorrect offsides calls, El Tri got their deserved goal and three points, which were desperately needed as the other two teams in this group are Brazil and Croatia. Looks like 2nd place is going to come down to Mexico and Croatia.
Netherlands 5-1 Spain
Wow. Spain just got old. They looked painfully slow against the Dutch counter attack after the first 20 minutes, when they got their goal on a dubious penalty call. After that, it was all Holland, who were faster, more aggressive, and clinical in front of goal. Spain has won three major tournaments in a row with much of this same group, and it couldn't go on forever. Their defense especially got exposed as Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, and especially keeper Iker Casillas were particularly poor. It's time for the next group of Spanish stars to get their chance.
Chile 3-1 Australia
Chile looked fantastic for 15 minutes, scoring two goals and looking every bit the confident, stylish, attacking side we expected. And Australia looked over matched.
And then...it stopped. Chile controlled possession, but were unable to find clear chances, while Australia started to find their footing on the counter. A beautiful header by Tim Cahill off a cross got a goal back before halftime, and in the 2nd half, Australia had the better chances I thought (though Chile did have one cleared off the line). Chile bombed forward constantly, leaving them exposed on the counter, and Australia almost took advantage several times. Cahill put another in the back of the net, but was rightly ruled (just) offside. Australia finally ran out of gas late, and Chile added a 3rd in stoppage time. But it brought up some concerns for Chile, and was a courageous performance by the Socceroos that they should be proud of.
There are four games today:
Colombia v. Greece 11:00 am Central ABC
Uruguay v. Costa Rica 2:00 pm Central ABC
England v. Italy 5:00 pm Central ESPN
Cote d'Ivoire v. Japan 8:00 pm Central ESPN
Today in History
1381: Rebels of the Peasants' Revolt storm the Tower of London unopposed
1775: U.S. army founded
1777: Continental Congress adopts stars and stripes flag, replacing Grand Union flag
1846: California Republic forms, declaring independence from Mexico
1928: Republicans nominate Herbert Hoover at Kansas City convention
1940: Auschwitz Concentration Camp opens
1942: Disney's "Bambi" is released.
1951: First commercial computer put into use at the Census Bureau
1982: Argentina surrenders to British on Falklands, ending war
Today's musical birthday is George O'Dowd, aka Boy George, born in 1961.
Have a great Saturday. Enjoy the soccer if that's your thing. I'll be watching.