Lynx News
Well, the Minnesota Lynx have done it again--the team defeated Phoenix on the road Sunday to move on to the WNBA Finals. They will face Indiana at the Target Center Sunday; tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CST.
All-Star Maya Moore scored an incredible 40 points in the 72-71 win over the Mercury, and the game concluded on a controversial foul call that sent Moore to the charity stripe. The league later said that the foul should have never been called.
If Minnesota beats the Fever in the Finals series, the Lynx will be WNBA Champions for the third time in five seasons.
Timberwolves News
Media Day
The Wolves hosted their Media Day Monday, and it drew plenty of interest as always. John Meyer represented Canis Hoopus at the festivities, and he compiled a list of notable quotes from the day.
Training Camp
Timberwolves training camp is underway, which means we're that much closer to the regular season! With lots of excitement surrounding new arrivals Tyus Jones and Karl-Anthony Towns, and with some intriguing additions including Andrew Wiggins' older brother joining camp, there are lots of reasons to keep tabs on the team right now. Head on over to Timberwolves.com to check out the daily play-by-play.
Flip Saunders
Lots of questions have surrounded head coach Flip Saunders and his current health condition since being diagnosed with Hodgkins-Lymphoma in August. On Thursday, Star Tribune Wolves writer Jerry Zgoda offered some insight into the situation. Zgoda said the following in a live chat segment:
"Since [August] there have been changes to the way his body handled the chemotherapy (and maybe how much cancer they've found) that have made it life threatening [...] Between the complete silence, the lack of people visiting as far as I can tell apart from his immediate family and very inner circle while he remains hospitalized here in Minneapolis and the things I'm hearing second-hand, well, none of it is good."
Zgoda went on to say that he doubts Saunders will return to coaching "if he pulls through" the cancer battle. Although none of this has been confirmed by the team, it certainly seems that Saunders' status is much more critical than originally anticipated. At this time, Sam Mitchell will continue to serve as interim head coach.
Other NBA News
Steve Kerr
The Golden State Warriors announced Thursday that head coach Steve Kerr is taking an indefinite leave of absence to recover from two back surgeries he underwent over the summer. The team reported that Luke Walton will step in for Kerr as interim head coach. Kerr ruptured a disc in his back during Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and he had surgery on July 28 and Sept. 4 to repair the injury. Golden State is facing the Wolves at Target Center for the preseason opener on Wednesday, Oct. 7, and it is not clear if Kerr will have returned to coaching duties by that point.
Derrick Rose
Don't look now, but Rose is hurt again. The point guard underwent surgery to repair a broken orbital Wednesday, and he will avoid all physical activity for two weeks. Rose will also be away from the team until at least his scheduled follow-up exam today, because he is suffering from a sensitivity to light. Although this injury doesn't look to sideline Rose for too long, Bulls fans have to be wondering if he will ever play consistently again.