Becoming the winningest coach in WNBA history is an achievement in itself, but doing it and winning four WNBA championships is even more legendary. Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve has done that and more, and Sue Bird has highlighted a key reason for her success in the league.
In the latest episode of the Bird’s Eye View podcast, Sue Bird revealed the time in the latter half of her playing career when she realised just how detailed Reeve was at scouting players.
“I’ve said this on the pod numerous times: playing against Minnesota teams when I was still playing, like later in my career, I think it was actually Jenny Boucek who kind of started this off. We started to understand just how well they did scout.”
“And you know, not to get too ahead of myself, but playing for Cheryl with USA Basketball, I then got like a firsthand account of what it is when she does a scout,” Sue Bird told Portland Fire Head Coach Alex Sarama. “And it is extremely detailed. She knows the plays before they even are coming. She’s informing her team of all these things.”
Cheryl Reeve recently won yet another WNBA Coach of the Year honor, making it five in her career. She was not the only one on the Minnesota Lynx who won an honor, as Olivia Miles grabbed the Rookie of the Year award, which was a long time coming.
This is the best example of Reeve’s scouting ability, as Olivia Miles changed the course of the Lynx’s season during a time when star player Napheesa Collier was out with an ankle injury she suffered last playoffs. Not only did the former TCU Horned Frogs gem prove that she belongs in the WNBA, but she also proved that she is already at the top of the mountain and could be an anchor of the team.
Miles is currently averaging 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists on almost 50% shooting from the field. While these may well be uncanny numbers for a rookie, Reeve already knew that Miles would be a “generational talent.”
“What I said on draft night is that there were two players that had generational skills; I would now classify [Miles] as a generational talent…” Reeve said back in June, as per Lynx beat reporter Andrew Dukowitz.
Moreover, across Miles’ plethora of skills, be it shooting, elite playmaking, or IQ, Reeve used the word “consistency” to describe Miles while scouting her in college.
“It’s just a matter of can you figure out the pro game in terms of pace and physicality and all the stuff that goes with it, and that’s the part you don’t know.”
Apart from Miles, legendary players like Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, and Napheesa Collier have all been developed and reached newer heights under Reeve’s leadership and coaching.
Sue Bird said she was impressed with the Lynx’s scouting, and it seems like it is only going to get better from here on. Ahead of this season, the Lynx announced the hiring of International Scout Rachel Galligan to Minnesota’s basketball operations staff, the first in franchise history.
The New York Liberty, whom the Lynx are currently playing against in the WNBA playoffs, have the most foreign players on their roster.
For now, Reeve and Miles need to figure out a way to win Game 2 against the Liberty, which is a do-or-die game after Breanna Stewart took over Game 1 and did not look back. It will be interesting to see if the WNBA Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year can provide the Lynx fans with some much-needed answers at the Barclays Center and save their season.