Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve Says WNBA Championship Was Stolen
Officiating is major. It can make or break a game. Can be the reason why a team is successful or leaves the court with their heads hanging low. Well, Lynx versus Liberty game 5 had some raising eyebrows in the aftermath. In fact, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve says the WNBA championship was stolen from her team.
Those are some pretty poignant words. Reeve didn’t even flinch when uttering them. And she said what she said.
Of course, any loss is tough on a team; especially, when it is the final game of the postseason and for all of the marbles. But a loss is even tougher for a franchise when it feels like the ball was taken right out their hands and the other team given some sort of an advantage.
On Sunday, due to a foul call on Lynx center Alanna Smith; Liberty’s Breanna Stewart went to the free throw line and made both attempts for New York to tie the score. Effectively sending the game into overtime. The Lynx challenged the call, but it was upheld.
Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve Says WNBA Championship Was Stolen
In a postgame interview, Cheryl Reeve made her displeasure over the call known. Reeve also mentioned that a third party should be involved in reviewing challenges. Reeve had this to say,
“All the headlines will be, ‘Reeve cries foul.’ Bring it on. Bring it on. Because this s— was stolen from us. Bring it on.
At the other end when they challenged it, if we would have turned that clip in, they would have told us that this was marginal contact, no foul. Guaranteed. Guaranteed. So, when you review, there should be the same parameters that you’re reviewing with, but the three people on the game need a fourth party to let them know. Because that decided the game.
I saw a very physical and aggressive New York team. We know this from being a part of the games for so long that sometimes you get away with this stuff when you’re physical and aggressive, and they certainly did. It’s a shame that officiating had such a hand in a series like this.
It just doesn’t feel right that you lose a series with that level of discrepancy. We don’t have a team that whines and complains and all that stuff. Sometimes, it probably hurts us. Maybe being a little more, I don’t know, something. But you have a star player like Phee that just — I don’t get it. I don’t get how she can be held and go to the basket and get hit, and then a marginal, at best, at best, sends their best player to the free throw line. I mean, that’s tough. It’s tough to swallow.
These guys shot 30% [from the floor]. Shot 30%,” Reeve said of the Liberty. “The difference was in the foul line.”
Liberty definitely didn’t play their best game. Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu uncharacteristically missed a lot of shots. But in the end, the Liberty still pulled it off.
During OT, the Lynx fell behind, never to tie or catch up. New York wins their first championship in franchise history and the Lynx now have a long offseason. But we are sure they will come back next year with a chip on their shoulder and with a new motivation. WIN IT ALL.
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