Olivia Miles may be the second overall pick, but she is continuously making a case for why she should not be the Rookie of the Year, but also the league’s MVP. Her poised and educated work on the floor already speaks for itself. However, time and again, her inexperience takes over, as was visible in her costly mistake that cost the Minnesota Lynx their first game of the home-and-home series against the Washington Mystics. Yet, she is taking it on the chin and making a lesson out of it.
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“The play was for Nia. If Nia wasn’t there, I was supposed to get it to Mac. Miscommunication there—that’s on me,” Miles told the media. “I’ll be better. Obviously, I’m not blaming anyone but myself. That’s why I’m a bit frustrated. Just miscommunication, and I’ll learn from it.”
Miles was the Player of the Game for Lynx last night after she was responsible for the Lynx’s late comeback with three minutes to go. But with 19.3 seconds to go and the Mystics leading 77-76, things turned for her.
She was sending the ball inbound. With the defenders scrambling and not letting any Lynx player open up, the point guard found Kayla McBride near the wing across her. Only, that McBride was not even looking towards her. The ball went right across her and out of bounds for a turnover. The ball went to the Mystics, and then Miles fouled Georgia Amoore, who drained one of her two free shots.
After a blazing start to her rookie season, Miles has had some difficult moments in the last game as well. She managed just 7 points while going 1-10 from the field against the Valkyries with 6 turnovers in 32 minutes. However, her offensive slump ended against the Mystics.
She finished with 22 points while going 9-18 from the field, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Miles even got a shout-out from former NBA player Kevin Garnett in the first half when she had 8 points while shooting 50 percent from the field, along with 5 assists.
Even after a play that probably cost them the game, Cheryl Reeve refused to blame Miles for this play and called it a “part of the growing process.”
“It’s pretty deflating, as you could tell,” Reeve said. “I have to do a better job, maybe telling her options and order—like a quarterback making your reads and your checks. That was not one of the options where she was throwing it. I guess I didn’t really get it across to her what we were looking for.
“You have to go through these things,” she said. “When you think about the players that we’ve coached, we’ve been in a lot of battle-tested situations. We’re not there yet as a group. This is all part of that growing process.”
Even with the wins, this group is rather new to their roles. Rookie Olivia Miles has slotted in as a pure point guard, while Courtney Williams is back at her old position after being the point guard for a couple of years. Natasha Howard only joined this offseason, and Nia Coffey has taken up Collier’s role. These shuffles will have occasional drops like these. The important thing is to learn from them, and Cheryl Reeve will ensure they do. Mystics will now host the Lynx on Wednesday to continue their home-and-home series.
