“Angry Syl” Helping Lynx Get Back on Track

Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout her career in the WNBA and since she joined the Minnesota Lynx in 2015, Sylvia Fowles has earned herself the nickname “Sweet Syl” from many of her teammates and from various people around the league.

Although she can be a fierce competitor on the court, Fowles has earned that nickname due to her friendly and caring personality off of the court and in the locker room.

But during the past week of practice and in Saturday night’s win over the New York Liberty at Target Center, which snapped a four-game losing streak for Minnesota, Fowles earned herself a new nickname: “Angry Syl.”

“I liked who Sylvia Fowles was this week for us and I also liked who she was in timeouts in holding her teammates accountable,” Lynx head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve said. “Some of the mistakes that we were making and some of those things we were trying to clean up, accountability and when you have accountability on your team that comes from the inside with your players — not when the coaches do it, but the players do it — that’s really powerful.

“I just thought her presence, it was her best week of practice. I like an angry Syl. I like that and I think that bodes well for us.”

At various moments this week in practice and in Saturday’s game, Fowles was noticeably more vocal than she has been in the past, serving more as a verbal leader to her teammates while holding them accountable for their actions.

“Angry Syl came out this whole week in practice. I wouldn’t call her necessarily angry, just more so being aware of my play and how I help this team. Just being persistent,” Fowles said. “Sometimes, when you are in this position you just have to step up. I hate being verbal and this week was probably the most I have talked in my life. These ladies responded well, they rose up to the occasion and we came out and played well.”

From talking to teammates throughout practices, talking to them during and after timeouts and just being more vocal on the floor in general, Fowles has recently tried to play a larger role than what she has in the past while trying to lead her team out of a losing streak.

“It is up to me (to be a leader). When you have a guard like Lindsay Whalen who pretty much put everybody in position, you don’t have to worry about those things as a big. With all of these incoming players and new faces, I think it’s my job to make sure everybody is in the same place,” Fowles said. “Once we leave the huddle, it’s my job to go on the court and go ‘where are you going? What are you doing? Who are you screening for and what side are you on?’ Those things, just to make sure they are at the top of our brain until we get it and until it becomes original.”

Fowles’ leadership wasn’t just noticeable from a vocal standpoint on Saturday in Minneapolis, but it bled through into her play on the floor. In the 92-83 victory over the Liberty, Fowles tallied a double-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks, three steals and three assists for the Lynx.

“I thought this might have been her best leadership week for this team. During (Saturday’s) game, she wanted to win badly,” said Reeve, who mentioned before the game that one goal of the team was to focus on getting Fowles more touches offensively. “It was unacceptable in some of those stretches what we were doing. Turning it over late in the game, that was the timeout when she was laying into them. I appreciated who Syl was (in the game).”

In the past, Fowles has typically been a player who lets her play do the talking rather than verbally communicating with her teammates. But her teammates have noticed the change in Fowles’ mentality this year, and they are getting behind one of their captains.

“Even though Sylvia is not the kind of leader who is really loud all the time, she’s the kind that always leads by example and is there if you have any questions,” Lynx rookie Napheesa Collier said. “(On Saturday), she was a little bit more vocal for us. We always look to her as a leader anyway, so whenever she talks we really listen.

“She was just being very vocal. Talking to us, making sure people were in the right spots, making sure we knew what we were doing on offense and defense, talking with screens during plays. Just all the time, she’s talking to us and that’s really helpful,” Collier continued. “It’s really good to see her like that. Like I said, when Syl talks, we listen.”

With the absence of a few key players and leaders this season, most notably Whalen, Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson, the Lynx need someone on the team to step up into that vocal leadership role moving forward.

Although she has been known mainly as “Sweet Syl” for the majority of her career, Minnesota — which improved to 5-5 overall with Saturday’s win — is hoping it sees more performances like what it saw out of “Angry Syl” on Saturday for the remainder of the year.

“When Angry Syl comes out you know you’re messing up,” Collier said. “You definitely want to do whatever you can to make it up to her and just do what we can for the team.”

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