Lynx coach goes nuclear on refs after WNBA Finals: ‘This s— was stolen from us’

BROOKLYN — Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve emphatically blasted officiating after falling to the New York Liberty within the deciding Recreation 5 of the WNBA Finals.

“All of the headlines will learn ‘Reeve cries foul.’ Convey it on. Convey it on,” Reeve mentioned on the conclusion of a long-winded rant wherein she laid out her grievances with the refereeing. “As a result of this shit was stolen from us.”

Reeve, probably the most embellished coach in WNBA historical past, decried the truth that a foul was referred to as on Alanna Smith on the finish of regulation — and that it wasn’t overturned after a coach’s problem.

With Minnesota main by 2 with 5 seconds, Breanna Stewart drove to the basket, and Alanna Smith was referred to as for a foul.

Reeve challenged the play, however the name was upheld. Stewart subsequently sank two free throws to tie issues up and power additional time.

“We now have acquired to alter our problem guidelines — and the officers doing the sport ought to have a 3rd celebration, as a result of that was not a foul,” an emphatic Reeve mentioned on the podium. “That decision ought to have been reversed on that problem, if we despatched that clip in. Assured. Assured.”

Reeve additionally wasn’t happy with the general discrepancy in free throws between the Liberty and the Lynx in Recreation 5; Minnesota tried 8 free throws and was referred to as for 21 fouls, whereas New York tried 25 free throws and was referred to as for 17.

“This shit ain’t that arduous,” Reeve mentioned. “Officiating — it’s not that arduous. When somebody is being held, be constant. In case you don’t wish to name… on one finish, don’t name it on the opposite. Be constant.”

A part of Reeve’s frustration was with the truth that Collier didn’t try a single free throw, whereas Stewart, who was matched up together with her for a lot of the evening, tried 8. Collier finally fouled out in additional time, whereas Lynx guard Bridget Carleton performed the additional interval with 5 fouls. On the similar time, no Liberty starter racked up greater than 3 fouls.

“I don’t get how she [Napheesa] may be held, and go to the basket, and get hit after which a marginal [foul] — at finest, at finest — sends their finest participant to the free throw line,” Reeve mentioned. “That’s powerful to swallow. That’s powerful to swallow.”

Collier appeared to agree together with her coach postgame. When requested about why she was simpler within the first quarter (10 factors) than later within the recreation (she scored 12 factors within the last three quarters), she pointed to herself getting fouled as nicely.

“Most likely as a result of I used to be getting held slightly bit,” Collier mentioned. “It was slightly exhausting to make pictures.”

Although Recreation 5 reached a boiling level in officiating frustration, each coaches have complained about refereeing all through the sequence. After Recreation 3, Reeve famous she felt the calls favored the Liberty, and after Recreation 4, it was Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello who pleaded her case. In that Recreation 4, the free throw disparity was reversed; the Liberty tried simply 9 free throws, whereas the Lynx tried 20.

“Cheryl talked about it final time, however we acquired no calls right this moment,” mentioned an uncharacteristically livid Brondello after the Liberty’s 72-70 Recreation 4 loss. “Do I want to speak up in a press convention?”

Reeve acknowledged that the truth that coaches had been sad with the officiating in three of the 5 Finals video games was a problem.

“It’s a disgrace that officiating had such a hand in a sequence like this,” Reeve mentioned after the Recreation 5 loss. “Clearly, there’s at all times going to be a workforce that’s going to be slightly extra disenchanted than the opposite. I believed right this moment was extremely disappointing.”

However, requested about Reeve’s officiating criticism, Brondello mentioned she felt the officiating was “fairly honest” and mentioned that the Liberty ought to have received Recreation 1.

Reeve additionally mentioned she felt that her workforce doesn’t complain to the offials as a lot as different groups do, and that their lack of complaining typically comes at their expense.

“It simply doesn’t really feel proper that you just lose a sequence with that stage of discrepancy,” Reeve mentioned. “And we don’t have a workforce that whines and complains and all that stuff, and typically it in all probability hurts us.”

Plenty of present and former NBA gamers watching the WNBA Finals recreation additionally criticized the late-game foul on Alanna Smith, together with Damian Lillard, Lebron James, and Isaiah Thomas.

“Congratulations to the Liberty on their first championship,” Reeve deadpanned on the podium after airing out her grievances with officiating.

“It took them 28 years. Congrats to them. We had been that near our fifth. It simply didn’t occur, proper? It’s disappointing. It’s extremely disappointing.”