Following the Lynx last season I noticed Fowles conceded the tip. Here's an excerpt from an article regarding that strategy.
The team that loses the opening tipoff receives the ball to start the second and third quarters. The Lynx believe beginning the second half with a basket provides an extra jolt of momentum.
Seimone Augustus, in her 12th season with the Lynx, said losing opening tipoffs is one of multiple quirky strategies the Lynx have, examples of Reeve’s obsession with details. Augustus declined to list any others, but she believes this one has been around since Reeve became coach in 2010.
“I don’t know what other people’s scouting reports look like,” Augustus said, “but we have a miniature phone book.”
Losing the opening tip isn’t part of scouting reports, though. It is a cemented idea, one that took 6-6 center Sylvia Fowles a few games to learn after she came to the Lynx in 2015. Four of the opening tips the Lynx lost in 2015 came within a month of Fowles arriving via trade.
“Out of habit, I used to tip it and give it to us,” Fowles said. “And she [Reeve] was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. We don’t want the jump ball.’ ”
Now, Fowles sometimes performs a “fake jump.” She crouches and looks prepared to take off but never leaves the floor. Other times, she will tap the ball to an opponent.
And when the tipped basketball comes the Lynx’s way?
“Everybody just kind of backs up,” Augustus said.
If it works for the Patriots ...
Football teams, including the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, often defer possession to the second half with hopes of finishing the second quarter with the period’s last possession and a score. They then receive the ball to start the third quarter, which could mean two touchdowns without their opponents possessing the ball.
