Lynne Roberts drops brutally honest response to Sparks’ struggles

LOS ANGELES – Currently mired in a three-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Sparks sit at 8-11 and in 11th place in the WNBA standings. It’s a far cry from where the Sparks hoped to be when they added several veterans to the roster including Nneka Ogwumike, Ariel Atkins and Erica Wheeler. But despite the poor start to the season, Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts still believes the team can turn things around.

The Sparks are without two of their best players in Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink due to injury, and there is no concrete timeline for either to return to the lineup. Plum is dealing with a lower leg injury while Brink has an ankle injury. While the injuries have impacted the Sparks’ recent play, it hasn’t changed the ultimate goal and it certainly hasn’t made Lynne Roberts feel any pressure.

“The plan was the plan. We’ve had one game where we’ve had everybody healthy so that is what it is. We’re missing our best offensive player and best defensive player, and we have been for weeks. And that’s impactful,” Roberts said during her pregame press conference before the Sparks’ faced off against the Indiana Fever on Wednesday.

“The pressure I feel is just pressure I put on myself to succeed. I’m not online. I don’t know what’s being said and I don’t care because I know what we’re doing behind the walls and how hard we’re guiding to figure things out. But the goalposts haven’t moved. We just aren’t close to them as we want to be but we’ll get there. I guarantee it.”

At this same time last season, the Sparks were 6-13. That started a stretch of games in which the Sparks went 8-2 to get back into the playoff race. In a similar situation, the team was awaiting the return of Brink and Rae Burrell from injury to give them a boost. They ultimately did not make the playoffs, finishing a mere one game behind the Seattle Storm with a 21-23 record.

The Sparks have missed the postseason for five consecutive years now, with their last appearance coming in 2020 during the league’s bubble season in Florida. Since then, the organization has undergone multiple coaching and roster changes in hopes of getting back to being one of the WNBA’s elite franchises.

It’s an uphill climb with Plum and Brink sidelined, but Roberts is confident in the ability of the players who are available to get back on track.

“I think it’s got to be the sum of the parts. We’ve got to be connected. We’re missing 36 points a game. You can’t make that up with just subbing in one player,” Roberts said. “So it’s got to be the sum of the parts is bigger than the whole. I think we can be dangerous team too, but we’ve got to play connected for 40 minutes.”