Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve glad Whalen's toughness is being acknowledged

When the annual WNBA GM survey came out yesterday, the Lynx were all over it, to nobody's surprise. But there was one category that stuck out for coach Cheryl Reeve:

Toughest player.

Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen was voted the toughest player, getting four of the 12 votes. It's the first time she's won that vote. To Reeve, it was long overdue.

"I'm glad they recognized that,'' she said. "Because that is absolutely the epitome of who she is. Mentally, physically, the whole package. So when that player is your point guard? That's why things have gone so well here through the years. It's not a coincidence that half of her career she has spent in the WNBA finals.''

Actually more than half. Whalen went to two finals in six seasons with the Connecticut Sun. With the Lynx since 2010, Whalen has appeared in five finals – winning three – in seven seasons. That makes seven finals in 13 seasons.

"It speaks to the fact that she's the identity of our team,'' Reeve said.

Some quick notes from today's practice:

--Reeve said a final roster decision has not yet been made. The team will go right down to the 4 p.m. wire. Check back here to see the update when the final roster comes out. If the Lynx find a way to keep 12, they will keep rookies Alexis Jones, Temi Fagbenle and Shao Ting – who would become the fifth Chinese woman to make a WNBA roster, the first since 2009. If the Lynx go with 11, one of those three would have to go.

--Reeve said Plenette Pierson, who returned to practice Thursday after having missed both preseason games with a concussion, looks very good. "Her spending those days the way she did, doing EXOS (a conditioning program) and working in the pool, getting her body feeling good really was a benefit to her,'' Reeve said.

--Reeve said that, based on what she saw in the preseason, this Lynx bench might be the deepest in her time here.