The making of Sylvia Fowles: Lynx center still isn't done growing

There are a few things Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve and All-Star center Sylvia Fowles might disagree on.

For example: the best motivational methods.

Reeve, as we know, has an edge. Fowles, by her own description, runs a little cooler.

"I'm very conservative," she said, then allowed for an exception when she's angered. "I do have a psycho mode."

But there is one thing on which they are on the same page. When Fowles is aggressive, when she's focused — perhaps when she enters psycho mode — she cannot be stopped.

"No, no," Fowles said. "Simple as that. No."

Said Reeve: "I couldn't agree with that more."

And so the question: How best to get there?

This is a big priority for Reeve as the Lynx prepare for Sunday's season opener with Chicago at Xcel Energy Center.

Acquired in a midseason trade in 2015, Fowles was WNBA Finals MVP for the championship Lynx that fall. The athletic, 6-6 Fowles has been first- or second-team all-WNBA five times, defensive player of the year three times, an All-Star three times and has won three Olympic gold medals.

So when Reeve and Fowles sat down for an exit interview after their last-second Game 5 loss to Los Angeles in the 2016 finals, the message was …

More.

"Big step," Reeve said of her expectations for Fowles this season. "It's a big step. We're looking at Sylvia from her rookie year to now, and she's had unbelievable accomplishments. She's done some great things. But we're closing the book on that segment of her career. And we're locking in to what's next. Next for Syl is that there is no scheme that you can throw at her that she's not going to dominate it. That requires mental fortitude. It requires a great deal of skill work. Having patience when you have the ball, that you're absolutely in control. That will be vital to our ability to succeed."

No problem, right? All Reeve is asking is that Fowles be dominant, like, all the time, Reeve said.

One of Reeve's regrets about last year's finals — when Fowles averaged 13 points and 11.8 rebounds — was that she didn't do enough to get more out of her team's post game during the five-game finals loss to the Sparks.

"You look at that, and there are reasons for it," Reeve said. "I hope we're in better position to feel greater confidence about what's going to happen with different coverages."

For Reeve, that means some intense work with Fowles on her game, preparing her for whatever she might see. When associate head coach Jim Petersen stepped down after last season, Reeve hired two assistants — James Wade and Walt Hopkins — with strengths in player development.

The overriding themes with Fowles? Intensity and patience.

"It requires a great deal of skill work," Reeve said. "And then there is recognition, patience. Having patience when you have the ball that you're absolutely in control. You can go slow, then fast."

The key is getting Fowles to the point where she can get the ball anywhere in the post and be successful.

"So that, every time she gets a touch, that something really good happens," Reeve said. "Whether it's creating for someone else, or a move that's going to be a three-point play, or at least get to the foul line and make her free throws."

To be clear, Reeve and Fowles agree on Fowles' potential and the goals Reeve has set. But it's still a challenge when it comes to the best way to facilitate the growth.

Reeve admitted Fowles is her biggest challenge as a coach.

"I need her to be on the edge," Reeve said. "Every coach would like to do that without the prodding. But I'll prod, if needed."

Fowles?

"I just want to be aggressive," she said. "I think I will be more of a part of an offensive threat this year. In her opinion, she thinks I'm somewhat conservative. She's trying to get me into psycho mode. … I have a psycho mode. It's that I'm not going to give Coach Reeve the pleasure of making me crazy.

"I see her do it with Seimone [Augustus], and I can't handle it. She doesn't have to push my buttons to get me there."

She said she will get there herself. A more dominant Fowles would make the Lynx much more difficult to cover, opening up shots for a roster full of midrange shooters. It could also result in more open three-point looks.

"I want to be myself and do what the team needs me to do," Fowles said.