Minnesota and Chicago both had games this past weekend they needed to win to get back on track, and both were victorious. The difference is how far off the track they were.For the Lynx, in a three-game losing skid after starting the season 13-0, it was like having an unexpected flat tire by the side of the road that needed to be fixed. Theyre now 14-3 and trail only 16-1 Los Angeles in the standings.For the Sky, though, it was the continuing search to make sure theyre even on the right road to the playoffs. They are 7-9 and part of the logjam of teams battling for the postseason.When the Lynx and Sky meet Tuesday in Minnesota (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET), those storylines remain in focus, along with the background that lingers between them in regard to center Sylvia Fowles.You could see some parallel between what Fowles did in 2015 -- sitting out and forcing a trade from Chicago to Minnesota -- to what Kevin Durant did Monday in leaving Oklahoma City to sign as a free agent with Golden State.In both cases, these are players in the primes of their careers who didnt win a title with the organization that drafted them (Durant moved with the franchise from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008), opting to go to a team that recently had won a championship.Obviously, the WNBA and NBA are completely different worlds in regard to salaries and exposure, but another way its different is that Durant really was free to go wherever he chose. Fowles was not, despite having been in the league for seven years at the point she wanted out of Chicago.She had the core-player designation, which meant she wasnt free to leave, but she could veto any trade she didnt want. Everyone knew she wanted to go to the Lynx and was willing to sit out all last season if that didnt happen. So, actually, neither Fowles nor the Sky were in great bargaining position, which is why the situation lingered into late July 2015.Then a three-team deal involving Atlanta got done, and Fowles joined Minnesota. Though it did take a little work, she was successfully incorporated into the Lynx and helped them win the league championship, being named WNBA Finals MVP.The Sky, who went to the WNBA Finals in Fowles last year there, 2014, still havent overcome her absence. Elena Delle Donne was league MVP last year, will be on the U.S. Olympic squad this year, and is having another strong season (20.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.1 APG).Veteran guards Cappie Pondexter (13.0 PPG), Allie Quigley (9.0 PPG) and Courtney Vandersloot (8.2 PPG, 4.8 APG) continue to power the perimeter for the Sky. But their interior game is made up of players who are capable and serviceable, but not stars who consistently put up big numbers.Rookie center Imani Boyette, 21, is the youngest of that crew and also the tallest at 6-foot-7. She has averaged 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds, which is decent production for a first-year post acclimating herself to the league.But it all means a lot once again is riding on the shoulders of Delle Donne, who is one of the premier players in the world. But she is still just one player.Its very difficult -- theyre a championship team, Delle Donne said of facing the Lynx, who beat the Sky 97-80 on May 18 in the second game of the season for both squads.Obviously, the season hasnt started off exactly as wed want it to. Weve had defensive lapses, and weve been working on it all season. But its one of those things: You cant talk about it, youve got to do it. Its something were trying to figure out.Delle Donne had her first double-double of the season Friday with 28 points and 11 rebounds as Chicago edged Washington 86-84 in overtime, with Vandersloot hitting the game-winning shot with 4.6 seconds left.Saturday, the Lynx got back to their winning ways by taking out their frustrations on San Antonio, winning 91-68 behind 21 points off the bench from Natasha Howard.Minnesota had lost at home to Los Angeles, at Washington, and back home to New York going into the game with San Antonio. The Lynx just needed to find their bearings.Hiccups like this arent unusual during the course of a season, even for a team as good as Minnesota. The Lynx have been through things like this before. The important thing for them is maintaining one of the top two spots in the standings in order to get the early bye in the playoffs.I think we focus on coming together even more, guard Lindsay Whalen said of the mindset of the three-time champions. We have to hone in on the little things on court as far as communicating.Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. Cheap Predators Jerseys . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. http://www.adidaspredatorsjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-p-k-subban-jersey . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Wholesale Predators Jerseys . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Cheap Predators Jerseys Authentic . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta.To be the fastest is a compelling human desire. Whatever the pursuit - physical or technological - we push to do it, surpass it, then do it again in a never-ending quest. The Olympics are a timely reminder of exactly this, and the obsessive commitment it requires.Cricket is no different. Cast your mind back to the contest between Brett Lee and Shoaib Ahktar at the turn of the last century to pass the 100mph barrier. It was close to the most tantalising match-race in the modern game. The energy was comparable a couple of generations earlier when Jeff Thomson was hitting similarly high notes. From Spofforth to Larwood to Tyson to Holding to Tait, theres an abiding romance about the very fastest.So heres another name for you: Shabnim Ismail. She talks fast. She likes fast cars. She probably eats fast. And she bowls fast. Faster than any woman in the world, if you ask her. And if you dont, its likely shell tell you anyway.The spirited South African spoke to ESPNcricinfo while in England as one of Yorkshire Diamonds overseas players in the inaugural Kia Super League.It was during her brief cameo with Melbourne Renegades in the Womens Big Bash League in January that she was clocked - at the MCG no less - at 128kph (79mph). That number means a lot to her. It is the evidence on which she bases her claim to the mantle of the quickest.It was always something I wanted to do, she says. Now that I bowl 128, it is a huge honour because no one would expect me to come up there and bowl gas.Why wouldnt they expect it? Its because shes small. Tiny, even: 165cm tall in modern parlance, or about 53 in the old money. To be honest, Im not sure how that happens, Ismail laughs, reflecting on the disconnect between her stature and the speed gun.They told me before I came here, the only job they had for me was to bowl fast and take wickets. Thats all I needed to do. Im quite happy doing that.She speaks of how the first wicket feels - how it puts subsequent batsmen on the back foot before theyve so much as taken guard. Its a compulsion that was born of watching former South Africa quick Andre Nel in her formative years.His aggression was crazy and I looked up to him, she reflects. Its why the number she wears on her shirt is 89: Nels. His passion for the game was just enormous, and it makes my day to see youngsters coming through the system being aggressive. It motivates me to go out there, show them that this is how it is done.At Diamonds she shared new-ball duties with Katherine Brunt, the only bowler in the womens game who could contest Ismails tag as worlds fastest. It all just adds to the fun for Ismail. Once I knew I was going to open the bowling with Brunty, I was really excited about two fiery people coming from either side - the batters must be shitting themselves!But in womens cricket you need to have more than rapid pace and a refreshing disposition to make it all add up. You need to market your skills. Thats precisely what Ismail did when the WBBL rolled around last Australian summer. She emailed every club.No one bit until Renegades brought her in for two games when Rachel Priest was unavailable. It was on national TV when she hit that 128 mark and got people talking.I took that opportunity and look where I am today: I have got a full contract season for them this year, she reveals. They are the opportunities you need to grab.Opportunities shes determined to keepon creating for herself, having already approached Yorkshire to come back next year as a County Championship player as well. Now at the peak of her powers, she just wants to bowl.Sure enough, it isnt quite as easy as flying into domestic competitions without it eventually colliding with international duty. In the case of the four South Africans in the inaugural KSL it was decided they would all miss a tour of Ireland due to the experience theyd gain in England against the bulk of the worlds best.Ismail, by no means a mercenary, finds this balance challenging. But in practical terms, its latitude that wont be repeated during the 2016-17 WBBL if South Africa have to qualify the hard way to get into next years World Cup via the qualifiers in Sri Lanka in January. Ismail states very clearly that she would obviously miss anything else to secure that tournament berth. Its country over club.Even so, it frustrates Ismail that South Africa are sixth in the rankings. Plenty needs to go right for them in a bilateral series against Australia to jump into one of four automatic entry positions. But this doesnt dampen her belief that they can triumph next year, using West Indies unexpected World T20 victory as inspiration.She does stress, though, that it would require a better start than they have experienced in recent ICC eventts.dddddddddddd. Its always the case that were starting off on the back foot and we have to do twice as much to catch up. Not wrong. South Africa only made it beyond 104 with the bat once, against Ireland, in this years World T20.Going back to the beginning, Ismail didnt have any cricket at school. Nor did the boys. So she played football with them instead. When the boys did get a cricket team, in the sixth year of her education, she joined them again - in her football shorts. They called me the Demon, she remembers, suggesting the trademark zip was there from the start.Thanks to the encouragement of her late grandfather, who urged her to read widely about the finer points of the game, there was no looking back. She has certainly done him proud, now that she is one of five South African women with a top-band contract.But is it enough to live the life she wants? Of this Ismail isnt so sure. It doesnt help when she sees Brunt pocketing for England, by her estimation, three times the wage she gets for effectively the same job as her countrys opening bowler. Its understandably a sensitive topic, likely magnified by her disadvantaged background.Now they have the Big Bash League for women and the Kia Super League, it keeps you interested and it makes you want to play even more cricket knowing you are meeting more people and you know you are going to make more money, she says. She also knows she isnt always the most popular player at Cricket South Africa HQ for her tendency to say what she thinks. Renegade by WBBL club, renegade by nature.I am actually quite a rebel, she self-describes. I like to say what is on my mind, and most people dont like that, but I think it is a good thing so people dont walk all over you.This is no better illustrated by what Ismail declares a crazy incident when she was suspended from the national academy and ordered to attend counselling for alleged abuse of alcohol. More than two years have elapsed since the episode, but she is still angry.It was basically two bowlers but myself and [Trisha] Chetty got dragged into it as well, she recalled. Ismail says they were told it wasnt going out to the media, and then to their surprise, there it was. The perception she was sloshed angered her; shes a Muslim, where that is frowned upon. Her mum was in tears. There was a lot of bullshit going around, which I dont like. She wishes it had stayed behind closed doors.Ismail doesnt contest it was a breach of contract, but to her, the public airing was a breach of faith. And for her, faith means a lot. While many of her team-mates practise their religion publicly, thats not her own style. But she prays daily, and is the only Muslim in the South African national side.In turn, she is proud how her story inspires younger generations of girls with similar upbringings. There wasnt much cricket for the Muslim girls back home in South Africa, she says. So going back to address Muslim communities to promote the game is something she finds rewarding. There are a lot of young girls looking up to me.As for whether her faith has acted as a roadblock to her playing cricket as a woman, shes indifferent. If her mum is happy, thats good enough for her.I think that doesnt really affect me - that I am a Muslim and I am playing cricket, she says. We have a diverse team - we have our blacks, we have our whites, we have our Muslims, we have our Indians, we have everything in there. So coming from a South African point of view, its nice to have all of that. Everyone understands each others religion and gives each other that space.Another lesson she learned came last year courtesy of a broken finger. You always have to have a career outside of cricket as well. The injury was the catalyst for pledging herself to a new challenge, studying mechanical engineering. In turn, shell fulfil a passion. I love cars; I love fast cars, she says. Between times she has started her own womens cricket academy in Johannesburg with Chetty.Her energy in discussing these projects is palpable, which also comes through when the question of longevity comes up. After all, shes 27, in a game that can be unforgiving for those in her specific line of work. For Ismail? She wants maybe another decade in the game before worrying about any of that.I know Im a fit person and Im only peaking now, she says. I always told myself there is no one better than me - that is just my attitude to the game. In my mind I am still 18 and I am still going to play like I am 18 - all the time.Refreshing, honest, engaging, fast. Once you know Shabnim Ismail its unlikely youll forget her in a hurry. ' ' '