Randy

Add one more possible candidate to the Dream GM search - Sun Coach Ann Donovan. Don't know if it was Donnovan or Sun GM Chris Seinko who fleeced us on the Bentley and Thomas trades, but she's no longer with the Sun and fits my idea of a GM who could take over as coach should Cooper falter. She's not the greatest coach, but not the worst, and did a pretty good job of rebuilding the Sun after it fell apart in her first year when players defected after Mike Thibault was fired. (Injuries really made the Sun a lottery team this year.)

Great info there lwl3. I grew up in Indy, so I'm pulling for the Fever, but they are now facing an elimination game. I really think there is no need for both a coach and GM in the WNBA, though Cooper said he didn't want both jobs when he was first hired. But, given the choice of doing both jobs or looking for a new one he might reconsider. I think Cooper is on pretty thin ice, so he probably has one more season, at most, to make good. I would not be at all surprised if the GM they hire is someone who has good coaching credentials so that his replacement is waiting in the wings should the team get off to a rocky start. I could see Ross, or Williams. Williams does seem to have a pretty good eye for talent so if he were to become available, I think he'd make a good GM. Kloppenberg also occurred to me as a GM, but he didn't accomplish much in Tulsa as a coach. One thing I've noticed - the teams who did best in the draft were the ones whose coach was out there a lot looking at college talent. Laimbeer, Thibault, Dunn, Hughes, and Williams were frequently spotted. Cooper may have been out there as much as anybody, but I've not heard much about that. We have 4 draft picks - the lottery pick (to be decided next Thursday), No. 11 (from the Lynx trade), No. 13 (for Logic) and No. 16 (our second rounder.) The Dream need to make sure those picks are not wasted. Now, everyone cross your finger for the lottery drawing. BTW - Kristern Bernhart is apparently the mastermind being NY's draft picks and other off-season moves. She may not be available, but sounds like a great choice if she wants to move.

I'd like Gwinnett arena though traffic pretty much eliminates week night games. The Braves have their affiliate in the same area. The Thrashers also had the Gladiators as their affiliate for a while.

I always liked Moses since he was a player from the old ABA and was thrilled when he joined the Hawks. I was really happy when Moses and Doc won the championship in Philly. I think some players today may be better shooters, and have more finesse, but Moses was just a monster on the boards and could out muscle any of today's players. The teams up in heaven are getting stacked.

Its official: Taylor is out. http://www.swishappeal.com/2015/9/16/9341097/angela-taylor-out-president-gm-atlanta-dream

There is a very strong report that Angela Taylor is no longer with the Dream. Her name is no longer appearing on the team staff directory. So, looks like the season is not the only thing that is over.

Well seasons over - we finished with the same record as last year 15 and 19, just the W's and L's were reversed. Some more sobering numbers: Dream were 5-4 against lottery teams, 2-0 against the 14-20 Sparks (neither game featured Parker, and some other key players) 4-0 against the 18-16 Mystics and 1-1 18-16 against Tulsa. So that's 12-5 against teams that were mediocre or terrible. Against the teams that won 20 games or more (Indiana, Chicago, NY, Phoenix, and Minnesota) the Dream were 3-14. Bottom line - this team is a long way from being a contender. Big changes are needed, so I'd have to think that a few people are on the hot seat right now. Changes in the coaching staff, Front Office, or player addresses all seem possible. Having a lottery pick couldn't come at a better time - if the Dream can nab No. 1 or No.2 - the bad news is we have only a 25% of that happening. The lottery drawing will be next week (24th during one of the playoff games) - can't wait to see what happens.

I don't know how well Carla plays but she's the first player we've had that brings her own drum section. Her fans were in force Friday night. If you want to see the Greatest Spectacle In Basketball tune in (NBA TV I think, Live Access otherwise) the Briana Stewart Bowl Tonight at 9 PM. San Antonio and Seattle are battling for the Top Lottery Odds in the upcoming draft. This one is for "44% of the ping pong balls" rather than all of the marbles. The loser tonight wins. Rumor has it Stewart herself will be flown in to coach one of the teams and the likely No. 2 pick, Mo Jefferson will be coaching the other, to be determined by a coin toss. This may be the only game in history where Seattle home fans will be rooting for the Stars.

BTW - former Dream PG Erica Wheeler has signed a rest of season contract with the Liberty as an injury sub. Some Liberty fans are afraid she will be their Poison Pill - which is not a bad nickname (or is it a Knickname?). Considering how Ivory Latta, Alex Bentley, Jasmine Thomas and Sam Logic all upped their game after leaving Atlanta, NY might be happy they've signed her.

Final home game of the season and the long awaited Carla Cotijo is joining the team for the rest of the season - both games as an injury sub for Milton Jones (mysteriously suffering a concussion after her tell all podcast trashing the WNBA referees) and Roneeka Hodges. So she will most certainly be anxious to show what she's got in what amounts to training camp contract audition for next year. The Fever are 1 on game ahead of the Mystics with 2 games to go in the fight for 4th seed against NY. They are 3-1 against NY, and 0-3 in blowout losses against the Sky. Who do you suppose they would rather play? Anyway said to say, the season will soon be over and we can start watching college games see who to draft with our (likely) No. 4, No. 11, No. 13 and No. 17 draft picks. Could be worse......

I think it was the tell-tale signs of marshmellow on his hands and face that gave him away.

Well, we have 2 minor league hockey teams in town, a lacross team, and probably some others I don't even know about.

We blew out the lazy Sparks last night. Only blowout this year that I can remember (except for those we were on the receiving end.) Princess Parker and Nneka didn't play. I guess they were afraid they might break a nail before the playoffs. The 2016 draft seems to have 2 players that might be really good for the Dream - Stewart, of course would help any team. Mo Jeff, also of UConn, is the consensus best PG in the draft, and probably in a long time. So we can benefit a lot from either No. 1 or No. 2 pick. The lottery drawing will be on Sept 24, so we won't have to wait long to find out what's going to happen. I figure our chances of getting either No. 1 or No. 2 are about 25% - 1 in 4. The bad news is that if I understand the formula correctly, if we don't get No. 1 or 2, we are stuck at No. 4. (Though I'm going from terse press release that was not very clear.) Its a bit early to get into too many scenarios for next season, but we could perhaps trade up in the draft since SA and the Sun wouldn't have a great need for another PG, should the get No. 2.)

Well yeah, but the Community Service they wanted was for him to work out with the NYPD Kickboxing team.

NY prosecutors probably said "Do we even have an extradition treaty with Macedonia? In fact, does anyone even know how to spell Macedonia? Is that where they make the MACE our police use? Oh, what the heck - let's just drop his charges"

When does the CBA expire? Not this season is it?

Well the Mystics stamped our lottery ticket last night. We are locked in at 10.4% chance for the No. 1 pick. We really don't need No. 1 (Stewart) as much as No. 2 (Mo Jefferson from UConn - best PG in the draft.) We can take our frustration out on LA tonight (who probably will be in cruise mode) and Indy on Friday. Since Indy couldn't beat DC (though they did get to OT) we should clobber them as well. Finally we play DC on Sunday and should send a message as to which team really should have been in the playoffs.

Gee - we've got a coach and 3 players up on charges now. We're starting to look like an NFL team.

Erika's tribute video. Very nice!

Theme song for Sunday's game:

If you have the time to listen - the DeLisha Milton-Jones interview is an eye opener. Covers a wide range of topics, including superstar calls, her career, including coaching men and playing against men growing up, mentoring younger players and working out with Shoni as they were both rehabing (DMJ from her achilles injury, and Shoni from her off-season weight gain.) Hopefully she won't get fined by the league for some of this. http://www.hoopfeed.com/content/2015/09/03/dishin-swishin-90315-podcast-as-she-prepares-for-her-500th-wnba-game-delisha-milton-jones-looks-back/#.VeiabJH3ySQ.twitter

If I can only get one team - why would I ever get it since the Hawks usually have almost every game televised? (I could see it for out of town Hawks fans - if they were really die-hard.)

And then there was 1. Its now more up to the Mystics than us. All they have to do is win one game against Phoenix, LA, us - twice, NY and Indiana. We have to beat DC twice, LA, and Indiana for a playoff spot, even if DC loses every game. I still think they come to Atlanta on Sunday without having secured their spot.

You had to remind me. Almost as bright of a move as the Rider trade.

No Jordan Crawford? :-) It does seem like a tossup between Joe and Al for No. 1. Joe might have been even better (in his prime) with our current coaching staff and same type of roster construction. Josh would have probably never fit in with the current staff though. I don't see Childress or Marvin deserving to be on any list. I'd just stop at 8 or something. Bibby was sort of the final ingredient needed to turn the Hawks into a winner and playoff team as I recall. One problem with a list like this is that its really hard to compare a guy that played 140 games to one that played over 600.