Atlanta Dream

[Randy]

Was at the game, sad to see them loose, but nothing to be mad about they had a great season!!!!!

In 3 games they were 8 points worse than Sea, perhaps one of the best teams ever. Every game could have gone either way, but of course the champions are the ones that figure out how to win the close games. Great game, exciting as heck. Sad ending to a great run. They never did give up no matter what the circumstances. Hopefully we can keep this team together and build on this.

[Sothron]

The who what now? Is this our NBDL team? I didn't think the NBDL season lasted this long.

[WraithSentinel]

I don't want to take away from a very good season for the Dream. Hopefully they keep their team together and make another run at it next year. Just nearly 50 years of pro sports in this city and all we got to show for it is only one Championship. It would have been nice to have another one even if it was from a league that get mock a lot. Just curious can we sign Angel to play for the Hawks?

[HawksFan87]

Even though they lost I'm still proud of the ladies, down big and each game still came down to the last shot. Hopefully the Hawks players learned to NEVER give up, no matter what the score board says. It will be a great learning experience , that will certainly help them play better next year when they make it to the playoffs again. how about Angel McCoughtry though? she elevated to superstar status in these playoffs.

[lethalweapon3]

ESPN article: "Dream learn valuable lessons"

http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/columns/story?columnist=voepel_mechelle&id=5583493

ATLANTA -- In the past two decades, some milestone moments in women's basketball history have happened in this city.

Let's go back to 1993, and one of the best championship-game duels in the NCAA tournament's history: Texas Tech senior Sheryl Swoopes versus Ohio State freshman Katie Smith.

It was a landmark title game: Swoopes' team won, but so did women's basketball in general. Swoopes and Smith would go on to win a combined six WNBA titles; Smith is still playing in the league.

Then there was the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where the success/popularity of the U.S. women's hoops team served as a springboard for both the ABL (which had a team called the Atlanta Glory) and the surviving WNBA (which started the Dream franchise here in 2008).

In 2003, the Women's Final Four returned to Atlanta a decade after the Swoopes-Smith show, and Diana Taurasi led UConn to a second consecutive NCAA title.

And now, the Peach City has been the site of the WNBA Finals. Yes, only for one game, and the Dream didn't win it, falling 87-84 to Seattle.

But with a young squad led by dynamic star Angel McCoughtry, the Dream were ahead of schedule this year just being in the Finals. They were 4-30 their inaugural season, they fell in the first round of the playoffs last year, and then this year they gave a good showing, despite the sweep, in the Finals.

Atlanta lost all three games to Seattle -- but by only eight points combined. Each game came down to the Dream having a chance to win or tie with a final shot. Asked which was the toughest of the games, McCoughtry -- who set a Finals single-game scoring record with 35 points Thursday -- put the whole series in perspective for Atlanta.

"This is definitely a great learning experience for me, being my second year as a professional. I just learned, you know, it's a different ballgame in the playoffs. Every possession matters in trying to win these games in the playoffs."

McCoughtry set the postseason single-game scoring mark with 42 points in the Dream's victory over New York in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. She was the focal point of the Storm's defense in the Finals, but still scored 21 points in the opener -- along with getting three stitches during the game -- and 19 in the second contest.

Seattle's Sue Bird was days away from turning 24 and in her third WNBA season when she played in her first Finals in 2004. And even though she won that series, she has a very good idea what this one was like for a player McCoughtry's age.

"It's evident what her future holds -- she's a great player in this league," Bird said. "She's really hard to stop, and as she gets older, she'll get more experienced. She'll pick and choose her spots better, and the sky is the limit for her.

"She carried them tonight. When that 3 went up [in the final seconds], I really thought it was going to go in."

Meadors endured that 4-30 first season feeling that things would turn around in the Dream's second season, which they did after McCoughtry came aboard as the No. 1 draft pick out of Louisville.

"She'll come back and try to get back to this same situation, except next year she'll have more experience and will play better," Meadors said. "She played great tonight. She played under control and did things we had to have her do in order to have a chance of winning.

"I think our core is in place; we just have to keep building around it. I don't think we can ever sit still -- there may be some people you have to replace, and people decide not to play. We've got two players who are both college coaches, so you never know what they might decide to do. Hopefully they'll come back and we'll get the best team on the floor that we possibly can."

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Sightings at Game 3:

Al, Marvin (was that a fauxhawk?), Teague, Jordan Crawford (either the announcer really didn't know who he was, or they deliberately played it out for like 20 seconds while his face was up on the JumboTron), and our old friend Billy Knight.

~lw3

[Gray Mule]

Sad that the Dream didn't win a game in the finals.

Happy and excited that they made it to the finals and gave a very good account of themselves.

Hopefully, the Dream picked up some new fans. After all, the NBA is in hibernation this time

of year. If you need a basketball fix, where else are you going to find it?

Told ya, these gals play an exciting game.

:go ahead:

Edited September 20, 2010 by Gray Mule

[Randy]

Sad that the Dream didn't win a game in the finals.

Happy and excited that they made it to the finals and gave a very good account of themselves.

Hopefully, the Dream picked up some new fans. After all, the NBA is in hibernation this time

of year. If you need a basketball fix, where else are you going to find it?

Told ya, these gals play an exciting game.

:go ahead:

I'm thinking that this strong showing in the playoffs helps them move up a level next year. After all, it was a good showing against the Celtics that presaged the Hawks rise from a sub 500 team to better than 500 and then the year after that to better than 50 game winners.