Dream vs. Fever (3 PM EST Sunday)

[lethalweapon3]

(EDIT: Put the first one in the wrong forum, so I'm pasting it here...)

Just a reminder for the WNBA fans that the Dream will play the Indiana Fever this afternoon at Philips. Folks that get SportSouth can catch it at 3 PM, otherwise you'd need WNBA LiveAccess to peep it from your computer.

The Dream were mildly shorthanded without Yelena Leuchanka (concussion) last week, when the Dream dropped the season opener to the Fever, but Atlanta never gained traction in the game, down by 17 before shrinking the final lead to 8.

Led by league MVP Tamika Catchings (long overdue for that award), The Fever are the odds-on favorite to get over the hump and make the Finals from the East. Catchings' injury against the Dream in the playoffs was a speedbump on that path to the title last year. The Fever travel to Atlanta after an impressive road victory over the improved Chicago Sky on Friday.

Starting in the absence of Erika DeSouza (Brazil Olympics), Leuchanka was fantastic in the Dream's last game, a drubbing of the New York Liberty on Friday night, shooting 5-for-5 while making some great passes. She has to avoid the temptation to pass on open shots in the paint.

Atlanta will need to squeeze all the production they can get out of Sancho Lyttle, who leaves the team in June to join the Spanish Olympic team. Keeping her out of foul trouble will be crucial to winning today's contest. It'll get much tougher without Sancho and Erika going forward.

They'll need to reproduce the defensive effort that stymied Cappie Pondexter and the Libs on Friday, not only to slow Catchings but Katie Douglas, Shavonte Zellous (a longtime Dream killer) and Briann January on the perimeter. Last Saturday, the Fever lofted ten more threes than the Dream and shot 57%. Sancho was the only player who took 3 three-point shots in that game, which is almost like asking Smoove to do it, so the Dream need to rely on their long-range bombers Cathrine Kraayeveld and Laurie Koehn to step up.

Go Dream!

~lw3

[Gray Mule]

Dream got of to a great start in this one. Then, as their brother Hawk

team does so often, they went into the sleepwalk mode. No shot would

fall. Indiana closed the door on them and took the lead @ the half.

Angel was injured on the last play before the halftime break. She came

back and played most of the second half but you knew she was hurting.

WNBA basketball is very physical. This is not your grandma's type game.

Extremely quick. On the bad side, there was a lot of turnovers on both

sides. This leads to fast break points.

The Dream wanted to improve their 3 point shooting this year and added

two new players who are expected to hit those downtown shots. Against

Indiana, they tried to force the ball inside, even when it wasn't working

and they couldn't find the range on their 3's, going 1-9 and many of these

were despertion shots at the end of the clock.

78-62 was the final. Dream defense was pretty good, not great, but good.

Their offense, after the 1st quarter, was horrid. Indiana improved to 3-0

for the year and the Dream fell to 1-2. Not the start that they had in mind.

GO DREAM!