2014 Atlanta Dream and WNBA Previews

[Randy]

A pretty good win - hope now we don't do like we did last time around and lose to the Fever on our home court.  Our backcourt situation is getting more jumbled up though.  Hayes seems a lock on her spot as SG, and sometimes backing up Angel.  Then we've got Celine, Shoni and Jasmine moving around between PG and sometimes the later two play backup SG.  The best passer (Celine) can't shoot, the best shooter (Shoni) is not good one defense, and the best defender (though this is arguable) Jasmine has doesn't pass very well, and isn't a reliable 3 point shooter.  So far, its working out but yesterday it seemed neither Shoni nor Jasmine played well in the new order.  Oh, and we've got Ajavon out there, who seems unable to get much going in very limited minutes.  Well, we could have the problem like last year where we had too few players at times.

 

Celine, though, you have to admit, was for at least one play, a monster defender with her "not in your house" block on Zealous at the end to seal the win. 

Edited June 30, 2014 by Randy

[lethalweapon3]

Cooooooooop!

 

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~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Dream just passing the POW around like the basketball in the halfcourt.

 

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~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

In WNBA news, another tough blow for the Sky. First, star forward Elena Delle Donne has been out with complications due to Lyme disease. And today it's reported Courtney Vandersloot sprained her MCL and will be out anywhere from 6-10 weeks. Fortunately Sylvia Fowles just returned and Epiphanny Prince is playing well again, but it remains to be seen how they'll deal without their All-Star playmaker.

 

~lw3

[Randy]

Well, it might be more accurate to say "Planette Pierson gave Vandersloot an MCL sprain" when she dished out a monster slam to the floor disguised as a screen in the NY game last week.  I sprained my MCL last year - very painful and took 3 months to recover, but then I'm old man, not a young athlete.  They have a rookie PG, Jamera Faulkner who is looking really good - so guess she will be jumping into the fire. 

Edited July 1, 2014 by Randy

[lethalweapon3]

Showtime Tuesdays are back at the Highlight Factory! The Atlanta Dream get another primetime matchup on The Deuce tonight, as they aim to sweep the home-and-home series with the Indiana Fever (8:00 PM Eastern, ESPN2). Tonight’s also the first of a three-game homestand for the Dream, who come into tonight with a 7-1 home record.

• Indiana (6-9) has dropped four straight, and has yet to win a game where opponents score or exceed 80 points. Tamika Catchings (back injury) remains out, and will not join the team for their back-to-back two-game road trip, leaving a lot of the offensive diet to the ready-and-willing Shavonte Zellous (19.6 PPG in last five games, 4^th in WNBA). The Fever will leave Atlanta to play Washington tomorrow night.

 

• With the Fever ranked next-to-last in the WNBA for assists (14.7 APG), Head Coach Lin Dunn will need a lot more playmaking out of Briann January. The All-Star point guard contributed just 3-for-9 shooting and 3 assists on Sunday, but shot 3-for-5 on three-pointers after going 3-for-21 in her previous seven games.

 

• Atlanta’s chances of pulling off another win in Indiana started off ominously on Sunday, as Dream players missed all of their first five free throws in the first half. They bounced back, though, by going 10-for-10 in the second half, all of them needed to pull away from Indy and win 76-68 in the closing minutes.

 

• Celine Dumerc got her first WNBA start, and wasn’t spectacular in her first 17 minutes of action. But she shined as a closer in the final two minutes, collecting an assist on an Angel McCoughtry three-pointer to seize the lead for the final time, blocking Shavonte Zellous’ three-pointer then running down the floor to make a big layup with under 40 seconds to go, hitting two clutch free throws and sealing the deal by stealing the ball away from Zellous in Indiana’s final possession. Dumerc was subbed in for Jasmine Thomas following three straight turnovers by Angel (2) and Thomas, as the Fever rattled off seven straight points. Indiana could not score a single point in the final 3:52 after pulling ahead 68-65.

 

• There was a power outage on the floor during the Fever’s last visit to Philips Arena. One period after each team put up 25 points, Atlanta held Indiana to just four fourth-quarter points, but the Dream could only muster eight points themselves as the Fever hung on to pull away 82-77 in overtime. Dumerc, however, was not yet with the team, and it will be interesting to see if she can perform as strongly in the clutch as she did on Sunday.

 

• McCoughtry can probably share some advice to the Braves’ Evan Gattis on recovering from a nagging rhomboid injury. The league’s third-leading scorer is regaining some offensive efficiency, shooting 43 percent from the field and averaging 23.2 PPG (second only to Skylar Diggins) in her last five games.

 

• By virtue of achieving the Eastern Conference’s best record through June 30, Head Coach Michael Cooper qualified to direct the Eastern Conference squad in the WNBA All-Star Game. He has done a solid job of utilizing his frontcourt stars to his advantage, while mindful of their need to rest. It is all the more impressive to see the Dream at 11-4 given a number of strategic roster additions (Swin Cash and Matee Ajavon, in particular) haven’t panned out on the floor. By all accounts, players are eager to listen and adjust to Cooper’s rotations, which have some players modifying their roles, and their production, from one game to the next. Atlanta has the league’s best offensive rating and the East’s best defensive rating while playing at the highest pace in the WNBA.

 

• The Dream’s 9-2 streak of late comes at a rough time for the rest of their Eastern opponents. Atlanta’s win over the Fever on Sunday was the first of seven straight games versus Eastern teams; after the All-Star break, those foes will have just six chances to directly bring the Dream back down to Earth. They can hope for some help when Atlanta hits the road and plays out West, but so far Atlanta’s undefeated (5-0) against the Western Conference.

 

• Women's hoops legend (and South Carolina head coach) Dawn Staley presides over the non-profit group Innersole, provider of sneakers to homeless and needy children. Attendees bringing a new pair of shoes to the game for donation will receive a Innersole tee and a meet-and-greet opportunity with Staley after the game.

 

Go Dream!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

 

P.O.M. Wonderful. Wouldn't they make better sponsors for this award?

 

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~lw3

[Randy]

Well we didn't lose the game on free throws this time.  (We did miss a lot, but got 20 points, they got 27.  So we'd have only made it to overtime had we not missed FTs.)  No - the real culprit was out 2-22 backcourt - Ajavon was arguably our best shooter 0-0 (smart enough to not even try).  Celine 1-5, Shoni 0-6, Jasmine 0-4 and Tip 1-7,  I honestly think Shoni could just heave up shoots from 40 feet out and do better than that.  But, looking at the bright side - it gave our bigs plenty of offensive rebound opportunities, and they did grab 12 of them.

 

I really lay the blame for this loss on Linn Dunn.  Sydney Carter was a player we cut last year, who later got on with the Sun and got cut by them.  Christmas was another under loved player who along with Larkins have found something in the water in Indianapolis. (I lived there - it never help me.)  Dunn does more with less than anyone.  I don't think Indy's opponents will miss her at all.  The Fever are my second favorite team since I grew up in Indiana. so I'll miss 29 times a year. 

 

I'm not sure our excess of talent in the backcourt is really working out right now.  Perhaps Cooper should do like they do in baseball, and just give one of those players a night off every so often. 

Edited July 2, 2014 by Randy

[lethalweapon3]

The Dream gives it a go again tonight at the Highlight Factory, continuing their 3-game homestand against the Washington Mystics (7:00 PM Eastern, SportSouth).

 

• If the only team that can trump the Dream in Atlanta (7-2 home record) is Indiana (2-0 in ATL), then the rest of the WNBA is in trouble. Atlanta played to the Fever's style and tempo throughout the contest on Tuesday evening, and with the iron unkind from long-range (0-for-13 on threes) there was insufficient offensive balance to catch up to Indy. Looking for a bench spark (Celine Dumerc, Shoni Schimmel, and Swin Cash a combined 1-for-13 from the field), Amanda Thompson came in and connected on three of her four baskets, and added a couple blocks and 4 rebounds in short stints. Alas, the Waitress served up 3 turnovers, including a costly bad pass in the closing minute that Indiana stole to salt away their 77-70 victory.

 

• Angel McCoughtry provided what she could offensively, scoring 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting against the Fever, but was clearly bothered throughout the game by a bruised thigh suffered during the first quarter. Hopefully she'll be rested up and ready to go, but if Cooper needs to give her more rest (69 minutes in the two-game series with Indiana), Cooper will have to look to Thompson and Swin Cash to have a greater imprint on the game at the offensive end.

 

• While Atlanta (11-5) remains comfortably ahead (for now) of their peers in the East, Washington (7-11) has dropped two in a row and striving to fight off the New York Liberty in the basement of the conference. Tonight's the first of a five-game road swing for the Mystics, similar to a four-game trek that started in Atlanta last month, an 83-73 Dream victory. They ended that road trip with a win in San Antonio, only to return and lose the next week to the road-warrior Stars and Fever in D.C. They've taken three of their seven wins on the road, so they are no pushovers away from home.

 

• Dead last in the East in pace by far, Head Coach Mike Thibault is insistent on building a team capable of playing at a faster tempo to compete for 40 minutes with the Atlantas and Chicagos of the conference. As such, the team is struggling when they need to rely on veteran presences like Kia Vaughn (having her best all-around season in three years), Monique Currie, and Kara Lawson to keep up. ''Our team is going to find out I'm a little more stubborn than they are,'' Thibault declared after Wednesday's loss to Indiana. ''I want to play a certain way, I want to play at a faster pace and they don't understand what that pace is right now." Don't be surprised to see some player movement out of the nation's capital before the WNBA trade deadline hits.

 

• In striving to push the pace, Thibault may be putting too much pressure on his rookie guard to lead the way. Bria Hartley (10.2 PPG) is the only Mystic scoring above ten points per game, aside from Ivory Latta (10.9 PPG). Her 2.7 TOs per game has her tied in that department with Atlanta's Schimmel, 1st among rookies and 7th overall. While he's deferred to Hartley over Lawson, he may want to pair the two as starters (bringing Latta as a sparkplug off the bench), to take advantage of the superior ball control from Lawson, his veteran offseason acquisition (2.6 APG, 1.0 TO/G).

 

• Vaughn and Emma Meesseman, plus rookie center Stefanie Dolson off the bench, are making life miserable for opponents (league-low 42.9 2FG%) on the interior. They need big help from their teammates, though, as Washington opponents turn the ball over a league-low 11.4 times per game, Meeseman and Vaughn leading the team in steals. If Erika DeSouza (9-for-20 in two games vs. Washington) can't get it going inside, someone is going to have to get things going from the perimeter for Atlanta, who is now shooting below 30 percent on threes (28.8 3FG%) just like last-place Washington (27.7 3FG%) so DeSouza and the Dream bigs can focus on securing rebounds.

 

• While points in the paint can be a tall order versus the Mystics, Atlanta should have little trouble scoring in transition. Ballhawk Sancho Lyttle (league-high 2.4 SPG) can get things going after snaring just three steals in her past three games, including zero in limited action (16 minutes) against the Fever.

Go Dream!

~lw3

[Randy]

Good one lw3.  Missed the fact that Angel was hurting last game. Thanks for pointing it out.  On my way to the game!!  Go Dream. 

[Randy]

Good win.  I was worried for most of the game, but in the 4th quarter we put it away.  Even though it was Hero night - no one tried to play Hero Ball!   Celine hit her first 3 and Shoni had her best game since probably the first few weeks of the season.  Mystics seems to be in a real tailspin, but that's not our problem is it? 

 

BTW - found out that Orechova and Willingham were both at last night's game.  They may just be WNBA fans or wanted to celebrate Hero's night.  However, in light of lw3's comment not to be surprised if the Mystics make a trade, makes we wonder if there are some dots to connect (even though most the time those dots aren't really connected anyway.)  Maybe the Mystics wanted to talk to on of them, or maybe something like Matee back to DC (where she was apparently a much better fit than here) for a little used player or draft pick, freeing space for an addition.  This weeks was sort of a milestone though - all the players on the roster are now going to get paid for the full season.  So the trade deadline is the next big date. (Not sure when it is - maybe around All Star time.)

 

Finally, Jasmine is just not impressing at all these days.  Her last good game was probably the Lynx game.  Wonder what it will take to move her out of the starting lineup? 

[lethalweapon3]

Halfway through the WNBA season already, and the Atlanta Dream are hoping to widen their lead in the Eastern Conference by putting the sting to the Connecticut Sun (7:00 PM Eastern, ESPN2) at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion (still the Thrillerdome in my eyes). Atlanta (12-5) is the sole Eastern team with a .500 or better record, while the Sun (9-10), a half-season removed from the Association's worst record, are eager to join them.

 

• This has been a roller coaster season that was mostly expected to go in the down direction for Head Coach Anne Donovan's troops. A 1-5 start was proceeded by a surprising 85-76 home win over Atlanta, sparking a 7-1 run that included six straight victories. But they were well on their way to their fifth-straight defeat on Saturday, letting an 11-point lead evaporate with four minutes to go in Tulsa. Renee Montgomery fouled Skylar Diggins on a game-tying layup with 24 seconds left, but Diggins missed the accompanying free throw, and Montgomery wasn't about to miss out on the lucky break, flipping in the winning shot with six seconds to go. That bucket helped Connecticut avoid a 1-7 road mark, which looks Jekyll-and-Hyde alongside their 7-4 home record.

 

• #CTheSunRise is the popular hashtag for Sun fans, akin to our #RWTD ("Run With the Dream"). One thing you rarely C the Sun do, though, is pass. They're the sole WNBA franchise with fewer assists per game (12.7 APG) than turnovers (14.2). Their assist tally is on pace to be the lowest in over a decade, since the 2004 Charlotte Sting (12.5 APG).

 

• The Sun offense primarily consists of iso-ball featuring sharpshooter Katie Douglas, dump-ins to their Nigerian-American Nightmare, rookie Chiney Ogwumike (8.3 RPG, most by a rookie since Tina Charles in 2010; 15.3 PPG), board crashing and putbacks, and fastbreak points off steals. Faced with a lot of new moving parts in the post-Tina era, Coach Donovan is trying to keep the offense as nuance-free as possible.

 

• Moving 2013 All-Rookie Kelsey Bone into the starting lineup at the center spot has taken some of the defensive pressure off of Ogwumike, who does struggle to stay out of foul trouble (3.6 PF/game, tied for 2nd most in WNBA). Chiney has especially been a bull-in-a-china shop on the road, carrying the Sun with 17.5 PPG, 9.8 RPG, and 2.1 BPG in away games (compared to 13.6 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 0.8 BPG at home). With Bone ably pre-occupying Charles, the player she was traded for, Ogwumike put up 22 points and 17 boards in New York last week.

 

• Angel McCoughtry's backside is displayed prominently is the newly-out Body Issue of ESPN The Magazine. That back is not nagging her anything like it was in Connecticut last month, when she shot just 2-for-14 from the field. McCoughtry and Sancho Lyttle's combined 4-for-21 outing offset the offensive output from Tiffany Hayes (6-for-13, 17 points), Shoni Schimmel (3-for-6 on threes), and Erika DeSouza (7-for-11, 15 points, but 6 turnovers). Angel will be needed inside to help Sancho Lyttle and Erika DeSouza build a decisive edge in the rebounding department against Bone and Ogwumike.

 

• Atlanta's 11 assists in the last game against the Sun were a season-low. Schimmel and Celine Dumerc each compiled 4 assists in approximately 20 minutes each to spark Atlanta's victory on Saturday over Washington. They may get more minutes tonight, but Head Coach Michael Cooper is inclined to tolerate Jasmine Thomas (9 total assists, 2.5 PPG on 5-for-37 FGs in her last 8 games) as the starting point guard so long as she remains the best defensive option and doesn't cough up the ball.

 

• To keep the turnovers down, Atlanta will have to be mindful of Kelsey Griffin (team-leading 1.4 SPG), who missed their last matchup with gastrointestinal issues. Connecticut's second-leading theft-maker, Allison Hightower (knee procedure) will be out for a few weeks, joining Danielle McCray (thumb) on the sideline. The Sun brought in guard Briana Gilbreath-Butler to help with roster depth. They'll need productive minutes from their other first-round pick, Alyssa Thomas. The rookie has struggled in the halfcourt offense but does put up big numbers when she earns trips to the free throw line.

 

• A warm welcome is in store for Alex Bentley. The former Dream All-Rookie guard raised eyebrows with a hot stretch in early June where she eclipsed her career scoring highs in three consecutive games and earned conference Player of the Week honors. She has struggled of late (10-for-29 shooting) but remains, perhaps by default, the team's steadiest ballhandler with a team-leading 3.4 APG.

 

Go Dream!

~lw3

[Dnice]

I hope the Dream fans didn't get lost tonght. lol

[Gray Mule]

Great win @ GT campus.  Too bad Dream are treated as red headed

step children by Phillips Arena.  Seems someone else has it's use

for this month.

 

Wonder how many really showed up.  Didn't look like a lot of people

were there from the TV pitchers.

 

Oh well.  Dream won the game and that's the important thing.

 

GO DREAM!!

[lethalweapon3]

You'll remember when I said that Shoni is kind of a big deal? Look who finished second overall in the WNBA All-Star voting tally.

 

EASTERN CONFERENCE -- FINAL RETURNS LEADERS

Guards: Shoni Schimmel (Atl) 25,601; Cappie Pondexter (NY) 10,104; Ivory Latta (Was) 9,932; Briann January (Ind) 8,717; Courtney Vandersloot (Chi) 7,504; Katie Douglas (Con) 7,318; Epiphanny Prince (Chi) 6,006; Kara Lawson (Was) 5,064; Shavonte Zellous (Ind) 4,399; Anna Cruz (NY) 2,753; Matee Ajavon (Atl) 2,727; Allison Hightower (Con) 1,863

Frontcourt: Elena Delle Donne (Chi) 26,129; Angel McCoughtry (Atl) 17,562; Tamika Catchings (Ind) 13,939; Erika de Souza (Atl) 12,859; Chiney Ogwumike (Con) 11,980; Tina Charles (NY) 9,796; Jessica Breland (Chi) 5,841; Sylvia Fowles (Chi) 5,072; Sancho Lyttle (Atl) 4,615; Erlana Larkins (Ind) 3,970; Marissa Coleman (Ind) 3,344; Emma Meesseman (Was) 2,981; Kelsey Bone (Con) 2,239; Kelsey Griffin (Con) 2,209; Kia Vaughn (Was) 2,047; Monique Currie (Was) 1,818; Essence Carson (NY) 1,710; Plenette Pierson (NY) 1,533

WESTERN CONFERENCE -- FINAL RETURNS LEADERS

Guards: Diana Taurasi (Phx) 19,404; Skylar Diggins (Tul) 17,937; Seimone Augustus (Minn) 16,143; Lindsay Whalen (Minn) 13,691; Sue Bird (Sea) 8,210; Becky Hammon (SA) 6,663; Danielle Robinson (SA) 4,685; Erin Phillips (Phx) 3,895; Kristi Toliver (LA) 3,485; Alana Beard (LA) 2,892; Riquna Williams (Tul) 1,844; Tanisha Wright (Sea) 1,361

Frontcourt: Maya Moore (Minn) 28,389; Candace Parker (LA) 23,555; Brittney Griner (Phx) 18,432; Nneka Ogwumike (LA) 10,697; Kayla McBride (SA) 10,192; Janel McCarville (Minn) 8,210; Candice Dupree (Phx) 7,844; Glory Johnson (Tul) 6,261; DeWanna Bonner (Phx) 5,183; Rebekkah Brunson (Minn) 4,707; Courtney Paris (Tul) 3,568; Jayne Appel (SA) 3,475; Crystal Langhorne (Sea) 3,221; Sophia Young-Malcolm (SA) 2,534; Camille Little (Sea) 2,290; Jantel Lavender (LA) 2,114; Jordan Hooper (Tul) 1,963; Shekinna Stricklen (Sea) 1,798

Congrats to Angel and Shoni for cracking the starting lineup! Assuming Elena Delle Donne will miss her second-straight ASG while she continues dealing with her Lyme Disease complications, Erika DeSouza will likely replace her in the starting lineup as well. Tiffany Hayes was a write-in candidate and thus didn't garner many votes, but she'll have a decent chance to make the roster, as will Sancho Lyttle. Hayes may have an even better shot than Lyttle since the East is so frontcourt-heavy.

~lw3

[Randy]

Good win at the Flying Saucer.  Good to see all my votes counted, though my write-ins for Hayes didn't seem to get far..  Shoni will be perfect for the All Star game, along with Angel, and I have to believe Erika (4th leading vote getter for bigs) will be starting assuming Delle Donne can't make it.  Also, I figure this will be the perfect game for Shoni to reprise her role as Giant Killer when the West puts Griner  on the floor.   The East game plan should be simple - bang the heck out of Griner with all the east players other than the Dream and hit about 20 3 pointers.  It worked for Louisville!

 

The Governor was at the game last night.  Hopefully someone suggested the state buy a parking lot for the Tech Arena.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Randy

[lethalweapon3]

Bill and Swin. Reunited, and it feels so good... for us!

 

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~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Eastern Conference Whac-a-Mole continues for the Atlanta Dream on the first night of a back-to-back weekend, where they’ll face off at the Fieldhouse with the Indiana Fever (7:00 PM Eastern, SportSouth airing FoxSports Indiana’s broadcast). Atlanta hosts Chicago tomorrow night at the Highlight Factory. Indiana (10-10) replaces Connecticut as the team eager to join the Dream by breaking into above-.500 territory.

• This fever dream is the final regular season battle between the two rivals that have represented the East in the WNBA Finals for the past five seasons. The last time another current Eastern Conference team reached the Finals was in 2005.

 

• Winning the last matchup in Atlanta on July 1^st, the Fever hope to secure the season series (2-2) versus Atlanta, and for the Dream there will be no ducking savvy superstar Tamika Catchings this time around. The nine-time All-Star will play her fourth WNBA game this season after sitting to recuperate from a back injury.  Indiana has won two straight and was just a Kayla McBride game-winner with two seconds left from going 3-0 in the games since Catchings (16.7 PPG, 47.2 FG%, 8.3 RPG, 1.67 BPG, 0.7 TO/G) returned. The 34-year-old Catchings, who Lin Dunn calls, “the Derek Jeter of the WNBA,” hit a game-winner herself at Tulsa this past Tuesday.

 

• The return of Catchings’ offensive spark and defensive intensity has taken a lot of the pressure off of point guard Briann January to play hero-ball, and off of center Erlana Larkins (9.6 RPG, 2^nd in WNBA, 2.2 SPG, 3^rd in WNBA) to cover much of the floor. Larkins will be able to hone in on Atlanta’s Erika DeSouza (career-high 15.7 PPG, 23 points and 8 boards vs. Indy on July 1), who is a strong candidate to serve as the East’s All-Star Game starter. Larkins (61.8 FG%) and DeSouza (59.7 FG%) rank first and second, respectively, in field goal percentage. Despite Larkins, the Fever have been last in the league for team FG% (41.5%), perhaps not for long now that Catch is back.

 

• Like Larkins, January is also seeking her first trip to the All-Star Game. With Chicago’s Courtney Vandersloot out of action for awhile, Briann leads the Eastern Conference with 4.4 APG, just ahead of Atlanta’s all-world Angel McCoughtry (4.2 APG). She has rediscovered her long-range jumper this season and is hitting 41.7% of her three-pointers, while also connecting on 89.5% of her free throws (5^th in WNBA), both career-highs.

 

• Free throws remain a bugaboo for the Dream. Their 70.4 team FT% (69.7% on the road) is dead-last by far, despite McCoughtry shooting a career-high 85.4% from the stripe. Atlanta missed 10 of their 24 freebies in what was otherwise a rout of the Sun this past Tuesday. The Dream may finish 2014 as the only WNBA team since 2008 to shoot under 70 FT% on the road. In the last four seasons, the 2011 Dream (69.4 FT%) was the only WNBA team that shot worse overall. Leaving points on the table, especially in close games, can make a difference in how far Atlanta advances when the postseason rolls around.

 

• The Swin Cash Experiment was an unmitigated disaster, the outspoken forward earning mere spot minutes while shooting 23.3 FG% and averaging 1.5 PPG in 17 games for Atlanta. Now, she’s going to try to make it in New York, after a mid-week trade created an awkward reunion with her former Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer, who clashed with Cash often during her time in Motown.

 

• In return for Cash, the Dream acquired DeLisha Milton-Jones, a 16-year pro who may be eager to get a final shot at playoff glory as she becomes a quadragenarian in September. A native of Jesup and a former high school star in Hinesville, Georgia, DMJ ranks 3^rd all-time in WNBA minutes played, 5^th all-time in total rebounds and steals, 8^th in points, 13^th all-time in blocks, and won two WNBA titles with Head Coach Michael Cooper’s L.A. Sparks in 2001 and 2002. She’s given New York some decent production while playing mostly off the bench, averaging 5.7 PPG and 2.5 RPG in almost 17 minutes per game, although Laimbeer relied on her less as the season wore on. She hit a season-high five field goals amid a laugher for the Dream in Atlanta back on June 20.

 

Go Dream!

 

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

If I'm doing my numbers right, the magic number for the elusive first-ever Eastern Conference regular-season title is now down to 10.

 

~lw3

[Gray Mule]

Great!  Dream wins again!  New Dream girl, DeLisa Milton-Jones, looked

like she belonged with the team.

 

Regular season going great.  Hopefully, when we get to the playoffs, things

will continue to go well for Atlanta.

 

Had over 8000 attendance, which is very good.

 

GO DREAM !!