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2015 WNBA Draft (April 16) Preview


lethalweapon3

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Another Atlanta pro team’s season is right around the corner!

 

The WNBA Draft is on Thursday night (7 PM Eastern, first-round coverage on ESPN2, later rounds online via ESPN3), and the Atlanta Dream will likely have two more quality players to choose from when they pick at #10 in the first round.

 

If you haven’t heard much Dream news, that’s because, well, there hasn’t been much to write home about. Former Tulsa wing Roneeka Hodges started every game for the Shock last season. Signed as a free agent, the veteran in her 11th season will ably fill in behind Dream star Angel McCoughtry.

 

Otherwise, just about every key player from last season’s Eastern Conference regular season winner returns for another campaign, which begins June 5.

 

Swedish-born Minnesota sophomore center Amanda Zahui B. and Notre Dame junior point guard Jewell “Slide That L Over” Loyd surprised many this week by declaring for early entry. Their inclusion pushes the middle of the first-round draft board down to the Dream at #10. Atlanta is not necessarily looking for an immediate starter, but will search for a rookie reserve that could bring similar potential impact (on the floor) to what Shoni Schimmel (8th overall) brought to the Dream in 2014.

 

If there is anyone with 2015 Starter potential at #10, she would fill in a point guard slot. Jasmine Thomas was brought back into the fold on a multi-year deal, but her talents as a passer and shooter leave much to be desired. Celine Dumerc is believed to be under contract, but there have been no indications the French national star will return to America. She may stay in France to help prepare Les Bleus for another run at the Eurobasket championship, which finishes up in late June.

 

A third point guard in the fold would shield against the probability that Dumerc does not return, or arrives late again, while offering Atlanta a longer-term solution. Such a player could also limit the usage of Schimmel as a reserve PG, leaving Shoni to play to her strengths as a small 2-guard.The recent movement of the draft board likely means that one of the top two point guards in the draft will drop to #10.

 

Samantha Logic (5’9”, Iowa) is as pure a floor general as you’ll find (8.1 APG, 3rd in NCAA), and has demonstrated an ability to extend herself defensively at multiple positions, leading her Hawkeyes in rebounding. She’s not a strong long-range shooter. Still, if there’s any rookie who might become a double-double, or triple-double, threat while sharing the floor with Angel, Samantha would be a Logic-al choice.

 

Brittany Boyd (5’9”, California) could emulate Fred Hoiberg, and become “The Mayor” of Berkeley, California, the place where she starred as a high school senior. Cal’s first WBCA All-American would be quite happy imitating Jason Kidd. Boyd (6.8 APG, 6th in NCAA) does many things similar to Logic (leading her Golden Bears in rebounding, too) and is a more effective defender at her prime position, but she (like Kidd used to be) is far from a polished shooter. Her passing numbers may be a bit inflated, having fed likely first-round power forward Reshanda Gray (6’3”) in the post.

 

Either Logic’s or Boyd’s tenacity would look good with Tiffany Hayes and McCoughtry at the wings. But Boyd’s transition offensive skills are most reminiscent of what Angel brings every night.

 

Dream GM Angela Taylor may let her alumni strings get the best of her and pass up Boyd for Amber Orrange (5’7”, Stanford). She is a much stronger shooter than the other two guards, but her size may make it tough for her to adjust to a more physical game. She is also more of a quiet leader, in the mold of a Jeff Teague, who finds ways to shine whenever the spotlight is thrust upon her. Orrange’s addition may drum up offers for Schimmel, who would not be an ideal complement in a reserve backcourt duo scenario.

 

Brazilians Erika DeSouza and Nadia Gomes Colhado were both re-signed this offseason, stabilizing Atlanta’s center position. But DeSouza’s now 33 years of age, her frontcourt mate Sancho Lyttle 31, and their ability to hold up at the ends of games (and seasons) showed signs of fraying as the curtains came down prematurely on 2014. The Dream may go after bigs willing to develop and wait-in-the-wings for a starting spot to open up down the road, in the interim taking pressure off of Aneika Henry (reserved but not yet re-signed) and Colhado.

 

Kiah Stokes (6’3”, UConn) would be a surefire defensive stopgap at the pivot, but is as big an offensive black hole (aside from her rebounding) as any prospect you’ll find. Isabelle Harrison (6’3”, Tennessee) is the top all-around talent among players capable of playing the 5-spot. But multiple knee injuries raise valid questions about her long-term durability.

 

You can’t teach size, and when it comes to that, Vicky McIntyre (6’7”, Old Dominion Oral Roberts via Oklahoma State and Florida) is about as good as it gets. Agility (a la Phoenix’s Brittney Griner) is not her strong suit, but rebounding (NCAA-high 15.8 RPG) and shot-blocking (4.7 BPG, 2nd in NCAA) sure as heck is. She also has a little range with her jumpshot, unlike most bigs coming out of college. She’d need conditioning work to adjust to the elevated pace of the WNBA game.

 

Atlanta doesn’t have a second-round pick this year. Thanks to their calamitous Swin Cash deal from last season, that pick goes to Chicago, who swapped their third-rounder as part of that trade. The Dream don’t have a need to reach in the first round, but if they do, it will likely be for a PF/C prospect like Stokes or McIntyre. “We need a physical, physical big down low,” Dream coach Michael Cooper told FoxSports last September, a week after Chicago ousted the Dream from the playoffs. “We need that beast in the post in that four spot or five spot and we’ll definitely be looking to shore up there.”

 

As usual, I’m a sucker for local talent. Although it’s tough to imagine her falling too far down the board, it would be impossible to pass up on Dearica Hamby (6’3”, Marietta High, Norcross High, Wake Forest), who will likely get taken not long after her ACC competitor, National Defensive Player of the Year Elizabeth Williams (6’3”, Duke). A late-bloomer, Hamby averaged 20-and-10 for a Demon Deacon team that had little else to offer. Her defensive agility, wingspan, and shot range would allow her to fit right in as a replacement for Lyttle, who is likely to leave in June to help defending champion Spain in Eurobasket competition. Sancho was the Eurobasket 2013 MVP, defeating Dumerc and host France in the final.

 

Elem Ibiam (6’4”, Fayette County High, South Carolina) was a low-first-round prospect at the start of the NCAA season. But her hype has ebbed, as her minutes and those of fellow prospect Aleighsa Welch (6’0”) were gobbled up by A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates on Dawn Staley’s stacked Gamecocks roster. A solid rim protector, Ibiam may become available with the higher of Atlanta’s two third-round picks (29th from Chicago, 34th).

 

Cooper, who left USC to come to Atlanta last season, took a Woman of Troy in last year’s draft (Cassie Harberts). The Dream’s head coach may coax the brain trust into doing the same in 2015 with forward Alexyz Vaioletama (6’1”, USC). Coop continued to recruit Vaioletama after she suffered stress fractures in both legs while in high school. Coincidentally, one of her high school teammates was Kelena Mosqueda-Lewis (5’11, UConn), the deadeye-shooting guard (NCAA all-time three-point shooter) who is certain to get taken in the top-five of the first round.

 

Long-range shooting has long been a bugaboo for Atlanta (last in WNBA with 30.3 3FG% in 2014). Without trades, the draft is unlikely to help much in this regard. Diminutive guard Damika Martinez (5’7”, Iona: Twitter handle is “Dream_Chaser_14”) may a later-round option but her role would be duplicative with Schimmel’s. Laurin Mincy (6’0”, Maryland) can fill it up but has a history of ACL injuries, and will likely be gone anyway before the Dream pick again in the third-round.

 

If the Dream don’t take a point guard with the first-rounder, the early third-round prospects may include Nikki Moody (5’8”, Iowa State, 8th in NCAA for APG), Brittany Hrynko (5’8”, DePaul), Natasha Cloud (6’0”, St. Joseph’s) and and the zippy Bria Smith (5’10”, Louisville). A longshot to get drafted is Smith’s fellow teammate and Shoni’s younger sibling Jude Schimmel (5’6”, Louisville).

 

~lw3

Edited by lethalweapon3
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My land, an AJC article on the Dream in April? ((pinches self))

 

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/basketball/dream-have-options-with-10th-pick/nktq9/

 

(GM Angela) Taylor said she thinks the Dream have the best frontcourt in the WNBA with Erika de Souza, Sancho Lyttle, Aneika Henry and combo player Angel McCoughtry. If the Dream were to pick a center or forward, it likely would be a role player that coach Michael Cooper and his staff could develop.

 

The team also is solid at guard with two-time league scoring champ McCoughtry, Tiffany Hayes, Celine Dumerc and Shoni Schimmel.

 

Taylor said the team needs to improve its 3-point shooting. The Dream were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams last season, at 30.3 percent.

 

The Dream needs to make more of those shots to cause defenses to expand, which gives de Souza, Henry and Lyttle more room inside, and give McCoughtry and Schimmel space to drive.

 

So, that is one of the specific needs that Taylor could target if there is a player available that she likes.

 

“In order for us to be the dominant team we think we can be, we have to be able to score consistently from the perimeter,” she said.

 

 

Or, at least, to be the dominant team they could have been.

 

~lw3

Edited by lethalweapon3
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It DOES Compute!

 

 

 

 

I wholeheartedly concur!

 

~lw3

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Good Ol' Rocky Top!

 

Heck, what's one more point guard?

 

 

Not sure she'll stick, but Ariel filled in nicely as a lead scorer once Isabelle Harrison went down with the ACL.

 

~lw3

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One more pick... a project big... and a smarty pants, too!

 

 

 

Lauren (6'3") led her conference in rebounds, helped get the Dukes to the NCAAs two years in a row, all while a psych major in James Madison's pre-med program. Not too shabby!

 

~lw3

Edited by lethalweapon3
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Want another point guard?

 

Coming right up!

 

 

Trader Angie strikes again!

 

Brittany's from my hometown, so no fuss from me! The 5'8" guard topped the Big East in steals (she'll fit right in) plus she finished second in the conference in scoring and assists.

 

No more whining from me about point guard needs for now! Hrynko I believe was the best shooter among the small guards. But I suspect Taylor isn't done moving personnel, as she'll be looking for a veteran perimeter shooter if Hodges and Hrynko's additions aren't enough.

 

~lw3

Edited by lethalweapon3
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Great article about Hrynko (pronounced "Rink-o"):

 

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150126/sports/150129138/

 

Forced to become a tough athlete to survive in sports that she played almost exclusively with boys, she also was forced to become a tough daughter at a tender age.

 

Hrynko's dad Mike, who would drive her all over Philadelphia for so many games and practices that sometimes she'd have to change for the next one in the backseat, was shot in the neck in a horrific act of random violence.

 

Brittany was just 10 years old when Mike was rear-ended in traffic and got out of his truck to inspect the damage. The other driver, high on drugs, shot him.

 

Mike, now a quadriplegic, was lucky to survive, and his ordeal forced all three of his kids to toughen up quickly.

 

"It was so hard. When it first happened, I wasn't able to go to the hospital right away. I couldn't see my dad like that," Hrynko said. "But that got better. I looked at it like this: at least he was still here. At least, I could still talk to him. At least he was still around and could still come to my games. I was just happy for that.

 

"I knew he was going to need a lot of help, that he wouldn't be able to do as much for us as he used to. But I knew that he would still be able to help me grow as a person."

 

With Mike religiously cheering her from his wheelchair, Hrynko grew into a star player, one of the best in the storied history of Philadelphia girls basketball, which includes the great Dawn Staley.

 

 

~lw3

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Thanks for all the coverage lw3, esp. the story about Rink-o. Looks like you nailed in figuring out who was the logical pick.  I've been out of town and didn't have the web access I'm used so missed this, but at least got to see the first round of the draft on TV.  Drafting 3 guards and trading Jasmine doesn't seem like a vote of confidence in Shoney (pun intended based on what we saw of her at the celebrity game) and Celine.  Hope they got the message.  I think Jasmine will help the Sun.  Guess her and Alex Bentley will be fighting over minutes again.  We will now have 5 pgs fighting for minutes, though some of them look like they could play sg as well.  

 

One thing we've seen in the past few years with Tip, Alex, R. Williams, and some others - there are good guards to be found past first 9 draft picks - you just never know for sure who they are.  We've got 3 chances now to find a winner.  Who knows maybe Okafor can apply her smarts to making the team as well.   Getting excited about this upcoming season.    

Edited by Randy
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