2017 Atlanta Dream and WNBA Previews

[lethalweapon3]

Can you stomach another disappointing defeat? After scoring just two 4th-quarter points and falling in Minnesota to a Lynx team that was playing without Seimone Augustus and (for a half) Lindsay Whalen, and after getting outscored 28-13 in the fourth quarter and blowing another late lead to a Chicago Sky team that gave us one of their longtime starters for a swap of backups, the Atlanta Dream have the Lynx back in their own house (7:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports South in ATL, Fox Sports North in MSP).

What have they learned from these defeats? Hopefully, part of the lessons-learned is it is time to move Elizabeth Williams (-19 plus/minus @ CHI) out of the center position, convert Sancho Lyttle (-10 plus/minus @ CHI) into a sixth-woman, and allow Imani Boyette (+14 plus/minus in her old stomping grounds) to show what she's got with the top line. If they haven't figured that out yet, then MVP-leader Sylvia Fowles (20.4 PPG, 3rd in WNBA; 9.9 RPG, 2nd in WNBA) will be happy to hammer the point home, time and time again, often at Williams' expense.

Big Syl had 29-and-8 (plus 3 blocks) in Minnesota's 90-80 victory at McCamish Pavilion, then split one double-team after another for 25 points and 13 boards (plus 3 steals) as Minnesota ground Atlanta's offense like black pepper for most of last Thursday's game in St. Paul.

Minnesota (20-3) hasn't suffered two consecutive defeats since last June. And they're certainly not looking to do that after getting edged 84-82 in Indiana on Sunday. Is coach Michael Cooper's reformulated Dream team willing to adjust to perhaps create a different result?

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Real quick news on a cross-country coaching shake-up. They couldn't Carry Bou any further. One of my coaching faves takes over the reins for now!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Now that they've gotten out from under the clutches of the Minnesota Lynx, can the Atlanta Dream beat anybody else, particularly at home? We'll have some idea of how they fare tonight against Tina Charles (20.1 PPG, 4th in WNBA, 9.5 RPG, 3rd in WNBA) and the New York Liberty (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast in ATL, MSG Network in NYC), as Atlanta (10-16) aims to end its losing streak at five games.

Atlanta's last win at home against New York, 81-72 back on July 2, helped shift the downward momentum for a spell. It will take a similar 40-minute effort to overcome Charles, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Month, and keep from falling further out of the WNBA playoff picture.

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

If you can stomach 'em, the Dream are back home again, this time trying to end the freefall at seven games versus the Connecticut Sun (7:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports South in ATL, CSN New England in CT, NBATV elsewhere). This, following rough losses on back-to-back days last week, versus New York and at last-place San Antonio.

Replace Sylvia Fowles of Minnesota and Tina Charles of New York (oh, and Isabelle Harrison of San Antonio) with Jonquel Jones of Connecticut, and you have a similar refrain from prior games. The Dream (10-18), who finally have the look of a team that sorely misses Angel McCoughtry, remain just 1.5 games out of the final playoff spot, but that Tragic Number is down to 6 and dwindling.

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

As a disastrous August rolls on, threatening to eclipse a disastrous month back in June, postseason dreams are just about dashed for the Atlanta Dream. Any chance of clinging to that thread involves sweeping the next three playoff hopefuls, beginning tonight, when the Dream visit Skylar Diggins-Smith and the Wings in Dallas (8:00 PM, NBATV in ATL, Fox Sports Southwest Dallas Plus in DFW).

Dallas (13-16) holds the eighth and final playoff spot, and can reduce Atlanta's Tragic Number to 1 with a victory at College Park Center tonight.

Diggins-Smith (18.2 PPG, 8th in WNBA) is striving to regain her groove. Her 42.5 FG% and 34.5 3FG% are career-bests, discounting the fifth-year guard's injury-shortened 2015 season in Tulsa. But she has struggled to reclaim her polish from a stretch that ran from mid-June through the All-Star Break.

The Wings lost their last two games while Skylar shot 7-for-28 from the field. She and her team have had a full week to rest, however. Any chance the Dream have to thwart Dallas tonight begins with having a healthy Tiffany Hayes (bruised ribs) and Bria Holmes (ankle bursitis) available. Neither could play when Atlanta (10-19) dropped its eighth-consecutive game, getting overrun 96-75 at the hands of Jonquel Jones and the visiting Connecticut Sun.

Any chance at finally stopping the losing streak tonight also involves keeping Diggins-Smith off the free throw line. She went 18-for-18 in back-to-back contests against the Dream in July, has gone 57-for-59 over ten games since then, and hasn't missed two freebies in a single game since June 9.

Despite the oncoming play of #1 overall pick Kelsey Plum, the race for Rookie of the Year hardware seems to be coming down the stretch between Dallas' Allisha Gray and Atlanta's Brittney Sykes. Each player shined in the fourth quarter of Atlanta's last visit to Dallas, a 94-84 win by the Wings that got real close until Gray's four-point play in the closing minutes. Both rooks have an affinity for calling their own number, so the player who stands out more tonight will be the one who remembers they have other teammates on the floor.

Layshia Clarendon (7.0 APG, 2nd in WNBA) can help set the tone of selflessness for Atlanta. According to WNBA.com, Layshia can break the all-time single-season mark for assists by a WNBA player (Ticha Penichiero's 236 dimes in Sacramento, back in 2000) if she averages 6.8 APG over these final five games.

After this game, Atlanta returns to Midtown Atlanta for its final two home games next week, against Seattle (where Sue Bird is closing in on Penichiero's all-time career assists record) and versus Indiana (who is still stinging from last night's 37-0 in-game run by the Minnesota Lynx). But if they have any serious plans on being a first-round visitor in the WNBA Playoffs, then they have no business looking past the Wings tonight.

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Not much left to watch for as our free-falling Atlanta Dream would be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs (already) with a loss at home today to the Seattle Storm (7:00 PM Eastern Fox Sports South in ATL, WNBA League Pass everywhere else).

But what's worth watching? Chasing Ticha. As noted in the prior preview, two WNBA players are chasing Ticha Penicheiro's league records. Seattle legend Sue Bird can surpass Ticha's all-time record of 2,599 career assists with a dozen dimes in tonight's game.

In what has become a league with de rigueur blowouts, Bird chopped the deficit down by 8 assists on Sunday as the Storm blew through host Chicago 103-66. She's reached 10 assists twice this year and has a career-best of 14 back in 2006. When Sue passes the ball, you can bet her teammates with the Storm (14-16) will be eager to finish.

Meanwhile, Layshia Clarendon can only hope to be so fortunate. Penicheiro amassed an all-time WNBA-best 236 dimes during the 2000 season, and Layshia has a shot to pass that number if she's credited with 30 more with four games left to play (7.5 APG). Harming her chances at the record, Clarendon was constrained to three assists in the Dream's loss on Saturday in Dallas, the 9th straight defeat for Atlanta (10-20). But she has averaged 7.9 APG this season at McCamish Pavilion, so some home cooking in these next two games could put her back on track.

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Looks like Layshia did claim a record tonight after all. Congrats to her.

And with that, Our Long Local Nightmare is over!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

With one Atlanta team making their home (pre)season debut, not far down the street, another team is making its home denouement.

The Atlanta Dream wraps up its home schedule against the Indiana Fever (6:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast on tape delay in ATL, WNBA League Pass elsewhere). Concluding a rough August month, this one ought to be as much of a slam dunk for the Dream as Atlanta United taking on D.C. United! Oh, wait...

Like the Dream, the Fever (9-22) have dropped nine of ten. Indiana has lost five straight, including an epic loss at mighty Minnesota that made Atlanta's fourth-quarter collapse up there look tame. And Pokey Chatman's club is literally coming apart at the seams.

They're wrapping up the season without three key players: guards Briann January (torn meniscus), Shenise Johnson (torn ACL), and Tiffany Mitchell (torn knee cartilage) have all been shelved. Marissa Coleman is playing out of position at shooting guard and are now over-reliant on Erica Wheeler to carry the offense. Productive depth behind All-Star Candice Dupree and Natalie Achonwa is also lacking.

Conversely, the Dream (11-20) have their full roster healthy. They have a sparse but dedicated home crowd fully in their corner. Atlanta has a chance to tie up the all-time season series at 20 games apiece. And they have a chance to prolong their playoff chances by at least another hour. 

They have Brittney Sykes making a final dash for the WNBA Rookie of the Year award. And they have their All-Star point guard, Layshia Clarendon (career-high 27 points vs. IND on July 7), chasing WNBA history in a good way. Today's game should -- should -- be a layup for Atlanta. But will it be a Jeff Teague/Kent Bazemore layup?

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Four more dimes for Layshia in tonight's unnecessary yet scrappy comeback OT win over Indiana. 13 more assists in her final two games to individually claim the all-time single-season mark. (Ticha got hers in 32 games, but that's not Layshia's fault!)

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Let’s Go Pipe Dream!

It’s hard to believe Slim still hasn’t left the building, but we will know by tipoff against the Los Angeles Sparks (10:30 PM Eastern, Spectrum SportsNet in LA, WNBA League Pass elsewhere) whether the Atlanta Dream still have some hand, maybe just a pinkie, in their playoff destiny.

Chicago (12-20) and Seattle (14-18) have each done their parts by continuing to lose games. The Dream hopes the slide continues for Seattle today, as the Storm visit Washington a few hours before tonight’s Dream-Sparks contest at Staples Center. The only needle-threading path to the playoffs for Atlanta (12-20, 3-12 in away games) involves winning on the road in L.A. and Phoenix, the Storm losing out, and the Sky splitting their last two games by winning their season finale in Seattle. So… go Mystics!

It would be good for Atlanta to know that they are the team that puts themselves out of the playoffs, not some third-party. If they do manage to pull off that unlikely feat, coach Michael Cooper’s troopers are likely to visit 5-seeded Washington in the first-round elimination game and, if they pull off that upset, a trip further north to the Eastern Conference regular-season champ (red-hot New York or Connecticut) would await.

For the defending WNBA champs, tonight’s game is more than just playoff-elimination practice. The Sparks (24-8, winners of five straight, 14-1 at home) hold the tiebreaker against the slip-sliding Lynx, but are one game behind Minnesota with two games left to play, including this one. Also, there has been a late-season push for the veteran superstar Candace Parker to surpass Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles for season MVP hardware, with reigning MVP and Sparks teammate Nneka Ogwumike not far behind. One can count on coach Brian Agler’s crew to close out their home schedule as strongly as possible, meaning Atlanta’s Elizabeth Williams, Sancho Lyttle and Damiris Dantas will have to be top-notch at both ends to keep the (Pipe) Dream alive.

Alana Beard has a chance at (finally!) winning Defensive Player of the Year this season, and she’ll spend tonight’s game hovering between Atlanta’s bucket-fillers Tiffany Hayes (not out of the running for All-WNBA Second Team yet) and Brittney Sykes (neck-and-neck in the Rookie of the Year race). Whichever one Beard (league-high 2.2 SPG; only WNBA player averaging more than two steals per game) isn’t covering ought to stand out in the scoring column tonight.

Old-heads have been quick to discount Layshia Clarendon’s chase for the all-time record for assists in a WNBA season, noting that Ticha Penichiero amassed her 236 assists in a mere 32-game season. But Layshia (224 assists) can still eclipse Ticha not only in assists for any season but, tonight, in any 34-game season. Ticha set that particular mark with 229 dimes in 2003, the first season the league expanded from 32 to to 34 games. Just six assists tonight (and/or on Sunday in Phoenix) would eclipse that 34-game mark, while 13 in her final two regular season games would set the all-time record for any season.

Let’s Go (Pipe) Dream!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

One more go at it! The playoff bubble popped for our Atlanta Dream in L.A., but the trade of our first-round draft pick to Chicago just over a month ago means there is no reason for tanking in the season finale in Phoenix today, against Brittney Griner and the Mercury (4:00 PM Eastern, Twitter... yes, Twitter!)

Phoenix (17-16) is simply hoping for a win to ensure an above-.500 record for the season. They hold the tiebreaker against the Wings, so whether they win or lose today against the Dream (12-21), coach Sandy Brondello's club will host the opening round elimination game against the Wings on Wednesday.

Atlanta's starters were pressed out of their comfort zone and into undesirable shots by the battle-tested defending champs on Friday night, committing a season-high 19 turnovers, 7 of them by leading scorer Tiffany Hayes (19 points @ LAS).

As a result, Layshia Clarendon produced just two assists in Los Angeles. She and the Dream won't face the same level of defensive pressure along the perimeter tonight, although the active hands of Griner (WNBA-high 21.6 PPG, 2.6 BPG) are always lurking in the paint.

Thus, Layshia has a strong shot at surpassing Ticha Penicheiro's 34-game record with just four more assists today. But will her teammates make enough assisted baskets -- 11, to be exact -- to allow Clarendon to pass Ticha's all-time assist mark for any WNBA season?

Brittney Sykes had a rough go of things in Hollywood, shooting just 2-for-9 from the field. Her 39.7 FG% now ranks second, behind Phoenix's lightly-used forward Stephanie Talbot (40.8 FG%), among WNBA rookies getting serious minutes. She needs a strong finish today to secure the WNBA Rookie of the Year hardware and edge out Dallas' Allisha Gray, who has the advantage of being in the playoffs in her resume.

But for the time off in mid-season recuperating from a bruised knee and a sprained ankle, Griner would be the certified MVP of the league right now. Her offensive improvement has been a revelation, highlighted by her last game where she eclipsed Jonquel Jones and the Sun with 31 points and five assists, routing upstart Connecticut by 20 points.

Today's game would be a good time for Dream coach Michael Cooper to allow Imani Boyette to cut her teeth in major minutes head-to-head against Griner. The young Boyette (whose defensive lineman husband, Paul, just missed the cut for the Raiders' 53-man roster yesterday) is supposed to be groomed to eventually be an everyday starting center, and it would be a good time to preview what a starting frontcourt of Elizabeth Williams and Boyette might look like.

Once more, with feeling... Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

The Dream saved me from a post about "Michael Cooper's job is totally safe, don't even think about it!" :-)

That said, I'd hope they consider allowing the now-deposed Coach Coop to work in a GM capacity. His drafts were very good, I just think he didn't have the proper staff around him to lead this team into contention with or without Angel. I was hoping the org would allow him to stay on contingent upon him finding new assistants and player development staff.

Alas.. the search for a new Dream weaver is on! Say, what's Jeff Walz doing these days?

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

espnW's article on Coop's ouster:

http://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/20589294/atlanta-dream-fire-coach-michael-cooper-12-22-season

Quote

Cooper was hired after Atlanta reached the WNBA final for the second time in 2013. The Dream earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference in his debut season, even as he was treated for tongue cancer .

But the inspiring season ended with the team squandering a 17-point, fourth-quarter lead in the decisive game of its opening playoff series against Chicago. Pulling off the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in WNBA playoff history, the Sky defeated Atlanta 81-80 .

The Dream never seemed to get over that crushing disappointment. Atlanta missed the playoffs in 2015 and lost to Chicago again last year in the second round.

"I am very proud of the young and cohesive team we've built and I want to thank the Atlanta fans, the Dream organization, and, most of all, our players for their dedication and hard work," Cooper said in a statement released by the team. "We've grown as a team and I'm confident these talented and exciting players will continue to realize their potential both as a team and individually."

 

 

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Still hammering away at an end-of-season epitaph for the Dream. But it won't be in time before the WNBA Playoffs arrive!

Here's a quick preview of tonight's action:

Dallas Wings at Washington Mystics (8:00 PM Eastern, ESPN2) -- Let it fly! Winner-take-all playoff games like today are the reason Washington swung the deal to acquire Elena Delle Donne. But the matchup to watch will feature big-shot guards Kristi Toliver of the Styx (18-16) and Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Wings. Toliver is hoping for a second-straight trip to the WNBA Finals after stepping up her play last season with the Sparks.

Both teams will also have to watch out for long-range-shooting by the bigs, notably Theresa Plaisance of the Wings, and Emma Meeseman of the Mystics. Dallas (16-18) seems to know what's in Washington's wallet: Fred Williams' crew has beaten Mike Thibault's team in their last two meetings, both at the newly-renamed Capital One Arena. Washington moves to a smaller intown arena starting next season (shared w/ the Wizards' D-League team), so this could be a farewell of sorts for the Mystics without a two-game winning streak.

 

Seattle Storm at Phoenix Mercury (10:00 PM Eastern, ESPN2) -- Brittney Griner is likely pulling for a Dallas upset today, because then a win by the Mercury (18-16) tonight would (EDIT: might... in an eventual semifinal matchup) set up a faceoff with her ex, the Wings' Glory Johnson, in the second-round elimination contest. Breanna Stewart is going to have to do all she can to draw Griner out of the paint defensively and open up paths for guard Jewell Loyd. Griner also will have to contend with Seattle's Crystal Langhorne, who puts the biscuit in the basket about as well as anyone (64.7 FG%, 2nd in WNBA).

Interim Seattle coach Gary Kloppenburg will probably pull for a Wings win as well, as an upset for his team (15-19) tonight would (EDIT: could... in an eventual semifinal matchup, if both teams won twice) give him a shot against the franchise that fired him back in 2013.

There should be a fun clash between two venerable titans, the Storm's Sue Bird (now the all-time leader in WNBA career assists) and the Merc's Diana Taurasi (the new all-time WNBA career scoring leader). The Suns' Devin Booker snatched up hundreds of tickets for college kids ahead of today's game, which will be played at Arizona State's arena in Tempe due to scheduling conflicts. Forget about Thundersticks: might fans unveil the legendary Curtain of Distraction on the Storm's free throw shooters?

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Here go my thank-goodness-nobody's-watching 2017 WNBA season awards!

All-WNBA 1^st Team

G – Skylar Diggins-Smith, Dallas

G – Chelsea Gray, Los Angeles

F/C – Candace Parker, Los Angeles

F/C – Jonquel Jones, Connecticut

F/C – Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota (MVP)

 

All-WNBA 2^nd Team

G – Diana Taurasi, Phoenix

G – TIFFANY HAYES, ATLANTA

F/C – Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles

F/C – Tina Charles, New York

F/C – Brittney Griner, Phoenix

This is a Frontcourt League, and there are so many good candidates between small forward and center that somebody, invariably and unfortunately, gets left out of the honors. Despite her and her team’s late struggles, Fowles set the tone and the pace for the season from the outset. No matter how the season ended for Atlanta, Tiffany deserves an honor for her improvements in shot discipline and perimeter defense, although the edge might go to Chicago’s Courtney Vandersloot instead.

 

All-WNBA Defensive 1^st Team

G – Jasmine Thomas, Connecticut

G/F – Maya Moore, Minnesota

G/F – Alana Beard, Los Angeles

F/C – Candace Parker, Los Angeles

F/C – Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota (DPOY)

 

All-WNBA Defensive 2^nd Team

G – Odyssey Sims, Los Angeles

G/F – Seimone Augustus, Minnesota

G/F – Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut

F/C – SANCHO LYTTLE, ATLANTA

F/C – Jonquel Jones, Connecticut

Here is where you make up for the lack of deserving All-WNBA honors for the top-seeded Lynx. The Sparks’ Candace Parker might get some MVP nods just because of the veteran star’s defensive contributions. I’m not sure an opponent of the First Team would get more than 40 points in a game. In Sancho’s case, she finished 2017 among the Top-Ten in steals and D-Reb%, and top-ten among F/Cs in D-Rating.

 

All-WNBA Rookie Team

G – Kelsey Plum, San Antonio

G – Allisha Gray, Dallas

G/F – BRITTNEY SYKES, ATLANTA (ROY)

G/F – Kaela Davis, Dallas

G/F – Stephanie Talbot, Phoenix

On a team that badly needed confident playmakers, with Angel McCoughtry taking time off, Atlanta turned to a rookie, Sykes, to get things done, especially in the clutch. Plum deserves special mention just because the #1-overall pick’s early struggles were met with surefire-bust labels prematurely.

 

Most Improved Player – Jonquel Jones, Connecticut

Any questions? The early signs that second-year star Jones would prove to be a handful on the interior going forward proved dead-on. But did anyone see that deadly perimeter jumpshot coming? Pass along that trophy, Elizabeth Williams!

 

Sixth Woman of the Year – Kiah Stokes, New York

Benches across the league have been lackluster, but why not find a way to reward the WNBA’s hottest team entering the playoffs? Stokes finished Top-5 in rebound percentage and block percentage, providing starters Tina Charles and Kia Vaughn some critical rest periods without the Liberty falling off in production.

 

Coach of the Year – Curt Miller, Connecticut

Just about everybody was eager to grant Miller, in his second year, a pass after having to go into this season without Chiney Ogwumike. Yet he and his staff oversaw the simultaneous rises of Jones, Alyssa Thomas and Jasmine Thomas and the emergence of the Sun as a legit contender in the WNBA East. If Chiney can return in 2018 as anything close to her old self, watch out!

 

Executive of the Year – ((gulp)) Isiah Thomas, New York?

Not an actual live award, which is probably fortunate for the WNBA Commissioner. In a league where teams generally achieved expectations or fell well short of them (Seattle), New York righted the ship to return atop the WNBA East following the loss of point guard Brittany Boyd to injury, and the Eurobasket absences of Epiphanny Prince and Vaughn. Swinging the 3-team deal that replaced Carolyn Swords with native New Yorkers Bria Hartley and Vaughn worked very well in their favor, and it sure helped not having Shoni Schimmel devouring a roster slot. Still, Zeke winning would instantly provoke bad and unwanted PR for the league… so, how about first-year Franchise Development director Swin Cash instead?

Yeah... that's much better!

~lw3

 

[lethalweapon3]

We all know the TV trope by now. Wile E. Coyote has convinced himself he has the Road Runner dead-to-rights. His monumental failures are well-catalogued, but in his mind, at this moment, that’s all a thing of the past. And, of course he soon finds himself okey-doked.

The coyote’s gung-ho momentum has him dashing toward the avem meep-meepis niftius perched at the cliff’s edge at a full sprint, grinning, self-satisfied at his efforts to this point.

And then, moments later, Wile E. looks down.

That’s essentially the story of the 2017 Atlanta Dream. Lofty, outsized goals at the outset – “We’re out to win a championship!” was the mantra the coach sold to his players – followed by modest short-term over-achievement.

https://www.swishappeal.com/2017/4/14/15301726/atlanta-wnba-draft-2017-championship

Quote

"We are going to win a championship, okay?" Cooper told fans at the Dream's Draft watch party. "I think we're developing a very good basketball team that [fans] can be proud of."

https://www.swishappeal.com/2017/5/21/15656132/video-atlanta-dream-hype-wnba

Quote

Be it at the Dream’s WNBA Draft Party, the first day of training camp, or days away from their home opener, the word “championship” wasn’t far from head coach Michael Cooper’s mouth.

And then, moments later, they look down. They turn to you, wave “bye!”, and descend with a sharp whistling sound, toward the desert floor and the way-too-active train tracks below.

Even without the tools normally provided upon order from the Angel Packing Company, Atlanta’s mad-dash to start their 10th WNBA season began with a 4-1 start highlighted by a thrilling home win over the defending champion Los Angeles Sparks.

Alas, the free-fall began as the calendar turned to June, a road-weathered 1-6 stretch that convinced WNBA fans that the Dream, indeed, were who everyone else thought they were. And hardly anyone was letting them off the hook.

Atlanta tripped up Connecticut back in May by seven points but, less than a month later, returned to Uncasville and cried uncle, losing by a whopping 33 points. A second-straight loss at home to an amorphous Chicago Sky team was especially unnerving.

The Dream crawled out of the crater they created for themselves, dusted themselves off while standing on the tracks, and thought to themselves, “Well… gee… that wasn’t so bad!” Five straight home wins in July, three All-Star selections and a Rookie of the Month recipient later, and things seemed to be looking up. That’s when the train came barreling out the tunnel.

The Dream proved to be no match for lynxis minnesotas, or virtually anyone else in August and September to close out the season, not even on the road at last-place San Antonio. The final two victories of the season, at home against unimpressive outfits from Seattle and Indiana, were harrowing at best and could just as easily have swung the other way.

Despite winding up like roadkill (railkill?) at season’s end, Atlanta (12-20) did have a decent shot at a playoff spot up until the final weeks, more of an indictment of the other contenders than faint praise. But having a shot at a 7-or-8-seed is pointless if you cannot stand toe-to-toe for 40 minutes on the road. After starting out the year with road wins at Connecticut and Chicago, the Dream completed their road schedule with a deflating 1-14 record, including 0-11 after nearly blowing a lead but escaping Seattle in overtime back on June 13.

Handed the disappointment, back in January, of not having Angel Lajuane McCoughtry available for the forthcoming season, a more pragmatic approach by head coach Michael Cooper might have helped salvage his spot on the bench. But Coach Coop, with title rings on his finger, was insistent on Shooting His Shot.

As he preached incessantly about having eyes on the prize, more focus by players and staff was needed on acknowledging the hazards in the schedule that awaited them; about how steady, collective growth over the course of the year would suit the team well, both in the near-term and going forward into 2018, when their franchise player is expected to return to the fold.

There was no need to dwell on the shorthanded-ness that would wreck legitimate hopes of title contention, and no excuses were ever forthcoming from this outfit, to everyone’s credit. But boldly inferring that you’re capable of hoisting the trophy With Or Without Angel probably won’t bode well for you when Angel, who has a history of falling out of sorts with a coach or two, returns to the WNBA floor. That’s especially likely when your team fails spectacularly at the attempt.

It wasn’t all gloom-and-doom around the Thrillerdome, and for that, we have Cooper to thank. Atlanta drafted Bria Holmes and Brittney Sykes in consecutive first-round drafts, neither of them lottery picks. Yet only Connecticut and, maybe, Dallas, can boast of getting as much production out of their rookie and sophomore blue-chippers in that time.

Only Cooper saw the potential for robust improvement from pivot Elizabeth Williams, for whom he coughed up a 2016 lottery pick to acquire. Only he looked at Layshia Clarendon, languishing on Indiana’s bench as an undersized two-guard, and foresaw a steady ballhandler capable of racking up near-record assists, notably on a team that cannot hit jumpshots (dead-last in 3FG% for the second-straight year; 11^th of 12 teams in 2FG%) if their lives depended on it.

Many of us had given up on Tiffany Hayes’ potential for expanding her range (37.5 3FG%, best since 2013), but not Cooper. Only he was able to look at Syracuse’s Brittney Sykes and see not a draft-reach with a sketchy collegiate injury history, but a willing go-to scoring threat and a Rookie of the Year finalist. And yet, Cooper sure could have advanced his cause so much more.

He can be a loyalist to a fault, and rather than buttressing this team’s depth with talent worthy of a playoff run, he and the Dream staff insisted on keeping Matee Ajavon, bringing back the oft-injured Aneika Morello, and clinging to unremarkable youngsters Meighan Simmons and Rachel Hollivay. Even with the WNBA’s notoriously shallow rosters, any team possessing limited dimensions to their play that are legitimately 8-or-9-deep won’t hold up for very long as a postseason contender in this league, never mind a championship candidate.

The team ditched offseason signee Darxia Morris in favor of the more experienced Brianna Kiesel, then dumped Kiesel and brought Morris back, only to cut her loose again weeks later. Much more than an under-appreciated season-long assist-record chase, Clarendon needed someone, veteran or otherwise, who could provide the team a steady hand off the bench in her relief.

That Layshia’s once-reliable three-point accuracy (a team-best 34.6 3FG% in 2016) fell through the floor (18.0 3FG% in 2017, 13.3% on the road), that she concluded her last two games producing a total of two assists in the chase for the WNBA Peak Performer award, coincidental with the team’s many in-game collapses, is of little surprise. Cooper tried to patch the reserve point guard spot with extra minutes for Ajavon and, eventually, Sykes bringing up the ball, but to little avail.

2016’s Most Improved Player, Elizabeth Williams (31.6 MPG, again a team-high) likewise could have used better roster support from the jump. Sancho Lyttle was predictably bound for Eurobasket in June, and with Hollivay incapable of making a big leap in her second season, and Morello at turns injured and unproven, Cooper turned way too often to Damiris Dantas, who took the 2016 WNBA season off herself, to hold things down as a backup center, in the rare cases Williams got a breather.

The WNBA is loaded with titans up front -- Tina Charles in New York, Jonquel Jones in Connecticut, Elena Delle Donne and Emma Meeseman in Washington, Breanna Stewart in Seattle, Sylvia Fowles in Minnesota, Brittney Griner in Phoenix, Nneka Ogwumike and Candace Parker in Los Angeles. And many of them have adequate, skilled, experienced, bench help. It was indeed an accomplishment for Williams to find her niche among all this opposing talent, ranking 4^th in the league in offensive rebounds per game and 2^nd in blocks per game.

But with an undersized frame relative to those above foes, Williams found herself out-worked and out-witted on many nights, with the aging Lyttle and the lithe Dantas providing limited help at the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, respectively. Williams was needed to produce extra-chance attempts for Atlanta’s woeful offense. But that came at the expense of being routinely caught out of position in the defensive paint. Sancho remained useful as a defensive patch, but the global wear-and-tear on her soon-to-be 34-year-old frame continued to show.

Dantas was heralded as a stretch-four option behind Lyttle, but her inability to finish around the paint, her streakiness as a three-point threat (26.5 3FG%), and her inability to hold opposing bigs out of the post, made her return to the roster from Brazil a disappointment. Acquired from Connecticut for a second-rounder, forward Jordan Hooper served as a momentary fix on the shooting side, not so much on the defensive side.

Holmes held things together defensively at the forward spots (team-best 97.6 D-Rating) but regressed badly as a shooter (37.9 FG%), and the missing gravitational pull of McCoughtry sharing the floor perhaps harmed Bria’s development as much as anyone. It cost the second-year player her spot in the starting lineup, albeit fortunately for the ready-and-willing Sykes.

Cooper tried to address his shortcomings at the wing and at the pivot by Shooting His Shot once more, this time a deal with Chicago to bring center Imani Boyette (above) and veteran swingperson Tamera Young (not shown) into the mix. Young’s introduction to the team somehow managed to pan out even worse than when the Dream rolled snake-eyes by trading for the Sky’s Swin Cash in 2014.

An unrestricted free agent this winter, Tamera may have personal interests in returning to this particular club as a backup swing player, but she won’t have Cooper around to vouch for her. Boyette showed flashes of what she could bring to the table in the future, but it was clear Cooper had few designs on granting her major minutes for the balance of this season, keeping much of the onus on Williams.

Acquiring Hooper cost Atlanta 2018’s second-round pick. Acquiring Boyette and Young cost the Dream their first-round pick, in what is expected to be a talent-laden draft, to a rebuilding rival in Chicago.

Perhaps, in Cooper’s mind, what would serve the team better than two blue-chip talents in 2018 is a healthy returning McCoughtry and an emerging Boyette. But the optics to the Dream’s frail fanbase, particularly should the Sky win the upcoming WNBA Lottery with Atlanta’s pick, are not too hot. This move for Boyette may pay dividends in the long-run, but the short-term failure to compete in the aftermath of this trade likely sealed Coach Coop’s fate with the ATL brass.

Despite being left bereft of 2018 picks in the opening two rounds, Atlanta certainly can make a move to get back into the WNBA Draft. Barring overseas injury issues, Angel Mac ought to be close to untouchable, even at her advancing age. But with Hayes, Holmes, and Sykes all under contract (and All-Star Tiffany’s deal expiring after 2018), a deal with an eager WNBA club like Seattle, Dallas, or San Antonio is certainly workable.

Cooper’s dismissal puts that critical decision in the hands of Basketball Ops VP Natalie White, whose longtime relationship with Nike, the WNBA’s newest apparel provider, should help keep her and the team in Angel’s good graces.

An ideal starting unit for 2018 would have Clarendon (with reformulated jumper mechanics) sharing the backcourt with either of Hayes or Sykes, and McCoughtry at small forward, allowing the incoming staff to see how productive a frontcourt tandem of Williams (at power forward) and Boyette could become.

Granted a full offseason to expand upon her game, Sykes must continue to develop consistency with her jumper and improve her defensive positioning and court awareness for passing the ball. One of the bright spots for the Dream was again finishing among the top of the league in opponent 3-point percentage (31.5 3FG%, 3^rd-best in WNBA), a factor which kept Atlanta close in quite a few games up until the final quarters. What did not help was the lack of a secondary passer, the Dream finishing tied for 7^th in assists among 12 clubs despite Clarendon’s occasional brilliance with the dish. With her usage certain to recede in 2018, Sykes must become a greater threat on the floor in areas other than scoring.

Elizabeth did manage to improve on her finishing skills around the glass, especially as the season wore on. If all goes well, Williams could work out as an heir apparent to Lyttle, an unrestricted free agent, and allow her to have more advantageous matchups than she currently has at center. What would not work well is compounding the strain on E-Will, an expiring contract in 2019 who may short-circuit her career in pursuit of a desired medical profession, with heavy-duty minutes at the 4-spot for McCoughtry.

Dantas, a free agent for next season, did not progress well enough at either frontcourt position to earn consideration for a future starting spot. Atlanta should probably consider that the Erika DeSouza 3-way deal from 2015 (the one which bolstered Minnesota’s juggernaut status) has run its course. But the Dream must be on the hunt again, via free agency and/or trades, for a frontcourt body with a decent jumper and discernible defensive acumen.

The offseason should be directed at granting Atlanta’s starting five a reliable second-string that can alleviate an unnecessarily heavy workload without adversely affecting the pace and the momentum. Veteran ball-handling guards should become available as other teams seek to promote younger up-and-coming talent.

Similarly, the 2018 Draft is potentially loaded with bigs, possibly including 2017 #2-overall draftee Alaina Coates, who has yet to play for Chicago and may re-enter the Draft next year. The resulting numbers-games should induce the availability of some steady backup vets to help the frontcourt behind Williams and Boyette. If there is a fullcourt upgrade to Lyttle out there, the Dream should pursue her.

As we were in many years past, for better or worse, 2018 is All About Angel, who will certainly be cored in advance of her next WNBA season. While she has fully recuperated, she has no plans to sit until next May with an ice cream scoop in her hand. Having played in Lebanon already during the WNBA season, McCoughtry also sponsored a local AEBL summer squad.

While she recently declined the invite to work out with Team USA for training camp at the end of this month (Hayes and Clarendon will attend), Angel did sign on to coach and play in the somewhat gimmicky Global Mixed Gender Basketball League. Her Atlanta Heirs (co-coached by Dominique Wilkins, owned by Tameka “Tiny” Harris) will face off in an exhibition with Master P’s New Orleans Gators in a matter of weeks.

Can the Dream identify a replacement for Cooper that can mesh well with its star? If appeasement remains the flavor of the month around town, the organization may choose to pursue her collegiate coach, Louisville’s Jeff Walz, who remains very active with USA Basketball. 2012 WNBA Coach of the Year Carol Ross has stayed out of the limelight since being let go in mid-season by the then-unstable Sparks in 2014. The former Dream assistant coach might consider a return if she finds the situation here to be amenable. Assistants currently in Dallas and Minnesota may also be granted an opportunity.

Candidates may propose a wholesale change to the well-worn "Run With The Dream" philosophy that has guided this organization since the days of Marynell Meadors. Whatever drastic changes they wish to make to this team's style of play, they had better run it by Angel.

Whoever comes in to run the show on the sidelines should not have carte blanche to independently establish a coaching and player development staff. White and team president Theresa Wenzel should be directly involved in the hiring processes for the coach’s rank-and-file, establishing measurable goals tied to individual players’ development over the course of each season.

If a coach wants, say, her or his child to do the work, she or he had better have a sound resume coming in that stands alone from her or his parent. If players are stagnating or regressing, the team should not feel uncomfortable insisting on changes among the coach’s assistants.

With the proper series of moves on and off the court, 2018 could be the bounce-back season Atlanta Dream fans have been waiting for years to see unfold since at least 2014. But as Coach Coop had to discover the hard way, there’s no need for this team to get wildly ahead of itself. Whether it pertains to Wile E., or E-Will, no one wants to find themselves by the end of next season caught up in a trap of their own making.

(If he'll forgive my Rebkell lurking, props to longtime Friend-of-the-Program @Randy for fostering the Wile E. Coyote notion in my head!)

~lw3

[Randy]

Great analysis, and thanks for the shout out.  I hope you don't mind I posted it all on rebkel, with a link to here.

I am pretty much in the glass half empty stage now.  Cooper had his shortcomings, but he did rebuild a roster in just 2 years, after the Angela Taylor era ended.  Some of Cooper's success does belong to her for getting us Dantas and eventually Holmes via the Erika trade.  Speaking of Dantas, she has only completed 3 seasons in the WNBA so my thought is she would be a reserved player for one more season and then a Restricted FA.  The bigger question might be how often she actually shows up to play in Atlanta, or wherever we might want to send her.

As for Cooper - he found a replacement for Erika (Williams), got a good backup for the 2,3 and sometimes even the 4 position (Holmes 11th in the 16 draft), turned Shoni into legitimate point guard (by trading her for a 2nd rounder that became Clarendon) and found the best player (IMHO) in the weak 2017 draft - Sykes.  A ageing ship that was sinking (without its Captain going down with it)  suddenly had 3 young All stars and ROY candidate.  Unfortunately, for Cooper, apparently the owners figures a 3 All star team should win more games so it must be the coach.  As you pointed out - Cooper did not play his hand right and Coach Cooper fell victim to the success of GM Cooper (kind of the Hawks/Coach/GM problem in reverse.)  I think this Dream team (with Angel) would actually be the best Dream team in franchise history with the best coach (maybe not a high bar).  Apparently the owners didn't agree with the second part of that.

My hopes for the road ahead:

1.)  A solid WNBA coach (not a college coach) who brings or can get a good post development coach.  TBH the only ones I can get excited about now are Bill Lambier and Stef. White.  I doubt either would be available to the Dream. 

2.)  NO TRADES.  The Taylor trade machine threw away 2 future All Stars (Bentley and J. Thomas) and got back only one player past her prime who has never produced.  I admit - Bentley's All Star year was a bit of an aberration but she is far more useful than Ajavon.  Thomas did what she does - continue to work on her game and get better.  She eventually became quite good and a legit All Star.  So I hate the idea of bringing in someone new who decides this bunch of players is not for him (or her) and has a fire sale in order to produce quick results (e.g. trading Sykes for aged Cappie, or worse.  Far worse.)

3.  I would make an exception for trading Her Majesty (Angel).  She is past her prime and who knows if she is really committed to the Dream or WNBA anyway.  Of course, we would want a ransom worthy of her.  I don't know - maybe Dallas' FRP+Powers+Chong.  I think it is likely though that no coach (who isn't desperate) would want her. 

4.  Resign Lyttle, Dantas and maybe Young.   Sancho is too old to be a starter, but could provide depth.  We need Lyttle's replacement.  Dantas is the heir apparent.  The obvious plan would be to start Williams and Boyette.  See No. 1 above though.  Young is not a popular player among internet fans, but I don't think she is that bad.  (BTW - I think Lyttle might just go to MN, or even LA in hopes of winning a ring.)

5.  Put everyone except Hayes and Sykes on a No 3 point diet.   I'm looking at you Damaris, Clarendon, Ajavon, Holmes.  (Actually I'm hoping they find a replacement for Ajavon.)

6.  I'd suggest looking at FA's to fill voids, but the problem is the Dream are lucky to sign their own FA let along anyone else's.

7.  Draft - we have only a No. 16 pick.  It would be nice if we could find the a backup PG (there were 3 picked up in the weak 2016 draft that stuck with their teams, so if next year's draft is so great....)

Well - with this perfect blue print what could go wrong?  Easy - the owners make a bad hiring decision.  First of all they are pretty bad at hiring.  Angela Taylor is just one example.  They have also had more team Presidents, PR people, etc than anyone can count.  Executives names would appear and disappear from the team web page like overnight.  The ticket sales staff has been a revolving door.  I've lost track of how many account exec's I've had.    So that's why I'm worried.......

 

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2017 by Randy

[lethalweapon3]

Thanks @Randy!

I'm in accord with all the Chief Assistant Executive VP for Strategic Basketball Public Relations gigs on the staff. Also, the sense that 2017 would have been the Dream's Last, Best Chance with the roster as constituted (especially with Sykes showing up and occasionally showing out). But for the poor shooting as a team I'd want to bring a lot of the players back, too.

I stopped envisioning this team making an Angel move awhile ago, but that status could change if they got a reliable, fan-favorite, no-nonsense coach with personnel authority (i.e., what the Dream thought they were getting w/ Coop) that tells Angel/"Lori Ann", "sorry... I want no nonsense." Who that gal/guy is... who knows? Geno's certainly not touching this. And everyone that's a pro coach has their jerb already.

Dream fans really deserve a team with several players that can hit perimeter shots without being a defensive sieve and wondering what Star might taste like deep-fried at the county fair. I'd have switched Clarendon with Hayes in that 3-point diet at the end of last year, so I do hope Layshia can turn that around. But we need players capable of shooting and coaches/staff able to help players fix their jumpers once they've clearly broken.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Whenever I see Theresa Wenzel speak, I can't get the Mr. Wendal song out my head. "Mrs. Wenzellll..." (I hope she's married, I dunno.) But I digress, as usual. Here's a great Megdal interview with Wenzel, in the aftermath of Canning With Mr. Cooper.

https://summitthoops.com/2017/09/05/atlanta-dream-president-theresa-wenzel/

Quote

“That (missing the postseason)’s not the only dividing line as we evaluated,” Dream president Theresa Wenzel told The Summitt in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. “We looked at overall record. And eight teams make the playoffs every year. So it was more that there was not the consistency and success we were looking for.”

Quote

 

The goal, though Wenzel explained she didn’t want to oversell how quickly it can happen, is to consistently contend for a WNBA title.

“We have a strong young core,” Wenzel said. “Brittney Sykes is a contender for Rookie of the Year. Layshia Clarendon is playing point guard as well as anybody in the league. Elizabeth Williams continues to provide strong defense and offense down low, and Tiffany Hayes had an excellent year scoring. So there’s a lot to work with here.”

 

Quote

Asked whether Boyette is part of the team’s future, Wenzel said “I believe so, but it’ll also come down to what the owners see, what the new coach sees. Certainly, Elizabeth can’t do everything by herself.”

Quote

“For everybody, hindsight is 20-20,” Wenzel said when asked if she’d have preferred not to make the trade, given how high the pick has turned out to be. “But we as an organization did what we thought was appropriate at the time. Now, many of our fans might think otherwise, but we’re comfortable with our decision-making process.”

Quote

“We know we have what it takes for this organization to be successful,” Wenzel said. “This is a great sports city. We just need a few pieces to fall into place, but we have a strong core.”

We could copy-and-ascribe that last quote to the managers of the Atlanta Everybodies.

~lw3

[Randy]

Yeah  - trading Angel now has been likened to the Fever trading Catchings before 2012.  Not sure I agree with that, I don't think she is going anywhere either.  But stranger things have happened.  The touchy situation is whether they would core her when Hayes contract expires (apparently at the end of next season.) Angel shows every sign of wanting to live in Atlanta - would she leave?  It is not a slam dunk that she will play next year either.  I suspect the first part of the new coaches job will be to convince her to do so (without convincing Angel that she will be in charge.)