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2022 Atlanta Dream and WNBA Previews


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4 hours ago, macdaddy said:

I'm thinking of dumping directv stream since Hawks should be on the bally app next year.   but if i do then no dream games?   Is there any other way to watch?  

Shoot I'm still tryna get my Rabbit Ears to work, so I'm the last expert when it pertains to streaming and cord-cutting and such. But Dream games (all except May 29 vs. PHX, on good ole 'VHF' TV via CBS) should all be available via the Bally Sports app right now. You could give it a try even before dumping DirecTV.

 

~lw3

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6 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Shoot I'm still tryna get my Rabbit Ears to work, so I'm the last expert when it pertains to streaming and cord-cutting and such. But Dream games (all except May 29 vs. PHX, on good ole 'VHF' TV via CBS) should all be available via the Bally Sports app right now. You could give it a try even before dumping DirecTV.

 

~lw3

So right now you still have to have a 'provider' (ie cable or directvstream) to watch anything on the bally sports app.  At least as far as i can tell.

So how are you watching the dream?

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33 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

So right now you still have to have a 'provider' (ie cable or directvstream) to watch anything on the bally sports app.  At least as far as i can tell.

So how are you watching the dream?

Xfinity is my provider, so I just have to remember whether games are on Bally Sports South or Bally Sports Southeast and tune in.

I'd suggest looking into the cost for WNBA League Pass, but they have had plenty of glitches historically that frustrate users, plus there may be restrictions from Bally if you reside in the Dream's viewing area (Pretty much the US Southeast excepting FL, VA, AR and LA, IIRC). Maybe not, though, if you can pay for League Pass and not be tied down to a provider that has Bally in their package.

~lw3

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'Twas a Day On, not a Day Off...

...but now it's back to business for the Dream and the Fever in Indy (7 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast). Most of the players, anyway. Monique Billings joins Al Horford as gameday scratches due to those pesky Health 'n Safety Protocols. The task for Atlanta's bigs to hold it down in the paint versus Queen Egbo would be a little bit rougher, but fellow super-rook Na'Lyssa Smith is also a late scratch due to an ankle injury.

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

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One other roster note as the ladies tip off. Tiffany Hayes is reportedly back on these shores, now that her time with Turkish League Finals runner-up Cukurova has ended. Prior to the last Dream-Fever game, the Dream updated her "Not With Team" status from "Overseas Obligations" to "Rest".

 

~lw3

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Back in front of the home crowd, Atlanta will strive to keep their Dream Season on Cloud Nine, with current rookie sensation Rhyne Howard going point-for-point against a former one, Elena Delle Donne, and the Washington Mystics (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast, Twitter).

It's hard to conceive EDD hasn't been in the playoffs since winning the WNBA Finals with the Styx back in 2019, although her injuries and health complications have been explanatory factors.

Hoping to complete her first full campaign in years, Delle Donne (18.6 PPG in just under 30 MPG, 7th in WNBA) has had the support of one of the league's best backcourt duos, in Natasha Cloud (6.3 APG, 3rd in WNBA; 46.7% on 5.0 3FGAs/game) and Ariel Atkins (1.8 SPG; 45.8% on 4.7 3FGAs/game) in elevating Washington to the same record (4-1) as surprising Atlanta.

Thank goodness coach Mike Thibault and the Mystics were in a dealing mood, so we wouldn't have to deal with those players plus Howard (league-high 20.4 PPG; 45.9% on 7.4 3FGAs/game, 1.4 SPG, 1.2 BPG). They're far from hurting, though. After Indiana's big tandem of NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo, the next best rookie has arguably been Washington center Shakira Austin (5.8 RPG, 1.2 BPG). She and the Mystics frontcourt will get some help from former Dream pivot Elizabeth Williams, fresh from winning Euroleague Defensive Player of the Year in her overseas stint with Turkish power Fenerbahce.

With extra defensive eyes on Howard and the interior clogged, coach Tanisha Wright will need to see continual motion offense  out of the Dream (their assist ratings are all at league-lows, their TO% is second-worst) and some more hot shooting from teammates outside the paint, particularly Aari McDonald (40.9 3FG%), Erica Wheeler and the stretchy Cheyenne Parker. That and an elevated pace (for the Mystics) by beating bigs downcourt in transition could help Atlanta make amends for the last home loss versus Las Vegas, and stage yet another fun run.

 

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

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Today payback game in D.C. against the Mystics (7 PM Eastern) won't be on the telly live (Bally Sports is airing it via BS Southeast Extra, which I presume is available via their Bally Sports App), but perhaps it will be on over the next couple days on tape delay.

Rhyne Howard (4-4 on her first 3FG attempts vs, WAS, before missing the next 4; teammates 4-for-16) was cooled off in the second half by the Styx in the opponents' 78-73 come-from-behind win on Friday night in Collipark. But compounding problems for Atlanta were ballhandlers driving headfirst into traps and double teams without a plan to effectively move the ball, plus defenders resorting to hacks as Washington, without the now-active Elena Delle Donne, built a 31 to 14 foul shot advantage.

Erica Wheeler (probable) is slowed by groin pain, so expect Coach Tanisha Wright to lean more heavily on Aari McDonald to lighten Howard and Cheyenne Parker's loads. We could also use a little more help in the paint from the still-green rookie Naz Hillmon off the bench, especially with Mo Billings still sidelined.

If Atlanta took advantage of the extra rest (Washington served up Candace Parker's triple double over the weekend) to instill some sounder gameplans at both ends, we may see another valiant effort that has them in contention for victory by game's end.

 

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

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BG still needs to be freed. Tina is mystifyingly struggling without her around. Sky and Di, when not struggling on the floor, are squabbling off of it. Their first-year head coach is trying to gain some traction despite missing at least 3 key bench players, too.

The Atlanta Dream took advantage of all of that, plus a five-day hiatus, to pounce on the Mercury on a sold-out Sunday home game in College Park that tipped off at 9 AM Phoenix time. The 27-point winning margin was among the widest in franchise history. Barely a calendar month into the season, the Dream (5-3) are halfway to the prognosticated preseason floor of 10 wins.

Atlanta will have a decent chance to pile on the Ws as their four-game homestand continues this evening versus the Minnesota Lynx (7 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast). Although it shouldn't be quite so easy to keep these visitors suppressed.

Minnesota, like Phoenix, is 2-7 in the early going. Coach/GM Cheryl Reeve scoured the roster of key rotation veterans just as the season began. Would-be All-Star Napheesa Collier (maternal leave) and ex-Dream forward Damiris Dantas have been out of commission, and now starting point guard Moriah Jefferson and backup big Natalie Achonwa are sidelined indefinitely. It has been a drag so far for Lynx fans hoping for a triumphant conclusion to future Hall of Famer Sylvia Fowles' career (this season: 17.1 PPG, most since 2018; 10.1 RPG, 2nd in WNBA; 1.7 SPG, 1.4 BPG).

However, six of the Lynx's last seven games have ended with double-digit margins. Back home, Minnesota climbed out from a listless 24-11 start, leaning on Fowles and Kayla McBride as their comeback in an 85-83 loss to Nneka Ogwumike's Los Angeles  Sparks fell short in the closing seconds. The second-least defensively efficient team in the league, Minnesota hopes the league's second-most offensively inefficient team experienced an aberration against the Merc.

Dream coach Tanisha Wright was pleased with the throttling defensive effort in the big win over Phoenix. Wright will want to see more of that plus a balanced offensive effort from Kristy Wallace (career-high 17 points vs. PHX, holding the fort for injured  returnee Tiffany Hayes), Erica Wheeler and Cheyenne Parker, plus Aari McDonald and Megan Walker off the bench, to continue taking pressure off of Rhyne Howard, the prohibitive Rookie of the Month (16.9 PPG) whose rookie wall feels more like a minor pedestal right now.

 

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

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The Champs Are Here! Candace Parker and the Chicago Sky come into College Park's Gateway Center having held opponents to 45.6 eFG%. That would be the best mark in the W if not for the Atlanta Dream's 43.2 opponent eFG%, and as Al Horford would tell you, Defense Might WIn Championships!

Certainly, it's worth pumping the breaks a bit on our team's end. Ignoring our offensive inefficiencies, which are coming around, the Dream's strength of schedule so far has granted them opportunities to pounce in every victory to this point. Coming out ahead tonight (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast) of the defending champion Sky, who have won three of their past four and are well-rested amid a home-friendly schedule, would be Atlanta's most momentous victory to date.

While keeping the Mercury in retrograde on Tuesday, coach James Wade's team held Phoenix to 6-for-11 on charity shots (14-for-17 on FTs themselves) while committing just one fewer personal foul (15 to PHX's 16). The Sky are judicious not only with how often they hack, but whom they hack, making it easier to have their own heavy hitters on the floor in crunch time. Atlanta will have to respond by setting up high-quality halfcourt shots and well-organized transition plays.

Finding ways to drive inside and draw an extra defender, like Parker, Emma Meesseman (1.9 SPG, 4th in WNBA) or Kahleah "KFC" Copper can open up shots around the basket for former Sky star Cheyenne Parker, while pulling in Allie Quigley or Courtney Vandersloot from outside can free up Kristy Wallace, Erica Wheeler, or Aari McDonald. Proper off-ball movement by teammates to get open would make reigning Rookie of the Month Rhyne Howard a pivotal performer and, like Candace (8.5 RPG, 4th in WNBA, 4.5 APG, 10th in WNBA), a triple-double threat.

 

Let's Go Dream!

~lw3

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I have a dream question.   They put out a tweet last week about one of the games coming up and showed the arena as mostly sold out but a 'few tickets' left.  But then you see the game and looks like there isn't many people there.  Anyone know anything about that?

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1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

I have a dream question.   They put out a tweet last week about one of the games coming up and showed the arena as mostly sold out but a 'few tickets' left.  But then you see the game and looks like there isn't many people there.  Anyone know anything about that?

I don't, but in a small arena (just 3,500 seats) I'm guessing it's a more stark example of teams selling larger shares of tix via corporate and group sales. The new ownership regime with their COO has been very aggressive in upscaling the corporate sponsorships (e.g., Microsoft, who is warring with Google for the region's tech employees, on the unis, replacing Arby's) and I'll bet many seat bunches fell in that category.

Lesser in plausibility is people choosing to drive, rather than park-and-ride via MARTA and the Airport rental-car monorail to get to Gateway Center, and getting stuck in 285/85/HJax traffic. The cozy confines may also have attending fans feeling close enough to the action they can chill around the refreshment lines a little longer.

So far I believe they're up to three sellouts and a few close calls. With or without booties in their seats on time, that's a raving success for them.

 

~lw3

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