As the women’s basketball calendar begins to shift from the end of overseas play and into the WNBA preseason, the emphasis of this week’s Dream Overseas Report follows suit.  We will start by taking a look at the WNBA Draft and then briefly summarize what’s going on overseas.

Atlanta would pick fourth in each of the three rounds of the WNBA Draft.  Atlanta had two extra picks as well – a three-way trade with Minnesota and Chicago gave the Dream Minnesota’s first round pick.  The trade of Samantha Logic to San Antonio also earned the Dream an extra second round pick.

In the offseason, Atlanta traded its first round pick at No. 4 to Connecticut in exchange for the rights to Elizabeth Williams.  This still left the Dream with four picks in the draft, including a first round selection at No. 11.

Atlanta selected Bria Holmes, a 6-1 shooting guard from West Virginia.  Holmes was not just an All-Big 12 First Team selection for three consecutive years, but she was unanimously selected by the other Big 12 coaches in each of those years.  She averaged 16.8 ppg and 4.1 rpg in her senior season with the Mountaineers.

In a press conference after the draft, Dream head coach Michael Cooper stated that one of Atlanta’s primary needs was a solid backup wing player for Angel McCoughtry.  “We had been crossing our fingers all night that Bria would be there for us, and she fell right into our lap,” Cooper said.  According to Cooper, Holmes had been on Atlanta’s draft radar as early as the previous season and he was intrigued not just by Holmes’s defensive prowess, but her size.

“She can guard one, twos, threes and some fours in our league,” Cooper said.  Chip Malafronte, writing for the New Haven Register Citizen, quoted an exchange between Cooper and Holmes.

Cooper asked, “Do you have your game shoes for defense?”

Holmes replied, “Of course I do.  That’s all [West Virginia] coach [Mike] Carey promoted here.”

Holmes has shown that she can carry responsibility.  In 2015, West Virginia came into Holmes’s senior season with just four returning players.  She helped lead West Virginia to a 25-10 record, a third-place finish in the Big 12 and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Two picks later, Atlanta selected Rachel Hollivay¸ a 6-4 center from Rutgers.  Hollivay holds the school’s record for blocked shots.  She averaged 7.8 ppg and 6.5 rpg, but also averaged 3.3 blocks per game as well and led the Big Ten in blocked shots per game.

Hollivay brings not only defensive prowess but the pedigree of Rutgers.   Rutgers graduates come highly touted in the WNBA and the Dream has fellow alumna Matee Ajavon to keep Hollivay company.

Cooper stated coming into the draft that his needs were “a backup wing, a backup center and scoring off the bench”.  According to Adam Minichino of the Commercial Dispatch, Cooper made the decision to draft Hollivay after watching her performance at a pro combine in Indianapolis.  Her father Ray texted to Minichino that Cooper told Hollivay at the combine that Atlanta intended to draft her.

In the above clip, Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer called Hollivay “a double-double waiting to happen”.    The only center on the Atlanta roster is Damiris Dantas with Elizabeth Williams and Kara Braxton listed at forward-center so it will interesting to see which player earns the right in training camp to play behind Dantas.

With its second pick of the second round, Atlanta selected Courtney Walker, a 5-8 guard from Texas A&M.

In the above clip, the ESPN commentators call Walker “a smaller version of Seimone Augustus” because of her talent at mid-range shooting.  Walker is a three-time AP All-American Honorable Mention who averaged 14.4 ppg and 4.4 rpg over her career.  She’s not the kind of player with whom opposing teams can afford to get physical – with an accuracy of 84.4 percent Walker holds Texas A&M’s career free throw percentage record.

There was one more pick to go and in the third round the Dream selected Niya Johnson, a 5-8 point guard from Baylor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDe8ycALGlw

If you’re looking for a player who can pass the ball in the 2016 WNBA Draft, look no further than Johnson.  Look at these numbers:

2013-14:  #1 nationwide in assist/turnover ratio (4.0), #9 in assists (6.6)

2014-15:  #1 nationwide in assists (8.9), #2 in assist/turnover ratio (4.1)

2015-16:  #1 nationwide in assists (8.7), #2 in assist/turnover ratio (3.3)

Johnson was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award two years in a row.  (The Nancy Lieberman Award is given to the NCAA’s best women’s basketball point guard.)  Don’t be surprised if Johnson actually makes the Atlanta Dream’s squad.  Some WNBA draft websites had Johnson going much earlier in the draft than the third round.

With the WNBA Draft over, unselected college seniors could still be invited to preseason draft camps.  South Carolina’s Tina Roy was chosen to take part in Atlanta’s preseason camp.

Roy is a 3-point specialist, with 74.4 percent of her career shot attempt coming behind the arc.  She finished her career with a 32.9 percent 3-point accuracy rate.

As of this writing, here’s what the Atlanta Dream preseason camp looks like:

2016 Atlanta Dream Training Camp Roster (as of April 21, 2016)

And now, a quick review of Atlanta Dream players overseas…

April 13:  Angel McCoughtry and No. 3 Mersin complete a two game quarterfinal sweep of Elizabeth Williams and No. 6 Istanbul Univ with a 77-74 road win.  McCoughtry had 22 points and seven rebounds and Williams finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Box Score: http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1520&Sezon=156

April 14:  Cierra Burdick and No. 8 Napoli win Game One of a two game playoff series against No. 9 Torino 60-43.  Burdick has nine points, 11 rebounds.

Box Score: http://lbf-web.dataproject-stats.com/Tabellino.asp?IdGara=16451

April 14:  Reshanda Gray and No. 10 Battipaglia upset Meighan Simmons and No. 7 Umbertide in Game One of their two-game playoff series by a 70-59 score.  Gray had an astounding 32 points and 23 rebounds (!!); Simmons had 19 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

Box Score: http://lbf-web.dataproject-stats.com/Tabellino.asp?IdGara=16453

April 14:  Damiris Dantas and her Corinthians team beat Maranhao in Game Three of their Brazilian league semifinal 72-67 to advance to the Finals against Sampaio. Dantas scores 17 points and eight rebounds.

Box Score: http://ligadebasquetefeminino.com.br/noticias/vai-corinthians/

April 15:  Sancho Lyttle and UMMC get one step closer to a Euroleague championship with a 78-72 semifinal win over Czech team USK Praha.  Lyttle scores four points and nine rebounds.

Box Score: http://www.fibaeurope.com/euroleaguewomen/compID_jr6ZiXqeGhMBtfq1yxqV83.season_2016.roundID_11804.gameID_11845-6-A-1.html

April 16:  Roneeka Hodges and Miskolc are upset by UNI Gyor 65-53 in Game Three as they lose the Hungarian semifinals series two games to one.  Miskolc moves to a third place game against PINKK-Pesci.  Hodges had 11 points in the loss.

Box Score: http://kosarsport.hu/game/whun_ply/x1516/whun_ply_18

April 17:  In Game Two of Cierra Burdick and No. 8 Napoli vs. No. 9 Torino, Torino won 76-55.  In a two-game series, combined score determines a split series and Torino advances on aggregate 119-115, eliminating Napoli.  Burdick did not play in the loss.

April 17:  In Game Two of Meighan Simmons and No. 7 Umbertide vs. Reshanda Gray and No. 10 Battipaglia, Battipaglia swept the series in a 79-76 road upset.  Gray had 17 points and 16 rebounds in the win, and Simmons had 23 points in the loss.

Box Score: http://lbf-web.dataproject-stats.com/Tabellino.asp?IdGara=16457

April 17:  In Game One of the Brazilian finals series, Corinthians suffered a crushing 81-59 defeat at the hands of Sampaio.  Damiris Dantas scored eight points and two rebounds in the loss.

Box Score: http://ligadebasquetefeminino.com.br/noticias/tudo-deu-certo/

April 17:  In the Euroleague championship game, UMMC came back from behind to win a thrilling 72-69 victory.  Sancho Lyttle wins her fourth all-European pro championship, and has won each title with a different team.  (2011 Halcon Avenida, 2013 Ros Casares, 2014 Galatasaray, 2016 UMMC)

Box Score: http://www.fibaeurope.com/euroleaguewomen/compID_jr6ZiXqeGhMBtfq1yxqV83.season_2016.roundID_11804.gameID_11847-8-A-1.html

April 19:  In Game Two of the Brazilian finals series, Sampaio went up two games to none with a 83-66 win.  Damiris Dantas had a double-double of 28 points and 11 rebounds.  The series is best of five.

Box Score: http://ligadebasquetefeminino.com.br/noticias/vantagem-gigante/