In this week’s Bowman Beat, I watch the Dream try to pull itself out of a (somewhat) historic losing streak.  Would Atlanta go 2-0 or 0-2?  Atlanta comes back home for two games this week and I calculate the newest set of WNBA Power Rankings.

As with every Beat, I start with a review of the Dream’s past performances.

Indiana Fever 106, Atlanta Dream 77

As everyone knows, the Dream has been away from Atlanta for a long, long time.  The “Powder Blues”, as I call them, have had to play eight out of nine games of the road.  Long road trips will take their toll on any team in the WNBA, but in the case of Atlanta’s game against Indiana on Friday night, it was a loss of almost historic proportions.

The game actually started with great possibility.  Angel McCoughtry didn’t start due to Achilles issues and had not participated in the previous two practices, but was able and willing to come off the bench as needed. It also helped that Indiana’s Natalie Achonwa was spending time with the Canadian national team in hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics.  Shoni Schimmel got a start at point guard after spending at least a month buried in the bench.

The new look must have helped, because both teams were off to the races early on, almost neck and neck. Atlanta looked a bit ragged, with both Schimmel and post Damiris Dantas having inbounds passes picked off by the Fever early in the period.  However, the Dream shot 57 percent in the first quarter – Delisha Milton-Jones even hit a 3-pointer – and Indiana shot 50 percent on the way to a very tight 30-30 opening period that saw eight lead changes and seven ties.  Indiana would score 10 of its 11 points in the opening 10 minutes on free throws, a sign of things to come.

With Atlanta up 34-32 early in the second, the game started to go sour.  Indiana would go on a mini 8-0 run, with the Dream coughing up the ball four times in just two minutes of play.  Atlanta’s seven second-quarter turnovers exceed its six from the first 10 minutes, and despite Briann January and Shavonte Zellous falling into foul trouble, the 8-0 run was enough for Indiana to establish a buffer and keep it on the way to a 47-40 first half lead.

At the beginning of the third, Atlanta could just not hang on to the ball.  As Schimmel brought the ball over the backcourt to begin the second half, Shenise Johnson stole the ball and marched down for a quick layup.  No sooner had two minutes passed and the Dream already had three turnovers.  Indiana started the second half with a 10-2 run that put the Fever up by 15 points and for the rest of the game the Dream would be looking up at a double-digit deficit.  Atlanta leads the WNBA in most free throw opportunities given to other teams, and it was undoubtedly part of Fever head coach Stephanie White’s game plan.  Tiffany Hayes alone committed four third-quarter personal fouls and Indiana scored 13 of its 30 third quarter points at the free throw line.  Despite shooting 43 percent, Atlanta had turned the ball over 19 times in 30 minutes and was down 77-62 going into the last quarter.

The fourth period was a disaster, a sour pickle in a stale sandwich.  The Dream only shot 23 percent in the fourth, compared to 50 percent clip from the home squad.  Schimmel turned the ball over three more times.  Reshanda Gray matched Hayes’s third-quarter performance with four personal fouls of her own.  Indiana walked up to the free throw line gladly to take any points that the Dream were handing out.  Even head coach Michael Cooper received a technical, unable to stem the tide.  Indiana’s lead swelled to 20 points with 7:41 to go, and the way Atlanta was playing there were only two questions left to answer:

1)  Would Indiana cross the century mark in points?  Answer: Yes.

2)  Would Indiana’s lead balloon into 30 point territory?  Answer:  Yes, as Indiana’s last two points – earned on free throws of course – put them up 106-75.

It was a historic game, but not the kind of history anyone from Atlanta would want to see.  McCoughtry led Atlanta with 23 points in the loss, but only she and Matee Ajavon (who only played five minutes) had less than two turnovers.  Schimmel had seven turnovers.  Both Hayes and Gray fouled out, only the third time in Dream history that two players had fouled out of a regular season game and the first time in six seasons.  Atlanta coughed up the ball 26 times, coming very close to matching the Dream’s record of 27 in a game which last happened the previous season against Indiana.

As for Indiana, they would set their own records.

* They set a franchise record in most free throws made (40) and attempted (44).

* Their 106 point game was the second-highest scoring game in Fever franchise history.

* Their 59-point second half tied the Fever’s franchise record.

Shenise Johnson on the win:  “We want to try to be aggressive every time we go out there.  But they are a little more foul prone than any other team in the league.  We just happened to capitalize and I think we’re 40-44 tonight.  That’s awesome.  We want to continue to be aggressive and get there and then also make them.”

Michael Cooper on the loss:  “I think after halftime they took it up a notch and we weren’t able to step up to the challenge.  It has to be our defense.  I thought their defense was pretty consistent for them and ours was inconsistent for us.  Ours has a problem when we’re not scoring, now we start giving up baskets.  I can’t count how many games where we’ll go six, eight, almost ten minutes without scoring a basket.  And it happened tonight and that was our Achilles heel”.

Atlanta Dream 98, Tulsa Shock 90

On Sunday afternoon, it was a matchup of the teams in each conference with the largest losing streaks.  The Dream had lost six straight, the longest losing streak dating back to their inaugural 2008 season.  Tulsa, meanwhile, had lost eight straight.  It was time for one team to turn its luck around, but this time Atlanta was tired of waiting as it won on the road 98-90 to end its long road-trip madness.

Tulsa got off to an 11-6 lead to start the first period but it would be the biggest advantage it would see all game.  For once, Atlanta’s opponent was the one to have a poor-shooting quarter, recording a clip of just 28 percent.  Milton-Jones made her 492nd appearance in a WNBA game and had a season-best effort with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.  Despite the Dream sending Tulsa to the free throw line 11 times, Dantas and Henry held the Shock to just five first-quarter rebounds and Atlanta made the most of its second chances, leading Tulsa 23-19 after 10 minutes.

Tulsa didn’t give up.  A Plenette Pierson layup closed the Shock to within 27-24 with 7:49 to go in the first half.  But for once, Atlanta would be the team going on a run, a 10-2 spurt that opened up its first double-digit lead.  Tulsa’s rebounding woes continued and the Shock finished with just 10 first-half rebounds and 33.3 percent shooting.  As for Atlanta, they were shooting 50 percent.  They couldn’t keep the Shock from getting to the free throw line but it didn’t seem to matter as Atlanta held a 50-42 lead at halftime.

All season Atlanta has had trouble in the third quarter and it was no different in this game.  A three-point shot by Riquna Williams closed the Shock to just one point with Atlanta hanging on to a slim 54-53 point lead with 7:25 left in the third period.  Atlanta was forced to call a time out, and Schimmel scored five points in under a minute to get the Dream back on track.  Atlanta shot 72 percent in the third quarter with Schimmel and Dantas adding nine points each.  The Dream finished the quarter up 77-67 and just needed to hold on for 10 minutes to break the losing streak.

The fourth quarter saw an unexpected player making a big impact.  Miton-Jones, who had averaged just over one point per game this season, played the entire fourth quarter and scored six points for the Dream as they maintained their lead.  A three-pointer by Karima Christmas with 6:38 remaining closed Tulsa’s gap to 84-78 but Milton-Jones would answer back after an assist from Schimmel and Tulsa would never be within two possessions for the rest of the game.

McCoughtry led all Dream players with 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting with nine rebounds.  Milton-Jones had a season-high with 12 points and Dantas had 14 points and six rebounds.  Schimmel scored 13 points but only two assists for Atlanta.  It was the first time all season that the Dream has won while allowing an opponent to score at least 80 points.

For Tulsa, Williams scored 35 points to lead all scorers from both teams.  The only other Tulsa player to finish in double-digits was Christmas with 18 points.  Courtney Paris had seven points and 11 rebounds to lead Tulsa on the boards.

Tulsa coach Fred Williams on the team’s defensive needs:  “I need a blitzing type of linebacker that makes big plays. I just need some big plays on the backside. I’ve tried trapping, I’ve tried some zones you know. In this league you can’t play a lot of zones because you have great shooters… I’ve tried a lot of things, a lot of those things worked earlier for us in the season. We don’t turn over the ball a lot and we get to the basket a lot and a lot of times we come up empty and that puts us on our heels.”

Roneeka Hodges on the physical nature of the game:   “It is what it is, it is all part of the game, everyone is out there competing, I am just happy no one came out with any serious injuries.”

WNBA TIDBITS

* The WNBA changed its draft lottery rules, beginning with the upcoming 2016 WNBA Draft.  Draft position will now be based on a team’s win-loss record over the previous two seasons, with the worst four teams getting a chance for a No. 1 pick through a lottery.  Furthermore, if the team with the worst record fails to get the No. 1 or No. 2 pick through the lottery, they will automatically be awarded the No. 3 pick and the remaining team will be awarded the No. 4 pick.

* With an 82-51 victory against visiting San Antonio on Tuesday, Connecticut head coach Anne Donovan got her 200th win as a WNBA head coach.  She is at No. 4 all time in WNBA head coaching victories.  Dream head coach Cooper needs just six wins to reach 200 himself.

*Why was Chicago’s 106-82 victory over visiting Indiana noteworthy?  Was it…. A) It was a new Sky franchise record for points scored in regulation, B) it tied Chicago’s game blocked shots record, C) It was the first time that Chicago swept Indiana in a season series, or D) All of the above? If you answered “D” give yourself a gold star!

* On Tuesday, the Sparks beat Minnesota at home 83-61.  Maya Moore scored 13 points in the loss, ending her streak of 20+ point games with eleven.  Diana Taurasi still holds the WNBA record with twelve straight.

* On Wednesday’s win by Washington over visiting San Antonio, there was a scary moment in the second quarter. Stars point guard Danielle Robinson chased a ball out of bounds and collided with her head coach on the sidelines.  Dan Hughes was knocked over some chairs and injured his back, requiring him to be removed from the court by stretcher and necessitating assistant coach Vickie Johnson to take over coaching duties.  Hughes appears to be okay, though, and will not miss any games.

* On Friday, Elena Delle Donne’s eighth free throw made in the Sky’s loss to New York set a season franchise record for free throws made…breaking the one set the previous season by Elena Delle Donne.

* With the Dream’s defeat of the Shock on Sunday, it meant that Tulsa had lost nine straight games.  It is tied for the fourth longest losing streak in Tulsa history, the last time in 2012 when the Shock started the season 0-9.

* Alana Beard of the Los Angeles Sparks left Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Lynx with a pulled quadriceps.

 

UPCOMING GAMES

Friday, August 14:  Minnesota Lynx @ Atlanta Dream, 7:30 pm ET

(Minnesota leads 1-0)

After a long stretch on the road, the Dream can finally look forward to two straight games where they can be the host, as Atlanta opens up the weekend with a home game against the West-leading Minnesota Lynx.

As of this writing, Minnesota fans were undergoing some uncharacteristic self-doubt, having lost two straight against Los Angeles and Phoenix.  However, those were road games and Minnesota was taking on two of the toughest centers in the league in Brittney Griner and Candace Parker.  (The Lynx would beat the Sparks on Sunday when they got home.)

Comparing stats, both the Dream and the Lynx match up pretty well in terms of rebounding – they are fourth and fifth in the league respectively.  However, this game won’t be decided in the paint.  The Lynx still bring Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen, two future Hall of Famers.  Moore has family in Georgia and her battles with McCoughtry are almost legendary, so expect fireworks and a big crowd to see two of the best offensive players in the WNBA.  The Dream beat Minnesota last season and barely lost to them on the road so a win against Minnesota is possible, but the Dream can’t afford to let it turn into a foul party as the Lynx are 81.3 percent from the free throw line and will be expecting the Dream to send them there.

Sunday, August 16:  Connecticut Sun @ Atlanta Dream, 3:00 pm ET

(Connecticut leads 2-0)

Due to a quirk in scheduling, the Dream take on the Connecticut Sun three times in nine days – they play the Sun on Sunday, play the Liberty on the road on Friday, head to Mohegan for a Sun game next Sunday, and then travel back to Atlanta for a rematch on Tuesday, August 25 to end the regular season series.

The Sun are basically two different teams.  One of those teams won seven of their first eight games.  The other team lost seven of their next eight.  Part of it might be due to Connecticut’s reliance on the three-point shot.   They shoot well from long range either in wins or losses and guard/forward Shekinna Stricklen and point guard Alex Bentley (remember her?) are burning it up from beyond the arc.  Bentley has provided punch to the Sun on both sides of the floor, leading the league in steals and is in the line for some kind of post-season award.

Under the bucket, it’s another story.  Connecticut sits at the bottom of the league in total rebounds.   If the Dream can defend the three-point shot and take care of business under the basket, theyhave a chance of picking up a much-needed Eastern Conference victory.

WNBA Power Rankings

1. New York Liberty (14-6): The hottest team in the WNBA right now, winning seven of their last eight.  It would be amazing to go from being fired in the off-season to becoming Coach of the Year this season…with the same team!
2. Washington Mystics (13-8): Tied for second in the East.  Splitting a couple of games with the Sun doesn’t detract from their recent accomplishments.
3. Phoenix Mercury (14-8): Chicago put an end to Phoenix’s five game winning streak but win against the Lynx shows the detractors wrong when they claimed that Phoenix was laying down this season without Taurasi and Taylor.
4. Los Angeles Sparks (7-15): If it weren’t for a lousy first quarter and Beard’s injury, they might have beaten the Lynx on Sunday.   The best 7-15 WNBA team anyone might ever see.
5. Minnesota Lynx (16-6): They don’t look very sharp right now.  Adjustment issues after the three-team trade?
6. Chicago Sky (14-9): Speaking of adjustment issues….hopefully, de Souza will turn it around in Chicago (just not against Atlanta).
7. Indiana Fever (12-9): Fever has to go on the road for their next four games.
8. Connecticut Sun (11-10): Right now, the Sun are just fighting for a playoff spot.  Nothing spectacular, just an opportunity.
9. Atlanta Dream (8-14): The monkey is finally off the Dream’s back.  Atlanta has been a better home team than a road time in the last two seasons, let’s hope they show it this weekend.
10. (tie) Seattle Storm (5-17): Losers of five straight. The only recent Storm victory came with the changes to the format of the 2016 WNBA Draft Lottery.
11. San Antonio Stars (7-16): A couple of really scary losses put them this low.
12. Tulsa Shock (10-13): Tulsa hoped that this year would be the year they broke through.  If they make it to the playoffs, it will only be on the strength of their performance before the Diggins injury.