In Week 7 we recap the first part of the Dream’s road trip with a series of lists, Dream head coach Michael Cooper comments on the Dream defense, and we have our pre-All Star Game power rankings.

Phoenix Mercury 80, Atlanta Dream 71

Instead of giving a complete game summary, I’m going to concentrate on all the great stuff you missed if you didn’t watch this game on SportSouth.  I’ll do this for the other games as well.

1. The Dream scored a season-high for a half in that game, with 48 first half points as the team led 48-38 at halftime. Unfortunately, they came out flat in the second half, with their 23 second-half points serving as a season-low for a half.
2. Atlanta shot the lights out from 3-point land – they were 13-for-26 behind the arc! At times, it seemed like Shoni Schimmel, Angel McCoughtry and Tiffany Hayes were trying to see who could hit the most threes.  (The winner?  Schimmel with four threes out of nine attempts.)
3. Back to Schimmel – it was Native American Night in Phoenix and last year’s All-Star Game showed that she likes playing at US Airways Center. She played nearly 30 minutes and had a season-high 12 points for the game, all on 3-pointers. It was the fourth time this year that an Atlanta Dream player has scored in double-digits from the bench.
4. For Angel McCoughtry, on the other hand, this was a game she would have preferred everyone forget. She shot an abysmal 3-for-20 – hitting just 15 percent of her shots.  (All of her hits were 3 pointers, and she managed to finish in double-digits with 11 points – it was her 20th straight game in double digits.)
5. This is the first time that Tiffany Hayes has been the team’s leading scorer this season. She had 19 points in the loss to Phoenix.
6. Sancho Lyttle did not play due to her left plantar fascia tear. She wasn’t with the team in Phoenix, but she could rejoin the team further down the road.
7. Cierra Burdick got her second start of the season. Burdick had four points, six assists and eight rebounds.
8. Sydney Carter also got her second start at point guard.
9. This is Atlanta’s fourth straight game where the team had less than 20 points in the third quarter. The Dream’s 10 points was a season-low for the third quarter.

Assistant coach Karleen Thompson on missing Sancho Lyttle:  “When you’re missing an All-Star like player like Sancho, I mean she gives us more rebounds and Angel would normally be making her shots. It was just the way it happened today. We just have to regroup and get ready for another tough team in Los Angeles.”

Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello:  “We wanted to push, I didn’t think we pushed as much as we could but they were playing one-on-one against BG. (Brittney Griner).  The emphasis was trying to get the ball inside nice and early. When we got a little stagnant, we just had to get a little more player ball movement and that’s when we’re best—when we’re quick into the nice action, when we’re sprinting into screens, and the guards are coming off as being aggressive, and that creates. It’s either for them or obviously for the post players.”

Atlanta Dream 76, Los Angeles Sparks 72

1. This was a game of runs. A team would take a lead with a big run and then allow the other team to whittle the lead away.  This happened early in the first quarter, with Atlanta leading 6-0 and then Los Angeles scoring 17 straight points to take a big lead and finish the first quarter leading 25-17.
2. Los Angeles center Marianna Tolo had a tough first quarter. With 2:20 left to go in the first quarter, she picked up three personal fouls in less than two minutes.  Those fouls led to five of six Atlanta points from the free throw line.  As Atlanta continued to whittle away at LA’s lead, guard Erin Phillips would pick up her third personal foul with 7:45 to go in the second.
3. Shortly after the Dream picked up a brief lead in the second quarter, Tolo would pick up her fourth personal foul. Oddly enough, Sparks head coach Brian Agler would keep playing her. Part of his problem was that he had a roster shortage caused by injuries to players like Farhiya Abdi (left knee) and Alana Beard (left foot), and the fact that Candace Parker was taking an indeterminate amount of time to rest.
4. A pair of free throws by forward Aneika Henry put Atlanta up 30-27. The Dream had answered LA’s 17-0 run with an 18-2 run of their own in the space of five minutes.
5. The score was 35-35 at halftime. Atlanta shot rather poorly in the first half – just 31 percent – but were 13-of-15 from the free throw line.  Bench players like Henry (8 points) and point guard Shoni Schimmel (5 points) were contributing.
6. Up 46-41 in the third, Los Angeles found another run – a 15-4 spurt that allowed them to take a 56-52 lead at the end of the third quarter.
7. Down 65-54 in the fourth quarter due to the success of the Sparks pick-and-roll, Atlanta found another run – a 15-5 surge that let the Dream close to 70-69 with 3:24 left.
8. Los Angeles faced the same problem it had faced all season – an inability to protect a lead. With Atlanta up 74-72, the Sparks had what could have been the final possession.  Sparks forward Jantel Lavender would miss from 18 feet out and the Dream would get the rebound that sealed the game.
9. Los Angeles fell flat from behind the 3-point line – they were 0-for-8 for the night.
10. Aneika Henry’s 16-point game was a career-high for her. She shot 6-for-8 from the field.
11. Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry finished with 22 points – her 15th straight game scoring in double figures – but only shot 5-for-20 from the floor. However, she hit 12-of-13 free throw attempts.
12. The Dream had eight blocked shots, the most blocked shots in any game this year.

Brian Agler on Lavender’s final shot:  “I feel bad for her. But it was a good shot and we wanted her to take it. We’ll live with that and that’s a part of competition. You put people out there and you live with the results. Would we take that shot again? Absolutely.“

Angel McCoughtry on playing against Nneka Ogwumike:  “I love Nneka to death. I really respect her game and she always plays hard. It’s tough to play against her. She’s so athletic. At one point in the game, I thought I was going to grab a rebound and she just came out of nowhere to tip the rebound back to herself. I know the Sparks haven’t had the season that they wanted, they still have a great team and have nothing to be discouraged about.”

Seattle Storm 86, Atlanta Dream 73

1. This was a tough game for Dream fans to watch – the Storm led for all but the first three minutes of the game. Furthermore, for the final three quarters of the game the Seattle lead was in double-digits.
2. The Storm won every quarter of the game.
3. Usually, the Dream dominates teams in the paint. Not this time.  Seattle scored 40 of its total points in the paint, compared to just 30 from the Dream.
4. It wasn’t the greatest day in the world for Dream center Erika de Souza – she shot 2-for-9, scored just five points and only had five rebounds.
5. DeLisha Milton-Jones played seven and a half minutes off the bench and had five rebounds. However, she picked up five personals during the third quarter.  She did not return in the fourth quarter.
6. How well did Seattle shoot? They shot 56.9 percent from the floor during the entire game.  Storm point guard Sue Bird had 9 points/12 assists in the Seattle win.
7. Out of Seattle’s 33 field goals, 25 were assisted field goals. For the Dream, only 9 of their 24 field goals were assisted. The 25 assists were four short of the *franchise* high for the Storm.
8. During one time frame during the second quarter – from 8:43 to 1:16 – Atlanta did not score a field goal.
9. Storm forward Alysha Clark had the best game of her career with 14 points.
10. Seattle had a sellout, but most of the fans in attendance were Shoni Schimmel fans, Native Americans who had come to see Schimmel. (Schimmel grew up in Mission, Oregon.)  They began chants of “Shoni!  Shoni!” in the third quarter. Schimmel would go 3-for-10 in the game with two three-pointers and score eight total points.
11. Of course, I root for the Dream on-line and like any fan, I cheer when they do well and moan when they don’t. The Seattle Storm Twitter account was quick to capitalize on my moans.  Even Doppler, the Seattle mascot, got into the act!

Michael Cooper on Atlanta’s defense:  “Our defense is terrible right now.  That’s something that we just have to continue to get better at.  It’s surprising that we played such good defense down at LA, and then we get a day or two off, come up here and don’t continue that type of defense.  We’re a work in progress.  We’re still right in the hunt of everything in the east.”

Sue Bird on having extra time to practice:  “We really didn’t have a lot of practice time, the way our travel schedule was, and the game, every other day, back to back. Because we are young, I think that hurt us. There were a lot of teams in this league and don’t get me wrong, I’m never going to make excuses, everyone travels, everyone has to deal with it- but a lot of other teams had the time, and had three, four, five days off in between games and now it is our turn to get that.”

Angel McCoughtry on the difference between past Dream seasons and this one:  “It’s a different group.  I still feel like we don’t know each other the way we should.  We just have to figure it out.”

WNBA Tidbits

* The Phoenix home game against Atlanta was a sellout with 10,472 in attendance.  Not to be topped, the New York Liberty’s game against the San Antonio Stars on Wednesday had an attendance of 18,617 – the largest attendance at any Liberty game since August 11, 2002 vs. Charlotte.

* In the game between Los Angeles and Seattle on Wednesday, both teams combined for just two (2) fast-break points.  This is the lowest number of fast break points in a game since before the 2013 season.

* Part of the game between visiting Tulsa and Indiana on Wednesday night was played with just two officials instead of the usual three – one of the officials pulled his hamstring during the game.

* A game scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. ET between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun in Connecticut had to be postponed to July 28th.  Why?  Airport delays.  Their flight was held on the tarmac due to weather problems, and after two hours of waiting they were forced back to the gate.  Many of the Fever players on board were asleep and thought they were in Connecticut when they were informed they had to leave the plane.

* Lynx guard Seimone Augustus had arthroscopic surgery on her right knee.  She will indefinitely sidelined.  The Lynx are in first place in the Western Conference but lose her 15.4 points per game.

* The Liberty’s 75-73 road win over Phoenix on Saturday puts New York all alone at the top of the Eastern Conference for the first time this season.

 

Upcoming games

July 21:  Atlanta Dream @ Chicago Sky, 8 pm – NBA TV

(Season series tied 1-1)

One month ago, the Dream took a home game at Philips against the Chicago Sky on a buzzer-beater by Angel McCoughtry.  Doing the same thing again on Tuesday night might be difficult – the Sky have won five of their last six games, the only loss coming on the road against the Minnesota Lynx.

Furthermore, during that last game starting guard Jessica Breland and starting center Sasha Goodlett were held scoreless.  That probably won’t happen again.  Breland, Goodlett and guard Allie Quigley were a combined 0-for-10 in shooting.

Since then, Sky guard Cappie Pondexter has earned her first Player of the Week selection on July 13th.  Pondexter and Sky forward Elena Delle Donne combined for just 18 points in the loss to the Lynx, and they are two of the best scorers in the WNBA.  They’ll be looking to rebound vs. Atlanta.

Erika de Souza will have to have another double-digit game against the Sky like the one she had in June to give Atlanta a chance to win.  Atlanta will have to solve its defensive woes against the pick-and-roll.  This will be a fast game as both teams are in the top-four in field goal attempts, but unlike the Dream, Chicago is making its attempts.

If there’s a time for Atlanta to turn its defense around, it’s on Tuesday night.  This game also marks the halfway point of the regular season, and Atlanta would rather be 8-9 than 7-10.

July 25:  2015 WNBA All-Star Game:  Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference, 3:30 pm ET – ABC TV

Why mention this game?  It’s because the Eastern Conference has two starters that play for Atlanta.  Angel McCoughtry and Shoni Schimmel were voted by the fans into the starting lineup of the Eastern Conference, so Dream fans will get a chance to see Dream players at a WNBA showcase event.

As of this writing, reserves hadn’t been announced.  After the All-Star Game, the Dream doesn’t play again until Wednesday, July 29 when they take on the San Antonio Stars in Texas.

WNBA Power Rankings

1. Minnesota Lynx (12-3) – Even without Seimone Augustus, this looks as much like a championship team as any previous Lynx team.
2. Chicago Sky (10-6) – Their regular season tally against the Lynx? 1-1.  If they make it to the Finals, they won’t be swept.
3. Tulsa Shock (10-7) – Playing away from home, this team hasn’t lost its fight even with the losses. It’s no longer the team that will fold up with one swift kick to the gut.
4. Connecticut Sun (7-7) – Sun have lost six straight. But what people don’t realize is that two were losses to the Sky and one loss was to the Lynx.  Head coach Anne Donovan hopes this isn’t a regression to the pack.
5. Washington Mystics (8-6) – On any given night, the Mystics might be the most dangerous team in the WNBA.
6. Phoenix Mercury (9-6) – Nine wins looks impressive until you realize that most of them are against bottom-dwelling teams. Gaudy records in the West come with an asterisk.
7. New York Liberty (10-5) – A West Coast bias in the Power Rankings? Nah, just New York’s turn to be at the top of the East standings.  If you’re unhappy, just create a fourth-place tie between Connecticut and New York.
8. Indiana Fever (8-7) – It’s hard to figure out exactly where to rank teams in the jumble of the Eastern Conference, but one feels that Indiana’s fourth place is well deserved.
9. Atlanta Dream (7-9) – One suspects than after that loss to the Storm they could just as easily be 10th. With Lyttle out of the lineup, de Souza not producing and a new point guard every night, no team will be happier to see the All-Star break than Atlanta.
10. Seattle Storm (5-12) – The Storm have won two straight games! A little ray of light pokes out of a cloudy sky.
11. San Antonio Stars (4-12) – All of the San Antonio wins have been home wins, but they’ll be glad to get back to their real home at the AT&T Center.
12. Los Angeles Sparks (2-12) – Candace Parker might come back to the team after the All-Star Break. Could LA lose its lead position going into the 2016 Draft?