Atlanta Dream: Great Season, Disappointing End

The Atlanta Dream saw a great season end abruptly, falling 81-86 to the Washington Mystics in Atlanta, at McCamish Pavilion.

The Atlanta Dream fought very hard, but came up short in the winner take all, game five of the WNBA semifinals series. The game was hotly contested, having nine ties and 14 lead changes.

Sadly Dream Head Coach Nikki Collen, and General Manager Chris Sienko’s, call for the fans to come out in drives, fell mostly on deaf ears. There were just 4,435 Atlanta fans in attendance, only 50% of capacity for the arena. Unacceptable numbers in a large city, for a huge game.

The Dream once again were  outrebounded, an occurrence that rarely happened throughout the season. The offensive glass is where the real damage was done. The Mystics won the offensive rebounding battle by five boards.

Another hallmark of Atlanta is, they have typically have more blocked shots, and steals than their opponents. In this game the Mystics had one more steal, and matched the Dream in blocked shots.

The Atlanta Dream did however, do a much better job defensively, than they did in game 4. They lowered the Mystics’ shooting percentage from 50% from the field, and 46% from three, to just 43% from the field and 32% from long distance.  It was a much improved effort, that fell just short.

Another major area in which the Mystics did damage was the free throw line. The Mystics were agressive rebounding, as well as attacking the basket. This resulted in a 19 to 9 advantage at the charity stripe. The Mystics doubled up the Dream, making 16 free throws, compared to Atlanta’s 8.

The Atlanta Dream lead 50-49 at halftime, a half in which Mystics’ star Elena Delle Donne was held to just four points. A critical juncture of the game, came with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Atlanta led by two points before Washington went on an untimely 9-0 run.

Kristi Toliver who led Washington with 22 points in game four, was once again a factor scoring 17 of her 19 points in the 1st half, to keep the Mystics in game four. Rookie Guard Ariel Atkins led Washington with 20 pints. Forward Tianna Hawks also contributed 17 points off the bench.

All WNBA first team Elena Delle Donne was held to 14 points. That was nearly seven points below her season average, and almost 11 points below her playoff output. She did come alive at the right time for her team, scoring 10 of her 14 in the 2nd half, and adding 11 rebounds and four assists.

The fact that Washington had three players, none named Delle Donne, score more points than any Atlanta Dream player, was a formula for disaster.

Alex Bentley paced the Dream with 16 points off the bench. Brittney Sikes and Renee Montgomery added 15 points each. Tiffany Hayes chipped in 13 points, and Elizabeth Williams rounded out the double figure scorers with 10.

The dynamic duo of Elizabeth Williams and Jessica Breland improved their rebounding output from 12 combined in game four, to 19. However aside from Tiffany Hayes, who grabbed six boards, no other Atlanta Dream player had more than three.

Renee Montgomery had another subpar shooting night, She made just 2-8 three pointers, and 3-10 shots overall. Renee also fouled out of the contest.

All WNBA 1st team guard Tiffany Hayes, was the Atlanta Dream’s most disappointing player in the series. She averaged only 16.4 points, down from 17.2 in the regular season. That’s not a huge drop, but a player of her caliber is expected to elevate her game in the postseason.

Tiffany Hayes patterns her game after Allen Iverson. She has similar intensity, but she can also be streaky and erratic like The Answer. She must learn to keep her relentlessness, while being more efficient. It’s no coincidence that Atlanta won the two games this series in which she played best.

Star forward and two time Olympic Goal Medalist Angel McCoughtry, proclaimed to the crowd that the team would be back in this spot next season.  After the game, she tweeted out this statement of encouragement for her teammates:

McCoughtry, a Maryland native, who grew up a fan of the Mystics, also tweeted out her congratulations to the Mystics for their first WNBA Finals trip:

Ultimately it was a bitter end to a sweet season. The Dream have much to be proud of. Nikki Collen (coach of the Year), Chris Sienko (executive of the year), Tiffany Hayes (All WNBA 1st Team) and Jessica Breland ( All WNBA Defensive Team), all brought home hardware for Atlanta.

Going Forward The Atlanta Dream, will be in the mix of teams competing for the crown once again in 2019. Angel’s return from injury will be key. The team will select 11th in the WNBA draft and should look to add the best shooter possible. Outside of that, shoring up depth will be paramount.

One thing is for certain, we have not seen the last of The Atlanta Dream making deep playoff runs. I sincerely hope the city gets behind the team stronger, before its too late. I don’t want to see the Dream go the way of other successful franchises, relocating or being dissolved.

The City of Atlanta, certainly doesn’t need the embarrassment of losing another franchise, the same way that the Flames and Thrashers were lost. So let’s all make a pledge to attend at least one Atlanta Dream game next season.

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