Ivory Latta plays basketball the way Mel Gibson fights the English. There's not a whole lotta Latta, but what's there is exposed and raw and furious. She's an emotional Tilt-A-Whirl.

So, here's the rub. How does such an expressive sort handle the type of unbroken losing that is an expansion team specialty? If she were to display every available emotion during this first Atlanta Dream season, she'd be running the court in a straitjacket about now.

AP (ENLARGE)

The Dream's poor start has taken an emotional toll on point guard Ivory Latta.

Losing "is really hard," the Dream's 5-foot-6

point guard said. "It hurts. I may go home and I may shed a little tear here and there. That's just my mentality."

In four years at North Carolina, Latta lost only 17 games while playing in two Final Fours. As a bit player last year with the Detroit Shock, she at least got to experience the WNBA Finals.

Struggling as expansion teams are born to do, the Dream are winless after 11 games. That puts them two losses shy of the worst start in the 11-year history of the league.

Conceivably, Latta will know more defeat this one year than in four seasons in Chapel Hill.

The Dream have lost lopsidedly — by 33 in the opener. They have lost agonizingly — giving up a 12-point lead in the last seven minutes against New York. And lost every way in between.

There is a belief that victory is just around the next bend, yet at every turn, splat, another pie in the face.

For players like Latta, who had experienced only success on the court, this represents a huge change in scenery.

The question then is how do winners process losing? How do they keep swallowing this cod liver oil of defeat night after night after night?

There are different release valves for different sorts.

You can reach out and unload on someone. Latta relies on the phone, unlimited minutes, and a clear connection back to her folks in York, S.C.

"My dad says, 'If you're frustrated, call home and take it out on us.' So I go home and take it out on them," Latta said.

"I talk and say what I got to say and my dad says, 'OK, baby, you all right? Did you say what you had to say?' "

You can lean on the everlasting power of jewelry. The Dream's leading scorer, guard Betty Lennox, was the Finals MVP for Seattle in 2004. She finds she is wearing her championship ring a lot more these days. That's one finger that losing can't touch.

"It was a very exciting year in 2004," Lennox said. "That's a chapter in my book, and I know I have to turn the page and start a new chapter here in Atlanta. Still, it feels good to be able to go back to that flashback."

You can put up a wall of optimism 6 feet high and dare any dark thought to scale it. Center Jennifer Lacy doesn't yet have her ring from Phoenix's 2007 championship. That will be handed to her next month when the Dream visit the Mercury. But she does hold onto a lesson left her during two seasons there.

"The year before last in Phoenix, we had a rough start, too," Lacy said. "We lost a lot of games and barely missed the playoffs. When you stay committed and really believe in something, things turn around. And the next year, we won the championship.

"I have that same mentality here: Stay committed. Have faith in your teammates and coaches. Stay positive. Keep my head up. Come in every day and work hard. Try to get better."

Mostly, you keep showing up, thinking that the next day has to be better than the last. Then in the process, try to find the best part of yourself.

"I'm at another stage in my life where I'm hitting reality — boom. It hit me pretty hard," Latta said. "At the same time, I've got to go along with it, know that I'm blessed to be here. This is where I wanted to be; this is where I'm happiest.

"I've learned a lot [this season]. I haven't been a very patient person. I've learned to be more patient and it's showing now."

And when all else fails, just look to the nickname of this winless team. It's the one thing left when the tangible returns of victory are just out of reach.

Said Latta, "I dream about winning. I dream about winning championships. I dream about winning our first game.

"I dream a lot."