Dream glad to be home, hopes schedule is in favor

By Pierce W. Huff

For the AJC

Will the real Atlanta Dream please stand up?

Are the Dream the same team that steamrolled their way to a 6-0 start? Or are they the team that struggled in consecutive losses to Seattle and Chicago and had to rally for an 86-79 victory at Washington on June 5. Or the team that after a five-day rest lost to the New York Liberty 91-79 on Friday?

The Dream (7-3) thinks they are closer to being the 6-0 team they once were, and they hope to prove it now that their schedule has changed.

They play host to San Antonio (3-5) at 3 p.m. Sunday in Philips Arena. The Dream have consecutive road games Tuesday and Saturday at Chicago (4-6) and Indiana (5-4), respectively. Then the Dream start a six-game homestand from June 23 to July 7.

But more important than the home games is that the Dream took that much-needed five-day break.

Dream general manager/coach Marynell Meadors said she believes the team’s schedule played a part in its struggles after the 6-0 start.

The Dream had a 3-2 record when they played five games in nine days in late May in the first week of June.

“I don’t want to look into excuses, but the players were mentally and physically tired then,” Meadors said.

Another thing the Dream learned since that 6-0 start is that they have to make adjustments to their play, because the rest of the WNBA has adjusted to the Dream.

Meadors said opponents have made it a priority to get back on defense and take away the Dream’s transition game, which resulted in easy fast-break points that made the team nearly impossible to beat.

Because of that, the Dream have needed to improve their half-court offense, which means getting the ball inside to center Erika de Souza and forward Sancho Lyttle. When de Souza and Lyttle score, it opens things on the perimeter for the rest of the Dream’s players, especially forward Angel McCoughtry.

The Dream struggles when de Souza and Lyttle aren’t factors inside on offense. The Dream’s half-court offense struggled when de Souza was held to two points and Lyttle was held to 10 points in Atlanta’s 90-72 loss at Seattle on June 1. Lyttle scored 14 points, but de Souza was scoreless in an 80-70 loss against Chicago on June 4.

“In the two losses we just didn’t get the ball to Erika,” Meadors said.

The Dream got the ball to de Souza in the victory against Washington, and she scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds. Lyttle scored 13 points and had 17 rebounds.

“Setting up an offense means starting inside,” point guard Shalee Lehning said.

And now the Dream has learned their lesson.

One thing is certain, based on the way the league has approached playing the Dream, opponents believe they are closer to being the 6-0 team than the one that struggled in its next four games.

Lehning said teams no longer overlook the Dream.

“I think everybody knows about the Atlanta Dream,” Lehning said.