‘Uncomfortable conversations’ for Dream before WNBA Finals elimination game
The Dream were feeling good Wednesday after a video review of Game 5 that forward Angel Reese said included “some uncomfortable conversations” about what individual players must do to improve the team in the WNBA Finals.
They need to make more open shots. They need to play at the faster pace that they prefer. They need to cut down the unforced turnovers.
Checking those boxes will give the Dream a good chance of avoiding elimination in Game 6 against Golden State on Thursday at State Farm Arena. But the Dream also can’t falter when things get physical, and the referees don’t call it, as they did in Game 5.
“Definitely,” said Dream forward DeWanna Bonner, the WNBA leader in career playoff games. “You’ve got to just control your emotions. You can’t let the referees not calling it, or us having one bad possession, or us missing a shot determine how we are going to respond.
“Once you start feeding into all that stuff, then you can’t focus on the task at hand. That’s definitely part of it: How we manage our emotions throughout this thing and how we are going to lock in.”
The Dream face elimination in the best-of-seven series after the Valkyries came back from two consecutive losses to win two games in a row.
The Dream played well enough to win Game 1 in San Francisco but squandered a late lead. They didn’t let that happen in Game 2 there. The Dream routed Golden State in Game 3 at State Farm Arena, then lost a hard-fought Game 4 there.
Game 5 in San Francisco was the first time the Dream fell apart in the series. They were on the wrong side of some questionable calls — and no-calls — and they didn’t handle it well.
“I think we can always do better,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “We definitely hope that we get off to a good start tomorrow and then we understand it’s going to be two teams competing as hard as they can. There is going to be some emotional swings within the game, and hopefully we can manage those and just get us to the next play.”
That mental approach should help the Dream stay alive in a series against an opponent that likes to get physical. When the referees let the teams play in Game 5, the Valkyries thrived while the Dream struggled.
The Dream made just 19 of 65 shot attempts (29%). They missed from the outside (6-of-26 on 3-pointers) and the inside (9-of-33 in the paint) while creating one fast-break chance for two points. Reese made just two of eight shots, all from five to nine feet away from the basket.
Reese said the Dream should be scoring more points despite Golden State’s defensive effort.
“A lot of the mistakes we have made has really been us,” she said. “Kudos to Golden State for their defense, but we’ve gotten a lot of great looks. We just haven’t hit the shot yet. It’s coming.”
After Game 5, Smesko credited the Valkyries for playing good defense and acknowledged that his team must shoot better. He said game officials also need to be better and that he’s “kind of tired of some of the excuses that I’m hearing” from them.
That goes both ways. The Dream are right to protest when they believe they aren’t getting fair calls, but that can’t be an excuse for faltering in the Finals.
The Valkyries are a tough opponent. Making enemies of the referees makes it even tougher for the Dream.
The Dream swept the Mystics and Liberty to reach the Finals. It was like a party at State Farm Arena when they won Game 3 to take the series lead.
Now the Dream are back home trying to avoid elimination against an emboldened opponent.
“This is the Finals,” Reese said. “You’ve got to get up for it. There is going to be a lot of highs; there are going to be lows. It’s supposed to be a roller coaster.
“It’s not supposed to be easy. Winning a championship is not easy. We’re expected to continue to have to fight”
To save their season, the Dream will have to keep fighting even when the referees make it harder.
You can now get my column sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter here.