To Dream coach Marynell Meadors, using “youth” as an explanation for the team’s mistakes will no longer suffice.
She pointed to the eight regular season-games and the “four or five weeks” of practice the team has had to make the “youth” defense invalid. And the team’s miscues have shown up most notably in the steals department.
The Dream rank last in the WNBA in opponents’ steals per game at an average of 10.6 times per contest.
“We’ve got to take care of the basketball. We’ve been in situations where we’ve just turned the ball over too many times and made too many unforced errors,” Meadors said.
“That’s where those steals are coming from. We’ve got to make better decisions. A lot of times we go up for a shot and we’re in the lane and we’re supposed to go ahead and shoot it, yet we try to pass it to somebody and [make] a turnover.”
Starting guard Lindsey Harding was in lock-step with Meadors on the hollowness of the “youth” excuse. In her mind, if the Dream wanted to play that card, so could every other team in the league.
“There are 11 other teams that have played eight games, you know?” she said. “I think we’ve had enough games to get ourselves together. ... I feel like we’re far enough along now that we need to stop making the same mistakes.”
While the Dream may be in the cellar in opponents’ steals per game, they rank near the top in steals themselves, coming up with 10 swipes per game, third-most in the league.
Parker coming to town
Candace Parker is considered the best all-around player in the WNBA — and the statistics back it up. The Los Angeles Sparks forward is one of five players in the league to rank in the top 10 in both scoring and rebounding, along with Tamika Catchings, Tina Charles, DeWanna Bonner and Sylvia Fowles. Parker goes a step further by also ranking in the top 15 in steals (13th) and just outside the top 15 in assists (17th), numbers the other four cannot match.
Harding said what makes Parker so difficult to defend is the skills she possesses for a player her size.
“She has the height of a center but the skills of a guard,” she said of the 6-foot-4 Parker, who the Dream will face Friday night. “When you have a post player who is used to playing post defense, and all of a sudden their post player steps up at the 3-point line and can go through her legs, cross over and make a layup or shoot a jump shot, that’s something players aren’t used to.”
Etc.
Angel McCoughtry said that other than the usual “aches and pains” that afflict a player over the course of a season, she is back to 100 percent health. She had been battling a knee injury suffered in the Dream’s game against the Phoenix Mercury on May 31. ... Meadors said that this is the last week forward Tiffany Hayes will be forced to wear a face mask. She broke her nose on two different occasions before the start of the regular season. ... Friday marks Carol Ross’ first trip to Atlanta since being named the Sparks’ coach Jan. 5. She was an assistant coach in Atlanta from 2009-11.
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