The Dream’s six-year playoff streak was snapped last year for myriad reasons.
The team’s septuple postseason push was undone because it had the league’s worst defense (79.8 points per game), averaged the most turnovers (16) and was among the worst shooting teams (4.1 percent).
But this season, which starts on May 14 at San Antonio, will be different, according to coach Michael Cooper.
This will be a big week for shaping the roster down to 12 players. The team has three preseason games on the road before it will host Los Angeles on May 10 at McCamish Pavilion.
“We are looking to take the best players that will play hard, together and smartly,” Cooper said.
Here are three reasons why the team will improve upon last year’s 15-19 record:
Better defense. Cooper said the team had difficulty defending pick-and-rolls last season with former center Erika de Souza, so opponents ran the plays over and over. De Souza was traded mid-season.
Cooper said the offseason trade for 6-foot-3 center Elizabeth Williams and the drafting of former Rutgers 6-foot-4 center Rachel Hollivay will position the Dream to be able to defense those plays. He said either player is quick enough to jump out and stop penetrating passes, or to get back and defend the basket. Williams was the four-time ACC defensive player of the year and AP All-American. Hollivay finished as her school's shot-block leader.
The roster is full of athletic guards to harass on the perimeter and improve the rebounding. Trading Shoni Schimmel on Monday may be addition by subtraction on defense.
Better point guard play. The Dream struggled at point guard last season, trying several players at the position. Schimmel showed up to camp out of shape and didn't play her way into Cooper's rotation until the middle of the season. Matee Ajavon is a shooting guard who played the position. Others also were pressed into duty.
The team re-signed Carla Cortijo, Ariel Massengale and drafted Niya Johnson, who led Division I in assists at Baylor last season. Inexperience may be an issue because Cortijo and Massengale will be in their second seasons. Cortijo played just two games, both for the Dream, last year. Massengale didn’t play after recovering from knee surgery.
“I feel very comfortable with our point guards,” Cooper said. “There will still be ups and downs, but there will be more ups than downs.”
Cooper said any of the three will be able to get the team into a play and keep them calm when things become stressful.
“It will be a matter of us playing as a team,” he said. “For sure, we are already on that page.”
Preserving the core. Leading scorer Angel McCoughtry and leading rebounder Sancho Lyttle have yet to join the team because of responsibilities of playing overseas. Tiffany Hayes, last year's second-leading scorer, is the only one of the team's big three who is in camp.
It’s not a coincidence that the Dream drafted Bria Johnson and Courtney Walker to try to give two of the core players the in-season rests they may need should the team make it back to the playoffs. Johnson said she can play either shooting guard for Hayes or small forward for McCoughtry, while Walker is a shooting guard.
“Very important to draft Bria who can add reps,” Cooper said. “She’s not the scorer that Angel is but is a good defensive player. We can rest Angel through the course of the game. She can rest and watch. As a former player, that’s a good thing to have.”
Reshanda Gray and Hollivay or Williams can step in for Lyttle, who will miss time to represent Spain in the Olympics.
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