Atlanta Dream · 7 notes
No timeline on Allisha Gray, so Atlanta leans on rookie Isobel Borlase, 21. "I don't think we win either of the last 2 games without the production we got from Izzy," Karl Smesko said; he wants it through the Finals. Angel Reese also credited DeWanna Bonner.
"I think I let the team down last game by only getting 2 shot attempts. And that was on me." Angel Reese answered with 30 points and 16 rebounds in Atlanta's first-ever WNBA Finals win. Coach Karl Smesko gave her "a couple more breaks" to keep that intensity going.
"Angel had a great first half. We didn't get her the ball enough." Dream coach Karl Smesko on Angel Reese after the Game 1 loss to Golden State. He said Atlanta drifted into too much one-on-one play in the second half instead of going back to her.
Laeticia Amihere took the second-half defensive assignment on Angel Reese in Golden State's Finals game against the Dream. Natalie Nakase said Amihere was key to the game plan: "LA had great energy." A matchup to watch for Reese's numbers next game.
Keeping Angel Reese off the boards may take more than one Golden State Valkyrie. Tiffany Hayes said the answer to the Dream forward in the Finals is boxing out: "She's definitely going to be harder to box out. You might need a few people to do that."
"We couldn't resume the drill until I made the 2 in a row." Angel Reese said Atlanta coach Karl Smesko stopped a camp drill until she hit two straight threes in front of the team. Smesko said the staff "changed her shot like completely" and expects more growth next offseason.
"I told her to throw it in the backcourt and I'm gonna run around as fast as I can out there." Angel Reese, on what she told DeWanna Bonner before Atlanta's final overtime inbound. Coach Karl Smesko had expected New York to call timeout and advance the ball. It didn't.