I guess you could call Atlanta "Titletown". I've been fortunate enough to see three WNBA champions crowned at my home arena; the problem is that none of those three champions were called the Atlanta Dream.
I suppose that the best analogy to the Dream losing Game Three and getting swept again is like being in a bad relationship with someone. You know things are going downhill, and you hope that you can reignite that spark. So the two of you stick it out, but you've had two nasty arguments and you suspect that on Thursday, she's going to talk to you and tell you that she never wants to see you again.
Sure enough, Thursday comes, and she says softly "It's not working out." As she walks out the door, frankly, you're glad that it's over. You can now begin to put the heartache away, and frankly, the suspense was killing you.
The Dream have really been against the wall in those three years. The combined playoff records of the three teams they played are 21-1, only Minnesota in 2011 dropped a game against San Antonio. All three of those teams - Seattle in 2009, Minnesota in 2010 and 2011 - were full on first seeds, regular season champions of their conferences.
It makes you wonder how things would have gone if:
a) Sancho Lyttle was healthy. She injured her foot on July 9th in a game against Minnesota. (How apropos.) Atlanta was simply a different team without Lyttle, a difference as stark as blood and water. If the defense on Angel McCoughtry became too heavy, she could always look for either Lyttle or de Souza; Lyttle's foot injury limited her options and the Dream took a long time to adjust.
Really, the Dream never adjusted. Le'coe Willingham was no Sancho Lyttle. Henry was at best a stop-gap and the Dream stumbled into a surprisingly effective small ball lineup out of necessity.
b) We had played a weaker Western Conference team. There are those voices calling the 2013 Minnesota Lynx the Greatest Of All Time; I think the old Comets or Sparks teams would have begged to differ. If the Dream had played, say, the 2008 San Antonio Silver Stars things might have worked out differently.
c) The Dream had made substantial changes after Game One. Most people don't think that the Fred Williams Dream is different than the Marynell Meadors Dream, but there is a difference - the present-day Dream defends harder; Meadors's teams were more offense-based. However, the Dream's offense doesn't seem to have changed much - either McCoughtry shoots or the ball is shoved into the post, with the point guard as facilitator and a decent shooter to distract defenses.
Everyone on the Lynx knew where the ball was going. Our playbook has been around since 2008.
d) We had a decent three point threat. Oh, the effort that has been wasted to try to get someone who could hit a three-point shot. As Meadors said, "We don't hit threes, but we sure get a lot of twos." Minnesota showed the disadvantages to that strategy.
Last night, we actually hit three-pointers and stayed in the game for big stretches.
e) McCoughtry had decided to pass more. Sometimes you just can't pass to someone because they're not open; but sometimes I feel that she just didn't look. It's odd that the Dream did a lot better with McCoughtry on the bench for a while; Minnesota had to adjust to NOT expecting her to play one-on-three ball in the paint.
All of the above? Doesn't mean anything. Coulda, shoulda, woulda - didn'a.
f) Thomas and Bentley didn't jack up so many shots early in the shot clock. Sometimes, you saw shots and wondered "what they hell were they thinking?"
So congratulations to the Minnesota Lynx. They are clearly an excellent team; they've shown it all season. I think the dynasty label is a bit too early to hand out; being a dynasty is a step up from winning a championship. If Minnesota wins it all in 2014 well, three titles in four years (and four visits to the Finals in four years) will cement their dynasty status.
But right now, I'm still in the dumps from last night.
Attendance was...uh...not great. The calls came out again to move the Dream, but what the fuck did you expect?
* Playing all the way out in Duluth. Our transportation-challenged fans who use MARTA couldn't get there.
* We had been stomped two games and it looked like a third-game stomping was sure to come.
* That late 8:30 start on a weeknight? That's a killer. You don't get home to 11 pm and people have to work in the AM. I went to bed around 2:30 am last night; I'm still feeling it.
So no, WNBA - you're stuck with us. We might be the least popular kid on the block, but we're not moving unless ownership wants to move. President Richie isn't going to move the Dream. Why would she if Brock and Loeffler are still willing to pay the bills? (Although she might want to firm up their commitment.)
The best revenge for 2013 would be coming back in 2014. Lyttle healthy. Some needed personnel shakeups on the Dream's side. (And don't tell me Minnesota's bench is particularly deep; they only played seven players last night.) An even better revenge would be coming back against the Lynx in 2014 with Atlanta wearing the mantle of underdog.
No, there's not going to be a trade of McCoughtry. You're going to trade the top scorer in the WNBA? For what? Unless that name is "Delle Donne" I'd suggest you consign those theories of a McCoughtry trade to the realm of fantasy. People claim that Bill Laimbeer would trade his first round draft pick for McCoughtry and add value; but a bird in the hand is worth a lot more than one in the bush.
We will recover. The Dream players will scatter. McCoughtry will probably win another championship in Turkey; ditto for Lyttle in Spain. They'll take that feeling of victory and want to translate it into reality in 2014. That's something you can bet on.
No comments:
Post a Comment