The Dream were surely hoping to break some records this season, but this isn’t exactly what they had in mind. They entered this week sitting at 0-13 after three more losses, tying them with the 2003 Detroit Shock for the worst start ever.
The San Antonio Silver Stars beat the Dream at Philips Arena last Wednesday, despite entering the game with a 1-4 record on the road. The Dream kept it close in the first half, but they missed a multitude of easy shots and trailed by eight at halftime.
“If we make half of those layups, we have a chance to win this game,” said head coach Marynell Meadors.
Becky Hammon made sure the Dream didn’t have a chance in the second half, finishing with 22 points and nine assists. The final was 81-66.
The Dream hit the road not long after the San Antonio loss to face the Washington Mystics on Friday. Despite leading at the half, they went down to defeat, 72-61. Betty Lennox notched 18 points and nine rebounds.
It was more of the same back home on Sunday against the Detroit Shock. Detroit dominated from the opening tip as they took a 52-35 lead at halftime. The Shock notched 14 offensive rebounds in the first half alone.
“There’s nothing I can do to teach them to be aggressive,” Meadors said. “They either are or they’re not. Right now we’re not.”
Ivory Latta was the lone bright spot for the Dream with 26 points and ten assists, and her 3-pointer with 47 seconds left in the third quarter pulled the Dream within 68-60. But the Shock didn’t panic, and pulled away thereafter in a 97-76 win.
LENNOX FRUSTRATED
Betty Lennox is no stranger to success. She was the No. 6 overall pick and Rookie of the Year in 2000, and in 2004 she won the WNBA Finals MVP in Seattle’s championship season. Now she’s trying to carry the load for an 0-13 team, a task that hasn’t been easy for her.
“There’s a lot of things here that are being overlooked,” she said. “And we don’t have the experience to recognize it.”
Lennox was also unhappy with the lack of cohesion on the court, as the Dream have struggled statistically on both ends of the floor.
“Everybody can’t do things on different pages,” she said, “and at times we’re on different pages.”
COMING UP
The Dream head to Connecticut on Friday to face the Sun, who have been one of the top teams in the East so far this season.
It won’t get any easier, as the team then heads out to Detroit for the third and final game of the season against the Shock. After losing twice already to Detroit at home, winning in the Motor City will be a difficult task.
The Dream host high-scoring Phoenix and Diana Taurasi on Tuesday.
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.
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