When I asked Marynell Meadors about the upcoming road trip last week, I was a bit surprised that she didn’t seem fazed. She told me that she doesn’t mind the road, because she “has the attention of her team.” We’re two games deep into this brutal stretch away from home, and it’s looking like she was right.
The comeback win over Minnesota on the road was a bit of a shock. To be quite honest, I didn’t think this team had the belief in itself to win a game like that. We saw them lose similar games on the road this year where they played well but couldn’t bring home a victory (Detroit, Connecticut, and Washington come to mind). It was a different story in Minnesota.
Friday night the Dream were defeated by a strong team in the San Antonio Silver Stars, 82-74. I listened to Art’s radio call and I think I’m going to have to be positive for once about a loss. The Silver Stars are a hell of a basketball team, and Becky Hammon is an impossible matchup for an inexperienced Ivory Latta at the point guard position (Becky dropped 26 and six dimes tonight while Ivory was 3-12 from the floor for those of you not keeping track). And yet the Dream were leading by 13 at the break after outscoring the Western Conference leaders 22-9 in the second quarter.
I also expected S.A. to blow the Dream away after getting back into the game in the third quarter. But the Dream showed some composure and managed to lead even in the final stages of the fourth quarter before the Silver Stars proved to be simply too much. If this game was played a few weeks ago, I think it would have been over midway through the fourth quarter. It sounds like this team is growing, folks.
GETTIN’ TOUGH
Another positive is Allison Bales. Her mere presence seems to have fixed the rebounding problem. I’m looking forward to seeing her and DeSouza in the frontcourt after Erika returns from her injury. With Bales, the Dream really seem to have a different attitude in the low post.
There has been a lot of criticism of Meadors’ ability as a GM, and some of it is justified. But the recent acquisitions of Kasha Terry and Bales have been just what the doctor ordered. Let’s face it, the previous low-post combo of Feenstra/Lacy/Lovelace/Mann just wasn’t going to cut it. Katie has struggled with confidence all year long, Jen Lacy just isn’t big enough to go toe-to-toe with some of the power forwards out there, and Mann and Lovelace aren’t here anymore.
With Kasha and Allison, we’re seeing some toughness and swagger, and it has really showed in the results. It also seems to have helped Lacy, who has looked much better now that some of the pressure is off of her. When DeSouza returns there could actually be some semblance of a front-court rotation. Who woulda thunk it after the way we saw this team get DOMINATED in the paint not long ago?
QUOTES FROM THE ROAD
“Pretty much, we’re sick of losing. We lost enough games for a lifetime, I think … We’re a resilient team. We haven’t won those games in the past, but we’ve been down by some big margins and we’re resilient and keep fighting and we come back. We make scrappy plays and somehow find baskets. I think that’s been a characteristic of our team the whole season, it’s just now we’re finding out ways to pull off those W’s.” – Jen Lacy on the win in Minnesota
“We’re going to bounce back, we’re going to keep our heads up. We’re going to go to Chicago with the expectation that we’re going to get this game. We just have to get this game off our backs and keep our heads up.” – Ivory Latta after the San Antonio loss
ANY QUESTIONS?
I just want to remind you fans out there that this blog is about YOU. So if you’ve got any questions or comments about the team, my blog, or just want to speak your mind, shoot me an email. I’ll get back to you as quick as I can and maybe answer a few of the questions here on the blog.
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.
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