The Atlanta Dream beat Seattle to snap a five-game losing streak and it felt like maybe they’d finally figured some stuff out. Then they gave up 102 points to Portland two days later and the same ugly problems were back. Missed shots. Defensive breakdowns. Guys looking confused on switches. A 102-92 loss that basically erased whatever momentum they thought they had.
Head coach Karl Smesko is trying to spin it as a long-term positive, but it’s hard to ignore the tension in the room right now.
“One thing about last year is that I don’t think we ever had to go through any real struggle,” Smesko said. “I feel like we were struggle-deprived last year. Then when it comes to playoff time, we really never had to face a lot of adversity. I don’t even remember losing 2 games in a row last year for a whole season. We never had to really dig deep, look at ourselves and figure out what we needed to do. This year’s different, and it could help us get to where we need to get to if we approach it the right way.”
Injuries Are Piling Up Too
Angel Reese sat out the Portland game with a leg injury and was on the sideline in a boot. Brionna Jones still hasn’t played this season while recovering from meniscus surgery. The good news is she’s close to coming back. The bad news is the Dream are 2-6 in their last eight games and the schedule isn’t letting up.
Naz Hillmon said the team knows what’s broken. The hard part is fixing it in the middle of a stretch where nothing feels easy.
“I think we’re at a point where we know we have things that we have to correct,” Hillmon said. “We know that we have it in there; it’s just a matter of, like we talked about before the game, putting together 40 minutes. I think that there were stretches where we looked good, and I think that there were some stretches where we didn’t, and it’s gonna be a matter of our focus level and our intensity for 40 minutes.”
The Defense is Getting Torched
Portland shot 60% from the field and 48% from three. The Dream couldn’t get a stop when they needed one. Every miscue — a slow rotation on a ball screen, a late closeout, a miscommunication on a switch — turned into an open look for the Fire.
“Every time we made a mistake, they capitalized on it,” Hillmon said. “Whether that was on the ball screen and were helping up, hitting the roller, or overhelping, hitting 3-point shooters.”
Offensively it’s not much better. The Dream are getting the looks they want. The ball just isn’t going in. Smesko said the shooting slump has become a mental block that’s compounding itself.
“I think, unfortunately, we’ve got it in our heads that we haven’t shot the ball well in a while,” Smesko said. “That means nothing for the next game unless you think it means something for the next game. So we just have to understand we got a lot of good offensive players. We get open, we shoot it, and you should shoot it with the confidence that you’re a great player.”
Getting healthy and getting shots to fall would fix a lot of this. But Smesko is also trying to sell the idea that the struggle itself might be what this team needed. His players aren’t buying it yet, not in the middle of a stretch this brutal.
“I believe in this team, and it’s not easy when you’re going through the struggle, and I doubt our players agree with it now, but it could be the best thing that ever happens to us this season if we handle it the right way and we get through it,” he said.
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