Lynne Roberts Reveals How Sparks Are Trying to Fix Ariel Atkins’ Slow Start

The Los Angeles Sparks have taken plenty of heat for their defense this season, and fair enough. But the offense has its own issues, and a lot of them trace back to one player who just can’t seem to get going.

Ariel Atkins is a career 36 percent shooter from three. She’s averaged double figures every season she’s been in the league. A two-time All-Defensive guard who won a title with Washington. This year? She’s shooting 27 percent from deep and putting up 8.3 points a game. That’s a career low in both categories.

Lynne Roberts, the Sparks head coach, said she sat down with Atkins recently to talk through what’s going wrong.

“She and I had a good conversation on the flight down here from Toronto,” Roberts said before a game against the Fever. “I think it’s a mix of things. She’s still getting comfortable, and there’s also an element of just learning to play with different people that she’s never played with before in the league and in a different system.”

Atkins joined the Sparks this season after seven years in Washington. That’s a big change. And the offense Roberts runs is less structured than what Atkins grew up in. Atkins is used to set plays, specific looks. Roberts’ system is more free-flowing, more read-and-react. It takes time.

But the Fever game last week might have been a turning point. Atkins dropped 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, hit both her threes, and looked more like herself than at any point this season. Roberts admitted she needs to be more deliberate about getting Atkins clean looks, not just hoping she finds them on her own.

“I can do a better job of being more intentional of getting her some clean looks, where she knows exactly where it’s designed for her to get the shot,” Roberts said.

Atkins didn’t want to make excuses after the game, but she was honest about where things stand.

“I think it feels like a lot of things,” Atkins said. “I hate to be saying that right now where we’re at in the season, but it feels like we’re still trying to figure things out. It could be mental, but it’s something that we got to figure out.”

The Sparks sit seventh in scoring at 88.8 points a game, ninth in offensive rating. Those aren’t awful numbers. But with Kelsey Plum out with an injury, they need every bucket they can get. If Atkins gets back to her normal self, the whole offense changes.