Dream Well Rested

The Atlanta Dream may have posted an impressive start to the season when they shot out to a strong 6-0 start, but the second half of the season raised a number of concerns when they followed up a first-half 14-5 record with a 5-10 second-half run. To Atlanta’s credit, the team did manage to crack the top four in the tough Eastern Conference to secure a playoff spot, but as the fourth seed lacking home-court advantage the battle would be an uphill one.
And yet in the Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup against the No. 1 seeded Mystics, Atlanta stepped up its game, swept the Mystics and showed on-court signs that the Dream team that started the season was only in hiding, dormant for periods in the second half and ready to strike when it counted.
“I guess the defining point was when Washington beat us so poorly on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta in the final game of the regular season,” said Dream head coach Marynell Meadors. “Then, somehow between Sunday and Wednesday, we put things together like we’re capable of doing. It was just amazing to watch them. I don’t think it was anything that I said. Maybe it was a lineup change, I don’t know.”
No matter the reasons, Meadors won’t argue with the results.
“This team is based on energy, it’s based on defense and rebounding and balance,” the 2009 Coach of the Year said. “I think we have gotten back to that. We were so one-on-one against other teams offensively that it just took us right out of our game. And we were always back on our heels because the offense was not clicking like it should.”
Although only two playoff games stand as evidence, Atlanta’s averaging 98 points per game. During the regular season, Atlanta ranked second only to Phoenix in points per game with an average of 85.4 per outing. The second win over Washington in the Semifinals, a 101-77 rout, saw the Dream string together a high-flying, unprecedented 26-0 run that ultimately put the game in their hands.
“I really think that that is our game,” Meadors said. “We’d love to be able to do that every game but I’m not sure that’s possible. Our game is to try and do a better job on the defensive end and that creates offensive opportunities for us and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.”
Now in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in its young history, the Dream will take on the New York Liberty, a team that really put it all together in the second half.
“New York has come from behind and really started playing well after the All-Star break,” Meadors said. “Every team goes through a situation where they’re up and down. There’s peaks and valleys during the year.”
Perhaps the biggest issue now for the Dream as they head into Sunday’s Game One matchup against the Liberty is staying fresh and ready for playoff basketball. Nice as it was to sweep the first round, the downtime between series presents another challenge altogether. By the time Atlanta tips off with New York, they will have gone a full nine days without playoff basketball.
“We haven’t played since Friday, so that’s a long time this time of the year to have a huge break like this,” said Meadors, “but we’re trying to make sure that we keep our intensity up and our focus on what we’re trying to do and the goals we’re trying to reach. We’re doing scrimmages against guys with officials, which I think really helps us. We shorten the practices but they’re more intense.”
The first round win was a gift of sorts for Meadors, who celebrated her 67th birthday with the first playoffs sweep in franchise history.
“I told them I didn’t want anything else. No cake or anything,” she said. “But I got cake, a great card from the whole team and then we got a win and they said, ‘Happy Birthday, Coach,’ so that was great. I wish I had a birthday again in about three weeks.”