WNBA Finals 2011: Atlanta Dream have what it takes to win Game-2 against Minnesota Lynx
During the WNBA regular season, the Eastern Conference Champions Atlanta Dream showed resilience and an ability to beat teams that were thought to be more stronger.
They beat higher-seeded Connecticut Sun in the conference semi-finals and the conference No. 1-seeds Indiana Fever in the conference finals.
However, their performance in the first game of the WNBA final series was not up to the mark as the league-best Minnesota Lynx beat them 88-74 at Target Center.
Despite the defeat, there is still hope for them to win the best-of-five final series and to take home the championship trophy in their second consecutive attempt.
Defense had been the strong point for Dream so far in the season. However in game-1, Dream were found wanting on the D, especially in the fourth quarter.
When a player like Rebekkah Brunson scores 13 more than her conference final average in the very first game of the final series, something is wrong.
The Lynx had a 46.1 field goal percentage in Game 1, and Atlanta need to focus on how to reduce that number.
Can the Dream do it? Yes, because they have the experience while on the other hand it is Minnesota’s first appearance in the finals. The Dream still have a golden
chance of winning Wednesday’s game, if they regroup and do the simple things they did so well in the last two months of the season.
Alison Bales needs to concentrate on being the leader in rebounds again. In the conference finals, Bales was averaging nine rebounds per game, but only had six in
the last outing. Sancho Lyttle also needs to be on top of her game when it comes to steals. She is the current leader in that category in the league, but is it enough? In Game 1 against Minnesota, Lyttle could not steal the ball even once.
The problem does not just lie in Atlanta’s lack of physical aggression on defense; the Dream are struggling offensively, too. They lost the previous game shooting
only 37.3 percent (28 for 75).
Atlanta has one of the most dangerous players in the league, Angel McCoughtry. The player scored 19 of her game-high 33 points in the third quarter. However, she
cannot take on the elite team alone.
Unfortunately, for Atlanta, McCoughtry does not have that wing-player to pass the ball to and ensure that she can make a good shot. The Dream are going to have to
get their defense back in order to have any chance against Minnesota on Wednesday night in Game 2.
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