May 14th, 2019: Liberty at Dream (at Mohegan Sun)

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Atlanta got off to a slow start, but kicked it up a notch in the fourth quarter to come away with the 92-87 preseason win over New York at Mohegan Sun Arena. Nia Coffey had 18 points off the bench to lead four Dream players in double figures. Amanda Zahui B had 20 points in the loss for New York.

For defensive collapses, the occasional dance move, improving in some areas, distractions via shopping, and wondering what the future holds, join your intrepid and delayed blogger after the jump.

The sky is green, the trees are gray... wait, no, got that the wrong way around. It is, once more, game day, and your intrepid blogger is, once more, on a casino bus to watch all the basketball and then fall over. We're currently... uh, somewhere. I think we're in Westchester right now? Since we're not stopping, I'm okay with that.

It's construction season on I-95. May all the gods have mercy upon our collective souls.

I apologize in advance, because these notes are going to have a hard time focusing on the game. Between the amazing history on display during the tag sale and the news that there will be Panini cards this year with original Pinnacle cards as inserts, I'm on a nostalgia kick and the squee is real. Wins and losses don't matter as much, especially in the preseason, when you come home with a unique and meaningful piece of memorabilia.

We definitely looked better in this game than we did against Connecticut, and given that Tina Charles DNP'd the entire second half, I don't think Katie was concerned about the results. Some of the issues I was worried about against Connecticut seemed resolved; others not so much.

Kelly Faris played one sequence; I think she might have been coming in for someone in foul trouble on a quick switch. Megan Huff didn't see time until the second half and made some bad mistakes. Bianca Cuevas-Moore played much of the crunch time in the final minutes, and I was not okay with this. I don't see her making this roster. I really don't see her working out at all.

At least this time Asia Durr was getting shots and taking shots. She was missing them, and they were shots she should be hitting, But the aggression was there that we need to see from her. I wish I could say that of more of the reserves, but here we are. Xu Han looked very tentative, and she was getting her lunch eaten by Imani McGee-Stafford (who is not a good match-up for her, being both nearly as tall and a good bit stronger). Her run was unsuccessful but still needed to be longer because we still need to know what we're getting out of her. At least this time when Tanisha Wright took the stupid floater it was before the shot clock expired and it actually hit the rim. She looked better than she did in the first two games, but I still don't see how she helps us in the long run. Reshanda Gray kept committing fouls, and while I appreciate her physicality, she doesn't know how to tone it down, and if she hasn't learned how to tone it down in however many years she's had to try, it's not going to happen. Avery Warley-Talbert did a lot of good stuff on the offensive glass. She never gave up fighting. And I love what Tiffany Bias showed as the back-up point guard. I don't know if she'll stick on the roster when Bria Hartley comes back at some indeterminate point, but she's proven her bonafides, as far as I'm concerned. She gave good effort on defense and hit corner threes on offense.

Tina Charles did good work on the glass, but didn't play much, and didn't play at all in the second half. Probably the right approach, given that this is the preseason and the points don't matter. We know who Tina is and what she can do. Amanda Zahui B started the game like a firecracker, and her offense was definitely impreoved, but she was still a trainwreck on defense. She rotates slowly and despite her own propensity for taking outside shot seems unaware that other post players like to do that too. Amanda, pls.

Kia Nurse was off her game defensively in this one. I was surprised, given that that's usually one of her strengths. It felt like she was forcing a lot on offense, which is both bad because it's being forced and good because she's out here actually trying to be an offensive factor, which we need out of her. Brittany Boyd was more aggressive as a shooter than I'm used to seeing from her, with mixed results. Rebecca Allen got into early foul trouble, which limited her effectiveness. I questioned some of the calls, but she was a little slow on rotations. I can't say I'm surprised, both because I know that's not her strength and because she played heavy minutes the previous game.

We got out to a way better start than we did in the first game, but we couldn't close. Since we were trying to close with our deep bench, I'm not exactly surprised by this.

At this point, notes on Atlanta (and on Dallas in the other game) are going to be sort of an amalgam of the two games. My brain is all squishy and I really don't care about either of these teams even on a good day.

Meme Jackson probably did not do herself any favors missing the two free throws late in the game that would have iced it a little earlier for the Dream. I don't see her time in Atlanta lasting too much longer. Blake Dietrick didn't play in the first half and then started the second half. She runs a solid point. I think she'll beat out Maite Cazorla, though. She knows the system better and I think she gives them more of what they need. They both got a lot of second-half run, and there's a chance they could both stick, but I think there are too many guards in front of them for Atlanta to keep them both. Tiffany Hayes really needs to skip the drama and stick to the drives. She's so good at what she does that it's insulting for her to resort to histrionics to get her way with the officials.

Whether it's intentional, situational, or otherwise, Imani McGee-Stafford spent two days with an expression of "I don't think I know what's happening, but I don't think I like it" on her face. She says she's gotten stronger, but I don't know if I believe it from what I saw on the floor. She looked like the same slightly tentative player who is inexplicably way too far away from the basket much of the time and doesn't set strong enough screens. Monique Billings did a lot of work in the paint with rebounds and on the perimeter with screens. She set a lot of screens. Her free throw release is a shooter's nightmare, and someone needs to work with her on it as soon as possible. It might have been working for her in college, but it's not so far this year. Nia Coffey played like her hair was on fire in the third quarter, going hard to the basket for buckets and then hitting threes when they were least expected. I was not expecting the third quarter to turn into a duel between Nia Coffey and Avery Warley-Talbert, but these are the kinds of strange things that happen in the preseason. Lynetta Kizer barely played in the first half, if she did at all, and then started the second half. She's tough, but there was something missing in her performance. Unless her only job is to take fouls, her performance did not impress.

I am starting to take a genuine dislike to Alex Bentley, and not the "I respect you, now please stop hitting shots on my team" kind of dislike. It's little things like her constant attempts to disconcert the shooter at the free throw line and big things like the attitude she hauls around with her. Who hurt you, Alex? Her shot was not falling in this game, and I get the feeling that's the way things are going to go for Atlanta sometimes. You rely so heavily on guards and a perimeter game, you're going to get burned as often as you burn someone else. Renee Montgomery certainly brings a lot of energy, both on and off the court, which is a good thing but can also be annoying when she's up off the bench yelling more than the coach is when she's not in the game. I have no idea how Brittney Sykes has this kind of lateral and vertical with her history of knee injuries. Forget DeLisha Milton-Jones's magic cheese, I want what she's having. She had no right beating Amanda on that jump ball.

It always seems like Jessica Breland does more good stuff than shows up in the box score, and I'm at a loss for words to describe it. She just fills in the gaps that are left when Atlanta goes so heavily perimeter/drive oriented and forgets about height and fun stuff like that. That's a lot to put on one player, but she handles it really well, though she handled it less well in this game than in the Dallas game. Marie Gülich did well in the middle, though she didn't have the same level of success that she had against Dallas. She missed a lot more easy shots in that game, but overall she really looks like she's found her niche in Atlanta as she had not in Phoenix.

If Atlanta's perimeter game is on, and their driving lanes are clear, they're unstoppable, as they were against Dallas. But if they go cold from the field, and the defense starts to collapse on them inside, and suddenly they don't have an interior presence they can get out of trouble with, then they're vulnerable.

Atlanta has a lot of energy. I imagine it's easy to love them for it. I imagine it's easy to dislike them for it too. I'm somewhere in the middle.