P2/2009 - Shock 94, Dream 79

"All right, who is to blame?"

I'm going to try to rush through this without much thought. I just want to wrap the season up as quickly as I can and not feel compelled to write very much about it. You gotta keep your head up, look straight ahead, and move on.

1) Sound carries very well in The Arena at Gwinnett Center. I got a chance to see Ivory Latta practicing, and as she heaved up 3-point attempts from various areas of the court, I could hear every grunt and occasionally, an "Oh Lord!"

2) I saw Kelly Miller in the audience with two people who looked like her Mom and her Dad. Kelly Miller, a guard for the Minnesota Lynx, was undoubtedly there to see her identical twin sister Coco Miller play. Kelly's season is over, so she had no other obligations. Soon, neither would Coco.

2a) She was talking with someone wearing a "Georgia Lady Dogs" T-shirt. I wonder how many Georgia Bulldogs womens' basketball team fans live in Duluth.

3) The Dream were practicing in WNBA Playoffs T-shirts. Yes, WNBA, I know that it's important to get the logo on everything, but a WNBA Conference Semi-Finals? I'd wait at least until the Conference Finals for such things.

4) I got to see Kara Braxton close up and personal. Looking at the jersey numbers on the Shock's practice sweats, it seems like the #45 is an ironed-on patch...which is starting to fade over time.

5) Working out with the Shock was Rick Mahorn (I was seated near the Shock's section.) Mahorn was wearing an old pair of grey shorts with his gut hanging out over them. I noticed that he has some sort of tattoo on his lateral left calf, but I couldn't make it out. If any tattoo experts or other taxidermists care to enlighten me on the meaning of Mahorn's tattoos, I'd be grateful.

6) More on sound carrying well in The Arena at Gwinnett Center - the 24-second buzzer will split your ears in half. The advantage, however, is that it's nice and cool in The Arena.

7) Katie Smith was all dressed up. Obviously, she wasn't playing. Let me be the first to say that Ms. Smith cleans up verrrrrry nicely. However, I'm married, so Ms. Smith is safe.

8) The Shock seemed to be taking its warmups very seriously. Usually, most teams will make a half-assed show of stretching, but the Shock were really into it. I couldn't see what was going on on the Dream's side of the court, but Carol Ross was working with the players again for the pre-game. I thought I also saw Sue Panek out there.

8b) If Williams or Panek disappears in the off-season, we'll know which one of the two shouted out "Kelly" to take those free-throws in Game One. There will only be one assistant coach for all WNBA teams in 2009; someone has to go to the back of the bus.

9) The Dream are still wearing their #5s. Once again, I saw #5 written on Sancho Lyttle's upper arm.

10) Someone named Sheena Brown sung the National Anthem. My prognosis was that she was okay. I give her a "C". Didn't embarrass herself, but nothing spectacular.

11) The Arena went pitch black for the player introductions. One thing that The Arena at Gwinnett Center doesn't have that makes a big difference is the Jumbotron. The Arena have two television screens at the opposite ends of the arena that are too small to really gather the crowd's attention.

The Dream played their intro music and clip - Beyonce's "Diva". In the dark - their section of the court wasn't lit during the intros - the Shock were jamming to the music and trying out their club moves.

12) Atlanta starters: Latta, Castro Marques, de Souza, Lyttle, McCoughtry
Detroit starters: Hornbuckle, Teasley, McWilliams, Ford and...

...Nolan. Yep, after suffering a concussion in Game One, either Nolan or her trainer decided she was all right to play in Game Two. Nolan was the last person to take the practice court, getting a very brief warm-up before the start of the game.

13) The first quarter seemed to start well for the Dream. We got off to a 4-0 lead. Our passing, however, wasn't that great. Alexis Hornbuckle hit a 3-pointer to put the Shock up for the first time 9-8. From there on it was back and forth until the Shock made a little run at the end of the first quarter to finish the quarter 23-19.

14) I counted no more that three bad calls against the Dream in that first quarter alone. A bad call against McCoughtry than sent Shavonte Zellous to the foul line, a foul against Michelle Snow on a legitimate block of a Kara Braxton shot attempt that sent Braxton to the line (where she missed both shots) and a foul against McCoughtry for what I felt was incidental contact.

Those bad calls gave Detroit four points. (4-for-6 from the free throw line.) Before Shock fans accuse me of whining, let me write that refereeing was not what lost Atlanta the game. However, the foul calling was...it was horrible. I feel really sad for the NBA that these guys are going to be allowed to call games.

15) At the end of the first quarter, McCoughtry had 10 of Atlanta's 19 points. Detroit was shooting 50 percent and the Dream was shooting under 40 percent. Deanna Nolan had eight points of her own.

16) In the second, Marynell Meadors had this (partial) lineup on the floor:

Ivory Latta
Coco Miller
Jennifer Lacy
Armintie Price

With all due respect to Ivory Latta's accomplishments in this game, that's not the lineup that strikes fear in anybody. On the other hand, this was when I first learned that Chamique Holdsclaw wasn't even dressed. We had nine active players, the Shock had nine active players and this was what it had come to.

17) McCoughtry picked up her third personal foul of the game with 7:17 left in the second quarters. That would bring in Miller for McCoughtry and partially contribute to the lineup you saw in #16, above.

The first part of the game slogged as no fewer seven free throw attempts took place before the McCoughtry foul. After the foul, Nolan sank two free throws for a 30-26 Detroit lead.

18) With the Latta-Price-Miller-De Souza lineup on the floor and the Shock up 33-26, the Dream went on an 11-4 run that saw Latta hit a 3-pointer and Coco Miller hit a long 2-point shot. The only player on Detroit's team to score during that run? Nolan. (Nolan played 37 minutes of the game.)

Even so, Atlanta's play still looked sloppy and unfocused. During one sequence, with the ball almost going out of bounds, Detroit managed to save the ball. Atlanta was caught unawares, and only a 24-second violation kept Detroit from adding two points.

19) Rick Mahorn was having a nice long chat with Referee Kevin Sparrock, riding him like a rented mule. Mahorn never shut up. Detroit learned this from Big Bill Laimbeer - ride the referees all game and play as hard as possible. Make the referees fear for their jobs if they call a bevy of (deserved) calls against Detroit, and force the officials to give you the benefit of the doubt lest the game degenerate into an endless march to the free-throw line.

As DTP at RebKell would say, "That's just hard-nosed basketball." It sure works for Detroit.

20) There was more questionable foul calling against Atlanta in the back half of the second quarter, but a lot of those were real judgment calls. Coco Miller hit a basket putting the Dream back in the lead, 39-37. With Atlanta back over the limit in fouls, Detroit caught up with Atlanta and took the lead 43-41 on a driving lay-up with 49 seconds left. Lyttle answered back with a basket five seconds later, and picked up the foul....

...but missed the free throw. Atlanta was having a horrible night at the free throw line. By now both teams were over the limit, and a pair of Crystal Kelly free throws put the Shock up 45-43. However, with eight seconds left Ivory Latta hit a 3-pointer to put the Dream up 46-45. Zellous got the ball back and attempted two shots, but could get neither to fall. Atlanta would carry its 46-45 lead into halftime.

21) So how did we look? In the score going into halftime, we looked fine. However, the score hid a lot of problems.

First, our rebounding:

Erika de Souza: 8 points, 1 rebound
Sancho Lyttle: 6 points, 1 rebound

Detroit had a 21-11 first half rebounding advantage. They were getting the defensive boards and overall getting the ball. The only reason were were in the game at all is that we were 5-for-7 from 3-point range.

Second, free throw shooting. We had only hit 53 percent of our free throws.

We weren't concentrating. Our "system" - PG moves the ball up, hands to McCoughtry or Castro Marques and Lyttle/de Souza gets the rebound - was broken. We weren't getting rebounds. McCoughtry and Castro Marques had three personal fouls. Lyttle and de Souza didn't hit the boards. If it werne't for Ivory Latta's shooting and McCoughtry's big first quarter we'd be down and not up in the second.

22) Halftime entertainment was Star - the hardest working mascot in the WNBA - with two other unidentified mascots - performing at the Jonas Brothers. They were lip-synching to some nameless and tuneless Jonas Brothers song. I didn't think it was much of a show....

...until a group of about 15 young ladies rushed the court and the mascots fled from their screaming fans. Great punchline that we didn't see coming. A friend told me that the young ladies - many of whom wore headscarves - were members of a mostly Muslim basketball team in Atlanta.

The other part of the entertainment was the Super Dunk Team. Trampolines, basketball, dunking. A great show, but you can only see it once, and this was the third time I've seen it in two years. Maybe they should set the basketball on fire....

23) As the third quarter started, Detroit came out strong and we faltered. The went on a 10-0 run at one time, sparked by Cheryl Ford and Deanna Nolan. The Dream were called twice for traveling. Angel McCoughtry missed a comple of jumpers and De Souza missed from point-blank range.

During the run, Erika de Souza picked up her fourth personal foul. For three minutes, the Dream didn't score and it looked like shades of Game One. Meadors was forced to call a full time out. Also during the run, the opening strains of Green Day's "Brain Stew" were used as the Dream moved the ball up the court.

My mind is set on overdrive
The clock is laughing in my face
A crooked spin
My sense is dulled
Passed the point of delirium

24) Louis Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers was in the crowd. No one even knew who he was. Is he the dude that Armintie Price is going to be marrying?

25) During the run, however, McCoughtry picked up her first steal of the night - halfway through the third quarter. Another foul was called on Armintie Price - another dubious call which finally broke the back of the audience, which started booing loudly.

26) However, Detroit went over the limit with 3 1/2 minutes to go. Price, amazingly, hit both of her free throws. Latta drove to the basket...and then thirty seconds later, she was at the basket for an amazing drive and foul!

...and Latta missed the free throw. Michelle Snow, however would drive to the basket and pick up a foul. She hit both of her shots, the second putting Atlanta up 58-57.

27) Indeed, the most amazing thing about those last three minutes of the third quarter was Ivory Latta. Down 61-58, she hit a 23 foot 3-pointer with 51 seconds left to tie the Dream at 61-61.

28) What we didn't know was this would be the high water mark of Atlanta's 2009 season. (Our motto in 2008 - "Expect Great for Thirty Minutes.") Armintie Price had one smart move left - she fouled Detroit with 15 seconds left, knowing that the Dream had a free foul to give. However, Detroit scored the last five points of the third quarter and led 66-61 going into the final ten minutes.

29) Detroit was still outshooting the Dream 48 percent-43 percent after 30 minutes. Erika de Souza finally got some rebounds; Sancho Lyttle didn't. Iziane Castro Marques played seven minutes without scoring a point. Hell, without taking a shot. What the hell?

30) In the fourth quarter...

...well, what can you say about that fourth quarter? Detroit went 12-for-18. Atlanta went 6-for-18. Nothing but a bunch of missed shots.

31) In the crowd: Georgia Bulldogs head coach Andy Landers. Obviously there to say hello to the Miller sisters, and others.

32) Detroit continued its third quarter run to extend the lead to 70-61. The final game of iPod Karaoke for the 2009 season was played. It was Ivory Latta, making a wretched attempt at a song called "Knock Me Down". If there was anything the Dream got right, it was that the Shock couldn't Knock Ivory Down. But one player does not a team make.

33) The announced attendance was 4,780. Sounds about right (suitably inflated). Friday night game in a foreign arena when high school football is being played all over Georgia. At least The Arena at Gwinnett Center can make a small crowd look big.

The 4,780 attendance was the lowest attendance in Dream history. Maybe after Game One, the fans had seen enough. I heard that both WNBA Live Access and NBA-TV were glitch-filled all night. If true, consider yourselves lucky.

34) With 6:34 to go in the final quarter and Detroit up 72-63, Shavonte Zellous blocked an Angel McCoughtry jump shot. I guess Zellous said her piece about the potential Rookie of the Year.

35) With 5:31 left, Zellous would steal the ball from McCoughtry. The running layup made the score 79-65 in favor of Detroit. My friend looked at me and said, "That's the game, right there."

Atlanta looked listless, as if they just wanted to get this beating over with and go home. The winner of a Grand Hotel Promotion was announced on one of the screens at the far ends of the arena. He only looked mildly amused. Great.

36) McCoughtry hit an amazing 3-pointer in the corner as time expired to close the score to 79-68. Zellous answered with a 2-pointer just before a 24-second violation, and got the free throw to reset the score to 82-68.

37) The Shock drove forward. They led by 17 points on an Olayinka Sanni drive with about two minutes to go.

38) It was time for the Jam Cam. But the Jam Cam only looks good when you have a big screen. It just looked like a half-assed Jam Cam. And who wanted to Jam when you were down by 15+ in your final game of the season. Maybe the overhead should have played a funeral requiem.

39) The final moment of amusement left to be squeezed out of the 2009 Atlanta Dream season announced, "In for the Dream...Nikki Teasley."

I understand his confusion. At least he corrected himself.

40) The final points of the 2009 season for the Dream were scored by Jennifer Lacy. At the free throw line, she hit her first shot...but missed the second. Of course.

94-79 Shock. Teasley dribbled the final seconds of the game away and Atlanta's dream of a WNBA championship was finished.

Okay. I'm done. The final game writeup of the 2009 season is over. Thanks to everyone who read them.

P1/2009 - Shock 94, Dream 89

Marynell Meadors, Iziane Castro Marques: Meet the Press.

We only write about this one because we are compelled to. On the other hand, I have HDTV so it was almost as good as having a seat at courtside.

If you want the photos, here they are from Lynn Gregg of SportsPageMagazine.com. I would burn these photos, myself, just to put the awful memories behind me.

1) HDTV is definitely not flattering: you can see every blemish on a player's skin, and trust me, some of them have a lot of blemishes. People with acne problems don't come off well. People over sixty don't come off well. HDTV is going to force us to reevaluate our idea of human beauty.

2) We learned that Katie Smith was out, we gave us hope that if all else failed, we could simply "outendure" Detroit's thin bench. Furthermore, Chamique Holdsclaw would finally return to the court "for five to ten minute stretches".

3) Atlanta starters: Latta, Castro Marques, McCoughtry, Lyttle, De Souza. Ivory Latta was going to be at the helm of the ship.
Detroit starters: Nolan, Hornbuckle, McWilliams, Ford, Teasley. Detroit would be starting Nikki Teasley at point guard. Basically, we had two Atlanta point guards on the court.

4) Atlanta started the fireworks off with an 11-2 run in the first quarter. We were doing very well. Latta picked up a steal for the breakway and got fouled by Teasley. McCoughtry hit a 3-point running layup. De Souza was making that sweet bank shot work. Granted, Atlanta was making some bad passes, but they were shrugged off by the announcers as a sign that Atlanta was being aggressive - Detroit couldn't rest because they didn't know where the ball would be coming from. The word used was "attacked".

5) As Atlanta was running up a 19-8 lead, I noticed that Erika's tattoo of a basketball on her right shoulder had something on it. Earlier in the game, Sancho Lyttle had a "5" scrawled in black magic marker ink on her shoulder. Erika's tattoo was partially obliterated by the #5.

Then it occurred to me. #5. Shalee Lehning. The two players were wearing highly visible tributes to Lehning, who was out for the season after shoulder surgery. Supposedly, all of the other players were wearing a #5 somewhere, but Lyttle and de Souza's #5s were the most obvious....

6) We continued to builud to build up that lead. Iziane sank two free throws to give the Dream a 30-12 lead, an 18 point lead. Things were looking good. Only two leads of that size in the entire season had been overcome by an enemy team. One was an 18-point lead by the Sparks, overcome by Phoenix on August 27th. The other was a 19-point lead by Chicago four days earlier....overcome by the team that owned the home court the Dream were standing on.

7) Interesting stat: Deanna Nolan's field goal percentage against the Dream in games preceding this one for 2009? 27 percent.

8) Late in the first quarter, Chamique Holdsclaw returned. She could still handle the ball as well, but her acceleration looked a little suspect.

9) By teh end of the first quarter, we were outshooting the Shock 58 percent to 38 percent. We had outrebounded the Shock 15 to two. Angel McCoughtry had 11 poitns. Iziane Castro Marques had six.

The Palace of Auburn Hills looked virtually empty. If the Dream could keep this up, we could theoretically waltz into Atlanta on Friday. But they had to keep it up.

10) And then I heard those words that chilled me. "...and Michael Price is our third official...."

11) A lot of Shock fans are crowing about the Shock's toughness and how they "got into Atlanta's heads". Maybe they can explain that first quarter, then. Or about why, as the announcers claimed, a fan shouted, "Somebody knock somebody down!" after the first quarter.

Detroit "badness" is not a fait accompli.

12) Early in the second, Iziane drove to the basket against three dispassionate Shock defenders. They were strangely passive, as if they were saying, "Oh, there goes Castro Marques for a basket. Interesting."

13) Meanwhile, Cheryl Ford was beating the living daylights out of Angel McCoughtry. Not complaining or whining, just pointing out the Detroit Shock's overall strategy - play ball so tough that referees will only call the worst fouls against you.

Never let it be said that women's basketball isn't a contact sport.

14) With Atlanta up 36-19, Detroit went on its first big run - a 15-5 run that saw Detroit close to seven points, 41-34.

Despite the big run, Detroit didn't get its first offensive rebound of the game until 4:23 to go of the second quarter. Shavonte Zellous got the rebound, Hornbuck missed the layup, and then then just 13 seconds after their first offensive board, Ford made the shot off her own rebound.

15) Ford was really going wild out there. Iziane Castro Marques fell to the floor when she was hit in the face by Cheryl Ford. It was accidental - Ford was swinging her arms and didn't see Iziane coming in behind her.

16) We finally ended Detroit's run, but we weren't looking great anymore. Arminitie Price, now in the game, took a jumper that went in and out, angular momentum bouncing the ball around inside the rim and force carrying the ball back out again. McCoughtry dribbled the ball off her foot for an out of bounds.

We had survived though. Latta sank a couple of free throws to end the second quarter with the Dream up 45-36.

17) Rebecca Lobo chatted with Angel McCoughtry at halftime. After McCoughtry played dutiful daughter and wished her Mom a happy birthday, she was ready to address the Detroit run. McCoughtry has said before that basketball is a game of runs and that she wasn't concerned. Detroit had its run, the Dream would answer with a run and that Atlanta just needed to play its own game and be confident.

18) The Dream were still outshooting Detroit 46.7 percent to 39 percent. We still had an advantage in rebounding and were 15-for-16 from the free throw line. However, we had turned the ball over 12 times in the first half.

Angel McCoughtry had 15 points and 7 rebounds in the first half. Iziane had 10 points. For Detroit, Deanna Nolan had 10 points, Nikki Teasley had 7 points and Cheryl Ford had picked up 6 rebounds.

19) We got a look inside Atlanta's locker room at halftime. Actually, looking in the locker room is never as exciting as they make it out to be. Marynell Meadors condensed Atlanta's second half strategy:

a) Play better defense.
b) Talk and communicate.
c) Rebound and run.

20) In the third quarter, Iziane kept the Dream alive: her shots were the only shots that were falling. She would score the first nine points of the quarter for the Dream and crossed the 20 point barrier. We were back to our double-digit lead again.

21) The announcers felt free to joke about the Dream losing Philips Arena temporarily during the playoffs due to Sesame Street. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution should take note - it shows how the issue was treated by those who were actually in the role of dispassionate reporters instead of middle-aged men missing their fraternity days.

The joking wasn't the least bit offensive. One of the announcers stated that she'd probably take Grover over Elmo in a game. I agree. Elmo has the moves but Grover is a wild man who can dominate the paint.

22) ...

Then it all went to hell.

With the score up in Atlanta's favor 61-48, the Dream didn't score for the remainder of the quarter - a span of time which was five minutes and two seconds long.

Detroit, however, had no such problem. Some claim that the Shock woke up when Deanna Nolan was charged with a technical just before the Detroit run. I don't know if that was true, but the SHock were really turning it on. They were playing the game they wanted to play and we were playing no game at all.

I've been trying to grapple with what happened. We took six shots, and missed all of them. We turned over the ball three times during the run. That was nine turnovers. But the enemy can only make points off of turnovers if they can get the ball back off the misses, or get offensive rebounds, or....

...and that was what happened. Detroit had 10 rebounds during that five minute span, including two team rebounds. Atlanta had only one rebound, a team rebound. Detroit had simply cleaned us off the boards and reduced the Dream to spectators.

Meadors was left floundering around, trying to find some combination of players that could spark something. Castro Marques was removed after she missed a couple of shots, and was substituted for by Holdslaw, a move which went nowhere. (Why would you get rid of your hottest shooter in the third quarter?) Angel McCoughtry was replaced with Armintie Price in the final minute. Nothing worked.

An announcer said that Atlanta gave up 14 points on 16 turnovers.

Kara Braxton's layup with 1:14 left in the third gave Detroit its first lead since early in the first quarter. The Shock led 62-61, and Zellous hit a 3-pointer to put the Shock up 65-61 at the end of the quarter. The Shock had gone on a 17-0 run...which wasn't over yet.

23) Braxton hit a layup to start the fourth quarter with Detroit's 19th straight point. The Shock led 67-61. Finally, Erika made a shot that broke the 19-0 streak and brought us up to 67-63 Detroit. Atlanta had been held scoreless for 5 1/2 minutes.

24) Whle Meadors was still substituting like crazy - four substitutions in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth - the Dream were hanging on and trying to stay within a couple of posessions of the Shock. Detroit had been revitalized by its run.

Nolan was heating up and only getting hotter. She nailed a 3-pointer to put the Shock up 74-66. Iziane answered with another 3-pointer but Zellous answered with a bucket of her own. 76-69 Detroit. Zellous got the offensive rebound, and found Hornbuckle.

It was a replay of early in the Atlanta season, where several times the enemy could find a player wide open outside the 3-point arc, just standing there. Hornbuckle sank the shot for three points. Detroit was now up by double-digits for the first time, 79-69.

25) Atlanta attempted to dig itself out of the hole it was in. The question was whether or not they could get to within two possessions. Detroit kept Atlanta at arms length but Castro Marques was hot again, scoring again with a Detroit 83-75 lead and 5:01 to go.

Detroit kept sending the Dream to the free throw line. Latta hit a pair of free throws to close us to 87-80. McCoughtry would hit a jump shot with 2:09 left to bring the score at 89-82. (McCoughtry had scored 15 points in the first half, but this was only her fourth second-half point.)

26) Nolan answered with a jumper but 10 seconds later, Iziane found Erika and Erika made the layup. Kara Braxton sent Erika to the line agani and the free throw closed the gap to four points, 89-85 with 1:40 to go. When Braxton missed on the other end, Lyttle got the reboudn and found McCoughtry who scored on the runner.

It was a one possession game, 89-87, with 1:19 left. Critical decisions would have to be made because now the game was wide open again.

27) In the final minute, Atlanta got lucky. Nolan went to the free throw line and missed one of two. Cheryl Ford committed two fouls - or "maybe" committed two fouls because both of those fouls were manufactured by Michael Price, who now wanted to shove himself into the game so that the game could rely on his refereeing "skills" and so he could show the NBA what a great referee he was.

Both Erika and Sancho Lyttle went to the free throw line. Each missed one of their shots...but the score was now 90-89, and Detroit held on to a one-point lead with 51 seconds left.

28) We almost had the lead. Angel McCoughtry stole the ball with 29 seconds left and took a good mid-range jumper. In most circumstances, that ball would have sailed in but it went out and in. Nolan came down hard, and I mean hard to the floor. I don't remember if it was on the McCoughtry miss or on the rebound, but Nolan was clearly dizzy and was leaning up against the goal support.

If it were an acting job, Nolan would have been the next Meryl Streep. Nolan was clearly in tears. She didn't want out of this game, but she knew something was wrong. I didn't want her out of this game either. If Atlanta wins, I want it to be pure fair, and not contingent upon some last-minute injuries. Championship runs should not have asterisks.

29) The decision was made. Nolan would have to come out of the game. The problem was that Nolan had earned a trip to the free throw line - was Lyttle called for the personal? I don't think it was really Lyttle's fault - so who would take those shots? The WNBA rules stated that in the event that the person fouled doesn't take the free throws, the opposing coach gets to choose the foul shooter.

This game the Dream a great opportunity. All they had to do was pick someone who could be counted on to tank one of the two free throws. They could pick the worst foul shooter who was still eligible to be picked. This included Olayinka Sanni who had not played (but was dressed, I believe) with a 69.4 percent free throw percentage, or Kara Braxton with a 64.5 percent percentage.

Instead, the Dream brain trust picks...Crystal Kelly, who is an 84.7 percent career free throw shooter. Kelly hasn't played in the game - but at the free throw line, she sinks both of them. 92-89 Shock, and the Dream have the ball with 16.2 seconds left.

29b) And there begins the controversy. The press reported that Meadors chose Kelly because Kelly was theoretically cold, having not played. However, some posters at RebKell claim that they could hear on the game audio that there was some confusion among the Atlanta coaching staff as to whether or not which Detroit players were good shooters and which were poor ones.

A Detroit reporter claims that "One of her [Meadors's] assistants yelled Kelly's name to her when the officials asked, but I didn't see who it was." Did an assistant coach pull the trigger.

Supposedly, video link gives Meadors's expression when she was asked about sending Kelly to the line. I've not seen it, I can't download it at work and I can't vouch that it isn't spyware laden or some sort of RickRoll.

29c) Monique Currie chimes in from Twitter:

@Mocurrie25 Why would you choose a 84 percent free throw shooter on the line? Doesn't matter if she's cold, its goin down! I'd pick one of those bigs

Another RebKell poster stated that if an NBA coach made that move, he would have been crucified by the fanbase.

30) We have one last chance for a 3-pointer to send the game into OT. Seven seconds after the ball is on the court, Iziane heaves up an off-balance three. It doesn't go down. Alexis Hornbuckle gets the rebound with eight seconds left.

The Dream are forced to foul. Nikki Teasley is sent to the line. She hits both of the free throws. 94-89 Shock. We get the ball back, Sancho Lyttle fires it up, and it's missed. It was a last-second buzzer shot anyway.


That's it. I'm tired of writing about it. Maybe some more later.

30/2009 - Dream 84, Sparks 79

This is going to be an abbreviated review of the game. I can speak about the first half of it from experiencing it - or at least parts of it. The second half I gave up on entirely. The problem? WNBA Live Access.

Let it be said that I am not knocking WNBA Live Access. Last year, if I wanted to watch an Atlanta Dream game that was not televised, it was tough beans. Now, I can watch those games on WNBA Live Access. However, I also had Art Eckman on the radio. I couldn't see the games - and good old Art Eckman isn't exactly the most accurate transcriber of what he sees - but Eckman made it entertaining and barring bad reception, the radio station was dependable.

However, WNBA Live Access still hasn't worked out its technical bugs. Some people have no trouble with Live Access, some have a lot of trouble. Given two fans in the same city, one fan can see the game crystal clear and the other is perpetually plagued with technical difficulties. And the next game, the roles of those two fans can switch places! President Donna Orender says that they're working on WNBA Live Access. I just hope we can get some consistency, 'cause when Live Access works, it works great...when it works.

So what I can I say about the first quarter and parts of the second quarter:

1) Larry Burnett, the voice of the Sparks, said that Chamique Holdsclaw would be back next week. Before you get your hopes up that she'll be playing in one of those back-to-back games, just remember that those two games occur September 4th-September 5th. We're still looking until September 11th at least before The Claw can take the court again.

2) The Dream starters: Lehning, McCoughtry, Castro Marques, Lyttle, de Souza.
The Sparks starters: Lennox, Milton-Jones, Parker, Thompson, Leslie. What was strangest of all is that Betty Lennox was playing point guard. Can that really work? Who is to say that if you give Lennox the ball she just won't shoot it every time she touches it? The Sparks were going to find out.

3) It didn't look like there were many fans at Los Angeles. With September and school now upon us, regular season games might take a hit. Playoff attendance should be good, though.

4) I found out about the Los Angeles Sparks's mascot, Sparky. Sparky was conceived in the minds of Carla Christofferson and Kathy Goodman, the co-owners. Before 2007, the Los Angeles Sparks were too good to have a mascot. (Do the Yankees have a mascot? Do they?)

I don't know where they got this "inspiration" from, and I'm sure that Sparky is a good dog ("Bark!"), but the New York Liberty should sue the Sparks for plagiarism. Sparky does the exact same things that Maddie does, down to jumping on every letter of the Sparks logo as the crowd shouts out "(jump) S....(jump) P...."

Maybe Sparks and Maddie belong to the same litter. I don't know.

4b) What is it with this holy logo stuff? If I were a member of the opposing team, if the home team gave me grief but we won the game anyway, I'd be sorely tempted to jump on every letter of the home team's logo in derision. As far as I can tell, neither the Sparks logo nor the Liberty logo has any magic mojo, unlike the Baltimore Ravens logo which is know to mess players up who fool with it.

Star, don't get it into your head to jump on the letters of the Dream's logo. We're only two years old, the logo is there to remind The Claw that she doesn't play for the Mystics anymore.

5) In the first quarter, the goal of the Dream seemed to be "get it down low to Erika de Souza, and let her make something of it". De Souza, however, wasn't cooperating and she went 1-for-6 to start the game. Iziane started the game with a 3-pointer, but the Sparks scored the next six points. This must be because someone named "Erika de-SOW-za" replaced Erika. At least that's how Larry Burnett was pronouncing her name.

We weren't having any luck under the basket. McCoughtry missed a point-blank reverse layup. De Souza missed point blank on the high-low. Lisa Leslie would score 12 first quarter points alone and at one time, the Sparks led 15-9.

6) The Dream scrapped back and followed with the next six points. Lehning wasn't getting anything done and she was replaced by Ivory Latta. The plan on having Lennox run point appears to have been scrapped with Atlanta tied 17-17, and Shannon Bobbitt came in for Lennox. With 0.2 seconds left, Latta made the final jump shot of the game. The zebras considered whether Latta made the shot in time or not.

She did! The Dream led 21-19.

7) This is when WNBA Live Access went into a coma. The damned thing wasn't even buffering. At least I had the first quarter stats. Los Angeles was hitting 50 percent of its shots, but it seemed that all of those shots were being hit by Lisa Leslie, who was 5-for-6. Iziane Castro Marques had 7 points, and Sancho Lyttle had 6 points.

We had three offensive rebounds as well. Los Angeles, despite having Leslie and Parker, didn't have a single offensive board in the first 10 minutes.

8) WNBA Live Access stirred from the coma, to mutter to itself fitfully. My video feed sounded like a record with a scratch in it, skipping all over the place, only providing chunks of images (before freezing) and word hash. Shannon Bobbitt started the second quarter with a 3-pointer to put Los Angeles up 22-21. Somehow, however, the play-by-play reduces Los Angeles's poitn total to 21 points after Snow's jump shot.

9) For the next 2 1/2 minutes, only Atlanta would score. They took a 28-21 lead. During Atlanta's run, Larry Burnett made a joke about how great it would be for Los Angeles to have Ivory Latta. Then, they could call her "Ivory Latte", after the coffee. His anecdote finished with, "...and you know how we like our lattes in Southern California." This is why Mr. Burnett is doing the Sparks play-by-play and why Jay Leno can sleep safely at night on top of a pile of money.

10) Interesting stat: Vanessa Hayden picked up a personal foul at 8:42, 8:03 and 7:31. Three personal fouls in about three minutes. It was at this time that Michael Cooper had the idea of replacing Hayden with Leslie.

11) Los Angeles came right back, helped by the fact that the Dream missed four of their first five free throws. Live Access was still stuttering. Los Angeles closed to within one point and a layup by Lisa Leslie tied the game 32-32 with 4:12 remaining. At 3:27, the Sparks went into the lead on a Tina Thompson layup and from that point on, Lisa Leslie helped the Sparks take a 5 point lead, which they would take into halftime 42-37.

12) Los Angeles was winning the battle of field goal accuracy, 47 percent to 36 percent. They had made up their offensive rebounding deficit. Atlanta, however, only had five first half turnovers. Lisa Leslie had 16 first half points and Tina Thompson had 14 points. No Atlanta player had broken into double-digits.

It was at this time that I simply threw up my hands in despair with Live Access. I didn't want to watch the WNBA's slow-updating box score all night, so I went to bed and hoped for the best.

(* * *)

It's now that I abandon personal experience and just look at the play-by-play. I see that the Sparks were also strong in the third quarter. Leslie's ability to score hadn't diminshed during the half-time break, and the pair of free throws that she hit to put the Sparks up 50-41 were her 19th and 20th points of the game. However, a pair of 3-pointers by Iziane and Ivory Latta helped the Dream to close back to within four points, 55-51 with 4:17 to go. With 3:49 to go, Iziane hit another 3-pointer - her 15th point - to close Atlanta to within one point, 55-54 Sparks.

Then the Dream fell asleep for about 3 minutes. This allowed Los Angeles to slowly put some distance between itself and Atlanta. Unfortunately, the Sparks were over the limit in fouls. Michelle Snow marched to the line with 44 seconds left in the third quarter to hit a couple of free thrws to close Atlanta to 61-56. And with seven seconds left in the third....

...Armintie Price was at the line! (I'm sure that Atlanta fans that were still awake and could see the game were biting their pillows.) Price, a notorious free-throw shooter with Shaq-like accuracy, managed to hit both of her free throws...and amazingly, the Dream were down by one possession after three quarters, 61-58 Sparks.

In the fourth quarter, the Dream were waxing but could never quite break into the lead. They stayed close, tieing a couple of times. The game slowed down midway through the fourth. Noelle Quinn put the Sparks up by four, 69-65 with about five minutes left, but Jennifer Lacy and Sancho Lyttle hit layups to tie the game once more, 69-69 with just 3:47 left.

With 3:12 left, Atlanta finally broke into the lead. A Lisa Leslie personal foul sent Erika to the line, where she hit one of two free throws. Iziane Castro Marque hit a bank shot with 2:36 to go to put us up 72-69 with 2:36 to go....

...and then, the rest of the game became "Superstar: The Iziane Castro Marques Show." (Starring Iziane with special guest superstar Iziane.) She hit back to back 3-pointers and the second one put Atlanta up 78-73 with 95 seconds to go...but the night wasn't over for Iziane.

With 29 seconds to go, Candace Parker made a layup to make it a 78-75 game. But seven seconds later, Parker would earn her fifth personal foul to send Iziane to the line. (I don't know if Iziane was holding the ball.) Los Angeles was now over the limit.

Iziane came to the line for two shots. She hit both of them to put the Dream back up 80-75 with 22 seconds left. Lisa Leslie tried a 3-pointer with 15 seconds on the clock, but missed it. Delisha Milton-Jones made bad pass after the rebound, and the ball was back in Atlanta's hands!

It forced Candace Parker to foul in hopes of getting the ball back. It was Parker's sixth foul. Parker had fouled out, and Angel McCoughtry - who was 2-for-8 from the floor and only had four points - went to the line for two free throws. She hit both of them, and the Dream were up 82-75, a 3-possession game with 13 seconds left.

With five seconds left, Marie Ferdinand-Harris hit a hook shot to close the Sparks to 82-77. But the game was essentially over. All the Sparks could do was foul. This gave Iziane two more free throw attempts, and she hit both of them. Marie Ferdinand-Harris would hit another couple of free throws, but the game was over.

Atlanta had did it again. We had won on the Sparks's home court, 84-79. I wished I could have seen Iziane hit both of those 3-pointers. She finished with 27 points. Maybe I'll get a chance when the game archive comes up.

A statistical post-mortem will be forthcoming.

27/2009 - Dream 103, Monarchs 83

Okay, since I'm under time pressure, here's my writeup of Atlanta/Sacramento:

1) I thought the warm-ups were slow for both teams - I'm sure they were both tired and were just going through the motions. Sacramento was engaged in a random shootaround with Walker, Brunson and Powell taking turns with random shots.

2) I further noticed that Chamique Holdsclaw was not dressed. Later I'd found out that she was day to day. She was supposed to be somewhere close to the bench in the first half and left the second half. I didn't see her at all.

3) When the Sacramento Monarchs took the court, and we were supposed to give a polite visiting cheer for the Monarchs, the place was virtually silent. I wondered how many fans there remembered that Rebekkah Brunson knocked Ivory Latta's front tooth out during the last time Sacto visited Atlanta. You could have heard a pin drop when Sacramento took the court, but I don't think the quiet in Philips Arena that night had anything to do with some slight, real or imagined. (See #30, below.)

4) Bonnie Leadbetter sang the National Anthem and I thought she did a respectable job. Then again, I'm no music critic.

5) A fan wearing a gold polo shirt and a cowboy hat who was sitting at the seats along the baseline had a sign that read, "I LOVE THE LADIES". I couldn't make out which ladies were being mentioned. It could have been just a philosophical statement, in which case more power to you, ma'am.

In any event, some advice for sign makers: whenever you draw a sign with black marker that leaves a 1/4 inch wide markon the paper, that sign is going to be virtually invisible from a distance. You don't use markers to make a sign, you use paint: those letters have to be a least one inch wide if they're going to be seen by anybody.

6) With regard to #3, above - one player on the Sacramento bench got some cheers. That was Kristin Haynie, the former player for the Dream. Our resident Haynieac - he wears a T-shirt that wears "Haynieac" - made sure to be there that night.

7) One patron of the game showed up wearing a Tennessee T-shirt. My how things change over just a couple of days. On Sunday, the place was swimming with Tennessee gear; on Tuesday Tennessee gear was few and far between.

8) Atlanta starters: Lehning, Castro Marques, de Souza, Lyttle, McCoughtry
Sacramento starters: Robinson, Powell, Penicheiro, Walker, Brunson

9) The Dream started out a bit sloppy - McCoughtry threw a pass over de Souza's head. Another McCoughtry shot was too short and hit the rim. A 3-pointer by Iziane went in-and-out. Castro Marques picked up a travel call in the first two minutes.

10) But then, it came together for the Dream and they went on an 11-4 lead. Iziane - I'll call her "Iziane" since in Brazil, it is customary to call great players by their first names - scored 7 of the first 11 points of the game.

Lehning, however, took what must have been a glancing blow to the head. She left the court, and Latta came in for Lehning.

11) Tonight was going to be "dog night" - I wonder if the dog theme was part of an aborted pets promotion. Two dogs - Buttercup and Prost?? - were show on the screen and we were asked to whom the dogs belonged - Lehning, Snow, or Erika (I'll use the Brazilian custom and refer to de Souza as Erika hereout, even though I have forgotten the accent mark, which would lead any speaker of Portugese to roll his or her eyes. "Americans.")

These were Erika's dogs! It must be a pain to have to arrange travel for them, Erika must really love her dogs.

12) Atlanta continued to roll. We were up 17-6 with around four minutes left. Latta got away with a grab that wasn't called for a foul, but she picked up two quick fouls nonetheless so it could have been three. With about 3:06 remaining, the Dream had a 21-6 lead after a pair of baskets by Lyttle.

Sacramento called a time out. The audience was strangely subdued, as if they couldn't believe the scoreboard.

13) From there, the point was to defend our double-digit lead. Shalee Lehning came back into the game. However, with about 1:30 to go Atlanta was over the limit in fouls. A few free throws by Sacramento whittled down the lead, but Iziane ended the quarter on a run to the basket that ended with a one-handed layup. McCoughtry and Iziane each had 9 points and we were up 27-17 at the break.

14) The Dream brought out some kiddie dancers. Yes, I know, "dressed like tramps, blah blah blah." But does every drawn conclusion people jump to have to be nasty? (They could tone down the hoochie wear, though, it ain't necessary.) I've always liked the kiddie dancers, who were doing a new disco-super-pop remix of the Hokey Pokey. There's something comical about it, but also something quite innocent. I suspect that the fans like the kid dancers, too.

More kid dancers, I say. Put Miss Grand Supreme to work!

15) In the second quarter, Lehning put some acrobatic skill to work. She blocked a pass from Kristin Haynie and managed to rescue the ball and get it to Angel McCoughtry. The ball got back to Lehning and she turned it into an assist to Erika for the basket.

At about 3 minutes in, I saw the sweetest behind-the-back dribble where Lehning transferred the ball from her right hand to her left. Yeah, I'm sure you've seen a thousand of them but I've only followed women's basketball for a short time - I'm amazed at what these players could do.

Later, Lehning would come at Penicheiro from behind and steal the ball. Shades of Angel McCoughtry!

16) On the other hand, despite the acrobatics Atlanta was getting sloppy. McCoughtry picked up another of her patented steals but sprinted down the court so fast that she couldn't come to a stop. The ball was lost. Lehning threw the ball too high and Nicole Powell ended up with the ball. Sacramento had worked the lead down to single digits, 40-33.

17) With 3:04 to go and the score 42-33 Atlanta, Armintie Price came onto the court. Frankly, Atlanta needed some defense, as neither McCoughtry nor Iziane were scoring.

18) There was another picture of dogs on the screen. This time, it was a snapshot of three well-cared dogs. A fan was give a trivia question, and the fan answered correctly that these dogs belonged to Marynell Meadors. Coach Meadors has some nice looking pooches.

19) I saw another sign - "CHB UK Atlanta Dream". I think it means something, perhaps a code to our secret Dream overlords.

20) With the Dream up 42-33, there was a two minute drought where neither team could score. Someone had to make a run, so it was Ivory Latta who stepped up to the task. She would hit the next three baskets for the Dream, including a 3 pointer for 7 points to end the first half. However, the Monarchs scored as well. Ivory Latta attempted a 3-pointer from half court as time expired - and it actually made it to the backboard - but didn't fall. The Dream led 48-40 at the half.

21) Atlanta was still shooting hot. They were hitting 53 percent of their shots in the first half. The Monarchs were stuck at 39 percent.

Ticha Penicheiro had 9 assists at halftime. She's really one of the great point guards of women's basketball. As they'd say in baseball, she's "A Hall-of-Famer Fer Sure".

22) The Teen Special Winners of Henry County were honored. I think the proper term is intellectually disabled - it's the term used by the Special Olympics, so I'm going to go with it. I was glad to see the kids get the honors and I think the spectators were happy for them too.

23) The dog theme continues. There were some frisbee dogs entertaining at halftime - trainer throws frisbee, dog makes amazing catch of frisbee in teeth. I was a bit distracted during halftime, but the parts of the show I saw were great. I liked the star-spangled cape one dog was wearing - clearly, that was James Brown's dog.

24) In the beginning of the third quarter, we had some ugly misses. Iziane missed a 3-pointer. Erika missed a mid-range jumper, and in the W you have to hit midrange jumpers because you can't dunk your way to two points. However, Ticha Penicheiro had picked up her fourth personal foul. The Monarchs remained within single digits.

25) Shalee Lehning made the second "junior high miss" of a shot that I've seen in two games. She runs for the drive, stops at around the baseline, shoots...and hits the underside of the backboard. A friend of mine said, "No focus." Lehning said she wasn't a shooting guard, and let me tell you, she ain't kidding.

26) The third quarter slogged down. With 5:38 left Sacramento went over the limit and with 5:16 left the Dream were similarly busted. This meant The Long March to the Free Throw Line....

...or did it? McCoughtry hit her 3-point attempt that she has to try at least once per game. Iziane hit a 3-pointer with 2:47 left and Atlanta had broken back into double-digits, eading 67-53.

McCoughtry sank a pair of free throws for her 19th and 20th points of the night. They would be the last points scored by McCoughtry in an amazing perforance.

27) Courtney Paris came in. She got a shot in at 1:30 but it was taken away - she charged Shalee Lehning. Iziane would hit another pair of jumpers in the final two minutes, and the Dream were up by 15, 74-59 at the three quarter break.

28) We let Sacramento score the first points but then went on a 6-0 run. Now we were up by 20 points.

Two Brazilians - one wearing a #8 jersey - were asked to play the iPod Challenge. Ivory Latta was the singer and she sang a song which I believe is called "Knock You Down". (If you heard it, you would want to knock her down.) I think the Brazilians should have gotten extra swag due to the degree of difficulty.

29) A new song was unveiled by the Dream sound guy - "Peanut Butter Jelly Time". I like Peanut Butter Jelly Time.

30) I learned the announced attendance of Tuesday's game - 5,159. My friend and I each rolled our eyes after looking out into the stands. If the crowd rushed the players on the court, I'd give the players even money in the fight. That was a Detroit estimate, and it was the lowest announced attendance in Atlanta Dream history.

31) There was still a fourth quarter to play. The Monarchs brought the gap down to less than 20, but time was going to run out on them unless they could put on an offensive display. Sacramento remained at just under 18 behind us...

...then Iziane hit a shot. After Penicheiro hit a bucket to answer, with 4:23 to go, Iziane fired a 3-pointer from 24 feet away with ridiculous arc on it...one of those bombadier shots...

...it went in, and the crowd went nuts. 91-71.

Ever hear of a shot where you say, "when they made that basket, the game was over?" That was the shot. When Iziane made that shot, everyone knew that the Monarchs were dead in the water and the only question left was whether we could set a franchise record for scoring.

32) In the fourth quarter of every Dream game, they have something called the "Jam Cam". Random spectators are asked to make fools of themselves by dancing, and the crowd judges three candidates.

As selected fans cavorted, I saw Erika standing on her feet during a time out, watching the Jam Cam and swaying to the music. She knew this game was over, too.

33) Latta added another 3-pointer to push us up over the century mark, 101-75. After a Laura Harper free throw, Kristin Hayie andwered with another three.

The clock was winding down. Normally, one side just dribbles the clock out, but the Monarchs were playing rough basketball. I'm sure Latta remembered that "accidental" elbow, so she played it as if we were in the first quarter, taking an extra shot with less than 10 seconds left. But there was no more scoring left in the game.

Final: Dream 103, Monarchs 83.

There might be a post-mortem tonight, or there might not. Blogging will be scant on Thursday through Saturday.

26/2009 - Sparks 91, Dream 87

Old meets new.

It's odd that I've been to about 20 or so Atlanta Dream home games - probably more - but have never been to a major college basketball game. I'm not going to put down Georgia Tech and the fine work they do - I see a lot of Tech games - but they can't fill the rafters at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, and that's a shame. Atlanta has a great women's team of its own and it's just being ignored. (The local media probably isn't much help, but I don't want to turn this into an ongoing rant.)

I've never been to, say, a Tennessee game. I'm sure that they have packed crowds. I've never been to one, but after attending the Dream/Sparks game, I understand what the charm is about. It was almost like attending a Tennessee basketball game. The intensity both of the crowd and of the players was phenomenal. It might have not been the best WNBA game I've ever seen, but it's one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had at Philips Arena. If you didn't see this game - you missed a good 'un.

My thoughts:

1) I could guess that this was going to be a hot ticket. Marynell Meadors appeared to be entertaining visitors from the bench, or just schmoozing patrons. During practice, the team was working on free throws, and they should work on free throws. At least Jennifer Lacy was.

2) On the other end, Vanessa Hayden was working out with I think Bruce Deziel, the Sparks conditioning coach. This is the first time I've actually seen someone other than the Dream run serious drills before a game started. Most of the times, the visiting teams are involved in an unfocused shootaround, or someone like Becky Hammon will work on her 3-point shooting. The Sparks were clearly doing a perimeter shooting drill.

Carol Ross, meanwhile, continues to work with our post game. We might not hit a lot of 3s, but we hit a lot of 2s.

3) B-Money was back. I saw Betty Lennox embracing Jen Lacy on the Dream side of the court. There aren't a whole lot of people left for Lennox to say hello to - Lacy, Castro Marques and Latta are the sole survivors. Lennox, however, seemed like she was in a good mood, even giving Michelle Snow a hug.

4) I managed to catch a Mystics #23 jersey in the crowd as the gates opened - this was Holdsclaw's first number when she was with the Mystics. Talk about your throwback jerseys.

5) Then, the gates opened and a flood of...orange entered Philips Arena. I saw more Tennessee gear that you could have sold in a life time, even if you opened up a garage sale in Knoxville. It was a suburban, middle class crowd that skewed older - the kind of people that could take the time to make it all the way to Atlanta for a Dream game. The joke being that you could have walked from the upper level down to center court on the heads of those wearing Tennessee gear and your feet would have never touched ground until you hit the sideline.

6) Of course, there were other jerseys - Candace Parker's #3, in both home and away versions. I saw at least three such jerseys. Some people aren't only team fans, they're player fans. (A Candace Parker Tennessee jersey would have impressed me more. Then again, I've never seen a North Carolina Latta jersey, either.)

7) Walking around on center court - Ron Terwilliger, owner of the Atlanta Dream. He had a beer in his hand. Seeing the crowd, he must have been happy. Drink up, Mr. Terwilliger!

8) The anthem was sung by LaToya Jones. It was a good performance, although I think it was a little long.

9) Game time. Of course they were going to lower the lights and pump Philips Arena full of 120-decibel noise. The crowd could have eaily matched that.

Getting huge cheers were Candace Parker, obviously. Lisa Leslie got huge cheers - the crowd knew it was her final appearance. (Unless we meet in the finals.) Michelle Snow? Big cheers too, being a Tennessee alumna.

However, Ivory Latta also got hugh cheers. Erika de Souza also got a huge response from the crowd. Maybe Lady Vols fans know their WNBA better than I thought they did.

10) Chamique Holdsclaw was announced along with the reserves. She got big cheers - but I could tell by the way she moved that she was virtually crippled. She was just hobbling out there, not limping but clearly not at full speed and with an awkward half-jogging gait.

We need The Claw. Meadors would decided not to start Holdsclaw, a wise move. Give that knee all the time in the world.

11) Starters for Atlanta: McCoughtry, Lyttle, De Souza, Castro Marques, Lehning. This was McCoughtry's second start of her career.
Starters for Los Angeles: Milton-Jones, Thompson, Leslie, Parker, Harrower. I looked forward to a Milton-Jones/McCoughtry matchup.

12) The game started out good. Tina Thompson made a bad pass, McCoughtry got the steal and went to the other end of the court by herself. 2-0 Dream.

13) Los Angeles, however, decided to put the screws to us early. They went on a 10-0 run, marked with a couple of 3-pointers by Thompson and Parker.

It was almost comical at times. Lehning thought she had an open drive to the basket, only to find Parker at the other end. Our distributor-style point guard found no one to distribute to and an ugly surprise at the end. Lehning might be good, but Lehning vs. Candace Parker is a mismatch. You can guess how that possession ended.

McCoughtry's initial solution was to just shoot over Los Angeles's height. But L. A. has a lot of height. Her jumper, arced too high, fell short.

14) Now I know where those Latta cheers are coming from. One gentleman had a sign that simply read: "LATTA!" I guess when you say Latta, you've said it all.

15) During this awful run, the entertainers for the Dream went to the audience to ask them trivia questions. The first one: "Which city is the #1 ozone-polluted city?" There were three choices, one being Los Angeles. Of course, the fan got the answer correct. The theme of "torment LA" had been established.

16) We had a hard time getting traction. Lehning would beat Kristi Harrower one possession and Lyttle would be stripped by Harrower the next. McCoughtry missed an open look shot.

At that moment, the announcer pointed out the presence of Pat Summitt in the front row. Summitt stood, and the crowd stood and applauded. Finally, they were applauding something that wasn't L. A. scoring.

17) Iziane Castro Marques sensed that we were falling behind. Usually, when it looks like we're getting buried, Iziane figures, "hey, if we're going to lose I might as well score 30 points". (The "Izi effect".) She brought us back up to within 3 points, 18-15.

It was then that Michael Cooper decided to bring Betty Lennox in. You remember "B-Money! Cha-Ching!" which was the old announcement whenever Betty Lennox scored? Well, when Betty Lennox scored the announcer said, quietly, "Betty Lennox". Sic transit gloria mundi.

18) I believe I said earlier that the key to the Dream winning is that our bigs - Lyttle and de Souza - intimidate the hell out of anyone trying to play them off the glass. De Souza has that spin move that's just fatal. Unfortunately, the likes of Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker are very hard to intimidate and they begin to push the Dream off the glass, since it's really the only game we've got.

The Sparks went on a 13-2 run, interrupted only by a McCoughtry basket. Latta came in for the helpless Lehning, but that didn't help. Betty Lennox hit a couple of threes. Armintie Price came in, made a bad shot, and committed a double-dribble. (I think jaye might be right when he said that Price watches her own dribble.) By the end of the quarter, the score was 30-19. With Betty Lennox's three to start the second, the Sparks would be up by 14 points.

19) I thought the place was looking pretty full. A friend and I were talking about attendance and I said, "you know, this might be the best turnout we've had since Camp Day".

20) Ivory Latta vs. Shannon Bobbitt - a matchup for the ages. It's the first time I've seen Latta matched up with someone who was smaller than she was.

The first time Latta had the ball, she lost it. Then she hit a 3-pointer. Then another 3-pointer. Then she got the foul from Shannon Bobbitt and sank two. In 90 seconds, Latta had scored eight points.

21) Some high weirdness - Michelle Snow taking a 3-point shot from the top of the arc and having it clank off the rim. The temperature must have risen 10 degrees as Pat Summitt's heat vision bored right through Snow.

22) Iziane, on the other hand, kept the hot hand and showed Atlanta "what would the Atlanta Dream be like if they had a consistent 3-point game?" I think the answer is "unbeatable". Castro Marques began to dig the Dream out of the hole all by her lonesome. She hit a 3pointer, then later sank two free throws off a foul by Delisha Milton-Jones. Then, when Lisa Leslie missed a layup, Castro Marques hit another 3-pointer eight minutes later. The gap was down to six points, 43-37 Los Angeles.

23) There is one thing that Los Angeles can do that really impresses me - it is their ability to pass the ball. When they decide that they want to pass it, not only can they pass it with precision but their height is absolutely a killer. If they find Leslie or Parker with a lob pass, not only can either of those players bring the ball down but a smaller player can't stop them. Lyttle and De Souza can't do that since they are the targets of passes from shorter players.

24) I got to see a Georgia Tech commercial at the game! Huzzah! And guess who was at the game? Head Coach Machelle Joseph and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. (But where was Georgia State? Why didn't you represent?)

25) With 2:22 going in the first half, Lacy hit a 3-pointer to close the score to 45-40.

26) An amusing sequence:

01:55 Castro Marques Rebound (Off:0 Def:2)
01:51 Castro Marques Layup Shot: Missed
01:50 McCoughtry Rebound (Off:1 Def:1)
01:48 McCoughtry Putback Layup Shot: Missed
01:47 DeSouza Rebound (Off:2 Def:2)
01:47 DeSouza Putback Layup Shot: Missed Block: Parker (2 BLK)
01:47 Lacy Rebound (Off:1 Def:3)

After four Dream players got their hands on the ball, Lacy finally got the foul, hitting one of two free throws. It was now 45-41. Los Angeles was over the limit in fouls.

27) McCoughtry was going to the boards as hard as anyone else, but she couldn't get the shots to fall. During the last 1:15, the Dream missed four shots - although one was a desperation time-expiring shot with Angel McCoughtry playing 1-on-3. The half ended with the Sparks leading 47-41.

28) Halftime: The big spectacle at halftime was the awarding of an Atlanta Dream jersey to Pat Head Summitt. This brought the crowd on their feet. Coach Summitt's number in the Dream pantheon is #1000, or "1K". Summitt is the only NCAA basketball coach in Division I (male or female) to win 1000 games.

29) The Atlanta Dream instituted a new program, modeled after the successful "Cash for Clunkers". It was called "Cash for Cluckers" and featured Atlanta Dream mascot Star and two fans, one wearing a Dream shirt and the other wearing L. A. colors. The game was to see who could act the most like a chicken. Each fan would be blindfolded and begin imitating corn-eating fowl. The winner got a prize.

The joke was that as the Los Angeles fan started her chicken dance, the Atlanta fan's blindfold was removed and she and Star sat down and ate popcorn. Silly Sparks fan! You got punk'd! (I suspect, however, that this was not an actual Los Angeles Sparks fan. Maybe the SparksFO will plan revenge.)

30) A lot of the fans disappeared at 1/2 time. Why? The Lady Vols were out in the lobby signing autographs. I don't see why they left, since I suspect that most of these fans have enough Lady Vols signatures to fill a family bible - "The Gospel According to Pat".

31) The Dream had been held to 5 rebounds in the first half and only shot 38.9 percent to the Sparks's 46.3 pecent. We were losing the battle of the boards. On the other hand, we went 5-for-8 from 3-point land.

32) Lyttle, after being held scoreless in the first half, got her head on straight. She scored the first four points for the Dream in the third, beating Parker one-on-one for the second basket. It was now a two point game, 47-45.

33) Angel McCoughtry was the participant in the iPod Challenge. Her task was to sing "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child. She substituted a few Dream-centric lyrics and sang something which only had a slight resemblance to Destiny's Child and a stronger resemblance to a cat in a blender.

34) The Dream brought out the Sugar Hill Gang song "Apache" to move the crowd. Usually, we don't get to hear "Apache" until the fourth quarter. Maybe both teams were playing so hard that it seemed like 40 minutes.

35) The T-shirts the Shooting Stars Dancers were wearing under their red zip-ups? They read "BEAT LA". The announcer tried to get a "BEAT LA" chant going, with limited success.

36) The Dream were finally fighting back on the boards, not assuming that LA would fold. Iziane hit a 3-pointer to close the game to within one, and with 6:50 left, McCoughtry made a layup that returned the lead to Atlanta, 52-51.

37) The next minute or so categorizes Los Angeles's temporary third-quarter meltdown:

Quinn Foul : Shooting (2 PF)
Leslie Foul : Loose Ball (3 PF)
Harrower Foul : Personal (1 PF)
Harrower Foul : Shooting (2 PF)
Leslie Foul : Offensive (4 PF)
Leslie Turnover : Foul (2 TO)

Iziane hit another 3-pointer. McCoughtry hit a jumper with 5 minutes left. The Dream were up 58-53 and the attendance was announced....

...11,304! A sell-out crowd! The announcer played another fourth quarter staple, "YMCA".

38) Los Angeles woke up. For the rest of the quarter, it was very intense and Los Angeles closed to a one-possession game. Latta was in the game but it seemed that the Sparks had figured out Latta. With 30 seconds left, Noelle Quinn hit a pair of free throws to finish the third quarter with a 63-63 tie.

The Dream announced Iziane Castro Marques as the Player of the Game with 23 points. My friend and I rolled our eyes. They play four quarters. I don't know if the DFO remembered that, but I'm sure that the Sparks did.

39) The "BEAT-L-A" chant came back, but in the fourth quarter, Los Angeles started with a 10-4 run. Thompson was left wide open on a jump shot. Michelle Snow threw up an airball and it seemed like Atlanta was regressing. Latta picked up her third personal foul - why, I can't figure out because I don't think she was doing anything wrong.

With 6:08 left, the Sparks had a 75-67 lead. The trivia people went out in the audience and asked which city had the worst traffic: Atlanta, New York, or Los Angeles? Can you guess the answer?

40) The Dream had an advantage - Lisa Leslie had picked up her fifth foul. The question was if the Dream could make up the deficity. Los Angeles began to push the Dream back off the boards again.

Time was starting to run out. Down 81-73, Lyttle, McCoughtry, Castro Marques (from three), and Lehning all tried shots - but the Sparks closed the basket. An Iziane Castro Marques brought it to a two-possession game, 81-75, with 1:58 left.

41) Unfortunately, Erika de Souza and Ivory Latta committed three personal fouls each in the fourth quarter. With 49.2 seconds left, Atlanta was already over the limit. This began what I call the Long March to the Payback Bar. Atlanta would foul, and try to force the Sparks to flinch at the free throw line.

The Dream sent Parker twice. They sent Milton-Jones, Lennox, and Thompson once. Ten free throws...and the Sparks hit nine of them. The game had bogged down so much that one fan screamed at the referees, "Are you getting paid by the hour?!"

42) With 13 seconds left, Thompson hit two free throws to put the game effectively out of reach, 89-82. Six seconds later, Mccoughtry hit a jumper - her 20th point - to close the gap to 89-84 with 7 seconds left. So Parker got sent back to the foul line, and as before, hit both shots.

McCoughtry hit a final 3-pointer with 2 seconds left to close the Dream to 91-87. But the Dream couldn't come back. Our 3-game win streak was over.

(* * *)

After the game, Pat Summitt spoke to the collected crowd. It was a short speech - maybe 3 1/2 minutes or so. She talked about the need to support the WNBA and women's basketball, and by extension, the Dream. I fully concur.

Whew. I feel like I just played the game. The statistical post-mortem comes later.

25/2009 - Dream 93, Silver Stars 87

"I'm taller than you! I'm taller than you!"

We've now won 7 out of 8 games, but not everything is happy in Atlanta Dream fandom, with the Lehning/Latta wars still turned up to "11" on a scale from 1-to-10. ("You young whippersnappers! I would have let Marynell Meadors send five kindergarteners out if they could have won five games in a season!")

While the fans were arguing, the Dream was going on about its business. The victory over the Silver Stars marked the first time that the Dream have swept a team during the season - ever. The win put us at 14-11 and still clearly in second place. Furthermore, the Dream still have two games left in our homestand before the brutal part of our schedule where we finish the regular season with 6 out of 7 road games.

Here's what you missed last night:

1) As I was walking to my seat, I actually passed a Silver Stars player walking up the stairs. I didn't greet her, she didn't greet me because I didn't recognize her by sight. She was a white player with a stern-looking look on her face. It wasn't Ruth Riley or Becky Hammon; I would have recognized them.

2) Ross continues to work with players before the game: this time with Lyttle, Erika de Souza, and Lacy. Even Fred Williams was out there. And Sue Panek! This is a big difference from last year, when it seemed that no body really got out there and worked on anything before gametime except for Betty Lennox. Meadors was out there, but she took a seat on the opposite side of the court from practice, drinking everything in.

3) The Dream were wearing orange T-shirts that read "BUZZKILL". I have no idea what "Buzzkill" stood for. Is it a sponsor? Is it a charity? Or did one of the coaches decide to create a motivational T-shirt. If so, I like the idea - the Dream might not be the best WNBA team, but we'll be the "buzzkill" for a lot of teams this year.

4) I saw an older woman wearing a #25 Hammon jersey. She looked old enough to be a season ticket holder; our STH's tend towards gray. A few minutes later, I saw a couple of young women wearing Hammon #25s as well. Clearly, the Hammonite base extends to the ATL.

5) Becky Hammon. Then, Hammon started to warm up. I counted the number of consecutive 3-pointers she hit. She hit 17 straight. I swore, "if we leave Hammon open, we'll pay for it."

6) On the other hand, I saw a fan wearing the pink Shalee Lehning #5 jersey from the previous game. That jersey was signed by Lehning, but it didn't end up in a glass case - the fan that won it was wearing it.

You go, girl.

7) The national anthem singer tonight was Audra Martin. There was a friend from out-of-town who attended the game, and I spent a lot of time chatting with him. Not much random observation. I don't know how well Audra Martin.

He said that he had heard that the Dream had a 5-year contract with Philips Arena. Hopefully, that means that the Dream will be there for five years. However, the Arena at Gwinnett Center had lost the Georgia Force with the folding of the Arena Football League and supposedly, the Arena wanted a tenant to replace the Force. Interesting.

8) The Dream starters: Lehning, Castro Marques, Lyttle, de Souza, Holdsclaw
The Silver Stars starters: Johnson, Young, Wauters, Lawson-Wade, Hammon

9) The Dream brought out what I call the "running lights". I like the running lights; it looks like they're going to be a permanent thing. If we could afford extra smoke, I'd like that too.

10) Noting that Lehning followed Bird around everywhere in the last game, she stayed away from Becky Hammon. Clearly, the Dream were going to start the game in the zone defense, where everyone guards a certain area of the court. Lehning's first shot was what I like to call a "high school miss" - where you shoot and the ball hits the rim from below.

We got off to a 8-4 lead. Then, San Antonio put in what I like to call the "Twin Towers", Ann Wauters and Ruth Riley.

11) This was enough to spark a 10-0 Silver Stars run. Riley was left wide open by the Dream defense and Lehning was forced to foul her. Holdsclaw didn't look all that great, missing her first three shots. Iziane Castro Marques's shot bounced inside the rim and went right back out again.

12) We then put in Angel McCoughtry. Or rather, Meadors did. McCoughtry's first score was a steal from Becky Hammon that led to her scoring all by her lonesome. Less than a minute later, Lehning found McCoughtry and she scored again. We were on a 6-0 run (really an 8-0 run as we scored first in the second). The score was 14-14 at the end of the first, and Meadors must have said, "I think I'll try this Angel McCoughtry person. See if she works out or not."
12a) Minor note. We might have scored again at the end of the first if Iziane Castro Marques didn't hang onto the ball with 2.5 seconds left, and then get the call for traveling.

13) The start of the second was tough. We still led, but could never get more than two possessions in front of the Silver Stars. Snow put a nasty block on an Ann Wauters (!) jump shot, and Snow looked like she was going to roar like a lioness.

However, San Antonio tied it 23-23 and a layup by Lawson-Wade put the Silver Stars in the lead again, 25-23.

14) Now it was a one possession game. Becky Hammon woke up and scored her first basket in the second quarter.

I turned to my friend. "We must be doing something right to keep Becky Hammon from scoring."

"Mark my words," he said, "she'll have 20 points by the time the night is over."

15) Hammon is known as a great shooter, but what makes her so effective is that she's a great ball handler like Chamique Holdsclaw. She can come off either hand, and she has this bizarre reverse spin move layup that my friend called a "cobra". Probably because by the time that you learn that you've just got bitten, you're dead.

16) The Dream brought Armintie Price into the game in the second quarter. Looks like the Dream plan to use her.

17) McCoughtry, meanwhile, was laying into San Antonio like a pinball to bumpers. If there was even a six-inch gap in a lane, McCoughtry said, "I'm going to hit that". She worked her way through San Antonio's defenders time after time after time. In order to stop McCoughtry, they would have needed three extra players, and the refs weren't going to cooperate.

Atlanta took off on a 7-0 run that broke the logjam and put us up 38-31. San Antonio had hit a rough patch. Megan Frazee was left wide open but it didn't matter because Frazee missed the three. Hammon drove to the basket on a fantastic dribble but the ball wouldn't fall in from four feet away.

18) Latta was now in the game. The last 1:22 of the second half pretty much characterize Latta's 2009 season and her relationship with Meadors.

Latta moved up the ball and worked the clock down to its last seconds. We were getting really antsy. The ball ended up in Latta's hands outside the arc and just as time expired, she shot - one of those "shoot or we have a 24-second violation" shots. It went in, out of 1/2 practice and 1/2 luck.

The next time the Dream got the ball, Latta uncorked too early - she had about 7 seconds left on the clock, the ball clanged off the rim and went into the hands of Vickie Johnson. Johnson raced down the court with Atlanta's defense behind her and only Ivory Latta in front of her. Latta was forced to foul. Instead of having an eight point lead at halftime (assuming we set up the shot), Johnson hits two free throws on Latta's foul and we lead 41-37 at the half.

That was when Meadors should have just told Latta, "Just go take a shower, because I won't put you back in for the rest of the game." It would have been a lot nicer than leaving Latta on the bench. Not a good sequence from Latta, but a harsh punishment.

19) The Silver Stars were only shooting 37 percent in the first half. Furthermore, San Antonio only hit 1 out of 10 3-pointers in the first half. The Dream shot 44 percent.

Angel McCoughtry scored 13 points in the second quarter and led all scorers with 17 first-half points. Ann Wauters led San Antonio with 11 points and Hammon had been held to six points. Sancho Lyttle had eight points and six rebonds, and Erika de Souza had 6 points and 9 rebounds. I figured one of the two of them would have a double-double before the game is over.

20) The 2009 Power of Girls Mentoring program was honored. It was a great idea for a program - a program to teach self-image, communication, confidence and community service. I hope that the DFO decides to do it again next year; I think that the Dream's community service efforts this year have been laudable.

21) Guess who was at the game? Katie Feenstra Mattera. Trust me, no one can miss Katie Mattera. She was with her husband, wearing a maroon top, jeans, and a brown leather purse. She looked styling, and very happy.

Supposedly, Art Eckman's play-by-play demeanor perked up considerably. He had learned that his Katie was in the house.

22) At the beginning of the second half, Holdsclaw didn't come out. Some of the fans were puzzled. You notice that.

It was still a two-possession game, but at least we led it. Iziane hit her first basket of the game in the third quarter, but we were still wide open in some cases. Hammon hit a wide open jumper on us.

23) However, McCoughtry was still out there on us. She was getting fouled, hitting free throws, and scoring baskets. As we were mid-third quarter McCoughtry had 22 points.

24) There was some sort of weird free throw shooting contest from a native Brazilian who was found in the audience. He missed every shot but his last one.

The Dream announcer thanked him for playing. He had to get the last word in. "Hi, Erika!" Clearly, he was a very happy man.

25) Something much have happened and Iziane heard there was another Brazilian in the building. THe Dream went on an 8-0 run. Iziane basket. Then Iziane 1-on-3 for a basket. Then another Iziane basket. Then Angel scored her 24th point on a basket. The Dream were now up 59-49.

We really should invite more Brazilians to see the Dream.

26) The attendance was announced at 5,848. My friend and I were so shocked our mouths were hanging open. If there were 5,848 people in that crowd then half of them were at the concession stands, 'cause we didn't see 'em.

27) The Dream kept on roll-roll-rolling along. Angel McCoughtry blocked a Becky Hammon 3-point attempt. Both teams went over the limit in fouls and from there on it was the Great March to the Foul Line which is seen in such situation. The Silver Stars were getting dinged with offensive foul calls and at one point, the Dream led 69-51.

An 18 point lead! No WNBA team has ever lost an 18 point lead this year! Surely, this game was in the bank! We finished the 3rd quarter 71-57 and had every reason to feel confident.

28) Now, it was time for the San Antonio comeback. They had Hammon and Frazee out there, and you know they can shoot threes. Even Ann Wauters, under the right circumstances, can hit a 3-pointer. Michelle Snow got a basket on a roll and a prayer, but Frazee followed with a 3-pointer and cut our lead to 10, 73-63 with over nine minutes to go.

29) The iPod Challenger singer last night was Shalee Lehning. She sang something by Britney Spears that ended, "I'm not that innocent!" Suuuuurrrrrrrre.

30) From then on, it was a fight. Sophia Young, Ann Wauters and Becky Hammon were determined to pour it on. Hammon, in particular, was on fire in the final quarter, scoring 13 points.

Angel McCoughtry was back in though, and the fans were going to get their money's worth.

31) Angel had 32 points and the Dream lead 86-74. My friend asked, "Is she going to get her number?" Her number being #35, or 35 points.

The frustration was showing from the women in the black jerseys. Becky Hammon grappled Armintie Price despite the fact that Atlanta was not over the limit yet. Price shoots about 52 percent from the free throw line; it might have been worth something if Atlanta was over the limit. But we weren't.

32) A loose ball foul by Shalee Lehning put Atlanta over the limit in fouls at 3:18 to go. It was now time for the Dream to hold their breath.

33) We sent Hammon to the line for two: she hit both of them.
We sent Young to the line for two: she hit both of them. It was an 88-78 game with 2:39 to go.

34) Armintie Price finally got a chance to go to the line with 2:22 go.

The first free throw was an airball. The second one hit the backboard, but not the basket. Coming to Atlanta has not improved Price's free throw shooting skill. She needs to be taught how to shoot granny-style, which is a more accurate way of shooting that no one - man or woman - will use because it looks too wimpy.

35) The Brazilian fans started waving the Brazilian flag. I should have started singing: "Ouviram do Ipiranga as margens plácidas/De um povo heróico o brado retumbante...!"

36) With less than two minutes left, McCoughtry was starting to look gassed for the first time in the game. She missed a couple of free throws - either would have given her her "number" and followed it up with her fifth personal foul on a Hammon layup.

Hammon hit the free throw. It was now an 89-84 game with 1:24 remaining.

37) What followed was nothing short of amazing. McCoughtry tried the shot with 1:05 remaining - and she missed it. It was her final shot of the night....

...but Castro Marques got the rebound. (That Brazilian flag working its magic.) She let the clock wind down...slowly...slowly...down to 39.9 seconds before she shoots....

...and she misses. But she gets the rebound! Now, San Antonio has to foul.

38) Lehning hits both free throws. (She's only shooting 77 percent from the field.) It's a three possession game, 91-84, and San Antonio takes a time out.

39) On the next play, they get the ball to Megan Frazee, who tries a 3-pointer. Nada. Lehning gets the rebound this time, and San Antonio fouls her.

Both shots go in with 22.4 seconds in the game. 93-84 Dream. This game is essentially over. Ann Wauters finally finds the 3-point shot, but there's only 11.3 seconds left the game. The ball is dribbled down, time expires...and the Dream win another won.

Coming up soon, tomorrow, whenever - the statistical post-mortem.

24/2009 - Dream 88, Storm 79

Angelica Suffren (#22) tries explaining the double technical to Marynell Meadors.

Wow. What a game. It wasn't the greatest game in the world, but it was the atmosphere that made it great. For a purpose as deadly serious as increasing breast cancer awareness, the attendees showed up and were determined to have a good time. Maybe it was just the pink pom-poms that were handed out, but people brought signs and they said, "Hey, the Seattle Storm are in town. Let's party!"

The fact that we won? Even more reason to celebrate. Hey, Paul McCartney was singing about it, too. (Well, he was just at a concert in Atlanta. I don't think he was singing about the Dream specifically.)

So my thoughts, observations, comments.

1. Carol Ross is still out there with the Dream during practice, but I don't know if she was doing anything specific with the Dream or if she was just feeding them the ball for a drill. But I also got to see Brian Agler standing around while his team shot around. Agler was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants but wasn't doing anything specific. He was just watching the Storm shoot around. Hey, if Lauren Jackson was just standing around and shooting I'd watch too.

While the Dream were shooting around, they were just killing 3-pointers. Just killing them, every shot going in. Even our bigs were hitting 3s from the top of the key. Our 3-point game is horrible, but I'm sure we must have given the Storm some pause if they were watching us practice.

2. They brought one of the Dream's exercise cycles out to the side of the court. I think Armintie Price was working with it. Which makes me wonder, why drag that thing all the way out to courtside?

3. On the other hand, Seattle was definition of sang froid. They looked very relaxed in their warm-up - that comes with confidence. Michelle Snow exchanged a high-five with Sue Bird as they passed on the court. Lauren Jackson was stretching and looking out of the corner of her eye at Atlanta's practice.

4. Two of the very first fans that entered the Crash Pad were wearing "Bird #10" jerseys, leading me to wonder if part of our crowd consisted of Seattle Storm fans. Someone was wearing something that looked like a Storm jersey with #2 - Roulliard on it, a name and number corresponding to no Storm player.

A lot of people think that it's nerdy to wear a personalized team jersey with your own name and number on it. ("What, you think you play for the team now?) Let me state for the record: I think personalized jerseys rock.

5. Is there actually a band in Philips Arena? (Note to DFO: I think a "fan band" would be a great idea. Just throwin' it out there.) I saw a drumkit in the corner somewhere, I know it.

6. Before the game, there was the "I Gotcha Girl International Pre-Game Fashion Show" with young kids of all ages and shapes performing a schoolwear fashion show. My fear was that it was going to turn into something like "Toddlers and Tiaras". However, it was all in good taste. I thought the clothes themselves were a bunch of multicolored glop, but those kids can sure work the runway.

7. A first: Someone brought a sign with a "D" next to a drawing of picket fence. "D-(fence)". You know, like those nuts carry in the NFL.

8. Storm starters: Cash, Jackson, Little, Wright, and Bird. The Storm had two of their players hurt - Ashley Walker with her posterior cruciate ligament tear (say that three times fast) and Katie Gearlds with her broken toe.
Dream starters: Holdsclaw, Lyttle, de Souza, Castro Marques, Lehning. This would be a real test of Lehning, to go up against Sue Bird.

9. Singing the anthem were the ""I Gotcha Girl International" models as singers. As singers, they should stick to modeling.

10. Kathy Russell of Club 13 was the honorary team captain for the Dream. Club 13 is the volunteer grass roots sales force of the Dream. I think Club 13 deserves all of the recognition in the world.

11. Angel McCoughtry and Dream mascot Star were throwing a few light punches at each other after the intros. Frankly, in a fight, my money's on McCoughtry.

12. It took a while for Atlanta to get itself on track. Castro Marques started a game with her first 3-pointer. Twelve seconds had elapsed, and she missed. Chamique Holdsclaw threw a pass right into the hand of Camille Little. By the frist two minutes of the game the Dream had three personal fouls.

13. Castro Marques, however, got us back on track. She made a jump shot and drew the foul from Tanisha Wright, hitting the free throw. About thirty seconds later she sank a 2-pointer to put us up 12-7 in the first quarter. The crowd was behind us and the Dream was responding to the carnival atmosphere. Claw's jumpshot halfway through the first quarter game the Dream an eight point lead, 17-9.

Lehning drove into a strangely open Seattle defense, only to find Lauren Jackson at the end of the path. However, Lacy set a screen for Castro Marques, and Castro Marques hit her second 3-pointer of the corner. Wright had picked up her third personal foul before the quarter was up. The Dream were up 20-11 and I was thinking in the back of my head, "I wonder if this is going to be like the Phoenix game?"

14. The answer to that question was "no". Seattle went on a 7-0 run. Holdsclaw was still making bad passes. Atlanta went over the limit in fouls. Coco Miller stripped the ball out of Tanisha Wright's hands but Lehning blinked on the lay-up and the ball didn't go in. Seattle had closed the game to two points, 20-18.

The Dream slightly recovered. Angel McCoughtry was in, and the Preacher's Kid saved a missed Jennifer Lacy shot with a put-back layup. The Dream lead 23-18 after the first. Seattle shot 7-for-14 in the first quarter, but we almost matched it. Seattle didn't have a single offensive rebound in the first quarter and Castro Marques already had nine points.

15. Seattle would have a lot of trouble with offensive fouls in the game. Seattle would set up, drive, and then be forced to walk down to the other end of the court in ignominy. Cash would pick up her second personal and the Dream began to bump its lead to seven points.

16. Armintie Price entered the game for the very first time in a Dream uniform. (It was actually the uniform that had been prepared for Tamera Young, and Price wore #11 for the only time in her WNBA career.) In 3:35 worth of play, Price would rack up a "trillion" - a statistical line of zeroes.

17. It could get weird. At 6:47 in the second, Michelle Snow and Lauren Jackson got called for a double technical foul. I have no idea what happened, I suspect the two were ratchet-jawing, as they say in CB slang. Art Eckman said that Lauren Jackson was mouthing off, and if there's anyone you can trust to get the facts right, it's Art Eckman.

18. A 3-pointer by Ivory Latta gave us an eight point pump, 32-24. However, Lauren Jackson erased it with back-to back layups. Suzy Batkovic-Brown - the second of Seattle's two massively tall blondes - scored five points during an 8-2 Seattle run that saw Iziane Castro Marques make a bad pass to Swin Cash, who cut the Dream's lead cut to one, 36-35.

19. At 1:51, Price got hurt and went down. It was nothing serious, she was just shaken up it seemed. The Jumbotron regaled the attendees with showing Marvin Williams of the Hawks and Sean May of the Kings in attendance. I thought I heard someone in the audience say, "Boy, Sean May looks out of shape."

20. Sue Bird scored with 1:17 on the clock to give the Storm the lead again. However, Shannon Johnson would get a technical foul and the Dream got the momentum back. They carried their momentum on the way to a 43-39 halftime lead.

21. Seattle shot 55 percent in the first half - and they were losing. Why? Because we were killing them on the offensive boards. Seattle only had one offensive rebound in the first half, and we attempted nine more shots than the Storm. We shot 45 percent, but when you take more shots than your opponent and are allowed to snatch the ball out of your opponent's hands, sometimes 45 percent is enough.

22. Kay Yow was honored at halftime. She got quite a bit of applause. There was a presentation of some sort to breast cancer survivors at halftime, but to my shame I wasn't paying attention. I was engrossed in a conversation with someone about the legends of the WNBA - Teresa Edwards, Ruthie Bolton, Andrea Stinson, etc.

23. It was very interesting to watch Lehning during the game. Lehning was chasing Sue Bird around the court like a dog chasing a car - whenever Bird would cut cross court, there would be Lehning weaving her way through Jackson, Lyttle, et. al trying to catch her.

An example of Lehning's athleticism: I could swear that Lehning was trying to make a pass or a shot and Lauren Jackson blocked the shot. (Don't bother looking at the play-by-play, you won't find it there.) Normally, a Lauren Jackson blocked shot ends up on the upper deck, but somehow, Lehning was able to grab that rejected shot and keep control of it.

24. Athleticism alone, however, won't help you against the Storm. The Storm started an 8-0 run to close them to 49-48. For 3 1/2 minutes, the Dream were held scoreless.

Iziane Castro Marques tried a 3-pointer that was definition of "airball" - the shot didn't even make it halfway to the basket. Holdsclaw attempted a 3-pointer that fell just short of the rim.

Sue Bird got hit in the face.

25. Lauren Jackson capped off the run with a 3-point shot. Someone from behind me shouted, "Who's guarding Lauren Jackson?!?"

To which I wanted to respond, "Look, this is Lauren Friggin Jackson you're talking about. She's a power forward that can shoot 3-pointers, and that qualifies as a freak of nature in the WNBA. What do you want? Do you want Lyttle to go all the way out to the perimeter to guard Jackson? What, is Shalee Lehning supposed to jump 24 inches in the air and block Lauren's shots? C'mon already! It's just a fact of life that Jackson will down threes, and you just have to deal."

26. By the middle of the third, Tanisha Wright had picked up her fourth personal, and Brian Agler was juggling his bench to keep his players out of any foul trouble. Angel McCoughtry came in for Castro Marques, and provided the punch for the Dream. She hit a bucket, got the foul (but missed the free throw), hit a driving shot, and then assisted de Souza on a layup.

We were back up 55-50.

27. Sancho Lyttle's jump shot put us up 59-53 with less than a minute left. Suzy Batkovic-Brown tried to do too much by herself. She tried a long jump shot - almost a 3-pointer - and missed it. Lehning fouled Batkovic-Brown, who only hit one of her free throws. With 10 seconds left in the quarter and the ball in Atlanta's hands, Batkovic returned the favor. Lehning hit both of her free throws and the Dream led by seven points, 61-54, at the end of three quarters.

28. The Storm came back strong in the fourth. Lauren Jackson hit back to back 3-pointers and closed the score to 63-60. Erika de Souza answered with a turnaround jumper. Tanisha Wright elbowed Angel McCoughtry out of the way for a jump shot and there was no foul. However, McCoughtry found de Souza who made the driving layup. We were up 67-62.

I must have missed this, but someone wrote that de Souza "pulled the name" out on her jersey. This is where you take the front of your jersey with both hands and flip it out, emphasizing the team name. That's a pretty brassy move, because it's usually considered an insult to the other team.

29. And then, up 68-64...the Dream went on a sweet 9-0 run. McCoughtry found her 3-point shot. Lehning made a brilliant pass to Coco Miller, a long bullet that Miller managed to keep under control. Lyttle answered with another two of her 20 points on the night and McCoughtry finished it up by a quick rebound and a shot by Lehning.

The Dream were up 77-64 and there were only 5:21 left in the game.

30. Wright scored a couple of baskets to close the score to 79-70. With the score 81-70, Seattle committed a 24-second violation. It was funny to see all of the Shooting Stars dancers patting their heads simultaneously - the "pat your head" signal is the referee sign for shot clock violation.

31. Wright wasn't done. She scored another basket. Bird followed shortly after, and Lauren Jackson hit another one of her 3-pointers to close the score to 83-77 with 1:20 to go.

Now, it was Atlanta's turn to violate the 24-second shot clock rule. Eight seconds later, Swin Cash would score and our 13-point lead had been cut down to four points, 83-79 with just 44.2 seconds to go.

32. Okay, you're a basketball coach. You're down by four points, there are 44.2 seconds on the clock and the opposing team has the ball. Do you foul to get the ball back? And if so, when?

Just five seconds in, Lyttle got fouled. She hit one of two of her shots. It was now 84-79 with 39.5 seconds left. The Storm needed a 3-pointer and a follow-up basket.

33. Lauren Jackson tried to hit another 3-pointer - if she hit it she'd have had 28 points - but she missed it. Atlanta got the rebound and Swin Cash was called for a loose ball foul.

All that was needed was for Angel McCoughtry to hit both of her free throws to make it virtually impossible for the Storm to come back. However, McCoughtry missed both of her shots...

...but on the offensive rebound, we were unstoppable. De Souza got the rebound, and what she wasn't able to accomplish Lyttle could. The score was now 86-79, and there was just 26.5 seconds left.

Bird tried a 3-pointer, but missed it. Lyttle got the rebound again with 18 seconds left, and Wright fouled Coco Miller to stop the clock.

Miller took careful aim. The first shot? Good! The second shot? GOOD!!

88-79. 16.6 seconds left. Seattle knew that the game was over. They had the ball, but there was no point in doing anything with it and the Storm simply dribbled down the clock. Atlanta had its very first victory - ever - against Seattle.

Nice win. There will probably be a statistical post-mortem tomorrow, but we'll just celebrate for now.