But there were positives. Despite its dismal mark, Atlanta played before one of the more supportive WNBA crowds at Philips Arena all season. Betty Lennox turned in one of the best seasons of her career, averaging 17.5 points, 2.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. Young players like Ivory Latta and Tamera Young got the chance to get minutes and seasoning they probably wouldn’t have received playing for any of the other 13 teams. And the team’s final victory of the season came in impressive fashion against the uber-talented Sparks in Los Angeles, perhaps giving Dream fans a glimpse of the success soon to come.
Although perhaps the biggest positive to come out of the 2008 season was that by virtue of owning the league’s worst record the Dream had the best chance to land the No. 1 overall selection in the 2008 WNBA Draft, which they did at the Draft Lottery. With the pick, the Dream drafted versatile Louisville star Angel McCoughtry – a player who gets after it on both the offensive and defensive ends.
Having the worst record last season also allowed the Dream to select first in the Comets Dispersal Draft. Atlanta chose forward Sancho Lyttle, who had a breakout year in 2008.
But Lyttle and McCoughtry haven’t been the only major additions during the off-season. The Dream signed free agent center Michelle Snow and lured Chamique Holdsclaw out of retirement after acquiring her rights from Los Angeles. The team also plans to insert veteran point guard Nikki Teasley into the rotation after acquiring her late last season.
Suddenly, the Dream have gone from a team with a core of Lennox, Latta, Young and Iziane Castro Marques to one with Latta, Young, Castro Marques, Lyttle, McCoughtry, Holdsclaw, Snow and Teasley. It’s quite an upgrade from last year, at least on paper.
Now it’s up to head coach Marynell Meadors to make it all work. Considering Meadors is also the team’s GM, the moves must have been made with a vision of how it was going to all play out on the court.
The main task at hand for Meadors is incorporating all of her new weapons while managing egos and expectations and not alienating those players that have been carried over from last season. That includes figuring out how to divvy up the minutes for an abundance of talented wing players. Holdsclaw, McCoughtry, Young and Castro Marques can all make a case for staying on the court.
And it’ll be interesting to see how Meadors handles the point guard situation. Last season, Latta started 31 of 34 games at the point for the Dream, and her energy and long distance shooting were integral to the Dream’s attack. But with Teasley now in the fold Meadors could be tempted to go with the steady play of a veteran, which could stunt Latta’s growth a bit.
Meadors would probably gladly take those problems over the ones she encountered last season though.
For her career, Holdsclaw, a six-time WNBA All-Star, has averaged 17.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
But, of course, talent has never been the question with Holdsclaw, but rather her desire to play the game. The Tennessee product retired from basketball in 2007 after playing in five games as a member of the Sparks. She had previously taken a couple leaves of absence in with LA and her original WNBA team, the Washington Mystics.
And considering Holdsclaw hasn’t played in nearly two years, it remains to be seen not only if she can play at the level she has in the past, but also if she is in playing shape. The WNBA figures to be mighty competitive this year with 13 teams, 11 roster spots per team and an influx of new talent, and now Atlanta is counting on a rusty Holdsclaw to transition back in with a team that is coming off a four-win season and sporting a lot of new faces.
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