Gameday: Mystics at Dream
Just got off the phone with Jessie Kenlaw, who is one of a few awake members of the Mystics this afternoon as the players have all settled in for their pre-game naps. Heading to Atlanta is close, but not quite a homecoming for Kenlaw, who's a native of Guyton, Ga. which is near Savannah. In case you missed it, here's a story on Kenlaw from the Savannah Morning News.
But back to the reason Kenlaw and the Mystics are in Atlanta. Washington (9-15) faces the league-worst Dream (3-22) tonight at Philips Arena. Sure, it took Atlanta 17 games and 49 days to record its first win as a franchise, but they spooked the Mystics earlier this season.
Remember the first meeting of the season back on May 27 at Verizon Center? They needed a last ditch effort from Alana Beard, who scored seven of the Mystics final nine points that night, to win 80-74.
In the second get together, on June 20 at Verizon Center, the Mystics had 15 turnovers in the first half before winning 72-61. Here's a reminder of that game.
Granted, both of those games came before the coaching change and the ideological change from big picture to smallest detail. Considering the sloppy play in both meetings though, I'm curious to see if Kenlaw's emphasis on the basics of basketball shows in this contest between the two teams.
By
Katie Carrera
|
July 25, 2008; 3:37 PM ET
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Posted by: Original Fan | July 26, 2008 8:25 AM
They may have had 17 TOs, but they also had 24 assists and 16 steals, and outrebounded Atlanta 40 to 33. Plus 32 points from the bench.
Probably a good thing for the Mystics that Lennox is in a bit of a slump, though. I didn't watch the game so I'm not sure why the score was as close as it was.
Posted by: Kande | July 26, 2008 10:25 AM
"I didn't watch the game so I'm not sure why the score was as close as it was."
Well, for one thing, Alana's slump continues. She shot 4 of 15 last night. Her PPG this season are well below those of the prior two seasons. Also, at a chalk talk earlier this year, Linda Hargrove said the team needed Mo to score 14-16 pts per night. Last night, Mo put up 11 points, which is her average. Perhaps that's "all" that she's capable of on average. But according to Linda, the team needs more from that position in order to be successful. And, once again last night, our three point shooting was terrible; Alana missed 6 of 7 and the team overall was 25%.
The coaching is certainly better but the team is still seriously flawed, IMO.
Posted by: Original Fan | July 26, 2008 11:24 AM
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"Considering the sloppy play in both meetings though, I'm curious to see if Kenlaw's emphasis on the basics of basketball shows in this contest between the two teams."
Well, the Mystics had 17 TOs, so I'd say it's not quite showing yet. The Dream had 20 TOs of their own, so it wasn't a pretty game and not much fun listening to. And Washington came awfully close to losing this one as well.