Tag Archives: wnba

WNBA 2014 In-Depth Previews: Chicago Sky

 

Courtney Vandersloot
Epiphanny Prince/Tamera Young/Allie Quigley/Aaryn Ellenberg/Jamierra Faulkner
Elena Delle Donne/Courtney Clements
Jessica Breland/Gennifer Brandon
Sylvia Fowles/Sasha Goodlett/Markeisha Gatling

subtract Faulkner, Ellenberg, Clements or Brandon whenever Prince shows up (or possibly by the end of today, depending on how they go about things)

 

Significant additions: Breland, and they hope Gatling and/or Goodlett
Significant losses: Fowles for a while to start the season, a little bit of Prince for undisclosed reasons, Swin Cash, Carolyn Swords, Shay Murphy, sense of optimism

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Last year was meant to be the breakthrough for the Chicago Sky. After years in the doldrums, the arrival of Elena Delle Donne was like a ray of sunshine brushing away the clouds. They finally forced their way to the top of the Eastern Conference, and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They were summarily dumped out in the first round by Indiana, which was a disappointing finish after such a strong regular season, but it still felt like they’d taken strides forwards. It’s kind of a shame that the offseason hasn’t managed to carry that positivity through to 2014.

 

After her season in China, franchise center Sylvia Fowles came home and had arthroscopic surgery on her hip to repair a torn labrum and impingement. The Sky kept it quiet for weeks, and once they released the information have been reluctant to put a date on when she might return. Somewhere in the middle of the season is about as good of an estimate as any of us can come up with. She said ‘soon’ in a recent interview, but that could mean anything as well. The absence of Fowles changes everything for this franchise. Delle Donne might’ve been the final piece that helped them break through, but Fowles was the bedrock that they were built on, especially defensively. She filled the lane and covered for mistakes made elsewhere, while also providing efficient scoring in the paint whenever her teammates could actually get her the ball. They need her back, and they need her back soon.

 

They also lost another frontcourt piece due to the Swin Cash saga, which again complicates their defense more than anything else. The plan in virtually every game last year was for Fowles to take the primary low post threat, put Cash on the most dangerous forward, and then Delle Donne could hide as much as possible on whoever was left. With Cash gone and Fowles out for an indeterminate period, Delle Donne’s going to have to work much harder defensively, even regardless of the extra scoring load Fowles’s absence will place on her shoulders.

 

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WNBA 2014 In-Depth Previews: Atlanta Dream

 

We’re back again for another year! As always, we’ll be going team-by-team with these previews, starting with the Eastern Conference (as tradition dictates). The East will be going up in relatively quick succession; you’ll have to wait a little bit for the West. Enjoy, and feel free to reply, debate, argue or whatever in the comments section below.

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Celine Dumerc/Shoni Schimmel/Jasmine Thomas
Tiffany Hayes/Matee Ajavon
Angel McCoughtry/Swin Cash
Sancho Lyttle/Aneika Henry
Erika de Souza/Nadia Gomes Colhado

plus either Inga Orekhova or Amanda Thompson (or maybe both, until Dumerc arrives)

Significant additions: Dumerc, Cash, Schimmel, Ajavon, new head coach Michael Cooper
Significant losses: Alex Bentley, Armintie Herrington, Le’coe Willingham if we’re already stretching ‘significant’, former head coach Fred Williams

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Dream fans were starting to get a little worried early in the 2014 offseason. For a squad that had reached the WNBA Finals in three of the last four years, there was still a clear weakness in perimeter shooting that needed to be addressed, and some question marks around their guard corps. Also, once again, they’d allowed two key players to become unrestricted free agents at the same time, and could only core one of them to make sure she couldn’t leave. They used that spot on center Erika de Souza, allowing wing Armintie Herrington free rein to choose her own destination – and she ultimately chose Los Angeles. Then they made a surprising trade that gave up young combo-guard Alex Bentley for veteran conscience-less 2-guard Matee Ajavon, opening up a big hole at point guard that there didn’t seem to be anyone around to fill. Even with the core of Angel McCoughtry, Sancho Lyttle and de Souza still in place, Michael Cooper’s first year as Dream head coach was looking tricky before it began.

 

Then the pieces started to fall into place. The big move was coaxing French point guard Celine Dumerc into finally giving the WNBA a try. The consensus best lead guard in Europe for quite some time now, Dumerc is a smart, heady player who can run a team, is comfortable playing a background role to other stars when necessary, but can shoot upwards of 40% from three-point range and has a fondness for making big shots. Almost the exact definition for what Atlanta needed in a point guard, considering their volatile star player and limited perimeter shooting. The only negative with Dumerc is that the French season is running long this year, and her Bourges team tend to win everything, so she’s there to the bitter end. She’s missed the whole of training camp, and there’s still a week to go in the French playoffs. So she’ll be late, and it might take her a little while to acclimatise, but by the time we reach the games that matter in August and September she should’ve fit right in.

 

The Dream also added Louisville’s Shoni Schimmel in the draft, and then picked up veteran forward Swin Cash for virtually nothing from Chicago. Schimmel was something of a loose cannon in college, a scorer who can let fly from anywhere and make showtime passes, who sometimes tried to do a bit too much. Cooper apparently wants to make her into a scoring point guard, which might take some time, but with combo-guard Jasmine Thomas as an alternative backup at the point he has other options to run the offense until Dumerc takes over. Cash was a surprise bonus when Chicago gave up on holding her and practically gave her away for free. While not the player she once was, she’s still a strong presence, a solid defender, and can give you reliable minutes without taking much off the table.

 

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WNBAlien Special – Grading the Trade Catchup: Charles forces her way to New York, Sun make the best of it

 

The biggest news of the WNBA’s draft night this year had nothing to do with the players being selected. The Connecticut Sun had the #1 overall pick, and everyone had known Chiney Ogwumike was heading there from the moment the lottery ping-pong balls handed it to them. But the Sun still managed to be involved in the central story of the night, sending malcontented star center Tina Charles to the New York Liberty for center Kelsey Bone, the #4 pick (which immediately became Maryland’s Alyssa Thomas), and New York’s first-round pick in next year’s draft.

 

Charles being traded wasn’t really a big surprise. Last season in Connecticut was an absolute disaster, with several players upset about Mike Thibault being fired as head coach, Anne Donovan unable to take control or win key players over after being handed the reins, and then various injuries (and ‘injuries’) piling on top. As a result, a franchise that had won 25 games and been inches away from the WNBA Finals in 2012, finished with the worst record in the league and became a punchline in 2013.

 

Charles herself had a dismal season last year. She looked half-interested much of the time (at best), and reluctant to join the scrap under the basket when she had limited help around her. Donovan’s schemes, which seemed to encourage her to play further away from the basket, didn’t help. The raw numbers of 18 points and 10 rebounds per game were pretty impressive in a strange way – Charles was still piling them up even while playing on auto-pilot. The 40% field-goal percentage, for a freaking center, was staggeringly atrocious.

 

Some of her quotes towards the end of last season showed how unhappy she was with the way the year had gone, and hinted at a wish to get out – or to sit out. As always, that’s the primary negotiating tool for any WNBA player remotely near star-level. They make significantly more money overseas, so simply sitting out the WNBA season to rest their bodies before heading back to Europe or Asia is always an option. More often, it’s a threat. Trade me (sometimes ‘trade me to the specific city I want to play in’) or I just won’t play, has become a fairly common refrain around the WNBA.

 

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WNBAlien Special – Grading the Trade Catchup: Storm swipe Langhorne, Mystics go young

 

In merely the second-biggest trade of 2014’s draft night, an All-Star power forward was traded for two youngsters with no WNBA pedigree whatsoever. Described like that, you have to wonder why Washington’s Mike Thibault – generally considered one of the smarter guys working in the WNBA – would be willing to give up Crystal Langhorne for two unknown quantities on the pro level in Tianna Hawkins and Bria Hartley. Certainly from the perspective of his counterpart in Seattle, Brian Agler, the move seemed like a no-brainer.

 

When Langhorne came into the league in 2008, taken by the Mystics with the sixth overall pick, many people had their doubts about her. She had limited success in her first year, due to defensive issues and a complete lack of range offensively. But even then there were signs of something pretty impressive, and by her second season she was already starting to look like an all-star talent. She worked on her shot, developing reliable range out to at least 15 feet, and while she’s never going to be a shut-down defender, she’s become solid enough on that end of the floor. She’s always been an impressive finisher around the rim and a decent rebounder, and with Lauren Jackson missing yet another season in Seattle that was something the Storm sorely needed. When you consider Agler’s well-known preference for veterans over youngsters, upgrading to Langhorne in the post for the cost of just Hawkins and the 7th pick in the 2014 draft made a lot of sense for Seattle.

 

There are a couple of factors that you can point to as to why Thibault might’ve been willing to let Langhorne go. While she’s missed very few games (just six in total over six years in the WNBA), she’s been troubled by various minor injuries in recent year. That includes back problems, which can be a persistent nightmare for posts that have to battle away in the paint. Maybe he felt she was starting to break down, and was willing to give her up a year too early in order to avoid moving her a year too late, when her value might’ve fallen more significantly. She’s also become less of a focal point of Washington’s offense in the last couple of years, and her numbers have dropped off a little as a result. Thibault got the Mystics playing as more of a collective last year, improving their results but somewhat minimising Langhorne’s role. They didn’t need, or want, to just dump the ball to her in the post every time down the floor. But she’s only 27, and Seattle will be hoping for several good years from her yet. Meanwhile Washington’s front-line suddenly has a much more questionable look about it.

 

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WNBAlien Special – Grading the Trade Catchup: Dream Cash in when Sky cave

 

Over the years, I’ve heard it referred to as a lot of things. A bag of chips. A bucket of balls. A hill of beans. Plenty of other things I’m probably forgetting. It’s what you metaphorically receive when you trade someone for essentially nothing. WNBA rules require something to go in both directions in a two-team trade, and we actually saw a deal earlier this offseason that came as close to nothing as something can get – when Sugar Rodgers went from Minnesota to New York for the right to swap third-round picks in next year’s draft. Given that as a comparison, Swin Cash and a third-round pick going from Chicago to Atlanta for Courtney Clements and a second-round pick wasn’t quite a bag of chips. But it was no more than a bag and a half, and it was one of those flavours that no one actually likes.

 

The story behind this deal goes back a little way. Cash was cored by the Chicago Sky when the offseason began in earnest, after the WNBA and the Players’ Association finally agreed a new collective bargaining agreement. The core designation is like the WNBA’s version of the NFL’s franchise tag – teams can place it on one of their outgoing players who would otherwise become an unrestricted free agent, restricting that player to only being able to negotiate or sign with their existing team. In return, the player automatically receives a one-year, maximum salary contract offer – although she and the team can negotiate a deal of up to four years at any salary from the minimum to the maximum.

 

Here’s where we get into rumours and whispers, which typically carry a grain of truth but often with a bunch of supposition thrown on top. Chicago reportedly didn’t want to give Cash any more than that automatic one-year max deal. Part of the problem there may have been that any contract signed when a player is cored ties up that team’s core spot for the length of the contract (or until the player leaves the team via trade or retirement). So if, for example, Cash had signed a three-year deal with the Sky, they wouldn’t have been able to core anyone else until 2017 (unless they traded her away). That could’ve been a big problem, considering Sylvia Fowles is out of contract after this year, and losing her would be a vastly bigger deal than losing Cash. Of course, the Sky may also not have wanted to give Cash more than a year because they felt like she was getting older and wouldn’t deserve the money in later years of a longer deal.

 

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WNBAlien Special – Grading the Trade: Three-way deal sends Lawson to D.C., Bentley to Connecticut, and confusion to Atlanta (with Matee Ajavon)

 

The offseason activity in the WNBA continued yesterday with more trade movement, this time with an extra level of complexity. In fact, it’s complex enough that the various press releases don’t entirely agree on the finer details. The Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun and Atlanta Dream combined on a three-way trade (or two two-ways) that relocated a trio of guards to new homes, with a couple of minor draft picks thrown in to theoretically even the scales. Washington received Kara Lawson from Connecticut; the Sun got Alex Bentley from Atlanta; and the Dream collected Matee Ajavon and the #18 pick from the Mystics. Either Washington or Connecticut got the virtually-worthless #32 pick from Atlanta, depending on which release you believe.

 

Typically, you come out ahead in these multi-piece deals when you gain the best player involved – so let’s start with Washington. The Mystics were something of a surprise last season, with new head coach Mike Thibault engineering a turnaround from being the laughingstock of the league to a solid, competitive .500 team. But while they did a lot with organisation, effort and depth last year, Thibault knew as well as anyone that his roster needed more talent if they wanted to take the next step. His team also had a pretty glaring hole. Ivory Latta came in and did a useful job as the point guard last season, but it was a constant patchwork effort alongside her in the backcourt. They drafted Tayler Hill with the #4 pick, but she was a complete bust early on and only mildly useful off the bench as the season progressed. She’s now pregnant and due to give birth in May, so will probably be even less useful on a basketball court in 2014. The alternative last year was Ajavon, whose speed, aggression and willingness to take the big shot can be valuable – but her tendency to take a lot of bad shots and miss most of them distinctly mitigates that value.

 

Lawson always seemed a likely option to fill that hole. She grew up in the D.C. area; she has a relationship with Thibault from their time in Connecticut, where she had some of her best years; and her relationship with the Sun organisation broke down to such a degree last year that everyone knew she was going somewhere. She’s a superb outside shooter, 40% for her WNBA career from beyond the arc, including 43% over the last three years in Connecticut. But she can also be a steadying influence on an offense, running the pick-and-roll and getting the ball where it needs to be. Obviously, she’ll also be comfortable with Thibault’s sets and system after three years playing for him with the Sun. Playing alongside Latta could be a good fit, because neither will have to take on all the ballhandling responsibilities. Latta’s improved as a distributor but still likes to look for her own shot; Lawson had her best season in Connecticut when Allison Hightower was taking some of the point guard requirements off her hands – between them, they should be able to find a balance and help each other out.

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WNBAlien Special – Grading the Trade: Phoenix filch Phillips from Fever for 1st

 

After months waiting for the WNBA and the Players’ Association to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement finally ended last week, a compressed offseason calendar began on Monday. But teams have until March 15th to make qualifying offers (and core designations), then until March 19th to negotiate, before actually being able to sign players from March 20th onwards. So the only way teams can provide any entertainment for the fans at this stage is via trades of players already under contract, and the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever were the first to offer something for us all to talk about. The Fever sent Australian combo-guard Erin Phillips to Phoenix along with their second-round pick in the upcoming draft (17th overall), receiving the Mercury’s first-rounder (9th overall) and forward Lynetta Kizer in return.

 

The most prominent piece in the deal is Phillips, and it’s easy to see why the Mercury wanted her. The one obvious hole on their roster was in the backcourt, where Diana Taurasi was forced to become the de facto point guard far too much last season. While Taurasi’s certainly capable in that role, they desperately needed another reliable ballhandler who could allow Taurasi to play off the ball and focus on playing her natural game, rather than constantly having to facilitate for everyone else. It also became clear on several occasions last season that they simply didn’t have enough shooters to space the floor around Taurasi and Britney Griner – so it was important that whoever they found to fill their hole could shoot, not just bring the ball up the floor.

 

Phillips should be a good fit. She’s a feisty, aggressive guard, who’s never quite managed to solidify herself as a starting point guard in her WNBA career. But the Mercury don’t need her to be a pure point. They need her to bring the ball up the floor, hand it to the right people when she’s supposed to, and knock down open shots – all of which she should be capable of. She’s a career 38% shooter from three-point range in the WNBA, including 45% over her last three years in Indiana. The first figure’s well above average, the second’s truly elite – either should prove very useful to the Mercury. Heading into last season, Samantha Prahalis was supposed to be the Mercury’s answer at point guard, and one of the central reasons that didn’t work out was her inability to knock down the open shot (although her deficiencies in other areas also played a part). Phillips should be able to make those, and bring an extra edge to the Mercury’s backcourt defense that’ll be distinctly welcome alongside a sieve like Taurasi.

 

Of course, there are still some risks. Phillips tore a meniscus in her right knee last season, missing over a month, and then was repeatedly in and out of the lineup for the rest of the season. She generally looked fairly mobile when she played, but kept skipping games when pain flared up in the knee, or other ailments cropped up. In November she was released by her Polish team Wisla Can-Pack, again due to lingering injury – possibly the same one still hanging around – in favour of signing Danielle McCray. Phillips hasn’t played anywhere else since. The positive angle on that is that she’s had time to rest and recuperate, so should be ready for the WNBA season. The pessimist would say she might still not be healthy and it’s worrying when injuries won’t go away (or continue to mount up).

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WNBA Today, 10/11/2013: Lynx complete sweep over Dream to finish unbeaten postseason and take another title

 

Heading into last night’s Game 3, the Atlanta Dream didn’t just have the weight of being down 2-0 on their shoulders. After suffering sweeps at the hands of Seattle and Minnesota in 2011 and 2012, the franchise was 0-8 in Finals games. Plus they hadn’t just lost the two games back in Minnesota – they’d been stuffed by 25 in each of them. They were fighting against history, against embarrassment, and against the all-conquering Minnesota Lynx team that was looking to complete an undefeated postseason with their third consecutive series sweep. It was a daunting task, and with Philips Arena hosting Disney on Ice, they didn’t even have their regular home venue to boost their chances.

 

At times in the first two games, it looked like Dream head coach Fred Williams had run out of ideas on how to challenge the Lynx. But he decided to try his third different starting lineup in three games, with Le’coe Willingham coming back in at power forward ahead of Aneika Henry (or Tiffany Hayes, if they’d wanted to go small again). It was a thoroughly random roll of the dice, seeing as Willingham isn’t really the kind of player who can turn a series, but you couldn’t blame him for trying something different. It didn’t work out too well in the opening moments, though. Janel McCarville – nominally being guarded by Willingham – decided to be particularly aggressive offensively, and drilled a series of jumpers. Willingham wasn’t doing anything particularly badly – helping away from McCarville is something you’re basically supposed to do against Minnesota – but the Lynx center fired away and refused to miss. It was clear around midseason this year that the Lynx coaching staff had asked McCarville to be more of a threat offensively, so that teams couldn’t cheat off her quite so egregiously, and she started taking some of those wide open jumpers teams offered her. Now she was stepping up in Game 3 of the Finals. This Lynx team really can hurt you from all angles.

 

It looked like we might be in for another blowout in the opening minutes. The McCarville barrage was backed up by a couple of buckets for Maya Moore, while Angel McCoughtry was out of control at the other end. She started with a hideous jacked three with 16 on the shot clock barely hit the rim, before an airball on a 1-on-3 baseline move and a couple of desperately soft turnovers when she drove into heavy traffic. There’s a thin line between ‘carrying your team’ and ‘trying to do too much’. Often, frankly, the difference is whether the bad shots you take go in or not. But Angel was dominating the ball, and it wasn’t working at all. Williams took a timeout after barely five minutes of play, with his team already trailing 13-3.

 

McCoughtry was summarily benched, in the hope that she’d calm down, or relax, or just get out of her own team’s way. And it worked. The Dream started running their offense through Erika de Souza in the low post, something that we should’ve seen more of in this entire series (although the Lynx admittedly make it very difficult with their heavy strong-side help). With McCarville resting on the bench, it was Rebekkah Brunson trying to guard her, and for a few minutes Erika was dominant. She was finishing inside, or hitting little turnarounds, or unbalancing the Lynx defense so much with her threat to score that gaps opened up for players like Armintie Herrington on cuts and offensive boards. Erika can also be an emotional leader for this team, and once she was involved in the offense she started jumping around, waving her arms and encouraging the crowd at Atlanta’s temporary home in the Gwinnett Center. The Dream had some life after all.

 

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WNBA Today, 10/09/2013: Another day, another domination – Lynx blow out Dream again to move one win from title

 

Game 1 of the WNBA Finals was frankly a little embarrassing for the Atlanta Dream. They came into Minnesota on a high after a strong performance in the Eastern Finals, and were essentially blown off the floor by the home town Lynx. So Game 2 needed to be about responding and improving. They couldn’t afford to shoot 2-36 from outside the paint again, but they also needed to find ways to simply shoot fewer shots from outside. They had to craft better avenues to the rim, and create easier looks. And they had to do a better job defensively so that they could roll that momentum into their offense. All the Lynx needed to do was be ready for the potential response from Atlanta – more of the same from Minnesota would do perfectly nicely.

 

The Dream made one conspicuous move before Game 2 even tipped off. Aneika Henry started the game in place of Tiffany Hayes, replacing a guard with a post. Hayes had a nasty fall in Game 1, resulting in some lower back pain, but was ready to play off the bench. It was an attempt by Fred Williams to shake things up, try to capitalise on their size inside, and go with the option that worked the best in Game 1. Not that anything worked particularly well in Game 1, but Henry was one of the few bright spots. Minnesota had their regular starting five in place as usual, and made the defensive adjustments you’d expect. Seimone Augustus started on Angel McCoughtry instead of Rebekkah Brunson, who moved onto Henry. Janel McCarville stayed with Erika de Souza. Of course, with two true posts on the floor for the Dream, McCoughtry had to guard one of Minnesota’s star wings rather than hide on McCarville. She started on Augustus.

 

Atlanta looked better in the opening minutes than they had in the previous game. There was a clear intent to drive and attack at every opportunity – sometimes even when there wasn’t really much of an opportunity. McCoughtry and Armintie Herrington both went barreling into the paint on early possessions, and even Erika took a step or two outside, then attacked off the dribble when she glimpsed a gap, rather than settling for a short jumper. However, they were still running into a lot of traffic, and because the Lynx knew that Atlanta wanted to drive at all costs – and that the Dream were unlikely to punish them by hitting shots from outside – multiple defenders were waiting in the lane to block the route to the basket. The mentality was good from Atlanta, but the success was limited.

 

And they still couldn’t get any stops. The same things continued to work offensively for Minnesota – solid screens, effective and purposeful movement off the ball, unselfish passing, and making shots. Once again, the game was frantic early on – just the style Atlanta like to play – but once again it was Minnesota pulling away on the scoreboard. As the first quarter wore on, we even saw the Dream make a few perimeter shots – Hayes drilled a three with virtually her first touch after coming off the bench, while Alex Bentley and Jasmine Thomas both made jumpers from the top of the key. But those were just occasional breaks in the overall Lynx dominance.

 

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WNBA Today, 10/07/2013: Lynx dominate Dream to roll to easy victory and 1-0 Finals lead

 

After what seemed like in interminable wait, last night the 2013 WNBA Finals finally got underway. After building the fanbase over three years of success, the Minnesota faithful was out in force to support their Lynx. They dropped the Finals opener at home last year, which ultimately played a key part in Indiana’s 3-1 upset victory in the series. So the Lynx were hoping for a much better start this time around, to set the groundwork for regaining the championship trophy. The Atlanta Dream were in town hoping to spoil the party – or at the very least do better than the sweeps they’ve suffered in their two previous visits to the Finals.

 

The first questions were answered by the opening lineups. Minnesota center Janel McCarville had reportedly been suffering from some back pain since Friday’s practice, but she was in the starting lineup as usual along with the regular Lynx group. Atlanta had decided to stick with the small lineup that had served them so well against Indiana in the Eastern Finals, with Angel McCoughtry as a pseudo-power forward alongside Jasmine Thomas, Tiffany Hayes and Armintie Herrington on the perimeter. The opening possessions quickly illustrated that Fred Williams had decided to go with the unusual defensive assignment I mentioned in my preview, with McCoughtry guarding McCarville while Erika de Souza took Rebekkah Brunson. Herrington started on Seimone Augustus, with Hayes on Maya Moore, but Atlanta had a general willingness to switch on the perimeter whenever necessary. As anticipated, Minnesota were happy to match up with Atlanta’s small lineup without changing anything about themselves – Brunson started on McCoughtry, McCarville took Erika, and they got down to work.

 

It was a pretty frantic opening period, with both teams feeding from the crowd’s energy and the action flowing from end to end. McCarville posted up on McCoughtry once, and managed to force the ball home, but the Lynx weren’t going to take themselves out of their offense in an effort to attack that potential mismatch. They were moving well off the ball, Moore was hitting jumpers, and Augustus was successful with a couple of those dive-in plays from the corner, both times finishing off nice feeds from McCarville. Their offense was rolling nicely.

 

But the Dream had a little early success too, doing some of the things we knew they’d need to do in this series. Herrington crashed for an offensive rebound, stealing the ball right from Brunson’s hands and dropping in a putback. Erika got a couple of touches in the low post, and found a way to finish over or around McCarville. McCoughtry opened her account with a ridiculous leaning jumper that she jacked far too early in the offense, but it somehow went in. The problem was that they weren’t having much success stopping the Lynx and when they finally did create a turnover, McCoughtry blew a wide open layup. The high pace suited the Dream, but the transition chances still weren’t really there. Minnesota were doing a solid job of taking care of the ball while running their offense, preventing those break opportunities for Atlanta.

 

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