Jordin Canada is set to make her return for Atlanta today, after suffering a knee injury in the opening minute of their first preseason game. At the time it seemed like a season ender, so I’m glad she is back and so soon. Unlikely to get any comment on minutes until the pregame media conference with Smesko, as we can’t pull from any media availability as The Dream have yet to have a game in June.
Canada has only shown a handful of possessions with this team, but they opened that preseason gave with a mid-PnR with Griner. BG popped, Brionna was on wing, so Atlanta’s spacing looked really promising. ‘Drive and Kick’ should tear The Sun apart today similar to last outing, where The Dream beat The Sun by 24 points. With Canada last season, Rhyne Howard had 5+ assists in just 2/18 games
The 1-6 Sun are currently dead-last in DRTG (112.8) and OPP Pts off TOV allowed. Granted, you would be hard-pressed to find an area that they rank above average in defensively. Two main keys fed into Atlanta’s dominant victory 2 weeks ago:
– Rebounding. ATL notched 52 rebounds (without BG!), with 40 of them coming on the defensive glass off of Connecticut’s 45 total missed shots. With Griner reentering the lineup in favor of Caldwell, we’ll see Allisha Gray shift back to defending Mabrey. Typically Canada takes on POA defense, but unsure if they throw her in that role immediately rather than Sheldon. All 4 of the starting non-Mabrey defenders notched 7+ rebounds for ATL in the prior meeting.
– Tina Charles with a disasterclass, shooting 5-20 with 17 of those shots coming inside the paint. This box score is actually a poor indicator of her actual shot quality, as a ton of these looks were in-and-out.
Griner played just 15 minutes last game, as she checked out in the opening minute of the 2H then never returned. Was on the bench full time, and ATL outscored SEA by 18 points to fuel their comeback win. Smesko noted (on 5/31), “We knew we were not going to get too many minutes for BG, because she had very limited practice, but we know she’s a big part of what we’re doing here. Once we get a few more practices under our belt, I’m sure she’ll get back to what she was doing before her injury”.
Centers have had their way with Connecticut:
– Iriafen 31 PR, A’ja 32 PR, Collier 44 PR, Boston 22 PR (8 A), Jonquel 24 PR
The Wings vs The Sparks could be offensive fireworks, as both these defenses rank in the bottom-third. Each teams’ key defensive weaknesses:
– Sparks: OPP 3PA (12th), 2nd Chance Pts (12th), OPP Stocks (12th)
– Wings: OPP APG (13th), Fastbreak Pts (11th), Midrange (13th)
Hamby, who notched 8, 8 and 6 assists in her three games entering Mercury, ended with just 2 against PHX. The Mercury have been a solid team at limiting PnR success, are are ranking in the Top 3 at limiting potential assists to opposing Centers. Meanwhile, DAL brings good inside pressure, which has left opposing frontcourt players (in the PnR) to notch solid numbers: Magbegor 5, Angel 5 and Collier 3.5.
Arike shot 23.5 FGA per game vs LA last season, yet she has been shooting DAL out of games a lot more than keeping them in them this season. Meanwhile, DiJonai Carrington decided this team is her’s. She shot 21 times vs Seattle, leading the team in USG rate at 23.3%. Dallas lost this game vs Seattle despite outshooting them by 24 shots.