Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream lost 88-83 to the Golden State Valkyries on Saturday, their fifth straight defeat and third to the Valkyries in that stretch.
In the postgame interview, the two-time All-Star diagnosed what has been going wrong for her and the team. Reese urged the Dream to regroup and play better to shake out of their funk.
Angel Reese Identifies Major Flaw Behind Atlanta Dream’s Five-Game Skid
In the postgame conference with the media, a reporter pointed out the Dream’s poor free-throw shooting as one of the key reasons for their slump.
Reese identified the same factor for their struggles and responded:
“No excuse. Absolutely no excuse. We just have to be better. If it’s shooting a 100 free throws after practice or 50 free throws after practice, that’s what it is. But, we haven’t shot great, not just from the free-throw line, but from our field goals, too.”
Following the Dream’s 88-83 loss to the Golden State Valkyries, I asked Angel Reese about the team’s free throw shooting during the current five-game losing streak and how they can improve moving forward.
Here’s what she had to say.
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“We just have to get back to the drawing board and figure out what works because we know how good we are when we are able to make those easy free throws, when we’re able to make our easy shots.”
Underdog WNBA posted the Dream’s shooting numbers following their fifth straight loss. Atlanta shot a ghastly 38.3%, including 25.8% from behind the arc. The Dream made just 73.0% of their free-throw attempts during their five-game skid.
When the Dream beat the Toronto Tempo 94-87 on June 22, they improved their record to 12-4, the best in the Eastern Conference and second overall. In their first 16 games, they made 44.2% of their field goal attempts and 76.5% of their free throws.
Reese generates the most free-throw attempts for the Dream this season, averaging 6.4 per game. Allisha Gray (5.8) and Rhyne Howard (3.7) round up the top 3. However, the 6-foot-4 forward is making just 71.1% of her shots, seventh on the team, while Gray is a spot above her with 72.7%.
Because Reese and Gray are the Dream’s biggest source of opportunities from the free-throw line, their struggles have been costly.
The WNBA’s leading rebounder has been a nightmare from the free-throw line in Atlanta’s five-game slump, hitting just 61.9% of her attempts.
While Reese isn’t known for her shooting, Gray has been one of the most dependable players, making her inefficiency stand out.
Gray, a 79.9% shooter from that distance last year, has been worse than Reese, shooting 60.0% from the bonus line in Atlanta’s slide.
The Dream knows what has been ailing them and is also aware of what they must do to return to their winning ways.
