At the moment of glory, no one is as revered as much as the successful athlete. Few people go through as rigorous training and preparation as the world-class athlete. Everything that they do is designed for success. They have another special quality. It is how they prepare mentally and emotionally that help them to make quick decisions, perform flawlessly, under pressure in a highly public forum. This preparation is the basis of this blog. Enter their world.
“I don’t think anything like that is ever rehearsed. It’s just something that happens from hard work and practice. That’s just not rehearsed. That’s what makes it so great. You don’t think. I think if you think, then that’s how you mess up. You just got to let it fly and not think.”
-- Angel McCoughtry, WNBA Atlanta Dream star.
McCoughtry shot and made a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to give the Atlanta Dream a 76-74 win on Tuesday night over the Minnesota Lynx.
It was the Dream's first lead of the second half, and ultimately, their first home win of the season. The win broke a nine-game losing streak for the Dream against the Lynx, behind McCoughtry’s 18 points and Tiffany Hayes’ 20 points.
I attended a great professional basketball game on Tuesday night. It was the deciding Game 3 of the WNBA opening round, conference semifinal match up between the Eastern Conference's #1 seed, Atlanta Dream versus the #4 seeded Chicago Sky in Atlanta's Philips Arena. The game included a classic individual match up pitting the Dream's leading scorer and two-time WNBA scoring champion, Angel McCoughtry, against last year's WNBA rookie of the year, Elena Delle Donne. I expected a great game, but I did not expect a greater lesson in leadership in the Sky's 81-80 comeback victory over Atlanta to win their Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-1. The Dream had led by as many as 20 points and were up by 17 with just over 8 minutes left, at home, no less.
Turning Point What all the news wire cover stories did not mention was the importance of an incident that, in hindsight, was the real turning point. Both stars struggled during the first half. As a team, Atlanta shot the ball well in the first quarter. Atlanta kept pouring it on in the second quarter and led by as many as 20 when Erika deSouza drove to the basket to give Atlanta a 44-24 lead with 5:46 left. The Dream was shooting 60% from the field and playing great team basketball.
The Sky looked beaten. Delle Donne had scored only two points in the first quarter. Angel was doing a great job on her defensively. The team was helping McCoughtry with stifling defense. Delle Donne could have given up, she could have let frustration get to her; but, she persevered and scored an important 13 second-quarter points. She drilled a 3-pointer that cut lead to 52-41 just before halftime. A solid performance by the Sky's star, but her team was still behind. She showed great poise, grit and determination, but it wasn't looking like enough for an historic comeback. However, lost in the Dream's big lead and forgotten by halftime, was an all too typical Angel McCoughtry meltdown near the end of the half. Although McCoughtry had reportedly been displaying considerably more maturity this season, this was crunch time with playoff survival and advancement hanging in the balance. With 3:20 left in the first half, McCoughtry was fouled by the Sky's Tamara Young, on a shot toward the basket.
Young had been doing a great job of defending McCoughtry. The Dream star had been frustrated by Young's physical, pesky defense. McCoughtry got in Young's face and they had some words. The officials gave McCoughtry a technical foul for her troubles. McCoughtry's teammates, realizing that McCoughtry continued to talk to the referees, physically pulled her away from a second technical foul and automatic ejection. They realized that they needed their teammate to stay in the game and seal the win. During the subsequent timeout, the entire Dream team surrounded McCoughtry to keep her cool and relaxed. Dream teammate DeSouza even resorted to rubbing McCoughtry's ears to keep her from flaring up again. Seemingly, it worked. Despite the break in momentum, the Dream still led 72-55. It seemed that the Dream had recovered. Delle Donne Sparks The Rally
Ever tenacious, though, Chicago scored seven straight points, including a three-point play from Delle Donne, to cut the margin to 10 points with 7:02 remaining. Sensing blood and following Delle Donne's lead, Chicago continued to attack and take advantage of Atlanta's increasingly poor shooting and passing. Still rallying, the Sky scored six straight points to complete a 14-2 run and trim the deficit even more to 74-69 with 4:27 left. "We just got away from what we were doing so well," Dream coach Michael Cooper said. "We took some quick shots and bad shots and let it kind of get away from us." Without their poise nor the leadership of Angel McCoughtry, the Dream was in jeopardy of throwing away a clearly winnable game. It became clear that McCoughtry's tantrum had led to the entire Dream losing their team poise and focus. With the Dream looking for leadership, McCoughtry wasn't the same player who scored 39 points in the second game of the series in Chicago. On Tuesday night in Atlanta, she only shot 5-for-18 from the field and scored 17 points. Most tellingly, McCoughtry made one of eight shots in the cruicial fourth quarter.
"I think we were playing to win," Dream player Sancho Lyttle said. "We just stopped executing, and all of a sudden it was a one-point lead and we wondered, 'How did that happen?'"
What happened was that the Dream's star player failed to accept the leadership challenge. She failed to keep her cool and deal with adversity. She failed to assert her will and lead the team to victory.
Meanwhile, the quiet and poised Delle Donne hit a runner with 8.2 seconds left enabled the Sky to complete a 17-point, fourth-quarter comeback and beat the Dream by one point. The resilient Delle Donne posted a game-high point total on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor and 11-for-11 for the line. The 10 field goals matched her career high. McCoughtry, who had drawn the defensive assignment to guard Della Donne, had been physical and somewhat effective, but Della Donne, kept her composure and continued work hard for her points. "We put the ball in her hands, and she made the plays," Chicago coach Pokey Chatman said.
"In the fourth quarter, they put the ball in my hands. The team trusted me," Delle Donne said.
The Comparison and the Future By contrast, following a number of questionably poor shots after her meltdown, Dream forward Angel McCoughtry's attempt at a game-winning jumper from the right side bounced on the rim several times before falling away as the horn sounded. "It was a resilient effort by my team," Chatman said. "They stayed the course, and when it got late, my star player stepped up." The role model for that resilience was Delle Donne. The difference was one point but the real difference was leadership. The Sky had it, the Dream didn't. The Sky moves on and the Dream looks ahead after another season of disappointment. Can Angel McCoughtry find maturity and develop the leadership that she and the Dream so desperately need? Will Elena Delle Donne lead this #4 seed to a championship through grit and resilience?
Excerpts from the Chicago Tribune and ESPN.go.com (August 27, 2014).
"I definitely think at the beginning of the season a lot of things were flowing, and I had a rhythm of everything and was getting used to everybody and playing with them. I don't know exactly what happened, but something happened where I got the short end of the stick, and I'm trying to figure out my place. I'm just dealing with it. It's a business here in the WNBA." -- Shoni Schimmel, WNBA & Atlanta Dream rookie.
The WNBA Atlanta Dream's Shoni Schimmel was voted the MVP of the 2014 WNBA All-Star Game after a 29-point explosion. Those 29 points are an WNBA All-Star record.
Schimmel was voted a starter on the East All-Star team by the fans, despite being a bench player for the Dream. She averages 7 points per game during the regular season. Schimmel's seven three-pointers also set a new All-Star Game record. Her eight assists were the most of any player on the court, and she also grabbed three rebounds and two steals.
A collegiate star, who led her team to an impressive run in the NCAA tournament, the rookie guard has a huge following of fans across the country, particularly with Native American fans, so it's no surprise that she had the highest selling jersey so far this season. Schimmel grew up on a reservation in the tiny, rural, northeast Oregon town of Mission.
Obviously, Schimmel was in a zone at the WNBA All-Star Game. One of the reasons may be that she started the game, voted in by the fans, endorsed and cherished by the masses.
Schimmel felt she belonged, felt she could be free to perform and shine.
"The hoop kept getting bigger and bigger. I wanted to lay it out on the line and that's what I did," Schimmel said about the game.
In the first regular season game after her MVP honor, Shoni followed up with a solid 17-point, 8-assist effort, again in a reserve role. However, in that game and beyond, her minutes continue to be limited and she has yet to start. Certainly, Schimmel has much to learn. She is prone to rookie mistakes, turnovers, poor defense, and streaky shooting. She is experiencing a typically difficult transition from college to professional basketball, in which physical and mental conditioning can be a challenge. She is not a physical specimen. She is not particularly strong, fast, nor does she jump well.
Nevertheless, Schimmel brings a flamboyant, unique style of play to the game which she calls "rez ball."
While some players have a starter's mentality and some can more easily come off the bench, it is beginning to be clear that Shoni has a starter's mentality that consists of a strong ego, extreme pride, and irrational confidence, etc.
Some players need to analyze the situation, size-up the opponent, come in and provide energy by coming off the bench. That type of player may be extremely rare.
By contrast, to play at her best, Shoni needs to feel unleashed, unfettered, alive, free to improvise and create. Somehow, coming off the bench does not foster that feeling. As with any elite athlete, if Shoni sits too long and thinks too much, she loses her edge, her effectiveness, her natural feel for the game. If she doesn't start, she doesn't feel that she has the coach's blessing, a "green light."
“Just have that killer instinct and go out there and just play whatever you’re feeling,” said Schimmel. “Hey, you’re open? Pull up. Throw a behind-the-back pass? Why not?”
Eerily, the situation is frighteningly similar to the one basketball legend, Pete Maravich, found himself in as a rookie as a new member of the Atlanta Hawks. Like Schimmel, Maravich joined a winning team, with a veteran roster. After a record-breaking college career, Maravich, was brought along slowly. Despite a huge contract and even bigger expectations, Maravich did not fare well. Fearing that Pete would alienate the veteran players, most of them black, the coaching staff chose to bring Maravich off the bench and limit his minutes. Losing his confidence and not fitting in, Maravich and the Hawks never developed a chemistry.
Maravich played poorly and inconsistently, soon lost his confidence, losing the trust and patience of his team and the coaches. Unable to find a comfortable role, he was quickly deemed an expensive bust. He was labeled a spoiled, insecure, collegiate gunner who played for his coddling father, Press Maravich at LSU; not ready nor made for the NBA. Critics emphasized his lack of natural ability, speed, quickness, and jumping ability.
Once traded away; however, Maravich found his groove with the New Orleans Jazz, becoming a perennial NBA All-Star and a true legend. Despite his well-know, off-the-court struggles, Maravich, once set free, displayed a unique creativity, artistic flair and true gift for the game of basketball.
Could history be repeating itself?
Of course, the current medical condition of the Dream head coach Michael Cooper, complicates the situation. Cooper is on medical leave following surgery for tongue cancer. A member of "Showtime" as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers, Cooper is no stranger to successfully dealing with a legendary, creative, unique point guard. Cooper played many years with "Magic" Johnson.
Clearly, prior to his surgery, Cooper cautiously chose to bring Schimmel along slowly. Ironically, Cooper coached the East All-Star team and had no choice but to start Schimmel. Her outstanding performance created a dilemma for Cooper. Although a strong supporter and believer in Schimmel, he now had to decide her short-term future. Keeping her development slow and deliberate or setting her free, were the options. Cooper had to either admit his mistake or save face. However, the decision was now even more complicated, with Cooper gone on medical leave. If interim head coach Karleen Thompson chose to start Schimmel, it could be seen as undermining Cooper's strategy and make him look bad. If she continued to keep Schimmel in a reserve role, she would be seen as a supporting Cooper, potentially maintaining team order and cohesion.
So, for the meantime, Cooper is recuperating and Schimmel sits, as the Dream suffer through a current four-game losing streak.
Can the Dream bounce back and can Schimmel shine once more? Stay tuned. Don't forget the lesson of Pistol Pete in Atlanta.
Excerpts from WNBA.com, ESPN.com, and HuffingtonPost.com.
"I was so excited. It felt so good to be back on the floor. I'll never take basketball for granted again."
--Angel McCoughtry, the WNBA's and the Atlanta Dream's leading scorer, after coming back from a multi-game suspension. McCoughtry led the team to a win after scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter.
The Atlanta Dream are starting a push toward playoff success. WNBA finalists two years running, the Dream have caught late-season fire both years and need to do so again to get a favorable seed in this years' WNBA playoffs. They need McCoughtry if they are to be there again. However, they recently fired their head coach, Marynell Meadors. Will new coach Fred Williams be able to handle the previously tempermental McCoughtry? Has Angel turned the corner toward maturity? Excerpt from espn.go.com (9/2/2012). - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
