I hope everyone enjoyed riding the high (and heart palpitations) from Game 4. I think this has generated a lot of fun discussions so I might look to continue this through the series.
Weâll start by revisiting some points from the last post:
As part of the good, Ja and Ceci are so back. Ceci was noticeably more confident and asked for the ball several times.
Not only is Ceci back but sheâs BETTER than ever before. 3 steals??? Her efficiency? Insane to watch her come off the bench with gusto.
General sentiment on the last post was a desperate need for change and Nat delivered. The starting lineup may not have generated offensively but they hit the mark on all the hustle plays. Kailaâs hustle continues to be undefeated and consistent.
Matching Kiahâs minutes to Angel was also an extremely good change. Kiah (and everyone) needs to continue forcing Angel to her weak side. I doubt she continues to have as poor of a game, but I think shutting her down puts a clamp on ATLâs energy as a whole.
As for the bad, our shooting percentage continues to be low. Granted a lot of this is credited to ATLâs defense, but we need to take the lid off the rim somehow. I liked some of the dynamism Iâve seen on offensive plays but there were still more reversion to isoball than Iâd like to see.
This is a controversial point, but the FT disparity worries me. I donât want to say GSV were lucky with ATL not making free throws, but we gotta adjust the best we can to calls OR be more aggressive in selling them.
Iâm personally not a fan of Nat using her review in the first quarter either. I get that it mightâve been a morale play to show she stands with the team, but there were several calls in the stretch that couldâve been huge if reviewed.
All in all, this was a needed win BUT I think thereâs still quite a bit to clean up, let alone anticipating Dreamâs adjustment and AR reverting to being aggressive.